A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

[We just got pictures this week -- I think he was in a hurry....but a picture is worth a thousand words, right? From this weeks pictures you would think he is on a vacation.  I know he has been busy doing missionary work as well, he continues to crack us up, and he hasn't changed a bit]

What has gone on in America this week?  We have heard the news, can you go out in public? It is definitely the last days.

Also, last night I had steak!!!!  I almost asked if I could take a picture to send home, but I didn't.  It made me miss our steaks at home.  It wasn't as good, but it was up there.  We had a feast last night and I ate WAY too much.  I feel so fat.  I wasn't hungry this morning and I am still not feeling hungry for lunch because we ate so much.  I feel like such a fatty even after I worked out this morning, I still feel huge.  I just know I am going to come back fat.  I should take a side picture to show you how much I have gained.... and now we have a car..... will be biking so much less.... UGH!

Finally got my license!!!!  [we have been working from the day he got to New Zealand trying to get the proper paperwork from the DMV so he could drive, they rely on the American Missionaries to do the driving] This week, we had a fun 2 hour road trip down to Palmerson North to drop off a car.  I got to follow the Zone leaders all the way down there and stopped at 2-3 set of missionaries flats on the way.  It was a great road trip and beautiful scenery.

Here is the scariest road I have ever driven on.  The other side of the road drops straight down to a river.  It was a HUGE and beautiful canyon.  (don't worry, my companion was taking the pictures!)

Every white dot is a sheep.  I think there are more sheep than people in New Zealand!  It is incredible how green it is now that we have been getting lots of rain.  And since we have been getting rain, I am glad that we can have a car now.  We share a car with the sisters, we trade off each week.  

And cows.... I have never seen so many cows.

We saw some windmills!!!  We drove through those two mountains -- it is so beautiful.

We cut these HUGE logs this week into firewood.  A recent convert came with a chain saw.  It was so much fun!  [he really isn't kidding, he LOVES doing work like this]

Love you LOTS -- Elder Tuckett

When it rained.... IT POURED

Mom, I can't believe you went hiking with Dad!  Good Job! [I gave in and went on a hike with Ray this week], and... The swim meet....sounds so fun!  Thanks for the picture of Ryan Lochte on the blocks -- and that is legit that they have the extra angle on the block! [I sent him a picture of Ryan Lochte from the Grand Prix meet this week that was at our pool, where half the Olympic team was here swimming, only a swimmer would notice the starting block]  Did you go to the meet?  I bet it was crazy busy.  I am happy I don't see a lot of pools here -- that would tempt me WAY to much!  And John!!!!  Crazy good!!! Ask him if he is still happy he decided to do swimming over track? [his friend that qualified for Nationals this weekend in the 50 free]  

I am excited for the package that you have sent!  I am excited for warm clothes.  [mailed him thermals and wool socks at his request]  I also need some of my favorite pens if you could mail me some next time. [surprise, mother knows what he likes, they are in this box]  

As far as your questions -- Mothers day:  I am pretty sure we can skype if I am still here.  Which, I think I am going to be here because President emailed my companion and said that he would be moving next transfer.  The Senior Couple in our area have an iphone that they call their kids on all the time and I think we can go skype there on their computer.  Yes, we do have a washer and dryer but they don't work that great.  Our washer is  a top loader and it pretty much just soaks the clothes.  I have to scrub my collars every week when I do the wash.  It stinks.  And yes, I am studying every day.  There is always more to learn.  I truly know what feasting on the scriptures is now, and there is always more to learn.  

This week we got to watch General Conference!  However, we almost didn't get to see all of it!  We went to Priesthood Session on Wednesday, and they couldn't get the projector to work so they sent us all home!  Thank goodness we had the Senior Couple and we went to their house and watched it which I thought was better than watching it from the projector.  The same exact thing happened on Saturday too!  We went to watch it and the projector broke half way through the first session so we went to the Senior Couples again.  Finally, on Sunday, we gave up on our stake and watched it at the stake center for the other stake!  It worked great the there were a lot more people there. I definitely missed going to priesthood meeting with Dad this time and going out to dinner afterwards for a "mean feed".   I also missed how every seat in the stake center was filled in Arizona.  Here, there was 1 person on every pew.  I missed the overwhelming crowd and presence of the priesthood that we have in Arizona.  

