Tape Your Ankles and Let's Go, It's Game Time!

JM - Our friends and fellow Public Affairs missionaries, Elder and Sister Champlin, left on April 14. Their replacements were supposed to arrive before that but visas had not yet been received by Elder and Sister Pinson. When Elder Champlin told Elder S. Gifford Nielsen (of the Seventy and First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency - also a former NFL and BYU quarterback) that, his response was "McGuires better tape their ankles, have a pre-game meal and get ready to get in the game." Oh, how right he was!

On the day Champlins left for home we were in Tauranga preparing for the dedication of a monument to honor Matthew Cowley. Click here for a video of that event: Matthew Cowley Monument Dedication, Tauranga, New Zealand . Can you find Shirley and me, twice? Blink and you'll miss us!

These last two weeks have been good and very busy. As usual we would arrive at the office at about 8:30 and leave about 4:30, but those eight hours were action-packed.   It's not been unusual when I get home to be on my laptop working on stories.  We've had a ton of stories lately.  So much to do and so little time (especially for two senior missionaries still wet behind the ears)!

SM: As President Monson said, "When we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to the Lord's help.  Remember that."  We are certainly recipients of His help in so many ways.  And, oh, how our family is being blessed! We truly acknowledge the Lord's hand in our lives.

JM: As busy as it has been, this past two weeks has been a good teacher, providing accelerated learning. Previously Champlins had always been there to provide answers and help as needed. Now the work needed to be done and we were the only ones to do it. We taped our ankles, had a pre-game meal and went out onto the field of battle.

View of Auckland from Devonport

In spite of all we had to do we were able to enjoy a few excursions, though. We went to Muriwai for the second time. This time we went with fellow senior missionaries Cherri and Scott Loveless. They are seasoned Muriwai visitors and took us down to the beach where there is a "cave". Actually it is just a narrow opening in the cliff where, I suppose, the waves have cut through. The cave opens up onto the ocean on one side and the beach on the other.

Elder Loveless and Jim at Muriwai Cave

It was low tide and we entered from the beach. It was dark and we were wading in a bit water. As we approached the ocean opening the waves began getting bigger and water came crashing into the cave. It wasn't much water, but it came in with some force. It made quite a loud crashing sound as it  hit the walls of the cave. One of the waves cam in with such force that it almost knocked Shirley over. It was that wave that Elder Loveless said created a sound he had not heard before in his multiple times in the cave, a double crash. The wave crashed into the north wall of the cave and had enough force that it bounced of that wall and still made a crashing sound as it hit the south wall.

Prior to going into the cave we went to the south end of the beach where Lovelesses knew we would find starfish. Sure enough, we found many starfish clinging to the rocks as the waves came in and receded. Interestingly the starfish didn't have five arms like one might expect, they each had 10-12 arms. Wondering if it was alive, Shirley picked one up but quickly returned it to the water.

On our way home we stopped for ice cream (I love New Zealand, it has lots of ice cream). I wish I could eat it every night like I did as a young man. Now my pants are getting tighter and I only eat it less than once a week.

On ANZAC Day, April 25, we arose early to drive over the bridge into Mount Roskill and arrive at a commemoration that began at 6:30 a.m. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps and ANZAC Day is similar to our Memorial Day. The two slogans, "We will remember them" and "lest we forget" can be seen throughout Auckland. One member of the Church told me that, with the exception of Iraq, New Zealand has fought alongside United States in every conflict since World War I. The commemoration we attended is documented on Pacific Mormon Newsroom as:
 "Church Members and Friends Remember Those Who Protect Freedom" . 

Cold sunrise service for Anzac Dat

Jim getting information for story

After the ANZAC Day commemoration we went to Matakatia Beach, Red Beach and dinner with another senior missionary couple, Elder and Sister Collins (Lynn and Karen). It was a much needed, relaxing afternoon at the beach. When we had gone to Red Beach with Elder and Sister Champlin a few weeks earlier we had found quite a few nautilus shells. Sister Collins wanted some nautilus shells for her collection and she was lucky enough to find two handfuls at Red Beach.

