It was very tough to leave Panmure. I am now serving up north in Kaikohe zone. I missed the tug-of-war. I was a little late to it. I loved conference! It was very inspiring and I didn't sleep the whole time - not even once. I don't remember the last time that happened to me. It was awesome. I don't know if Keeg and Xoch got the hint but they should probably get married to people pretty soon, I have a feeling I am going to miss both of them. I would like to leave one of my favorite quotes as some advice for both of them,"Remember love is like a fart, if you have to force it, is probably crap". Dad working through an injury or sickness... that's nothing new. :) Chantelle is home - Holy Cow that was fast! Keeg and then Xoch... it definitely makes me wish I could be there but don't worry, I am not really too homesick with everything that is going on in the mission. I doubt Kaden was able to stay out. That little nerd, he will probably be in a higher math class than I was. Crack Bars sound amazing. Our family is awesome.
This week:
Transfers are on were on Thursday last week. At about 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday night we got the call that Elder Lolohea and Elder Lloyd would both be staying and that I would be serving with Elder Kapeteni in Kaikohe Zone, commonly known as the Northland. We ended up making all our appointments into 15 min lessons so I could go say goodbye and take pictures with everyone. The hardest person for me to say good bye to was probably Rose. She understood and gave me heaps of advice on life and stuff and then finished by saying. "Don't worry about me next time you come to the city. I will probably be Dead." :) Man I love Rose. She is just the best.
The new area is pretty awesome. We are covering two small wards here - Moerewa and Maromaku They are both wards but they have so many LA members that they are pretty much the size of branches. Everyone is LA here - it is crazy. In the small towns around here the church has been around for over 100 years. It started to grow up north first with the tribes that prophesied of the missionaries coming. So everyone and there families are all members. But everyone goes Less Active. For example, in the Moerewa ward the past three bishops all are LA. We can visit whenever we like, and they still feed the missionaries, but they just don't go to church. I just decided. I am now going to focus my studies on the importance of the Sacrament.
The area we cover is one of the biggest areas in the mission. We have a car and Elder Kapeteni doesn't have a full license so I am the one driving! It is pretty scary - I still get really nervous. Something that makes it harder is there are only give way signs, a few stop signs, and no traffic lights up here. The speed limit is 100 km/hr almost everywhere so that makes it really fun to drive up here. Our area covers a little town and a valley. In the valley it reminds me a lot of Argyle canyon, except it is very green. The road is about the same that goes through the middle and it takes us about 20 min to get from house to house. All of them are gated too. I love being in the mountains again. It is way different from the mountains back home, but mountains are mountains.
The mountains are great but my flat is probably one of the best things about this area so far. It might be the biggest one in the entire mission. Elder Kapeteni and I have our very own house in Kawakawa! 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, complete with a kitchen, a front room, a living room and a laundry room. I have more space than I know what to do with. I even found another room for like storage on the outside of our house that I didn't see until this morning. It is not the largest house in the world but man, it is definitely the largest place I will live on my mission. We have the keys to the local gym as well so we have been lifting every morning. There is a man there who comes in and makes us feel like we are pretty small. His name is Andy Ellis and plays for the All Blacks - yep, another one to add to my list. We have an investigator who is a personal trainer and she is creating a workout plan for us. Right now I am benching max 80kg which is about 175lbs. I am looking forward to seeing how much I can lift at the end of this transfer. We also met two girls there this morning and we have a lesson with them tomorrow. Look at all the benefits that come from working out, haha.
I am excited to be in Kaikohe, I definitely miss my family in Panmure but I will continue to work hard and I now Heavenly Father will bless me more than he already has.
Love,
Elder Summers