Haere ra (Goodbye) and soon Kia ora (Hello)

September 7, 2014

This may be our last blog as things are going to get increasingly busy and crazy these last three
weeks with feeling like we should get this finished and that finished or in shape for the new couple whoever they may be.  Our project manager got transferred and it was his in-laws who were coming as the new camp managers; but now we don't know if they are still coming or what is in the works.  We hope they get it figured out and have someone here at least a few days before we leave so we don't have to explain everything to an in-between person and leave lots of notes.

We did take a little break from the camp last week with 3 other couples, the Monson's who serve at the Visitor's Center, the Gordon's who serve as MLS missionaries on the Coromandel Peninsula (who were celebrating their 50th anniversary and invited us all to go with them) and our friends, Rosemary and Don White who have been here for several years, with Don working with the Temple View re-construction plan.  (We did have the mission presidents OK - or at least he didn't say "no."  We all met at the train station in Hamilton on Thursday morning and took a scenic train ride (7 or 8 hours) to Wellington, the very southern tip of the North Island.  It was very relaxing and fun;and we saw some beautiful sights.  We had 2 sets of 2 chairs facing each other with a table in the middle and another across the aisle, so we were able to visit, play games and eat goodies.

the Whites, Monsons, Gordons and Olsens at the train station

Mount Ruapehu along the way

as evening approached we came along the Tasman Sea

The best surprise was that Windy Wellington was not that windy and cold.  It was actually very nice for all 3 days we were there and the locals told us that was the best weather they had had for ages. It is really a beautiful city; kind of reminded us of San Francisco as there are lots of hills and it's on the water front. We were surprised when we checked into our hotel that night (Elder Gordon had made the reservations on line) they had the smallest rooms we ever remember staying in.  It was a queen size bed with barely enough room to walk around it - no chairs or table and the bathroom - it was pretty dang small also with no where to put things.  But on the bright side, we didn't spend much time there, except for Elder Monson who must have gotten food poisoning and spent the whole next day in their room.

old church near our hotel in Wellington

We didn't rent a vehicle, as most everything was within walking distance and we did walk, walk, walk!  Friday we had a yummy breakfast across the way from the hotel and  we then walked to the Parliament building and the connecting Beehive house (seemed like a Utah thing), they were both beautiful, but totally different architecture that didn't seem to mesh. We took a tour and learned more about how the government of NZ works.  Afterwards we walked to the St. Paul's Cathedral close by and ending up staying for a concert by 2 young adults who attend the School of Arts and Music in Wellington; and they were wonderful.  The young man played the piano and the young woman play the cello.  Afterwards we had a yummy meal at the Crab Shack on the wharf and then went to the Wellington and Sea Museum. I think we all crashed at the hotel for a while then had ( ( dinner at the hotel and played Farkle (a new game we've grown fond of) in a room off the restaurant, as none of us had a room big enough for us all to fit in.

St Paul's Cathedral 

The "Beehive" part of the Parliament complex

House of Parliament 

Saturday, after a quick breakfast we walked down to the wharf again to a Saturday Market - dad and I weren't really into buying anything as we are now thinking about how much we have to fit into those suitcases and how much they can weigh.  The other women must have spent 2 hours at the hat shop and they each ended up with  cute hate and then Rosemary made me wear the one she had been wearing so we all had hats for photos.  The hats were very unique and well made by the guy's wife, who is a milliner; they were from Austria. We then took a bus to Weta Cave, which is not a cave at all, but several buildings in the middle of an outlying area and is the movie studio of  the company who produced the Lord of the Rings movie series, Avatar and a lot of other movies.  This was the most entertaining of all the things we did in Wellington.  There were lots of life or monster size depictions of various characters and of course a store and you could take photos at these places, but then they took us on a tour through their technical shops where they manufacture the props, creatures and even various weapons, etc. They showed and explained the process they go through from a computer generated picture to the actual item.  It was amazing and made you realize why they spend so much money and time in producing a film.

Entrance to the movie studio complex

At the entrance to Weta Cave

strange creatures

From the Lord of the Rings

Mid afternoon we took the Cable Car (again like SF) up a hill in the middle of the city and was able to enjoy a scenic lookout in every direction.  We then walked down the hill on the other side through a beautiful botanical garden, which took almost a couple of hours, but worth it.  We then walked to what seemed like the other side of the city to the Green Parrot for dinner (someone had recommended it) but we were only impressed with the size of the meal, not the food itself.  Well, 2 out of 8 liked their selection.  Wow, did our feet hurt by the time we got back to the hotel. A positive - all the walking worked off all the calories we ate.

