E-Mail Dated 6/18/12

Kia Ora, Happy Father's Day! (I think). Father's Day here isn't until September so I am just making a guess based on your emails. So as you all guessed transfers was this last week. Fortunately, I was not shifted. I'm still in the beautiful land of Tamaki, South Auckland. My companion, Elder Sorensen, however, was shifted to the next stake over (Manurewa). My new companion is named Elder Singh. He is from Fiji, close to the capital Suba. He is Indian, and he is hilarious. He is like an Indian, member version of Sean. I love him already. Oh and he's my junior companion. So I am now a senior companion! This week has been a great learning experience. Taking the lead in this area has been a very daunting task with a lot of worry, but we pulled through and even had a successful week. We were working hard to build people's testimony's in the Book of Mormon by reading with them and showing how it works with the Bible. It was really amazing to see how the people would really open up and seek to read more to know if it's true. We had this awesome lesson with a Filipino man named P who is Catholic but is looking for the truth in his heart. At the end of the lesson he said that he would pray about it when he had some time to ponder on it and wait for the right time. I learned from Elder Singh a great way to address the concern of not praying right then. He explained that there will never be a perfect time to ask and when we procrastinate our prayers then it shows Heavenly Father that we don't really want to know the answer. Also, our set, S P (he's related to our Bishop) came to church yesterday so now that he's been for a total of 3 times he can be baptised this weekend. We are so excited for him. He also came with us to the Come & See Fireside in Mangere. It was a massive one. So many people were there. We were standing about halfway in the gym because there was no room in any of the classrooms or hallways or on the stage or anywhere. The reason why it was so full was because the main speaker was Jonah Lomu. He is a famous as rugby player! He is a recent convert. He got baptised in March. It's so crazy! I can't imagine being the missionaries that taught and baptised him. It was an awesome fireside and it was a great week! I love you all and thank you Gram for the emails. Ofa Atu, Elder Lee Mum- I think I would like the money in my account better that way you don't have to send anything. I don't even know what I would want for my Birthday. And yes it is weird having my birthday in the winter. Also, could you ask Katelyn if she got my letter, I just don't want her thinking I didn't write. I think I'll probably write her again today. Thanks Mum. Love you.

E-Mail Dated 11/10/12

Kia Ora, Man, it's so crazy that Brandon is graduating on Tuesday! He is free to use whatever I left in that Tupperware with Ryan. He would need to ask Ryan where it is though. Also I had my graduation party at the Goodfellow's I believe. Any ways, we had a great week this week in some aspects. We had a miracle where we had received a referral from our Mission Office and so we were trying to contact him all last weekend and we didn't get a hold of him until Wednesday this last week. His name is S and apparently he called the Mission Office to know how he could get baptised in the Mormon church. When we finally met him, he told us his story about how he used to live in West Valley, Utah and had been to see the temple and the Conference centre. He then got deported for a felony and was living in Mangere which is a little bit West of where I am now. When he was in Mangere he met with the Tongan missionaries and went to church with them a couple times but eventually said he's not ready. Later after he moved to our area he was in the city one day and just bought some smokes but when he stepped outside he saw our church family services building and so he threw the smokes away and went and asked how to get a hold of missionaries. We went and taught him and found out that he was already quitting smoking and drinking before being taught the Word of Wisdom. We then set him for the 16th of this month. It was a huge miracle. The only sad thing is that he ended up not coming to church for some reason and so he can't get baptised this weekend. Next weekend though for sure. We also went on trade-off this week with the missionaries that are in the MTC. I went with a missionary named Elder Tehei. He is from Tahiti (I always end up being with the Tahitians) and we had heaps of miracles. We had a few lessons on the street and had a few new investigators from it. After that trade-off we had another one with our zone leaders. I was with Elder Walker for the 3rd time in a row but this time we were in my area. It was only for a couple hours but we had some really amazing experiences. We taught a guy named A (we taught and set him before but he seems to always dodge our appointments and so he didn't get baptised). When we taught him that night we invited him to be baptised as he put his focus on the temple. He agreed to the 30th of this month but unfortunately he didn't come to church either. We are really having a hard time getting our investigators to church. But on the other hand we brought a random guy to church that we met 10 minutes before church. His name is T and I believe he is the uncle to one of our investigators. So that was our week. It was good but unfortunately we didn't get anyone else to church. Love you all. Ofa Atu, Elder Lee

