Of Drifts, Thrift, and Shifts

Drifts…

The calendar says July 24th, but my eyes tell me it is December 24th.  In church we should have been singing “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”, instead of “Come, Come Ye Saints”.  Snow in Christchurch is not unheard of, but it is rare. There is no equipment to clear the roads, so most everything has shut down.  Families are working on snow sculptures, cars are pulling children on sleighs, and once again, university is out.  Some of our YSA showed up at our flat and dragged us to the institute building for a snowball fight.

Hayley Lee outside our window that she had pelted with snowballs.

Jeremy Beck, Alyse James, and Sina Posala

The Sisters have been staying with us for a couple of nights.  They have felt unsafe in their flat since one of their neighbors started stalking them.  Sister Yu is from northern China and is very accustomed to snow, but Sister Wu, from Taiwan, is seeing it for the first time.  I can understand the thrill--just not in July.  It feels so wrong.

Thrift…

The New Zealand dollar just keeps climbing against the American dollar.  That means our mission is costing more and more, and we are trying to be frugal.  I have put off having money transferred, hoping that it would go back down, but John just read that the New Zealand dollar will stay strong for the rest of 2011.  Kiwi exporters are suffering by the weakened American dollar and are hoping that something can be done. Economics has never been my strong suit, but I can feel the effects as we go through our money much more quickly.

Shifts…

There is nothing so constant as change in this church.  We attended zone conference this past week to meet our new Mission President and his wife.  The Kazerians are from Orem, Utah.  President Joliffe, our last President, was bright, articulate, organized, well-respected, and British.  Sister Joliffe was all smiles.  President Kazerian is tender and full of warmth.  Sister Kazerian is all smiles (must be a requirement for mission mothers).  The missionaries will be well loved. 

Christchurch Stake also got a new stake presidency this weekend.  Elder F. Michael Watson (recently assigned as a counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency) was here to oversee the process.  Our outgoing President was Morris McDonald.  He has only been Stake President for three years, but he served as a counselor in the stake presidency for eight years before that, and he and his family have been through the wringer for the past few months.  They have endured earthquakes that have devastated them financially--much of their money being invested in rental properties, their car was burned by vandals in their driveway, their home has been violated by intruders, their oldest children have caused them much concern and grief, the stake has been decimated leaving wards and branches without priesthood leaders, church buildings have been destroyed, stake members have been traumatized, and those are only the things we can see. I’m sure there are many that are unseen. Because of the stress, he has lost 35 kilo (77 pounds) since January.   As his wife spoke, President McDonald put his hand in front of his face and wept.  He has earned a rest.

The new Stake President is Jared Ormsby who was recently released as a counselor to President Joliffe.  He is only in his early 30’s, but will do an excellent job.  Martin Bourne is one of his counselors and will be a great support.  

Elder Watson said that when he found out he was coming to New Zealand, he went to talk to President Monson.  He said, “I’ve got a problem, President.  I’m going to Christchurch where the people are really hurting.  What shall I tell them?”  President Monson told him to tell them three things:

1.  We are aware of the them.

2.  We are praying for them.  (Elder Watson said that meant that they are on the prayer roll every Thursday when the First Presidency meets with the Quorum of the Twelve in the temple.)

3.  Please tell the people of Christchurch that I love them.

I think these people loved knowing that they are not forgotten in their trials.

President Ormsby shared this quote from President Monson, “The future is as bright as your faith.”  I love that!  Faith is power.  Power to create character from struggle, power to turn bad into good, weakness into strength, trial into triumph.  Power to overcome all odds with the help of God.  

Get a Comfortable Chair

This is going to be a long one.  It’s been a very busy two weeks. 

About a month ago, Elder and Sister Neider arrived from Idaho Falls to help with the branch in Ashburton. 