Matakatia Beach with Collins

Red Beach on Anzac Day

 
SM: On Saturday, April 29, we drove up to Hamilton (1 1/2 hr drive) to attend the temple.  We went to the 1:30 session and were surprised to learn that it was a Samoan language session.  It wasn't lost on me that I'm in New Zealand, a land of many Maori, and as a Palangi attending a temple session surrounded by a room full of beautiful Samoan members and I'm acting as proxy for my French ancestor, Cedulie Bernier.  A wonderful experience! It was reiterated to me that Heavenly Father loves us all - those on the earth now, those who lived here before, and those yet to come down.

We drove back to Auckland and went to a Mexican Restaurant, Little Mexico, that had been recommended to us.  Hard to find good Mexican food here.  Downtown Auckland is quite the happening place at night.  And parking is a nightmare.

We are going to Samoa in a few weeks to meet with the national Public Affairs Director, Sapele Longi, and his team.  We are also trying to determine how many villages there will not allow missionary proselyting.  One list shows 29 villages.  Another list shows 18 villages. (And only five are on both lists.) Some villages fine those who join the Church.  Some will allow members in their village but demand that they attend meetings outside of their village.  A Pacific Area Goal is to make progress toward establishing religious freedom in those villages.  Once we determine which villages don't allow the Church to operate in them, then goals that are more specific can be worked on and the Public Affairs team can become involved in that.  We are looking forward to the trip even though it will be very HOT!

Cyclones, Alarms and Smoke - Oh My!

SM:  Red Beach is a great place to spend a few hours.  We packed a light lunch and drove over with Champlins. The beach is very unique in that the shore is made up of coral that has, over time, eroded.  The coral has interesting grooves running through it.  We actually found a starfish and knew we had to "save that one" by getting it into the water.  We also found a lot of nautilus shells and a few sand dollars.  Very unique place.

The night market is something one must go to at least once when in Auckland. A group of us went to see what it's like.  It's held in a parking garage (car park) on the weekends. Imagine tons of people and lots of food stalls.  I bought a spiral cut fried potato on a stick Yum!  Jim had ice cream that was rolled up like a fruit roll-up.  Lots of unique food there.  The squid body and tentacles look awful!

Cyclone Cook is bearing down hard in the South Pacific!  The Area Office closed up today at noon and sent everyone home and told us to hunker down til it passed.  Six hours later and nothing.  But we think it's still coming.  It's supposed to hit hard in Tauranga, which is where we are driving south to tomorrow.  It's about 3 hours away.  We are going to cover the Matthew Cowley (Matiu Kouri) Grove and Historical Marker dedication. Hope we don't get rained out.  We've been told that if the storm is too bad that we shouldn't go.

We've been writing pre-stories, coordinating with the local public affairs people in Tauranga, arranging to get location permissions for videoing, meeting with Publishing Services department about photos, videoing, etc.  It's never just a "show up and take pictures" type event, it seems.  Lots of planning beforehand.  Part of the event will be held in the Marae, which requires that each person that enters has to have already been through a particular Maori ceremony.  Those that haven't already, will do so before the event. Looking forward to it.

A YSA Face 2 Face Pacific Area broadcast event was held the other night.  This particular one was a family home evening with local young single adults and Elder and Sister Nielsen of the Area Presidency. One of the local youth that attended is named Thummin.  I learned that he has a brother named Urim.  Hmmm.

Well, I almost burned down our apartment complex today.  Sort of!  I put some eggs on to boil.  After 6-7 minutes I took one out to eat while the others finished cooking.  We quickly finished getting ready to go  and stopped by the store to pick up some cake for a little farewell party in our office.  While in the store I suddenly remembered that I left the eggs boiling.  I was in a panic.  We hurried back to the apartment and opened the door to smoke in the room.  I hurried and opened windows and our balcony door.  I am so amazed that the smoke alarm didn't go off.  Had fire department come it would have cost me $1200.  I am so grateful I suddenly remembered.  A tender mercy, I'm certain!

And speaking of smoke, it's not unusual for the building to be evacuated because a smoke/fire alarm has gone off in our apartment complex. The other day the speaker came on saying leave the building so we took our wallets and headed to the grocery store close by.  We were out of town when the alarm came on late at night.  We've been told that it does happen during the night once in a while. Not looking forward to that.  

