OAMARU

As we were getting ready to go thru security at the SLC airport we looked down and saw Wellington on the mosaic tile. A sign we were going where we were supposed to go.

Landing in Christchurch. First stop in NZ

Cafe inside terminal. We are in the Land of The Long White Cloud

Driving north from Dunedin to Oamaru(Left Side)

First potty stop on the road. No Mavericks here AT ALL. From the report it was really cold to the bottom!

Ocean on the right side heading north, and driving on the left side really does a job on your orientation!!!!

Town marker at the city limits.

View of sea from a lookout point at our home town.

A street corner in Oamaru--quaint!

Our missionary car. Brand new!

A view of the bay at Oamaru and the north side of town.

Our tempory flat. We are in the one to the left, upper level.

Hope you enjoyed a few pictures of our journey. There will be many more to come. Our trip here was wonderful at times like riding first class to Sydney. Then there were "Abbot and Costello" times aplenty.

Taking our 4 huge suitcases,,two caryons, two personal bags, and two huge winter coats on two carts across the circle at LAX was one of those times. We only dumped the carts 4 times in view of ALL LA that was definitely one of those times. Then when we were checking in at the DAL counter we couldn't get our boarding pass because we didn't know and hadn't obtained an Australian tourist visa. It was definitely a tender mercy that a Delta agent knew what and how to do that. He gave us a web site to go to and we had our visas 30 minutes later. Then when we got to Australia after 4 hous waiting at LAX then 14 hours of flight, see the picture above of Alecia all happy in her bed, the Abbott and Costello shoed up again. It took us 4 times to get through customs there becaus Costello, me, couldn't get the paper work filled out properly. But finally,after a 3 hour wait in Australia, and two legs later we arrived in Dunedin. Another Sr. Missionary couple met us there and took us to a "motel" ( don't even think even motel 6)! But we literally collapsed into bed. The next morning we met the Dunedin zone leaders, took them out to lunch, had a 30 minute driving orientation, and took off 115 KM north to Oamaru our field of labor for the next 16 months. We found out right then from the Zone leaders that we had been assigned to Oamaru rather than Dunedin. More about that later. 

Wow we realized we have a lot to learn to cha nge over to another country. It feels like we went back in time. Most of the time we really like it except when it comes to the lack of technology. We have to go to the library for a hotspot to do anything on the internet. That will change for the better when we get into our permanent place. Not to mention the self talk of driving on the left side of th road every day. We also have 23 steps to our front door. Are there even stairs in St. George? We have found a completely furnished home to rent, above picture. We found it in one day but it will take till the 4th to get the paper work done before we move in. In the meantime we are in one of the missionary flats and the 4 Elders are crowded into another. See above picture. 

It is spring here and nice when the sun shines. On cloudy days it is dreary and colder. Hence the land of the Long White Cloud. The missionaries here are amazing. We have two sisters,and six Elders. Last week on P-day we went on a hike outside of Denidin and in the rain. It is a place where a man who owned a castle and had daughters who wanted to get to th ocean at the bottom of their hill. It is about a mile on a steep slope down hill. There he had a tunnel drilled through the rocks to make the final part of the trip to the beach. No pictures because it was raining so hard. The trip back up was 100 miles but we are alive to tell about it.

We are so happy to be in Oamaru. We know this is where we are supposed to be. Most of the members are Tongan which reminds me of being with the Polynesian saints in Hawaii where i joined the church. The mission wants to turn this District into a Stake with in the next year. We are so excited to be a part of that effort. We have already had some success there. We were with the Elders at a lesson last night with a couple who aren't married and want to join the church. Alecia and I convinced them that they might as well get married right now. The Elders had CTR rings that Mike used as an engagement ring to purpose to Tracy right then and there. They set a date to get married on the 12th of Sep and to get baptized on the 19th of Sep. That is a truely amazing!

New Flat. Move into Wed.

We love this work and feel the Lord's hand in directing us here at this time in our lives as well as the Saints of Oamaru. 

