Elder Dance, New Zealand Hamilton Mission

  Highlights: 1. The miracle that happened with the man losing his 4-wheeler off of his trailer next to them and him wanting to talk with the missionaries 2. Getting their friend Wayne to church and fixing his flat tire 3. Playing pickleball in their flat 4. Meeting with lots of members 5. Dinner with the stake presidency 6. Going to the temple Challenges this week: 1. Inconsistency with investigator friends cancelling appts 2. Wet, cold weather some days 3. Super long bike rides 

  From an army of dogs ruling the streets 👑🐕, cars and bikes covered in speakers 🔊 and hearing about the sad news about our Prophet's passing. This week has been wild to say the least. Throughout the week the work has been moving forward pretty well, other than at night... Our area is in a pretty rough part of Auckland and is somehow apart of our mission and not the Auckland mission. But when I say it is rough part of town, it's like the Compton of new Zealand basically.  If it's not the police helicopters that wake me up, it's either the dogs or the speakers. A couple nights ago at about 1am I wake up to what sounds like and army of dogs outside my window. Unsurprisingly I look out the window and there is about half a dozen stray dogs 🐕 roaming around our driveway and the road. On Wednesday night at about the same time I heard super loud music 🔊. I once again looked out the window and to no surprise saw that there were some guys with bikes that had car batteries s...

 Highlights this week: 1.  His first exchange with the zone leaders 2. Meeting with some 3 new “friends” aka investigators and 4-5 referrals  3. Blessing a “haunted house”—the members said it had a bad vibe.  The house was really creepy, but he felt the spirit again in the house after the blessing.  A woman who is not a member there got emotional and said she could feel the spirit after the blessing and they also gave her a priesthood blessing. 4. Playing rugby 5. Handing out a few Book of Mormon books 6. Playing cards with the Samoan elders Challenges this week: 1. Massive meals—the locals call meals “feeds.”  They give SO much food and expect you to eat all of it.   2. Getting cussed out during door knocking 3. Dogs chasing him

Kia Ora! This past week has been so awesome. I have had many learning experiences as well as wild experiences. From getting chased by an army of dogs 🐕 to blessing the home of somoene who was sent to an insane asylum 😬.  On Tuesday, we were able to go down to Hamilton to see sister Runia from the young women general presidency and she gave a great talk. On thursday, I had my first exchange ever and it was with the my zone leaders Elder Fadden and Elder Jensen.  I learned a lot about how to be a successful missionary and found almost half a dozen investigators this week! We met with an individual who had moved from India and was super interested in the church and did not have any friends. So it was super cool the impact of our fellowship as well as his growth in learning about the Gospel.  After all the people I have met and ralked witg it has been cool to see the growth and diligence they have had to learn and accept the Gospel!  I hope you all have a wonderful wee...

  It has been such a great week! Started off the week pretty easy with zone conference. Got to see the guys that I went to the mtc with which was pretty great. I thought it was going to be an easy week, but oh was I wrong 😅.  After zone conference me and my companion made a big goal to visit all the Grey dots (people who have not been taught in a while) in 2 weeks. So going into the week it was very busy. One day this week my companion got food poisoning from a meal we had at a members house the previous night 🤢 so we had to stay home for a day. On top of that it was pouring rain all day almost every day which made things that much more difficult🌧. On Friday when most of our visits were unsuccessful me and my companion had a prompting to go do door knocking at the opposite side of the area. About 2 houses in me and my companion knocked on a door and shared a message with someone who was very Christian and had never heard of the church.  At first she asked about the Boo...

  Highlights this week: 1. Finding people while door knocking  2. Giving out his first Book of Mormon to a woman named Manisha 3. Zone conference  4. Getting to know the ward 5. Getting 3 referrals Challenges: 1. His companion, Elder Smith, getting food poisoning  2. Constant rain and being wet and cold all day 3. Trying to do member visits but no one being home

Elder Dance loves his new companion, Elder Smith, from Austin, Texas. Elder Smith is a district leader and an awesome example and trainer for Evan.  Elder Smith also makes sure they get in a hard workout every morning. Elder Dance claims this is the best ice cream he has ever eaten. Even better than the iced ice cream we ate at Gracie’s Apizza in Portland in July. Elder Smith, Elder Tuaga, and Elder Dance Kia Ora!! This past week has been awesome! First transfer into the Alfirston district in the Manurewa zone in South Auckland!  I love my trainer and his name is Elder Smith! In New Zealand they call apartments "flats" so me and my companion share a flat with another companionship which has been a ton of fun.   My favorite thing about my area so far is the members of our ward.  They are all so kind and it is a privilege to visit and serve them. It has been so humbling to see how strong these members are in the church despite the trials they go through.  I have t...