This week we took apart a lot of that wood we delivered the other week because winter is really coming!  We still have more to send out -- these guys are over their heads in wood.  there are just so many single women with children in our ward, it is sad.  

And.... I was actually craving fish this week.  Lucky we got some delivered to us on Saturday night from some of our members.  I don't have many pictures to send this week [he didn't send any], I am running out of things to take pictures of.  What do you want pictures of?  Also, today we are hoping to go the the AA (Automotive Association) and see if I can finally get my license. [it has been a long process of me going to the DMV and both of us getting various paper work done, hopefully, with some prayers, it will happen this time, otherwise, i don't know what else to do]  I still might have to take a driving test so hopefully I can remember how to drive.  It has been months since I've driven and I really miss it.  I definitely miss my big truck!  

This week we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders.  It was so much fun and I was with Elder Smith from Utah and we are so much alike.  He had such a great attitude with the work, I LOVED IT!!!  Even though -- it was one of the HARDEST days I have had on the mission yet, he made it great.  It was one of the hardest because the time we decided to go knock doors, it started to pour rain!!! Like, I have only seen it rain like this once or twice in Arizona!  But it poured rain and it started right when we started riding our bikes!  We did 2 hours of knocking then we started biking home again to dry off for our meeting with our Ward Mission Leader, when we got home, we just stripped and threw all of our clothes in the dryer, everything on us was wet!  Even though I had my rain jacket on, my sleeves were so wet they were sticking to me, and my pants were dripping wet when I took them off and my socks took all night to dry.  I never knew you could get so wet from rain!

Anyway, all is going well.  I miss you guys, but I really love it here and enjoy doing missionary work (it is not really work, it is fun).  I love you all!

Elder Tuckett

P.S. Thank You Dad for taking care of my Truck! [I sent him a picture of Ray washing the truck this week]

I ate fish....and I liked it!!!

                    
I had fish and chips this week!  It was actually really good!  No fishy taste at all!  We ate almost that whole pile!  A member brought us that for dinner!

That is CRAZY about Julie's mission call. [Mary's best friend got called to Tokyo, Japan, same as Ryan's friend Jaron]  They know each other right?  I am thinking that Joe and Jared used to hang out with Trevon.

Thanks for the update on General Conference.  I downloaded the talks on a flash drive so that we can watch them before we go to bed!  But we will be watching the priesthood session Wednesday night, and then Saturday and Sunday, we will watch back to back sessions for 4 hours straight!  (that is going to be hard to sit that long)

Not much to report this week ...  It has been raining a lot and it is so much fun riding a bike in the rain!  And it is starting to get cold!!! In the next package could you please send me some thermals and some warm socks!  I am probably going to buy a nicer rain jacket.  The one I have is fine when it has the liner in it, but without the liner, the jacket is HUMONGOUS!  My companion found a rain jacket for $20, so I am going to look for one like his.

The coolest thing that happened this week....  Do you remember me talking about a guy a while ago that we stopped by with with the Bishop and he had just got off the phone with his mother and she had told him to call the missionaries because he was having a rough time?  Well, yesterday we were walking around to members houses (not a normal Sunday thing - the walking and visiting members) because we had an hour between dinner and church and we walked by his house and saw his car in front of his wife's hours (not normal) so we knocked on the door to see if he was there.  He answers the door and lets us in!  We start talking to him and he said it was really weird you guys knocked on the door today, because I have hit rock bottom again!  I was caught drinking  and driving this week (very serious here, a lot of people do it, too) and my license is suspended!  I go to court next week to see what my penalty is (most likely can't drive for 6 months).  This is going to be crazy hard for him because his wife and him just split up and he might not see the kids now and he doesn't know how he is going to get to work.  He is having a rough time, and we just happened to knock on his door.  I am starting to think that we keep showing up when bad things happen so we shouldn't show up anymore!  Just kidding, I know that we have the answer for him and why his life is going bad!  I really hope that he starts coming back to church so that he doesn't find another rock bottom.

