Kia Ora,
I am doing well. I am going to have my first baptism (I will be baptizing R) and V will also be baptized this Saturday but she is going to be baptized by a ward member. The way the time difference works is we are 5 hours ahead on the next day from you guys, I believe. We had a really good week though. We were able to get 9 people to church yesterday and 4 of them have baptismal dates and the others will hopefully this week. There will be the two baptisms this Saturday and then two the next Saturday. Hopefully we can keep it consistent and baptize weekly. My companion keeps telling me that everyone here is expecting a lot out of me. He says that I came pre-trained and that he trains people to be successful. I hope I can live up to everyone's expectations. Oh and I do not have a
Thanksgiving here. And what are Granddad and Grandma doing there? How come no one tells me things like that? I don't even have their email. Thanks again for everything, everyone.
Gram- My P-day is on Mondays which is your Sunday. It is 11 in the morning here right now. Thank you for the story again though. I like those. LOC stands for Law of Chastity and WoW is Word of Wisdom.
Mom- I did receive both of the packages and I just need to remember to bring my camera with me to the cyber cafe place we go to for emails. Also, I will take any extra Halloween candy you want to send. Especially Reeses because we don't have those here.
Dad- Stop hurting yourself!!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Email dated 11/06/11
Disclaimer- we were sending his email at the same time we received this. The daylight savings threw us off.
Kia Ora Everyone,
I'm going to guess that everyone was super busy this week because no one emailed me except my friend who is on a mission. I'm doing well though. Just thought you all should know that our investigators are doing well. We are about to have 5 set for baptism for this month. We already have V set for November 20th, J set for November 26, L set for November 26, and we are about to set R and A for the 26th. It is amazing! L is a Maori lady and she is very interested in learning about what the Mormons are all about. She read in the Book of Mormon and she is continuing to read and we asked her to pray about it. She is going to. She seems to understand everything that we teach which makes it a lot easier. The key to missionary work is to be yourself and be friends with them. J is 17 and we took him to a baptism and he felt overwhelmed by the Spirit and now he is preparing to be baptized. He is awesome. R and A are doing great. There was a period when Elder Whaanga and I were getting worried that they weren't progressing but then we had a lesson with them and asked them," How since we've been coming over has your faith in Jesus Christ grown?" It was truly inspired. They opened up and then the lesson we had after that was amazing. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and R said he wanted to be baptized soon and he asked me if I would do it, that way it would be a new experience for both of us. They are amazing. They keep committing themselves to living the gospel. They committed themselves to LOC, WOW, and now baptism. Another key to missionary work is to use the members of the ward so Mom and Dad, I hope to hear about how you guys are helping the missionaries next time. All of our main investigators came to church this last Sunday and it was amazing because it was fast and testimony meeting. The Spirit is so strong during those meetings. My companion and I are still getting along great and we are pushing each other to become better missionaries. Missionary work is great!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Kia Ora Everyone,
I'm going to guess that everyone was super busy this week because no one emailed me except my friend who is on a mission. I'm doing well though. Just thought you all should know that our investigators are doing well. We are about to have 5 set for baptism for this month. We already have V set for November 20th, J set for November 26, L set for November 26, and we are about to set R and A for the 26th. It is amazing! L is a Maori lady and she is very interested in learning about what the Mormons are all about. She read in the Book of Mormon and she is continuing to read and we asked her to pray about it. She is going to. She seems to understand everything that we teach which makes it a lot easier. The key to missionary work is to be yourself and be friends with them. J is 17 and we took him to a baptism and he felt overwhelmed by the Spirit and now he is preparing to be baptized. He is awesome. R and A are doing great. There was a period when Elder Whaanga and I were getting worried that they weren't progressing but then we had a lesson with them and asked them," How since we've been coming over has your faith in Jesus Christ grown?" It was truly inspired. They opened up and then the lesson we had after that was amazing. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and R said he wanted to be baptized soon and he asked me if I would do it, that way it would be a new experience for both of us. They are amazing. They keep committing themselves to living the gospel. They committed themselves to LOC, WOW, and now baptism. Another key to missionary work is to use the members of the ward so Mom and Dad, I hope to hear about how you guys are helping the missionaries next time. All of our main investigators came to church this last Sunday and it was amazing because it was fast and testimony meeting. The Spirit is so strong during those meetings. My companion and I are still getting along great and we are pushing each other to become better missionaries. Missionary work is great!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Email dated 10/31/11
Kia Ora,
