A new companion

This week has been another crazy week.  We had transfers so we spent Tuesday night in the Pahiatua flat. We didn't get there till 12:00am. Elder Chong had to pack all his gear so it was absolutely crazy!

I have a new companion, Elder Suard. Elder Suard is awesome.  He is from Tahiti and he knows 4 languages! He bodybuilds, he boxed and does heaps of stuff. I am excited to be his companion, we are going to have a great time here.

My companions

Elder Chong, Elder Shaw, Elder Suard

Tim Tam Slam

Elder Suard and I (with the Avengers)

Goodbye Elder Chong!

We also had a boil up with the Riwai Family

The Boil Up

Awesome Riwai Family

After picking up my new companion, Elder Suard, we headed off on exchanges with Pahiatua so that they would be finished early, during the exchange we went to the Waihi Falls and to the Ocean. We were on our way to visit someone and because we were only 10 minutes away from the ocean we thought we would stop and grab some pictures. It was a beautiful day and I hadn't been to the ocean on a beautiful day yet!

Then on the way to Pahiatua we took a slight detour to visit Waihi falls! it was in the middle of no where, but it was awesome! You could hear the water running from where we parked the car.

The countryside is beautiful here. So green!

Unfortunately, as a bonus, we found a random dead sheep. We had to take a picture!

I love New Zealand. I love the people. I love the countryside. But more than anything I love missionary work.  It is truly a blessing to serve here and to love this people. I am grateful for the blessings I've had this past week.

Ka Kite!

Let it Snow!

This week it snowed! I couldn't believe it!! The hills that are usually a rich beautiful green had a complete white out.  It has been freezing, but hey, I'm from Canada... and I should be used to it.  

 

I'm still in awe every day at how beautiful it is here. The photos don't do it justice. But I take lot of pictures to remind me of it.

On Thursday we got a call from the Assistants and they notified me that I would be training a brand new missionary.  This trust they have put in me is kind of frightening but also will be such a blessing to meet a brand new missionary and have the opportunity to transition him from the MTC to the mission field as Elder Chong has done for me. Since Elder Chong is leaving he has been saying goodbye to lots of people so we have been making lots of visits to members... well to everyone really! It has been an exciting week. I will be staying in Dannevirke and I might even be here for another two transfers! I'm excited to meet Elder Suard and show him around beautiful Dannevirke.

To end, a picture of some cows that reminded me of a story from home when my mom saw a bunch of cows that were mesmerized by police car lights.  These ones were so confused because we were mooing at them... This picture is for you mom :-)

This picture is of a beautiful venison steak with potato's and pumpkin! Yum!!

And finally, Eketuhanua, the white kiwi

A tale of two winters...

I guess it's summer in Calgary - and from what I hear you are all experiencing a lot of heat! I thought two winters in a row wouldn't be bad, but man I miss the summer heat!  But I am in New Zealand and I really can't complain.

Elder Chong and I celebrated Canada Day. A member in the branch lent me their Canadian Flag for some pictures. It was Awesome. I hope you all had a great Canada Day!

I got a package from home! I was so excited to open it and man I really love the tie!! and the candies were a sweet treat too!

To start this week we had exchanges in Pahiatua. I spent two days there and just enjoyed spending time in that area with Elder Mata, I wore my polka dot and he wore his polka dot tie... so we had to get a picture!! It was awesome!

We went out to the Kura (Maori school) and they had a powhiti (welcome) for us! It was so cool! The Kura had a big sign out front that said no English in the school, so if we wanted to speak English we had to do it really quietly.  The powhiti was so cool, the introduced the people int he school then someone from the ward introduced us because we cannot speak Maori. We learned that Tika Tonu, one of the Hakas. We were going to do it for the classes, but as it turns out that was the schools haka, so it would have been rude to do it... but hey, I know a haka now!

We have been teaching some new investigators, it is so cool to teach the lessons, you can feel the spirit so powerfully as we discuss the gospel and help them come closer to Christ. I do love being a missionary! We also had a huge breakfast after the exchanges! 15 eggs, a pack of bacon, spaghetti, chips, bread... it was awesome!

Here are some pictures of L&P, me and Leini's favorite drink.  It was super super cheap and we decided we would get enough fizzy to last us the end of transfer, so there is like HEAPS of it.

We also found this bug on the way to visit someone.  It was dead... and super scary!

We have been working with a lot of new people and it is so cool to have the chance to teach others about the restored gospel. I am grateful for the chance I have to serve a mission in New Zealand and I love the chance I have to become a better disciple of Jesus Christ.

With Love
Elder Shaw