Sisters White, Olsen, Monson, and Gordon at the cable car

view from the cable car back to the city

Sister Monson with a new hat along the garden walk back to town from the cable car

Elders Monson, White, Olsen, and Gordon on the garden walk

cottages along the garden walk back to the city

Sunday morning we caught a bus to church at 8:30 a.m. (I was glad it was unquestionably too far to walk). We met a couple of older sister missionaries that had gone to the MTC with us and also going home soon.  After church, a couple borrowed an extra car and gave us a ride back to the hotel, via another lookout spot.  They were both forensic investigators and said it was the gospel that helps them to stay focused on what's important in life and not get pulled down by the situations they have to deal with.  We changed and then walked to the TePapa Museum, which is one of the top museums in the world, as well as the one we went to on Friday.  You could have spent several days as it covered the history and culture of all the Polynesian Island,  but especially New Zealand and the Maori. We Then flew home in the evening (1 hour versus 7 or 8 hours by train). It was a memorable trip.  We all felt re-charged and ready to go back to work!

LDS Church in Wellington

Wellington from the high point in the city

visit to the large modern Te Papa museum

Fanciest Burger King

settled inside this stately old building

And work we have!  Taking reservations has turned out to be way more complicated and time consuming and frustrating than I had expected.  I have one Stake President mad at me, he e-mailed and made a request for a certain date but has never returned  the reservation form I sent him letting us know the numbers, etc. to expect.  In the meantime, someone else returned their reservation form for two camp loops for days that overlap one day and there are 2 smaller camp loops remaining that I thought would fill the Stake Presidents needs as he has never let us know, now he is one unhappy man.  One funny e-mail I received from a sister who had written several times in regards to making reservations and had not been able to get exactly what she wanted, started out her latest e-mail with:
"Hell Sister Olsen," but then a little while later called and apologized for having missing the "o" she had noticed when she re-read her e-mail.

In addition to reservations, I am busy getting all the information ready to send into the Central Reservation System in SLC for LDS Camps .  That will be nice if they can get the reservation part of it to work for us, even though the payment of fees won't. When I get tired of working inside, I take a break and go out to the camp and do some work to enjoy the beautiful weather, scenery and songs of the many cute birds.

The new project manager is down from Auckland every week and has everyone involved in the camp, us, contractors, etc.. Ken Williams, who is at church college and is over-seeing many items that were used by the college being transferred to the camp for use as the college is being demolished.
is a part of the group.  We have re-made drapes for the cabins from the college, we are using mattresses, sports equipment, pianos (9), equipment for the kitchens in the pavilions and on and on, including big things like the building that is going to be the office.  Yesterday we ordered a new flag (they reminded me that it was the NZ flag, not the USA) for the big flag pole that is being brought up from CC and it arrived the next morning from Auckland. I skipped what I started out to say about the new project manager - he is very effective and things are getting done at a faster rate and more efficiently - he has a list of all the projects that still need to be finished and makes assignments as to who is in charge of it and when it is to be done by.  Those responsible for the electricity and water hookups had messed up in not getting them in much earlier and it's causing some problems now.
I'm sure all of this is not very interesting to you - Sorry - but the pictures are fun)

Don has been getting the office building ready to paint, working on fences, made a trip to Taupo to pick up some plants, a lots of miscellaneous jobs.  We hope to get the cabins and communal shelters (a place to prepare and eat meals  and get out of the rain -one in each camp zone) all ready to go before we go.  We are getting a little "trunky" as they used to say - maybe still do, but we are trying to keep our minds and hands busy with the here and now, but quit often our minds are wandering back home.

Yesterday was Evan's birthday and tomorrow is Levi's baptism - Congratulations!  Gosh we will be home in time for Lily's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  How fun - and - our yard is going to seem so small to care for in comparison to this 40 acre camp ground.

