Hello Family!!
Wow its good to read all your e mails and get the chance to write you again. I love how every P day I get the chance to e mail you guys and let you know how my mission is going and to hear everything that is happening in your lives. Thanks so much again for everything you do and all the e mails you send me.
How are you family? The weeks go by pretty fast out here on a mission. I have had some really incredible experiences this week and have felt the spirit so strongly. I already feel like I'm changing into a man and I've learned and grown so much. Its hard being away from you guys but it makes me realize how much I care about my family and how much I love you guys. I'm doing really good out on my mission and everything is working out really well. My testimony has strengthened like none other and I have witnessed many mighty miracles from God already. My relationship with the Savior and My Heavenly Father has strengthened and my faith has increased. I have been trying to do all I can to strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ. He should and is the center focus of everything we do. I've been studying the Atonement of Jesus Christ and its touched my heart and my love for the savior has increased. I would just encourage all of you to study, ponder, and live the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing in the universe. It was the perfect, selfless, best thing Jesus Christ could have done for each one of us. I would encourage each one of you to use the Atonement in your life everyday. Repent of even the small things you do and focus of the cleansing power of the Atonement.
Well this week has been absolutely amazing. A lot of our investigators are progressing very well. We have also gotten 6 new investigators this week and a lot of potential ones. We have been talking to everyone and teaching a lot of lessons. Galvin and Kristina are doing so well. They really are golden investigators. They have came to church every week, they are reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and they are setting goals to get married. And also this week we had an incredible lesson on the word of wisdom! (Galvin smokes and Kristina drinks coffee) Well guess what! That was on Tuesday and Galvin hasn't touched a cigarette since!! Kristina hasn't drank any coffee either. Galvin told us its so hard and he has to pray his guts out every time the urge comes to smoke. They really are amazing people and I'm sad I wont be here to witness their baptism. Graham is also doing very well. He is still set for baptism on March 6. I wont be here for that either.
The members in the Claudelands ward are just unbelievable. They come to so many lessons, give us referrals, and do so much for us. They are awesome cooks and some sacrifice a lot to feed us meals. Well on Thursday we had zone conference. Elder Neilson (from the seventy) and his wife put on the zone conference. President and Sister Porter spoke to us too. Wow it was the best zone conference. I heard missionaries say it was their favorite one they have ever had on their mission. The spirit was SO powerful!! It was breath taking how incredible the talks were. I learned So much. I took so many notes. I cant even describe how amazing the zone conference was so I'm not even going to try hahaha. He bore such powerful testimony about the church and about the Savior. Those general authorities are extremely powerful men. They have unshakable testimonies and have the power of the spirit when they teach.
Well Saturday was AMAZING!! Yes Shelley, Danielle, and Kieran Boyd were baptized. Brother Henderson (their next door neighbor that has been apart of their conversion the whole way) baptized them. The program went great and the spirit was powerful. The speakers were perfect and there was some really cool musical numbers. I cant even describe my feelings as I watched them be baptized. Just to know I was apart of helping them enter into the Kingdom of God was unbelievable. I was SOO happy and I got really emotional. It is really the greatest sight to witness an entire family be baptized. It was my first family to baptize and it was awesome. They all were shinning and smiling so much after they were baptized! They said they felt so clean and amazing. It was an experience I will never forget.
Well Sunday we confirmed them members of the church and gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost. Brother Henderson confirmed Shelley, Elder Sessions confirmed Kieran, and I confirmed Danielle. Wow! it was my first time giving someone the Holy Ghost. It was so cool. It really was a sacred experience and I'm glad I have the priesthood and am worthy to do that for Danielle. This week has been incredible. Thank you so much for praying for me and for the investigators, I've felt your prayers.
It was so good to hear your responses to me telling you I'm going to Niue. I was so excited and couldn't wait until today so I could read what you all thought. I bet you were all so shocked and were so happy. I sure was and I am still overwhelmed. That's so cool you all got to read it together at the Pugmires house. I am still so excited to go to Niue. It really is going to be a once in a life time opportunity! I cant wait but I am really going to miss this ward. I said goodbye to a lot of them yesterday and they were all so sad. They have been amazing ward! I really hope I can come back and see them someday.
I cant believe I'm going to Niue!! Its so crazy huh?! There isn't very much people there at all. I am probably going to be teaching a lot but also doing a lot of service for the people. I don't know what day exactly my p day is yet. Well I have heard about the hurricane that hit Tonga. I don't know about Niue either, hopefully I don't get hit by one! I will take a lot of pictures and write in my journal. This really is a once in a life time opportunity! I am so excited and blessed to go there. I am still way shocked. I bet I will have a huge culture shock. Well I will keep you all undated every week.
Well my new flat is so cool. Its really nice and really big. I'm sad I didn't get very much time to live in it but this is where the Lord wants me to go. I'm pretty sure Elder Sessions is staying in Hamilton and getting a new companion. But we don't know yet because transfers are not until Thursday. I'm like the only missionary that knows that I am getting transferred. My companion is happy for me. He said I'm so lucky and is jealous of my call.
Oh yeah I am going to be there during my 20th birthday!! Cool, I'm going to be living on a tropical island. Wow its like my dream come true. And I thought of something. I had summer in Utah and then came to New Zealands' summer and then I will miss New Zealands winter and be in summer in Niue and then when I come back to New Zealand it'll be their summer!!!! WOW I will have like a whole year in summer, maybe even more than a year.
Well about the pictures, I am going to try to put all my pictures I have taken so far on a DVD and then send them to you. I hope I can do that otherwise hopefully in Niue I will have a little more time to e mail you. I will hopefully send a bunch then! sorry I haven't yet, its just so hard...no time.
Tell Grandpa and Grandma (both sides) hello and that I love them so much. I will write them soon. I love you mom and dad heaps and heaps! I miss you both so much. You mean everything to me. I'm so grateful to be your son.
I love you all so much. Your the best family I could ever ask for. You mean everything to me and I pray for all of you every night. Thanks for everything you do. I hope all is well with school and work. I miss you all. Let me know whats going on in your life. I hope your having some fun times. Well it was so good to e mail you again.
I love you
Love Elder Kitchen
Happy heart day
We love you too!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Elder Kitchen has been called to serve in NIUE!!!
Hello family! I hope you all are having a happy valentines day!! Yesterday was mine and it was great! I sure did get your package you sent me for Valentines Day! President Porter and his wife came to Hamilton on Friday and they gave it to me! Thank you SO much for sending me it. I was so excited to get the package, I wasn't expecting anything for Valentines Day so it was an awesome surprise! Mom you picked out really good candy!! They are my favorite flavors in both the skittles and star burst, and I love reeses and they don't have them here. Thanks for the gum and especially the letters. I loved reading each one of them. That was so sweet of you guys to write me individual letters and cards from each of you. Mom the card you and dad wrote me was very nice and it was sweet. Thank you so much. I love you all so much and I'm grateful I can be in the mission field and that the Lord is blessing you at this time. It seems around every holiday I get kinda home sick but I just have to remember its only two years and this is definitely where I'm supposed to be. I still miss home very much and I miss you guys the most and my friends.
Well I hope your having a blast in St.George!! That's awesome your down there enjoying the weather. I bet its a lot nicer than where we live. Well tell Grandpa and Grandma hello for me. I miss them a lot and I'm so glad I'm serving in the same place they got to serve. If they don't already know tell them I met the Loesi's son in Hamilton. He is so awesome and we are really close. I was going to meet his parents (Viliami and Vicki) but I guess they went on a mission to Tonga or Samoa (sorry I cant remember). And tell the Pugmires I love them all so much and miss them like crazy! I wish I could be there with you guys having fun with them, their family is crazy and they are the best. I miss them a lot. Tell Kylie I love her and miss her so much. Tell her sorry I haven't wrote her yet, I've been incredibly busy, she needs to write me to tell me all the things she has been up to.