JM:  Our wonderful friends, mentors and companion public affairs missionaries, Jeff and Linda Champlin, leave tomorrow to go home. They have mentored us for these first two months and we have come to rely on them a great deal. It will be quite an adjustment for us and we will miss them terribly . Since their replacements, the Pinsons, haven't gotten their visas yet, we will be without any help for the next 2 or 3 weeks. It will undoubtedly be a very busy time -  we just hope we are up to speed enough to carry the load alone. We'll see how things go.

SM:  On Friday April 14 we drove down to Matamata for the night.  Surprisingly, the weather wasn't a problem but the traffic was!!  It took us three hours to go 50 miles of our 120 mile drive.  Everyone was leaving town for the long Easter weekend.  Saturday morning we headed to Tauranga for the dedication of the Matiu Kauri (Matthew Cowley) Grove and Historic Marker Dedication Service.  Matthew Cowley was a well-loved missionary in New Zealand and translated scripture into the Maori language.  He later served as mission president in NZ.  His motto was "Kia Ngawari", a Maori appeal to be loving, kind and humble.

The gathering began with a traditional welcome on to the Marae.  Here's an explanation of a marae:
In Māori society, the marae is a place where the culture can be celebrated, where the Māori language can be spoken, where intertribal obligations can be met, where customs can be explored and debated, where family occasions such as birthdays can be held, and where important ceremonies, such as welcoming visitors or farewelling the dead (tangihanga), can be performed. Like the related institutions of old Polynesia, the marae is a wāhi tapu, a 'sacred place' which carries great cultural meaning.

Marae in Tauranga

All newcomers to the marae must be invited and greeted formally by the tangata whenua (hosts). It's interesting to be part of a processional led by a host chanting and singing to the host standing in front of the Marae.  Shoes were removed to enter in the marae.  Men sit on the front rows and women behind. Guests sat on one side and Marae elders and others sat opposite.  There was more chanting and then Elders sang to guests.  Then Guests stood and sang to elders.  Fascinating culture.

After Marae ceremony everyone walked down the hill to the "Grove" for the actual dedication. Elder Haleck, of the Seventy and Pacific Area President, Elder Nielsen of the Seventy and Elder Steven E. Snow of the Seventy, and Church Historian were in attendance. Elder Haleck and Elder Snow spoke then Elder Haleck gave the dedicatory prayer. We, or course, were taking notes, photos and initiating video interviews with the visiting Church authorities and local government leaders.  Jim can now add a new skill to his resume.  He interviews guests for video. No experience required - teehee!

Elder Haleck

Deputy Mayor of Tauranga

Elder Snow, Church Historian

Matthew Cowley Marker

Following the dedication service we drove 60 miles to Hamilton with the guests to tour the Church History Center that's almost completed. It's a beautiful building and the only other Churchwide.  It will be dedicated in June. Expecting more guests from Salt Lake for the event. Needless to say, we felt very fortunate to participate in the activities of this day.

 Easter is always a wonderful day for me.  In the office we have been making arrangements for the "Prince of Peace" campaign to be carried out in the different islands throughout the Pacific. It was wonderful to see banners of the Savior and the campaign phrase on church fences in Tonga before we left.  There were billboards in many of the islands. I am so grateful for the beautiful reminders of the Savior's gift to all through His atonement and resurrection.  The comforting peace that we all desire comes only from Christ, truly the "Prince of Peace". Five of us local missionary couples got together that evening for a delicious dinner at Hendersons' flat.

Forget the chocolate Easter bunnies. NZ has chocolate kiwis!

*As for the cyclone, fortunately we were spared the high winds and torrential downpours that hit further south causing flooding and power outages.
**Interesting New Zealand phrase - "Hoisted by one's own petard".  Shakespeare quote - Meaning to do something that comes back to haunt you.  I do that now and then, unfortunately. 

"Malo e Lelei" (Welcome): Travels in Tonga

JM: Got up Friday at 5:00 a.m. to catch a shuttle to the airport at 6:15. We arrived at the airport a little after 7:00 and checked in for our flight to Tonga. Check-in was a hassle. Shirley gave the travel agency my full name but didn't include the Roman numeral "II" at the end. Since my passport includes the "II", the names didn't match and it took us 45 minutes to check in. We were still at the gate plenty early, though.

Air New Zealand is a great airline. The plane was really comfortable and the flight was uneventful. I'm not sure why so many foreign airlines are better than U.S. airlines, but they seem to be.

