Sunday, January 29, 2017

Changes in the mission and the weather...

Overall this week has been just heaps of news... We had MLC this week and a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. The Missionary Department of the Church came out with some big news and has changed the missionary schedule and the Key Indicators that we count. Its pretty crazy. Its been this way since Preach My Gospel started and now they have changed it. It will be really cool. Its all based upon D&C 58:26-29. All about agency and not having to command in all things but really give us the choice on heaps of things. So I am happy about it all! It starts today! Also, P-day is now from 8 to 6. So I could be on emails earlier than normal from now on. Just depends on where I am I guess... Just so yous know.

        Shelby has been good and bad this week. She is still working through some personal issues and is trying to figure things out... She is still happy when we stop by and we ensure that she has a spiritual experience when we are there to keep her knowing that God is there and that he wants to help her! We are trying to get some of the members involved and just stopping by and texting her so she can have people there for her when she needs it. We just keep praying for her.

        With this new change in the Key Indicators that we count we have really been focusing on getting new investigators. We spent a lot of time this week contacting and tracting trying to find some new people to teach... So far not too much success... But we keep going! So if anyone has any suggestions that they did on their missions we would appreciate it!

        Dora has been making some major progress the last few weeks! Idk whats up but she has been to church the last 2 weeks now. She texted us asking if we could teach her more about the after life. She is so great! We were getting close to just slowing down cuz she just wasnt seeming too interested but now we will see what happens!

         Last week for Pday we went to Muriwai Beach. This will be about the 10th time I have been there! Its a mean beach. Huge sandy beach and then rocky cliffs of the other side full of birds (Gannets). Defiantly a place to stop by if you ever make it to Heaven!

         No real funny or stories this week! Just for anyone in Utah asking where the heat went... Well it came to NZ. It has been so hot here the last week. We are finally starting summer and I am so happy! As much as I hate dealing with the heat and all of the sweat... I am happy that its not raining so much! But it also brings flies.... Flies are the worst. They are everywhere. Trade offs I guess!

       Love yous heaps!

                 Love Elder Seelos

                                            Fun on p-day pictures! Muriwai Beach






Sunday, January 22, 2017

Great progress, great hike....

 Overall this week was great! I cannot believe how fast it all goes by.... I feel like heaps happened this week but I also feel like nothing happened this week. Its a weird feeling! So lets see how this goes.

        Shelby was interesting this week! We didn't see her at church last week so we were a bit worried. We went over and we saw her on Tuesday and she talked for a few minutes then told us how she has been trying to get off her depression medication and how it isn't working. Well we talked about Priesthood Blessings and we were able to give her a blessing. It was really cool.  She said that afterwords she just felt peace and calming. I hope that it really did help. After that we left and we went back on Thursday and we just talked about the Spirit and how the Holy Ghost can help her through everything that she's going through. She really enjoyed to know that the things that she has been feeling and all the things that have been pushing her towards Heavenly Father are good things, and that God has been calling her!

         One great thing this week was on Monday and Tuesday! During church last week we had a member tell us that they had a friend that asked if there were beginner lessons to learn about the Church. So of course they said yes and set up an appointment with us for Monday. So we went over on Monday night and saw Sela and Sia. Sela is the non-member and Sia is her Less Active partner. They are in their 20's, Tongan, and keen to learn. Sia has been less active for about 6 years and Sela has very little church background. She use to be Catholic but hasn't been since she was a kid. On Monday we taught her about prayer which went really well. Then we set up the next appointment and went back the next day and taught her about the Restoration. She had a few questions but overall understood it. She is going to let us know when she is free next because she is getting her work schedule soon and we will get to go back and see her hopefully this week!

         Elder Zacher and I did a bit of a last minute trade off and we decided to bike again. Idk why we always decide to bike together but its always fun! I am slowly realizing that there are some pretty big hills in our area! 

