Desire to Inspire

I really have no idea what to say about this week. It was pretty much terrible, but good. Here it is 

Monday and Tuesday we were quarantined... So mostly in Opua doing laundry. That was actually quite fun to be in my last area and roam around while we waited for our laundry.Definitely coming back to this part because it is just beautiful.

Wednesday we crushed it. We passed all our goals with flying colors and it was amazing. Talked to heaps of people.

Thursday was normal... well except I got proposed to.. 3 times by the same guy. That was awkward as. 

Friday.... Terrible. We kept asking can anything worse happen? and it did. Started with the power going out. And in new zealand when the power goes out everything is out so we couldnt use the bathroom or get water because its all ran on electricity. Then we went to go and eat, well everywhere only accepted cash cause power duh. We only had our cards. So the power came back on and both of my cards got declined at where I wanted to eat. So we went and got pizza hut, then got groceries and sister tapualas card was declined. Choice. Got back to the flat and I opened the door and the kitchen was flooded. hahahhahaa sister left the sink on because no power so we didnt know. Then went to an investigators and she fed us moldy cake... so lets just say we were driving home and i stopped in the middle of the street and threw up. Accident prone? yes. 

So extremely grateful for conference this past weekend. Every talk was inspired and definitely something that I needed to hear. I am so grateful for the prophet and the apostles. I know what they teach us comes directly from God and we need to follow what they say. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet that when we follow him we cant go wrong. I know that if we really do ponderize and strengthen our knowledge we can be choice saints that we need to be. I love being a missionary. Even on the hard weeks. It is all worth it and a huge learning experience. I know trials mold us into who we need to be and God gives us what we can handle. I love you all and hope you have an amazing spiritually filled week.

Ofa Atu,

Sister Boiteux

 Another lesson with this crazy bunch

 Me not wanting to leave Opua.

They're Baaacckkk

Well I seriously have no idea what to say about this week haha. So much tracting. Tracting. tracting. tracting. In our planner. Ever. Single. Day. AND ITS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok not gonna lie the beginning of this week i was like "i am sick of tracting. This is not effective. No one is home. Kill me." Blah blah blah. So we went to Brother Coopers and I said "BROTHER COOPER WERE SICK OF TRACTING!!" Bad idea on my part haha i got chastised hard. He said "Sister dont you ever say that. Saying youre sick of tracting is like saying youre sick of doing the Lords work." Boom. Mind Blown. So true. So after that I looked at tracting a lot differently and I know love it. Yes its tiring and hard at times but its incredible. We were able to find 3 new investigators because of tracting this week. We had an amazing Zone Training on planning. Let me tell ya that was exactly what sister and I needed to hear and we were able to find new ways to be better planners and really hasten the work in our area. The people here are so prepared we just need to find them and teach them. I love when we go and visit people and they say, "we had a feeling you two would stop by today." INSPIRED PLANNING my friends. Its wonderful.

As a mission we are doing a 90 day Book of Mormon feast. It is incredible the things that I am learning. In 1 Nephi 15:8 is asks "have ye inquired of the Lord?" It hit me and I was like woah have I been inquiring of the Lord? I want to be a better representative of the Savior, but I cant do that without the Lords help. So many times we are all like Laman and Lemuel and we murmur and complain about everything that goes on in our life. Well are we inquiring of the Lord? I dont think so., unless we wouldnt be complaining so much. As missionaries we have to account to the Lord it can be a hard or it can be an incredible thing. As members we need to really have a testimony and find out if the church is true. We cant do that without inquiring of the Lord and then accounting to him about what we do to find out the truth. I love you all heaps and heaps!

Two funnies and an awkward for the week:

1. We were tweing (talking with everyone) in town and a man named Robbie said he worked for the church for 3 years installing those dunking pools (baptismal fonts).. Lol then got fired before he found out too much about the church.. That last part we told him isn't true and we're here to teach him more about the church :)

2. SISTER TAPUALA HAS SCABBIES HAHAHHAHA.  So I called Sister Beckstead and she said "oh Sister Boiteux don't say it! What are we going to do with you? We're going to have to wrap you in silicone hahaha. You know the drill." Quarantined again. So funny!

The awkward.. I have been hit on ONE TOO MANY TIMES THIS WEEK! Oh my goodness it is the most awkward and disgusting thing. We called the zone leaders and told them and they were there for it when it happened the other times. They just liked to inform me that i'm just full of myself and no one is hitting on me. Also that I should probably stop being such a skuxx. Haha the love in this zone is real. Living the high life in New Zealand that's for sure.