Well I'm doing so good right now, this week has been So awesome!! First of all we didn't have the baptism because we postponed it to this Saturday! February 20, so I'm so excited because Shelly, Danielle, and Kiren are getting baptized. It is my first family to baptize. Its amazing and they are really excited. Oh yeah and we also set Graham for baptism on March 6!! Wow so we have 4 people set for baptism right now. We really are getting so many blessings its crazy. We had a lot of lessons as usual and we talked to 100 people on the street this week. We call them "preach by the ways." That's a lot considering we are always busy having lessons and everything. I had trade offs with one of the zone leaders on Tuesday! It was so awesome. I learned so much from him and we had some really cool experiences that day.
And yes Wednesday we finally moved into our new flat, it took us 3 hours to pack, clean, and organize everything to be ready to move, then we moved everything into the new flat. The whole moving process took us about 7 hours. The new flat is so much nicer!! It is way bigger than our old one and a lot nicer. We finally moved in all the way and we cleaned and organized all our furniture and stuff so the new flat looks really good. I love how it is actually in our area and we don't have to ride forever just to get to our area. Its really nice.
This week was really awesome and I had some amazing experiences but I have some REALLY AWESOME NEWS!!!!!!!During my interview with President Porter he told me I am getting transferred!! AND GUESS WHAT?!?!
I'M GOING TO NIUE ISLAND!!!!!!
Can you believe that?! When he told me I was so incredibly shocked out of my mind and I was blown off my seat because I was so surprised!! There are like 230 missionaries in the New Zealand Auckland mission and only 2 at a time go to Niue island! He said my companion is already there and so I got picked out of 230 missionaries to go to Niue Island!!WOW I cant believe it, all the other missionaries told me it is their dream to go there and that I'm so lucky!! My mission president told me he was sending me there because he knows I'm exactly obedient and that he can trust me. He said he prayed really hard about this decision and this is where the Lord wants me to go. He told me that my companion is going to be a Tongan! He also said that I'm probably going to be out there for about 6 to 7 months!!!Can you believe this I'M GOING TO TO BE SERVING ON A TROPICAL ISLAND PARADISE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN WITH JUST ME AND ONE OTHER MISSIONARY FOR 6 MONTHS!!!!!
Well let me tell you some things I know about Niue. It is really hot there!! It is right next to Tonga and close to Samoa!! He said I am probably going to get to wear grass skirts and sandals. It is a full on tropical island paradise. Its not very big at all and there are only like 1000 people on the whole island. Niue means coconut so there is A TON of coconut trees there. They said there is naturally grown pineapple, coconut, bananas, and all other kinds of tropical fruit there. They said you can just pick it off the tree and eat it. They said it is absolutely beautiful there and is extremely green. The food is so good. The people are extremely nice and full on islander people. I am probably going to be like the only white person there!!!
Wow my mission president said it is going to be a experience of a lifetime. It said it is going to be a completely culture shock and that I'm going to get more culture than I've ever had in my life. I'm going to live just like the islanders and probably going to do heaps of service. President Porter said they are going to love my bubbly personality and that is one of the reasons why he is sending me there. HE said I'm the perfect missionary to be going there and he knows exactly why Heavenly Father wants me to go there.
I seriously cant believe I'm going there! I am so excited!! It really is going to be a once and a life time opportunity!! Wow this is crazy! I know I will be able to e mail there. I'm going to take heaps of pictures and write A TON in my journal! He said he is planning on me flying out on Saturday February 27! It is like a 3 hour plan ride I heard but we'll see. Wow this is insane...he also said its going to be just like the movie the Other Side of Heaven!! You should watch that and think of me. That movie the missionary goes to Tonga I think and Niue is the island right next to it.
Wow I feel like I got another mission call. I wish I could talk to you guys on the phone about it. I'm so excited. This is seriously always been my dream to live on a tropical island paradise and just eat naturally grown tropical fruit right off the tree,and now I get to. I'm going to be there for a while. He said its different because we have no missionary leaders, no zone conference, no nothing, its just me and my companion in the middle of the pacific island. Well I wish I could type forever about this!!!
Well I'm going to send this e mail because I don't want it to get erased on accident. Okay. I will probably send other one. well I cant wait to hear what you guys think, Love Elder Kitchen
Well I hope your having a blast in St.George!! That's awesome your down there enjoying the weather. I bet its a lot nicer than where we live. Well tell Grandpa and Grandma hello for me. I miss them a lot and I'm so glad I'm serving in the same place they got to serve. If they don't already know tell them I met the Loesi's son in Hamilton. He is so awesome and we are really close. I was going to meet his parents (Viliami and Vicki) but I guess they went on a mission to Tonga or Samoa (sorry I cant remember). And tell the Pugmires I love them all so much and miss them like crazy! I wish I could be there with you guys having fun with them, their family is crazy and they are the best. I miss them a lot. Tell Kylie I love her and miss her so much. Tell her sorry I haven't wrote her yet, I've been incredibly busy, she needs to write me to tell me all the things she has been up to.
Well I'm doing so good right now, this week has been So awesome!! First of all we didn't have the baptism because we postponed it to this Saturday! February 20, so I'm so excited because Shelly, Danielle, and Kiren are getting baptized. It is my first family to baptize. Its amazing and they are really excited. Oh yeah and we also set Graham for baptism on March 6!! Wow so we have 4 people set for baptism right now. We really are getting so many blessings its crazy. We had a lot of lessons as usual and we talked to 100 people on the street this week. We call them "preach by the ways." That's a lot considering we are always busy having lessons and everything. I had trade offs with one of the zone leaders on Tuesday! It was so awesome. I learned so much from him and we had some really cool experiences that day.
And yes Wednesday we finally moved into our new flat, it took us 3 hours to pack, clean, and organize everything to be ready to move, then we moved everything into the new flat. The whole moving process took us about 7 hours. The new flat is so much nicer!! It is way bigger than our old one and a lot nicer. We finally moved in all the way and we cleaned and organized all our furniture and stuff so the new flat looks really good. I love how it is actually in our area and we don't have to ride forever just to get to our area. Its really nice.
This week was really awesome and I had some amazing experiences but I have some REALLY AWESOME NEWS!!!!!!!During my interview with President Porter he told me I am getting transferred!! AND GUESS WHAT?!?!
I'M GOING TO NIUE ISLAND!!!!!!
Can you believe that?! When he told me I was so incredibly shocked out of my mind and I was blown off my seat because I was so surprised!! There are like 230 missionaries in the New Zealand Auckland mission and only 2 at a time go to Niue island! He said my companion is already there and so I got picked out of 230 missionaries to go to Niue Island!!WOW I cant believe it, all the other missionaries told me it is their dream to go there and that I'm so lucky!! My mission president told me he was sending me there because he knows I'm exactly obedient and that he can trust me. He said he prayed really hard about this decision and this is where the Lord wants me to go. He told me that my companion is going to be a Tongan! He also said that I'm probably going to be out there for about 6 to 7 months!!!Can you believe this I'M GOING TO TO BE SERVING ON A TROPICAL ISLAND PARADISE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN WITH JUST ME AND ONE OTHER MISSIONARY FOR 6 MONTHS!!!!!
Well let me tell you some things I know about Niue. It is really hot there!! It is right next to Tonga and close to Samoa!! He said I am probably going to get to wear grass skirts and sandals. It is a full on tropical island paradise. Its not very big at all and there are only like 1000 people on the whole island. Niue means coconut so there is A TON of coconut trees there. They said there is naturally grown pineapple, coconut, bananas, and all other kinds of tropical fruit there. They said you can just pick it off the tree and eat it. They said it is absolutely beautiful there and is extremely green. The food is so good. The people are extremely nice and full on islander people. I am probably going to be like the only white person there!!!