They are a great couple with lots of experience and enthusiasm.  Every Saturday, after piano lessons, we go to dinner and converse about this big adventure that we’re on.  They thought they were coming to an English speaking nation, but they can’t understand anyone yet.  The Kiwis are bad enough, but most of the people in the Ashburton Branch are Islanders, and that throws several other accents into the mix.  How well I remember doing what they’re doing now—forever asking, “What?”  More friends, just one of the many blessings of serving a mission.

We had a very special dinner at the home of one of our YSA’s.  Brodie, who has been a member for about a year, keeps bringing us the most delicious food, all of which has been prepared by her mother.  Donna Ridler tried out for New Zealand Master Chef and made it quite far in the competition.  She will try again and I think she could win.  She makes the best fried rice in this world, and has promised to teach me how to do it before I go home. As I watched her prepare our meal, I kept thinking about how much Rob and Scott would love to watch and learn from her.  The Ridlers lived in Indonesia and she cooks a lot of Malaysian and Moroccan foods.  Here she is cooking garlic sprouts.  I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

I don’t believe I’ve ever had a more flavorful meal.  She served pork belly that she poached for hours in the most delicious liquid (I haven’t a clue what was in it)  which she then reduced for a sauce.  She put the pork in a hot oven for a few minutes to get a crispy crust—the whole thing just melted in your mouth.  For dessert she made a delicious, heavy cake with pockets of custard and topped with berries.  My, my, my, I’m still dreaming about it.   

Guess who showed up in Christchurch this week?

Faces from home--John’s sister, Denise, and her husband, Neal.  It was good to see family.  They were such great company and never complained even though we forced them to go on a working trip with us.  They oohed and aahed at the beauties around them and tried to stay as warm as possible.  They arrived on a Friday morning, we let them rest that afternoon, and then took them to see some of the earthquake damage around Christchurch.

The Catholic Cathedral

Houses along the red cliffs by Sumner. 

Saturday we started the southern loop.  We stopped in Ashburton for piano lessons, stayed the night in Timaru, and all of us were asked to speak in church the next day.  It didn’t even phase Denise and Neal.

We stayed in Oamaru that night and went to see the penguins.  There is a colony of Blue Penguins—the world’s smallest penguin—in Oamaru.  They come in from the sea each night at dusk.  It is fun to watch them ride the waves and be washed up on to the beach 10 or 20 at a time.  They waddle over the sand, climb a ramp, scurry over an open area, and find shelter for the night in boxes scattered on the mountainside.  We were not allowed to take pictures of those penguins, but we did get pictures of the yellow eyed penguins that come in from the sea, one at a time, just a little further up the coast.  If you look very closely, you can see one.  I wish I had a pair of binoculars on this mission. (Brad, bring some when you come.)

Near the penguin colony in Oamaru.

Monday morning, bright and early, we attended seminary in Oamaru.  Longo Kaufana and her two students, Ofa and Raymond did a little role playing as part of the lesson.

It is a joy to visit these classes, even if it means very little sleep.  The students and teachers are always so kind and make us feel so welcome, and they take their seminary work very seriously. 

As we traveled to Invercargil that day, we tried to see the Moeraki Boulders, but the tide was too high and we couldn’t get near them.  We did make it to Nugget Point before a storm came in.  It was just as beautiful as I remembered.

I think this is a perfect picture.  John really knows how to use a camera!

Invercargil, down at the southern tip of the island, was as it should be in the winter, FREEZING.  There was wind, rain, and sleet, but we had a warm motel and a wonderful Tuesday morning with Deanne Wilson and her seminary students Jesse and Rav. Sister Wilson made pancakes and Milo (like hot chocolate), and everyone was happy.

We stopped in Gore for a visit with the Risenmays and then on to Dunedin where we attended institute on Tuesday night.  Wednesday morning it was up early once again for seminary with Joyce Tiong and her students. 

Joyce Tiong, she looks like a student, but she’s the teacher.  She is from Malaysia and has just graduated from Otago University as a pharmacist.  Darling girl!

Wednesday morning turned out to be a better time to see the Moeraki Boulders, so ”Bob’s your uncle” (see previous blog).