Love,

Sister Boiteux

Helped a less active with her sons birthday party we have mad balloon tying skills.

Peaks, Pits, Praises, Prayers

Hello family. I swear every week there is something wrong in the life of Sister Boiteux. Once again I was sick and it was terrible. I have no idea what happened we think I caught a stomach bug. Thankfully I never threw up I just felt like it. So this week was rough and I had about zero energy to do anything. But thankfully I had a few miracles. I will just paste my email to my mission president :)

"President Balli,

This week was an interesting one. We have about two investigators so we spend most of our time tracting and talking with everyone in the streets. Sometimes it does get old doing the same thing over and over again. But we have a few miracles by doing that. One day we went to go and tract and the last house we went to before we went to go and TWE a mom answered. She said she has met missionaries before but shes not really interested in learning more but her children are. She also told us how she is studying gardening in school and that she is trying to work in her own garden. We offered to help her but she has trust issues especially since the last set of missionaries she met said they would help but then they never came back. So we left her with our number for her to call if she needed our help. The next week during personal study we just had a strong impression to go back and visit her. So we rearranged our plans and drove to her house and we noticed she was working in her garden. So we went over and helped her and got it pretty much done. The family was shocked that we were gardening in our skirts, but by listening to the spirit and helping her we were able to gain her trust. We went back to finish a few days later and she told us how she found out her brother in law is Mormon and how her mother in law still couldnt believe we helped her garden in our skirts. Were praying that as we continue to serve her she will let us teach her with her children.

Our next miracle this week was Sheryl. When we offered to help her she told us no its too hard and we dont know what were getting ourselves into, but we were persistent and came back to help and told her that a lot more missionaries are coming to help her. Since we have our zone service day tomorrow just helping her! We could tell in her eyes that she was really grateful. She told us how overwhelmed she was and she almost started to cry so she went inside. She lives alone and has no children or any other family. My testimony on service grew a lot this week because although they might not let us teach them right now as we continue to gain their trust and love they eventually will.

Our last miracle was the greatest to me. I felt really sick this whole week. I didnt want a blessing because I didnt feel sick enough for one. But on Friday we were walking up a hill that we have walked up heaps of times and I almost passed out. So Sister Tapuala called Sister Beckstead and she told us to go home for a bit and rest. Then she also called the elders and they came over to give me a blessing which I felt really bad about because I didnt want one. When Elder Shannon was giving me the blessing I just got a sense of calm come over me and I could really feel Heavenly Father talking to me. So although I didnt want one I was grateful that my companion realized that I needed one and that the elders could drive over to our area to give me one. The next day I felt a little better so we were out and no one was home. We went to eat dinner at a members house and we got a text from a former investigator saying she now wants to meet with us. So we went over and she said someone hit her car today and just left. She was angry at first and then felt calm, and when she got home she saw our number and texted us because she thought the two were connected. That was incredible. I was not all there and that was probably the worst lesson I ever taught. So after I felt pretty sad and then I realized that although I didnt teach as well as I could have, but my companion still supported me so thank goodness that we dont teach lessons alone and the spirit was there. I realized that I shouldnt be sad because I still have a lot of learning to do and that should just strengthen my testimony. So this week was a huge testimony builder and im really grateful for that."

Sorry this email is so long but it was needed. Im grateful for the gospel and especially for the power of the priesthood. I am grateful for the Lord and his timing in this work. Sometimes I really just dont understand and just when I want to throw in the towel he puts a miracle in my path and I just love it! God is good! Something I also learned in church yesterday that just hit me was, Knowledge applied is knowledge acquired. While you are studying the Book of Mormon are you pondering it? Acquire, write, and reflect I promise you your knowledge of the scriptures will grow! :)

I love you all heaps,

Sister Boiteux

Funnies of the week: It was transfers and our new district leader is Elder Shannon who happens to live by me back in Utah. Haha so my zone leader i went to high school with and my district leader lives by me. Lets just say im their favorite sister ;)

After church yesterday we went to visit people. So we stopped by our good atheist friend William. Dont mess with him. But I started talking and he said "Wait let me guess where youre from by your accent. America. Salt Lake City. Utah?" Lol then a member said "You look like youre from here... Until you open your mouth." God bless America :)

Elder Gerdes went home to the telestial kingdom of Idaho!

