Our First Tangihanga

When you are in the midst of a culture different than your own, it's always fascinating to see how significant life events are portrayed.  This past week we attended our first Mauri funeral. This ceremony is called a Tangihanga and  takes place at a marae, a communal building reserved for tribal meetings and special occasions.  It is generally a modest rectangular building that is open inside.  The traditional Mauri service is conducted by a  Ratana minister.  Ratana is the name of a man in the 1800's who claimed he was called to be a prophet and he combined many of the Mauri traditions with the Protestant Christian church beliefs and formed his own church, which today many Mauri's adhere to.

The Tangihanga is a three day affair.  The first day the body is placed in a simple wooden coffin in the front and middle of the room.  Then the family and extended family place mattresses around the perimeter of the room where they stay (and sleep) until the forth day when the funeral is conducted and the body is taken to the cemetery.  Two rows of chairs are placed down the middle of the room for visitors, who are invited to come forward from the yard in small groups by someone singing a chant.  Visitors kiss the deceased and then all the women and the men touch noses with with one another. (After several female visitors passed through, the widow chuckled and said her husband must be very happy since he had never been kissed by so many women.)  Then you are invited to sing a song and speak if you would like.We were glad to have a Maori member go with us to teach us the protocol and help us sing.  (We picked a very short hymn.)

We were asked to attend this service to support Rema, the 70 year old widow of the deceased, since she had joined the church within the past year and shortly afterwards her husband got cancer and she had been caring for him and hadn't been able to attend church very often..  Her husband was not a member and wanted a traditional burial.  Rema was thrilled to see someone there from the her church and she exclaimed with a smile on her face to the rest of her family who were wailing and carrying on, that she was happy because she had the true gospel and in due time she would go to the temple and have him sealed to her.
When the minister was speaking to the people gathered he asked is your name in the Lamb's Book of Life?  He wasn't really expecting or wanting an answer, but Rema answered "I do."  We attended on the first day and the fourth day.  The minister recognized the presence of the Latter-day-saints and asked Elder Olsen to speak to the gathering.  The local doctor who had attended to the deceased got up to speak, and after looking on the wall at all the photos of those who had died over the years he exclaimed, "sad to say but I know a lot of those faces on the wall."  And he did get a few chuckles when he said, "birth is a fatal disease."

At the cemetery the minister asked Elder Olsen if he wanted to say a few words to the deceased, so he essentially dedicated the grave. As we left, Sister Remu gave us a kiss and said she would see us on Sunday.
Hopefully her family will see the peace and comfort the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring.

the marae where the ceremony took place

Sister Rema's abode, a tent and a few sheds

other humble dwellings

 

Not many people live in more humble circumstances than Rema but she never complained and you wouldn't know by her attitude.

BARKING DOGS AND LOLLIES

Last Monday for our p-day we drove to the westcoast to a town called Opononi.  We have a branch there and the Elders told us in their opinion it was one of the most beautiful places in the north.  After driving along the beach, taking a hike in the sand and clicking a few pictures we concluded that it wasn't any more notable than the Bay of Islands where we live and Matauri Bay where we have a small struggling branch that we share our time in supporting.

Beach at Opononi on the westcoast

Matauri Bay looking from the ridge above the beach

Going south along the westcoast we entered Waipoua forest preserve to view the largest tree remaining in New Zealand, the Kauri tree.  This tree is over 2000 years old and it has a mammoth trunk.  Though not as tall as the redwoods in california, this is still a mighty tree with the trunk exceeding 45 feet in circumference.

huge trunk of the Kauri tree

Just under 200 feet tall
 

On Tuesday we attended the district meeting in Kaikohe.  Sister Olsen just loves to feed the Elders when ever we get together which makes for a positive and upbeat meeting. She doesn't let them indulge until the meeting is finished.                                                                                                                                 

Elder Dauniki makes sure nothing is left

We were able to teach Amelia another lesson and we were really quite surpized that she has been reading 
the Book of Mormon.  We also had dinner and family home evening with the Harris family in an effort to fellowship them as they return to activity.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
Wednesday we spent working in Matauri Bay and were able to teach two investigators in the afternoon.  One was positive and the other was negative and we won't be returning to her place.  It was late that night when we returned to Kerikeri and we were lucky to find an open restarurant on the outskirts of town by the name of Chang Siam,  What a real find, we loved this place and the food was wonderful.                  
Thursday, our son Cody sent us a KSL news clip about Brent and Elsie Anderson saving some guy who fell over a wall in Zion National Park, a very dramatic incident that Brent and Elsie would rather have had been kept quiet.  It seems that their daughter in St George contacted KSL without them knowing about it;

We took most of the afternoon trying to find 2-3 inactive families.  Even with our "Garmin" we succeded in finding only one home.  On our record it stated, call before coming.  The phone service was on the blink so we thought we would contact them directly.  When we pulled up to the house we realized why one should call first.  There were four roving, angry pit bulls in the yard.  We didn't dare get out of the car!  Back in town we visited an elderly brother Vandenberg, who was from Holland, and was a 12 year old boy during the war.  Our thought was to cheer him up, but after a hard day we were the ones who were cheered up.

We have had some fun visiting some of the less active as well as active member living way out in the country.  We went to Kaeo on friday and visited Neta Raphia, an 87 yearold widow who is spry and active.  She gave us a bottle of freshly canned peaches that she had grown and prepared herself.  She gave us some lollies for the road home.  She loved the church and told of the time when President Heber J. Grant and David O. McKay visited their home.  We visited a sister Judith Donaldson who didn't waste any time telling us she had quit the Mormon Church and was no a Born Again Christian.  She felt it was so much easier to just profess a belief in the Savior and not have to put up with all that other stuff.              

On Saturday we finally received a small clothes drier for our flat.  Its better than hanging clothes outside in this damp atomsphere.  Saturday and Sunday was Kaikohe Stake Conference.  Elder Cower and Elder Pearson were the visiting authorities.  They called a new Stake Presidency and gave some marvelous instructions for the rest of us.  Sister Williams and her son stayed at our flat on Saturday night since she couldn't afford the petrol to go home for the night and return on Sunday,  She was very helpful in giving us the latest information concerining the less active members in the branch.                                                                                                                                                       

Fall in June (sweetgum tree)

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