We made it home Wednesday evening, just in time to start working on lessons for Thursday.  The university started up again this week.  After a break, it usually takes a while to get our kids back to institute, but this week they came in droves.  I LOVE these kids.

We just found out on Thursday that there will be a stake conference on Sunday, July 24.  Our choir has been asked to sing two numbers—one of our choice, and one that the stake president chose.  We will only be able to have three practices, but I think we can do it.  There will be a new stake president here in Christchurch.  It is all happening very suddenly and we’re all rather surprised.  I think the situation here has been extremely taxing on President McDonald.

We also have a new Mission President.  We have not met him yet, but President Kezerian will be coming to Christchurch Tuesday morning.

So many beautiful places.  So many beautiful people.  Life is good.

All Quiet On The Western Front (From Elder Stauffer)

Well, I  hesitate to say anything about this, for fear that just talking about it, could cause a quake, but it looks like things are calming down somewhat as far a earthquakes go. We are still having aftershocks, but, they are in the mid 3’s which we usually don’t even feel. Yesterday in church, Janice said that one of the members, who is originally from Holland, so he talks with a thick Dutch accent, said: “We are thankful that we have not been shaken out of our seats, or out of our beds for a few days, and we pray that our lives can be peaceful for a while”. It was said in a most simple, sweet, and faithful way. It’s a good thing the quakes are slowing down, because it’s getting COLD down here, and if a big quake caused the power to go out, it would be un-bearable! It is winter here in the southern hemisphere, the month of July is like January in Utah. It is one of the coldest months. It is hard to describe the weather, it is not as cold, temperature wise, and they very seldom get snow in Christchurch, but, it feels really cold most of the time. Some of it is due to the moisture, it is more humid, and that makes it feel colder. But, most of it is due to the fact that central heating is rare in the buildings and homes. The heating at the institute building is provided by electric wall heaters, we turn them on when we occupy a room, and it takes time to heat up the room and get warm. If you move to another room you go through the same procedure. If you come home for lunch, and the flat is cold, you do it all over again. Sometimes it is warmer outside between buildings than it feels inside the buildings. The buildings were not built with a lot of insulation, so they don’t retain a lot of the heat for very long. Right now as I type this, I am in a room with a heater, and it’s been on for at least a half an hour, and the room does not feel warm. Dressing in warm layers is the best way to stay warm other than going to bed with an electric blanket. Janice wore her long thermals yesterday to try and stay warm. Heating is not cheap either, so we try not to turn on the heaters at night. It is nice to get in bed, and you can tell that most Kiwis like to get home at night and go to bed early to get warm because the streets get deserted after seven in the evening, and most shops are closed early. It is hard to find a place to eat after 8:00 p.m. that is not a pub or a bar. As noted in the title, I am writing this blog because I am home while Janice is at the institute, I am home because, you guessed it, I have a cold!

I have to say something about driving on the streets and roads here. New Zealand is not known for their major highways and freeways, they do exist, but they are few and far between, and don’t go for very far. If you find a four lane freeway, it will last for a few kilometers and narrow out again. Most of the main roads that lead from one place to another are only narrow two lane roads. Let me give you an example. Highway 1, which runs almost the full length of the south island, and is one of the main routes to travel to the south and north of Christchurch, is about like the road from Hyrum to Paradise or from Hyrum to Wellsville. Not from Hyrum to Logan, because there are more than two lanes now on that route. At times it is just like driving through, let’s say Blacksmith Fork Canyon, two lanes curving for miles and miles, and not many places that are safe to pass.

They do have stretches of the highway that have passing lanes so you can get around slow moving vehicles when you come to one, but they only last for a short stretch, just long enough to get around a truck or slow moving car pulling a trailer. So, imagine traveling the full length of Utah on a two lane highway that sometimes is straight, but most of the time is very curvy. Driving like that for hours at a time can be physically challenging. These highways also go directly through small towns on the route, and when you come to a town, you must slow down to city speed while you go through the city. Driving around in the cities is also challenging. It can be sort of like driving around in a crowded parking lot trying to find a place to park. The streets are narrow, and sometimes you have to pull to the side to let a car coming from the other direction go by. Here in Christchurch, the earth quakes and the damage they caused, can make it very difficult for people to go only a few kilometers from one side of town to the other. Brother Bell usually has to drive like twenty minutes from his house to the Institute, after some of the quakes it took him up to two hours to do the same distance.

