Easter Week!

 

WHAT AN AMAZING WEEK!!!! 

We had so much success it really was a blessing! We were able to teach 3,  member present lessons to

investigators, 1 other lesson to an investigator, 7 less active lessons, and 2 of our investigators and a less active member came to church yesterday! ALSO, WE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE!! Kathy our investigator is planning to be baptized on May 7th! She is so sweet and was telling us that whenever

she reads the Book of Mormon and prays she feels "good and warm." We are SO excited for her!

This Saturday is the big Lu'au activity that we as missionaries planned! We are getting pretty excited and it sounds like a lot of members are planning on coming and bringing friends! And a big surprise, our mission President and his wife decided they want to make an appearance! Wow! That makes me a bit nervous, but even more motivated to be sure it is successful!

This week we had Zone Conference. It was focused a lot on planning as a missionary. One analogy I loved during that meeting was that we need to be "Sniper" missionaries, not "machine gun" missionaries. We need to genuinely take the time to really focus on people and their progression not just try to talk to and teach as many people as possible to improve our numbers. It was so nice to be among all the missionaries of the Christchurch Zone and be led by President Hudson and his sweet wife. I felt so uplifted and motivated, which is probably why we had such an awesome week!

I am really looking forward to the days to come. To keep working with the awesome people and spread the gospel around New Zealand!

Easter is a wonderful time of year to be a missionary! People like to talk to you more about Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for Easter and getting the chance to really reflect on Christ's ministry, atonement, and resurrection. As much as I appreciate it, nothing makes me feel more inadequate than trying to understand for myself or teach the Atonement to someone. There are no words of gratitude eloquent enough (unless you are Jeffrey R. Holland) to get across the magnitude of what happened on our behalf in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary. It is something I will never comprehend enough in this life. But, I am so eternally grateful for Christ, who knows me, and you perfectly because of what He did. I hope there is never a day that I take for granted the opportunities and knowledge that I have because of His great atoning sacrifice.

If you have not yet, please visit FollowHim.mormon.org and watch the video that the church put out for this Easter season.

I hope this Easter finds all of you and your loved ones as happy and healthy as can be. I love you all!

Love, Sister Golden

Week 6

No earthquakes!!! But, my companion had a pretty gnarly bike crash.

Thursday we had District meeting and went over bike safety. Two hours later heading to an appointment a man in his car opened his door into Sister Hiatt right as she was going by. She went FLYING and ripped up her hand, knee, elbow, and ankle and has some big bruises too. She couldn't immediately get up because she was stiff so once we got her out of the road she turned white and said her ears were ringing and she was gonna pass out. I laid her on some grass and called the Zone leaders (our District leader's phone was broken) because they were in the area.  I started to clean up her wounds with my handy dandy first aid kit and bandaged her all up. I moved her arm leg and ankle to be sure nothing was broken or strained. Once the Zone leaders got to us they got our car keys and drove to our flat to get our car for us. She is doing way better now and gets less sore each day!

We have a wonderful progressing investigator named Kathy, she is a college student and she is so sweet and gentle! We got to teach her the Restoration and she has been reading in her Book of Mormon! We are pretty excited about her.

With Easter coming up it's been really nice to talk to everyone about the Atonement, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It really puts into perspective how hard such a sacrifice is to understand when you try to teach it to others. It truly makes you grateful for the blessings we receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The work is good here in Christchurch. We are ready to get back on our bikes and work hard this week! I am so grateful for the chance to be here as a representative of Jesus Christ in bringing forth the Kingdom of God on earth!

Here are some pictures of my flat (apartment). 

My Study Area!

Love you all!
-Sister Golden

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

Week Four!

No earthquakes this week!! YAY! but... it happened everyone... my first bike crash. HAHA! Right after I finished emailing last week, we decided to go check out this new art museum that just opened. On our way we were going past a hospital, Sister Hiatt was in the front, me next, then Sister Dial. An older lady was riding her bike in front of us and all of a sudden just stopped in the middle of the bike lane, so Sister Hiatt slammed on her brakes and tapped the lady, Sister Golden was coming in hot staring at the hospital and realized they were stopped, so slammed on her front brake and did a front wheelie into Sister Hiatt as Sister Dial did the same and fell into the road as a semi truck was driving past. Luckily nobody was hurt and we just have minor bumps and bruises.. our ego's took a little jump down though!

This week was mostly focused on less active members so we didn't do as much finding. We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Steve, and for now he is our only progressing investigator! He is awesome! I love him!

Sister Dial is being transferred this week so we will be a two person companionship, my first time ever on my mission!

Sister Hiatt

It is really surreal to think that Mallory gets home this week from her mission. I am SO thankful to have an older sister as an example to me of an awesome missionary. She served so honorably and with all her heart, might, mind and strength; how lucky of Raleigh North Carolina to have had her for 18 months! It's hard as well knowing I won't get to hug her for another 17 months, but what a joyful day it will be when I see her again after 3 years!

I am so grateful for all your support and prayers as I serve the Lord. I love you all!

Love,
Sister Golden

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

Hot weather!

