Plan of Happiness

Our week was pretty eventful. We took Sister Smith to the airport and made me freak out just a bit that I come home in just a few weeks! Time has just flown by. President also talked about in MLC about how time goes by way to fast and it will come to an end. Feel so bipolar at the moment. Some days I am excited and some days I am real sad but I know that much is still to be done. Sister Tuaana and I are currently in the finding process. Which means heaps of tracting. Good thing tracting can be entertaining and we meet awesome people so that's what keeps me going. 

A lot of our lessons from this week have been with the members. Something we noticed as we were going over our numbers yesterday was that almost every member we saw experessed how they needed us. Whether it be because they had a bad day, experienced something scary, or just needed to feel of the spirit. For that i was grateful. Even though we dont have a lot of other lessons or member presents we are still strengthening the ward we serve in. It is a humbling experience to hear people express to you their gratitude for just stopping by. Makes me grateful to know that the spirit truly is guiding my companion and I to Gods children who really need us. 

We were contacting potential investigators the other day and met a man who was working in his garden. He told us that he has met missionaries many many times and isn't interested. He doesn't believe in God. He told us how the past few years have been really hard it started with when his wife died, then his dad, then his brother, and close friends. He obviously wasn't interested in what we had to say about religion. but was happy to chat with us. He believes that once we die that's it. We just come to earth to experience trials and then die. It was depressing. We meet tons of people like this but when he was expressing to us his feelings and when we saw how sad he truly was it was heartbreaking. After we left him we talked about how grateful we are for the plan of salvation. That we know that this life isn't the end. That we truly will be able to return with our Father in Heaven and Saviour Jesus Christ. We know that families can be together forever. I wish people would be more willing to listen so that we can share this great gift with them. I know that Gods plan is perfect. I know that we experience trials to help us become better and stronger. I know that as we keep the commandments and become more like Christ we will be able to make it to the celestial kingdom. I am grateful to be a representative of Christ and to be able to share this message with others. I hope you all enjoyed your sabbath day and were able to learn from the testimonies that were shared. I love you all heaps!!

Sister Boiteux

pictures!

 Adventures at the airport. Sister Tuaana is having a harder time about us leaving than we are.

First round of breakfast at MLC since i couldn't eat the waffles. Luckily Elder Hixon is gluten free so Sister Balli made me some gluten free french toast :) We are her special children haha

Comp study with the zone leaders. Some how we always manage to have them make us food :)

Takapuna Sisters

Not much time this week, but transfer news.... I am now in Harbour with Sister Tuaana! We are privileged to be in the area presidencys, President and Sister Balli, and the assitants ward! Go us! It is pretty fun though. North Shore is a lot different than I expected in a good way. I am excited for my last transfer. Hopefully we will be able to accomplish wonders or at least just one thing so we can say we did something :) 

Sister Tuaana is great she is from Perth and has been out for 9 months. We are also in a trio for a few more hours with Sister Smith. She is heading to the temple square mission so look out for her!

A quick message I wanted to share is from our relief society lesson that we had yesterday which was on comparing ourselves. Something I have always struggled with and I am sure something a lot of us struggle with. If there is one thing my mission taught me is that God created me. He loves us just the way we are and he didn't intend for us to beat ourselves up for not being someone else. Sometimes we ask are we good enough? but are really implying am i perfect enough? None of us are perfect. Hence why we need the atonement so it can make us perfect one day. I know for a fact that everyone has something special to offer. That we were placed on this earth at this time for a specific reason. I know God created us to succeed not to fail. I hope you all have a fantastic new year and that you really learn how to become better, but don't beat yourself up over it. I know that Heavenly Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ are cheering us on and that they are so proud of us! I love you all heaps!!

Love,

Sister Boiteux

pictures:

A few good byes to some of my favs!!

Stopped by the mission office and saw the Clements! Love them way too much. Also this is my companion Sister Tuaana.

