A Package!!!

Today, crammed in our mailbox, was a package from our favorite missionary.... Filled with t-shirts, candies, drink mix, jewelry, stickers, travel pamphlets, and letters...  Love a little mid-week treat!  Mary and Ray both got letters -- here are some highlights from Ray's.

Father,

How is work going?  What new gadget have you gotten now?  I see your mazda 5x every once and a while while I am on my bike, and I wish so much I could be driving yours.  How's my truck doing?  We don't see many trucks here -- I have only seen 2 big Dodge trucks, no Chevy's and about 2 Ford 250's in Queenstown.

What is new with apple?  People show us pictures and stuff on their Ipads, and ask us questions how to work them because we are young, but the software looks so different now I feel like I don't know how to do things already!

Anyway, while technology is zooming by me, I am learning so much about the church! (which is more useful if you ask me)  When I came out, I knew I didn't know everything, but I thought I knew a lot.  But after studying every day for 6 months I have learned that there is no way I could ever know everything!  There is just so much!  The hour of study is one of my favorite hours of the day now!  I know what it means to feast on the words of Christ!  Whenever we aren't on the streets talking to people we are in the car or flat listening to General Conference talks or videos, or music that we can learn from too!  There is not enough hours in the day to do everything we need to do!  It is amazing!  I love you!

Elder Tuckett

P.S.  When I am old and rich or maybe even before, I am going to move somewhere where I can strengthen the church!  We need strong members that know the church and how it is supposed to run!  You and Mom can come too!

I'm Training!!!!

Look what I got in my email today:

"In preparation for a visit to your mission 9/11/2013, Elder James J. Hamula has requested that missionaries in the New Zealand Wellington Mission complete the Preach my Gospel Questionnaire"

I am so excited for this! [Elder Hamula is a personal family friend of ours, Ryan will be able to see him and his wife when they do a mission tour this fall]

Teaching people this week was great!  We did our numbers and we broke records in all areas!  Things are great here and we have 2 really good progressing investigators.  We were out knocking doors, and we found a man who had been looking for the missionaries for a year now, because some missionaries helped his son about a year ago when he was in a bike wreck, and he was looking for those with a Christlike love that helped his son.  We also taught a lesson to a 15 year old boy.  He is great and hope we can get closer to him.  He is wonderful!  I know when I was 15 that I would have never of thought of religion if I had not been brought up with it.  I love this guy!

Crazy mailbox we found after teaching a lesson!

The sad part of this week is that Elder Edwards is already leaving!  Now for the crazy part.... I am going to be a trainer!  I am getting a brand new Elder from the United States straight from the MTC!  I have been freaking out this week about how I am going to be leading this area as well as training a new Elder.  I already know his name, Elder Richardson!  So, changes and challenges for Elder Tuckett to get over this week. In the mission we explain it like this:  I am pregnant, and will become a father this week!  The mission is never easy, but so worth it!

More exciting news.... I am almost out of my journal pages, so I need you to send me some more!  I have loved my package by the way... I use the Ipod every day, it is even my alarm so I can wake up to it every day to the wornderful songs!  Thanks again!  The food is already almost gone!  The oreos are a bit crushed but they are from America, so they are much better.  The ones here don't dissolve in milk.  

We had interviews the President and Sister Kezerian this week.  Whew, I passed!  Unfortunately, some did not.  It is sad to see missionaries be disobedient and get sent home.

Part of our District and Sister Kezerian

Do you like my new suit?  There was a great sale going on, we have to wear a suit every day now, and since I sold one of my suits to Elder Edwards [mind you, Elder Edwards is 6'4", and Ryan is 5'10"].  They were having a great deal -- I got the suit, tie and belt for $150.  Suits are usually $200, and belts are $40, and ties are $40, so I can't even comprehend the amount of money I saved.  However, I am now broke until the end of the month.  I have $3 to my  name, luckily it is almost the end of the month!  I am planning on free lunch from a member today, and eating at the flat for the rest of the month -- it will be flour and water for me, along with the leftover candy you sent.

Just doing a little studying at the local park

Having some fun in this beautiful country called New Zealand

It has been a great week!  I love you so much, I look forward to emailing you every week and learning how your week was.  I pray for the family every night.  You guys mean everything to me!  I miss you all so much and I really just want to hug you all right now!  Wish me luck with my new companion this week, hope all is well!

