Elder Ball has been doing very well! He has been in Melbourne for almost 2 weeks now! Jared and his companion are in an area that has just opened up because there was not enough missionaries to fill that area. So he has a lot of work to do! He shares a flat (apt.) with another set of Elders. There are 4 sets of missionaries in his ward!! crazy! Here is an excerpt from one of the first letters he sent.
"It's going really good it's a little slow right now, just because the last elders that were in this area, did a horrible job at keeping up the area book. so we've been doing a lot of paper work, One of the notations I have come across is FTC = flirt to convert. hahah.
this is the mission rule, for looking at cute girls
"your not a man if you don't look once, if you look twice your not a missionary" elder teu - one of the missionaries in my flat."
Here is an excerpt from my mom's letter. Hopefully she doesn't mind
"this week has just been awesome, compared to the first week where we were only finding and not having any luck and just doing heaps of paper work.
but this week we got 5 new investigators, we found this lady named Tina, she is from the Ivory coast, she has the coolest hair, she's black so like wise she has black hair, but the tips are yellow, anyway i think that it's cool, she was having a little trouble understanding why it was important to come to our church, and why she just can't worship at any old church, so for some reason, no idea why, we just start teaching her about the temple work and about the baptisms for the dead, and that really hit her hard, every other church kinda just said, oh, your ancestors are lost, there doomed, so she was so thrilled kinda.
my companion thinks that I FTC'd this one girl on the train, I don't think i did but you could be the judge for your self, the whole story i wrote down in my J. but I'll give you the run down,
she had this huge bag on the train, so I just said, that's a big bag, and then i saw that she was reading Eclipse, so I was just making some comments about the books, my companion was asking her things too. we found out that she is studying to be in the circus, like ligitely, and she said the place she really wants to go is Praugue, why comp asked my, she said I don't know I read it in a book, I asked, the Bartimaeus Trilogy? Yah, she replied, so we were just laughing that we had both read these books, my companion was saying after wards, woah, we taught you ftc way too early, we got back at the flat and he told the guys that I could have set a date, and not a baptismal one, hahaha,
anyway, this week has been really good, just seeing all the ways that we're an instrument in the lords hands, and how he blesses their lives. it's quite amazing.
It seriously feels like Christmas every Monday when we get emails from him! I am so proud of him!
12.22.2008
12.20.2008
"The Garden City"
This week I had the opportunity to go to Christchurch and visit my cousins!! It was SO much fun! Sadly I have no pictures to go with this post because I forgot to look for my camera before we left and the one we had was having problems turning on. My cousins took pictures so I will see if I can get them to email me them. But for now I will just have to rely on good ol' google for pictures!
Me and Caleb arrived on Tuesday night! We had a mini reunion with all of our cousins! Which I hadn't seen in AGES. Well actually I had only met the twins (Kate and Michaela). Caleb hadn't met any of them. It was so much fun to see them again! I would like to introduce you to the Ball cousins so you know who I am talking about. Since I don't have any pictures I stole this one off of Kate's facebook. This picture is at least a year old Starting at the back and to the left.
sophie (15). michaela (19). luke (20). foreign exchange student. georgia (17). madeline (10). kate (19).
Luke is on his mission in Korea so he wasn't there to join in on our fun. He will have been out a year the first of January! We were sad that Luke and Jared couldn't be there to share the cousin activities!
The first night we pretty much ended up talking and finding out more about each others lives and all of that fun stuff! About 9:30 Me, Caleb, Kate and Georgia decided to get in the car and let the road take us wherever. We ended up playing this game called "left, right, tangy fruit" We used Marshmallows since they had them at the house. How you play it is you pick a destination and you have to try and get there turning left and then right in that order. You can't make two rights or lefts in a row. You also have to pick something that you would see while driving. For example ours was animals. Every time you see an animal you have to put a marshmallow (or whatever candy you choose to use) in your mouth and you can't chew or swallow it until you get to that destination. Marshmallows was definitely NOT a good choice for this game. They were sickening. We ended up spitting them out and continued to try to get to our destination which we also failed at getting too. It was definitely a fun game even if we failed miserably at it!
The next morning we headed out with Kate and Michaela to explore Christchurch. Our first stop was a museum! They had a fake little cave that we climbed through. There was lots of historical stuff about NZ and they also had a lot of clothes, cars and replicas of shops that looked like they could've come straight out of the 1900's - 1950's. We thought it would be fun to ride around on the tram (pictured below)
We rode on this for about 5 min and then we decided to get off and eat lunch. We were going to eat at a mexican restaurant since Caleb hadn't had mexican food since he left the states. The place we first stopped at hadn't opened yet so we opted for souvlaki's instead. Oh My Goodness. Souvlaki's are amazing!! The one below doesn't look as appetizing but they are yummy!