It is interesting to watch the citizens of Christchurch as they prepare to try and rebuild their beloved city. I say “try and rebuild”, because I can see it is hard to start rebuilding when you never know if another earthquake might cause you to have to start all over again. That has already happened a couple of times. It is hard to rebuild when the insurance companies won’t insure new building for fear of having to make large payouts like they are having to make now. They won’t let new building take place without insurance. So, how do you fix a problem like that?

Here is a picture I took before the Feb. 22 quake, the next picture was taken by a newspaper, after the quake.

 

The city has given the citizens the opportunity to make suggestions as to how they would like to see the rebuild go, and they got over 90,000 suggestions. Some people want to see the city built like it was before, as much as possible. Some want it to  change big time, and be re-designed, so to speak. Many want it to go “Green”, with as many environmentally friendly features as possible. Interestingly, many would like to see improvements for the traffic situation. Better planning for the traffic to flow more efficiently, for cars, bikes and pedestrians. It will be interesting what they finally come up with. Will the city be more modernized, or come back closer to what they had before. I think they loved it as it was, but recognize this is an opportunity to make some upgrades and improvements.
We shall see.

Since we are approaching our midway mark on this mission. I want to tell you that I know we have been called here to New Zealand to serve at this time for a reason or maybe many reasons. I feel very strongly that the Lord wanted us in this part of the vineyard, now. He wanted to use us to accomplish work He had in mind for us to do. He wanted us to work with individuals who needed something that we might be able to offer them. You know how sometimes you meet someone for the first time and they seem familiar to you? Like you knew them before somewhere, and obviously it must have been in the pre-existence because you know your have never seen them before in your life? Well, that’s what it feels like with some of these people we associate with each day. Familiar spirits; there seems to be some connections. Something like that is true about our work here too. It seems like we were sent here to do this because we were prepared to do this work at this time. Especially Janice, I can’t tell you how suited her talents and skills are for this work. It is amazing to watch her use her musical skills, her social skills, her mentoring and counseling skills, and (she won’t like me saying this) her cooking and baking skills. They seem to be drawn to Janice and drink in what she has to offer them. They know she loves them and accepts them immediately. She has this ability to connect with them and they want to be around her. Fantastic, simply fantastic! I know our knowledge and our testimonies have grown while we have served these people. It has been challenging, leaving those we love so much at home and going to a different (although lovely) place. Our lives will never be the same after this, but, I know our lives have been enhanced, our testimonies strengthened and our love for each other increased.

In the traditional sense, this work is way different than most missionary work. We really don’t do much proselyting, as in knocking on doors or teaching missionary lessons, but, it definitely is missionary work that we do. These Young Single Adults here really like to hear the word. They know the gospel, but, they also love to discuss and analyze the gospel and see how it fits into their lives. We hope that we can add to their understanding, and help them to think more deeply about the principals and doctrines they come across in their studies. They ask great questions, some have things in their lives which test them and they want to know how to solve problems and overcome difficulties. The gospel is the key to resolving and overcoming what this world dishes out. We know that these young people are being prepared to lead the church here in the isles of the south seas. I say that because those that we come in contact with, come from all over the world, and many from the other islands of the Pacific. The teachings of the scriptures and manuals and the prophets and leaders will help make them great leaders among men. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I know that the gospel will prepare us, if we are faithful and repent, to live with our Father in Heaven again. God the Father and Jesus Christ did appear to young Joseph Smith and through him all was restored. The world needs to know that, and if the people of the world learn that one thing it will save all who will accept that message and embrace it.