Haere ra Aotearoa (Goodbye New Zealand)

Our last week consisted of training the Maughans, a week long of goodbyes and parties and a nasty cold.

We spent a delightful weekend showing the Maughans some of New Zealand. We took them to church on Sunday at the Takapuna Ward and then went back to the apartment for a late lunch/dinner.

Dave and Gary with Rangitoto in the background

Dave and Anne Maughan and Susan

Monday we began training with the usual Monday morning devotional.  After the devotional we had a staff meeting with Hans and Luisa.  By the time we were finished with our staff meeting it was time for lunch at one of our favourite lunch places - Habitual Fix.  They serve sandwiches, salads, and wraps.  After lunch the Maughans went to the mission office to meet the mission president, President Balli.

By 3:00pm, Gary commented that he needed to go back to the hotel as he was not feeling well.  He went to bed and Susan went for one of her last walks on Takapuna Beach.

Tuesday we worked on the computers.  Susan went to lunch with some of the office staff.  Upon returning she took Sister Maughan to train her in "shopping" in the town of Devonport.  They rode the bus down and back.  After returning from Devonport, Susan learned that Gary had gone back to the hotel.  When she got to the hotel, she learned that he had been in bed all afternoon.  In fact, he slept till the next day.  While Gary was resting, Susan and the Maughans went to the local Internet store in the mall to see about transferring her Sim card and the Internet service into the Maughans' name.  They then returned to the apartment and Susan did some more packing.  Most of our things were packed, but we did not pack the clothes we would be wearing every day.

Wednesday we had our exit interview luncheon with the Area Presidency, minus Elder and Sister Pearson, as they were in Australia.  We had gone to dinner with them on Wednesday night the 2nd of March.  Our luncheon was wonderful.  Elder and Sister Seamons (Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency)  did a great job with the meal and decorations.  After lunch Gary again went back to the hotel to bed.  Susan stopped at an Asian restaurant later that evening and got him some hot and sour soup for dinner that he said helped.  This was the only illness he had on our entire mission.

Sister Seamon, Sister Debbie Buckner, Brent Buckner, Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, Sister Peggy Haleck, Elder O. Vincent Haleck, Susan (with her eyes closed) and Gary

Thursday our department together with the self-reliance department planned a potluck lunch as a goodbye to us and a celebration of the birthdays of Hans Sorensen on the 13th and Luisa Valifale on the 17th.   We then spent the rest of the day turning the reigns over to the Maughans - we even changed out our picture on the map.

Our little welfare corner - Luisa, Gary, Elder Maughan, Susan. and Sister Maughan

Gary and Elder Bennett

Sister Susan Preator and Sister Arendje Whidden

Sister Preator is Susan's third cousin.  They were both Susan Wakefield growing up

Susan and Sister Nada Spencer 

Renee Solomon, Susan and Sister Spencer

Changing the photo on the map

Thursday night we had to get serious about packing.  Somehow the same clothes that we had brought to New Zealand had multiplied and we left many things behind.  Clothes, hair products, you name it we left it.  We each had two large bags, one carry-on and our backpacks.  There were lots of things we thought we would take home, but they found a new home in New Zealand.  Friday was just a series of goodbyes - we have made some wonderful friends here in the Pacific Area and we already miss them terribly.  

Luisa,  Susan, June Anderson, Arendje

Luisa and Susan

Gary, Susan and Hans

About 3:30pm we did our final hugs and farewells as Elder and Sister Whidden were taking us to the airport.  (The Maughans were still learning how to navigate on the left).

We arrived at the airport about 5:00pm, checked in and went to the Lounge to wait for our flight to board.  It was to be a "very long" night.

"Real friends never pull you down, they always lift."  Russell M. Nelson, "The Power Within Us."

Kia Ora Elder and Sister Maughan

Very early on Saturday, March 5, 2016, Elder David and Sister Anne Maughan arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. They are replacing us as the Pacific Area Welfare Specialist in the Area Office.  Elder and Sister Maughan come from Richland, Washington.  They are not new to humanitarian work.  The Maughans served in the Adriatic North Mission at the same time we served there.  Their assignment was in Serbia, while our assignment was in Bosnia and Croatia.

We took the Maughans home to their apartment (our apartment) and let them freshen up.  We then took them for a walk on Takapuna Beach.  We bought some fish and chips and went back to the apartment to eat.  

It was now late enough in the day that we could go to the hotel and check in to our room.   We went over to the hotel to checked in and told the Maughans that we would be back later.  We wanted them to have a bit of time to unpack some things and maybe relax.  We encouraged them to stay awake as that usually helps with the jet-lag.  The view from our hotel room was beautiful.  The island in the background is actually a volcano called Rangitoto.  It last erupted about 550 years ago.

Later in the day we returned to the apartment and visited with the Maughans for awhile.  We did not go out to dinner as it was Fast Sunday.  We made arrangements with them for church the next day and then went back to our hotel.

"There is so much fun in Church service... We must never forget that the wealth, the strength, the security of the Church is our ability to labor together  Let us be a righteous example of this fundamental principle in our homes, our places of employment, our neighborhoods, our communities, our states, and our nations."  L. Tom Perry, Nauvoo - A Demonstration of Faith, April 1980.