Our next stop was the Art Centre.
There was quite a few cute little shops inside. We went to this cool bead shop and there we made cousin bracelets and we can never take them off! haha. After our bracelets we went to the fudge cottage shop. We sampled some hokey pokey (no it is not just a dance) We were looking at the other fudge when we saw this fly crawling all over the fudge. Caleb told the lady that there was a fly in the fudge. She politely smiled at him and didn't do anything! So he told her again and then pointed this time. The lady finally noticed and pulled the tray out to get the fly out and it jumped over to the next tray. By this time we were all busting up laughing so we went into the next store and couldn't contain our laughter!! Hopefully she got it out, we didn't stay to find out the end result. But the fudge didn't look too appetizing anymore! haha.
We were looking around the next store and the lady working there started making polite conversation. Then she said "Oh I see you have a husband in training with you. It looks like you are training him well." But I do have to admit that Caleb was very patient with us. We dragged him around to quite a few stores and he didn't seem to mind it too much.
We wandered around Cathedral Square for a little bit. They had some little markets set up. Below is a picture of the cathedral. Apparently you can pay $1 and climb up the stairs to the top. But it is a really pretty cathedral. They had a church choir singing when we looked around inside for a bit.
They had a life size chess set!! Unfortunately we didn't get to play.
By this time we were pretty beat so we went back to the house. We ended up chillaxing for the rest of the day/night. We watched 3 movies: Ratatouille, She's The Man, and Rush Hour 2.
The next morning me, caleb and kate went for a walk up this mountain that overlooks Christchurch. It was a pretty walk. On the way down I was walking and listening to kate's story when all of a sudden I tripped on a rock/my own feet and was down on the ground. I ended up scraping up my leg and twisting/spraining my ankle. Although at the time my ankle was only a little sore.
Later on me, Caleb and the twins drove out to Lyttleton. They have a wharf there with lots of boats. First we had lunch. We were walking down the main street and went into a couple cafe's. We saw one with music notes on the outside and thought it was a music store but it turned out to be a cafe. Michaela happened to ask them if they had people come play music there. The lady said that they often have students come and play on the weekends. Michaela asked if she would be able to come in and play sometime. (sidenote: Michaela is really musical. I think she is absolutely amazing!! She plays the guitar and piano. She also writes her own songs which are beautiful! She reminds me of a mix between colbie calliat and regina spektor) The lady had her play one of her own songs and told her to come in and play for the owners on Monday! She said that she didn't see why she wouldn't get it but it wasn't her decision to make. It turns out that they pay $50 an hour! So she would get $150 whenever she would play! It was absolutely amazing! We decided to eat there. The cafe was so cute and the food was amazing! Sophie and Georgia met up with us there for lunch. After lunch we went and looked at the boats and decided to go to sumner to get ice creams and go to the beach! I got Passion Fruit ice cream which is the best!! The beach there was so pretty and had this really awesome cave!!
After that we went back to the bead shop and georgia and sophie made cousin bracelets! When we were finished we went and looked around the Botanical Gardens (pictured below) They were absolutely gorgeous!
They have these things called Bubble Cups here. It is a Juice and then you can get these bubble and jelly things in the bottom of the cup. You use a pretty large straw so you can suck it up. It was definitely interesting but pretty good! Below is a picture so hopefully you can get the idea!
Later that night we went to a cute mexican restaurant for dinner called Alva Rados. I know I never thought I would ever use cute in the same sentence as mexican restaurant but it definitely was! Caleb was a happy camper and ordered the largest dinner on the menu and actually finished 3/4 of it! We were impressed especially with all of the food we ate that day. We finished dinner off with some yummy gelato! By the time we got home we were all exhausted so we went to bed because our flight was at 6:45 AM! yikes!
Below are two pretty pictures of Christchurch that I thought I would throw in the post just for the heck of it!
I had so much fun down there and I hopefully get to go back next month but for a little bit longer next time!
Me and Caleb arrived on Tuesday night! We had a mini reunion with all of our cousins! Which I hadn't seen in AGES. Well actually I had only met the twins (Kate and Michaela). Caleb hadn't met any of them. It was so much fun to see them again! I would like to introduce you to the Ball cousins so you know who I am talking about. Since I don't have any pictures I stole this one off of Kate's facebook. This picture is at least a year old Starting at the back and to the left.
sophie (15). michaela (19). luke (20). foreign exchange student. georgia (17). madeline (10). kate (19).