First Sunday in Takapuna :)

 I fit in Sister Smith's suitcase!! Not trunky or anything, just miss Salt Lake. President told her to watch out for those missionaries going home hahahahaa

Lead Me, Guide Me, Walk Beside Me

Merry Christmas everyone!! This week has been an interesting one as per usual. Highlight was WE GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!! Seriously the greatest thing to be back in the house of the Lord and be spiritually uplifted by the spirit. I am so grateful for the priesthood and the blessings and gifts we receive when we do go to the temple. As we were sitting in the endowment session I was so sad because I didn't remember a lot of things that were going on, but as we sat there I realized that at that time it didn't matter if I had everything memorized or knew what was going on. All that mattered was I was there to learn more about Gods plan and to come closer to him.

I am grateful for the church and the blessings that we receive in the House of the Lord. I am grateful for the answers I was able to receive as I sat and pondered and truly learned what God wanted me to learn. I know that each of us can have an experience with our Heavenly Father if we truly prepare for it and are striving to be worthy for it. 

We were talking with one of our members who is probably in his 70's. He is just coming back to church. This past week when we saw him he was doing his usual comparing himself to us and wishing that he would have stayed active and went on a mission. As we were talking to him the thought came to my companions mind to ask him if he has ever received his patriarchal blessing. Which he hasn't. We were able to explain to him more the importance of receiving one. That our patriarchal blessing is like a blue print to our life. It is a blessing directly from God to us. So much peace and direction has been given to us through our own blessings. I am grateful for the direction we receive from our Heavenly Father. I am grateful for this past week and the better understanding of the Saviour and what he went through, as well as what God wants me to go through while I am here. 

I hope you all enjoy the rest of this season! Love you heaps!

Sister Boiteux

Pictures! (sorry we had a very eventful week)

Zone Pday! We made gingerbread houses out of crackers. We made a temple!!

Sister Training Leader life. When  you leave for trade-offs with the wrong socks on. Had trade-offs with the sweetest Tahitian and Filipino. (sister christiansen's daughter) 

Temple Trip!

Tried to sneak a pic with President and Sister Balli :) Ended up getting a good one after!

My granddaughter. The legacy lives on!

Mamas donuts best things around!

Woke up to this miracle Christmas morning. Went out to the car to get something and saw all this on our door. Love being loved. We didn't have time to grocery shop last monday so we literally haven't had any food! It was a blessing to receive boxes and boxes of goodness! Thank you secret Santa :)

Companion enjoying the goodies!

Tis the Season

Merry Christmas!!! 

Can't believe that this upcoming Sunday will be Christmas. 2016 has gone by way too fast and it is already time for us to come together as ward members and family and celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Always the best time of year. 

I have a few experiences to share about this week..

1. On Monday we went to go and get my hair cut. Before she started doing my hair she went and grabbed a magazine. I of course couldn't read it so we resorted to the awkward small talk, but then eventually got into actually getting to know her. She wasn't very religious and didn't know much about Christ. Before I started to get into our purpose as missionaries I froze. Literally had no idea what to say to this lady. I felt like I was at the beginning of my mission again freaking out because I didn't know what to do. I also didn't have a companion to jump in and save me because she was on the other side of the room. As I sat there I thought of a line in PMG from Elder Holland that says if you listen there is something in what they say that will highlight a gospel truth to which we can then testify. It was really humbling for me to be able to teach about the restoration. Could have taught it a lot better, but I was reminded of the importance of implying our message into their lives and helping them see how they can benefit from it.