          We had our stake Mission Prep Camp this week and we were able to do a bit of training with the Preparing Missionaries and then do trade off's with them and go out for a few hours to do some tracting! Elder Staniscia and I took out Elder Willobey from another ward. He is 17. Cool kid. He was a bit shy at the start but then we kinda made him come out and talk. We had a goal to have him give out one Restoration pamphlet by the end. Well we finally found a guy that would talk to us and he had researched the church and didn't like it cuz he is part Native American... Well that was a dud... He took the pamphlet, but I wasn't content with that. So we finally found another lady and she was nice as. She happily took the pamphlet and then I kinda threw this kid under the bus and told her that he wanted to tell her about what was in the pamphlet, then I shut up. He did really good talking about how Joseph Smith restored the Gospel and then she said that we could come back this week! So it was great!!!

Hope yous have a great week!

Love Elder Seelos

Elder Dalton and I at a leadership meeting.  Awesome ties made for us by Sister Mafi and Mama Lynn!  We love them!


KiteKite Falls was amazing.

More of our KiteKite falls hike from pday.  It was an awesome hike with 5 different waterfalls.

Elder Stanisca and I

Waterfall Selphie

The hiking crew

Sunday, January 15, 2017

A great week! and a crazy guy....

  So this week was honestly GREAT! We just had a good week this week and I feel really good about everything and what has been happening in the ward and I feel like we are really making a difference in peoples lives! Lets just say that I am glad that people are getting home from Holidays!

      So to start with Grace! So this week the Youth had the chance to go to FSY. So FSY is just like EFY but just called something different. It stands for "For the Strength of the Youth." So Grace went to FSY! She was so excited about it! It went from Monday to Saturday and they slept over at one of the schools around here. Grace is social as and so she just ate it up! Overall it just strengthened her desire to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ! We are just hoping that she will be able to get some permission and acceptance from her Dad... 

      Shelby had a great week this week! On trade off Elder Staniscia and Elder Hixon were able to see her on Tuesday! On Sunday we gave her a Gospel Principles Book and she took it home and when they started talking to her she said that she had looked up and read through some of the things and they all just made sense to her! She even got to the point of tears as she talked about how it was changing her view of things. She is honestly so cool! She was sick this weekend and so she couldn't come to church but we are going to see her tomorrow! We are just still going to work with her until her and her partner are ready to commit!

       One funny story from like an hour ago. We went to the ATM to get out money for the Internet Cafe. Right next to the ATM there was a homeless girl that we started to talk to as we were getting our money out. Well the other Elders showed up and we were just chatting with her. Part way through we went inside the bakery and bought her a pie and she took it and was thankful. So as we were talking there was a guy that was down the strip mall from her and he started to yell at us. He was far away and so we didn't hear what he was saying. Well he ended up walking down.... he started yelling at us telling us that we were just harassing her and telling us to just leave.  I was really annoyed by this guy and so I was talking back to him a bit... Well he was just talking about us and how we think that we are preaching Jesus and all these other things and well it was just annoying... I was honestly pretty annoyed. Eventually he left and the girl was looking pretty scared and so she left also. So we just left and thankfully nothing happened... But that's my crazy homeless story!

          Hope that everyone is good and that everyone has had a great week! Love yous all!

                 Love Elder Seelos

                                               We went on an AWESOME hike last week!  
                                                          Here are the highlights!
                                                        New Zealand is so amazing!







Sunday, January 8, 2017

You don't have to shovel sunshine....

This week has been the complete opposite of whats its been like back home! Lets say we have had about as much sun as yous have had rain. It has been a pretty hot week. Which is good! I am not really complaining. Just heaps of sweating, and deodorant.

        I have to say that I am so glad that this is my last holiday season as a missionary... It is so hard to visit and catch people home during the holidays.... No one is home... Its like everyone is using their holidays and summer school holidays at the same time. Its just so hard to find people home... A lot of random door knocking and driving around finding people... We have been able to get into a good amount of homes and it has made us widen our scope of less actives and members to visit, which in turn is good!

        So Shelby this week has kinda taken like a small step forward and a big step back... Like she is still keen as for baptism and everything, its still what she wants. There are just more things in the way now... Her partner who has been in the military down the line is quitting the military and will be moving in with her sometime in the end of the month.... So that just sucks.... She came to church on Sunday though! She brought her son Trey and her sister and they stayed for the first 2 hours then they didn't want to go to class so they ended up going home. It was great though! There were heaps of members that are realizing that she is with us and so they were talking to her and introducing themselves to her and it was just really good! So small steps forward.

