Firmly Planted

As I walked down Fendalton Road this morning, I walked past an older, stately home which had recently been added to the real estate market in Christchurch.  The sign posted by the realtor listed the characteristics of the house and included the words, “Firmly Planted”.  This home managed to escape the fate of so many other homes that have lost chimneys, bricks, walls, or been moved from their very foundations as the earth has done her best to shake everything loose.  The latest round of earthquakes began last Friday.  After a few months of relative peace, you could feel the great communal sigh when they began anew.  The latest ones measured 6.0, 5.8, and 5.7 with many smaller aftershocks.  Houses and yards once again filled with liquefaction.  Streets became rivers and people gritted their teeth and shoveled out from under.  Stores were forced to close on Friday until engineers could inspect for safety.  Closing so close to Christmas must have been tragic for business, but they were all open again on Christmas Eve.  People were back at the Mall on Saturday, but they avoided the parking terraces.

Skittish Kiwis left long ago, those who remain are hardy folk.  This is their home and they are staying.  Adaptability is their middle name.  We were attending a funeral on Friday.  The first quake was lengthy and strong.  The speaker paused, waited for the shaking to stop, and went right on.  No one moved or tried to leave the building.  Several more happened during the service, each one was met with equal calm and composure.  The earthquake commission will begin inspections once again.  Insurance claims will be resubmitted.  More homes will be ‘red-zoned’, and life will go on.

As I walked this morning, I considered the analogy between these quakes and my mission.  This last 14 months have presented many trials, things that left me shaken and reeling.  However, I knew within the first few weeks that I would not be fleeing.  I knew I was here for the long haul.  As each new wave of testing came, I clung on and prayed.  I relished the moments of calm and sweated through the times of turmoil.  And, in the end, I find myself even more “firmly planted” in my faith than I was before I came.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is my home and I’m staying.  I have had so many prayers answered in such personal ways, that I can’t imagine where Heavenly Father is finding the time to take care of everyone else.  Some of those answers have come immediately as he has given me words to say or answers to questions.  Some answers have come as enlightenment or understanding.  Each answer has left me full of gratitude and wonder.  I have learned the profound beauty of the Savior’s teachings.  I understand more fully the joy that comes as we embrace and live those teachings.  I’ve seen lives changed as the doctrine of forgiveness, or repentance, or charity is internalized.  I know that those who are happiest are those who live Christ’s teachings.  A small incremental step forward in being better able to live as he taught, leads to a monumental increase in joy.  I cannot even imagine what it would be like to finally be as he is.  It will take many more shakings (tests) and eons of time, but out there somewhere is the possibility.

I hear many people bare their testimony that they know Heavenly Father loves them.  I just hope that Heavenly Father knows that I love him and his Son.  I hope that there is something I have said or done here that will help someone else be more “firmly planted”.

A recap of what happened this last week…

Thursday night we attended a Christmas party at the YSA flat. 

They went all out with the decorations.  They had everything including a roaring fire.

With Alice Cammock.

We spent Christmas Eve with the new senior sisters.

Sister Nation, Sister Chelius and I took a Christmas program to two retirement homes.  Sister Chelius and I played some piano duets and Sister Nation told a Christmas story.  The Sisters fixed a delicious meal for us that night of shrimp and pasta and then we played a new word game, Quiddler.  I think the earthquakes really frightened them.  So much for them to adjust to; being away from family, earthquakes, a new culture, and a new companion.  They will be all right, though, and we are so glad they are here.

On Christmas Day, all five wards met together because the Opawa chapel had not been inspected for safety.  I enjoyed having Christmas on Sunday.  What a great opportunity to celebrate the Savior’s birth and to take the emblems of his death.  I kept thinking of Christ’s statement to Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world”, and of the words to ‘Mary’s Lullaby’, “Away spectered future of sorrow and plight, away to the years that must follow tonight.”  I could see and feel great love in the condescension of God. 

We had an hour long service and then went to Bourne’s for dinner. 

Kenny Neider, Margo Neider, Laura Bourne Bates, Matthew Bates, Adam Bourne, Amy, Margaret, Martin, John, and Sister Tailasa (from Fiji).

Margaret Bourne’s Christmas pudding and custard sauce.

We had a second meal at Cammocks and enjoyed visiting with their family.  We were supposed to go to Bell’s, but ran out of steam.  People are always so kind to us.  We were anything but alone on Christmas.