Change is a Good Thing

A week and a half ago the five wards in Christchurch underwent a make-over and came out four fresh and fabulous new wards.  Because the earthquakes (10,000 and counting) forced a redistribution of population, the wards on the east side of town were hardly able to function.  Avonside, Opawa, and Wainoni (the Samoan language unit) were all disbanded.  Riccarton and Cashmere borders were rearranged, and the result…a very large Avon River Ward, a mostly-white and wealthy Merivale Ward, a slimmed down and fresh-faced Cashmere Ward, and a predominantly brown and beautiful Riccarton Ward.  We are looking forward to visiting each of the new wards, but for the first week we went to check out our new and exciting Riccarton.  We walked in about eight minutes early and found the chapel mostly full.  Samoans (we inherited a large portion of the Wainoni members) are always early.  Our meeting began at 1:00 p.m. on the dot—not 10 minutes after as we are accustomed to.  As I looked around I saw a sea of black hair and brown faces.  That to me means warmth and kindness and food and parties!!!  I just hope that I can learn to say all of their names.

I know that this change will be difficult for the Samoans, especially the older ones who speak very little English.  However, the Lord provided us with the perfect Bishop.  Kent Johnston is the son of President Johnston, the President of Ashburton Branch who died so suddenly last year at this time.  Kent is half Maori, half Pakeha (white), and is married to a Samoan.  He is also, like his father was, loving, kind, gentle, soft-hearted, and determined to see that everyone feels loved and included.  We sustained a Relief Society President, a Young Men’s President, a ward mission leader, and an army of ward missionaries.  President Johnston wants to bring everyone back into activity and I know that he will do it. Change is always feared a little, but in the end it enlivens and electrifies.  I think Christchurch Stake is on the cusp of something big. It is exciting!

The shake-up of the wards, has also reeked havoc with our seminary program.  However, the stake has been busy and called a new teacher from each ward.  We have inservice tonight, and classes start next Tuesday, the day after Waitangi Day, another national holiday held to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. [Speaking of national holidays, we heard a news report this week that there is a petition to be presented to parliament this year, asking for another vacation day for public employees.  Evidently they believe that because the weather has been so rainy and cold during the month of January—their vacation month—they deserve an extra day off.] 

Our summer institute class has been ‘Preparing for Celestial Marriage’.  When we told the kids which course we were going to teach, many of them groaned and ‘acted’ as though they were not interested.  I kept saying, “Come and give it a try.  It will be fun.”  We have 59 kids enrolled in the class (I think that’s a record for summer) and we are having a great time with it.  The manual is wonderful and the discussions are always interesting and dynamic.  Some of the things we talk about are met with much scepticism, but as we read from the words of prophets and the scriptures and discuss the ‘why’ of a given doctrine, they develop an understanding and are more determined to follow the wisdom of God.  The world has confused and confounded the principles of home and family and doctrines concerning roles of men and women so much, that the truth often sounds absurd to young people.  It is fun to see the lights go on in their eyes as they see how the Lord’s ways can and do work.  Because I love these kids so much, I want each one of them to experience the unspeakable love and joy that can only come through righteous family life.  That goal is well worth the time, the effort, and the wait.

We just finished our pre-school traveling with trips to Nelson and Greymouth.  We hope everyone has all the materials they will need to begin the year.  We went to meet Brother and Sister Lewis who will be teaching seminary and institute in Greymouth.  Some of you will recognize them.

David and Pam Lewis are from Bountiful.  He is a physician who spends several months working each year in New Zealand.  We had a great afternoon with them talking about our mutual friend, Pat Cox, and seeing some of the sights around Greymouth.  They took us to see the pancake rocks.  You can see where they got their name.

Nature and the force of the ocean have created something spectacular.

It was a gray and drizzly day in Greymouth as it has been every day we’ve been there.  It is certainly appropriately named.  Here is the place where the Grey River runs into the ocean.  Gray, gray, and more gray.

On the way back from Greymouth we saw…

these trees.  Gray bark, moss growing in patches, beautiful frosted-green leaves that create a silver light.  Patches of these trees are all through Arthur’s Pass.  The picture does not do it justice.

These rock formations at Castle Hill are very near to Arthur’s Pass as well.  They don’t look like anything spectacular from a distance. 

But as you follow the trail and get close, they loom gigantic.

It wasn’t far from here that they filmed the final battle scenes for the Chronicles of Narnia.  It is easy to see why.  A sort of wildness and dramas of nature as far as the eye can see.

As a side note, Prince Caspian was partly filmed on the rugged West Coast near Greymouth.

John took a few pictures on our Nelson trip.  First, the streets of Hanmer, a little tourist town.

