Elder Zealand: School holidays, beautiful beaches, & a packed sacrament....

Hello all!-

I just wanna say that the best thing to ever happen to the Ysa ward is School Holidays. We have had school holidays all week and we have them all next week as well. So I am super happy! People are actually home and are fine to have us over! Like I'm not use to this. Its so great.

We got to have trade offs this week with our Tongan Elders. Elder Neiufi and Elder Tutu'ila. I stayed in the Ysa ward with Elder Neiufi. We actually had a great day! Not much going on but still fun! There were a couple people in the ward that he knew from his old area's so we went and visited a few of them. Overall it was good! Made me realize how well/terrible I know the area... I know some places and how to get to some people but I am still not good at figuring out how to just find people around us when plans fall through. It’s a work in progress.

Probably the biggest perk of the ward is the area. There are some mean as places in our area. Elder Clark and I went for a drive/visit run on Saturday. We decided to drive to some really cool as places and some far away beaches and things and then just spend some time in the little towns around there for a few hours. Lets just say that it was great! We started at a place called Maraetai Beach. From there we drove to Kawakawa bay. The drive there was breath taking! Rolling hills of pasture and then the beach. After that we found ourselves in Orere Point. That one was lame. It was basically a small town with a little point into the water that people just used for fishing.

Now lets just say that last P-day was amazing! We took our Zone to the Museum and walked around there. I love museums. This one was so mean! They had old Maori and Pacific Island artifacts and things. They had a whole floor just for NZ and World Wars. Lets just say that I was in Heaven. Heaps of pics to come today!

We had a miracle this week! There were HEAPS of people at church yesterday!! Like it was Packed! More then I have seen in the ward the whole time I have been here. They were basically all members but it was good to see people coming cuz most weeks we just hear about all the people leaving and its just good to see new faces every once in a while! There was a new girl that has come a few times but we talked to her and she was there with her nonmember boyfriend. So thats exciting! We got her number and she said that we can come over and have a lesson with them sometime this week! So thats exciting! Finding new people is always fun!

My spiritual thought this week comes from 1 Nephi 10: 19 "For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round." This stuck out to be because right after this Nephi gets his vision of the tree of life. Just picturing my self in Nephi's place hearing this are really wanting to know these things enough to go through the work to do it and hearing that God will give us the Mystery's of Heaven if we are diligent. Just reminds me that we can have to same mystery's unfolded to us if we are willing to work for it!

Love Elder Seelos