This past almost year and a half has been a mixture of feelings and experiences, but it has been a wonderful experience and we feel blessed.  This is a beautiful country with beautiful people outwards and inwardly.  We are grateful that we had the opportunity of serving a proselyting mission the first third - we loved it and were able to see the gospel bless families and individuals.  In a couple of weeks we are going to be able to go through the Temple with Denise Peacock, our cute little English lady from KerkKeri.  She is so excited and what a wonderful way for us to finish our mission.

We were sad at first when we were asked to serve at the camp, but have learned to love it here as well. It has not been as spiritually oriented, but we have certainly had spiritual moments.  And we have met some wonderful people, some whom we know will be eternal friends.  It;s been a hard mission in ways and sometimes wondered whether being camp managers was keeping us in shape or wearing us out.  It is a beautiful camp and is going to bless the lives of so many people here, especially the youth by helping  them to grow in their faith and testimonies.  We've spent this last year doing missionary work for the future.  The gospel is true and we have been grateful to have had this opportunity to serve our Heavenly Father by sharing His gospel in various ways.  We're going to miss the actual opening of the camp, but we have seen it start from scratch to almost the finish.  I'm going to miss the beautiful views from every window in this house and the peaceful and beautiful walks in the bush.  Yes, there will be things we miss here, but then we wont be missing all of you at home!  We love you all so much and thank you for your support and love.  Get ready for lots of HUGS!

FRIENDS FROM HOME

The past few weeks have been extra busy.  We have had a long list of things that need to be completed before we hand oFf the camp to another set of Senior Missionaries who should be getting ready for the grand opening of the camp.

Amidst all this flurry our long time friends, Steve and Carolyn came for a week to be with us.  How wonderful because they were actually able to help us get some of the work done that required extra hands. We picked them up in Auckland on a Wednesday and headed for Hamilton.

Steve and Carolyn Porter

  We had to stop at Pokeno's for some traditional fish and chips and their wonderful Tip Top ice cream.  On Thursday we went to the temple before it closed for two weeks cleaning.  On Friday we went to Raglan on the coast visiting Bridal Falls on the way there and having dinner at the Old Hotel.  After visiting the beach we stopped in to visit Barry Vedder, our former investigator. He still attends church but we are sad that he has not been able to make any progress on overcoming his alcoholism.  That night we watched the video about Jackie Robinson's life which Steve especially loved because of his interest in Baseball.

Saturday morning we worked with the volunteers at the camp to plant trees, then we packed up and headed to Whitianga to spend the weekend with Elder and Sister Gordon.  We had a wonderful time collecting shells along the beach for Carolyn to take home to their grandchildren.  It was the Gordon's 50th wedding anniversary so after sunday school the branch was joined by several Lyon's Club members from the local group that really adore the Gordons.

The Porters, the Gordons, and the Olsens

 We took a different route home through the town of Coromandel and along the seaside to Thames and then on to our home.  We watched several of the Bible Videos on lds.org just before bedtime.

unusual sites coming from Coromandel

the not so square hotel along the way

On Monday after measuring windows in the cabins for the upcoming sewing bee Sister Olsen had organized for the coming Saturday,  we took the afternoon and visited the Hamilton Gardens.  Its not quite spring here yet so there was little in blossom but we enjoyed the beautiful green landscapes.

the Porters at Hamilton Gardens

we called this turtle island  at Hamilton Gardens

That evening we invited the Monsons over for FHE and we all played Farkle, a fun game with lots of luck and little skill, just right for us oldies. The following day we ran errands, including visiting the souvenior store, ate yummy Magnum ice cream bars and made pumpkin soup.

Wednesday morning we headed to Auckland early enough to visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum.   There we were treated to a live Mauri show of traditional dances and of course the famous "Haka"  followed by a guided tour of the museum then off to the airport.

Steve and Carolyn in front of the Chiefs storage building

this Mauri warrior was also of Italian, Irish, and Native American descent 

the Moa, was the largest land bird until the early Mauris killed them all

chicken leg at the top, Moa at the bottom

the Weta insect, much like the Mormon Crickets but generally larger

Wow, did that week go fast.  Now back to the work at the camp.  Dian has been washing curtains taken from the demolished dormatories at the Church College of New Zealand.  They were dirty and needed altering to fit the cabins here at the camp.  Dian organized a sewing bee with the four stake Relief Society Presidents and had a wonderful turn out Saturday finishing over 36 curtains for the camp.  I have been installing rods and will try and finish putting them together this week.  We also had a crew plant about 300 trees.  Thank goodness we are getting near the end of planting for this year.  The nursery man tells me we have planted 15,000 this first year, half again more than we expected.

the sewing bee for the cabin drapes

Being on the old church farm we get to see lots of new little calves and some sheep.  The grandkids would love these as do we.