Love, 
Elder Tuckett

A beautiful sunrise, The sun is getting closer to our house every day!  I can't wait until it hits our house!  We went a couple of days without seeing direct sunlight because the mountains are so high, and the sun is so low, it is weird being this close to the South Pole!

And here is the moon, coming up over the mountains!  It is remarkable!

Door Knocking Success

 

This is probably the biggest tree in Queenstown

I got your package today! Thank you for the wonderful music and ipod and everything else in it!  My companion was so jealous.  I felt so bad, but he just got a big one for his birthday so I don't know why he is complaining!  Sadly, I am learning how to share though.  Thank you so much again,  I am hopefully going to send you a package soon.  I am still trying to buy stuff to put in it!

That is sure sad about the PE teacher at Barbara Bush.  I remember how much I loved PE.  It is crazy how fast we can lose someone we love.  [we lost a sweet young teacher of my kids this week as she was killed in an accident while out running]  Did you tell anyone you will be able to see her again?  Any missionary opportunities?  

Sounds like great rain storms you have been having!  It has been hot and sunny  here.  It has been great!  Well, not really hot but warmer and I love it!  But someone told us it is going to get cold again after the full moon!  Apparently the weather here is affected by the moon and how full it is.  Interesting!  

We are emailing a little late to day because we waited for a member so we can hang out with him and get a ride into town with him.  We are spending the day with him, going to lunch and then do some shopping, the hike Queenstown hill if possible.  

This week was very good but I don't remember what all happened it went so fast, and I forgot my planner, so I will try my best  to remember what the highlights were.  Most important, we set a baptismal date!  It is in about a month.  I don't want to say a date in case it doesn't happen.  It is the wife of one of the Counselors in our Branch.  She is still learning English though because she just came from China a few years ago (me and the Chinese people!)  She is so nice though and a wonderful wife!  She has set my expectations for a wife very high!  She is amazing but her faith and knowledge of the gospel is so little, so we get to build it up little by little.  It puts the pressure on us as teachers.  We have been going there and cutting the wood for them the last couple of weeks with a chain saw and that is so much fun!  

Another great time this week is when I asked my companion where he wanted to go door knocking in our planning meeting, and he said the motor home park!  I said, "OK, sure, I trust you" -- It was a bit sketchy, but the first house we knocked, we got a return appointment!  Second house we knocked, got a return appointment, and so forth!  It took until the 5th house that someone did not talk to us.  So hopefully we will get one progressing investigator out of this.  We are really getting people to listen to us and are getting  more investigators.  Everyone keep praying -- prayers are working!  Now we just need to keep up with everyone and be efficient and not use the car all the time.  

One of the branch members came back this week from Brazil so we had more members at church yesterday!  He taught a lesson and I taught a lesson and 2 members spoke, so it was wonderful this week at church!  We had 2 visitors from Australia, and 2 from Utah again!  Heaps of people come here from Utah, where are the AZ people?  Come on Arizona, Come to New Zealand.

Well, that was my week!  

Love you!

Elder Tuckett

Back to Queenstown!

I am so happy to be back in Queenstown!

This was on the drive back from Gore, where I spent 4 days

I am so glad you got the email from Kristen!  (that counts as email for this week, right?)  We found that couple yesterday while we were eating at Fergburger in downtown Queenstown.  It was the most expensive burger place around -- my burger was $13!!!  We found them at the burger place, they are on their honeymoon.  She is a member but he isn't.  We found another member while door knocking this week!  Her husband wasn't a member either!  We knocked on her door, she saw who we were and invited us in!  I was scared at first!  We asked, "You know who we are?".  We asked was there anyone else home?  Then she explained yes, I am a member and my whole family is home, don't worry!  It was pretty funny!  Then they came to church this week too!  Church was a real adventure this week, 12 visitors.  Only 1 member that actually lives here came, but we had our two investigators, then, there were some people from Utah on a Lord of the Rings tour, and an Australian couple that was visiting family around the south island.  So, church was quite the congregation!

This week we finally have caught ups with our First Counselor that has been in the hospital.  And now, we are starting to teach his wife!  Which is really good!  I love members and I believe that is the only way this branch is going to progress is through the members!  So we have a really good investigator now with a firm foundation, so it is wonderful!!  

This week was Elder Edwards birthday -- that is why we were at the expensive burger place.  And it was the day we found our awesome investigator!   Also that day, we got to cut our first counselors wood with a chain saw!  It was so much fun!  They we used our priesthood to give 2 blessings to people.  He said it was his best day on the mission so far!  Mostly because we bought some A&W Root beer and just drank all night when we got home!  So much fun!  It was a great week with Elder Edwards!