On the beach at Kaikoura looking for shells…

We found shells and some wildlife…

Okay, not very ‘wild’.  We tried our best not to disturb him.  And, Jill, you need this picture printed on canvas to hang in your house.  The perfect colors!!!

And lastly, a quaint rock church in Cheviot.

Trivialities and Life’s Most Solemn Moments

If I am figuring correctly, we have 100 days left on our mission (but who’s counting).  There is only one thing to do about that.  Family tradition dictates…

Neither of us was as brave (or as demented) as Andrew.  Photoshop was the best we could do.  If any of you want to hear the hilarious story, you’ll have to get Andrew talking about his burning head. 

100 days makes me believe it might happen.  I might get to hold those babies ( I sat by a baby last night in the stake meeting where the wards in Christchurch were reorganized.  He was the same age as Catie….oh so cute!).  I might get to have sleepovers with my grandkids and visit with my children.  I might get to have fun with my friends and extended family.  This nearness has created a bit of a trunky hypochondriac.  Every headache could be the beginnings of a stroke.  Every illness something deadly.  I worry that something might keep me from seeing my family again.  Silly, but it’s just how I am.

This week we spent three days traveling.  This trip was more relaxed than those we have taken previously.  We were delivering supplies to seminary and institute teachers and doing some inservice training.  There were no classes to attend early in the mornings or in the evenings.  Here’s a little recap in pictures:

Lawn bowling behind out motel in Oamaru. 

John’s new friends (a little different from our usual companions, the young single adults) convinced him that he should introduce the sport in Utah.

Dunedin train station.

Wouldn’t this be the perfect movie set?  Can’t you just see soldiers kissing their sweethearts as they leave to fight?  Or, how about an action film or an espionage thriller?

This old Anglican church is in Port Chalmers about 10 km out of Dunedin.  It was open to the public that afternoon.  We loved the building and the artifacts it held, but my favorite part was this old pipe organ.

Doug has been playing it for the past 60 years…

but he was willing to scoot over and let me have a go at it.

Next time I’ll take my glasses so that I can see the music.

We stopped to walk along the beach and look for shells.  The hunt was rather successful.

Paua shells like these sell for about $20.00 in the stores.

 

We stopped at Fleur’s Place for a delicious meal of fresh seafood and other delights.

Seafood Chowder

Broccoli and bleu cheese soup and fresh catch of the day, blue cod with tartar and lemon sauce.  There are advantages to living near the ocean.

I would love to take this place home with me.  Maybe John can just sail it into the port at Great Salt Lake.

It all seemed so trivial as we came home to an email from my niece, Alisa, saying that her cancer had returned with a vengeance. I have been thinking about the phrase “bear one another’s burdens, that they might be light” (Mosiah 18:8).  So many people, myself included, would love to take some of the pain or sorrow, the heartache or fear from the hearts and minds of Alisa, her husband, her children, or her parents.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could parcel out the hurt so that no one felt it in abundance.  But, it seems there are some things no one can remove from our shoulders.  Thank goodness for faith and hope in Jesus Christ, for his eternal gifts, and the strength he gives us to bear all things.  We are praying for you, Alisa.  You will continually be in our thoughts and in our hearts.  Kia Kaha!!! (Stay strong!)

Heavenly Calculators

I remember nearly 40 years ago when my brother-in-law, Dave Thatcher, purchased an early calculator for use in a college class.  We were amazed at the price (hundreds of dollars) and at the capabilities of that primitive piece of technology.  How things have changed!  I bought a tiny calculator to bring with me for $.99.  It does everything Dave’s did and all that I need as I calculate our financial transactions.  Calculators are indispensable items.  They save me from all the “carrying” and “borrowing”, and they are great for an aged mind which has long forgotten simple mathematical facts and times tables.  I can add a long list of numbers and, with the push of a button, get an accurate sum every single time.  Calculators never fudge numbers or play havoc with figures. 

My mom had a heavenly way of doing mathematics.  No calculators for her.  It was always a struggle to make ends meet when John and I had four little kids and a teacher’s income.  Mom would always do her best to make our life a little easier.  One time she called and told me that Grand Central was having a sale on disposable diapers.  If I would make a trip to Logan, we could charge some diapers to my dad’s account because he got a discount on top of the sale price.  I did as she suggested, but when I went to write her a check for what I had charged, she handed me a check for that amount.  I got the diapers and the money they had cost.  I tried to tell her that it made no sense, but she assured me her figuring was correct.  She used a heavenly calculator and it always worked to our benefit. 

