January 2019! Jaxon's 16th Birthday

Scripture of the Month (Same): Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

1/1/19

Hi Tyrell,
We are at Auntie Lians. It is new year's day.  We had a lunch with all the cousins on mum's side.  We drop Mina off in a couple days.  We are doing fine and hope you are too. Sorry we didn't get everyone to write. Endure to the end, the Lord can still use you to do a lot of good.
Love Dad and Mum xxx

1/8/19

Hi son, oh and daughter, almost forgot. I'll include Mina in this too even though she won't read this until Friday.

We are still in NZ and currently in Rotorua staying in a hotel. We are doing fun stuff here. We spent time in Hamilton visiting friends and relatives. It has been really awesome. We went to church in Temple View. I bore my testimony. After we ate food at a friend's home then ate some more at the Hamilton lake with a bunch of old mates from back in the day. We're eating fish and chips and pies all the time. We dropped Mina off at the MTC on Thursday. She is now a sister trainer leader. She emailed us after getting there. We hope to go home Thursday but the flights are looking full. So we aren't sure when our flight home will be. We're going to do more fun stuff today in Rotorua and your cousin Leo auntie Trisha's boy will hang with us. We'll get back into having the kids write when we are back home.
Hope all is well, love you. Dad and mum xxx

1/11/19

From Mina:
Can you send me a copy of my farewell talk please? And I’m praying for you! Hopefully you can make it on the flights! And also, have you made a blog yet? I don’t have any of the uncles and aunties emails and I want to let them know about my experience! Love you!
- Sister Wihongi

The sisters have a room to themselves with their companions. The elders have 4 to a room. And Elder Pututau is in my Zone! In the Zone photo, he is exactly three elders above me. Or the first one on the second row. He is hilarious! And I told him about connections in Utah. He’s from West valley. We have So many Tongans, Samoan, and Tahitians . We also have Philippinos, Canadians, a few from Kiribati and Vanuatu, and one from Japan. Haha and most of the Tongans are from NZ.

On Jan 4, 2019, at 7:30 AM, Candice Wihongi <candicewihongi@gmail.com> wrote:

What are your bedrooms like how many sleep in them? Elder Pututau is related to the Schwenke's. Did you give a talk on Sunday and how many missionaries are in the MTC? I forwarded your first email to Julie. Love you Mum

On Thu, Jan 3, 2019, 09:50 Wiramina Wihongi <wiramina.wihongi@myldsmail.net wrote:
I made it safely!... of course. haha, They have us email our parents to let them know we're safe. My P-day will be on Fridays. But not tomorrow because I just arrived here so it'll be next week. The first thing I did when I walked in was to have an interview with the President and he felt the impression to give me a calling - Sister Trainer Leader! Basically, i'm a leader over all the sisters in the MTC and i just report to the President how the sisters are doing and I have to attend more meetings. And I have to give talks during sacrament... Haha. Thank you for all that you've done! I love you! I'll email you next week!

1/13/19

Hi Ya’ll,
I was sick yesterday, really bad allergies and my monthly so I didn’t go to church today. We got in on friday, we were praying so bad to get on a flight, Mina was praying for us too. We were going to go to Honolulu but Dad said we better try LAX first, that flight did not look good but we tried anyway and we all got on - Yay! We also made our next flight from Lax to slc and are so grateful our prayers were answered. Now back to reality…. Which is cold weather and work and school for kids! Lol Well Minas last email was awesome I cry everytime I read it. I know grandma and grandpa and our ancestors are watching over you both. Do the best work hard you only have a short time give it your all!!
Love you Mum and Dad xxx

Hello Tyrell & Mina,
We got home from my vacation in New Zealand on Friday. We went to a Museum in Auckland and I learned that butterflies have teeny scales for wings and they have taste receptors on their feet. And, we went to Rainbow Springs in Rotorua and I learned that the kiwi’s nostrils are at the end of the beak and they have very good hearing. We also went to Whakarewarewa and I learned that the people cook their meals in the hot pools. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!
Love, Leila XOXO

Wassuh Tyrell & Mina,
We came back to this yucky, cold, disgusting Utah:( I miss New Zealand already. Now I have to catch up in all my school work and that’s gonna be really stressful lol. New Zealand was amazing! We went to a museum and we went to Rainbow Springs in Rotorua which was fun. Jennie the Kea aka the bird that bit Mina is getting old so they keep her in the back so we didn’t see her. But we saw the Kiwi birds, and I videoed them even though your not supposed to lol. We also went to The Luge in Rotorua. It has rides but we just stayed on this track ride like in Snowbird. We went to the Agradome that has the sheep show. There was a funny kiwi guy hosting the show. We had fish and chips almost everyday lol. I gained 14 pounds lol and i’m still not fat. Oh! I almost forgot! We dropped off Mina at the MTC yayyyyy lol jk ); Well I hope you have fun this week and be safe.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hi Tyrelly Smelly & Mina,
I was on vacation for 2 weeks in New Zealand. I liked going to Rotorua which is a town in New Zealand in the North Island. We went to Rainbow Springs which is a Aviary for birds, lizards and trouts. I saw lots of ‘kiwi’s’ they are native birds from New Zealand. They are endangered birds, they are nocturnal which means they sleep in the day time and are awake at night. They are also flightless birds, they run around on the ground and eat worms, insects and berries. I also a Tuatara which is a giant lizard and was around when there were dinosaurs!
Love Erana xoxxo