2. We had a come and see fireside last night. Best one in a while. It was Christmas themed and the spirit that was there was the greatest. President was the last speaker and he shared a story of when he was a leader for young mens and at Christmas time the young men decided they wanted to do a sub for santa. President went to a place to see if there were any families that may need help and the lady told him that it was too late in the  season and she can't think of anyone. So he left with no one to give to. The next day that lady called him and said that she knew of a family that didn't ask for any help and may not be happy if someone did something for them, but she was willing to give the name and address for them to do something. President told the young men and they said "well we can try." They got some gifts together and somehow found a tree and realized they didn't have much to give. So the boys ran to their house and found some things that they could give to the family. When they went to go drop it off the quietly walked to the porch and set everything up. They rang the bell and walked away. As they were walking away he said they could hear the kids opening the door and calling each other to come and see. A few moments later it went quiet and they knew the mum had come. Expecting her to be upset they heard her yell out to them "thank you, and God bless you!" That is when they knew she received their gifts thankfully.

Obviously President told the story way better and in a lot more depth, but I am sure many of us have had experiences of giving during the Christmas season. I remember doing Sub 4 Santa when I was in high school and it was such a fun experience to be able to go and shop for a family in need and then deliver it to them. I reckon it was an incredible experience because it is something the Saviour would have done. He always thought of others rather than himself. I know that as we truly strive to become more like him and strive to help others that his light will always be with us. The Christmas cheer can stay with us all year. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas. Love you heaps!

Sister Boiteux

pictures!

Please enjoy this wonderful reserve.

The Luki's are heading off to Australia. Last time we will get to see them. Love this family so much!

What Christmas in the car park looks like.

O Come All Ye Faithful

Hello everyone! I hope you guys all had an amazing week!!!

Our was busy and exhausting as per usual. It has been a fun week with inviting so many people to participate in #LIGHTtheWorld. Beyond grateful for the opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ this Christmas season. We were able to watch the first presidency Christmas devotional last night. It was the greatest thing. A scripture they kept referring to was 2 Nephi 19:6 

 "6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God,The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

One of my favourite scriptures that sums up the Saviour. I know that a few months back I talked about the atonement and how Christ coming was all part of Gods plan. Yesterday as they were talking I was reflecting on Gods whole purpose and plan for us. That it began in the pre-existence. I truly know that there wouldn't be a Christmas without an Easter. I know Christ had to come to earth and had to suffer for us. Brother Holmes talked about giving and receiving gifts. Sometimes we just look at the gifts God gives us but then we never open them. We just leave them sitting under the Christmas tree to be admired. One of the best gifts he has given us is the Holy Ghost. He gave 3 ways that we can receive that gift.  I wont go over all of them (you can just watch the devotional) but one of them was increasing faith. He said

"Increased faith brings greater endowments of the Spirit into our lives. So how do we increase our faith in Christ?We feast on and obey His word. Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught, “The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ.”²⁵ This truth is found throughout the Book of Mormon. King Benjamin, for example, taught his people the words he received from an angel, which helped them have “exceeding faith” in Jesus Christ, and because of that faith the Spirit wrought a mighty change in their hearts.²⁶

If we desire the Holy Ghost as our daily companion, we will feast on and obey the word of Christ received through the scriptures, living prophets, and the whisperings of the Spirit. This daily pursuit of light and truth will increase our faith in Christ, our desire to be like Him, and our capacity to receive the third member of the Godhead as our constant companion."

I am grateful for all the counsel we were able to receive yesterday and that we were reminded on the birth of our Saviour. I know that as we truly feast on and obey the word of God then we will be blessed with even more than we can imagine. I am grateful that Christmas will be on a Sunday this year and that we get to go to church and partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants. I am grateful for the gift of the holy ghost and the many other things our Father in Heaven has given to us. I hope you all look for the gifts you have been given and seek ways to use them to bless others.

Happy Holidays!

Sister Boiteux

Pictures!

 Trade-offs with the Manukau sisters. This is Sister Stapley. She totally went to Bingham my senior year!! Miners are taking over the mission one sister at a time :)

Had to treat ourselves to nandos (sorry I send so many food pictures)

Some cute Christmas decorations. All I get since we have nothing in our flat.

Trade off with our Chinese sisters (Sister Howell). Once again more food cause she was teaching me how to use chop sticks. We also found out that we both lived at University Villas at the same time before our missions haha