Elder Zealand: YSA, Weird members, and my ward newsletter...

Man, this week has just flown by!!! Like it has just been so fast! I have loved serving in the YSA ward. Its been great to get to know the members better throughout this week!

We had the Come and See Fireside yesterday and were able to take 2 investigators. One of our returning Less Active members has a Non-Member girlfriend and she is cool as! She is always over when we go over to his house and will sit in on the lessons and just listen. Her name is TK. She is honestly so cool. They both came to the Fireside. Then we had a new investigator that we picked up on Wednesday. She is keen to learn. Her name is Sinta. We invited her to the Fireside and she said she would come but needed a ride. So we asked a member at church and she was keen to come and take her. So Jaden (Our Member) picked her up and we went to the fireside! It was all around good. The speakers were on point. They were great! We will see them both this week and follow up on the fireside!

We got to have a lesson with Salote. It was interesting. We took a member with us, you know for fellowship... Well he was weird. He is good friends with the Partner, John. So he wanted to come, but John is out of town. So it was just kinda weird. He started by giving her (a perfect stranger) his scriptures. Then he just kept saying things in a weird way. He kept doing these weird object lessons and they were just weird and didn't really make sense... I'm sure that she was just weirded out... But she said that we could come back next week... So that's good! We are going to take a Relief Society member this week and hopefully that will go better! Please keep her in your prayers!

The YSA ward is a bit different in the regard that we cover 7 stakes... So tracting doesn't really work... Its weird because we are looking for such a small group of people. Single people between the ages of 18 and 30. So we just try our best! We get referrals from other missionaries, people in that age group that they meet and so that's helpful! We are really focusing on making real friendships with the Members and getting out there with them to help them to see us and feel more comfortable bringing their friends to us and letting us teach them! That is the biggest way that we can see the work moving forward in the area!

Sorry but no real funny stories this week... Love yous heaps!

Love Elder Seelos

Mason's update for our ward newsletter-

Hey Reading Ward!

Its been great serving here in New Zealand! I feel like I have just left my Ward Family but it has actually been so long! Thank you all for the love, prayers, notes, and emails! There have been many huge miracles and many small miracles that I am able to see every day while I am serving the Lord! I have just been called to serve in a YSA ward here in Auckland and everyday is different!

I am in South Auckland which is known as the Polynesian capital of New Zealand! Every house is a different nationality! We get to meet people from Samoa, Tonga, Niue, The Cook Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, and every other island in the Pacific! Its amazing to see how the people here have taken the Gospel into their hearts and into their lives where it radiates out of them in everything that they do! Its a blessing to get to serve around such loving people! That is one thing that I have been able to learn from these wonderful people!

One miracle that I have been able to see is in the lives of my investigators. Many of them have gone through many long and hard changes. They have had many different challenges that they have had to overcome to follow God and Jesus Christ. Whether it be family issues, commandment issues, or addictions they have been able to overcome the issues in their lives that are keeping them from following God through using His power. They have truly felt blessed and strength added to them as they sincerely pray and plead with God for the help that they need so that they can take the right steps into the waters of baptism. What a great reason for God to rain his blessings upon them.

I taught one girl for the entire 6 months that I was in my 4th area. She has been an investigator for about a year now. She is 17 and completely involved in everything, but could not be baptized because of her father not liking the church. I was able to see her at a missionary fireside and she told me that she told her dad that this is what she wants. So she is getting baptized in the next month or 2. What a blessing it was for me to be able to hear that.

Heavenly father is truly behind this work and loves each and every one of his children. That is why I am here, to help Him by being an instrument in His hands to bless those of His children that do not have to blessings and happiness that I have. What a blessing for me to be His instrument! This is a great work! Miracles are real, and they can happen to each of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.