The Mission Year

Hello loved ones!! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and were able to feel of the sweet spirit that comes with that holiday. It was so nice to be able to talk to my lovely family and see how all of you are doing. As Sister and I were trying to pull our thoughts back to our purpose as missionaries we talked about why we are here and what we want to accomplish. Sister Lott was able to give me some inspired advice.. The reason why they make missionaries give up music, family, friends, tv, movies, etc. is so we dont have anywhere to turn to but God. He is the best outlet and we will get into the habit of trusting him and be able to use that when we get back home. I was thinking of what I want to accomplish in my last year on the mission. How I can make these next 12 months the best. I always think of the glow. Or in other words the light of Christ. in D&C 50:24 it says " That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." We were talking about how Moroni received his light not from just being an angel but from the 30 years he studied the scriptures and was able to strengthen his light.  

We were talking with our Bishop and his challenge to us as a ward is to be happy in the year 2016. So simple. As we are happy we will radiate the light of Christ. We can truly help others come unto Christ and receive that light as well. So something I want to ask every one is how can we center our lives on Jesus Christ? How can we make our families stronger in the gospel? and how can we strengthen our light? Something big we have been talking about is visiting teaching and home teaching. Just do it. Everyone is busy, but everyone also needs love from others around them. I invite all of you to take some time and reflect on yourselves and see how you can improve and how you can become more like the Saviour this year. I hope you all have a happy New Year. I love you all.

Love,

Sister Boiteux

Pictures! 

The chapel!

Never a boring day here in the NZAM. Nothing like walking in the pouring rain.

 Lillabeths baptism. Surprise visit from President and Sister Balli :)

When you match with the zone leader.. Intake buddies for life!

Being kidnapped on Christmas and taken to Maccas for lunch.

Cocoa Samoa. That's the one

My new tracting shoes.

Skypin home for Christmas.

Pukana Warriors

The shirt that sums up my mission ;) thank you Rowley and Kelsey family :)

Don't mind me and my crippled knee we just found a pineapple tree... lol im punny. That moment when I actually live up to my last name!

North to South

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

What a wonderful time of year it is. I cant believe its almost Christmas. It definitely doesnt feel like it here cause it is hot as. But we still feel the Christmas spirit. I hope you have all been able to see the videos the church has made this year. Also maybe have read Luke 2. The story of Christs birth. Every time my companion and I share this message we are filled with so much love and gratitude for the Saviour and what he went through for us. We have such an incredible gift and it is our duty to go out and share it with all of our brothers and sisters. I know without the atonement, Christ birth wouldnt really matter. They go hand in hand. Such a great time of year to reflect on what the Saviour has done for us and how we can do more for him.

As for transfers news. I was finally unbanished and was sent to East Tamaki... IM IN A WARD!! There are so many people down here it is crazy. I was quite shocked at first but I think im adjusting well. Our area is tiny so we have no car and are walking every where. I am slowly dying but I can do all things through Christ ;) For some reason President likes to keep me with the Utah sisters. My new companion is Sister Lott she is from Sandy Utah!! Also went to BYU so funny I never saw her around P town. Tamaki is great though. I dont think this many people have ever said hi or honked to us before. Every one knows who we are I love it!!!! Tender mercy this week is the Burgess family. You got that right Ashleys mission companion is in the ward i am serving in haha crack up. So many polys down here it is crazy. SO MUCH FOOD. The 20kg thing is real. We also ate horse last night. Not gonna lie it was really good haha. 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and that my two fathers have a Happy Birthday! And welcome home Miles!! Love you all heaps!

Ofa Atu,

Sister Boiteux

Correction from my sister. :)

Today in church I had the thought "didn't the atonement start with his birth?" For isn't part of the atonement his understanding of how life feels. He didn't learn all that just from the Garden and the Cross but from the 34 years he walked the earth. The atonement began at the birth of our Savior in a manger, his life of learning to bridle his passions and do the will of the Father is the ultimate example of how we too must utilize the Atonement. We aren't cleansed all at once by the atonement, it takes the steps of repentance which means change including self-control, obedience, and charity, etc. Just as Christ had to us these same steps and principles.

Pictures!

Beautiful Sunset!

Kaikohe 2nd Ward had a feed for all the missionaries in the zone. Elder Cunningham was my companion in a game and we got a B he was quite upset.