Wow my mission president said it is going to be a experience of a lifetime. It said it is going to be a completely culture shock and that I'm going to get more culture than I've ever had in my life. I'm going to live just like the islanders and probably going to do heaps of service. President Porter said they are going to love my bubbly personality and that is one of the reasons why he is sending me there. HE said I'm the perfect missionary to be going there and he knows exactly why Heavenly Father wants me to go there.
I seriously cant believe I'm going there! I am so excited!! It really is going to be a once and a life time opportunity!! Wow this is crazy! I know I will be able to e mail there. I'm going to take heaps of pictures and write A TON in my journal! He said he is planning on me flying out on Saturday February 27! It is like a 3 hour plan ride I heard but we'll see. Wow this is insane...he also said its going to be just like the movie the Other Side of Heaven!! You should watch that and think of me. That movie the missionary goes to Tonga I think and Niue is the island right next to it.
Wow I feel like I got another mission call. I wish I could talk to you guys on the phone about it. I'm so excited. This is seriously always been my dream to live on a tropical island paradise and just eat naturally grown tropical fruit right off the tree,and now I get to. I'm going to be there for a while. He said its different because we have no missionary leaders, no zone conference, no nothing, its just me and my companion in the middle of the pacific island. Well I wish I could type forever about this!!!
Well I'm going to send this e mail because I don't want it to get erased on accident. Okay. I will probably send other one. well I cant wait to hear what you guys think, Love Elder Kitchen
Monday, February 8, 2010
Doing Great in New Zealand
I am doing really good out here in New Zealand. Last week was another awesome week with many amazing experiences and miracles from God. Wow we really are blessed here in the New Zealand Mission. I'm enjoying everything about my mission...well almost. The only thing is sometimes its kinda hard to bike all day in the hot sun and when your really tired, but its not that hard. I will write about my experiences this week.
Well last Monday for P day we played tennis, it was really fun! My companion played in high school so he was really good. We went with two other missionaries so it was fun. We are playing tennis again today but a TON of missionaries are coming this time. I'm excited for that. I don't know if I have ever told you about Raymond. He is a guy in our ward...and he is probably my favorite person in the ward. He is from Israel and he is kaddish (a Jew) but he converted to the church 5 years ago. He is so funny. He talks more than me and just says the funniest things you'll ever here. He is a little bit older and lives alone but is just funny. If we ever come to New Zealand you guys will have to come meet him.
Well we had trade offs again this week and that was fun. We taught a lot of lessons like usual and talked to a lot of people on the street. We also did a lot of service this week. We weeded Raymond's garden for him on Wednesday and we mowed Sis Bryars front yard too. Then on Thursday we mowed her back yard. Okay seriously I have never seen longer grass in my life!! It took us ages, there was heaps and heaps of grass, (oh sorry that is my Kiwi talk), and we also mowed Galvin's lawn this week too. I will tell you about Galvin in a sec, but anyway this week was great. We have started teaching some new people and some of our investigators are progressing slowly.
There was two really cool things that happened this week. First was we set Shelly and Danielle for baptism on Feb 13!! This Saturday!! Cool huh?! I'm so excited. The other thing is we met Galvin on the street and he was very interested and told us to come over. We met his partner (partner is what they call the person they are living with but not married to) and it ends up she had been investigating the church in the past and has prayed and knows its true. She just wanted Galvin to gain a testimony. Well Galvin came to church and we have been teaching him. The spirit is so strong during every lesson and Galvin said he has prayed and knows its true. He said he wants to come to church every week. Kristina and Galvin want to get married, Galvin wants to stop smoking, and they both want to get baptized!!! WOW it was a miracle. I know the Lord had blessed us with this miracle because we have been exactly obedient.
Well this week has been amazing. Six really keen investigators came to church yesterday. It is only a matter of time before all of them will be baptized. This mission seriously is a mission of miracles. Its so awesome to be a part of it. I'm so glad I'm on my mission. Its changed my life already and I have grown so much. Well thanks so much for all your prayers and everything you do. I love each and everyone of you so much. I miss you all tons too but I know you're all doing great and I am too. Well this next week is going to be awesome! We are finally moving this Wednesday, we are doing two trade offs with the zone and district leaders, we have interviews with the mission president, and Shelly and Danielle are getting baptized this week!!! WOW a ton of things are going to happen this week. So can you all please pray that all will work out. And please pray for Shelly and Danielle.
I love you all. Your the best family I could ever ask for. I wish I could be doing all the fun things with you but I'm way glad I'm out here on my mission. Thanks again for everything.
Love Elder Kitchen
Well last Monday for P day we played tennis, it was really fun! My companion played in high school so he was really good. We went with two other missionaries so it was fun. We are playing tennis again today but a TON of missionaries are coming this time. I'm excited for that. I don't know if I have ever told you about Raymond. He is a guy in our ward...and he is probably my favorite person in the ward. He is from Israel and he is kaddish (a Jew) but he converted to the church 5 years ago. He is so funny. He talks more than me and just says the funniest things you'll ever here. He is a little bit older and lives alone but is just funny. If we ever come to New Zealand you guys will have to come meet him.
Well we had trade offs again this week and that was fun. We taught a lot of lessons like usual and talked to a lot of people on the street. We also did a lot of service this week. We weeded Raymond's garden for him on Wednesday and we mowed Sis Bryars front yard too. Then on Thursday we mowed her back yard. Okay seriously I have never seen longer grass in my life!! It took us ages, there was heaps and heaps of grass, (oh sorry that is my Kiwi talk), and we also mowed Galvin's lawn this week too. I will tell you about Galvin in a sec, but anyway this week was great. We have started teaching some new people and some of our investigators are progressing slowly.
There was two really cool things that happened this week. First was we set Shelly and Danielle for baptism on Feb 13!! This Saturday!! Cool huh?! I'm so excited. The other thing is we met Galvin on the street and he was very interested and told us to come over. We met his partner (partner is what they call the person they are living with but not married to) and it ends up she had been investigating the church in the past and has prayed and knows its true. She just wanted Galvin to gain a testimony. Well Galvin came to church and we have been teaching him. The spirit is so strong during every lesson and Galvin said he has prayed and knows its true. He said he wants to come to church every week. Kristina and Galvin want to get married, Galvin wants to stop smoking, and they both want to get baptized!!! WOW it was a miracle. I know the Lord had blessed us with this miracle because we have been exactly obedient.
Well this week has been amazing. Six really keen investigators came to church yesterday. It is only a matter of time before all of them will be baptized. This mission seriously is a mission of miracles. Its so awesome to be a part of it. I'm so glad I'm on my mission. Its changed my life already and I have grown so much. Well thanks so much for all your prayers and everything you do. I love each and everyone of you so much. I miss you all tons too but I know you're all doing great and I am too. Well this next week is going to be awesome! We are finally moving this Wednesday, we are doing two trade offs with the zone and district leaders, we have interviews with the mission president, and Shelly and Danielle are getting baptized this week!!! WOW a ton of things are going to happen this week. So can you all please pray that all will work out. And please pray for Shelly and Danielle.
I love you all. Your the best family I could ever ask for. I wish I could be doing all the fun things with you but I'm way glad I'm out here on my mission. Thanks again for everything.