P-day at the glow worm caves and a battle field that i dont know how to spell haha

district meeting in the beautiful place I call Paihia that I miss so much!

New Zealand sunsets never get old.

This is Braxten. He tends to always steal my badge. He is the craziest little child ever. His family rocks :)

Prank war with Brother Cooper. We put peanut butter on his car handles.. Then he put a muscle in my shoe and shampoo in Sister Tapualas boot. hahaha its on. 

No sasa sisters... No sasa!!

Oh my this week was slow as. And hard. We now have 1 investigator because all of our others dropped us like it's hot. So that's depressing, but I have learned so much about who I want to be, who I want my husband to be, the missionary I need to be, and most importantly what the Lord expects of me and who he wants me to be right now on my mission. The District Leader called us one day and gave us this analogy "A kite can never fly until it hits a strong wind". Think about it. For this week my companion and I have been studying in Alma for personal and companion studies. Oh man I'm at my favorite part. Which of course is the STRIPLING WARRIORS!! Oh man we were like "Heavenly Father can we have a stripling warrior please?!" Then I thought "no I want to be a stripling warrior" That is the kind of missionary I want to be. In Alma 53-59 It talks about the stripling warriors and my mind was blown. Studying scriptures as a missionary is the greatest thing ever. There is so much I want to say about what I learned but I have no time today. 

But another thing I felt like sharing was an experience we had with Brother Cooper who is the Young Mens president. He is a champ. We had a rough day at church yesterday. Like big guilt trip/ reality check. Like seriously everything everyone said just made me want to cry because I know I can do so much better. We went over to Brother Coopers and talked with him. He had no idea what we were feeling but he asked us "Can you honestly say you live D&C 4?" Can we? That pierced the heart. We just got in the car and started to cry... Well I did. My companion cried when we got back to the flat haha. But really I evaluated the work I have been doing. Elder Crane said if we want to know where we stand with the Lord pray and ask Him. But be prepared because the answer is hard. So that's what I did and yesterday was my answer. Feeling the Lords disappointment is the hardest thing in the world. But there is always room for improvement, and we are excited to have a better week and remember our purpose as missionaries and be the best representatives of Christ. We can do more. We all can do more. Live D&C 4 and strive to serve the Lord. I love you all!

Oh and to explain the title of this email. We always tell the elders we're going to sasa them... And that's the answer we get back. Its an inside joke so just give me a courtesy laugh. 

Love you all heaps!

Sister Boiteux :)

Funny of the week: Elder Gerdes heads down to Auckland today then flies back to the US cause he's done... :( So we made him and Elder Crane lunch and he wanted Enchiladas. I make a dang good enchilada by the way... Then they had trade offs with the district leader and the next day we get a call from Elder Summers and Elder Blandford and they said "what do we have to do to get enchiladas?!?!" That was great because we have the power to make them do stuff. It's awesome! :)

"Brother Cooper!!! Such a great night taking him to lessons with us :) "

" The Cuniffs the cutest old deaf couple in our branch."

"When you have a good hair day and new zealand ruins it"

"Ironed Sister Tapuala's hair... straighteners dont work on poly hair haha. I only burnt her once!"

Lets Fill Up the Font!

Wow this week was absolutely incredible. We were able to invite two more people to be baptized and they both said YES!! It is such an amazing experience asking people to be baptized. The spirit was just yelling at me "Sister Boiteux ask her to be baptized, just do it! Fear God more than man!" So we have another baptism on the 31 of October and hopefully another one soon. It is great. We had a depressing lesson with an investigator though. His name is Craig and he is in his 30s we think. We went to teach him and he was somewhere else. Like on drugs somewhere else. Poor guy. He told us what he's been going through and he just doesn't know what to do. So of course we were like "you need the gospel". We were able to tell him a little bit more of what us as missionaries do and we have some incredible things for him to know. So much potential, he really is golden. It is amazing what happens when we as missionaries look at our investigators in white three times once for baptism, the temple, and the Celestial Kingdom. It truly makes you see them how Christ sees them. 