So it sounds like things are going good back home. Things are great here. Everything is still going great here. Everyone is still progressing. We had dinner with A and R this last week and it was amazing. We had a really good spaghetti and some carrot cake for dessert. I love them because they are so awesome. J is awesome as well. He asks all these questions and we are able to answer them and he just understands everything and is able to answer a lot of questions in church. He is so good. V wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she was sick but we were able to see her still and she is still doing great. My companion and I went on trade-offs a lot this week but one of those days he and the companion he had for that day gave her a priesthood blessing to heal her throat and after the blessing she stood up and was healed. It's amazing the power of the priesthood. We also just started teaching this guy named M. He is Croatian and he is learning Spanish for his partner in Chile. He is really time conscious. He records music and we got a cd of his. He plays the trumpet. We didn't get to teach him that much but we taught him the first half of the Restoration. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read and pray about it and he said he would. Everything is going great though. Mom- I got the package this last week but I didn't understand the card because it said that there were some usb's enclosed but there weren't any in it. I was just a bit confused, but thank you for the things that you sent. They don't have reeses here. Hope everything is well with you all.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
So it sounds like things are going good back home. Things are great here. Everything is still going great here. Everyone is still progressing. We had dinner with A and R this last week and it was amazing. We had a really good spaghetti and some carrot cake for dessert. I love them because they are so awesome. J is awesome as well. He asks all these questions and we are able to answer them and he just understands everything and is able to answer a lot of questions in church. He is so good. V wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she was sick but we were able to see her still and she is still doing great. My companion and I went on trade-offs a lot this week but one of those days he and the companion he had for that day gave her a priesthood blessing to heal her throat and after the blessing she stood up and was healed. It's amazing the power of the priesthood. We also just started teaching this guy named M. He is Croatian and he is learning Spanish for his partner in Chile. He is really time conscious. He records music and we got a cd of his. He plays the trumpet. We didn't get to teach him that much but we taught him the first half of the Restoration. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read and pray about it and he said he would. Everything is going great though. Mom- I got the package this last week but I didn't understand the card because it said that there were some usb's enclosed but there weren't any in it. I was just a bit confused, but thank you for the things that you sent. They don't have reeses here. Hope everything is well with you all.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
E-mail dated 10/24/11
Kia Ora Mom and Dad,
So it sounds like Brandon is doing well with missionary work. He will be so prepared for when he goes on his mission. Seriously, going out with the missionaries helped a lot. I think that you teaching the gospel essentials would be great. If you ever need any help just ask the missionaries because they know their stuff, and just be prepared to answer questions because that's all that the gospel essentials teacher here does but then again he is also the ward mission leader. Oh and I haven't gotten the package yet because it takes close to a month for packages to get here. It takes 2 weeks to get to New Zealand and another week to actually get to me. No, I don't wear any hats. They are not allowed but I can wear sunglasses in the car. That's all though. Yes the weather is getting warmer here. I'm almost to the point where I can wear a short sleeve shirt everyday. Our investigators are good. We now have 7 investigators and it is looking like they will all be baptized in November. R and A came to church for the second time yesterday and they seemed to enjoy it and they are still interested in learning more which is great. V and 4 of her 6 children (2 of which are younger than 8) also came to church yesterday and she is totally set to be baptized on the 19th of November. She really wants the blessings of the temple and be able to be sealed to her family for eternity. Her kids are awesome. They are so energetic and really funny, and will most likely be baptized on the same date as their mom. We are also teaching a 17 year old guy who has so many questions. He came to church yesterday as well and he asked so many questions and really liked it. He is going to mutual on Thursday which he will enjoy. Everything is going great here. Love you all.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