Love Elder Kitchen
Sunday, January 31, 2010
greetings from down under
Hi everyone! How are you doing? Can you believe January is already over?! I cant...time goes by really fast on my mission. We are so involved with the work and we are so busy we loose track of time. I'm glad we are so busy and have so many investigators to look after. The Lord really has blessed me with an incredible mission. We are teaching a lot of investigators and some less active members too. We usually teach a lot of lessons on a normal day. I hope your January was great and I bet your excited for February.
Well it was so nice to read the e mails you sent me. I love reading them so much. I really do miss each and every one of you more than you know and it makes me feel a little bit like I'm home when I read them. I love hearing everything that's going on in your lives and to tell you my cool experiences I'm having out on the mission. This morning we just got back from the temple!! It was my first time going to the temple on my mission. The New Zealand temple is very beautiful inside, and you should see where the temple is. Its just outside of Hamilton in the country. The surrounding area is gorgeous and very very green. I wish you could see how beautiful it is here in New Zealand. Maybe someday. But the temple was amazing. The spirit was very strong and God answered some of my prayers. I love getting away from the world and entering the house of the Lord. It gives us a small taste of how the Celestial Kingdom will be like and how it will be to live with our Father in Heaven for eternity. I pray that each one of you will always live righteously so we can all live with each other in the Celestial Kingdom of God.
Well my week has been really really amazing. Last Monday after I emailed you we went and got a hair cut and played some board games in our flat...we also had to clean it really good so we could move into a new one. We haven't moved yet because we can only clean it certain times during the week and we still have a lot to clean. I hope we will be moving into the new one sometime this week or next. I'm excited because it will be in our area. Tuesday we had district meeting and I gave a ten minute training to the other Elders on Virtue and Knowledge. It was good. We also had a double trade off that day. Elder Sessions went with Brother Chapman from the ward and I went with Brother Willard Sunnex. (he is the son of the brother Sunnex I have talked about in the past) He is about 26 or so he is awesome. We had a great trade off. We went to a lot of lessons and the spirit was defiantly there. It was a really fun trade off and it was nice to go out with someone else. Wednesday was a really great day also. We had a lot of good lessons and were busy the whole day. Thursday was a little rough, the morning was very slow and we didn't have any luck. We didn't have any scheduled appointments and spent most of the day finding. We talked to a lot of people on the streets and found some potential investigators. We had a couple of lessons but lets just say it was a long day.
A part of our area is the ghetto. Its pretty dang bad and very sad to see how some people live. Its not dangerous for us because all the gangsters like us. They all say "brothers" its funny. But I felt so grateful for everything I had and for you guys and how I had such an amazing life before my mission. We really are blessed so much. Thank you so much for everything guys! I love you so much!
Well Friday was the big day. We woke up at 4 in the morning and our district leader picked us up at 5. We had to round everyone in the zone up and then finally started on our journey to Auckland. It was so cool to see New Zealand again and see Auckland. Its a really cool city. We all went to a stake center in the north shore. All 200 or so missionaries from the north island were there. It was so cool to see all the missionaries. Before the apostles and general Authorities showed up we had a really awesome testimony meeting. The spirit was so strong and it was so cool to hear all the incredible testimonies from the other missionaries. Then they came. It was awesome we all stood up when they entered and you could just feel the spirit flood the room. There was 2 apostles of Jesus Christ and 5 other general authorities. Elder Cook, Elder Chrisofferson, Bishop Burton, and 4 other members of the seventy. It was SO cool.We got to MEET them all and SHAKE their hands!!!! I got to shake two apostles hands. The whole time they were there with us and were speaking to us i felt the spirit so strong. Right when i shook their hands i just could feel that they are apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ! It was so cool to talk to them and meet them. They both also had really amazing talks and were very powerful when they spoke. I learned a lot from them and learned ways i could be a better missionary. They both bore a powerful testimony on the truthfullness of this church and gospel. Elder Cook said this really is the MOST important thing I could be doing for me and for my family! I'm glad I'm serving the lord and qualifying blessings for me and for you guys. The mission conference was awesome and we drove back to Hamilton after it was over. So we drove there and back in the same day. It only takes about 1 and 30 min to get to Auckland from Hamilton...well I think.
Saturday and Yesterday went really good also. Church was awesome and I love the ward. I am making really good friends with all the ward members. They are all awesome and they treat me like family. I'm being really well looked after here in New Zealand. The members do a lot for us including feeding us all the time. The food here is AMAZING and they also give you a lot of it. We always have desert too. The lord has really blessed me so much. I'm in an incredible mission. I love it so much. I'm doing really good. You don't have to worry about me because the lord is watching over me and giving me so many blessings.
Well I'm glad I could e mail you and tell you some of the experiences I'm having on my mission. I love you all very much. I cant send any pictures this week because my SD card is at a members house because we took a picture of Koutison and he needed it to put on the program.
Well thanks again for everything you do. I love you so much family. I couldn't ask for a better family. I miss you all so much. I'm excited to hear from you next week. Hope you have a great week.
Love Elder Kitchen.
PS our mission broke the mission best record for baptism in January. We are doing miracles in New Zealand.
Well it was so nice to read the e mails you sent me. I love reading them so much. I really do miss each and every one of you more than you know and it makes me feel a little bit like I'm home when I read them. I love hearing everything that's going on in your lives and to tell you my cool experiences I'm having out on the mission. This morning we just got back from the temple!! It was my first time going to the temple on my mission. The New Zealand temple is very beautiful inside, and you should see where the temple is. Its just outside of Hamilton in the country. The surrounding area is gorgeous and very very green. I wish you could see how beautiful it is here in New Zealand. Maybe someday. But the temple was amazing. The spirit was very strong and God answered some of my prayers. I love getting away from the world and entering the house of the Lord. It gives us a small taste of how the Celestial Kingdom will be like and how it will be to live with our Father in Heaven for eternity. I pray that each one of you will always live righteously so we can all live with each other in the Celestial Kingdom of God.
Well my week has been really really amazing. Last Monday after I emailed you we went and got a hair cut and played some board games in our flat...we also had to clean it really good so we could move into a new one. We haven't moved yet because we can only clean it certain times during the week and we still have a lot to clean. I hope we will be moving into the new one sometime this week or next. I'm excited because it will be in our area. Tuesday we had district meeting and I gave a ten minute training to the other Elders on Virtue and Knowledge. It was good. We also had a double trade off that day. Elder Sessions went with Brother Chapman from the ward and I went with Brother Willard Sunnex. (he is the son of the brother Sunnex I have talked about in the past) He is about 26 or so he is awesome. We had a great trade off. We went to a lot of lessons and the spirit was defiantly there. It was a really fun trade off and it was nice to go out with someone else. Wednesday was a really great day also. We had a lot of good lessons and were busy the whole day. Thursday was a little rough, the morning was very slow and we didn't have any luck. We didn't have any scheduled appointments and spent most of the day finding. We talked to a lot of people on the streets and found some potential investigators. We had a couple of lessons but lets just say it was a long day.
A part of our area is the ghetto. Its pretty dang bad and very sad to see how some people live. Its not dangerous for us because all the gangsters like us. They all say "brothers" its funny. But I felt so grateful for everything I had and for you guys and how I had such an amazing life before my mission. We really are blessed so much. Thank you so much for everything guys! I love you so much!