Here is the pretty picture from my mission/vacation!

I love you!

Elder Tuckett

p.s.  I hope you are planning a week of vacation here when I am done, I can be the tour guide and go around and show you all these great places!

A surpise for Mom

Tonight I received an email that contained the following:

Hello -- My name is Kristen.  I am from Evanston, WY, Me and my husband are here in New Zealand on our honeymoon and we ran into your son yesterday at a burger shop in downtown Queenstown.  We attended church with him today.  You should be so proud.  He conducted all of church!!!  I wanted to send you guys a picture to let you know your boy is doing good and still smiling!  My little brother is leaving for Argentina in August so I think it is very important to show love to all Elders!!!  I was blown away to see the church building was a house with only a few members -- different world!  Your son sends all his love!!!

Sincerely, Kristen

Exchanges in Gore

Hello from Gore, New Zealand!  We are on exchanges right now so I am at boring old Gore from Saturday-Tuesday.  This is the longest exchange I have ever been on.  It is only supposed to be for 24 hours but because we are just so far away from each other, we just make them longer.  And, I forgot my camera, so sorry for no pictures this week, just a lot of me talking.  

To answer some of your questions -- I have only been fed once in Queenstown so far.   Queenstown is a really expensive place to live so people are just trying to feed themselves so it is really hard to ask the to feed us here.  As far as the cold weather, I have been colder in Idaho, I am pretty sure of that.  In Queenstown, it can snow but it doesn't stay on the ground. It is like the prefect city!  The snow stays on top of the mountains and on the ski slopes, but in the city no snow at all.  I was really hoping I could try to ride my bike in the snow too!  Oh Well.  This week has been really raining, but it always works our perfect for us like there is someone up there watching over us missionaries because it rains all night (when we get to ride in the car) until the morning when we leave, it stops raining and it has worked our perfectly like every day!  So, I have not had to ride my  bike in the rain.  Who Hoo for prayers being answered.  

I still have only been to church once in Queenstown, but I know a little bit more about the Branch.  Our Branch President is on vacation, and our 1st counselor is in Brazil, and the 2nd counselor just had heart surgery, so we are in charge!  We have 22 members in our boundaries but there are only about 6 active members.  The rest work on Sunday, or don't want to come.  We have about 3 people we are working on to motivate to come back to church and find their testimonies again!  They are so close!  

We haven't really done much service, but we did cut some wood for one of our less active members and she actually came to church again, so that seemed to work!  We also stacked some wood for some little company that the missionaries have been helping for ages.  We are trying to find more solid helpful service.  We might go ask the Boy Scouts of New Zealand if they need any help.  But we have not had time to do that yet.  

All of the missionaries say that in Queenstown you just talk to the tourists, but that is why the area isn't progressing, so we have been door knocking like crazy there and we have finding so may potential investigators and people that are interested.  It  is wonderful!!!  So, hopefully people can stop leaving town and we can catch up with them.  People leave and come back to this town all the time, it is crazy!  Even if you permanently live there, people leave like every other week for a vacation.  It is ridiculous.  

The missionary broadcast... Yes, we have been watching little bit by little bit.  I still haven't seen the Stokers yet thought [our friends who are mission presidents that were shown on the missionary broadcast]

Elder Edwards and I had a great 4th of July too!  We called every American in our district and sang "The Star Spangled Banner", and said the Pledge of Allegiance and shared some scriptures about America, the promised land!  It was great!  Then for dinner we had hot dogs, and  L&P (New Zealand soda because we never had time or cash to get root beer or dr. pepper)  Then when we were getting ready for bed, we heard a firework and ran outside and someone was shooting a roman candle across the lake!  It was wonderful!  So we got to see ONE firework!  Go America!  

6 MONTHS!  Sometimes it feels like it has been 6 months but at the same time it doesn't.  It is a weird feeling.  I have learned so much on my mission it is crazy!  I can't even explain how much I have learned!  I have also learned a lot about other countries!  My companion I am with right now on exchanges is from England, I don't think I ever want to go there -- sounds scary.  

All is well, I am learning so much and have the strongest testimony about this church than I have ever had before.  This is the Church of Jesus Christ, I know that he leads this church and no one can stop this church from growing, no matter what happens.

I love you guys!

Elder Tuckett