The Wellington Temple

Kia ora whanau! How is everybody? I Hope all is well back home. Anyways, this week was a pretty good week out here in P town.


The work has been going pretty good. We got all of our friends to church this Sunday which was awesome. The efforts from this transfer have been paying off. A little bit of sad news with one of our friends Jonado. Jonado is the 10 year old Samoan kid that we had on date. This week he told us that he can't be baptized anymore. His mom had a talk with her parents who are Seventh Day Adventist, and they told the mom that if Jonado got baptized into our church, they weren't allowed to ever come around their house. Basically they are disowning their own grandchild over a baptism. It's really sad how people can act and treat each other. So, Jonado and his family decided that it would be best if he didn't get baptized, just to keep the family relations all good. So, that was heartbreaking news. But, we are going to put one of our friends that we found from ward bball on date for baptism this week. His name is Jonah Peanga, please pray for him as he is preparing to be baptized soon🙏. That's about it from the work right now. I'm honestly super happy in this area. I hope I get to stay for a while because the ward is awesome and so keen to help with missionary work. 

This week I got to go see the temple grounds for the Wellington New Zealand temple. It got announced at the April 2022 General conference, and they announced the temple grounds to be in Porirua at the beginning of the year. It is literally like 5 minutes from our flat. So, while we were in the area visiting some people, we thought we'd pop in to check it out. Honestly it was one of the coolest experiences I've had on my mission. I haven't been able to go to a temple all my mission and I won't be able to for the rest of it just because we don't have one close to us. But, to see the grounds for a temple that is coming soon was such a special feeling. Me and my companion just sat outside the fence looking at a massive dirt and grass field for 10 minutes. Even though it looked like a farm field, I knew and could feel just how sacred this lot of land was. This temple means so much to the members in this mission. Going to the temple for people in this mission is a huge commitment. They either have to drive about 8-10 hours or catch a couple of plane tickets to get there. So, when this temple was announced, it was a huge deal. So many miracles had to happen for this temple to be built. And it is the perfect spot for a temple. It is such a blessing to be so close to the temple grounds. Here's a little reminder to you all back home, especially if you live in Utah, don't take temples for granted. Take advantage of having a temple within 10 minutes of your home. A lot of people don't have that luxury. I invite you all to try and go to the temple as much as possible(if you live in utah, go once a week). I miss the temple so much and being in New Zealand has made me so grateful for temples.

Alrighty that's it from me, sorry for the long one. Also, go All blacks!! They just beat Ireland to get into semis of the world cup. They play Argentina this week, and we're going to smack them. Sorry Jmoney, but Argentina has 0 chance. Have a good week yall, love ya!

Aroha Elder Larson


                                                                           
                                                                                   a cool pic in titahi Bay



                some pictures of the temple grounds. And also pictures of the where the temple will be from the view of the chapel across the bay in Takapuwahia. Not sure if we are even allowed to take pics of the temple grounds.





                                                                  Elder Tuiaki trying to put on a kids life jacket


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