A Trip to the Beach

Elder Davenport's district went to the beach last P-day. Had fun, but Michael got sick on "a rotten feijoa". A feijoa is a fruit that has a pulpy center. From Wikipedia: "The fruit (of the feijoa) matures in autumn and is green, ellipsoid-shaped and the size of a chicken egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavor. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear jelly-like seed pulp and a firmer, slightly gritty opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit drops when ripe, but can be picked from the tree prior to the drop to prevent bruising. This plant is monotypic in its genus. Like the closely-related guava, the fruit pulp has a gritty texture which is utilized in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit have a distinctive smell. "

Then he got the flu.

He is loving his mission and is working hard.

Now, isn't this Michael we all know and love?

A Wonderful Day for Elder Davenport

Keith wanted me to baptize him ... AND I DID!!! It was amazing. All three baptisms in one day and we had more people at the baptism including non-members than we do at church! The spirit was so strong after the baptism.. IT was amazing. I knew I did right!
So then I was asked to do a baby blessing! WOW! What a Sunday! We had 3 confirmations (which I stood in on all of them) and 2 baby blessings. I did the one for Mose (2) and Kukama did the other for Auro (9 months) and to top it all off it was fast Sunday and Eliza bore her's and it was amazing. And to top it off more, Pres and Sis Cook were there and also Elder Roberts.. Interesting story about him and his wife.. Look in the March Ensign the one all about Christ, the very last page of the magazine. Written by Christine Roberts, New Zealand! She's in my ward! and Elder Roberts (formally brother, before conference, he was called to be an area 70)@!! so they were all there and they both bore their testimonies! What a great day.
Since Thursday morning I've felt so much better about everything. About being here ... I've found out that that is what needs to happen and it's what I want now!

Our Teaching Pool

Eliza, Keith and Michelle:
They are on schedule to be baptized this Saturday the 19th! They are such a tight group of siblings.. They are cool. Michelle and I had an ice cream eating contest the other day.. I won.. Well Kukama and I won. We went and bought 2, 2 litter tubs of ice cream and just ate.. I got about 1/2 way through mine and she was about 1/4 through and Eliza and Keith jumped in.. So Kukama grabbed a spoon and finished off mine.. We got done and they still had about 1 litter left.. After that we went to a feed and had heaps of food and ice cream and we had an appointment after that but luckily they weren't home and so we went home and relieved our stomachs for the rest of the night.. We got So sick haha.. it was fun though.
Tana and Cheryl:


We haven't had a lesson with them for about 3 weeks. Tana got sick and than since then his g-ma is dying so we haven't taught them but we've taken them cookies and called them and invited him to play basketball and stuff. Its sad too because we were planning on teaching them the plan of salvation next and so it's perfect for what's going on but we just cant get in to teach.. They are doing there reading though and she's told us many times that they aren't trying to avoid us but they've just been super busy.
Alana and Waiora:
She was taught a lot before I got here and then Waiora just sat at the couche playing xbox and not being apart of lessons but still listening.. He one day decided that he want's to listen and do stuff.. he's way keen.. They are both understanding and everything. Alana has a smoking issue that she's been trying to cess out for a while now and she's doing fairly well.. We had a lesson yesterday and Anthony and Vai came with us because they had to quit drinking and smoking also.. That went really well..
Those are basically the people who we are teaching that are doing well.. Everyone else just kind of has something that holds them back.

It's been raining all day today. It rains kind of hard and then it pours harder than I've ever seen in my life for about 5 minutes and then it slows down. Than it just pours like crazy. But it's a pretty nice rain. Its not cold but it's not really refreshing either. It gets really cold during the night and I sleep under the window and so I had to switch ends of the bed so I didnt freeze my face off.
Thanks for all of your letters of support it's been so nice to read them. Most of them I can't read with out tearing up some. I know you guys care about me and love me.
I have come to known from doing the work and persevering that I had only a lack of faith at the time. I know that I do have faith and all that. It's just a matter of applying it I guess.