We had Zone Conference in Whanagarei on Friday. Oh my goodness what the Assistants and President and Sister Balli prepared for us was just jam packed with goodness. It was a spiritual feast. Something really stuck with me that President taught us. He gave an analogy about how much his watch was worth. Someone said $200 and he said no its worth more because Sister Balli gave it to him, so that increased the value. So the value of something we have is different for everyone. But our worth was so important to one person. Our worth is worth more than anything we could ever get in the world. And that person is Jesus Christ. He literally died for us. Why? BECAUSE WE ARE WORTH IT! Remember that when you are struggling and don't know what to do. Christ is always here for us and He knows exactly what we're going through. Something he also said was "I can commit you to do something and you can scream yes! But can your heart scream yes! to the Lord?" Think of that when you are challenged to do something. Loved ones can you scream yes to missionary work? Can you help someone, at least one person, come unto Christ? I know each of you can and will do incredible things if you just pray for those opportunities!

Something that also happened at Zone Conference was an ET.... Yes you all may be thinking "Sister Boiteux what did you do?!" But for once it wasn't my fault haha it wasn't even for my companionship. But I am now with Sister Tapuala and we cover a HUGE area like one of the biggest in the north, it's crazy. I am also the driver hehehe. But we cover KeriKeri, Waihou, Okaihou, and like 3 other parts over here. So we have work to do. We meet with the Branch President and he said that the baptism rate has dropped so much, so we need to fill up that font!!! That is our goal. Transfers is in a week and half so we're interested to see what happens but we still have much to do even in this short of time. I have decided transfers are hard because you truly come to love all the people you were teaching in the previous area. But all is well. Well I love you all. So sorry for this long as email. I love you all so much and am praying for you. Keep on keeping on.

Love always,

Sister Boiteux

Last few days in Matuari Bay

Our sweetest Recent Convert, her name is Julie, and I love her dearly. She also gives me cute clothes so that's a plus!

 Caught a Sunset!

 Zone Conference...at Maccas.. (aka McDonalds)

Feed my Sheep!!

Ok first things first! THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!!!!! Oh man so much has happened and I don't want to write a super long email so my apologizes if it is long. The sister training leaders came for trade offs this week. Sister Paasi came with me. She pretty much thinks I'm crazy and kept telling me that so she was grand. We had a blast and took a million and one pictures. This was her first time in the north so she was in heaven because it's so beautiful. Then on Wednesday we were doing companion study and Sister Paasi and Sister Tapuala showed up.... The sisters in our district which includes sister tapuala are going through some things so the STLs had us do a companion exchange for the week. So I moved into their flat and my area changed to KeriKeri and Okaihou. Oh man it was such a fun week. Sister Tapuala is hilarious. I was so excited to be placed with her. Sister Ottley went with Sister Pointer and covered our areas. So I got to meet new people and be with a companion that I get along with really well. We had fun doing missionary work which is what it is all about. The Sister training leaders, zone leaders, and district leader were worried about us together cause were both crazy. But it was great. Our mission vision is to talk with everyone. So TWE. In the north missionaries always say "it's the north, it's too hard to get 20 Twes. There's no one here" blah blah blah. Sister Tapuala and I went out to prove them wrong. So we parked the car and rode our bikes to town and TALKED WITH EVERYONE!!! We got 4 new investigators and 60 TWEs in two days. So we were told "sisters you are oawesome" by the assistants and zone leaders quite a bit this week. It felt great! So we did work and had fun while we did it. She is one crazy missionary. She didn't make me work out in the morning but we did have a pillow fight so that was fun. The zone leaders and district leader also stopped by and we had a nerf war so lets just say we won because the elders aren't allowed in our flat. haha suckers we had the advantage. So when president switched us back I only cried a little. Mostly cause I will miss the sisters bathroom. Oh and Sister Tapuala I guess. Haha no this week was really great. WE ALSO SET A BAPTISM DATE!!! Our investigator Ethan that lives in Paihia is set for baptism on the 26th of this month. Two days after transfers... so we will see what happens. We also will hopefully have another in October. So stay tuned for that one. This week I really just learned that missionary work is fun if you and your companion work well together and make it fun. So hopefully Sister Ottley and I can work on that cause these past few weeks have been rough. But still good! One miracle this week was yesterday. I had a nice little crying session in the bathroom Saturday night cause companion probs. And I was just praying and praying and trying to pull myself together because that's what you have to do on a mission. So on Sunday we got to church and a family from Highland was there. Oh man they are the sweetest family we talked with them like the whole day and it was great. Please pray for Tammy Fackrell. She went deaf in her left ear two weeks ago and may never get her hearing back. She needs a miracle. Them being at our branch was inspired because I truly needed them yesterday. God is good.