Well Friday was the big day. We woke up at 4 in the morning and our district leader picked us up at 5. We had to round everyone in the zone up and then finally started on our journey to Auckland. It was so cool to see New Zealand again and see Auckland. Its a really cool city. We all went to a stake center in the north shore. All 200 or so missionaries from the north island were there. It was so cool to see all the missionaries. Before the apostles and general Authorities showed up we had a really awesome testimony meeting. The spirit was so strong and it was so cool to hear all the incredible testimonies from the other missionaries. Then they came. It was awesome we all stood up when they entered and you could just feel the spirit flood the room. There was 2 apostles of Jesus Christ and 5 other general authorities. Elder Cook, Elder Chrisofferson, Bishop Burton, and 4 other members of the seventy. It was SO cool.We got to MEET them all and SHAKE their hands!!!! I got to shake two apostles hands. The whole time they were there with us and were speaking to us i felt the spirit so strong. Right when i shook their hands i just could feel that they are apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ! It was so cool to talk to them and meet them. They both also had really amazing talks and were very powerful when they spoke. I learned a lot from them and learned ways i could be a better missionary. They both bore a powerful testimony on the truthfullness of this church and gospel. Elder Cook said this really is the MOST important thing I could be doing for me and for my family! I'm glad I'm serving the lord and qualifying blessings for me and for you guys. The mission conference was awesome and we drove back to Hamilton after it was over. So we drove there and back in the same day. It only takes about 1 and 30 min to get to Auckland from Hamilton...well I think.
Saturday and Yesterday went really good also. Church was awesome and I love the ward. I am making really good friends with all the ward members. They are all awesome and they treat me like family. I'm being really well looked after here in New Zealand. The members do a lot for us including feeding us all the time. The food here is AMAZING and they also give you a lot of it. We always have desert too. The lord has really blessed me so much. I'm in an incredible mission. I love it so much. I'm doing really good. You don't have to worry about me because the lord is watching over me and giving me so many blessings.
Well I'm glad I could e mail you and tell you some of the experiences I'm having on my mission. I love you all very much. I cant send any pictures this week because my SD card is at a members house because we took a picture of Koutison and he needed it to put on the program.
Well thanks again for everything you do. I love you so much family. I couldn't ask for a better family. I miss you all so much. I'm excited to hear from you next week. Hope you have a great week.
Love Elder Kitchen.
PS our mission broke the mission best record for baptism in January. We are doing miracles in New Zealand.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Another Baptism
Hello family!! It was so nice to read your e mails you wrote me. Thank you so much for giving me an update on your life and everything you have been up to. I love reading them so much. It is so nice to hear from my family. I really miss you all so much and love each one of you. I cant focus on the letters or thinking about you to much because I start getting home sick and stuff. But I'm okay, I'm doing great and loving my mission so much. So don't stop sending emails because I love reading them.
Well a quick overview of my week...My week was really really good. We focused a lot of Koutison! He was doing so good, and YES this Saturday Jan 23 he was baptized! It was incredible. I felt the spirit so strong...Bro Hupi baptized him. We wanted a member to baptize him because we leave eventually and the members stay. Well Koutison said he has never been happier and he felt so clean. When he gave him the Holy Ghost on Sunday it was amazing. I felt the spirit so strong. This really is life changing work I'm doing. It is absolutely incredible to see someone accept the gospel in their life and be baptized. I love the feeling. Well we have had a ton of lessons this week. A lot of our investigators are progressing. It is awesome. Oh yeah me and Elder Sessions are moving into a flat (apartment) in our area. Its a really nice one. I'm excited to move. We probably will sometime next week or something. We have to clean this one we are in first. Well we have an apostle coming to our mission this Friday. I'm excited, we will be traveling up to Auckland. It is going to be so cool.
I'm really glad that everyone is OK and doing well. I'm also glad that it is snowing there so you guys can go snowboarding! Yes, it has rained a ton more lately here. One night I thought it was going to flood. It was a huge storm and the lightning woke us up because it was so loud. Me and Elder Sessions are getting along pretty good. We have our moments and stuff but its all good. I'm sorry I haven't sent anymore pictures. I takes forever to send them . I'm thinking about maybe just printing them out and them sending them to you in a letter or something...but we will see. Well I'm really glad you felt the spirit while reading my testimony, it really has strengthened so much. I've learned so much already and have grown a lot in the gospel. I hope all is well with the family. I'm so glad you are receiving blessings from God, I know He will continue to bless you more.
Well tell grandma and grandpa (both sets) I love them so much and am going to write them a letter. Tell all my friends (well any of them if you can) that I miss them and love them, and cousins and everything, I'm just so busy. Thanks for everything. I can feel your prayers! Have a great week. I miss you and pray for you every night. Your the best! Love you.
Elder Kitchen
Well a quick overview of my week...My week was really really good. We focused a lot of Koutison! He was doing so good, and YES this Saturday Jan 23 he was baptized! It was incredible. I felt the spirit so strong...Bro Hupi baptized him. We wanted a member to baptize him because we leave eventually and the members stay. Well Koutison said he has never been happier and he felt so clean. When he gave him the Holy Ghost on Sunday it was amazing. I felt the spirit so strong. This really is life changing work I'm doing. It is absolutely incredible to see someone accept the gospel in their life and be baptized. I love the feeling. Well we have had a ton of lessons this week. A lot of our investigators are progressing. It is awesome. Oh yeah me and Elder Sessions are moving into a flat (apartment) in our area. Its a really nice one. I'm excited to move. We probably will sometime next week or something. We have to clean this one we are in first. Well we have an apostle coming to our mission this Friday. I'm excited, we will be traveling up to Auckland. It is going to be so cool.
I'm really glad that everyone is OK and doing well. I'm also glad that it is snowing there so you guys can go snowboarding! Yes, it has rained a ton more lately here. One night I thought it was going to flood. It was a huge storm and the lightning woke us up because it was so loud. Me and Elder Sessions are getting along pretty good. We have our moments and stuff but its all good. I'm sorry I haven't sent anymore pictures. I takes forever to send them . I'm thinking about maybe just printing them out and them sending them to you in a letter or something...but we will see. Well I'm really glad you felt the spirit while reading my testimony, it really has strengthened so much. I've learned so much already and have grown a lot in the gospel. I hope all is well with the family. I'm so glad you are receiving blessings from God, I know He will continue to bless you more.
Well tell grandma and grandpa (both sets) I love them so much and am going to write them a letter. Tell all my friends (well any of them if you can) that I miss them and love them, and cousins and everything, I'm just so busy. Thanks for everything. I can feel your prayers! Have a great week. I miss you and pray for you every night. Your the best! Love you.
Elder Kitchen
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Busy, Busy, Busy
Hi guys! How's my awesome family doing?! Its so nice that I get to email you today! I'm excited because I have 2 hours to email today so I will be able to catch up on reading all your emails and sending you all my experiences!
Well first things first! I just wanted to let you know that I got your other package! I forgot to tell you last time. Thank you so much for everything it was awesome. I enjoyed the letters and reading all the cool experiences. Thanks for all the cool things in the package and for the candy. Oh yeah the christmas card was way cool. It looks really good, you did a great job mom! :) and I liked the letter a lot. But I loved the way cool missionary stocking!! It was So awesome. Its so cool me and Elder Sessions thought it was so awesome and we were laughing cuz its so funny. I like how there is a litte tag and everything. Thanks for the package.
I forgot to ask about the car accendent Ryan had! That sounded really scary...is he okay and everything. I hope that doesnt happen again.. But other than that how is snowboarding and skiing going for you guys? I bet your enjoying the snow. Is there good skiing this year in Park City? I cant even imagine it snowing in utah right now becasue its so hot here in New Zealand! Today is the first time it has rained in a while...it was looking pretty dry. They dont have sprinklers here so when it doesnt rain for a while it starts looking really dry and not so green and nice.
Thats cool your church time changed, 11 am is your favorite time right? Well when I first got here we had church at 1pm but now because of the new year we changed to 9am so we have early morning church. We have to be there by eight so we can greet everyone coming in. Church is so awesome out in the mission feild, we are so busy and focussed on trying to get all our investigators there and to make sure they have somewhere good to sit. It is aweosme to feel the spirit and to know that they are too. The Claudelands ward I am serving in is great. They all have very strong testimonies and I always feel the spirit in church. I'm glad to be serving in this area.Church was great and we had a lot of investigators there! We had 9!! WOW thats a lot huh!