On The Road Again With Visas in hand

Ashley, Brooke, and us on our last Sunday in Montana. It has been such a privilege to share a home with these two celestial sisters and friends for life. 

Pulling out of the immaculate grounds of Richard and Deanne's home. There aren't even words to express our gratitude for their friendship and hospitality. Friends forever!

Had to have a farewell breakfast with the Kalispell zone before we departed town. These Elders and Sisters will remain our special friends forever. They taught us so much about dedication, perseverance,character, and going the extra mile. It is hard to look at this picture and not miss being with them and involved in the work with them. We love each of them and feel privileged to have labored in His work with them. 

One of our last contacts was with this special man. We found his name on the ward list and had to find him. His name is Jerry Leon Stevenson. After knocking on his front door and talking with him we found out he was born in Santaquin, Utah which is were Gayle Stevenson,DAD, was born and we know they are related. His home was a representation of how hard his life has been. He is not in the best of Heath yet spends his days taking care of his wife who has the final stages of diabetes. The front porch we were standing on was dilapidated and broken free of the house frame. A tree had fallen on his roof 5 years ago and knocked part of the home off the foundation and has had a leak in his roof ever since. The roof was caked with moss and fungus. The ward has tried to help him but he has refused their help for some reason we weren't able to determine. Now they are losing even this home and have no idea where they are going. 

 This type of living situation is not all that uncommon in the rural parts of the area and has moved us to tears more than once. This earthly experience is so difficult for so many. We thought of a 25 year old ""Jerry" and wondered what hopes, dreams, plans, and desires he had for himself and his family. Now destitute, broken, alone with a terminally ill wife. Our hearts were so full of love for him and all in like situations. We just hope that he could feel that love for the brief moments we were with him. We could tell he was excited to know Alecia was a relative and loved seeing a smile on his face.

We know The Lord cares for and loves EVERY SOUL of his creation whether in a little trailer in the back woods of Montana or in a hut in a jungle of Indonesia. We just feel blessed to be able to be a part of this,HIS, work in even the smallest of ways,

We felt it was serendipitous that the wheat fields had been harvested as we were driving out of town,

Then a pink rainbow as we crossed the border into Utah. WOW.  

They still don't have a place, flat, for us in Dunedin so we are going to stay in a flat that has been used by the Sister missionaries in a town called Oamaru which is 1 1/2 hours north of Dunedin. We googled it and it looks like a fun town. Can't wait to get there. Our travell plans may change to a Tuesday departure because of loads to Sydney. 

We feel that our time in Kalispell was so special and part of the Lord's plans for us. We are so much more prepared to hit the ground running in NZ. 

WHICH, CHURCH SHALL I JOIN?

Some Pictures first:

These are just a few of the different denominations up here. We felt rather conspicuous driving around taking these pictures. But when I say just a few, I really mean it. Per capita, there are probably more Christians up here than the bible belt of the south and a lot more denominations. It seems as though anyone who has an OPINION about the gospel sets up his own church and gathers others around him or her. There are people standing on street corners with " Jesus Saves " cardboard signs all over the place. It has been so remindful to us of the religious fever Joseph Smith was faced with, when he found out from Heavenly Father not to join any of them and that through him the restoration was ushered in. I can't even begin to write all of my thoughts, impressions, and feelings on that subject. May it suffice for us to bare our testimonies on the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That through the charge of His Father, he established the only true church on the face of this planet. That through the power of direct revelation from God Himself to a chosen, called, and authorized prophet , even Joseph Smith, he has revealed the fullness of the gospel and ALL the saving ordinances therein. It is our profound testimony that dirct revelation exists to this day through the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator Thomas S. Monson. And through him and the quorum of the 12 all the keys of authority are held by mankind on this earth today.

OK, Alecia said I got a "little" preachy on that. You should have seen the next paragraph that she counseled me to drop. Lucky you, the readers, I do listen to her wise council . It was such a great sermon though.