         I had Trade off's with Elder Zacher on Friday. We hoped on the bikes and spent the afternoon biking. Its amazing to think about how much easier it is to do missionary work in a car. Like a million times easier. Its just crazy to think about. I am very grateful to have been able to have a car. Its just so much nicer. So Elder Zacher and I decided to go and see the view before we went to bed and so we hopped on the roof and were watching the city. Its just amazing to think about what a great and amazing place I am in. New Zealand is such an amazing country. 

        On Trade off's we went to see a Potential Investigator named Ashley, She was busy all the times that we have seen her. The time before this we went over and she told us that she feels like she has been called by God to come closer to him. So we left her a Book Of Mormon and a Restoration Pamphlet. Well when we went back she said that she had read the Pamphlet but hadn't finished the Book Of Mormon. We assured her that she didn't have to read the entire Book Of Mormon.... She said that she had read like 2 chapters and it was hard to understand. So after talking to her a bit more she felt better about it and she thought about coming to church. She said that her 6 year old son asks questions about God and would love Church. So we talked to her about that and she said that she might stop by. She didn't, but we are still excited about her and what she will do!

       I love yous heaps and am so grateful for yous!
                Love Elder Seelos

Elder Zacher and I on the roof enjoying the view!


Sunday, January 1, 2017

Happy New Year from NZ!

Well Hello Whanau! (Family & Friends) Hope that yous are all having a great New Years day and hope that no one had too hard of a New Years Eve! Just for your information, my New Years Eve was fun! It consisted of going to be at 10:30 and completely KNOCKING OUT! I was so tired and if felt SO good! No real parties or issues over New Years. Just last night our neighbor was doing a party and they were blasting music all night... So that was fun. I kept yelling out the window and they didn't hear me.... Dang.

         So transfers were this week and it overall was good! I got to stay here in Henderson while Elder Oakes moved. We were actually very surprised he left and I stayed. We were both expecting me to leave and Elder Oakes to stay with a New Companion. But Elder Oakes went up North and Elder Staniscia came to Henderson! Elder Staniscia and I were already companions for a week. If you remember how at the end of my time with Elder Chi I got a new missionary with us for the last week of the transfer... Well that's Elder Staniscia.  So it has been an easy adjustment! He is from Brazil.  He is heaps of fun! We get along very well so far! Its going to be a really fun transfer! Heaps of work to do and lots of laughs to have!!!

          We saw Shelby this week and sat down and taught her the Word Of Wisdom. It was honestly amazing . We sat down and read D&C 89 with her and she just asked questions as we went along and we explained what she needed to know and committed her to live it. She said that she would. So we told her to pray about it and to ask if it was right. She told us that she could already feel like it is right. "Its just common sense!" She is prepared az.... She came to Church again yesterday even at our new time of 9 am! We are going to see her tonight and teach her the importance of coming to the entirety of Church. So fingers crossed! We are also going to try to talk to her about the 21st of January for a Baptism Date! 

        Major Miracle this week! We have been teaching Grace and she has been doing great. But this week her brother has been with her cuz its Holidays. So he has sat in on two lessons now and came to church yesterday. He has been asking heaps of questions and was apparently was answering heaps of questions at Church also. His name is Josh. He is 14 and HUGE! He is bigger then I am. Super nice kid!

         Glad that transfers, New Years, and Christmas are over. Now I can focus and just get it done! I love the Great work that I am in and the wonderful chance that I have to be a missionary. Grateful for all of yous and the great example that yous have been to me. I am excited for an exciting new year!

Temple Day

I really love my time in the NZ Temple

Me and the NZ Temple groundsman!


Elder Zacher and I 

Thank you to all those who participated in my "12 Ties of Christmas"!  It was awesome and I loved all the letters and ties from friends and family back home.

Elder Oakes with Shelby

My zone

My new companion Elder Staniscia