We did end up celebrating the 4th of July after all. Thursday we got a call from the mission office couple, who had picked us up from the airport when we first arrived and have been so kind to us, asking if we would like to come down to Auckland Saturday for an Independence Day Celebration with all the other senior missionary couples in the mission and from the area office. It was a 3 hour drive each way but was very enjoyable. That will be our preparation day for this next week, as there is much to be done. There were about 15 couples, only one of who we knew, but we made friends fast. We had a lovely meal and then played a couple of games, one of which was writing down something about yourself you think no one else (but your spouse, probably) knows about you. Someone then read them and the rest had to guess who it was. I'll just share one, because it is worth the time to read it. Someone wrote that they had killed, cooked and eaten a rattlesnake. It turned out to be a sister who had gone to girl's camp as a leader and had seen a rattler coming out of the bush close to her and the girls. She grabbed a shovel and killed it, then skinned and cleaned it and cooked it up for dinner with some chicken for dinner. She stretched and dried the skin, took it home and hung it up on the wall with the quote: "The serpent beguiled me and I did eat!" There were all kinds of missionaries: the mission doctor (an OBGYN, who jokingly says he can't help you unless you're pregnant), a counselor, a lawyer, welfare, Young adult coordinators, family history and records preservation. institute teachers, etc. There is only one other MLS or proselyting senior couple in the mission (they could certainly use lots more). One of the couples assigned as welfare missionaries is Elder and Sister Reynolds of Bountiful who our neighbor Diana Fullmer knows well.
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| Elder and Sister Reynolds and the Olsens |
One our way home last evening we stopped at the grocery store in our town to buy some milk. A Tongan fellow came up to Elder Olsen and introduced himself after seeing the missionary badge. There are few jobs available in Tonga and most families make do with a large garden and maybe a few animals. As a result, many come to either New Zealand or Australia for seasonal work in the orchards or processing plants. This man was a member and as we talked, we asked if they had been going to church. He and his friends have been here for several months, but haven't been able to go to church because they have no transportation. We invited them to go with us today, but we only had room for 3. There are probably over 100 Tongan men that live together at this motel complex and maybe a dozen or so are members. Why we were at the mission office yesterday we had picked up a bunch of copies of the Liahona (Ensign), which we passed on to them with several Book of Mormon's and a dvd to help occupy them during the week and told them we would be glad to give them a ride next week and hopefully find others with room to take some of their friends who may like to come. So another area in need of some missionary work. Wish we had met them when we first arrived here so that they could have been going to church all along. They had a couple of members take our pictures with them in front of the "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" sign I think to send to their families to prove that they had found a church and attended. We were thinking of Sister Sarah Naylor, who is leaving or has left for Tonga on her mission.
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| Our Tongan Brothers at the Waihou Branch |
It's interesting that while many Tongans and Samoans come to New Zealand for work (usually seasonal) many New Zealanders, particularly the younger generation, move to Australia for employment because of a lack of jobs available in this country, especially in the North There are a lot of farms and orchards, but that doesn't provide full-time employment for many. That is another reason why the branches and wards are small up north, because the younger families move away.
As Elder Olsen and I spend a lot of time driving, we review the lessons (when the roads aren't too curvy) and we work on memorizing scriptures (we know lots of scriptures; it's remembering where they are that's difficult) and also a new Maori word. I don't know whether we will ever be able to understand spoken Maori (because they talk so fast) but they love it when we use a Maori word here or there and can actually pronounce it correctly.
We are still teaching Desire, the 12 year old, and hoping that she will be able to be baptized by the end of the month. Her parents moved to a town about 1 hour away, but she wanted to stay here to finish her primary schooling, so she is living with her aunt. Her mother is LDS but not her father and she needs to get his permission when he and her mom come up for a visit next weekend. Her aunt felt like it would go better if she asked him in person.
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| Desire with her aunt and nephew |
We had an interesting visit with a man by the name of John Kopa (Cooper). My grandmother on my dads's side was a Cooper, so I told him maybe we were related. He is an inactive (for years) member, but he says he has a strong testimony, reads the Book of Mormon and prays regularly. He doesn't feel a need to attend church and feels there are too many church leaders who are hypocrites. We asked him, being Maori, how he got the surname of Cooper. He said many generations ago, probably the late 1700's, a whaler by the name of Joseph Cooper visited New Zealand and left a Maori baby and mother behind. I was a little taken
back, as there are several Joseph Coopers in my ancestral line. I was a little relieved when he said his Joseph" was from Ireland or Scotland and I came back to our apt. and confirmed mine was from England.
He is very interested in family history and indicated if anything could get him back into the church, that would be it. I printed off some family history (names of Joseph Coopers who lived during that period of time, etc.) and found out what the hours are for the family history center at the ward and thought of the many reasons it's important to actually attend church, so we're ready for our next visit. He has a non-member partner, but we think she would be interested if he would lead the way. Pray for us.
We have taken the RS president, Erina, out with us a few times and she is a great missionary. (We learned a few things from her). They don't have a branch mission leader in Matauri Bay and we suggested to her that she should be called to this position and she indicated that she would be glad to do both. Every adult member in that branch has two or more callings it seems. We are due to be getting several more missionary sets in this district in the next several months. We are excited to see the Lord's work forwargod at a little faster pace!
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| A lovely log home in the country |
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| the "Secret Garden" |
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