March 6, 2016

We don't try to coordinate colors in our clothing choices, but sometimes it just happens!

The Sisters always laugh when it happens. 

Elder Martin always has a smile on his face though, and that is why he is a great missionary. We wouldn't be welcome in homes or have much success teaching The Plan of Happiness, if we weren't happy people. I like that Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness." If we follow the commandments, we will still have challenges, but we will be happy. 

One thing that did bring a frown to Elder Martin's face last week was preparing his taxes. We took an afternoon off so he could figure it all out, and it wasn't pretty, but what can we do. We all pay high taxes. 

Elder Dunn, from Fiji and our Zone leader, is "dying" this week. Not literally, but that is the term the young missionaries use when someone is finished with their mission and going home. When a missionary leaves the MTC, their first area is where they are "born". When a Sister becomes a trainer, she is having a "baby". When an Elder is out one year, he burns a tie to celebrate. Hopefully, he burns it outside his flat. Senior couples don't have any status words or rituals. We miss out on that fun!

Here is our small District: Sister Selwa (Zambia) and Placido (Philipines) and Elders Dalton (U.S.A.) and Mahoney (Australia). We have transfers this week, so there will most likely be changes. We know it's good for the missionaries to move around, but we are sad for them to leave. 

Have you ever seen a black swan? They are common here. I love their red beaks. We came upon bunches of them at Lake Takapuna, in north Auckland. 

This is one side of Lake Takapuna with lots of black swans out getting their breakfast. The Mission home where President Balli and Sister Balli live is at this lake and we came here for a special Senior Missionary Conference. The Balli's have been here for 1 1/2 years and they are wonderful! We love their guidance and wisdom.

There 8 couples in the Auckland mission and all of us in attendance. We each told some things that make our mission a success, and also told how we best keep in touch with our children. Then we each bore our testimonies. We learned some great things from the other couples and really felt the Holy Spirit in the room as we each testified of our love and devotion for the Savior and our missionary callings. Many talked about the great blessings their families have received as a result of their missionary service: reactivations back to the church, healings, job opportunities, new babies, etc. All are wonderful! 

We enjoyed a yummy taco salad lunch with ice cream for dessert. Anything Mexican is always a treat!

From left to right is Sister Balli (President Balli was taking the picture), the Bath's, the Calderwood's, the Clement's, the Terry's, the Irvine's, us, the Garth's, and the Jackson's. All are great people we love to be with, and it was wonderful being together and sharing. 

The mission home is lovely with a lake view from the balcony and big windows. It is very roomy and open inside with 3 bedrooms, garage and laundry downstairs and then upstairs, a large formal lounge and dining room, a big kitchen, family lounge and the master bedroom. This home is worth several million, I'm sure. 

Since this is the first year of our new Penrose Stake, we got to celebrate Relief Society's 174th anniversary down in Hamilton at the beautiful, new church-owned camp. Over 200 women attended, and this is the view of the Temple at dusk from the main pavilion. 

We all had cabins to sleep in, except some brought tents. Friday night was a dinner, devotional and musical numbers from all the wards. This is Sister Pangatau and I with her sister-in-law. Everyone was in high spirits, happy to be near the temple and celebrating together. 

This is our ward and the Nueyan ward performing together. I wasn't able to attend the practices, so I stayed out of the way and enjoyed from the cheering section. Sister Scanlan and Sister Coe, our Relief Society President are in the front. 

Sister Ahakovi, our bishop's wife, and Sister Young-yen, our Stake President's wife are leading the way with great enthusiasm and zeal! The noise level reached a deafening sound from all the singing and laughing as the evening progressed. Then two gigantic sheet cakes were served, after singing Happy Birthday to the Relief Society and blowing out candles. 

I was on the top bunk in our cabin with 8 other ladies. The facilities were great and we were all very comfy. Morning came early though, getting up at 5am for breakfast, devotional, and off to the temple, which was a very busy place. We were served a nice BBQ for lunch, then a service project of lawn mowing, weeding, and other outside cleanup. After that, everyone was pretty hot, so there was water games planned with water balloons and water squirters to cool everyone off. Cleanup and then photos were the last items on the agenda. 

I was really happy to have the opportunity to attend this Relief Society camp. I drove down with Gaelene and Elder Martin stayed home (he had our taxes to finish). Gaelene and I had a great time, and I loved getting closer to many of the other sisters. One in particular is a non-member getting baptized in a few weeks, and camp was a great event for her to see how we "party" in a clean way, and meet lots of women.  Also, another sister coming back into activity, who gave extra service at the camp and met lots of new friends. Elder Martin and I love her family so much and are thrilled that she had such a good time. We have wonderful women in our wonderful stake. 