Mom and I have just finished reading Jesus the Christ and are so grateful for our testimonies of His divinity and of his atonement.  The gospel surely is true.

The Difference One Can Make

Our dear friend and mentor, Roger Hamon, passed away several days ago.  He had found out that he had cancer right about the time we moved down to Hamilton last fall and the doctors had given him until Christmas, but then he responded to treatment which kept the cancer at a standstill for several months and was able to have some much appreciated additional time with his family.  He was a much loved man by not only his family but many friends here and around the world.  Even though this is officially Camp Tuhikaramea, most people still refer to it as Hamon's Bush.  He rescued the bush which was dying out due to pests, noxious weeds and cattle and restored and enhanced it for over 40 years, doing most of the work on a volunteer basis.  Without his foresight, there would be no Camp Tuhikaramea to bless the lives of the youth and families here in NZ.  We loved Roger and felt blessed to have come here at a time to be able to associate with and learn from him.  He adored his wife, Karyn, and their daughter Deizharn and they, in turn, adored him.

Roger's wood casket with his brother Ralph dedicating the grave

We were all happy that he is free of earthy ailments; he had too many things to do to be sick.
Funerals here, especially Maori, are more simple and less expensive in general, which is good.  They are buried in a nice wood box, which is put directly in the ground without a vault.  The viewing was at their home for a couple of days prior to the funeral and then the service and a luncheon were held in our chapel. It was a beautiful funeral and a big turnout. Karyn asked if we would make corsages with ferns and plants from the bush for the speakers and pallbearers.

Don White printed a big poster with a photo of Roger that read "Roger, Thanks for the Legacy."  We hung it beside the roadside leading into the bush so the family could see it as they drove through  the bush in the hearse and other cars following as a tribute to Roger on the way to the church.  The family who own the farm next to Hamon's played their accordions at the cemetery. They were a colorful lot.  We invited them to the church afterwards to eat and we were surprised they actually came.  The one guy remarked to us, "Well, Roger will be smiling.  He's been trying to get me inside this church for years."  Wow, the kai or luncheon they served afterwards was amazing, not the traditional  funeral luncheon we have. Roger was a talented man and a good humble man who will be missed.  Karyn said we should watch for him in the Bush cause he'll probably be hanging out their once in a while.  Maybe we'll hear him playing his harmonica or his beautiful voice in song.

Karen, Roger's wife wearing his favorite hat

 What else has been going on the last couple of weeks? Well, we are kind of glad to not be speaking in church today, as we spoke in our ward last week and another ward the week before.  We had already spoken a few weeks prior about the campground in our ward, so we spoke mainly about our missionary experiences in the first part of our mission and reaching out and helping those who are struggling.
We are having a couple of sister missionaries who serve at the Visitor's Center for dinner right after church today.  One of them is Sister Freeman, who was one of the first sister missionaries we worked with in Raglan.  She has been having stomach problems and they have been trying to figure out what the problem is, so they have kept her close by for a while. We're doing meatloaf (which is not something they do here) and apple crisp.  Hopefully, they will enjoy a  traditional American Sunday dinner.

Sister Freeman and Thalman for Sunday Dinner

Last weekend a young man, Sam Toa, whose family is Samoan, was baptized.  Lydia heard him bear his testimony while she was here.  It is a great story of conversion.  He plays rugby and his coach is a local stake president, and he became good friends with our Bishop's son, as well as other young men who were members.  Through their influence and a visit to the Visitor's Center, he wanted to learn more about the church.  His father is a good man but not active in any church; his mom, however, is active Methodist and was dead set against him investigating the Mormon Church.  After meeting both the younger missionaries and the Monson's, our friends who serve at the VC, he wanted to receive the lessons.  He was so touched by the spirit and wanted to be baptized, but his mom would not agree.  He came to church and the activities and his leaders encouraged him to continue to love and respect his parents and let them see how the gospel was changing and blessing him.  A few weeks went by in which time the Monson's & Elders were able to meet his parents and  they invited them to come hear Sam speak during a Sacrament meeting and the whole family came, grandma and siblings included.  After hearing Sam bear his testimony, his mom said to the Monson's,
"Sam's gone to the Methodist church for 17 years and never been asked to speak.  And after hearing him, I give my permission for his baptism.  So last weekend he was baptized.  His whole family and lots of friends were there to support him as our Bishop's son baptized him.  What good preparation for his up-coming mission.  We went to his confirmation and his ordination to the Priesthood last Sunday and during church he helped officiate at the Sacrament table.  He is so excited and there is always a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes.  He is planning on a mission but hopes to baptize his little sister who is turning 8 and his dad, who bore his testimony at the baptism.  He has hopes for his mom and older brother and sister as well.  I wouldn't be surprised.