E-Mail Dated 6/3/12

Kia Ora HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!!!! This is the first time I've been able to email on somebody's birthday. Today is actually the day we celebrate the Queen of England's birthday as well so it's public holiday. That means everyone is out of school and almost every shop is closed except the Chinese shops. It sounds like you've been having a good birthday weekend though. That's pretty cool about how Rockefeller preserved Williamsburg. I didn't know that he even owned it. So this week wasn't one of our best weeks. It wasn't terrible but it just seemed very unfruitful. We had heaps of lessons fall through this week which is a sad thing. We also had A tell us that she received an answer to her prayers. She said she felt good but she also talked to her mum and she talked her out of it. Luckily we had a member with us who we found out is actually a former Catholic and so he could feel exactly where she was coming from. He truly saved the day. So she's still willing to have us over because she considers us friends now and so she's happy to have us over. We even committed her to come to church but unfortunately her cousin was having his first communion so she had to go to that. It was quite depressing. We thought we would have a lot of people at church but then only two showed up. One of them was R who is still doing well. He is looking to change and so he is very willing to keep commitments. The other was F'a (the boy that didn't get confirmed last week or the week before). He got confirmed yesterday so it made us happy. It was so much work though because if we didn't go over there and help him to come to church then he probably wouldn't have come. Missionary work is so hard sometimes. I find myself wondering very often what more can I do? Love you all. Sorry it's not longer but I don't have much to say this week. Ofa Atu, Elder Lee P.S. Haha, I'm not sure if I told you but our heater broke for a while and so Elder Sorensen and I have been freezing our butts off this week in the mornings. In New Zealand there is no such thing as central heating. We have only one small heater for our entire flat. Luckily we got a new one on Friday so it hasn't been nearly as bad but it's still pretty cold. One day during the week it was 8*C in our flat and we could see our breath! It was so cold!

E-Mail dated 5/27/12

Kia Ora, So the first question I have is: What happened to the family tradition of camping every year on Memorial Day Weekend (Not that I knew it was Memorial Day Weekend cuz we don't have that here so I completely forgot about it.)? Well, anyway, this week was a really good week. It was a little bit un-organised but it was a lot better than weeks past. We had a huge miracle and were able to find a choice as investigator who was prepared by the Lord. We were just going through some of our lists that we have and there was a name on the "Men who haven't served a mission yet" list that we wanted to try and when we went by we were knocking on the door but no one answered but we heard someone in the garage and so we knocked on the garage door. He said that the person who we were looking for didn't live there but he said he would open the door for us. When we went in and talked with him he told us that his family members are members and he is not. He told us that he used to meet with missionaries back in 1975. He said he used to sneak out to meet with them and he even got baptised on a Saturday night. When he told his dad that he was going to church the next day, his dad told him that if he went to not bother coming back so he didn't get confirmed. We met him on Wednesday and set him for that Saturday. It was so cool because we taught him the Restoration and he just felt right then and there that it was true. The sad part is that the next day when we went by for our appointment, he wasn't there because his older brother unexpectedly got really sick and couldn't walk and so he had to take care of him. So he was not able to be baptised but we are looking forward to this weekend for him. Also, the boy we baptised the other week at the Stake Baptism didn't get confirmed this last week. They said they slept in. I was a little frustrated because we asked our Ward Mission Leader to go by but we think he just called the mom and talked to her instead of going by to make sure they were up. We did get to teach another person this week. Her name is A F. She is a single mother with 2 little girls. She is Catholic but she's been meeting with missionaries for a while. This last Monday we were able to get out of her, through inspired questions, that she basically knows its true but she's afraid of changing because of her family but we committed her to praying to know if changing is the right thing to do. We scheduled to come back today, but also to follow up and see what her answer was on this last Thursday. We went by on Thursday and she seemed very smiley and happy and she told us that she was going to make us wait until Monday for the answer. We were so gutted but at the same time excited and happy. We know she got her answer and I don't think she would make us wait until today just to tell us not to come back. So June is looking very good right now. Also, our set R is amazing. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and also the Law of Chastity came up so we taught him that as well. He is taking it well. He is so sincere about a change in his life. We took him some clothes to borrow for church until we can get him some he can keep. He was so happy. He really enjoyed church as well. It's just been a really good week. I say it was a bit un-organised because we missed out on a lesson on Saturday because we didn't have proper communication, but all is well. Hope everything is still going well back home. Love you all. Ofa Atu, Elder Lee

