Delicious Pavlova and My First Day of Church

Last night Julie made us a really yummy dessert called Pavlova. It's super popular here in New Zealand and it was waaay good. After we ate, Whitney and I went over to the Talamaivo's house (where Neeley and Nicole are staying) and met up with them and some of the other girls to play games for a little bit. That was a lot of fun! We got a little crazy and bonded a lot. Haha. The Talamaivo's daughter Natalia is our next door neighbor and she and her family were over there too so they gave us a ride home (which was great because that way we didn't have to walk home and get eaten alive by bugs).

a close-up of our delicious pavlova!

YUM!

Today we went to our ward for the first time. It was so awesome! It's such a great feeling being at church, because even though so much is different being in a totally different country, being at church feels like being home. There was such a wonderful spirit in our ward and such a strong sense of family between the members. Everyone was really welcoming, and the bishop met with all of us (there are 6 of us BYU girls in the ward) after sacrament meeting to get to know us a little better. He is super nice and friendly. And also WAY young! He's got to be in his early 30s. And he has 3 adorable little kids, Lucas (6), Taatiana (4), and Allison is the baby. He wasted no time putting us to work. Haha. We all got callings and Whitney and Diana were assigned to speak next week. I'm going to be the primary chorister so I get to plan singing time for the whole primary every week! It is going to be a lot of work, but I'm really excited about it. And Natalia, my neighbor, is the primary president. It will be great working with her.
I'm really excited to get involved with the ward and the YSA activities in the area. It is going to be so awesome getting this experience!