Week 5!!!

Well, no bike crashes this week! But another earthquake hit Christchurch on Saturday night around 11:30. It was a 4.4, but I slept through it!

This week, Sister Dial was transferred, so now it is just Sister Hiatt and I. Sister Dial was our designated driver because Sister Hiatt is not allowed to drive anymore because she lost her glasses! ha! So I got to take a drive test and I am now legal to drive on the other side of the road!!! It's so crazy! But definitely a good experience to learn!

Taking Sister Dial to the airport

This week was a slow one for us. Our numbers were pretty low which is never fun. Most of our appointments seemed to fall through or the people just weren't home. Steve, our only progressing investigator was sick, and might be admitted to the hospital so we were not able to see him this week. We spent a lot of time trying to find new people to teach and found about 5 solid potential investigators which is exciting!

A couple nights before Sister Dial was transferred we visited a family in our ward and did Family Home Evening with them. Their name is the Agavales (a G here makes an NG sound so it it pronounced Ang-uh-va-lee). They have the parents of the husband, the brother of the husband, and their 7 kids all living there. What a wonderful family! The husband served his mission in Independence Missouri and LOVES talking to us about the United States! At the end of FHE they all went around and shared their testimonies in Samoan then finished in English by thanking us for always visiting them and bringing the spirit to their home. Brother Agavale told us they had very little money, but they knew they were so blessed by feeding the missionaries that ANY time we didn't have dinner, to call them and they would feed us. The islanders here have very strong beliefs in the blessings they receive by feeding the missionaries.

In our ward, the Riccarton Ward, the boundaries are pretty big so we share the ward with our district leader Elder Dumbrell and his Companion Elder Bean. Together we are planning a big Lu'au ward activity for April 2nd. Each member is to bring food from their island to share, then there will be island dances and Haka's. But to finish the night we will be leading a chapel tour, so it's a big push for them to bring their non member friends to learn more about the church! We as missionaries are pretty excited!

Sister Hiatt and I are excited to make this week ahead a powerful one!
Missionary work is amazing. New Zealand is beautiful and I am SO blessed to be a part of the Lord's Army! I love you all dearly!

Love, Sister Golden