Another Earthquake!!

Early Morning Sunrise

Well, I was awoken last night around 3:30 am from another earthquake! Our flat is 2 stories and we sleep upstairs so it really shook us good! It was about a 4.3 this time! Our Sister training leaders called to check on us and then we prayed to thank the Lord for our safety. It's so amazing being here because you truly feel His hand protecting you.

It was a HOT week. We are out of our allotted Kilometers for the month so we bike everywhere! It's fun, but the heat really takes it's toll on you!

We also take the bus when we're out of kilometers!

There is a woman from Ghana in my ward!! She is so amazing and we talk alot about Africa together. She made me Jollof Rice! I was so happy and she couldn't believe I had had it before. It was yummy:)

This week we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and I went to their area for 24 hours to proselyte with Sister Gonzales from Mexico! She is SO awesome and it was a really fun exchange! EXCHANGES BRING MIRACLES! There were so many tender mercies that day, we found lots of sweet people prepared to listen to our message! I was sad knowing that I wouldn't get to work with them more since they're not in my area!

Sister Dial and I with our STL (Sister Training Leader)

We met an older man named Steven this week! He lives in a retirement home. He is SO awesome! He loves to read so we went by the home and found him sleeping in his room! He promptly woke up when he was told he had visitors and was really excited to see us! He is so funny! He was just laying in bed as we stood around him and chatted. He wanted to show us a project he was working on but then goes, "You'll have to see it next time, I can't get up right now cause I'm naked!" HA! We were all just like oh yeah that's probably a good idea! We set a return appointment though and I'm excited to teach him!

We had to drop our other investigator Geoff this week! I was especially sad, he was fun to chat with! But he wasn't willing to read the Book of Mormon because he thinks he is a prophet and is soon going to be a "Biblical peace-keeper in the Middle East." So we kindly thanked him for his time, wished him the best and went on our way!

Everyone in my ward here is super sweet. It's english speaking but it's full of Samoans, Tongans, Mauris, Fijians, and plenty of Kiwis! They usually pray in their native language which is cool! There is a ton of slang or just different words and it's cool to hear those. For example: mince = ground beef, rubbish = garbage, how're you going? = how are you doing?, uni = college, college = high school, and lollies = candy.

Sala from Fiji

Yesterday at church we had a stake broadcast and they announced that Christchurch would no longer be the only stake on the South Island!!! It was so exciting to hear that there will now be two Zions formed here! The work is truly hastening and I am so proud to be a part of it! The broadcast really focused on increasing faith, which was so wonderful to listen and ponder about!

It's been a good week! The days are long and each night we get into bed and fall asleep immediately! The Lord has blessed me immensely as I continue to transition into missionary life and I am SO thankful for that!

I have been in New Zealand for a whole month now! The time has already started to fly!

Thank you for the continued prayers and well wishes!

With all my love,
Sister Golden