So it sounds like Brandon is doing well with missionary work. He will be so prepared for when he goes on his mission. Seriously, going out with the missionaries helped a lot. I think that you teaching the gospel essentials would be great. If you ever need any help just ask the missionaries because they know their stuff, and just be prepared to answer questions because that's all that the gospel essentials teacher here does but then again he is also the ward mission leader. Oh and I haven't gotten the package yet because it takes close to a month for packages to get here. It takes 2 weeks to get to New Zealand and another week to actually get to me. No, I don't wear any hats. They are not allowed but I can wear sunglasses in the car. That's all though. Yes the weather is getting warmer here. I'm almost to the point where I can wear a short sleeve shirt everyday. Our investigators are good. We now have 7 investigators and it is looking like they will all be baptized in November. R and A came to church for the second time yesterday and they seemed to enjoy it and they are still interested in learning more which is great. V and 4 of her 6 children (2 of which are younger than 8) also came to church yesterday and she is totally set to be baptized on the 19th of November. She really wants the blessings of the temple and be able to be sealed to her family for eternity. Her kids are awesome. They are so energetic and really funny, and will most likely be baptized on the same date as their mom. We are also teaching a 17 year old guy who has so many questions. He came to church yesterday as well and he asked so many questions and really liked it. He is going to mutual on Thursday which he will enjoy. Everything is going great here. Love you all.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
E-Mail dated 10/17/11
Kia Ora
Things are going great! The people we met last week are doing awesome. They came to church yesterday and we plan to go see them tonight at 7. They have so many good questions. My companion and I are totally going to baptize them. Also, I got to set another lady to be baptized on the 20th of November. I'm so excited. Her name is V and she is about 36 (I don't actually know) but her children were taken from her and now she is trying to change to get them back. She loves her children so much. She is doing great though. We are also teaching these people named A and V. V is a less active and A is not a member. She wants to be baptized but can't be until she gets married or V moves out and they have a child together that is about 3 months old. They are awesome. She loves to read the Book of Mormon and learn. The weather is ok. It change every day. You can never tell when its going to rain but it rains almost everyday but not always for very long. It's not quite warm out yet. It is some days but not always. My flat is ok. It's really dirty from the last missionaries but it's ok. My companion is awesome. We get along so well and he's the district leader so we are busy all the time. My area is only the West Harbour ward so not that big because its mostly city and we have a car. It's great. I'll definitely put on weight because we have the car and because we get fed so much. We get fed by members every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and it's always a lot. The food is pretty good so far. I haven't had anything that I didn't like so that's good. I love serving a mission. It's so much fun. I already have a really good reputation. My companion says I'm going to make him famous because he is my trainer. It's funny as. Oh and that's a saying here. The people here say things are cool as or funny as or small as. It just means really cool or funny or small. Church was awesome because we had R and A there and we got to get up and bear our testimonies. Oh and my favorite meal was this dinner I had last night. It was this chicken fettucini and a bunch of other stuff like salad and fried potatoes. It was great, and there was this pie afterwards that was good as. It was a Fijoa and apple pie, and the ice cream here is amazing. But sounds like life back home is good. Hope everything is well.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Things are going great! The people we met last week are doing awesome. They came to church yesterday and we plan to go see them tonight at 7. They have so many good questions. My companion and I are totally going to baptize them. Also, I got to set another lady to be baptized on the 20th of November. I'm so excited. Her name is V and she is about 36 (I don't actually know) but her children were taken from her and now she is trying to change to get them back. She loves her children so much. She is doing great though. We are also teaching these people named A and V. V is a less active and A is not a member. She wants to be baptized but can't be until she gets married or V moves out and they have a child together that is about 3 months old. They are awesome. She loves to read the Book of Mormon and learn. The weather is ok. It change every day. You can never tell when its going to rain but it rains almost everyday but not always for very long. It's not quite warm out yet. It is some days but not always. My flat is ok. It's really dirty from the last missionaries but it's ok. My companion is awesome. We get along so well and he's the district leader so we are busy all the time. My area is only the West Harbour ward so not that big because its mostly city and we have a car. It's great. I'll definitely put on weight because we have the car and because we get fed so much. We get fed by members every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and it's always a lot. The food is pretty good so far. I haven't had anything that I didn't like so that's good. I love serving a mission. It's so much fun. I already have a really good reputation. My companion says I'm going to make him famous because he is my trainer. It's funny as. Oh and that's a saying here. The people here say things are cool as or funny as or small as. It just means really cool or funny or small. Church was awesome because we had R and A there and we got to get up and bear our testimonies. Oh and my favorite meal was this dinner I had last night. It was this chicken fettucini and a bunch of other stuff like salad and fried potatoes. It was great, and there was this pie afterwards that was good as. It was a Fijoa and apple pie, and the ice cream here is amazing. But sounds like life back home is good. Hope everything is well.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
E-mail dated 10/10/11
Kia Ora Everyone!