Saying good bye to all my loved ones in the Waihou Branch. So grateful for all of them and what they have taught me over the past few months. 

Sister Christiansen hit 6 months so we burned some stuff, and first time ever hugging my companion and its the day we got transferred haha.

Thank you Angilau family for my christmas package I love it!!!

Sister Lott

My first big feed here in NZ. Welcome to the South they say. 

The gift of.... Elders?

This week was so bipolar haha. Started off amazing with the TEMPLE!!! We drove down to Auckland Tuesday night and were packed in a flat with 12 sisters. That was a party. Woke up at 4:30 and headed down to Hamilton at 6. That was a long as bus ride but so much fun. I cant even explain how much i miss the temple. It truly is the house of the Lord. You people in Utah are so lucky to have temples so close, so i hope you all use it to your advantage and set goals and go as often as you can. It was such a blessing in my life to go every week and i cant wait to do that when I get home. The Hamilton temple is beautiful though and it was a cool experience to go as a mission and feel the spirit in that building. I was also able to see Elder Searle!! He is in the Hamilton mission but i went to school with him. That was crack up. We drove back to Kaikohe so it was a long day but it was worth it. 

On Wednesday the Elders had a baptism in the ocean woohoo!! It was a chilly day so it resulted in our set telling us he no longer wants to get baptized... haha good thing he isnt getting baptized in the ocean. But it was fun to go on the beach and not be apostate for it :) Such a special feeling at baptisms and too see how happy those people are. This church is so true and I love it. 

It is transfers week and for some reason every elder in this zone thinks im getting transferred as well as all the members in our branch and they wont let me forget it. Not to sure what is going to happen all we know is President is fearless when it comes to transfers so stay tuned for that one. I have loved my time up here in the North though people here are incredible and I have been learning so much from all of them. I hope that you all are continuing to see what you can give back the Saviour this year for Christmas and have a wonderful week with some fun and crazy things happening!!!  Love you all.

Sister Boiteux

Funnies: I was woken up at 1 in the morning by my companion saying "Sister... Sister.. There is a cat on my bed!!" Like what? haha she was standing by the door and wouldnt touch the thing. So i picked up the cat and put it back out our window. She then tries to push the poor animal out the window. Haha she hates cats. Crack up.

We had a rough week with some things so we asked for a motivational speech from the elders. Which ended up them saying we have ups and downs in our area. Had three sets and they were all dropped.. Then they hung up. So they ended up making us feel worse than we already did. The gift of Elders as my companion would say haha

Sister Balli!! :)

The wonderful Hamilton temple!!

Driving back to Kaikohe and we said pull over when you see a big duck!!! Then this picture happened.. Its actually not a duck haha cut close enough.

Baptism in Opononi

We're off to see the temple!!

Hello you beautiful Americans!!

Not too much time today because we have heaps to do before we head down to AUCKLAND!! Yes thats right the temple trip is finally here. We get to head down to Auckland tonight and stay at a motel then its off to Hamilton Tuesday morning. Finally!! We have been waiting ages for this day. 

I dont even know what to say about this week. We had good days, we had bad days. Pretty much we just live the mission life haha. I guess the thing I really want to share is from our Stake Conference we just had. We were lucky enough to have President and Sister Balli there and they spoke on the blessings we as members receive when we let the missionaries into our homes. President talked about Elder Oaks talk on "good, better, and best." It was funny because they both talked about the members feeding us. Which is great for us!! But President said the fell under the good category of the blessings from having missionaries in your home. So 1. Good. Feeding the missionaries and letting them leave a message and a prayer.

2. Better. In the NZAM we are invited to work until 9 pm. Well many people dont want us into their home that late so we go to members. So invite the missionaries in at the night time hours. Let us teach yous so that we can improve our teaching skills and also help you in any way that we can. 

3. Best. Invite family or friends to hear the missionary lessons. WE ARE ALL BUSY!! Its difficult-and that is why we have to do it. Greatest happiness comes when we participate in the work of salvation.

I just love getting those opportunities to hear from our mission president and his wife. They are such huge examples to me and I know that as we take his counsel and work in better unity with the missionaries that you as members can bring souls unto Christ. It may be hard to do if your in Utah but even if you have no one for the missionaries to teach still help them in anyway that you can. I love being a missionary. I love serving here in New Zealand with these beautiful people. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Ofa Atu,

Sister Boiteux

TRADE OFFS! When the sister training leaders come we take them to collect chicken poop :) You're welcome sisters! 