The Monson's, Samual Toa  and Isiah Cowley who baptized Sam

What's going on at the camp? Arrangements are being made for a couple, the Witts, from England who will replace us to be able to come 5 days earlier than their MTC date so they can spend some time here with us at the camp, as we will be on our way by the time they finish the MTC. We have e-mailed back and forth several times and they are excited and we will be excited to have good replacements.  We have finally finished re-potting the 7000 plants we had for this year but still have 1000 trees to plant, but have planted about 1100.  The cabins are being finished up (the bunkbeds installed and the porches added) and we are responsible for curtains (48 windows).  We have old curtains from the Church College dorms that have been torn down recently; so hopefully we can have those remodeled to fit.  I refuse to sew any more drapes or curtains after having to alter the ones at the camp house, so I'm looking to the RS sisters to help with that.  Don is always busy with various projects around the camp, including helping to keep all the acres of grass mown.  He quit likes riding around on that tractor.

Bishop Solomon cutting up 4 large windfall trees in the heart of the camp--we were really thankful no one was around when they came down.

Bishop Solomon is a spiritual giant as well as a man of steel.  He and the priests of his ward have done more at the camp than any other group over this past 8 months.  When we had a storm bringing down several large trees in the heart of the camp he wanted to cut them and have his priests come after and hall the pieces out.  Last Saturday when he began the task we could hear what we thought was yelling and wondered if he needed help, but as we got closer we could hear him chanting in reverence for the fallen trees, we just smiled at each other.

A couple of fun stories to share:  An elderly stake high counselor spoke in our ward a few weeks ago and told of some of the trials he and his family has endured.  They one that I'll always remember was about the night they had their first baby.  They were really struggling financially and did not have a car nor a phone, nor did their close neighbors.  His wife went into labor in the middle of the night and they didn't know who to turn to for help, so he used some duct tape to sort of make a seat between the handlebar of his bicycle for his wife to sit on and they rode his bike a number of miles to the hospital in the dark of the night.  Wow,  that beats most maternity stories I've heard.

We just got home from a fireside about temples, which was held in the Visitor's Center facing the Temple and it was wonderful.  I'm going to save the other fun story for next time and let Don put in some photos. Our friends, the Porters, are planning to come for a visit on the 12th, so we are looking forward to that and hopefully Dyan and Jesse Harris are going to make it before we come home.

Happy Birthday Torry!

THE GIRL HAS GONE HOME

How fun it has been to have our grand daughter stay with us for 3 weeks.  We wanted her to see the northern part of the North Island where we worked our first 5 months and made so many friends, but we also wanted her to see how beautiful the landscape and the beaches are.  We left the afternoon of the 4th of July, missing the party that evening put on by the senior missionaries here in Hamilton.  We got bogged down in the heavy Auckland traffic for 2-3 hours so found a motel just the other side of Auckland for the night. We got an early start on Saturday arriving in Kerikeri just after noon.  We drove straight to Denise's and took her with us to Matauri Bay and Wainui Bay.  We stopped in to visit the Tua family who we worked with to activate and to teach and baptize one of their grandsons. They are raising 7 grandchildren since 2 of their adult daughters passed away, one in an auto accident some years ago and the other just 2 years ago following the birth of her youngest.  TheTua's were so excited and surprised to see us and after being there a few minutes we found out why. They all gave us hugs and SisterTua shed a few tears as she said that 2 months earlier the branch president had announced that Elder Olsen had passed away. They said many tears were shed, which should make Elder Olsen feel good to know he was lovd.  They took pictures of us and promised to show the branch on Sunday  that he still lives. We returned to Denise's for dinner and watched Mary Poppins on her big screen TV.  