Today is Monday the 10th where I am. I'm a little surprised I didn't have any new mail but that's ok. I've been hard at work this last week since I've gotten here to New Zealand. The first day was pretty cool. I first had to experience an Air New Zealand Flight. It was awesome. There was plenty of leg room and the food was really good. I slept for a majority of the 11 hour flight and the rest of the flight I was eating. After that we went through customs and went and met the AP's and President and Sister Lekias (pronounced Leaky S). We then went to the mission office and got all of our forms and orientation taken care of. During the orientation we had to go out and do what we call Preach By the Way. This just means going and talking to everyone on the street. We're supposed to Preach By the Way in everything we do. Our Missions goal is for each companionship to talk to 150 people at least each week. This is surprisingly easy. We also have a goal of saving 204 souls for this month. This just means baptizing. We have been so busy everyday, it's kind of nice to have a little bit of a break even though its not really a break. We have found a few people to teach. We found this guy named R who is awesome. We found him by Preaching By the Way. He said he was looking for direction in his life and then we talked to him. We got to go teach him and his wife and his 15 month old baby. They are awesome. We found out that he used to be in the top 3 real estate people in New Zealand and that his life kind of crashed and he is a former drug addict and dealer and he is looking to be forgiven, which is where baptism comes in, and they are so keen to read the Book of Mormon. They are totally going to be baptized! We also found this guy named T who lives with his parents. We don't know much about him because we didn't have too long to talk to him. But everything is going well. I found out that I will be in this area most likely for 6 months because I will be trained for my first 12 weeks and then I train someone for 12 weeks. I'm way excited because we are in a choice area. Our goal for November is to save 8 souls at least. Oh and I remembered that I don't have any sweatshirts here either and everything here is really expensive. So could you also send a USB to me and I'll send it back to you with pictures and then we can just do it that way. Oh and Mom, Sister Lekias said that there isn't a blog right now because that takes a lot of time and she hasn't had time but s is thinking she is going to make one so she will email you when she does make one. Also, if you do send a package with a sweatshirt and a usb could you also send a few good cereals because there is only corn flakes here. Other than all that, I love it here. It's awesome. We've gone over to a few member's houses for dinners and I've gotten to experience some interesting food. They have this pasta stuff they call Chop Sui? and its pretty good, but it doesn't look that good. Also they have this one thing that is like a potato that called Taro. It tastes a bit like a potatoe too. And if you haven't noticed I'm picking up the lingo pretty well. Kia Ora means Hello and Thank you. Bench is counter. Honest is like saying Seriously? Ofa Atu means Love you.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Kia Ora,
I forgot to tell you all that I'm in an area called Henderson in the West Harbour ward. My companion's name is Elder Whaanga (all "wh"s here are pronounced as "f" except for like what and stuff like that but for names and stuff its pronounced as an f). My companion is awesome. He is so good at Preaching By the Way, and teaching lessons. I'm going to enjoy this next 3 months with him.
(Mom was bad and forgot they were 17 hours ahead of us so was sending him an email at the same time he sent his to me, so this is reply to my late email)
Kia Ora,
I got it! Everything is great so far. I haven't actually been to my ward yet because we watched General Conference this last weekend. So yes I've seen it twice. And my trainer is so good. I just sent you and email about that actually. And yes being a missionary is awesome. I don't have to worry about anything. I love it over here. Although New Zealand has it's beautiful side it also has another side that you wouldn't expect. It's got great people who are very friendly and open to listening even if they are not interested but all the buildings look very run down at times. I love it all though
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Today is Monday the 10th where I am. I'm a little surprised I didn't have any new mail but that's ok. I've been hard at work this last week since I've gotten here to New Zealand. The first day was pretty cool. I first had to experience an Air New Zealand Flight. It was awesome. There was plenty of leg room and the food was really good. I slept for a majority of the 11 hour flight and the rest of the flight I was eating. After that we went through customs and went and met the AP's and President and Sister Lekias (pronounced Leaky S). We then went to the mission office and got all of our forms and orientation taken care of. During the orientation we had to go out and do what we call Preach By the Way. This just means going and talking to everyone on the street. We're supposed to Preach By the Way in everything we do. Our Missions goal is for each companionship to talk to 150 people at least each week. This is surprisingly easy. We also have a goal of saving 204 souls for this month. This just means baptizing. We have been so busy everyday, it's kind of nice to have a little bit of a break even though its not really a break. We have found a few people to teach. We found this guy named R who is awesome. We found him by Preaching By the Way. He said he was looking for direction in his life and then we talked to him. We got to go teach him and his wife and his 15 month old baby. They are awesome. We found out that he used to be in the top 3 real estate people in New Zealand and that his life kind of crashed and he is a former drug addict and dealer and he is looking to be forgiven, which is where baptism comes in, and they are so keen to read the Book of Mormon. They are totally going to be baptized! We also found this guy named T who lives with his parents. We don't know much about him because we didn't have too long to talk to him. But everything is going well. I found out that I will be in this area most likely for 6 months because I will be trained for my first 12 weeks and then I train someone for 12 weeks. I'm way excited because we are in a choice area. Our goal for November is to save 8 souls at least. Oh and I remembered that I don't have any sweatshirts here either and everything here is really expensive. So could you also send a USB to me and I'll send it back to you with pictures and then we can just do it that way. Oh and Mom, Sister Lekias said that there isn't a blog right now because that takes a lot of time and she hasn't had time but s is thinking she is going to make one so she will email you when she does make one. Also, if you do send a package with a sweatshirt and a usb could you also send a few good cereals because there is only corn flakes here. Other than all that, I love it here. It's awesome. We've gone over to a few member's houses for dinners and I've gotten to experience some interesting food. They have this pasta stuff they call Chop Sui? and its pretty good, but it doesn't look that good. Also they have this one thing that is like a potato that called Taro. It tastes a bit like a potatoe too. And if you haven't noticed I'm picking up the lingo pretty well. Kia Ora means Hello and Thank you. Bench is counter. Honest is like saying Seriously? Ofa Atu means Love you.