Gaelene and I took a side trip to Bridal Veil Falls, west of Hamilton. I had been wanting to go there, and even with the "twisty, curly" road (as Gelene described it), we were not disappointed and it was worth the trip. The long drop makes such a lovely waterfall. 

From the waterfall viewing platform, we could see the bush line, and above it, beautiful grazing land and farmland. The trip home wasn't complete without a stop in Pokeno for ice cream. There we met up with several members coming home from the camp. 

Elder Martin survived without me, barely! He finished as much as he could on our taxes, and then played a game of golf with some other Senior Elders. He was exhausted and sun burnt. The course was very hilly, and with the sun beating on them, it was a tough game. Electric carts are for the rich or the infirmed (with a medical note), so he is getting more used to a pull cart, but even they take a lot of effort on hilly courses. 

Actually, the Relief Society celebration continued after the camp til Sunday night, finishing with a wonderful fireside, where examples of great women were talked about. From the scriptures, the woman at the well and the widow from Zarephath, the pioneers in the U.S. and in NZ, and lessons from loving mothers and wise grandmothers. So much time, planning, and hard work went into this weekend celebration from the stake RS presidency and so many others. This weekend was a real highlight of our mission. 

I love this advice. There is always adversity around us, but if we don't let it inside, we will stay afloat. Our ships remain watertight from the love and kindness we show others, by keeping the commandments, prayer, reading scriptures, and keeping the Sabbath Day holy. All these we must do over and over again to maintain strong "ships".

Please maintain your ship and be strong against the adversary. Take time away from the world every day to feed your spirit. Clean off the barnacles, repair rotting wood, and put on a new coat of paint. Make your ship watertight. You are the skipper of your own happiness.

We love and appreciate all your support and prayers.  Pray for ALL the missionaries. They work so hard. 

Love,

Elder and Sister Martin

February 28, 2016

Happy Leap Day and Year!!! 

Last week was a good week with some great visits and opportunities for service.

We were able to connect with some people we haven't seen for a while and felt really welcomed. 

One Sister expressed her desire to return to church, has been praying and reading her scriptures, and even set up a night for us to be with her family. Every time we've been in her home we've felt the Spirit with this great family. 

Also, a recent widow, opened up about her pain and struggles of her children with their loss. We were able to leave with a message of peace along with a prayer. We hope she will come to church but that may be a ways off. 

A member called us who should've been at work, but a phone call from her neighbor brought her home early, to a watery mess in her basement/garage from a broken pipe. Because we couldn't get there right away, I called the High Priest Group Leader, who went right over. We got there at the tail end to help a little bit, and were thankful for the quick response of the Priesthood. This woman made lemonade out of lemons. The broken pipe was quickly fixed and she looked at the mess as an opportunity to clean out her basement/garage. 

Yes, they do have Dunkin Donut stores here, but we have never been to one. Since we were meeting the Sisters for Companion Study on Tuesday morning, we thought it might be fun to take them some American style donuts. We bought 5 for only $13 and got a 6th one free! That is why we have never bought any. Thank goodness there is no Krispy Creme here. 

We enjoyed helping the Sisters role play for their lesson that night. They are teaching a new family and they did great. In fact, this family will be getting baptized on March 12!!!  They are a lovely family of 7 children and are truly golden. The first Sunday, even before their first lesson, they apologized for not coming to church. The father said they have to go back to their own church to say goodbye. They have attended our ward ever since. 

This week was our grandson, Isaac's 5th birthday and his father's 40th!! Happy Birthday!!!

A Brother had some questions for Elder Martin about a certain New Testament parable. At his house, Elder Martin was able to explain to him the parable, and I got to hold their baby while his wife put children to bed and caught up on some laundry. It turns out that because this member learned and understood this parable, he expressed appreciation to his father in law for all he had done for them, which immediately broke down years of barriers between the two. Simple service goes along way. 

Zone training last week emphasized teaching repentance. There is a great article in the February Ensign this month about repentance. It says, 

"In our day we may fall into a self-satisfied routine of gospel living. We tell ourselves, “I go to church, I pay my tithing, I live the Word of Wisdom--I’m doing just fine. Without realizing it, we may fall into the trap of ignoring those sins that don’t show to the outside world." 

We all have need of daily/weekly repentance. 

For fun we met Sister Trull and her companion, Sister Lott, and took them out to lunch. It was special to be with her again. Elder Martin is the missionary's "Gospel question/answer-man" and Sister Trull always has great questions to ask him. 

When possible, we show the movies, Meet the Mormons, Ephraim's Rescue  and Cokeville Miracles to families in the ward. We brought these videos from the U.S. and all are true stories with great messages. Everyone should see them. 