Today we are going to the National Aquarium of New Zealand so that should be cool.  And we will be going on splits with the Zone Leaders this week.  I get to lead my area already!  I am excited and would have never guessed that I would be leading the area in 3 months into my mission,  even if it is only for 3 days!

Elder Tuckett

Hiking, and a week of service

My new district -- there are a lot more Americans coming in!  I even met an Elder from Queen Creek!

We went on a hike this day -- it was so much fun!

Giving Service -- a lot of the homes are only heated by wood, so we were gathering and delivering wood for the single sisters in our ward -- this was all for one sister, we still have more to do.

I still have some parkour moves!  Please make sure Sarah sees this

[Sarah is who he coached Parkour with]

Me and Elder G at the top of our hike!  I wish that I could see this all green!

Taking a cat nap after our hike.

Panoramic View from the top.

Easter Week

This was a fantastic week!  We spent the whole week with our Zone leader who really knows how to work and get things done.  It was great being with him!  Also, being with him means that we had a car to drive everywhere so that was nice.  I didn't get a lot of bike riding in so I had to work out harder in the morning which was fun.  I got a chance to do some of the old exercises from swim which brought back memories and made me remember what it was like to be fit!  

We were able to do a lot of work in both of our areas!  We had dinner in their area every night though, so we got to visit some great families!  I learned so much from them.  One family was one that I got to go to their baptism, they have grown so much since their baptism.  Their testimonies have grown, it is so crazy.  They both are so spiritual and she (the wife) got to do baptisms for the dead that week and had a fantastic experience.  I wish I had time to tell you all about it.  But, as a family they are all about missionary work now!  They are saving their money to go on a mission already and they have a whole table of missionary stuff in their house right next to the door just in case someone is interested!  Anyway, they are an amazing family and they are so devoted to the Lord now, I think everyone can learn from them.  

On Thursday, we got to help with transfers and went to the airport and sent people off and waited for people to come in.  it was a really fun day and we got to meet a lot of new people in our zone and I hope that we can all become close friends!  

Church was really good this week and we had a lot of new faces!  Plus, a lot of less actives came because it was Easter!  I hope they felt the spirit and will keep coming and notice what they have been missing out on! An interesting thing I have learned in New Zealand is that they teach kids in school about Jesus and what he did and everything about his life!  So, kids are coming home from school with drawings of Jesus!  It is crazy and I know that wouldn't fly in the United States!  People complain about the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States, so Jesus in schools wouldn't work either.

I had my first fish this week!  First bite, I didn't know what is was, second bite, I figured it was fish, and that maybe it was good, third bite, I started gagging.  Good thing it was a "drop off" meal and not in a members home

Update on some investigators.... The couple we found that were 16 and 19, well, they ran away from their home and went missing half of the week.  We are hoping to find them because they really wanted to be baptized.  Then we visited another investigator this week and found a cool ankle bracelet on him and asked him about it and found out he  is on house arrest!  But.... only on the weekends, however that works, so at least we know when he will be home and can go and teach him some more.  

One of the greatest things I learned in the MTC was how centered on the atonement this church is!  Everything about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is only because of the perfect sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us.  We get to remember the things he did for us every Sunday when we take the sacrament.  The bread reminding us of the body that was crucified for us so that we can live again.  Then the water reminding us of the blood that he shed for our sins.  I am so grateful for the things He did for us so that we can live again and become perfect like our Heavenly Father.  I have read so many testimonies about the atonement, but I want you to know that I have gained my own testimony about the atonement.  It has helped me get through so much in my own life and I know it can help you get through any thing that is hard in your life too!  I know Jesus was  perfect and made the infinite sacrifice for our sins and that he died for us to be resurrected again.  I know that Jesus lives today and I will love him forever for what He has done for me and all humanity.  He is the captain of our salvation, the beginning and the end, I am so grateful that I can be here on a mission serving him with all my heart might mind and strength!

I love you!

Elder Tuckett

P.S.  We don't get to see General Conference until a week late -- you will need to let me know the good stuff in your letter next week.