A miracle for Carterton

It was so great to get to skype with you and catch up in one hours time!  Tell Mary thank you for ditching her work for a few minutes so that she could talk to me.  I never knew she missed me so much.  I am guessing she wouldn't like to be an only child.  

We were able to witness a miracle here in Carterton this week.   We had a great week.  We had a personal visit from our president and he was able to attend out district meeting with us.   I wish that I would have gotten a picture with him, but we were so busy getting the Lords work done, and eating lunch, that we forgot.  I love president Kezerian so much.  He will be a general authority someday, I just know it.  If he can handle our mission, he can do anything!  

We have a very promising investigator that we have been trying to catch up with, but we have been having trouble connecting with her.  We are hoping to catch up this week.  We had a return appt this week, but got caught in traffic, and when we got there she wasn't there.  We will keep trying.  We were bummed, but what happened that evening made up for it.

Now for the miracle....

That evening, we had splits with ward members.  As you know, we have been praying for this little branch, and praying for a family to help us.   So, the sisters told us of a new member moving into the area and gave us the address.  Awesome!  The branch president and I headed to the address to meet this new member.  I tell you that his family was an answer to my prayers.  We met him, he is a returned missionary and has a wonderful family.  His name is Gary, and in his ward in Australia, he was the ward mission leader.  He has family that lives in Masterton that needed help and after praying, he felt impressed to move his family to New Zealand.  He began to look in Masterton for a house because that is where is family was, but they could not find anything whatsoever.   So, they looked in this quiet town called Carterton here where our branch is.  He is going to be the new councilor in our branch presidency.  His wife has served in relief society, primary and young women presidencies.  They are going to be such a help to this little branch.  I definitely know that as we (or in this case, our little branch) are faithful, and pray for righteous desires, that The Lord will answer our prayers.  The Lord hears our prayers!  Even the prayers of a small branch in the middle of no where in New Zealand.  I know he has sent this family to help the church grow and prosper in this area.  I am so glad that I could witness this miracle and see the hand of The Lord direct the work.  I love this work!  There is no place I would rather be!!!

Love, 

Elder Tuckett 

We were just goofing off on our way home, this is the library

I got my name badge engraved with the kiwi leaf and the temple, I wanted the Hamilton temple, but the guy messed up, so I guess Salt Lake is just as good.  

Happy Mother's Day

We were able to skype with Elder Tuckett for one hour last night.  Believe it or not, it will most likely be our last skype session with him as he will be home before Christmas.  

He is doing so well.  He loves the work of The Lord, and loves serving the people of New Zealand.  He has developed quite the Aussie/Kiwi accent.  We all had a chuckle from listening to him talk.  

7 months to go.... But who's counting!  He certainly is not.  He is lost in the work and loves being a missionary.  

He wanted to share a song with us about half-way through the skype session, so his companion came in and they sang a song that they had prepared for their families.  It was the sweetest thing ever.  

I love this boy, and I love being his mom.  There is nothing greater a mom could ask for than to have a son or daughter serving a mission.  It makes for a wonderful Mother's day.  

Love this boy, and the work he is doing!

I love The Book of Mormon

I love all your stories from Honduras. You have got to see so many temples, I am jealous!!  It sounds like you had a blast. However, it sounds like you had a rougher week than I did on that boat that you were on.  I thought that my week was bad until I heard about you passing bags of throw up around on the boat!

I just wanted to give up door knocking this week.  Every door that we knocked on just verbally abused us.  It was horrible.  So, we went to the other side of the street where we hoped they wouldn't be so rude.  Most of them just said that they go to other churches.  However, I really don't think that they actually learn anything at their church.  

I would like to share something that I learned in scripture studying this week.  I actually realize the importance of reading The Book of Mormon.  Sadly, there are some people who never take the opportunity to read The Book of Mormon.  No matter how many times that you read it,  you can always gain something new.  It you find it boring, find a book to study along with it.  There is so much to learn.  Just keep reading and learning.   The less actives we see have gone inactive because they have forgotten about The Book Of Mormon.  If anyone has doubts about the book, they need to read it daily, and they will feel the spirit.  It is an amazing book.  I know it is a record of our ancestors.  It foretold about the finding of America and how the gospel would be restored to its fullest.  I love  this book so much and I have learned so much from it.  As we read, we can find answers if we search diligently.  I know this to be true and I am grateful for my Father in heaven who takes care of me.  