Luke is on his mission in Korea so he wasn't there to join in on our fun. He will have been out a year the first of January! We were sad that Luke and Jared couldn't be there to share the cousin activities!
The first night we pretty much ended up talking and finding out more about each others lives and all of that fun stuff! About 9:30 Me, Caleb, Kate and Georgia decided to get in the car and let the road take us wherever. We ended up playing this game called "left, right, tangy fruit" We used Marshmallows since they had them at the house. How you play it is you pick a destination and you have to try and get there turning left and then right in that order. You can't make two rights or lefts in a row. You also have to pick something that you would see while driving. For example ours was animals. Every time you see an animal you have to put a marshmallow (or whatever candy you choose to use) in your mouth and you can't chew or swallow it until you get to that destination. Marshmallows was definitely NOT a good choice for this game. They were sickening. We ended up spitting them out and continued to try to get to our destination which we also failed at getting too. It was definitely a fun game even if we failed miserably at it!
The next morning we headed out with Kate and Michaela to explore Christchurch. Our first stop was a museum! They had a fake little cave that we climbed through. There was lots of historical stuff about NZ and they also had a lot of clothes, cars and replicas of shops that looked like they could've come straight out of the 1900's - 1950's. We thought it would be fun to ride around on the tram (pictured below)
We rode on this for about 5 min and then we decided to get off and eat lunch. We were going to eat at a mexican restaurant since Caleb hadn't had mexican food since he left the states. The place we first stopped at hadn't opened yet so we opted for souvlaki's instead. Oh My Goodness. Souvlaki's are amazing!! The one below doesn't look as appetizing but they are yummy!
Our next stop was the Art Centre.
There was quite a few cute little shops inside. We went to this cool bead shop and there we made cousin bracelets and we can never take them off! haha. After our bracelets we went to the fudge cottage shop. We sampled some hokey pokey (no it is not just a dance) We were looking at the other fudge when we saw this fly crawling all over the fudge. Caleb told the lady that there was a fly in the fudge. She politely smiled at him and didn't do anything! So he told her again and then pointed this time. The lady finally noticed and pulled the tray out to get the fly out and it jumped over to the next tray. By this time we were all busting up laughing so we went into the next store and couldn't contain our laughter!! Hopefully she got it out, we didn't stay to find out the end result. But the fudge didn't look too appetizing anymore! haha.
We were looking around the next store and the lady working there started making polite conversation. Then she said "Oh I see you have a husband in training with you. It looks like you are training him well." But I do have to admit that Caleb was very patient with us. We dragged him around to quite a few stores and he didn't seem to mind it too much.
We wandered around Cathedral Square for a little bit. They had some little markets set up. Below is a picture of the cathedral. Apparently you can pay $1 and climb up the stairs to the top. But it is a really pretty cathedral. They had a church choir singing when we looked around inside for a bit.
They had a life size chess set!! Unfortunately we didn't get to play.
By this time we were pretty beat so we went back to the house. We ended up chillaxing for the rest of the day/night. We watched 3 movies: Ratatouille, She's The Man, and Rush Hour 2.
The next morning me, caleb and kate went for a walk up this mountain that overlooks Christchurch. It was a pretty walk. On the way down I was walking and listening to kate's story when all of a sudden I tripped on a rock/my own feet and was down on the ground. I ended up scraping up my leg and twisting/spraining my ankle. Although at the time my ankle was only a little sore.
Later on me, Caleb and the twins drove out to Lyttleton. They have a wharf there with lots of boats. First we had lunch. We were walking down the main street and went into a couple cafe's. We saw one with music notes on the outside and thought it was a music store but it turned out to be a cafe. Michaela happened to ask them if they had people come play music there. The lady said that they often have students come and play on the weekends. Michaela asked if she would be able to come in and play sometime. (sidenote: Michaela is really musical. I think she is absolutely amazing!! She plays the guitar and piano. She also writes her own songs which are beautiful! She reminds me of a mix between colbie calliat and regina spektor) The lady had her play one of her own songs and told her to come in and play for the owners on Monday! She said that she didn't see why she wouldn't get it but it wasn't her decision to make. It turns out that they pay $50 an hour! So she would get $150 whenever she would play! It was absolutely amazing! We decided to eat there. The cafe was so cute and the food was amazing! Sophie and Georgia met up with us there for lunch. After lunch we went and looked at the boats and decided to go to sumner to get ice creams and go to the beach! I got Passion Fruit ice cream which is the best!! The beach there was so pretty and had this really awesome cave!!
