Hey Family, 

I dropped Elder Dauniika off at the bus stop this morning, he's on his way to the mission office. He'll fly back to Sydney tomorrow afternoon. It was kind of weird dropping him off! He had another set of missionaries stay with him because I had a meeting to go to, so I didn't see him off or anything, just gave him a hug and told him thanks and that I loved him. I've learned a lot from Elder Dauniika. He's very humble and loving. The missionaries in the zone love him, and a lot of 
them called last night to tell him thanks for being a great friend to them. Even out in Whangaruru, it was like a funeral yesterday when the ward found out he was leaving. Everyone loves him! He got along really well with anyone, and he's been a great example to me. 

So, before all this happened, Tuesday a huge storm hit Whangaruru. It rained all day Monday and Tuesday, and Tuesday it started to flood. As we were driving into Whangaruru, parts of the road were covered with water, but it was still low enough for us to drive through, and we were able to make it out to the valley. But because some of the 
rivers are effected by high tides and low tides, when high tide 
came in, the roads out of whangaruru were totally 
underwater, which meant that we weren't going to be able to make it back to the flat. (In missionary life, it's totally important to be back at the flat in time. If any changes need to be made, even to routine schedule, requires permission from the mission president.) We were stuck in Whangaruru, and the only road out of the valley was flooded over! So we 
ended up calling and getting permission to stay the night at 
Whangaruru! 

There was a member family who got stuck in town, and so they let us stay in their home. It was so cool! It's a nice house, a mile from the beach, with loads of food. haha. It was like a dream come true. We got to stay away from the flat in a house a mile from the beach!! 

Another cool thing is that we got to wear gum boots the whole day because everywhere was flooded. Haha. 

We just came out of a lesson with a lady. (I'm currently in a trio, and the other Elders had an appointment so we went to 
it.) Her name is Mandy, and she has two kids. 8 and 6 months. She doesn't have a husband, because her and her partner are separated. She let us come in, and we started off 
by asking if we could say a prayer. She said yes, and before praying we asked if she had prayed before. She said she had never prayed, she had just seen her grandparents pray. We taught her how to pray, and it was special. A lot of people today don't pray, and if they do pray, it is usually a memorized prayer, or a desperation prayer in an emergency. 
In order for an individual to be converted to the gospel, praying and receiving revelation is essential. It clicked with me in the lesson this morning more than it has before that investigators need to understand who Heavenly Father is, 
and how to pray to him. It was special.