We know that the Bishop’s handbook says that the only people not required to pay tithing are full time missionaries.  John and I wondered when we received our call, whether that meant us.  We could reason that we were already consecrating all of our increase to this mission.  Should we pay 10% of the already 100% consecrated funds?  We figured up all the expenses projected for this mission, compared them to the amount we would receive in John’s retirement check, and found that they were exactly the same.  When we learned that we had to purchase church insurance, we knew we would be spending more than we took in.  If we paid tithing on top of that, well,….it just didn’t work on our calculator.  However, we just couldn’t feel comfortable not paying that 10%, and besides, we knew that our Heavenly Father uses a heavenly calculator much like mom’s.  We have paid our tithing, paid for the church’s insurance, helped our kids with unexpected emergencies at home, and somehow we have had sufficient funds.  I have a firm testimony of tithing.  I know that Heavenly Father can do amazing things with numbers.  He can multiply where we would subtract.  I’m not sure how heavenly calculators work, but I know they do and I’m grateful!

A few times this week we have felt like we were in Rand’s neck of the woods, Texas.  Here are a few super-sized kiwi grown items.

I don’t like radishes, but these were beautiful

These were even better than they look.

This is John’s favorite tree.  It’s on Glandovy Street.

One other thing…I remember Lynn Lund telling me that when she needs a melody for a new song, she goes to the classical works of Schumann or Schubert.  From them she might borrow a three or four note sequence that would lead to a beautiful melody.  So much of creative genius is “piggy-backing” off someone else’s idea.  Is there a more creative genius than God himself?  As I studied this charming little fuschia plant, I couldn’t help but wonder how many artists have “piggy-backed” off this design. Fashion designers, fabric designers, sculptors, weavers, silk-screeners, architects, interior designers—who couldn’t be inspired by this?

We travel again this week.  Time to do inservice for the seminary teachers before classes start on January 30. 

Happy New Year, We’re Starting up Again.

First of all, let me clarify that the writer of this particular blog is Elder Stauffer. Occasionally I am given the opportunity, or task, of writing. We hope everyone’s Christmas was wonderful, and that you are all having a great beginning to 2012. This past year has been an awesome experience.  We have experienced the gamut.   2011 has been hard, sad, scary, interesting, happy, spiritual, lovely, loving, inspiring, good and bad, but we wouldn’t want to have missed out on any of it, not even the earthquakes. We have missed being with family and friends, but have received so many blessings and definitely have seen God’s hand in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

We have experienced our second Christmas season in the southern hemisphere where the weather is supposed to be summer-like. Last year it was very summer-like.  This year, not so much. Our summer has been unseasonably cool and overcast. The Kiwis take a lot of time off for the Christmas break, even the morning news takes a holiday. We thought for sure the daily morning news programs would be back on the air by January 9th, but, no.  The morning news stopped broadcasting before Christmas, and is still on a holiday. They replace the news with re-runs of some British Antique show. Go figure. Amy says they will probably start up again the first of February. Ya gotta love ‘em!

As mentioned in our last blogs, this has been down time at the Institute Building (the I.B. as they like to call it). We have had a bit of time to our selves, and so, when we go on walks, we go a bit further from our flat. This week we walked on the beach and through an old church that is falling down due to the earthquakes.

This wind surfer was having way too much fun!

New Brighton pier at low tide.

A playground and wading pool that normally would be crowded with kids, but, due to cold weather and quakes, has not yet been opened for the year.

Empty pool, no water and no kids, and this is the middle of the summer!

There is a lot of property for sale at the beach.  We are always amazed that ocean front property is not more valuable and does not receive better care. This one, as you can see, is a “Prime, Front Corner Site”. Let’s look over the fence.

Here are some more “Prime Properties” along the beach front road. Keep in mind, the beach is just across the road from these homes.  This is not Miami Beach, but it is beach front property! Interested? Going cheap!

We had a good experience on another morning walk.  We wanted to look at some of the gravestones at an old Anglican Church on Riccarton Road that we pass all the time. While we were there looking at the headstones, the grounds keeper saw us and came over to talk. We got to know him and he was a lovely man. He was able to take us into the church and show us the damage the quakes had caused. This is typical of the type of damage that most of the old churches have received due to the quakes. We did not get pictures of the inside of the Chapel because we did not have a camera with us. It was very sad to see the damage that was there.

These churches have been around for a long time, and are now very much in doubt as to whether or not they will ever be put in use again. As you can see from this picture, the stone façade has fallen down and has been replaced with plywood. The inside damage is worse. There were beautiful stained glass windows that were broken and bricks from the interior walls that had come down, and large cracks were showing.

One of the old headstones.

Peter was so kind to us, and had a few stories to tell about his experiences. We also found out by accident that he is a neighbor to an elderly sister in our ward, the Riccarton Ward. This is a sister that was baptized many years ago by Alan Sumsion from Bountiful, Utah.  Alan was on the High Council with me when I served in the Bountiful Stake. It truly is a small, small world.