This last week was transfer  week. Dang, that was hard on us. We had to say goodbye to some we had grown to love like our own. BUT 4 more came in and we are getting to know them too. Hopefully we won't have to go through that again in this hemisphere! We taught our first lesson this week too. It was on the word of wisdom. They had picked a baptism date for the 8th, but had not been told by the ward missionaries that they had to have lived it for at least a week. It wasn't fun being the bearers of that news. After 2 1/2 hours we had them calmed down, gave them a P.H. blessing and gave it over to the Zone leaders. They had some weird docturnal beliefs we tried to work through, but that is going to take some time. Really anxious to see how that goes.

We also partially taught the plan of salvation to another investigator we are working with. This guy is a real character from NJ, was a truck driver for 30 years, has had three kinds of cancer, his wife of 37 years left him, his son has cancer, and he is trying to live on S.S. He is one of the most interesting men we have ever met, and has a gift of gab that is out of this world. He has been fighting depression really hard--REALLY. Love this man. Haven't told you half of his challenges. It is so amazing to feel Father's love for him.

Here we all are at the Stake President's home for transfers and instruction. The lesson was on service and a really moving church video was shown for reference for the missionaries to show in member homes and then turn into helping the family put together THEIR OWN mission plan. Alecia was so moved that she nudged me in the ribs in the back of the room and said, " Go with me on this." I had no idea were she was going and was suprised to hear her ask each missionary to bring any trousers, shirts, coats, that needed mending, AND all shoes that needed polishing and that we would take care of it at Wed's district training.

12 pairs of shoes

7 pairs of trousers

Two dozen donuts ( I only ate One )

Goodbye candy card for Elder Gutherie

Goodbye to Elder's Eddington ( ZL) and Elder Davis at the DQ

That's all for now. We love you, miss you and petition your prayers in our behalf.

The field is ripe

What a great week we have had. We met with 3 different investigators, a couple of member families who are really struggling, met with the zone at the stake president's home for transfer introductions and instruction and toured an aviation museum and 18 hole private( as in one man private) golf course. Oh yes the course has a full scale replica of the Stonehenge in Bath, England.

Here are some pictures of our trip to Eureka Montana where we toured the museum met with two investigators and had a special lunch with Blake and Linda Beecher. He is an on fire ward mission leader and is the one who had the contact with the billionaire who owns it all. 

  Golf course

Stonehenge 

 

F-4U Corsair. This plane was the last prop plane used in actual air to air combat. I've forgotten the countries but it was two South American countries and the fight was between this plane and two P-51's. This guy won aby shooting both of them down. 

T-34, the very first airplane I flew but with much better Navy paint job than this Airforce paint job!!!

P-40 the type used by the Flying Tigers, an American squadron flying in China during WWII. This one was dug out of a farmers field where he had buried it so airplane aficionados would stop bothering him. True story. 

Now check out these pictures of Osburn Idaho we found on our way to Spokane for a temple trip. 

Not a very big town, but hey, do you have a town named after you?

 

Alecia has asked me to share some stories and to be real about how it really is out here. When most of us talk about our mission experience we usually just mention the highlights of which there have already been so many. But it is hard too as only those who have been out here know. The following poem given us by one of the Elders says it pretty well.

Highs and Lows

A mission is a strange experience. It is a trial and a test

A mission throws at you the worst, yet teaches you the best

Since I've been out, I've never been so happy. I've never been so depressed.

I've never felt so forsaken. I've never felt so blessed

.ive never felt so confused. My mind has never felt so clear.

I've never felt Heavenly Father so distant. I've never felt him so near. 

I've never felt so discouraged. I've never been so ful of hope. 

I think I can go on forever. I think I've come to the end of my rope. 

I've never had it so easy. I've never had it so tough. 

Things have never gone so smoothly. Things have never been so rough. 

I've never travelled through so many valleys. I've never ascended so many peaks. 

I've never met so many neat people. I've never met so many freaks. 

I've never had so many ups. I've never had so many downs. 

I've never worn so many smiles. I've never worn so many frowns. 

I've never been so lonely. I've never had so many friends. 

Man, I hope it's over soon. Gosh, I hope it never ends. 