Companion unity. Braiding her hair in the car. That's a challenge. Not driving is terrible. Car sickness is a real thing.

Love when people come up and say "Sister Boiteux, I served with your sister" Haha tends to happen here :)

Stake Conference and our beautiful investigator Gemma :)

Thanksgiving? Is that like Christmas or something?

Kia Ora!!!!!

How are you loved ones? I hope this week was full of love and thankfulness. Sister and I decided to do something extra nice for the people in our area and give out lollies. We can't tell you how many times we were asked if Thanksgiving is our Christmas and what the heck Black Friday is. It was crack up. We had to explain that since were American we still have to celebrate our holidays. Cause food. We made our district dinner that day hahaha that failed miserably but at least we all got fed. Then a family in our branch made us a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday so that was really nice and we were happy to have some American food.

This week was another hard one. We can't really explain to you why it was hard because we can't even explain it to ourselves. The adversary has been working hard on us these past few weeks. We're already into week 4 of this transfer and we have no idea where the time went. Days are so slow and then weeks are so fast. Sister and I started to read the Book of Mormon as a companionship and our scripture that stuck with us for the week is in 1 Nephi 2:15 "And my father dwelt in a tent"

Yup that's the one. When we first read that I kinda chuckled cause thats the verse I read and it was so small and simple. Yet there is so much meaning behind it. Lehi literally packed up his family and left. Left all his land, riches, friends, everything because the Lord told him to. As we sat back and reflected on that we put it into todays world. What are we willing to give up for the Lord? We asked if we could do that. If the Lord said "Sister Boiteux, pack only the things that mean most to you and go live in the wilderness." Would I do it? and if i did it could i be humble enough and not murmur when times got rough? There is so much meaning in every single verse in the Book of Mormon. I love feasting upon the words of Christ. As our mission has been reading the Book of Mormon as a mission for 90 days it has been incredible learning new things every single day and actually better understanding the stories. I love that book and i know there is so much truth and power in it. I hope and pray that you are all taking the time every day to feast upon the words in the scriptures to come to know the Savior and to strengthen your testimonies. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Thank you for all the emails you have no idea how much they strengthen me especially in these hard weeks. Love you all heaps.

Kia Kaha,

Sister Boiteux

Thanksgiving dinner!!

The after math...

 and the best part leftovers!!

  

Left the elders some Christmas presents.

 and our present from them.. a signed rugby ball. Thats what we get for asking for one every single day :)

 Our lovely young women!!!

#firstsisterAPs

This week was titled "the trial week" did I know that was coming? yes I did. We have a super amazing week and we can always usually count on trials the next week. But it was still good, every day is a good day on a mission. Most of our appointments fell through this week which meant heaps of tracting time. Which wasn't effective either because we just got chewed out by most people we talked to and it was great!!! There is a talk by Elder Holland that kept us going this week. He talks about how missionary work isn't easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. It was never easy for Christ so why would it be easy for us? And that missionaries will shed a tear that Christ shed. Definitely not in the same way but we have to experience something He did. It is all about the attitude that we have. This week we definitely were physically drained but spiritually enriched.  

Although we had heaps of appointments cancel on us the lessons we were blessed with were just amazing. The people in our area are so prepared and it is just crazy how fast the work is coming. It has been interesting finding the balance with my new companion especially while we are teaching but it is coming along. Striving to accomplish our goals and leave the area better than how we found it. Not to sure about what else to say about this week rather than God is good. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on earth today. I know that and believe it with all my heart. I know that the gospel truly does bless all of our lives. I have seen so many miracles in the short amount of time I have been here and I love this great work that I am blessed to be a part of. Love you all!!!

Fa!!

Sister Boiteux

Funny of the week: The zone leaders were in Auckland for a couple days this past week so Sister Christiansen and I took it upon ourselves to be zone leaders for those days. Lets just say we crushed it. The zone leaders recommended us to be the next assistants since we did so well ;) Dont worry we wont let it go to our heads!

PICTURES

Found a beach without any sand so we took that opportunity to take some pictures of this rare moment. 

Sister Ottleys birthday!!! Went over to celebrate with her then went outside and New Zealand knew I curled my hair so it decided to rain.

The sabbath was full of cute little parrots and kittens!! :)