Hello everyone! I sent a letter last week, but apparently there was a glitch in the system and some people got it and some didn't, so let me know if you want it and I can try to resend it :)

This week was HOT! My tan lines are really funky so that keeps me entertained!
So I got my bike! It was at the mission home in Wellington waiting for me in a big box of tires, handlebars, and all other bike pieces! Haha!! It travels with me in the box whenever I get transferred and is assembled and taken apart by me each time! Yay!! I ride my bike every day unless we have to go to dinner far away then we drive! Our ward boundaries are so large that we split it with our district leader and his companion! They're really awesome to work with which makes Sundays nice because we switch off teaching the Gospel Principles class!

This week was busy, lots of appointments and most of them with less active members. The lessons are good and my companions are awesome at letting me slowly take chunks of the lesson to teach and helping me get more familiar with the material!

Sister Dial and Sister Hiatt

The days are long and hot so I sleep really hard each night and fall asleep fast which is a blessing! Waking up is hard! But, waking up on time is the first thing you do in the morning to invite the spirit.

We have a few fun investigators. Geoff is my favorite! He is an older guy who had a serious car accident years ago. He tells us he has been made aware that the Lord has a very important calling for him. He then talks about how he has conversations with the Lord ALL day EVERY day. He thinks he will be a prophet soon, so we try to teach him about our beliefs on prophets. He loves to learn and is reading the Book of Mormon. My heart goes out to him though as he is still a little slow from his head injury in the car accident!

This week we are having exchanges! I will be going to a different area for 24 hours with one of the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Gonzales. I''m excited!
The ward members are so sweet! But I miss my wonderful ward family!

This week, I am especially grateful for the knowledge that I have an eternal family. That our bond will go on through the eternities and I will have them forever! What a blessing! I am so thankful that the Lord gives us the temples and opportunity to partake of those ordinances!

Being a missionary is tiring, hard, and sometimes frustrating. But there is nowhere I need to be more than here right now, doing the work of the Lord.
I love you all! Thank you for the support!

Love,
Sister Golden

Christchurch!

Hello from Christchurch New Zealand!!!!
I arrived safely in my first official area Wednesday morning and was welcomed at the airport by not just 1 but 2 companions! Yep, there's 3 of us!! My companions are Sister Dial (Idaho) and Sister Hiatt (Washington, near Moses Lake area). They took me to our flat, a cute little 2 story apartment in the city of Riccarton. We have a nice little kitchen, 1 bathroom, and a little bedroom with 3 beds jammed in there! HA!

After unpacking a bit and grabbing some lunch we went out to work! We used the car that day since my bike wasn't yet set up, it's so crazy to drive on the other side of the road! they're having me sit shotgun so I can get to know the area! Our area is right in the city, so I have yet to see the Christchurch that everyone raves about when visiting new Zealand.

Thursday Friday and Saturday were days packed with work! We don't have alot of investigators, mostly less active members that we are working with to get them back to church. Everyone is so nice here! We've met a few sour apples while street contacting and tracting but we brush those off and continue forward. I got a hole in one of my skirts my first day biking which was a bummer, but biking around here is pretty nice! It's flat which helps alot!

This week has been one of the hottest weeks in history, apparently they were one day short of breaking a record heat streak, so I sweat alot! haha!

Everyone here likes to pick on the new missionary; I've said the prayer at EVERY house we've been to. Yesterday (Sunday) I was getting ready around 7:30 and our phone rang, it was the second counselor calling to ask if "the new missionary would give a talk at church" and church was going to start at 9!!! So I quickly wrote a talk, then we went to grab Pooja, our investigator and went to church! It ended up being a really awesome meeting and I got to meet alot of awesome members!

After church we went home and were doing some studying and then our district leaders called, as we were talking to them, the GROUND STARTED TO SHAKE!!! Some books started falling off shelves and we all dove under the table! The earthquake lasted for about 25-30 seconds and we later found out it was a 5.9!!!! So crazy! Later that day there were a few more after shocks which were scary. Earthquakes are big here in Christchurch, they had a biiiig one like 7.8 about 5 years ago with alot of damage so everyone is pretty nervous about that happening again! We were all safe and there was no damage to the apartment! Thank goodness!

This whole week has been a pretty hard one for me emotionally... Homesickness sometimes hits you really hard out of nowhere. Little things bring back thoughts or memories, and people remind you of family and friends. I crave hugs from my parents and cracking jokes with my siblings and friends. Sometimes the pain of it is physical for me, it makes me sick. But as I think about home I say a prayer and instead of missing things, it turns into a happy feeling of knowing how blessed I am to have such wonderful parents, loving siblings, and amazing friends. It makes me look forward to the day when I can return home and create more memories. The love I feel in my heart from my Savior can take away any pain or homesickness. When this happens I look at the tag I get to wear over my heart these 18 months. I remind myself that I need to wear it everyday, as if its my last day wearing it, because there will come a day when I have to take it off for good and I will never be able to wear Sister Golden over my heart again.

Being a missionary is so indescribable. You have so much strength knowing how many people all over the world are praying for you. I LOVE this work and I love being a part of it. sometimes I remind myself that I'm not only doing this for my Heavenly Father, but also my future family, and that really keeps me going.

Thank you everyone for all the thoughts and prayers! I love you all! Until next week!

-Sister Golden

PS ~ these are pictures from when I was at the MTC 

My companions Sisters Wilcox and Aperaamo

Love her!

View from the MTC

My District

Hamilton Temple