Wow, this morning we booked our flight home! Even though it is still 4 months away, having your release date and travel set makes it seem more real that we'll soon be leaving this part of our life's journey. It also makes us panic a little, thinking there is a lot to be accomplished before we leave. Hopefully, things are moving along with getting another couple here a month or two before we leave to help gets things ready for the camp dedication and opening and to take over.
A couple of weeks ago ,towards the end of May, our good friends, Elder and Sister Monson from Orem who serve in the visitor center, invited us to spend the day with them to travel to Rotorua to celebrate their 2nd anniversary. They are a delightful couple, and we enjoyed seeing a beautiful and famous old bathhouse that has been converted into a museum. Rotorua is famous for its volcanic activity and has lots of natural hotpots and springs, making it an ideal place for therapeutic bathing. After visiting the local sites we had lunch at an old hotel, where the food and service was wonderful, making it a memorable occasion.
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| Elder and Sister Monson and the Olsen's |
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| old bathhouse turned into the town museum |
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| mud baths were in the basement--this man enjoyed it so much he didn't want to leave |
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| the Princess Gate Hotel with very fine dining |
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| interior of the dining lobby |
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| unusual peeling bark |
On the 24th of May we had a ward luau. Roger was not feeling well enough to go, so we took Deizharn with us.They have really good ward parties with lots of great food. The Polynesian people seem to have an abundance of musical talent. so we enjoyed a wonderful variety of dancers, guitar and ukulele music, singing and lots of cute kids. The following day was ward conference followed by a mix and mingle with more great food.
Last Monday one of our favorite sister missionaries, Sister Hansen from St. George, came by with her companion to visit us. We worked with Sister Hansen and Sister Hunt in Raglan and grew to love and admire them so much. They were such a good team and made a lot of good things happen in the Raglan Branch, plus had some fun times together and with us as well. Sister Hansen was having some health problems and came by to say "goodbye" before leaving for home. We exchanged info and look forward to visiting her in sunny St George when it's cold and wintery a few months after we get home.
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| the Olsen's and Sister Hansen from St George |
President Rudd has wanted to give the missionaries a greater understanding of the Mauri culture so he planned the last series of mission zone conferences to be held in several different maraes around the country. Ours was in Huntly where a hundred years ago the church held several large outdoor and tent conferences. The president had invited Herewini Jones, an expert in the Mauri history, traditions, and language who gave an account of the early activity of the church in New Zealand (we talked about it in an earlier blog). It was well done and was the first time many of the missionaries had been in a marae and witnessed the welcoming chant and reciting of their whakapapa (or genealogy). Elder and Sister Beard, new missionaries at the Visitor's Center, rode to the conference with us and it gave us an opportunity to get to know them as she is a step cousin of Elder Olsen. The following day Elder and Sister Gordon came down from Coromandel to attend zone conference and spent the night with us. The Monsons and the Whites, who are also friends with the Gordon's joined us for a crockpot beef & veggie dinner for a fun evening.
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| Elder and Sister in front of the Huntly Marae |
Amid all the smaller groups of volunteers on Saturday's and some evenings, once in a while we have succeeded in getting large groups out, Monday, the 2nd of June is Queen's Birthday (Elizabeth) and a national holiday.We advertised it in all the 4 local stakes and we had over 130 volunteers come out. They planted 5,500 small trees covering over 3 acres in the sewage disposal field. Dian supervised those who were re-potting small plants into bigger pots to be planted next year and they were able to get a couple thousand of those done. At the end of the day it was good to look at all that was accomplished and marvel with hearts full of thanksgiving for so many who served.
Over the past 5 months we have tried to get rid of the old office and maintenance building that sat in the middle of the bush where a new large pavilion is now under construction. We gave the building away but the new owner drug his feet in getting it hauled off. Once he got it removed he informed us that he hadn't secured a place for it and asked if he could let it sit in the paddock next to the camp until he arranged for a place. Well we waited another couple months and finally asked if we could have the building back since it turned out we could really use it for the nursery being built. Well, on Thursday we moved it on to the nursery site.
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| relocated building will soon be ready to serve as the nursery |
On the 5th of June, President Rudd came to the house to talk to us. Well, it seems that he has a couple of young Elders (one from Utah and the other from Samoa) who are not settling into the rigors and rules of mission life and rather than sending them home he asked that we put them to work for 6 weeks till the next transfer. This will really help us get many of the partially completed tasks finished and off our list and hopefully the Elders will tire of hard physical labor 5 days a week and be ready to go back to proselyting. We're hoping that's how it works and that it will be a blessing on both sides.
The very next day, Friday the 6th was a day I had been anxiously awaiting. At 4:30 am Jonathan and his associate Riaan, picked me up and we drove for two and a half hours to the Wanganui and Whakapapa rivers to spend the day. It started slow but by the end of the day we had some exciting action. I caught 4 rainbow trout, the largest 4 lbs. After meeting Jonathon several months ago I turned his name into the mission office as a referral and two young sisters are teaching him, his wife, Lucy and daughter, Constance.
So we were not "just fishing" but I was also being a "fisher of men."
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| Elder Olsen and Jonathan Bedenchamp |
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| Riaan Erasmus caught the largest fish of the day with this 5 and a half pound German Brown |
While Elder Olsen was fishing, Sister Olsen and Sister Rudd went shopping with the two Elders who are going to be serving at the camp to get grubbies for them to wear while working. They have lots of "opportunity shops" (second hand stores) in Hamilton and they covered several of them. The Elder's commented that it reminded them of going school clothes shopping with their mom's, but having 2 moms or rather both their mom and grandma with them.
Saturday we had 3 smaller groups come out, one in the morning and then Primary group who helped with re-potting and a YSA group who planted and had a Sausage Sizzle afterwards. We then attended a baptism for a sweet 19 year old girl the Monson's met and taught at the Visitor's Center over the last several weeks. Fili moved here from Samoa last year and has had some hard experiences, but her uncle and aunt and their family, who are good members, invited her to come live with them and had taken her to the Visitor's Center and to see the temple. She recognized the spirit during that first visit and was so excited and ready to be baptized. Her mother, who is not a member, is coming to visit her next month when Fili gives birth to twin boys. We then went home and hurriedly cleaned the house as Friday evening Dian got a call asking if we would host a luncheon at the camp Sunday for Bishop Davies of the Presiding Bishopric who would be at the camp on Sunday to review the work. Following the review they all met at our house for a catered lunch. (We were most happy that we did not have to clean and cook as Saturday was already a full day). We invited Roger to come over and see Bishop Davies again, as he was the one who invited Bishop Davies out to see the camp a couple of years ago and then Bishop Davies went back to church headquarters and convinced the brethren to OK and fund this campground. It really touched Roger when Bishop Davies suggested all the brethren (8 or 9) join together to give him a priesthood blessing.
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| Roger Hamon, Bishop Davies and the Olsens |
It's amazing the past two months we have had visits from the Bishop Stevensen and now Bishop Davies.
Roger has had a couple of rough weeks and continues to lose weight, but is grateful that the Lord has given him additional time with his family, but is at peace with whatever is the Lord's will. He and his family have become such dear friends to us and we are grateful that we were able to serve at the camp while he was still here to give us his support and unofficial direction, as he is so knowledgeable. His daughter, Deizharn, is so delighted to have a "finished" room of her own. We took the bed over the mission donated along with the money we collected and they used to help furnish the room. We'll have to get a picture!
Things are good; hope they are good for you, too!