E-mail Dated 5/20/12

Kia Ora, It was good to hear from yous last week. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Dad, given your families' reputation of hurting themselves you might want to ask if you can do something easier like the crafts at girls' camp. Haha jokes, it sounds like fun. Mom, what were the questions asked in Sunday School? Just curious, who knows maybe I know the answer. Grandma, thank you so much for writing last week. I only had time last week to check to see what time I should call so I didn't have time to respond. I really do appreciate the stories. Well this week was great because we had a baptism! I attached a picture of the Stake Baptism that we had this weekend. That was everyone that was baptized in the Stake. Only 2 of the 10 wards in the Stake participated. Our ward and our Zone Leaders ward. It was so good. It was one of the best baptisms I've been to. It was really cool to see 5 people get baptized in one service. So, the boy, who got baptized by my companion, his name is F I F F. He is a 13 year old boy whose record was lost but we were more than happy to re-baptize him. It was a lot easier than having them look for the necessary information. It's so good though because they are a returning less-active family. We also had a miracle this week. One day we were at the bus stop trying to get shelter from the wind to make a call and after we hung up we stepped outside and talked to the first guy that walked past us. His name is David (in English, his Maori name is R). When we talked to him he was going to the bus stop to catch a bus to the hospital. He just found out that his mom was in the hospital. We shouted (spotted) him some change so he could pay for the bus, but we also taught him about repentance and baptism. He was so excited when we talked to him about that because he was looking to change his life around for his wife and kids that he was separated from. We invited him to be baptized on the 9th of June. He agreed and we set up another lesson. We went later in the week and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We committed him to come to church and also read and pray. We picked him up early on Sunday so we could give him a tour of the chapel. We showed him around and when we got to the baptismal font he asked if it mattered if he was already baptized. We taught him the restoration right then and there. It was a very spiritual lesson because we had a random kid in there playing the piano at the same time in the background which was actually pretty good. He is so keen to be baptized and have a new start on life. We are so excited for him. We just pray that no challenges come up that will pull him away. Oh and this week was actually Stake Conference. It was a special broadcast from SLC specifically for NZ. It ended up being Elder David A. Bednar and some other speakers from the First Quorum of the Seventy. It was way good. It's things like that that make me think that I'm supposed to be in NZ at this time in my life because I felt like it was specifically for me. We also had Zone Conference which was amazing because we got to receive trainings from Elder Hamula from the Quorum of the Seventy. The biggest thing I learned is that teaching is a pattern. 1. Ask Questions 2. Observe (Watch/Listen) 3. Discern the needs 4. Act/Invite We were told that in the near future all teaching in the church is going to become like this and it won't be possible to read the lesson during Sacrament and then go and teach Sunday School. That just blew my mind. I just love the gospel. It is the medicine to everyone's illnesses and ailments. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I love you all and keep working hard. Ofa Atu, Elder Lee

No E-mail this week. Talked on phone

He is doing well and is loving his mission. He says "Hi" to everyone. He has not picked up much of an accent yet, but is working on it. Could hear some every now and then. He has learned some phrases in several island languages down there. He has about 7 investigators right now. His area is small which is good since it's a biking area. He says it is mostly flat here too, which he likes while on the bike. Has not eaten any more strange foods, but is enjoying the food.

E-Mail Dated 5/7/12

Kia Ora, It's so good to hear from all of yous. It's so crazy all the things that are changing. Congratulations, Brandon, on everything that you are getting done! It will bless you so much in the near future. I hope you keep working hard! So an update for this week. This week was transfers and I am happy to report that Elder Sorensen and I are still together for another 6 weeks at least. We are so excited because we get along so well and we are seeing a lot of success. This last week we were feeling like we weren't getting hardly any new investigators and so on Saturday we decided to go tract a neighbourhood that we hadn't tracted very much. It was awesome because the morning we talked to maybe 20 of those people and only a few said they weren't interested and the others we got heaps of potential investigators and about 7 return appointments for this week. We are so excited to go teach these people. Oh yeah so funny story, I got hit by a car this week. Well I'd say I got hit by a car. Some people might say that I hit a car. So we were just going to meet the sister missionaries in our district because they needed to use our phone and so we hurrying over. As we were going we were riding along the foot path and coming up to this driveway where there is a fence that is impossible to see around so right when I got to the end of it this car pulls out of the driveway and I didn't have enough time to stop cuz it was less than half a meter away. So I ran straight into it. I wouldn't say it was really either of our faults cuz there was nothing either of us could have done to avoid it. I'm sure that a pedestrian would even run into it. It was funny though because there was a girl and a guy in the car. The guy was driving and when I hit it, the girl started to scream, and the guy seemed unphased. Then they didn't even get out to see if I or the car was ok. They just resumed backing up. I was fine though. I didn't get even a scratch. It was just a funny experience. So that's the story of the week. As for the phone call. I will be calling on Monday here which is Sunday there. So please give me an email next week and tell me exactly what time you want me to call. Now for the spiritual thought, I would like to share a scripture that can apply to us all but especially for youth. It is the story of the 2000 Stripling Warriors.The key to understanding how the Stripling Warriors were so successful is found in Alma 56:47. The verse reads: "Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." There are 2 keys to success found in this verse. 1) When our parents teach us in righteousness we can always turn back to the things they taught us for support. 2) When we do not doubt and put our trust in God, He will deliver us from our trials. I think the one thing that I have expressed most in my letters home is that we need to put our trust in God. This is so important. Don't worry about what is going to come ahead of you because God always provides if we put our trust in Him. Well I love yous all. Hope yous are doing well. And I would still like the Harpers address. Ofa Atu, Elder Lee