In my studies sometime this week I came across an amazing scripture in Alma. Alma 5:14 "have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your heart?" Loved ones!!! Do what that scripture says to do. Because I have been struggling I set new goals that I need to accomplish and I am trying so hard to become more like Christ so that others can come closer to Him through me. I have seen so many miracles as I truly give my all to our Father in Heaven every. single. day. Try it out your life will change. As you turn into a true disciple of Christ you will change lives and the darkness in the world won't affect you. Change your heart and come unto Christ. 

I love you all so much. Know that Christ is with you every moment of every day. He is just one prayer away. I am so grateful for each and every one of you. The church is true and I love it. I love our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart. I love being a missionary and being apart of this great and amazing work. Have an oawesome week!

Love,

Sister Boiteux

oh p.s. i also broke our phone on monday last week so we wont get one until tomorrow maybe. Shocker there huh? Lol

okay talk to you later. Love you. Bye.

With Sister Paasi 

Trade off day. Sister Paasi and Sister Pointer (Sister Paasi certified me to drive, don't trust her face I did great.)

 

Feed my Sheep!

Being a goofball with Sister Tapuala 

The other sisters swanky bathroom

With the family from Highland

Bomb that place as you walk out the door.....

Well this email may be a little long but it is necessary because this week was interesting to say the least. So on Tuesday we were having companion study and the door knocked it was the Zone Leaders! Elder Crane and Elder Gerdes. What goons. They talked for a bit then left. Then ten minutes later the District Leader showed up. Elder Summers and Elder Blandford. They talked and brought us McDonalds.. My first hamburger from there. Nasty. But I tell you that because of the upcoming story..

So Sister Ottley has some crazy weird bites on her body. I noticed I started getting some too. So we called the Mission medical mom Sister Beckstead. She got us a doctors appointment and we went on over. Come to find out we have scabies. I wouldn't recommend googling it, they are pretty gross. Little mites that burrow in your skin and lay eggs and they itch and hurt. So we got quarantined this week. Literally we had to take everything and go wash it. Heaps of clothes and sheets were pilled into our car. But we called Sister Beckstead after and she said, "I was going to say something mean.... Call the elders to come over and shake their hands!" HAHA funny that they all stopped by right before we went to the doctors. So they all had to wash their hands real good. It was an interesting week. Our flat is being fumigated as we speak so funny. So sad we had appointments scheduled for every single day and had to cancel a few. We went to take old clothes to Hospice and met a lady there who apparently lives right by our church building in Matauri Bay! Sweet as!!! We're going to go and talk with her soon. The Lord truly does care. Although we didn't get to see who we planned on seeing we got to meet someone else who needs us too. But rather than that it was a good week and we still got to teach a few good lessons. There is a boy named Ethan who has been an investigator for quite sometime now. Well were meeting with him this week and he will hopefully be baptized in the next few weeks. Pray for that! He reminds me of Blake which makes me want him to be baptized even more. Everyone already feels like he is cause he goes to church with his friend every single week. So great.

What I loved in one of my studies this week is found in Mosiah chapter 4 vs 19. Are we not all beggars? Does that sound familiar cause it is from a talk by Elder Holland, I believe, from General Conference. My all time favorite talk. It is so true! We are all beggars. We are the Lords hands here on earth we have promised to declare His word and serve Him. DO NOT JUDGE. Be kind to everyone. So many people tell us why they fell away and it's usually always because of members. It drives me nuts. Yes they get offended over little things but things that we as members can change. We are here to uplift and inspire others not bring them down. Put yourself in another persons shoes and treat them how you would want to be treated. Look at them and love them with the same love our Father in Heaven has for them. It is incredible how much your love grows for people when you do that. I love you all so much. Keep on keeping on. Don't get scabies. Remember who you are and what you stand for.

Love,

Sister Boiteux

Oh yeah and our branch president says I look scary holding scissors so I shouldn't do that anymore.... So much love felt for Sister Boiteux here hahaha They already know me so well :)

CLEANING MACHINES!

Thanks Melodee for letting me watch you cut hair... Cut a less actives hair hahaha its not straight at all so funny.

Cutest flippin kids ever!!

 

Zone conference, party at Mcdonalds after...

Also people seriously use microwaves as mailboxes here. When in New Zealand i guess.