Things have settled down for us at the Area Office and most things are returning to normal. March/April was very hectic for us with Cyclone Pam and preparing information for the area presidency to take to General Conference.
We spent this last week getting ready for our Area Welfare Counsel Meeting. The AWCM is held once a month. The Area Welfare Counsel consists of ourselves, the area welfare manager, Hans Sorensen, our administrative assistant, Luisa Vaifale, the self reliance manager, Paul Reid, the area controller, Doug Martin, the director for temporal affairs, Brent Buckner, and a member of the area presidency, Elder Haleck. In this meeting we review various Pacific Area welfare issues. This is also where the humanitarian projects submitted by our couples are presented for approval. Before each monthly meeting we review every project and prepare a powerpoint presentation for consideration, discussion and approval by the AWCM. After the meeting we send letters to each of the couples and let them know if their projects have been approved and also record the necessary information into the humanitarian project database.
We are also working on an assignment to inventory and restock Pacific Area emergency response containers. Most Church areas do not have these emergency response containers, but the Pacific Area is unique in that the islands are so isolated and many countries do not have supplies readily available for purchase should there be an emergency. We took some time on Friday and went to a church location in south Auckland to inventory a container. These containers are stocked with supplies that people would need after a disaster like Cyclone Pam. There are 5 containers in New Zealand. We are looking to relocate these 5 containers to more remote locations in the Pacific. In New Zealand most things can be purchased without much difficulty.
Nothing too exciting this week, but this is why we are here and we are glad to do what needs to be done. We had the opportunity to go to the temple Saturday and do some family temple work. We enjoyed a special time in the temple. After doing family temple sealings, we talked with the Brother John Ramsden, our temple sealer. He has worked in the Hamilton Temple since 1971 and had the privilege to work with Elder Glen Rudd and our son-in-law's grandparents, Lynn and Patricia Newman, who also served in the Hamilton New Zealand temple in the 1980's.
On a side note, Flat Stanley came to visit us last week. We took him down to the beach by work and he visited our work and apartment. Now he is on his way to Canada to see our grandsons. Maybe he can have another birthday party with the one who just turned 9. Happy Birthday!
"My brothers and sisters, in our lives we will have temptations; we will have trials and challenges. As we go to the temple, as we remember the covenants we make there, we will be better able to overcome those temptations and to bear our trials. In the temple we can find peace."
Thomas S. Monson 2015 April Conference
