This email was sent by Sister Welker on October 30th.  We received it on October 29th.

Week 64: Soap, Service, and Hamilton

This week for PDAY my companion and I carved soap!! :D Yes, I know that I'm a child but it was soo much fun!! The last time I carved soap was with my brother Brandon back home.  It was pretty awesome!! This time I carved a flip flop and my companion carved a T-rex. :D

The following day, we also got to do a service project.  It's been forever since we've done service and I've forgotten how fun it can be.  It's not every day when missionaries can wear jeans and play in the dirt, haha.  Hopefully, their garden looks better than how it started. 

Then, we also had another road trip to Hamilton!!! And this time I didn't have to drive.  I forget how pretty the drive is since I'm usually focused on the road in front of me, but when you take the time to slow down and enjoy the view, it can be an amazing experience!!  Plus it was almost sunny the whole drive up.  It wasn't until we switched drivers after our dinner stop that it started to rain, so of course it starts raining when I'm driving, haha ;).  Just my luck.

We got to stay the night with Elder and Sister Pierce.  They're a senior couple responsible for the cars and bikes in our mission.  Just as a side note, staying with senior couples is way more fun than staying with other sisters!!  It was the 1st time I had the chance to actually get to know the Pierces.  As missionaries, you don't really have the opportunity to socialize/visit with senior couples very often, unless you help work in the office.

By the time we got to their flat it was around 8:30 pm.  I imagined that they would be tired and want to get to bed as soon as possible, but instead they had prepared a dinner for us and talked with us for about an hour longer!!  They are just the cutest!!  And they've had amazing life experiences.  I didn't realize what amazing senior couples we were working with until that point.

The meeting was great!!  And the drive home was pretty great as well. :D

We have a fireside coming up this Sunday.  It's one the missionaries put together and I'm SO EXCITED FOR IT!!!  Like I was really disappointed when I realized we still had a week until Sunday again.  So I'll be sure to tell you all about the fireside next week.

Thanks again for all your love and prayers hope you all have a good week.

Sister Mandy Welker

Crazy Sister Welker and her companion!

This email was sent by Sister Welker on October 23rd.  We received it on October 22nd.

Week 63: Transfers (Should I stay or Go?)

I'M STAYING!!! I'll be in Taranaki for 6 more weeks!! We don't think I'll stay any longer, but I'm excited for 6 more weeks!!

We had a sick day this week so one day this week we stayed at the flat all day long!! And let's just say I'm not a home body!! I can't be inside for very long.  But we needed it and now we're back on track!!

Nothing super exciting has happened this week, but the work is progressing!! Slowly, but it's progressing!!! We've been working heaps with members and let's just say I LOVE the New Plymouth Branch.  I even got to go to young womans this week!! So that was pretty fun!! And we had a member family take us to an American 50's themed restaurant.  It was yum and really fun, but America does America pretty well haha.

We have a meeting up in Hamilton this week so we have another road trip!!! Wa-whoo!! So that will be fun and my COMPANION CAN DRIVE US THERE!! Yes she passed her test......barely.  ;)

Hope you all have a good week!! Love you heaps and keep being awesome. 

Sister Mandy Welker

 I found a MYSTERY MACHINE!! :D

Mount Taranaki again

This email was sent by Sister Welker on October 16th.  We received it on October 15th.

Week 62?  Cold Water, and Bike Beside the Sea

Sorry if my last weekly email didn't send.  I do remember writing one, and I thought I sent it, but I can't find it anywhere in my email.  Must have disappeared in space :(

Regardless life is great!! We had another baptism this week!! I'll call her Macy for now.  Macy was close friends with the YSA here in the New Plymouth Branch.  She had attended a number of YSA activities.  At one point she went to the temple with the rest of the YSA and felt the spirit there.  The spirit was so strong that she turned to her friends and asked how she could join the church.  Sixish weeks later, we've taught her all the lessons and she was baptized earlier this week!!  The only sad part is that the heater to our font is broken, so my companion and I attempted to heat up the font by hooking a hose up to a sink and turning the hot water on and then boiling water and dumping it into the font.  We didn't test the water before she went into the font but she came up shivering.  So she got baptized in cold water. :(  At least we tried to warm it up for her.