Lydia and Denise at Wainui Bay

The Tua grand parents raising 7 grand children

Sunday was special because we visited the Waihau Branch and were able to see so many of our friends. We were so surprised to see John Koppa (Cooper).  He was a less active member that we visited several times but were not able to make any headway with.  He always said he knew the Book of Mormon was true and he prayed, but didn't feel he had to come to church.  Dian's grandmother McBride was a Cooper so she went to Family Tree and looked up some Coopers who could be his ancestors and she gave that to him.  He was mostly Mauri, but he explained that the Cooper sir name came from his great great grandfather who was a Scottish whaler. While his ship was docked in New Zealand,  he met a sweet Mauri girl  who became pregnant before he left thereby leaving the Cooper name for his male descendants.

We were also surprised to see Hema Richards, a widow who's husbands funeral we attended a year ago.  She had been a recent convert when we arrived but her husband had cancer and needed care all the time so she rarely came to church and always promised us she would come after her husband passed away.  Well, after the funeral we invited her several times to come to church.  Finally she informed us that it was Mauri custom to journey in thought and devotion to the deceased husband for one year before getting back in life.  It was the first Sunday that she had come to church and she was beaming from ear to ear and was so excited to have us there to see that she had kept her word about coming back.

On Monday we stopped in Pihia, a resort town on the Bay of Islands where Lydia bought souvenirs to take home, then we were off to Auckland for lunch and to link up with the Clayton's for her return trip.  She saw a"Nandos" restaurant and insisted that we have lunch there because it is the favorite place for some cute guy in some singing group she likes. They only serve chicken, so I was surprised to see barbecued ribs on the menu.  When I asked if they were were pork or beef the host said they were chicken ribs, can you believe that!  We left Lydia with the Clayton's to fly to Sydney Tuesday morning where they would stay for a week and headed back to Hamilton.

For two or three days following Lydia's departure we felt rather blue and the rain everyday didn't help.  We dug back into the work.  On the 10th we started live training with church headquaters in SLC on how to set up the reservation system for the camp.  Later that day I went with Joe Hay, our nurseryman, to Lake Taupo to pick up plants and pots at a big wholesale nursery there.

On Saturday the 12th, we had over 50 YSA Institute students come out to the camp and worked all morning in the rain planting trees.  Many were in "T" shirts, shorts and flipflops and they got pretty cold.  They were the faithful ones who accepted the challenge to do service among the 500 who were meeting in Hamilton for a special Institute gathering.  That night we invited the Goodman's and Labrum's for dinner and games.  We played the card game of golf since it was raining and neither of them got to golf for real that day.

the Labrum's, Goodman's and Olsen's

On Sunday we fixed dinner and took it to the Hamon's for a very special time with them.  The doctors have told him they can't do anything more for him but treat his pain and replenish his fluids by I.V.

Roger in his famous stripped PJ's and his cute wife Karyn

Deizharn, their daughter, in her new bedroom

We are finally getting more sunny days.  It has only rained two or three times this week. For FHE on the 14th the Elder's quorum in our ward prepared a "hangi" a Mauri feed for all the Temple Missionaries that go to our ward.  We welcomed their invite and had a wonderful time having traditional Mauri food and some fun singing.

The kids have been out of school the past two weeks so twice last week we had 20 or more kids come to serve at the camp.  We had them repot plants for next year.  We still have a 3000 more to repot in the next few weeks.

youth working around potting table

Finished the work -  now its time to eat!

Its wonderful to see the camp progressing towards completion.  We have been corresponding with the senior couple who will be replacing us.  They are a British couple who are the inlaws of our project manager, Adam O'Gram in the area office in Auckland.  They report in the MTC in Auckland on the 25th of September and we fly to the south island on the 1st of October. Elder Thomson, the area seventy is trying   to make special arrangements to get them here earlier if all goes well with their visas.

A Bit of Home!

What fun to have our grand-daughter Lydia, here for a visit.  Our friends and past neighbors, the Clayton family, came to NZ on vacation and brought her with them.  We met them at the Auckland Airport the evening of June 17th  and had dinner all together that evening. (Amy Kimball came over on an earlier flight, and her neice, Claire, came with the Claytons to help with the children. This is the first visitors we have had from home!  I'm turning this blog over to Lydia for a paragraph or two about her adventures here.