This week we get a personal visit from President Kezerian.  I am excited for that.

Well, I have got to go catch a bus because we are going to Masterton. 

No pics this week, sorry!  We are going to skype with you on our Sunday, (your Saturday) around 2:00 pm our time.  I think that is around 7:00 pm your time.  Can't wait!!!!

Love, 

Elder Tuckett

Looking for lost sheep...

This week we had heaps of free time and some extra kilometers so we decided to go looking for the lost sheep at the bottom of the island.  There are about 3 members that live there near Lake Ferry, so we drove down there and visited them.  I have met almost everyone one of the people on the ward list.  

This weekend we had Branch Conference.  It was great!  We had 59 people at church.  (20 were from the stake). It was for sure a new record for the Branch!  I have also learned this week that a lot of people take the truth to be hard and complain, but I am grateful for Elder Holland's talk from conference.  He said: "Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods, who don't rock the boat but don't even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds".    We need to be strong, live the gospel faithfully even if others around us don't and defend our beliefs.

Anyway, nothing else really new in Carterton, it is holidays now so everyone is on vacation or they don't want us over,  and, it is getting dark around 6:00 so it is harder to plan the late hours.  But, we are going to get through it with lots of planning!!!!

I am glad you are having a great time on your trip to Honduras!  You guys look like Senior Missionaries with your name badges.  

I love you,

Elder Tuckett

P.S.  We took a lot of pictures one day, and wouldn't you know, it is the one day I forgot my name badge!!!! Oh well, here they are anyway!  

Loud and Proud

Since it was a holiday yesterday on P-day, we only get 30 minutes to email so I will try to be fast.  I don't know if I will get them all read, but I will at least send you a short one.

As you saw on the weather, it has been raining and raining.  I am biking in the rain today in Masterton because I am on exchanges again!  It has been flooding and it has been so much fun!  The rivers are running fast!  I will send pictures next week, I don't have time to send any today.  We were on exchanges Friday and Saturday with the Zone Leaders which was fun.  They gave us hope and made us realize there is potential in the area, even after all the time we have been there.  We sometimes lose our vision of seeing everyone in white!  

Saturday night, Masterton had a big fireside and ward activity.  It consisted of a team quiz on the prophets and apostles and Book of Mormon and lots of little questions and activities!  So much fun!!!  It really made me miss a ward so much.  Everyone in the branch complains about coming to church and having to do everything, that we rarely have any branch activities.  So, that was quite fun for us!!!  The fireside was centered around this boy coming home from his mission.  So, his parents spoke and he did too.  It just made me think, "I hope this doesn't happen when I come home"  (ha ha)  But, it was very spiritual and made me grateful that I still have a while on my mission.  Every second is so important! 

Then, we had Easter Sunday!  I wish I could have recorded it!  It was just interesting.... our branch isn't very musical.  I really wish you could have seen it.  It made me realize how strong their testimonies of Christ are though!  The people who aren't really strong, barely sang, but the really strong people really sang out loud and proud.  It was awesome. It was like they were bearing their testimony!  So many people came to church, but none that we invited.  

The scripture I have been sharing this week is Mosiah 16:6-9.  I am just to grateful for everything that Jesus Christ has done for us and very few people recognize how important He is in our life.  Like that video on lds.org, "Because of Him", like the title says, it is all because of Him!  I am so grateful for coming to know my Savior through the scriptures and trials that I have faced on my mission.

Yes, I got your package!!!  It was awesome!  I wore the tie on Sunday, and the poptarts are gone. We got paid late, so we lived on those mostly!  That package was an answer to our prayers!  Thanks!  

Thanks for sending me Tyler's letters.  His stories remind me of  "The Other Side of Heaven"!  He is the man!!!  Send me some of Jaron's.  

I will keep you all in my prayers -- Hope you and Mary are feeling better soon!  

I love you so much!

I will write more Monday, I have got to email the President!

Love,

Elder Tuckett

Inviting for Easter....

These two weeks are really busy for us.  We have been inviting people to come to General Conference and to come and worship with us on Easter Sunday.  We have been going throughout the branch list and inviting all less actives to come to church on Easter Sunday. For conference, we invited them to come with a question in mind... I know if you do this, that your question will be answered.  We also have Branch Conference coming up with speakers from the Stake Presidency.  I am looking forward to that.  We have been working with the branch president to help him get things going.  Every week he asks us what the ward can do to help with missionary work.  We told him that we need to get the home teaching going, so we have been helping him get that set up.  We feel like that can really strengthen the branch.  