1/17/19

From Mina:
Can you send me lyrics to He Honore and other church maori songs please. I can’t log in to google drive or my other email and I want to remember these songs! Thank you for sending the farewell talk. I’m glad you made it home safely! Love you!
-Sister Wihongi

Oh and can you send photos of the family when you dropped me off at the MTC? I want to show my companion.

1/20/19

Hi,

I went to my friends birthday after that I went to Kage and Dray’s house then we went back home. Leila and I watched this movie called Dolphin Tails we didn’t finish it cause it was too late. Love Erana xoxoXoXoxOxO

Hello,

On Tuesday, Erana and I played at Jenna’s house and we ate spaghetti there. For Young Womens on Wednesday, we played a game called Bunco that is a game you play only with dice, a paper, and a pencil. Erana and I had piano practice and Tausala on Thursday. Friday, Erana and I played with Kage and Dray at their house for the whole day because they didn’t have school. Yesterday, Kage and Dray played over. Today, we went to the Wolferstan family’s house for dinner. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! By the way Mina, I didn’t cry when we dropped you off, but when we got home, I cried in my bed for maybe 3 nights when going to bed. Home is just so boring without you. I’m used to going to you when I’m bored and giving you hugs. I wish you didn’t have to go. And Tyrell, what would you like to do with me when you get back? I’m curious, and I also want to spend more time with you.

Love, Leila XOXO

Hi our awesome missionaries,

We had a week of getting back to normal stuff and it was hard after having a couple weeks off in the sun in NZ. We ate dinner after church with the Wolferstans. And had a nice visit. Not really a whole lot to write about for this week. We hope all is well. Keep working hard, loving the people and following the spirit

Love Dad & Mum xxx

1/27/19

Kia Ora, 

Been working and cleaning...same stuff. Jaxon had a driving test, he said he didn’t do very well. It’s been Jaxon’s birthday celebrations this weekend, went to Golden China last night for a yummy dinner. And now for sunday dinner Dad made fish n chips, got some pies from Sagato bakery. I made a seafood curry and salad and we also had a shrimp platter and brazilian cheese balls - a lot of food!!! Stuffed. Jaxon’s asking for Pizza tomorrow when it’s his actual bday, will invite Uncle Scott’s family probably. And that’s our weekend. Oh yeah our van couldn’t work when we got back from vacation had to have it towed. The engine had seized and it would cost about $3500 to fix so this weekend we donated it, just like the escort. Will probably get another small car just before Tyrell gets home. Serina’s wedding is March 8th. 

Hope your well and doing awesome we pray for you and tyrell everyday and love you very much. Love Mum and Dad xxx and Jaxon and Erana

Hello missionary siblings,

On Tuesday, I played at Jenna’s house and we had chicken and rice and corn for dinner. For Young Womens on Wednesday, we had our New Beginnings and the new beehives were being introduced. The new beehives are Anna Ballard, Heather Cloward, and Lafiana Fifita. Eliza Thackeray introduced Lafiana and she kept on calling her Leila by accident XD. Before Young Womens, Erana and I played in the snow for 3 hours! Erana and I had Tausala practice on Thursday, and I finally got my chahoo right! Friday, mom left the oven on broil with the pan and it’s lid inside so the pan lid shattered to pieces and the house filled with smoke. I went on my hangouts to tell mom what happened and she sent me a message before me sending that that I didn’t see saying Leila check if I turned the oven off hello Hellooo. So, that happened. We went to say our last goodbyes to the van and clean it out. So many memories in that van. Yesterday, Erana and I played at Kage and Drays house. Then, dad, mom, Jaxon, Erana, and I went to Golden China for Jaxon’s b-day dinner. Today, we had to write our letter before church so I will tell you about today next week. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Love, Leila XOXO

1/28/19

From Mina:
It's 5A Matipo St. Taupo. If you send stuff, send it to my mission office instead. Also, share the maori songs drive folder with me please!! thank you. Also, someone wanted me to tell you "Send love from the Katina family in Temple View!" I don't know if it's spelled that way tho. Katena? and Brother Davies said he knew dad when he was just a kid. lol