We had zone conference again on Janurary 7th. We had another one this soon because of the new year. It was SOO good. President Porter is absolutely the best Mission President ever. He has the most powerful testimony. I felt the spirit so so strong. I got pretty dang emotional too! The spirit is so powerful. I forgot to tell you we had transfer calls this last Wednesday, January 13, but Elder Sessions and I are staying.
So I am going to be in the same area with my same companion for at least another six weeks (a transfer). I am glad I am staying because we have a lot of potential baptisms and progressing investigators. I'm excited to see what happens in this next six weeks.
Well I'm going to tell you guys about some of the experiences I had for the week of 1/4/10-1/10/10 because I never did. Well that week was amzing again. We taught a lot of lessons and we had a lot of investigators. Tuesday was incredible. We taught so many lessons! We taught 8 lessons in ONE Day. That is the most even Elder Sessions has ever taught in one day. It was amazing. It was probably one of my favorite days on my mission so far. We had a lesson with Jenny, then a amazing lesson with Lona, Chance, and Safari. I dont know if I told you but Brother Swain is a member that speaks French. He comes out with us and translates what we say. It is the coolest experience to watch us teach and then for him to say it in French. It is amazing so see them feel the spirit. They told us they have been reading and praying. They told us that they all have felt the spirit and they believe it was an answer to their question if what we had been teaching them was ture!! Wow, you dont even know how happy I was. It is the best feeling in the world for someone to say that.
Well we also had a incredible lesson with Kouiston. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. He loved it and understood it all. He said he had been reading and praying. He knows its true and loves us coming over and teaching him. He said he feels peace and happiness when we are teaching him. Awe, it is so awesome.
We had a great lesson with Sister Strawbridge. We also had an amazing lesson with Nicolas and Mikeal. They are feeling the spirit now and they came to church and loved it. I know they are progressing and its so awesome to see because they haven't ever been spirtual and they are pretty rough guys, they smoke, drink and party. But to see them feel the spirit is priceless.
We had an awesome lesson with the Simmions, they are doing really good. They still come to church every sunday.
Well now I will tell you about this week I just barley had Jan. 11-17!
Well first of all. We have had so much success! The Lord is blessing us so much and we are doing our very best to be faithful and qualify for his miracles. I have been praying so much and it has strengthened my faith so much.
Last monday we played volleyball for 4 hours!! It was so fun. We got to play with some New Zealand professional volleyball players! They were so good. They are some invesitators of Elder King and Elder Bapcocks. On Tuesday we had an aweome district meeting and then had a cool experience with the Lua Lua's at the visitor center. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and went on a tour, I think it was really really good for them. We had an amazing lesson with Shelly and Danelle that night too. They are both struggling on reading but Shelly said she knows its true and wants to be baptized!! Danelle has had a lot of anti mormon stuff but since we have been praying and have had a lot of spirit filled lessons she finally said she believes in it! We were so happy. She said she just wants to gain a little stronger testimony before she gets baptized.
Wednesday was another awesome day. We had some really good lessons in the morning and then went to the visitor center with the Simmions. It was awesome. They felt the spirit really strong in the Joseph Smith movie they said. The only bad thing is we found out they are moving on the 22 of this month, so this Friday, ugh we are so sad. They were progressing so good and we were about to set them with a baptism date. Oh well they said they are going to meet with some missionaries where they are moving. Oh yeah Kousiton went to the V.C. too. We had a really good lesson with Nicolas and Mike and Jordan that night too.
Well I forgot to tell you we set Kouiston for baptism on the January 23!! Thats this Saturday!! He is so excited. We have had a lot of lessons with him, he has come to church 3 times in a row and I know he is ready. We have a lesson with him tonight on the law of chasitsy and tithing. The word of wisdom lesson went great last time and he has no problems with that! Well I will let you know all about his baptism in the next email. But please keep him in your prayers and that he will have a very spirtual experience this Saturday.
Oh yeah on Wed night we had a bad experience. It was my very first bible bash experience. It was Elder Sessions worst one he has ever had. We didn't mean to do it at all! His name is Caleb, he was really nice and we met him tracting, he invited us over again so went on Wed. He and his wife were there. We got to know them and they are both really nice young adults. Well long story short he just wanted to try and prove why we are wrong and how Joseph Smith was a fraud. He was like yelling and swearing! It was not a fun experience. We knew it was not good because the spirit was not there. We kindly said we had to go. We both learned a good lesson. Bible bashing is stupid and gets you no where.
Well the rest of the week was incredible. Wow I cant even tell you guys how awesome it is to be on a mission. Not only that but the Lord is giving us so many amazing experiences. We have so many lessons a day. We meet lots of new poteial investigators and we feel the spirit so strong as we testify about truth the whole day. I love being on a mission. My testimony has gotten so strong. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. This is the most important thing I've ever done in my life. I am helping to save souls, I'm bringing them to Christ, I'm bringing them back to their Heavenly Father. I have wittnessed miracles here on my mission so far. I have strengthened my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They are so more real and I feel really close to them. I've learned so much about life and about the gospel on my mission. I'm getting so much better at teaching the lessons. I'm becoming a better son of God and a better person. I'm learning so much about the whole point of life and that compared to eternity, life doesn't really matter that much. Of course it is so unbelievably important, but I mean worldly or things that take us away from God don't matter. I want each of you to know that I love you so much. I want to let you know that Heavenly Father loves you so much. That He truely is there, that He wants us to be happy, and that the gospel is THE only true happiness. I know with all my heart that this is THE only true chruch. I know that Jesus Christ died for us and that he made it possible for us to repent. Please let the Atonement work in your life, I've been learning so much more about it and what He went through. Its unbelievable. I know that if we do our very best and keep the commandments, repent, and live like our Savior and His gospel, we will have eternal life.
Well I love you all so much. Thank you again for everything. Your truly the best family I could ever ask for. I think and pray about each and every one of you all the time. I'm very thankful for your prayers for me and everything you do. I want you all to know I love it here. I'm very thankful to be serving God and doing something to repay what Jesus Chrsit did for me. I miss you so much. I miss everything about you. I miss spending time with you and even seeing your faces but I know this is where I'm suposed to be. Well, have a great week. Be safe and keep having fun. Well I love you!! Have a great week.
Love Elder Kitchen
Well first things first! I just wanted to let you know that I got your other package! I forgot to tell you last time. Thank you so much for everything it was awesome. I enjoyed the letters and reading all the cool experiences. Thanks for all the cool things in the package and for the candy. Oh yeah the christmas card was way cool. It looks really good, you did a great job mom! :) and I liked the letter a lot. But I loved the way cool missionary stocking!! It was So awesome. Its so cool me and Elder Sessions thought it was so awesome and we were laughing cuz its so funny. I like how there is a litte tag and everything. Thanks for the package.
I forgot to ask about the car accendent Ryan had! That sounded really scary...is he okay and everything. I hope that doesnt happen again.. But other than that how is snowboarding and skiing going for you guys? I bet your enjoying the snow. Is there good skiing this year in Park City? I cant even imagine it snowing in utah right now becasue its so hot here in New Zealand! Today is the first time it has rained in a while...it was looking pretty dry. They dont have sprinklers here so when it doesnt rain for a while it starts looking really dry and not so green and nice.