Lydia arriving in Auckland

Having dinner in Auckland

Yesterday we went to Hobbiton!! It was so fun! We got to see all the places that are in the movie.  It was amazing! By far one of my favorite things we have done so far over here. The accents are the most incredible. I want one! Maybe by the time I come home I'll have kindof picked it up. 

the Green Dragon in Hobbiton

one of many earth homes

window in Hobbiton

plenty to eat in Hobbiton

one more of those earth homes

On the 30th we went with the Clayton's (and Claire:) to the Waitoma "glow-worm" caves. That was sweet as. It was like looking up and seeing the milky-way. I tried ginger beer, which is just weird.

 All and all though the food is pretty good over here. I don't like the meat at all and I've never been into fruits so... but other than that I've been trying as many new things as I can. They say 'Sweet As' and 'No Worries' here a ton. I'm going to come back and be saying that like constantly just cuz. I miss my family and friends, but I think I miss my room the most; I've gotten some good ideas for movies (I write scripts) and stuff here though. There are NO CUTE/HOT/ATTRACTIVE GUYS HERE AT ALL!! That was one of the things I was most excited for, besides seeing Grandma and Grandpa of course. I thought that there would be a bunch cause you know, in NZ but I guess its the wrong season for that. There is the sound of birds every where here. Its amazing! Sheep are here and birds. I got Andrea a stuffed lamb and my dad gets a hat and my mom is getting a pair of gloves and my friends and I are going to get necklaces. Ali's will be the most special one though, cause I missed her birthday. I got 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Heavenly Fire' here!! It is the best book ever!!Grandma and Grandpa have gotten into some pretty interesting car experiences and things while I've been here. One day Grandma did not have a very good day. When we were going to go to the store, when we were pulling out of the garage, she thought the car was in neutral and ran into the wall. Grandpa noticed that one. The same day, she was trying to find a parking spot, and she was parallel parking, and ran into the car in front of us. It didn't do anything to the other car so we just drove away. Grandpa figured that out later. And the last one... so far... is from Grandpa. We were driving home from Hobbiton, and he was going 93 km in a 80 km zone. We got pulled over but when the officer found out that they were missionaries and found out how much they had already had to pay to the force, let us off the hook and gave him a warning. These were my experiences with Grandma and Grandpa driving.  I'm excited to get home but I'll be completely honest I'll miss it here alot. Hopefully I'll get to come back here with work and that stuff. (When I get a job. And If I get my dream job... of course) It's been so much fun!


I could dispute a few things Lydia wrote, like no cute guys here; she thought a boy at church was pretty cute. I'm not even going to defend our driving record.  It did make us feel better when the area seventy, Elder Thomson told us he had gotten so many infringements, they sent him a letter saying they were going to suspend his license if he got one more.  We haven't gotten one of those yet.  The only ticket I have gotten was just before Lydia came.  I had gotten on a round-a-bout and realized I needed to get to the inside lane.  I quickly signaled & pulled over and guess who I cut off - a policeman.  Wow, those lights and sirens came on right behind me leaving no doubt I was in trouble.  He wasn't as nice as the policeman who stopped Don.

It has been a month this Saturday since Elder T from Samoa and Elder M from Utah and now Texas started serving at the camp.  They come everyday except for Sundays and Mondays.  We pick them up at 10 a.m. after their study time and take them home at 5 p.m.  They are good guys and seem to love working and eating lunch here.  (I do need to go to the grocery store more often.)  It has been a great blessing to Elder Olsen to have a couple of strong young men to help him out with many tasks that are too difficult for him to do on his own.  I think working here is suppose to be sort of a consequence for them and that at the end of 6 weeks they will be ready to go back to proselyting; we hope it works that way and that Pres. Rudd will send a couple more out who need a change of pace.  It's a better alternative than sending them home.

Elder T and Elder M taking a lunch break

When we were recently complaining about the rain, a native Kiwi reminded us that there is a price to pay for "Green!" The problem, however, is that at the camp it turns everything to mud and is slowing down construction.  The camp is scheduled to open the end of October, but that seems pretty optimistic.  We are trying to get a reservation system in place and a procedure's  manual done up.  The couple from England who applied to take our place did receive their call, but are not scheduled to arrive until a week before we leave; we were hoping they would be here at least a month before to learn and to help with all that will need to be done to get the camp ready for the Grand Opening.  But we're just grateful they have someone to replace us so that I don't have to say "no, I'm going home to hold that new baby and hug all my cute grandkids," when they ask us to extend.