My companion can now start driving!!?!?  Scary!!  I'm the one that needs to coach her how to drive on the other side of the road.  Luckily, she's a natural and there's not much I have to worry about.  I've teased her that the only way I'll let her pass, is if she can drive to the chapel by herself, and if she remembers to lock the car haha.  She'll be taking her test this week.

For PDAY today we decided to bike to emailing.  There's a walkway here in town that's called the coastal walkway, and it's basically this long sidewalk that is right along the beach side so you get to bike or walk and watch the waves at the same time.  It's amazing!!  I'll probably be super sore tomorrow though.  I hardly ever bike as a missionary.  I'm lazy and just use the car, haha. 

We'll that's about if for this week.  And sorry again that my last email disappeared somewhere. :(

Thanks again for all your love and support!! You all mean the world to me.

Sister Mandy Welker

"One small act from the heart really is better than a thousand grand intentions." ~ Anonymous, "Family First," 1992, 21. 

Biking along the Coastal Walkway.

We finally saw Mount Taranaki!! Haven't seen it in like over a week

White Bridge!! Don't judge our hair--it was super windy!!

Another Baptism!! :D

Our heater for the baptismal font is broken so we boiled pitchers of water and dumped them in all morning!!

This email was supposedly sent by Sister Welker on October 9th.  We never received it!

Week 61:  Lost in Space

For an explanation on this email, see next week's!

Found a recipe for Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Rolls).  Sister Welker's Week 60 post talks about her having these and how much she loves Samoan food.  Enjoy!

Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Rolls)

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

Pani Popo is a Samoan sweet roll baked in a delicious coconut sauce. One of my favorite Pacific-Island dishes from my bakery days in Hawaii.

Ingredients (with Amazon Links)

• 12-20 frozen dinner rolls depending on size (see note above for homemade rolls)
• 1 10 oz. can coconut milk
• 1 c. sugar

Instructions

1. Coat a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray and arrange rolls evenly to thaw (if doing homemade rolls, roll dough into golf-ball size balls and arrange the same way).
2. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray (to keep dough from sticking to the plastic wrap).
3. Allow to rise until doubled in size.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350-degrees.
5. In a bowl, combine coconut milk and sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
6. Pour about 2/3 of the coconut mixture over the rolls and bake for 20-30 minutes (or according to package/dough recipe instructions) or until golden brown and dough is baked through.
7. Remove from oven and pour remaining coconut mixture evenly over the top of the rolls.
8. The rolls should be sticky and gooey on the bottom (read notes above). Can be served upside down or right-side up.

This email was sent by Sister Welker on October 2nd.  We received it on October 1st.

Week 60: Locked Out, Zone Conference, and Woman Conference

So much to write and not enough time!!

This last Monday we hung out with the Harawa and the Waitera sisters.  We drove to Harawa and had bonnie-po-po (I think that's what it's called but I don't think I spelled it right).  I just looked it up.  It is called Pani Popo.  It's basically home made rolls bathed in coconut cream!! It's AMAZING!! Got to love Samoan food!!

Then later that day we get a phone call from the Harawa sisters saying how they couldn't find their house keys.  When they called us it was 9:30PM, and they live an hour away!!  So by the time they got to our flat and we went to bed it was close to 11:45PM!!  It's probably the one and only time a missionary would ever go to bed that late.

The following morning after we had a big breakfast, the Harawa sisters returned back to their flat.  They walked straight into their house and found the keys on the kitchen table.  So they had left the flat unlocked all night.  Luckily, nothing was damaged or stolen but we couldn't help but laugh and think that would totally be something Sister Welker would end up doing, haha.