We've had some beautiful days, but it was still hot in the sun. The Sisters are smart to carry these giant golf umbrellas to protect themselves from the burning rays. Elder Martin and I have AC and a car so we think it's perfect outside. 

Friday night, with a group of Senior couples, we went to a NZ production of Phantom of the Opera at the beautiful Civic Center Theater in downtown Auckland. We've seen this play twice, in LA and Kansas City, and we were glad to see it here because it was wonderful!!! Yes, Seniors are allowed to attend plays!

No beach experience for us on Saturday, but we enjoyed participating in a bi-stake "Helping Hands" service project. We didn't have yellow vests to wear, but that didn't keep us from filling up a large bag of rubbish as we walked around a huge park. Tin cans, shopping carts and furniture were also retrieved from the bush. This Sister from our ward was working very hard and we stopped to have a picture with her. It was a great turnout of members. 

In addition, members and missionaries went door to door passing out 3000+ crime prevention flyers. One American Elder told me he had good responses from the neighborhood to the flyers, and one bad response by a man who cussed him out in Samoan. Then this very blonde Samoan-speaking Elder answered the man back in Samoan, "Have a nice day", and the man's face dropped! Funny and unexpected!

This is part of the "Helping Hands" volunteers before we went home. Can you find me with my sunglasses on? 

Saturday night was the baptism of Brother Afoa's three adopted children, Rose, James and Solomoa. There was also three 8 year old member baptisms too! It was a great night. The YSA were on the program, but none came forward to sing, so Brother Lawrence called Brother Talea from the audience to sing! Without hesitation, he came forward and sang wonderfully. Never before have I seen someone do that. George is my hero! 

Afterwards, we went with the Sisters to Brother Lawrence's house for Maori fry bread. I brought ingredients for Indian tacos, using the fry bread, which everyone loved. Just spreading American cuisine around!

This is a baby hedgehog we saw drinking water on the side of a country road. We stopped the car to take a look and for photos, and it never stopped drinking or even looked at us. So cute!

I saw this photo on FB and thought it was funny, but corny and a must to share!

This was an ordinary week, but not without extraordinary learning and progression for many!  President Balli told us that the success of a mission is gauged by the growth of the missionary. If this is true, Elder Martin and I are truly successful missionaries! Everyday is a good day!

The Mission prints a "Miracle Book" once a year with miracle stories submitted by the missionaries. Before we go home, we hope to be able to add a story in next year's book about it being a miracle that we never got into a car accident here! We never leave our apartment without a prayer for safety, and we have been saved from disaster many times. Driving on the wrong side of the road is a challenge!

We are so thankful for this opportunity to serve and be missionaries, especially here in New Zealand! We love our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ!  We know this is His true church, restored again in these latter days. Our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, along with the twelve Apostles, lead and guide this church and it is a beacon of light in the world. The Book of Mormon is true scripture and another testament of Jesus Christ. We admonish all to read it and pray to know for yourselves that it is true! We pray for all of you and love you! 

Love,

Elder and Sister Martin

February 21, 2016

We realize some of you don't really believe we are on a mission, but just on a long vacation! This blog post may reinforce that belief because we finally had some visitors and we took some days off to show them the beauties of New Zealand's Northland! 

Our dear friends, the Watsabaughs arrived in Auckland harbor on this cruise ship after a two-week tour from Syndney to Tasmania, New Zealand's South Island, and the southern part of the North Island. We were so excited to have them here for a few days to show them some of the places we love.

I was surprised at my heightened emotions from seeing these great people we love, so far from home. We greeted each other with long hugs before we took off to get them settled. The guys could hardly wait to catch up on their favorite pastime - golf - so then we drove towards Omaha beach, but had lunch at the Rusty Pelican in Matakana. A perfect day for the beach and golf and getting reacquainted. 

Wanting to make the most of our daylight, we spent Sunday after church site seeing. One Tree Hill is a "must" stop, with 360 degree views of Auckland, and magnificent grounds and trees. 

Piha Beach is majestic with a rocky cliffs and a long black-sandy beach. I was surprised to see so many people there camping, strolling and swimming. Probably because the weather was perfect! 

Craig and RaNae are leaning against the rocks far enough away you can't make them out, and JB is wearing the turquoise shirt walking towards me. The dry black sand burns hot where any sand touches your feet, even with sandals, so were happy to get to wet sand. People with dogs have to carry them over the sand to the grass or road. Their poor little paws would burn. 

A place we had never been to, but heard was great to see is Hobbiton, where they filmed parts of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbits. It is a busy place with lots of tourists, but we all enjoyed it, even though we are not dye-hard fans of the movies. We never even saw The Hobbit movies. 