The first of the month the church here received the news that the few people who were still opposing the old Church College being torn down (with the exception of a few buildings) have withdrawn their appeal and progress can finally be made.  It has been held up in court for several years but now they can build the needed new stake house and let people begin building on the old building lots.  It would be cool to come back for a visit in 5 years and see all the changes to Temple View and Camp Tuhikaramea.

We really have had a fun time with Lydia while she has been here.  We  went out to dinner with the Claytons after they arrived on the 17th and stayed overnight in Auckland.  Amy Kimball, a friend of the Claytons, met them in Auckland and traveled with them to the South Island.  Her niece, Claire (16) also came to help with the kids.  The next day we went up to the sky tower which has an awesome view of the city in every direction.

Lydia in the Skytower

Looking back at Auckland from Devonport

We took a ferry to Devonport and had lunch there and then headed home, with a stop in Pokeno for a great selection in ice cream.  The following day we showed Lydia around and then went to a baby shower for a newly baptized member; a young woman from Samoa who was expecting twin boys, and has since had them.  The babies' father didn't stick around one she told him she was pregnant, but her Aunt and Uncle who live here in Temple View took her in and through them and visiting the missionaries at the Visitor's Center, she has found great peace and joy in the gospel.

Lydia's peanut butter cookies have been a great success here with the missionaries and we also took some out to the Hamon's.  While we were there Lydia sang "Colors of the Wind" from the movie, Pocohontos and they loved it, as they could relate as Mauri to the American Indian.

Elder Olsen and I had gotten tickets to an All Black's Rugby game that next evening, but Don ended up taking our friend, Don White, and Lydia, I and Rosemary White had a Pajama/DVD party at her house.  We had thought we should at least go to one Rugby game while here, but I was content to spend a night with the girls.  Don actually enjoyed the game much more than he thought he would; it helped that NZ beat England by a good margin.  Rugby is the major sport here!

Huka Falls near Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo, Motutaiko Island, volcanic Mt. Ruapehu in background

We have also traveled down to Lake Taupo to Huku falls and saw the thermal pools. There is a big area south of us that has a lot of thermal activity and reminds us of Yellowstone's thermal areas, except this has more greenery around it.  One day Lydia and I walked around beautiful Hamilton Lake (an hour or so). Another time we all went on a River walk along the Waikato, which runs through Hamilton, eating donuts before and pizza on our way home.  One evening Elder Olsen and I went to the temple and Lydia spent the evening at the Visitor's Center with the young Sister Missionaries.  A couple of days later she and I went and participated in baptisms for the dead and confirmations at the Hamilton NZ Temple.  (I was by far the oldest sister  that got dunked that day).

When the Claytons returned from the South Island, they presented a Sunday Evening Fireside at the Visitor's Center.  Paul played the piano, of course, but also sang a couple of songs, including , Amazing Grace (beautiful). Esther played the violin , Yan played the cello and Lydia sang No Ordinary Man and  Far From the Home I Love, from Fiddler on the Roof, and it sounded awesome despite her cold.The Clayton's also shared some wonderful stories and bore their testimonies.  There was such a good spirit there and the audience loved it.    

This past week has been so rainy, but since there was no sun in the forecast Monday we all went to the Waitoma Glow worm caves, which is one of the big tourist attractions in the area, but was actually very cool.

the Clayton's with us at Wiatoma Cave

exiting Waitoma Cave in a boat

The Clayton kids were also dealing with colds and Rachel, their youngest, ended up with pneumonia so they stayed a couple of extra days in Hamilton until she could get one the mend.  We ended up going to Hobbiton on our own Tuesday, but got together for dinner at our home last night before they left for the North.  We will meet them in Auckland Monday night as they fly to Sydney Tuesday morning early.  It has been so fun
to have all of them here, but especially Lydia. The three of us will always remember this time together - Lydia's Big Adventure!. Just three more months and we'll be able to enjoy all our family once more.  But in the meantime, we best get our minds back on Camp Tuhikaramea!