Cyclone Winston Update

Here is the promised update on the Fiji cyclone:  Assessments are being made and reports of the damage are finally coming in.  Power to the islands of Tavenui, Koko, and Vanua Levu and were down for at least four days.  Power has now been restored and the cleanup has begun.

Most of the pictures and comments come from Elder and Sister Vermeeren from Calgary, Canada, blog, http://vermeerenfijimission.blogspot.co.nz/  We will share some of their pictures, but there are more if you visit their blog.  The Pacific Area Newsroom also did an article about Cyclone Winston which basically shared her notes home to her family.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/8290396549451483597

We visited Tavenui in August, so the link below gives you a few pictures of this beautiful island before the cyclone.   

http://winterskiwi.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/international-datemore-gardens-visits.html

We were also on the island of Vanua Levu.  The villages were beautiful - it is hard to see the destruction, but all will turn out okay.

http://winterskiwi.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/come-see-my-garden.html

The people of Fiji are resilient.  They usually have a smile on their face and are always cheerful.  Many families now are without homes but they are rebuilding.  There are many who share their sleeping quarters.  "One house has 104 people sleeping in it - 15 families! According to Sister Vermeeren, "very few homes on the outer islands where the cyclone struck most heavely are standing, untouched and are safe to sleep in." Tarps have been donated and help provide protection when the sun shines down on people during the hottest part of the day.  Many had to flee with the clothes on their backs, so donated clothing from neighbors has been appreciated.  Water and food are scarce, but everyone shares and they are happy.

Our replacements, Elder and Sister Maughan will be going toFiji to helping next week.  Our prayers and best wishes are with them and all the good people in Fiji.

"We are praying and working for our brothers and sisters in Fiji.  We will continue to do all within our power, working with others and with heaven's help to alleviate suffering and help the people recover from the storm."  Elder Kevin W. Pearson, Pacific Area President.

Free, Take One

A while ago we took one of our couples to One Tree Hill / Cornwall Park where you can see all over Auckland. We usually stop at the Visitors Center and have a "look around".

When we were there this time they had a display to make poppies for Anzac Day (New Zealand Veteran's Day) in one of the rooms.

 In another room they had origami butterflies and some live butterflies in a large glass  container.

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There were also some plants with a sign that said: "Free, Take One".  So we did.  Some how Susan got it in her mind that this was a poppy plant.  We brought the plant home and replanted in a flower container on our balcony.  As time went on the plant grew taller and looked almost like a small tree.  So we moved it out of the flower container into a larger container.  It grew and flourished.  Soon it got large green pods on it.

One day we noticed a caterpillar on the plant and some green things hanging on the leaves as well.  We also noticed that there were some little tiny insects on the leaves (maybe aphids).

We thought should we spray some oils on it to repel the caterpillars and aphids which seemed to be eating our plant.  But we were busy and so we did nothing.  Then one morning I was talking on my iPad to our grandchildren and went out on the balcony to water the plants and this is what I saw.

Upon further inspection we noticed that all the liitle green things were gone and there was just a "tissue-paper-looking" pod remaining.  This prompted Susan to call One Tree Hill and learn that the plant was called a swan plant.  The swan plant is what the caterpillars eat and then turn into pupa and finally emerge as butterflies.

Life went on and one day we noticed that we again had caterpillars on our plant.  In fact we had about 20 caterpillars.  One morning we woke up and the caterpillars had eaten nearly all the leaves - there were just a few left around the base of the plant.  We went to church and when we returned 3 hours later all the leaves were gone! We got on the internet and learned that caterpillars would also eat milkweed and pumpkin.  Of course it being Sunday, we went to the nature walk by our house and brought home an assortment of things for the caterpillars to eat, none of which they would eat.  They did however start to eat the pods.

Monday morning came and we went to the store and bought a piece of pumpkin and the caterpillars were happy again.

Soon they were again climbing back up the stalk of the plant and transforming into what we learned was a pupa.

By night we had 6 caterpillars left - several of our caterpillars had crawled off, but that is how nature works isn't it.  This was now mid-February.  We started watching them very closely, as we did not want to miss them emerging this time.  On Monday, February 29th, as we went to work we noticed that one was very dark and by the time we came home that night, the butterfly was gone.  

We missed it, but we had 5 more.  Every morning and evening upon returning from work we would check for butterflies.  The morning of March 3rd, one emerged.  

When we came home from the office they had all emerged and we watched this last one test its wings and fly away.

Now our butterflies have begun a new life.  We too began a new life on March 11th as we returned to Utah and our home and family.  Hopefully we have been like the butterfly and grown into something better than we were.

"Most often we don't get to choose the lessons we are about to learn.  It seems that some teaching moments come unexpectedly; we can't always anticipate them.  Sometimes the learning comes from experiences we would have avoided completely if we had only been given the opportunity.  But through those experiences we learn that sometimes a particular set of circumstances is just what may be required to allow the neede growth to come."  Emily Freeman, "Love Life and See Good Days"