Thats cool your church time changed, 11 am is your favorite time right? Well when I first got here we had church at 1pm but now because of the new year we changed to 9am so we have early morning church. We have to be there by eight so we can greet everyone coming in. Church is so awesome out in the mission feild, we are so busy and focussed on trying to get all our investigators there and to make sure they have somewhere good to sit. It is aweosme to feel the spirit and to know that they are too. The Claudelands ward I am serving in is great. They all have very strong testimonies and I always feel the spirit in church. I'm glad to be serving in this area.Church was great and we had a lot of investigators there! We had 9!! WOW thats a lot huh!
We had zone conference again on Janurary 7th. We had another one this soon because of the new year. It was SOO good. President Porter is absolutely the best Mission President ever. He has the most powerful testimony. I felt the spirit so so strong. I got pretty dang emotional too! The spirit is so powerful. I forgot to tell you we had transfer calls this last Wednesday, January 13, but Elder Sessions and I are staying.
So I am going to be in the same area with my same companion for at least another six weeks (a transfer). I am glad I am staying because we have a lot of potential baptisms and progressing investigators. I'm excited to see what happens in this next six weeks.
Well I'm going to tell you guys about some of the experiences I had for the week of 1/4/10-1/10/10 because I never did. Well that week was amzing again. We taught a lot of lessons and we had a lot of investigators. Tuesday was incredible. We taught so many lessons! We taught 8 lessons in ONE Day. That is the most even Elder Sessions has ever taught in one day. It was amazing. It was probably one of my favorite days on my mission so far. We had a lesson with Jenny, then a amazing lesson with Lona, Chance, and Safari. I dont know if I told you but Brother Swain is a member that speaks French. He comes out with us and translates what we say. It is the coolest experience to watch us teach and then for him to say it in French. It is amazing so see them feel the spirit. They told us they have been reading and praying. They told us that they all have felt the spirit and they believe it was an answer to their question if what we had been teaching them was ture!! Wow, you dont even know how happy I was. It is the best feeling in the world for someone to say that.
Well we also had a incredible lesson with Kouiston. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. He loved it and understood it all. He said he had been reading and praying. He knows its true and loves us coming over and teaching him. He said he feels peace and happiness when we are teaching him. Awe, it is so awesome.
We had a great lesson with Sister Strawbridge. We also had an amazing lesson with Nicolas and Mikeal. They are feeling the spirit now and they came to church and loved it. I know they are progressing and its so awesome to see because they haven't ever been spirtual and they are pretty rough guys, they smoke, drink and party. But to see them feel the spirit is priceless.
We had an awesome lesson with the Simmions, they are doing really good. They still come to church every sunday.
Well now I will tell you about this week I just barley had Jan. 11-17!
Well first of all. We have had so much success! The Lord is blessing us so much and we are doing our very best to be faithful and qualify for his miracles. I have been praying so much and it has strengthened my faith so much.
Last monday we played volleyball for 4 hours!! It was so fun. We got to play with some New Zealand professional volleyball players! They were so good. They are some invesitators of Elder King and Elder Bapcocks. On Tuesday we had an aweome district meeting and then had a cool experience with the Lua Lua's at the visitor center. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and went on a tour, I think it was really really good for them. We had an amazing lesson with Shelly and Danelle that night too. They are both struggling on reading but Shelly said she knows its true and wants to be baptized!! Danelle has had a lot of anti mormon stuff but since we have been praying and have had a lot of spirit filled lessons she finally said she believes in it! We were so happy. She said she just wants to gain a little stronger testimony before she gets baptized.
Wednesday was another awesome day. We had some really good lessons in the morning and then went to the visitor center with the Simmions. It was awesome. They felt the spirit really strong in the Joseph Smith movie they said. The only bad thing is we found out they are moving on the 22 of this month, so this Friday, ugh we are so sad. They were progressing so good and we were about to set them with a baptism date. Oh well they said they are going to meet with some missionaries where they are moving. Oh yeah Kousiton went to the V.C. too. We had a really good lesson with Nicolas and Mike and Jordan that night too.
Well I forgot to tell you we set Kouiston for baptism on the January 23!! Thats this Saturday!! He is so excited. We have had a lot of lessons with him, he has come to church 3 times in a row and I know he is ready. We have a lesson with him tonight on the law of chasitsy and tithing. The word of wisdom lesson went great last time and he has no problems with that! Well I will let you know all about his baptism in the next email. But please keep him in your prayers and that he will have a very spirtual experience this Saturday.
Oh yeah on Wed night we had a bad experience. It was my very first bible bash experience. It was Elder Sessions worst one he has ever had. We didn't mean to do it at all! His name is Caleb, he was really nice and we met him tracting, he invited us over again so went on Wed. He and his wife were there. We got to know them and they are both really nice young adults. Well long story short he just wanted to try and prove why we are wrong and how Joseph Smith was a fraud. He was like yelling and swearing! It was not a fun experience. We knew it was not good because the spirit was not there. We kindly said we had to go. We both learned a good lesson. Bible bashing is stupid and gets you no where.
Well the rest of the week was incredible. Wow I cant even tell you guys how awesome it is to be on a mission. Not only that but the Lord is giving us so many amazing experiences. We have so many lessons a day. We meet lots of new poteial investigators and we feel the spirit so strong as we testify about truth the whole day. I love being on a mission. My testimony has gotten so strong. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. This is the most important thing I've ever done in my life. I am helping to save souls, I'm bringing them to Christ, I'm bringing them back to their Heavenly Father. I have wittnessed miracles here on my mission so far. I have strengthened my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They are so more real and I feel really close to them. I've learned so much about life and about the gospel on my mission. I'm getting so much better at teaching the lessons. I'm becoming a better son of God and a better person. I'm learning so much about the whole point of life and that compared to eternity, life doesn't really matter that much. Of course it is so unbelievably important, but I mean worldly or things that take us away from God don't matter. I want each of you to know that I love you so much. I want to let you know that Heavenly Father loves you so much. That He truely is there, that He wants us to be happy, and that the gospel is THE only true happiness. I know with all my heart that this is THE only true chruch. I know that Jesus Christ died for us and that he made it possible for us to repent. Please let the Atonement work in your life, I've been learning so much more about it and what He went through. Its unbelievable. I know that if we do our very best and keep the commandments, repent, and live like our Savior and His gospel, we will have eternal life.
Well I love you all so much. Thank you again for everything. Your truly the best family I could ever ask for. I think and pray about each and every one of you all the time. I'm very thankful for your prayers for me and everything you do. I want you all to know I love it here. I'm very thankful to be serving God and doing something to repay what Jesus Chrsit did for me. I miss you so much. I miss everything about you. I miss spending time with you and even seeing your faces but I know this is where I'm suposed to be. Well, have a great week. Be safe and keep having fun. Well I love you!! Have a great week.
Love Elder Kitchen
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Tylers first baptism!
Okay so your probably wondering about what happened last week. I had typed and sent that one email you got and then I spent 30 min typing the other email which had a TON of cool experiences and information on it. There is a timer on the computer and once the time ends it just shuts off. It said there was 3 minutes left and I was about to finish and send it WHEN IT SHUT OFF! so the ENTIRE EMAIL I had just spent 30 min typing deleted...ugh I was so mad. So sorry about that.
Well first of all Hello Family! :) I am so excited to be emailing you today! I look forward to emails every week. I love reading all your emails and then telling you experiences I am having on my mission. I hope you all are doing really good and your loving your holidays. I am doing great out in the mission field!
Well I never really got to say HAPPY NEW YEARS!! I cant believe its already 2010! I am going to be in New Zealand for this whole entire year! I will never see the states for the year 2010. Well New Years Day was really good for me. How was your New Years Eve and day?? What did you do?