Jack L. Brinkerhoff Lovell N.Y.

We Got People

The mantra and mission goal is, "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." The mission is about people, all kinds of people, and all people. We have "got" some people and I want to bring into the blog to remember them. 

First the missionaries we have gotten to know and love.

These incredible Elders and Sisters are some of the most dedicated, focused, hard working people I know. They are obedient to all the mission rules and live their lives by the spirit and with the presence of the Holy Ghost with them at all times. We have gotton to know them on a personal level as well as a professional level and really can't go on enough about their work ethics, character, love of the Savior, and love of the work. I know there are thousands just like them serving throughout the world and because of that know without a doubt that we are going to win this battle for the souls of man that began eons ago in the pre-existance. Father will redeem his children!!!! It is such a privledge to be a part of it. This is so much bigger than anything we have ever been a part of. We are part of the biggest thing on the planet. The two Elders behind the green sign on the right are Elders Eddington and Witt. They are beyond a doubt two of the most incredible men I have ever known. I know i use that word a lot nowdays, but it is true. These two men could go to the Quorum of 70 today and be totally profecient and in like company. All of these missionaries have different strengths and endearing qualities. We love them all and are not looking forward to losing some of them this weekend due to transfers. I guess we will just have to learn to love some new ones, which won't be hard at all I'm sure.

The goodby candy board was made by the most creative and wonderful companion anyone could ever have--Alecia.she truly makes everything so fun and special.

Now for some stories of people we have met with. The first is a man who is a Vietnam vet who has earned two bronze stars,( just under the medal of honor and very rare), has PTSD so bad that he has to see a psychiatrist once per week, has legs still full of shrapnel which keeps working its way out, and has been baptised in Flathead Lake. We spent about an hour and a half with him and he really opened up to me about his trauma from balttles he has been in. He is such a broken man but has a love of God, and relys on constant prayer throughout his days and nights. We could feel God's love for him so strongly. We don't know what he has the capacity to takeon in the church or out. But we do know the Savior wanted us to visit with him. In fact fun story about the Holy Ghost helping us get to him. We were using our google map GPS to find him and the indicator said we had about a mile further to go for his address. I felt impressed to pull over off the highway right by a mailbox on the side of the road and to the side of a gravel road leading into the woods. I asked Alecia to read the number on the box to get a fix as to where we were. As she did so, it was exactly where we were looking for. We met with him for over an hour, had a prayer together, and were assured by the Spirit that that was where we were to be. I know it sounds like a little thing, but you had to be there to get the incredible implication of it all. It brings to mind the scripture that by small things He will bring about great things. It is so fulfilling to know that we are in His service.

Another quick story is about a man we met and talked about the gospel with as we were having lunch in Big Fork. After a passing nod and howdy type of greeting we asked him to join us for lunch. It turned out he is a lifelong and devout member of the Church of Christ from Tennessee. We were able to dispel some anti propaganda he had held true forever. A real feeling of love and comradeship prevailed and we exchanged emails and mutual expressions of love. We love this work!! 

I can't go on and on about every experience we are having without boring you to death, but safice it to say that we feel we are about the Lord's work and feel Him at our side supporting, encouraging, and lifting us up. Sometimes it feels really hard, is exhausting at times, but always worth it..

It is true. Every part of it. We love and miss you all.

Zone "P" day trip and picnic at Glacier National Park

Medical week

I

THE HOME OF TWO CELESTIAL WOMEN--Ashley and Brook Taylor

As I mentioned in a previous post, NZ wanted a Pulmonologist to review my chest x-rays and CT scan. So last week was taken up with doing just that. It took awhile to set things up but we were blessed with an appointment on Friday with a really great Doc. He assured us that everything was benign and nothing to worry about but should have another look in 6 months, ( doctor speak to cover his 6 legally). He did write up a pretty good report for NZ so now it is totally up to The Lord as to weather we are approved or not--well it has always been up to him, huh?  Any way, your prayers would be greatly appreciated, we are so anxious to get on with it.