We also had Zone Conference this week.  So we got to drive up to Hamilton.  For once the weather was actually sunny and we had an amazing view the whole way up!!

The trainings at Zone Conference were amazing!!  President Cummings trained on Agency, the AP's trained on the Book of Mormon, and Sister Cummings prepared a white handbook training on obedience with an intense game to go with it.  It was so much fun and very uplifting!!

The day after we came home from Hamilton, we drove to Stratford to watch the General Women's session of conference.  It was amazing!!  All four speakers were really inspired.  And I, like my mom, loved the speaker who talked about the 80 human chain that helped to save some people lost in a current off the shore.  I'm sad to hear of the lose of Elder Hales.  I know that he was a man of God and that his influence will be missed, but I'm excited to see who will take his place.

Thanks again for all your love and support!! Hope you have a great week!!

Sister Mandy Welker

This email was sent by Sister Welker on September 25th.  We received it on September 24th.

Week 59: Burning Love, Exchanges, and District Conference

So within a week I've almost set our flat in flames......twice. :O  I was having some chocolate ice cream and had a candy bar that I thought would taste great melted on top of my ice cream.  We put the candy bar in the microwave in a glass bowl and set it for 2 mins.  Next minute, we smelt something burning and pulled out the now burnt chocolate out of the microwave.  We thought it was pretty funny and told the other missionaries in our area what had happened.  Then just earlier this weekend, I was making rice.  I wanted to have the rice prepared before lunch so I was making the rice during breakfast.  By the time breakfast was over, the rice still wasn't cooked, so we let it cook during our studies as well.  Then forgetful me, just cleaned up my studies, brushed my teeth, and went out doing missionary work, completely forgetting that I had been cooking rice.  We didn't return to our flat till about 2pm, and then as we walked up to our flat I had the scary realization that I left the rice cooking all day.  We ran into our flat, into the kitchen and was greeted by a heavy scented burnt offering.  So....ya that was pretty great haha.  It will be something to laugh about one day.

Man so much can happen in a week.  We've had exchanges and District Conference.

We also had exchanges this week.  Sister Bashaw was with Sister Leota in Harawa, and I was with Sister Scherer in New Plymouth.  Forgive me if I spelled their names wrong.  Sister Scherer is absolutely amazing!!  She is such an inspiration to me of hope and of being a truly humble person. She takes each day of the mission as a miracle and a blessing.  There's times when I complain that I have to plan for another day, but that's not the case with Sister Scherer.  I know that she will make an amazing contribution to the Taranaki team!!  The theme was all about "Measuring UP." There was a talk in the September 2017 Ensign titled "A Better Way to Measure Myself."  The moment I read the 1st sentence, I felt it was talking to me, and when I was planning for exchanges, that was the topic that came to mind.  The idea was to find how we measure ourselves and compare it with how the Lord measures us.  Both Sister Bashaw and I learned so much from our experiences during the exchanges.  We both felt uplifted and edified.  And we both also realized how much we love being companions. 

It was also really fun to be at District Conference this week.  I really enjoyed the talks that had been prepared especially President Cummings'.  What stuck out to me most, was when President Cummings said, "You get to decide where you want to go. The GPS won't pick your destination for you."  I loved how he was able to relate it to agency and how we choose where we want to go in life, but the GPS will always be there to help us out.

"Let us examine our lives and determine to follow the Savior's example by being kind, loving, and charitable.  And as we do so, we will be in a better position to call down the powers of heaven for ourselves, for our families, and for our fellow travelers in this sometimes difficult journey back to our heavenly home." ~ President Thomas S. Monson, "Kindness, Charity, and Love", Ensign, May 2017, 66, 67.

Sister Mandy Welker

We didn't receive a weekly email on September 17th from Sister Welker.  So I thought I would attach a couple of pictures to fill in the gap.

Week 58:

The area Sister Welker is in on the North Island

Mount Taranaki

(looks like some of the pictures Sister Welker has taken!)