Hobbiton is located about 2 hours south of us on a beautiful cattle farm that was first transformed into a temporary set. After becoming a popular tourist attraction, and with the filming of the Hobbit series, the set was rebuilt with permanent materials. The owners of the property manage the whole sight seeing operation. 

None of the Hobbit holes have interiors to view. Above is the living, large "party tree" shown in the movie. Under the grassy places where you see chimneys are Hobbit holes, all uniquely painted, decorated and landscaped. 

This is the famous Bilbo's Bags End Hobbit hole. The tree above it is a transplanted tree trunk with leaves individually attached to make it look alive. 

Everyone thought these two were twins. The matching orange shirts were not planned.

The grounds are maintained by college-aged men and women, who also take turns giving the guided tours. 

Thatch roof experts were brought over from England to make these roofs from rushes growing on the farm. They even put fake lichen on the fences to make them look older and authentic. 

A lot of attention to detail, of course. 

Nice view of three Hobbit holes, the large Party Tree, with Bags End at the top with the fake tree behind it. Very picturesque!

At the end of the tour they take us into the Green Dragon Tavern for a drink of beer or for us, ginger ale. 

The next day, we stayed closer to home and went to Hanua Falls and Manukau Heads. Many parks have huge frames like this for picture-taking. Behind JB is the beautiful Hanua waterfall (shown also in our picture at the beginning of this post).

It's amazing that those two white straps stretched across the road keep the cattle from roaming off away from the path. They won't step over them!

We drove 1 1/2 hours to this lighthouse at Manukau Heads, only to find the gates to it were locked twenty minutes before we arrived! The weather was rainy, or we might've walked to it, but we didn't. Live and learn about closing times if we ever go out there again! 

We had such a nice time with JB and RaNae, and we were so lucky there was an extra empty apartment they could stay in, so they weren't so crowded with us. It was hard to say goodbye, but they were travel-weary, and we needed to get back to missionary work. 

While the Watsabaugh's were here, we did manage to attend a Special Zone Training by the AP's and the Mission President and his wife. It was a very inspired meeting, emphasizing the need to personally study Preach My Gospel, exercise more faith in "finding, and being bold in teaching repentance. 

A good quote from Elder Maxfield was, "You can't have one foot in the mission and one foot out of the mission."

Sister Balli quoted from 1 Nephi 2:10, "Be firm and steadfast and immovable" which takes great effort. "We are the Apostle's companions in the work of a missionary."

President Balli admonished us to not "compartmentalize" our sins, thinking we can commit a small sin because we are doing many "good" labors. 

Also, a woman that we've visited twice a month since arriving last April, died, and we were happy to attend and speak at her funeral. She was so kind to us and was excited to hear about all the places we visited on our P-days. She was 80 and in poor health, and the only church member in her family, having joined a few years ago. We are very sad about her sudden death, and will miss our visits with her. 

The darling children from each ward performed traditional dances from different islands. Our ward celebrated dances from Fiji. We didn't get to attend, but I saw these pictures on the ward Facebook Page.

So cute!

So fierce!

To celebrate our upcoming Ward Conference on Sunday, we had a ward campout Friday and Saturday at Ambury Park, which is located within our ward boundaries. There were many large family tents set up, and we had a really nice borrowed 4 man tent. 

There were lots of games played; team relays, tug-o-war, football, and volleyball. A big BBQ, Friday night with breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Also a service project Saturday morning. There was lots of free time spent relaxing, mingling and visiting. 

Craig is solving the worlds problems with the High Priest Group Leader, Brother Lameko.

George and I are talking a while, with the campfire in the background. Don't you love his machete? 

After breaking camp and lunch, and although many families had already left, we, "the chosen ones",

posed for a group photo. See if you can find Craig and I! (Hint, I'm the only blonde)

Ward Conference today was very nice and well-attended. President Young-Yen, our Stake President, gave a powerful talk relating our successful ward campout activity to Enoch's righteous city. He talked about about keeping the Sabbath a day Holy, and keeping the commandments. 

We love our ward family and the welcoming and good people that they are. They have strong testimonies and teach their children gospel principles and obedience. We have a huge youth group and soon to be many full-time missionaries. It seems we have much more to learn from this ward than they do from us, but the best is working together a day at a time. 

We love our mission and the opportunity to serve. This is no ordinary church, it is the restored Church of Jesus Christ! It is not a break- off of any other church, it is unique and was brought forth in these latter days through Joseph Smith, who received the keys of the Priesthood, with authority to act in God's name. "God IS great!"

We love and appreciate you!

Love,

Elder and Sister Martin