We continue to carve out a place for our labors here. It is so rewarding to work with the missionaries here. Last week we took the two Sisters who are workin in Polson, on the south shore of Flathead Lake. They are both great missionaries and work very hard in their callings. It was our blessing to get to know them and offer up our support to them. Just one set of missionaries from this zone to take out but transfers are on the 22nd so we may get to start all over again. 

We are scheduled to go with the missionaries Wed night on a teaching appointment and are stoked about that. Also we have been given the name of an inactive Vietnam vet with PTSD and agent Orange disability and are going to visit with him and his family this week. Hope we can be of service there. 

I was just asked by Ashley Taylor, the daughter of Richard and Deanne who are putting us up, here in Kalispell, what I liked best about the mission so far. She has seved a mission at Temple Square and is wheelchair bound but an exhaulted spirit for sure. A GOOD QUESTION! My answer was how personal and powerful my relationship with our Saviour has become. Those who have been out here know that feeling and how incredibly fulfilling it is.

As we get to know these missionaries, our ferverent prayer for them is that the level of spiritual committment, love, desire to be like the Saviour, obedience, and shedding of the Natural man they have achieved on their mission becomes their new base line--never to be desended below ever again. And if they do, to regain it as soon as possible. For the longer they stay from it the more risk they have of becoming lost in the misty paths after partaking of the most desirable fruit. 

Work in the Big Fork Ward

We have had a great week of service in this part of our mission as we have been "learning"how to be MLS missionaries. There is a definite learning curve involved here and probably different for different situations and areas. We have found that we basically define the parameters of our own labors. We have spent some time meeting with the leaders, like President Clark, and the Bishop of the ward. We also met with the missionaries serving in the Big Fork district; Elders Swanson and Brewster. These two men are good missionaries and it has been a pleasure working with them. We have also worked on setting up a working relationship with the Zone Leaders; Elders Witt and Eddington. They are two of the most mature, dedicated, spiritually attuned men we have ever met. They are truly men of God and are in His service. We can't say enough about them. 

We visited 4 different families whom the Bisop assigned to us and we're touched by them as well as touching their spirits. Well all except one family who had divorced, sold their home, and moved to parts unknown. One family was especially tender for us as he is suffering from the latter stages of Parkinson's Disease. It was especially tender for Alecia because of having the memories of her father very fresh. A report has been made on these families to the Bishop and we will report to the stake president also.  It felt so good to be about the Lord's work. 

Perhaps the highlight of our week was attending the half mission conference in Helena for the northern half of the Montana Mission. We drove 5 of the 10 missionaries to Helena and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with them on the way down. We plan on meeting with all pairs and working with them all The conference was one of the singular fantastic moments of our lives. It started out with all the missionaries standing in a large circle around the perimeter of the chapel and the mission president, President Wadswerth, and his wife personally shaking the hands of each missionary. You could have heard a pin drop as silent reverence was displayed throughout the entire process. As the meeting proceeded, we were so greatly impressed by the strength, power, and spirit of those ambassadors of Jesus Christ. As the mantel and keys of authority were taken on by this new president, his dedicated support of the entire mission Elders and Sisters was incredibly shown. 

Then we broke for lunch. OH MY!!! Again we all stood in a large circle, this time inside the multi-purpose room and sang-or they sang, we couldn't, "The Army of Helaman". Never has a song touched our souls as much as this did ours. Truly the statement that there are more with us than with the enemy is so true. This work will go forward til it fills the earth. We will win. 

One other quick story. As we were having lunch in Big Fork, Alecia recognized a man sitting at a close by table and said that he really looked familiar. After he and his son were done eating, he came over and introduced himself and his son. Hello,he said. I am Bronco Mendenhal, the head football coach at BYU. COOL OR WHAT?? I noticed your badges and wanted to say hello. My Father served as a mission president in New Zealand!  

We haven't had a day yet that someone hasn't told us that they have had some relative serving in New Zealand. We take that as hope that we are still going to go there. 

Singing The Army Of Helaman

Us with President and Sister Wadswerth