Anniversary and Father’s Day

Yesterday, Sunday, September 4, was the one year anniversary of the big Christchurch earthquake and New Zealand’s Father’s Day.  For one solid year, these people have been through one upheaval after another.  Someone told me there have been 8,533 quakes, and that number keeps going up.  We have had 15 since last Tuesday, including a 4.9 on Friday morning, and 4.4 on Sunday evening. Earthquakes are not new to New Zealand, but Christchurch has been relatively untouched by them for many years.  I believe they will be a fact of life from here on out.  Evidently the government feels that way too, because they are going ahead with plans to rebuild the city.  We all have our fingers crossed that any future quakes will be of the mild type we have become accustomed to.

I’m not sure why New Zealand celebrates Father’s Day in September (Mother’s Day is the same as ours), but they do.  Yesterday, the young adults did a great job of fussing over John.  Many of them wrote him touching letters of love and appreciation.  They told him what a blessing he has been in their lives.  So many of them have never had such a great example of a loving husband and father.  The girls said that, because of him, they have a clearer picture of what they are looking for in a spouse.  John has that effect on people.  I know that Jill always said she wanted to marry someone just like her dad.  She did a good job of finding one, I hope these girls can do the same.  They also cooked him dinner and made his favorite dessert, canton, a creamy, puddingy, chocolatey, concoction.  A rousing game of ‘Fruit Ninja’ finished the day off perfectly.

I did want to make a comment about teaching.  Teaching callings have always been my favorites.  I have enjoyed the study and preparation time as well as the classroom experiences.  Even the most intense calling, gospel doctrine teacher, required only one lesson preparation per week.  This mission is a whole different ballgame.  This past week I taught a New Testament lesson (the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son) on Wednesday, a lesson in Presidents of the Church on Thursday, a Doctrine and Covenants lesson for seminary on Friday, a Relief Society presentation for Stake Auxiliary Training on Saturday, and another New Testament lesson (I Corinthians 11-16) for Young Adult Sunday School on Sunday.  There was surprisingly little time to prepare for any of these—I am unable to spend hours reading and pondering as I have in the past.  I go into each class feeling somewhat unprepared, a little nervous in the stomach, and with a fervent prayer that the Holy Ghost will help me.  He never lets me down.  I’m not sure that He tells me what to say, but somehow He helps these kids feel the Spirit of the lesson.  They feel a desire to forgive, or to partake of the sacrament more worthily, to be more unified, to overcome feelings of jealousy, etc.  I watch them work on their challenges and I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost who is teaching me right along with them.