E-mail dated 1/15/12

Kia Ora,

So this week was an interesting week. Elder Thomas and I were getting along great and we were doing a lot of teaching and we were just about to get our car back. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, someone had to throw a wrench in it. The day we were supposed to get the car we got a call that I was being emergency shifted. I had about 45 minutes to pack. I got all my stuff packed and was shifted to Waterview Stake. This was one of the stakes that was right next to my previous stake. I am now on a bike covering 2 wards that are both really hilly. I am serving in A and T wards. At first when I got the call, I couldn't help but feel like I did something wrong but that's not true at all. It turned out that the missionary I swapped with (Elder Leetham) had broken his foot on Monday last week and needed to be near a hospital in an area that had a car. It's been a great area though. My new companion, Elder Mariteragi, and I have been working really hard. We had an interesting day the other day. We taught two people who wanted to bash with us and convince us that we were wrong. The first man was a pastor for another church and he said that he knows the Bible is true strictly by the scientific evidence not by God answering his prayers because he believes the Devil can immitate those feelings. The next lesson that day was with a really old lady who was "concerned" for us. She didn't think we believed in Jesus Christ and I replied with my testimony of Jesus Christ being my Savior and Redeemer. She also tried to show us that there have been 3,000 changes to the Book of Mormon and she tried to show us a few changes that she considered big changes, but it was only changing like Mary was the mother of God to Mary was the mother of the Son of God, and this lady had like 40 different versions of the Bible. She started to irritate me and so I chose the wrong and treated it like a game. I replied, "Oh ok well the Book of Mormon may have 3,000 changes but how many changes does the Bible have?" She just stared at the table and mumbled to herself. Then she tried to say something about the founder of our church. She tried to get me to say that Joseph Smith was the founder of our church. She said, "Oh and the founder of your church, what's his name, he did something." I replied, "Do you mean God or Jesus Christ?" Overall, it has been a great week. Elder Mariteragi and I have a baptism coming up this next week and one the week after that. It's pretty exciting. The girl that is getting baptized this week is named T and she is 10 years old. She is very smart though and has heaps of questions. We are busy just trying to make sure everything is ready and taken care of before her baptism. The guy who is getting baptized the next week is named L. He is 16 years old and he is the man. Everything has been going great though, except the weather. It has been impossible to tell whether or not to wear a rain jacket or not. Everyday its rainy then sunny then rainy then sunny then rainy again then sunny again and then rainy again then sunny. It's so dumb! Oh well, I love it here.

Ofa Atu,

Elder Lee

P.S. I attached some pictures of my companions.

Elder Mariteragi

Elder Thomas

E-mail dated 1/8/12

Kia Ora Everyone,

This week has been a really good week. My companion, Elder Thomas, and I get along great. We just have so much fun doing the work and we can just laugh about anything and everything. It's so much fun. We have been teaching some people this last week. It was a bit depressing though because the few sets that we had fell through. No one came to church which was a bit frustrating because I could have sworn they were going to come. They told us the day before that they were excited to come to church but then, J (who is partners with F and we are teaching them both), went to another church with her friend for some reason and so F didn't want to go alone. There's always next week though. We were also a bit sad because we had a set named K who had a funeral in his family unexpectedly and we haven't been able to get ahold of him since. We just need to teach him the Plan of Salvation and then he will be golden. He was also looking forward to coming to church but I don't know what happened. We're praying for miracles though. We also did a lot of door knocking this week. It was funny because we went to this one door and there was a sign that said to not door knock otherwise we would get verbal abuse or rotten fruit thrown at us. We knocked any ways and the lady answered, "Did you not read the sign? So which do you want the rotten fruit or the verbal abuse?" For some reason I couldn't take the situation seriously and so my companion and I kind of chuckled and then gave a smart alec reply. He said, "The rotten fruit please, we just got a recipe for banana cake and we don't have enough rotten bananas." She just shut her door and we left. It was quite funny though. Overall, its been a really good week besides all the rain. It has rained for more than half the week. Right when we thought it finished it rained the very next day. It just keeps coming back! The work is good and we love it. Keep up the good work back home!

Ofa Atu,

Elder Lee

E-Mail 1/2/12

Kia Ora Everyone,

Ketepeha koe? I'm doing great! I got my new companion this last week on Thursday! His name is Elder Thomas. He is from Wellington and is part Samoan and part English. He served in the West Indies for part of his mission but it was getting to dangerous there for missionaries and so he got sent here. He speaks french and so I have been reading from the French Book of Mormon with him and been trying to learn it. I'm starting to understand it pretty well though. This is his last transfer which means I will have killed off two of my companions. I killed off Elder Whaanga and now Elder Thomas. Apparantly no one has ever seen someone kill off two missionaries in a row before. I guess there is a first time for everything. I wasn't in my area for half the week because my companion left and so I was in a threesome for two days. It was a lot of fun though. I got a flat for the first time in my life and I had to fix it. It wasn't actually that hard. Then Thursday came around and I got to go with another missionary for the first half of the day so that our whole district wasn't going to transfers. We just did heaps of service. Then half way through the day I met my companion. We have been working hard ever since. We tried to have a bit of fun with New Years though. My companion bought a 30pk of Coke's and a Sparkling Grape Juice. I got to open the Sparkling Grape Juice and it had a real cork. I shot it off into the neighbor's yard. We are teaching a couple name K and T. They are keen as to learn and when we taught K last he felt the Spirit so strongly when my companion shared the First Vision. It was a great week. I haven't gotten any souvenirs yet but I was thinking about getting a grooming set for shaving and cutting my hair. And Mom, I haven't been at home in like 5 months so I would have no idea where the Xbox remote would be. It sounds like things are getting a bit crazier at home. It sounds like its been fun though.

Ofa Atu,

Elder Lee


Explanation about Xbox controller- He was notorious for taking our controllers to his friends houses to play games. We are now missing one, so I asked him if he knew where it might be. It is still missing. Did he take it to your house by chance?

E-Mail 12/18/11

So this week wasn't that great for me either. I was sick with a bad cough. My companion made me stay with a member for a couple days while he and another member went out and did the work. Oh and so you know i will be calling on boxing day here so Christmas day there. We had our Christmas conference this last week and we were trained by a member of the area presidency. I learned so much. His name was elder Watson. We also had a fireside last night for the missionaries and the people they are teaching. R was one of the speakers. It was an amazing fireside. Overall it was an ok week. I just can't wait for this nasty cough to go away. I also have not gotten the package but I'm sure it will come this week. Hope everything is going well. Talk to you on your Christmas day!