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Kia Ora,
I forgot to tell you all that I'm in an area called Henderson in the West Harbour ward. My companion's name is Elder Whaanga (all "wh"s here are pronounced as "f" except for like what and stuff like that but for names and stuff its pronounced as an f). My companion is awesome. He is so good at Preaching By the Way, and teaching lessons. I'm going to enjoy this next 3 months with him.
(Mom was bad and forgot they were 17 hours ahead of us so was sending him an email at the same time he sent his to me, so this is reply to my late email)
Kia Ora,
I got it! Everything is great so far. I haven't actually been to my ward yet because we watched General Conference this last weekend. So yes I've seen it twice. And my trainer is so good. I just sent you and email about that actually. And yes being a missionary is awesome. I don't have to worry about anything. I love it over here. Although New Zealand has it's beautiful side it also has another side that you wouldn't expect. It's got great people who are very friendly and open to listening even if they are not interested but all the buildings look very run down at times. I love it all though
Ofa Atu,
Elder Lee
Email from President Lekias
7A Auburn Street
Takapuna
North Shore City 0622
New Zealand
Phone: 64 9 485 3150
Fax: 64 9 485 3159
2017318@ldschurch.org
6th October 2011
Dear Brother and Sister Lee,
It was a great pleasure to welcome your son, Elder Lee, to the New Zealand Auckland Mission. He arrived in good health, ready to begin his missionary labours with a people who are full of faith and love. He is a credit to you both and I appreciate the privilege of having him here in the mission.
Elder Lee’s new companion is Elder Whaanga, his trainer who will help your son adjust to missionary life. They have been assigned to work in the Henderson area. We are confident that as they work diligently together that the Lord will bless them and they will experience the joy of seeing our Heavenly Father’s children progress towards baptism in His church.
Your son will look forward to your weekly letters of encouragement and support. Monday is his preparation day and the time allocated to him to write emails home to you. All mailed letters should be sent to the Mission Office (see address above).
Thank you for all you have done to prepare your son for his mission. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Sister Lekias and I will do everything in our power to help him have a wonderful and productive mission. We pray the Lord will bless and sustain you in his absence.
Sincerely yours,
President Paul N. Lekias
New Zealand Auckland Mission
Takapuna
North Shore City 0622
New Zealand
Phone: 64 9 485 3150
Fax: 64 9 485 3159
2017318@ldschurch.org
6th October 2011
Dear Brother and Sister Lee,
It was a great pleasure to welcome your son, Elder Lee, to the New Zealand Auckland Mission. He arrived in good health, ready to begin his missionary labours with a people who are full of faith and love. He is a credit to you both and I appreciate the privilege of having him here in the mission.
Elder Lee’s new companion is Elder Whaanga, his trainer who will help your son adjust to missionary life. They have been assigned to work in the Henderson area. We are confident that as they work diligently together that the Lord will bless them and they will experience the joy of seeing our Heavenly Father’s children progress towards baptism in His church.
Your son will look forward to your weekly letters of encouragement and support. Monday is his preparation day and the time allocated to him to write emails home to you. All mailed letters should be sent to the Mission Office (see address above).
Thank you for all you have done to prepare your son for his mission. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Sister Lekias and I will do everything in our power to help him have a wonderful and productive mission. We pray the Lord will bless and sustain you in his absence.
Sincerely yours,
President Paul N. Lekias
New Zealand Auckland Mission
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