"Hi mom we just bumped into your son at the L.A. airport. (801) 599-5242

Sid Goeing

dear fam and friends! epsom ward is doing great! no investigators yet but its a pretty rich area so just gotta work smarter, but boy was it hot this week and we had to bike kinda a lot! yes dad sid goeing is the temple president here and i have met him twice, i am taller then him, just saying;) also johna lomu is in my ward and they say he was the michell jorden of rugby but i dont really care, haha i gave a talk in church yesterday and i think i am getting the hang of it! maybe cuz i didnt know any one in the building ;) but a man from a boarding home came just to hear me speak so that was cool! hes really nice just doesnt really believe, in god or much really its pretty sad but it was way cool, the ward here is really willing and we think good work is coming! i got to go on a trade off with tongan elders! the one i went with he played football and rugby at bingham high so that waas cool! but hes in the tongan ward, so every person we met with only spoke tongan so i was soooo lost;) but it was so cool just to be able to talk to, or listen to tongans all day! dad youll be happy i have eggs almost every day and mom youll be happy to here i put spinich in it! elder cook

Goodbye Howick

goodbye Howick! yup i got transferred this last Thursday and now i am in Mt Roskill with Elder Blake from Boston! he is a goober but he is funny and its all good! its such a rich area so no one to teach really but its a nice area and our flat is top 5 nicest in the mission! if you look up the land mark one tree hill on the internet you will see my area and my flat is like 2 min away form the hill. we run mostly for mornings, and we stay with the zone leaders and Elder Obeng is from Nebraska and he is very black;) haha he's sooooo cool and very funny. our ward is... getting there;) not many members, and our area is really close to down town Auckland. soooo many people. im sad i left my last area:( there was elder walker in my last zone and he is from south London! and he goes home in 5 weeks and he promised he would find kyler for me! so its all good:))) things are great! I'm all good and its so hot here but i will live;) thanks for all the love support and prayers, the best:)) mom and dad! happy b day yesterday mom!:))) 38 never looked sooo good!:)) but that's so cool! but no dad i didn't put the straps anywhere? i haha and it wasn't that big of a feast ;) it's a Tongan feast, very diff;)) haha and wow my flat now is soooo nice so my bros should be jealous;)) i love you and am all good:)) thanks! and wow another bike?;)))) i love you both so much thanks for all the support!!!

1st Tongan feed!

hello!

great sunny day here in new zealand:) thank you all for the amazing letters i loved them! i think i finally got all Christmas cards;) they are the best. well i had my first Tongan feed this week. and i had horse for the first time ever. it was.  yaaaa;) all i could think about was Tex! but it was pretty good. and i drank out of a coconut!  ha this family was bush people for sure straight from Tonga;) haha this week has been crazy 5 new investigators holy crap! noone progressing yet so its not the best but we are hoping to get this Samoan man there just a word of wisdom concern and he would be there. and we have met alot of new people. i have now been on 7 trade offs and its very nerve racking but thats when we do our best work i love it!  elder jontson is from Australia and has 13 brothers and sisters but he is the man:) we found 4 potentials when i was with him he is for sure a man of the lord;) other then that i am all good and loving helping people!  still no one who wants to play ball yet dad but i am having to finally pay for my bike now:( ah gay.  and i do have a hole in my sheets but good thing i have two! but mom i think  a sister falua might have sent you some pics? if you could forward those to aspen thatd be the best:) thank you for all the love, testimonies, prayers, and support:) the islanders are the beeeest and they feed you so much;) they dont eat while you eat they just bring more food out and sit there and fan away the flies. ya im pretty much a king here;) and then when you cant eat any more. then they bring out dessert;) haha it is really tough. the portion sizes might kill me;)  i love you all so much and thank you!

elder cook

Met Your Son

Tapena Folu (tapenafolu@icloud.com)
 I met your son (Elder Cook) and his companion at our Stake Center
yesterday. He's a very nice young lad. I took a photo of him an his companion thinking that you might like it.He is not in my ward but he's in our stake.
The mission had a trade off today and he is with one of our missionary. They came to my house and shared a scripture with my family. He's going to be a great instrument of our Heaven Father. Thank you for sharing your missionary with us.
They just left my home.

Kinda Slow

Could you maybe elaborate a little more / expound how the work in your area is doing? etc. its kinda slow im not going to lie. its tough. we do have a new investigator this week tho! so that is awe3soe! how was the jazz game? who did they play? how did the jazz do?? is byu basketball doing ok?? i hople so!

I am all good

wow tablet. gettin crazy dad;) ya i got to watch a little and i showed elder kump! gosh i hate the sec ;) who is the national champ? ha i kinda want arizona to win the super bowl but hey what can i do about it. thats awesome your did primary! you shouldstay in it. my president is the man he is so funny its just the best and so so hot here. thank you for all the suport and no i think i am all good everything is going great!

Teaching is getting easier

wow what a great week! we finally have a new investigator! a samoan man with 8 kids we have high hopes from him:) the weather has been so hot and we have been working so hard. i went on 2 trade offs this week and i think thats when we have the most succus and i love the guys i trade off with ;) elder taylor is the man he is going to go to byu and hes so loving, and loves football;) i am glad the holidays are over cuz now people have no excuse to let us in so thats good:) but ya its all good over here in the nzam! thank you doug and claytons familys and also grampa and grandma peterson for the christmas cards! they really helped out i loved it and pics of all of us cousins:) i miss them all and miss you all, but the work must go on! i am still working on my cooking and mom youll be proud, i lost weight;) haha teaching is getting easier, and i love personal study time:) the beeest. comp study is ok, i jsut hate roll plays;) so ya nothing to comploain about! love you all be safe:)

More Pictures

Pictures!