After that we went back to the bead shop and georgia and sophie made cousin bracelets! When we were finished we went and looked around the Botanical Gardens (pictured below) They were absolutely gorgeous!
They have these things called Bubble Cups here. It is a Juice and then you can get these bubble and jelly things in the bottom of the cup. You use a pretty large straw so you can suck it up. It was definitely interesting but pretty good! Below is a picture so hopefully you can get the idea!
Later that night we went to a cute mexican restaurant for dinner called Alva Rados. I know I never thought I would ever use cute in the same sentence as mexican restaurant but it definitely was! Caleb was a happy camper and ordered the largest dinner on the menu and actually finished 3/4 of it! We were impressed especially with all of the food we ate that day. We finished dinner off with some yummy gelato! By the time we got home we were all exhausted so we went to bed because our flight was at 6:45 AM! yikes!
Below are two pretty pictures of Christchurch that I thought I would throw in the post just for the heck of it!
I had so much fun down there and I hopefully get to go back next month but for a little bit longer next time!
12.08.2008
12.05.2008
If Everyday Could Be Christmas...
I am dreaming tonight of a place I love
Long time ago in Bethlehem
Away in a manger
Said the night wind to the little lamb
O Holy Night, the stars are shining brightly
So this is Christmas
How I love the sound of the radio
Angels we have heard on high
Silent Night, Holy Night
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Hang all the mistletoe
The snow is falling, the city is white
It's the greatest time of year, and it's here
Dear Santa I wrote you a letter
Walking home with the snow
Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Merry Christmas happy holidays
I had fun doing the other one that I decided to do a Christmas one as well from my Christmas playlist! See the post below for the rules!
Long time ago in Bethlehem
Away in a manger
Said the night wind to the little lamb
O Holy Night, the stars are shining brightly
So this is Christmas
How I love the sound of the radio
Angels we have heard on high
Silent Night, Holy Night
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Hang all the mistletoe
The snow is falling, the city is white
It's the greatest time of year, and it's here
Dear Santa I wrote you a letter
Walking home with the snow
Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Merry Christmas happy holidays
I had fun doing the other one that I decided to do a Christmas one as well from my Christmas playlist! See the post below for the rules!
Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in.
When I looked out today
I watch you spin from afar
Here I stand
I was so high I did not recognize
Hermit crabs and cowry shells
First you say that you have to go away
Think it over what you just said
Darling you got to let me know
Say goodnight and go
As time was ticking
Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal
Cold nights of loneliness
It's been a hard day's night,
I broke into your house last night
I'm missing your bed I never sleep.
Am I alone in this?
I don't wanna wake up today
Don't wish, don't start
I can stand with the weight of the world
I am the eagle I live in high country
I watch you spin from afar
Here I stand
I was so high I did not recognize
Hermit crabs and cowry shells
First you say that you have to go away
Think it over what you just said
Darling you got to let me know
Say goodnight and go
As time was ticking
Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal
Cold nights of loneliness
It's been a hard day's night,
I broke into your house last night
I'm missing your bed I never sleep.
Am I alone in this?
I don't wanna wake up today
Don't wish, don't start
I can stand with the weight of the world
I am the eagle I live in high country
I found this on Leah's blog! It is actually really fun! It is kind of similar to the one I did a few weeks ago. You put your iPod on shuffle and write down the first line of the first 20 songs that play. Then you can rearrange them into whatever format you want to make up a poem. Use the first line of the 21st song as your title and then post it for all to see!
Here are the 21 songs that came up on my iPod!
1. Think it over - Buddy Holly
2. The Ocean - Mae
3. Moon - Sia
4. This Love - Maroon 5
5. The Eagle and the Hawk - John Denver
6. Say Goodnight and Go - Imogen Heap
7. Spitting Games- Snow Patrol
8. I'm Not That Girl (reprise) - Kristen Chenoweth
9. Now I'm Here - Queen
10. Should I Stay or Should I Go - The CLash
11. Rainin' You - Brad Paisley
12. Jump - Simple Plan
13. Screaming Infidelities - Dashboard Confessional
14. The Artist in The Ambulance - Thrice
15. F-stop Blues - Jack Johnson
16. Hollywood - Jonas Brothers
17. Too Late - Jennifer Lopez
18. Melancholy Interlude - Hayley Westerna
19. Helplessly, Hopelessly, Recklessly - Jessica Andrews
20. Hard Days Night - The Beatles
Title
21. Ocean Breathes Salty - Modest Mouse
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
