This email was sent by Sister Welker on August 29th.  We received it on August 28th.  (No I didn't type that incorrectly.  She is 19 hours ahead of us!)

  

Week 3 - Good-bye MTC, Hello Hamilton

Before you panic there wasn't a weekly letter last week.  I spent all last P-Day responding to emails.  The only weekly email that I've sent so far is Week 1 - New Zealand MTC.

So this week was super crazy!! I said good-bye to my friends at the MTC and hello to my 1st area.

Early Wednesday morning after breakfast, those of us serving in Auckland and Hamilton packed up and left the MTC.  There's 18 missionaries from the MTC that have been called to serve in Hamilton, and 15 of those missionaries were Elders.  So there was only me, and two other sisters from the MTC called to serve in Hamilton.  There were 3 missionaries that had been picked up from the airport (one elder and two sisters) that went to the Provo MTC, that were also called to serve in Hamilton.  The drive from the MTC to the church office was a little over an hour.  Once we arrived at the church office we had three workshops, one about our flats (that's a New Zealand word for apartment), one about the Hamilton Mission, and one workshop about paperwork.  We also were able to briefly meet with President Cummings.  We then drove to the motel that President Cummings had arranged for us to stay the night at, with just enough time to unpack before we left again to go to the President's house. President Cummings lives within 5 mins of the Hamilton Temple and has a great view of the temple from his home.  There we had a short lesson and a yummy dinner.  Then it was off to the motel to spend the night.

The next morning was Thursday.  That was the day we were going to be told where we were serving and who was our companion.  President Cummings just seamed to be talking and talking forever, before he finally told us where we were going.  So my first area is called Welcome Bay and Mount Manganui.  They're two wards along the East coast of New Zealand.  It's considered one of the best tourist spots in New Zealand and it is absolutely beautiful!!  The drive from there (Hamilton Temple) was about 2 hours long!! Just as we pulled up to our stop, you could see my new companion Sister Johnson jumping up and down with excitement.  She's the oldest of six and from a small town in Wells, Nevada.  She loves singing and theater and wants to be a high school music teacher.  Sounds a lot like some people in my family. ;)  She has heaps (that's a New Zealand word for a ton/a lot) of energy and LOVES talking!!  From there we dove right into missionary work.  I meet with a recent convert named Chastity, and the Saloman family.  Then later that night, I had my first dinner and met with Harmony and I was given the assignment to ask if she wants to be baptized.   I know the first day on the job, and I'm already asking someone to be baptized, but she said "yes" so I must not be doing too bad. 

Since then, I've just meet heaps of people, and then Sunday I had a double meeting.  I even met a New Zealand news reporter!!!  What are the chances, right!?!?! Welcome Bay ward starts at 9:00 am and then the Mount Ward starts at 1:00 pm , so I have church twice.  It's kind of funny, especially when they have the same lessons.   In both meetings, they asked if I'd come up and introduce myself and give a small thought.  Now the hard part, will be trying to learn everyone's names. 

Well that's about it for this week.  I finally was able to upload pictures, so I'll be sending three other emails with pictures from all the way from Aug 4th!! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week.

Sister Welker