However, sadly, no one came to share in the spirit of General Conference.  Is makes me sad be cause they would of had the opportunity to be taught by an apostle and prophet.   It really made me miss the Melchizedek priesthood holders in Mesa.  In the states, most usually you ask the men to do something, and they gladly help.  Here, we can't even get them to go to church.  We had 5 people watching the priesthood session.  So sad.  

I would like to share with you my top 6 conference talks....

1. Best of course was my favorite person ever, Elder Holland.  He is definitely a motivator for missionaries.  I loved how conference started with him.

2.  President Uchtdorf -- staying true to the gospel, our branch really needed this one!  

3.  Gary Stevenson -- So sporty, and a great way to look at ordinances of the gospel.

4.  Elder Bednar -- the truck analogy was fantastic.  People always complaining of things they have to do. 

5.  Elder Ballard -- on following up... So important for missionaries,  I just loved it.

6.  Elder Hales -- everyone can be more obedient!!!

I just love General Conference!!!!

Hopefully people will come to the Easter program we have planned for next week.  

Here is a little frog that we saw hopping across the road while we driving, so we stopped to rescue him!!!

This is the view from the top of the hill at Featherston.  On the top left, you can see the steeple of the chapel.  

Here we are at the train station.... I really want to take a ride on the train...

This is a massive tree that we had to stop and get our pictures with.  I forgot my camera, so we had to use Elder Usalia'a which he didn't focus too well.  

Winter is coming..... I have on jeans and a jacket today!  

We are going to be going on exchanges this week!  We will be working with the zone leaders!  I don't know what we are going to do, every street in this town has been knock on 3 times!

Love, Elder Tuckett

P.S.   Please tell Brother Merkley congrats on his new calling.  Our branch president would love to have counselors like Bishop Garn has.  He really has no options to choose from, so he does it all himself.  He calls on us to help him a lot. 

"Who was the last person you rescued?"

Sounds like you had a fantastic missionary week Mom!!! That is exciting.  I am happy you know that it is so much better it is when members give the referrals.  You have begun a rescue effort!!!  That is one question we have really been asking people!  "Who is the last person you rescued?"  It is a deep question.  Or, it could be very simple at the same time.  It can be as easy as smiling at someone who looks lonely and sad. Or, you could invite someone to hear the missionaries and save them for the eternities.  How much do you want to save them?  We should save everyone!  Find the lost sheep, and feed them!

This week we had a fantastic Family Home Evening with this family. The mother asked us to speak on respecting your parents.  I thought, I don't know, it is just something you do. The only thing that I could think of to teach them how to have respect was to love more, so we shared everything we know about loving our parents.  Our parents are the manuals to this life.  They have taught us so much and have taken care of us all of our lives, how could we not have respect for them?  Then I bore my testimony of almost not having an awesome family to raise me up in the gospel.  You guys are so dear to me.  You are the biggest blessing that Heavenly Father has blessed me with.  A family who loves them is the greatest blessing anyone could ever have.  Then we did an awesome activity,  we broke up into teams and the parents were the captains and they gave the guidance and the kids had to listen to them.   It was an awesome lesson.  Now, another family has asked us to do it this week.

So this week I have gained a testimony of the blessings of families and how important they are in Heavenly Fathers plan. They are so important that we can be sealed to them forever.  This was so important to Heavenly Father, that this is what the first book in the Book of Mormon is about.  It's all about a family!  They have their ups and downs just like us!  I know that Moroni saw these last days and he saw that Satan's biggest target would be the family.  I love The Book of Mormon!!!!

I can't wait for General Conference next weekend!  I am hoping that our investigators come!  I got a picture from Ryan in the Conference Center at Conference.  [the young guy he baptized last year in Napier] He is so lucky to get to go to conference.   I have never been to conference, but at least I have been to the building.  

We need new investigators!!!! So hopefully this week will bring nothing but finding!!!!  I am staying here with Elder Usalai'a for another 6 weeks.  

Thank you for the thoughts that you send me each week.  I write them down and then share them with people and say that my fantastic mother helped me notice this!!!! 

Just 5 more weeks and I get to seen and talk to you on skype!!!!!  I can't wait!!!!

I love you so much!

Elder Tuckett aka....