KA MATE! KA MATE! KA ORA! KA ORA!

Kia Ora. I was fortunate enough to serve a mission for the Latter-day Saint church in New Zealand back in 2009-2011. I knew nothing about the place when I first got there, and didn't know how I was going to adapt over a two year period. They say going on a mission turns you from a boy to a man. Well my mission did even more for me. It allowed me to find a culture that I had been searching for. 

The Maori people have been in New Zealand since sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE. When the English settlers arrived in the land in the 17^th century, things changed and the Maori warriors created a war chant called the haka. This would scare off the white settlers who wanted to settle in their land. On my mission, I was fortunate to learn this haka, and for some reason, it came very easy for me to learn it. In fact, I learned to pray, share beliefs, and everyday phrases in the Maori language, although everyone spoke English. This unique culture became a huge part of me, and I almost wondered if I had been born in the wrong culture to begin with! Today I still embody that same culture I picked up while I was in New Zealand. I participated in the BYU luau, and somehow connected with most of the Polynesians living in Provo.

The Maori language is almost considered a dying language because many schools stopped teaching it. It has been my goal to spread this culture like wildfire, and keep the old traditions and history of the Maori people going for ages to come.