Farewell to the Winters

Farewell to the Winters!

The first couple to leave the Pacific Area Office since we arrived on January 9th, is going home to Utah this evening. We have a farewell luncheon for all couples with the Area Presidency and their wives the week that they are leaving. We had a farewell for Elder Gary and Sister Susan Winters this past Wednesday. I get to decorate the tables and prepare or order the food for the luncheon. I found a great lava lava (rectangular piece of fabric usually worn like a skirt) with a New Zealand print on it. I used that on top of a black tablecloth. For the lunch, I made chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, tossed salad, chips, salsa, & guacamole with Tres Leches cake for dessert. It was fun to prepare and serve the food and we all had a nice time reminiscing on the Winters' experiences and thanking them for their dedicated service. Here are a few pictures of the event.

The Serving Table

I'm Teaching Primary

I was just called to teach the 4 and 5 year old children in Primary. I haven't taught or even served in the Primary for over 40 years so this is all new to me. I have 9 children on the roll, but usually about 5 or 6 will be there. Here is a picture of my class last week, the first week I taught. They are all such cute kids and make me think of our grandchildren. We actually have 4 grandchildren that fall into this age range, Halle, Dayne, Abby, and Sadie. I have found that the time goes by quickly so I don't need to prepare as much as I did the first week. This week the lesson is on "I Can Tell Others About Jesus Christ." I suggest we invite missionaries into the class to tell them about serving a mission, but I can tell them about our service too.

Suva, Fiji Temple Rededication in spite of Cyclone Winston

The rededication of the Suva, Fiji Temple was scheduled for last weekend, February 20-21, 2016. Many members have worked for months (and years) to get ready for this glorious occasion. As the weekend approached, weather reports spoke of Cyclone Winston which was headed for the islands of Tonga and Fiji. As the cyclone approached, it was upgraded to a Category 5, the strongest cyclone to ever hit the Pacific Islands and it was scheduled to hit landfall on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was the Youth Cultural Celebration that our youth from several islands have been rehearsing for for many months. As they gathered in Suva, coming by boat and bus, for final rehearsals, the storms began. Church leaders decided to move up the start time for the celebration as the storm was to hit in the early evening and there was an imposed government curfew to have everyone in their homes or safe places by 5:00 pm. Not only did they move up the start time, but they had to eliminate several of the numbers and go straight to the finale as the storm raged and drew closer. On Monday after the rededication, two of our Area Presidency members and their wives went over to the school where the youth were housed to have them perform the missed numbers. Pres. Eyring, Elder & Sister Cook and Elder Pearson can be seen in the picture below thanking the youth for their participation in such a marvelous event.

After a night that brought winds of up to 185 miles per hour at the center of the storm, the morning brought a slight reprieve allowing the three rededication sessions to go forth as planned. Since communication had been interrupted, some of the broadcasts of the first session could not happen, but the saints still gathered to give thanks to God for turning the eye of the cyclone away from Suva and saving their beautiful temple and all those gathered there. 

Unfortunately, the cyclone hit some of the outlying areas and islands and caused great damage.

The homes are made of pieces of wood, corrugated aluminum, bricks, and anything else that they can find so they are more easily destroyed, especially with winds of the strength of Cyclone Winston.

This young man is trying to salvage anything of value or importance.

All missionaries and members of the church have been accounted for and are safe. Many lost their homes, both in Fiji and in Vava'u Tonga. Many are temporarily living in church meetinghouses, The church and the government are sending in aid and hygiene supplies as quickly as possible. Right now, we have many missionaries there, some senior couples, assessing the damage and the needs.

There are so many stories of miracles and tender mercies that happened last weekend in Fiji. Everyone that attended felt the Lord's hand in all that happened and felt peace knowing He was in charge. It was a spiritual experience for all involved. It continues to be a wonderful experience to be a part of this Pacific Area and we love serving here.

On Saturday, January 30th, we had the opportunity to be taught by a very special man, Elder D. Todd Christofferson who is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we sustain all of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers and revelators.  We consider them to be special witnesses of the Savior in the same way Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the other early apostles were.

It was a very powerful meeting.  There were about 500 missionaries in attendance, including most of the young sisters and elders, as well as Senior Missionaries, from both the Auckland and Hamilton missions.  Elder Christofferson made a point of shaking every single hand and greeting each one of us personally. 

In addition to hearing from both Elder Christofferson and his wife, we also heard fabulous talks by our Area President, Elder Kevin W. Pearson, and his wife, Sister June L. Pearson.

 After church today, we drove to Muriwai Beach to see the black sand beach on the west side of the north island. The west side beaches have waves and there were lots of people surfing there. Muriwai Beach is also famous for the gannet colony. Gannets are birds that are indigenous to this area. They make their nests in November and lay their eggs soon after. The babies hatch in December and January. There were lots of baby gannets that looked like balls of fuzz. Some of the babies were already nearly as big as the parent birds. Below is a huge rock in the ocean that some of these gannets chose to be the place they laid their eggs. I guess this puts a new meaning on being island bound until those chicks get big enough to fly.

Below is a closeup of the gannets. The mothers and fathers are protecting their babies which look like balls of fuzz. After seeing the gannets, we walked on the black sand and it was hot, much hotter sand than the white sand on the east coast beaches here. We hope to visit a different beach each weekend so we can walk along the shore forever if it is low tide and collect gorgeous shells and occasionally some sea glass. There are beaches everywhere, we can even walk to Takapuna Beach in 5 minutes from our office. We love it.

Auckland has a Sky Tower with a restaurant right in the center of town. We can actually see downtown Auckland from our apartment building. Saturday we drove to the American Store and passed right by the Sky tower. Martha's Backyard is the name of the American Store. It was fun to see American brands, but you need to really want an item there as everything is very expensive. We bought Jif peanut butter for $11.50 and chocolate chips for $7.50 for a 12 oz. package. I don't think we will do this again. If you come to visit us, just bring peanut butter, chocolate chips, and pecans.

We are back to the land of year-round flowers and gorgeous planters like this. We walked to the Takapuna Beach, a 5 minute walk from the office, 15 minutes from our apartment and these floral designs were on our way home.