We are "Chuffed"!

JM:  Just a note about the meaning of Takapuna. At church a few weeks ago an elderly gentleman introduced himself to me and asked where we lived. I told him we served in the area office in Takapuna and lived just a few blocks away. He asked if I knew what Takapuna meant and I told him I didn't. He said Taka means to stomp on and puna means spring. He said that years ago people would go to the area that is now Takapuna and stomp on the springs in an effort to get people to leave and relinquish their land. Alas, man is the same all over the world.

JM: March 17, 2017 - We went to the anniversary celebration for the University of Auckland Institute. We thought we had left plenty early but we were unable to find the parking area we had been told to use. The GPS led us to a different parking lot. Running out of time,we finally decided to park in the more expensive lot. Parking in Auckland is ridiculously expensive. I cost us $36 NZD for three hours.

Once we parked, we went to where the GPS said the Institute was located. It's address is on Governor Fitzroy. We found a sign with that street name and followed the directional arrow on the sign but couldn't find the Institute. After calling the office for help, we finally figured out that the street sign was pointing the wrong direction and found the Institute.

They were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Institute with several former directors speaking followed by a luncheon. It was very nice and we got a story out of it.

Jim trying to get a photo!

Phillip Skeen, Institute Director

March 18, 2017 - We went to Hamilton for a New Zealand Public Affairs conference. We left at 6:30 a.m., bought some fruit along the way and arrived in Temple View at 8:45. We met in a church inside Temple View, the small town surrounding the temple. We were instructed by Elder Thomson and our boss, Rich Hunter. We enjoyed lunch in the kitchen and cultural hall and then went to the Temple View project office for a tour of the church history museum that is currently under construction.  It will be amazing when it is finished.

We also toured the park being built just below the visitor's center and saw the exterior of the stake center that will also serve as a convention center. We were told that the project will be dedicated on June 17 with a cultural celebration the night before. Apparently we will be quite involved in the preparation for both.  We are having trouble finding lodging in Hamilton for that weekend because of a big "field day" event that weekend that people from all over come to.  All hotels are booked.  We've found something 30 miles away and of questionable suitability that we've reserved in case we can't find something closer.

SM:  We are "chuffed"! That's a word they use in New Zealand that means "quietly excited".  More will follow in later posts regarding the dedications in Hamilton during July.  Chuffed because of  possible visitors from Church Headquarters for the event.

On Sunday night we helped host Labour Party Leader and member of Parliament, Andrew Little, for a YSA Devotional. We had two other parliament members and His Excellency from Tonga there, as well as other government leaders. There was a pre-function held in the Relief Society Room before the devotional. Andrew Little encouraged the youth to have the courage to do what it right.

Elder Thomsen and MP Andrew Little in the center

MP Andrew Little

We attended "Pasifika" Saturday morning in Auckland.  Once a year this big festival is held in a downtown park and features countries throughout the Pacific. Think Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, but with food booths, craft booths, and entertainment from the different countries.  It was quite the event with tons of people there.  Jim bought a treat that consisted of half a watermelon with insides removed, chopped, and put back in the rind.  On top of that was ice cream, syrup, and wafers. A tiny umbrella topped it off.  Quite tasty.

The two photos directly above are of a dance in the Tahiti area of Pasifika. It was interesting for the first 10 minutes but then too many of the same moves and drum beat. Under the pile of sand you see in the bottom photo is a teenage girl. The dance was supposed to depict a birth. At the end of the dance one of the male dancers removes her hair from under the sand and then starts pulling the sand away from her body. At one point she sits up but has no clothing on. All of us American missionaries were quite surprised. We don't know if the rest of the crowd was, but we were. We decided it might be time to move on and visit another country.

Saturday night we, along with the Champlins (our favorite missionary couple that we get to share responsibilities with) and David Snell (our Public Affairs intern from BYU whom we love - and is the creator of the blog - The Sunday Pews) were invited to dinner at the home of our Area Public Affairs director, Rich Hunter, and his family. It was a farewell dinner for Champlins and David and a welcome for us. They are a beautiful family and we loved being in their home. We loved playing a little ping-pong, pictionary, and the "ring on a string" game. We couldn't have asked for a kinder individual to serve with than Rich.  He is so appreciative of anything we do.  His stewardship is vast and we try to help him any way that we can. We are grateful for our friendship with him and now his sweet wife, Laura, and kids.