At 2 we had dinner with the Sunnexs! It was so good, they always feed us a ton of food and its all really good. We also had some really good lessons with some investigators and we also met a lot of people. I forgot if I have already told you about Nicolas and Mike, but Nicolas is 21 years old and Mike is 19! They are really nice Maori kids but they are pretty rough. We met Nicolas and his daughter on the street and he told us to come back. Anyways we have been teaching them and the spirit has been really strong. They said the believe us and we tell them to pray to know that it is true. I'm really excited to see what happens.
Well Saturday was absolutely incredible!! We had some really good lessons with Koutsion, Shiva, and sister Sing. We taught Koutison (he is a kid from Kidibus Islands and he is 15) we taught him the first lesson and he loved it! He said he would read and pray! The spirit Was SOO strong...it was an amazing lesson. The other lessons went SO good too...sorry I don't have a lot of time to explain them each, BUT the most important thing I wanted to tell you was Ramesh's BAPTISM!!
Ramesh's baptism started at 4:00 on January 2nd. It was so cool to change into white clothes and get ready for the program. Me and Ramesh took pictures before. I will send you some. But I was so full of the spirit and couldn't wait to baptize him. I was really nervous too. But just the thought that I was going to baptize someone into the Kingdom of God was overwhelming. The program went really well. The music was awesome and the speakers were great! Then it was the time for us to go to the font. Me and Ramesh entered into the water...it was freezing!! Then I told him what to do. Wow this was it... I looked up and there was a ton of people staring at me!! I couldn't believe I was actually baptizing someone! This was my first baptism! I raised my arms to the square and said those sacred words!! Then I immersed him into the water..I did it perfect...we didn't have to do it again. After I brought him up I gave him a hug. He said thank you so much. He said he felt so good and he felt clean. He said he had never been more happy in his life. It was a unbelievable feeling. I was so happy. It felt so good, I was so glad he had felt the spirit so strong. After wards we changed (which of course I forgot a towel and dry clothes) but luckily some of the members had a dry white shirt and a towel. I had to wear wet garmets though) but the rest of the program was great. My favorite part was the hear Ramesh's testimony!! It was so cool. He explained how happy he was and that he had found the restored gospel in his life. AWE, I will never forget my first experience baptizing someone. It was incredible.
His name is Ramesh Kuruva and he is from India!
Wow Sunday was also an incredible amazing day!! We taught some really awesome lessons and the spirit was so strong. But I want to tell you the experience with Kevin. He is about 45 years old and is a Maori guy. From talking to him we could tell he has hit rock bottom in his life sometimes. He has gone to prison and had a horrible life, and he changed his life totally around. He is a very spiritual guy. He loves Jesus Christ and God, he knows a lot about the bible and reads it every day. He loves church but recently stopped going because he didn't understand why there was so many churches. Long story short we HAD AN AMAZING lesson on the restoration. The spirit would seriously tell me exactly what to say and right after I would say something he would say "its funny how you say that because...." then he would explain how that related to him. He compared himself to Joseph Smith because he is searching for the truth too. He loved the first vision experience and said he felt good. He told us he would read and pray about what we taught him! I was so excited to go back and see him.
Well anyways last week was unreal. Way cool experiences and the spirit was so strong. I wish my email would have sent last week but oh well at least you can read it now. This week has been INCREDIBLE TOO!! I will have to send you some emails later on today and tell you all the cool things we have had happen to us this week. Well sorry about not sending you any pictures...I will try and send some right now. Well I love you all so much!! I miss you a lot but wouldn't want to be anywhere else then serving our Heavenly Father. New Zealand is so awesome. I hope your enjoying winter sports and Utah. I hope you have a great new year! I love you so much.
Love Elder Kitchen
Well first of all Hello Family! :) I am so excited to be emailing you today! I look forward to emails every week. I love reading all your emails and then telling you experiences I am having on my mission. I hope you all are doing really good and your loving your holidays. I am doing great out in the mission field!
Well I never really got to say HAPPY NEW YEARS!! I cant believe its already 2010! I am going to be in New Zealand for this whole entire year! I will never see the states for the year 2010. Well New Years Day was really good for me. How was your New Years Eve and day?? What did you do?
At 2 we had dinner with the Sunnexs! It was so good, they always feed us a ton of food and its all really good. We also had some really good lessons with some investigators and we also met a lot of people. I forgot if I have already told you about Nicolas and Mike, but Nicolas is 21 years old and Mike is 19! They are really nice Maori kids but they are pretty rough. We met Nicolas and his daughter on the street and he told us to come back. Anyways we have been teaching them and the spirit has been really strong. They said the believe us and we tell them to pray to know that it is true. I'm really excited to see what happens.
Well Saturday was absolutely incredible!! We had some really good lessons with Koutsion, Shiva, and sister Sing. We taught Koutison (he is a kid from Kidibus Islands and he is 15) we taught him the first lesson and he loved it! He said he would read and pray! The spirit Was SOO strong...it was an amazing lesson. The other lessons went SO good too...sorry I don't have a lot of time to explain them each, BUT the most important thing I wanted to tell you was Ramesh's BAPTISM!!
Ramesh's baptism started at 4:00 on January 2nd. It was so cool to change into white clothes and get ready for the program. Me and Ramesh took pictures before. I will send you some. But I was so full of the spirit and couldn't wait to baptize him. I was really nervous too. But just the thought that I was going to baptize someone into the Kingdom of God was overwhelming. The program went really well. The music was awesome and the speakers were great! Then it was the time for us to go to the font. Me and Ramesh entered into the water...it was freezing!! Then I told him what to do. Wow this was it... I looked up and there was a ton of people staring at me!! I couldn't believe I was actually baptizing someone! This was my first baptism! I raised my arms to the square and said those sacred words!! Then I immersed him into the water..I did it perfect...we didn't have to do it again. After I brought him up I gave him a hug. He said thank you so much. He said he felt so good and he felt clean. He said he had never been more happy in his life. It was a unbelievable feeling. I was so happy. It felt so good, I was so glad he had felt the spirit so strong. After wards we changed (which of course I forgot a towel and dry clothes) but luckily some of the members had a dry white shirt and a towel. I had to wear wet garmets though) but the rest of the program was great. My favorite part was the hear Ramesh's testimony!! It was so cool. He explained how happy he was and that he had found the restored gospel in his life. AWE, I will never forget my first experience baptizing someone. It was incredible.
His name is Ramesh Kuruva and he is from India!
Wow Sunday was also an incredible amazing day!! We taught some really awesome lessons and the spirit was so strong. But I want to tell you the experience with Kevin. He is about 45 years old and is a Maori guy. From talking to him we could tell he has hit rock bottom in his life sometimes. He has gone to prison and had a horrible life, and he changed his life totally around. He is a very spiritual guy. He loves Jesus Christ and God, he knows a lot about the bible and reads it every day. He loves church but recently stopped going because he didn't understand why there was so many churches. Long story short we HAD AN AMAZING lesson on the restoration. The spirit would seriously tell me exactly what to say and right after I would say something he would say "its funny how you say that because...." then he would explain how that related to him. He compared himself to Joseph Smith because he is searching for the truth too. He loved the first vision experience and said he felt good. He told us he would read and pray about what we taught him! I was so excited to go back and see him.
Well anyways last week was unreal. Way cool experiences and the spirit was so strong. I wish my email would have sent last week but oh well at least you can read it now. This week has been INCREDIBLE TOO!! I will have to send you some emails later on today and tell you all the cool things we have had happen to us this week. Well sorry about not sending you any pictures...I will try and send some right now. Well I love you all so much!! I miss you a lot but wouldn't want to be anywhere else then serving our Heavenly Father. New Zealand is so awesome. I hope your enjoying winter sports and Utah. I hope you have a great new year! I love you so much.
Love Elder Kitchen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)