MTC

Kia Ora parents my name is Wayne Tarawhiti and my dad is the MTC president in NZ I arrived back here in Lehi UT today and u just thought I'd send you a pic of your missionary and to let you know that are doing well and they love serving the lord....my parents think the world of them....

December 21, 2014

family and friends! things are great in the howick ward! the members here are the bomb! the bishop is very funny and they are so willing to work! we are having trouble teaching people cuz we got double shifted in but we are working hard every day! my and elder brown are in a car but our area isnt to big just lots of hills. i have some way sick elders in my zone! my zone leader elder kump from arizona is playing football at scotts dale and is getting recruited by byu he just tore his acl his senior year of high school. elder talamavow played lineman for the u of u! and we played rugby once on p day and i killed it of course. im kinda a big deal here;)) well love you all! and still not one dinner with the members;))

Christmas Phone Call

December 14, 2014

Dear Families

The missionary handbook teaches:

"You may telephone your parents on Christmas day and one other time during the year (usually Mother's Day), according to guidelines from your mission president.  Take care that these calls do not pull your thoughts away from your service or create a financial problem for your family.  Keep them short (preferably no longer than 30 or 40 minutes).  Other than these calls, do not telephone family members or friends unless you have permission from your mission president."

This email is to let you know that your missionary son or daughter will be phoning home on Thursday 25th December, we ask you to help them be obedient to this privilege by:

*  Remembering that the phone call is only to be 30-40 minutes long.
*  Make this call an uplifting and positive experience for everyone.

Because of the differences in time zones all missionaries will be able to place their call so that they will be able to talk with you on your Christmas day.  You may want to email them and set a convenient time for them to call.

Unfortunately we will not be allowing video calls as we can’t consistently use it across the mission.  Each Elder and Sister will purchase their own phone/calling card to make the phone call to you.

We are so grateful to have your son or daughter serving in the New Zealand Auckland Mission (the greatest mission in the world!!!!!).  Thank you for raising such a wonderful missionary.

We want you to know that we love them and feel blessed to have them serving here with us.  May you and your family continue to be blessed while they are serving the Lord here in New Zealand.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Love
President and Sister Balli
New Zealand Auckland Mission

December 14, 2014

family and friends! another week gone in great new zealand:)  mom if you could tell stevie petersen thanks for the package i would love that. and be sure to send it to family. i am all good ! ha except every single one of our meal apointments have canceled sense i got here so i have been kinda hungry.. makes me miss misses holdmand rice and chicken, and aspens famous paniniis and oreo shakes;) haha i will let you know when i will call!

love you all:)

December 13, 2014

yes i am getting the news! thank you! haha ya i have found a few recruites and still getting more;) all the rugby players wanna play gridiorn. but wow way to go gary! what are the other bowl games? and i think it will be my christmas day

December 7, 2014

hey mom and dad and family and friends!

well i am not breaking the sabath it is monday here. and a rainy monday. just a update! my companion is elder brown from ceder city a very tall kid who is so good! we are in a smallish area called pakarunga and the ward here is the bomb dot com. the flat is kinda small but its a cozy place! and the members here feed us so well. we have one investigator a 70 year old philipino who is a scout! a wood badge scout. so ya dad you would get along with him so well;) oh mom i know some people have sent you pictures of me from the mtc one of them is mr tarawhiti he is the mtc presidents son and the byu rugby coach he was so cool! mom if you could send them to aspen at aspentree99@gmail.com i would love that:)

i am safe and good! love you all

elder cook

Welcome New Missionaries

December 3, 2014
We welcome your missionary to the New Zealand Auckland Mission!  We wanted you to know how excited we are to have them here.  We will send more information tomorrow.
Love, President and Sister Balli

4 December, 2014
Dear Brother and Sister Cook,
It was a great pleasure to welcome your son, Elder Cook, to the New Zealand, Auckland
Mission. He arrived in good health, ready to begin his missionary labors with a people who are
full of faith and love. He is a credit to you both and we appreciate the privilege of having him
here in the mission.
Elder Cook's new companion Elder Brown, his trainer will help your son adjust to missionary life.
They have been assigned to work in the Panmure area. We are confident
that as they work diligently together that The Lord will bless them and they will experience the
joy of seeing our Heavenly Father's children progress towards baptism in His church.
Your son will look forward to your weekly letters of encouragement and support. Monday is
his preparation day and the time allocated to him to write emails home to you. All mailed letters
should be sent to the Mission Office (see address above.)
Thank you for all you have done to prepare your son for his mission. Please feel free to contact
us with any questions or concerns. President and I will do everything in our power to help him
have a wonderful and productive mission. We pray The Lord will bless and sustain you in his
absence.
Sincerely yours,
President and Sister Balli
New Zealand Auckland Mission

First Preparation Day

December 1, 2014
hey it is finally our official p day mom and dad.i ship out tomorrow. things are very well. i am sorry about grandpa. the plane ride, well i made it.the food is ok. the people are nice. im just working away!

oh and i was the zone leader in the mtc

Goodbye Grandpa Cook

New Zealand Auckland Mission
To me Nov 20
Dear Brother & Sister Cook,

We are very sad to hear your news.  Your son, Elder Kevin Cook will have started at the NZ MTC and has not arrived here at the NZ Auckland Mission yet, but we will forward your email on to them. I am sure someone will break the news gently to him.  It is so fortunate that they had their farewells before starting his journey here.

We are looking forward to meeting your son in a couple of weeks when we collect him from the MTC, in the meantime if there is anything we can do to assist in any way, please let us know.


Arohanui,



Sister Reeves
Mission Secretary
NZAM Logo
Ph +64 9485 3152
2017318@ldschurch.org

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