We arrived at Nuku'alofa "International" airport at 12:04 p.m. There was a stark contrast between deplaning a nice new Boeing 787 jet from a set of roll away stairs in front of an old, somewhat dilapidated airport. That is the difference between Tonga and New Zealand, first world and third world.

We checked into the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel  and later that day met with Ana Ve'ehala, the National Director of Public Affairs for Tonga, to meet and get to know her. She is very nice.

Our hotel is one of the best in town but it has no drawers and only two hangars, The people here are so friendly and the service is excellent.

Tanoa International Dateline Hotel

View across from the hotel

Saturday we went and checked out the market and then drove around the island for about four hours. We drove to the temple (which had closed for the day) and drove around the grounds of the Liahona High School. We continued out to the west end of the island where Jensen Tasman landed in 1643. It is shown on the map as "Christianity Landing". We went to a neat place on the north coast of the island. It's called "Blow Holes" and it's where the waves of the Pacific Ocean crash into natural channels in the coral and shoot up like a geyser. Really cool.

Cassava and Bananas at the market

Tonga Temple

Liahona High School

Tasman Landing

Blow Holes

Saturday night we went to dinner with Ana's public affairs coordinating council at a restaurant named Little Italy. They made really good pizza! We met Tai, Sione and his wife, Lua, and Filimone Tuikolovatu, all members of Ana's council. It was a delightful evening with some wonderful people. I think I should get a flower for my hair.  I see women wearing them a lot.

SM and Ana Ve'ehala, our Tonga Public Affairs Director

Sunday we went to church with Tai and  Filimone Tuikolovatu. Tai is Filimone's daughter-in-law. They have been meeting for 10 years in Filimone's "garage" while the Fangoloto Branch has grown large enough to be made a ward. Now a new building is under construction for three wards, including the Fangaloto Ward. We will be writing a story about this ward before, as we experienced it today, and the after, when the ward moves into the new building.

SM:  Well, what can I say about Church! Such faithful members that have been meeting in a very unusual setting.  We had the Young Women join Relief Society for the opening exercises, just like at home.  It was a moving sight to see them recite their YW theme, first in Tongan then in English.  It was fast Sunday and fortunately for us the Bishop asks members to bear their testimonies in English each fast meeting.  Most did so, and quite well.  We mentioned to our kids that we had church outside and a reply was:  "Church outside? Lucky!" It was quite nice, actually.

Sacrament Meeting in garage - overflow under the carport.

Sunday School

Adult Sunday School

Priesthood opening exercises

Priesthood quorum

Primary and nursery

Young Women class

Fun after Church

Relief Society

Relief Society - note the tablecloth and centerpiece

Fangoloto Chapel under construction

Tai, the Relief Society Pres., is on the national public affairs committee and has become a sweet friend.  She gave me a lovely Tongan Dress to take back with me. Very generous!

After a public affairs meeting Sunday night she brought lots of refreshments, many she was able to get at the American store (very costly).  There were doughnuts, red velvet cake, pound cake, chicken nuggets, and fruit.  She brought a cob of corn for me to eat because she knew I was eating healthy.  The whole committee has set aside their own schedules just to meet with us and show us around.

This morning Jim and I were driven around by Filimone and the Ha'akame Stake President to see the building project going on in his stake. The Church recently acquired two sawmills to rebuild homes in Vanuatu following a storm. When that work was finished the Ha'akame Stake requested a sawmill for use in Makeke. Although the stake president says that most members live in good housing, we observed that many of the members live in very difficult circumstances. The sawmill was requested so the Church could use the lumber from 200 coconut trees that were being cut down to make way for a youth camp. It will allow the stake to provide wood to help those in greatest need to build frames for tin roofs and walls on 20 - 30 houses, six of which are now under construction. Large families are living in cramped quarters and the project will change their lives greatly.  We saw three dwellings and what is being done to help them.

A 66 year-old widow, three of her daughters and their husbands and children live in a shack that is only about 10' x 10'. Their toilet and kitchen facilities are outside. For five years this widow and her daughters have been saving to buy cinder blocks one at a time to build a more suitable house. In the meantime some of them have been living in a tent within the cinder block walls without a roof. With the sawmill the Church has been able to provide the lumber to frame the roof and members have donated excess tin for the roof. A concrete floor will be poured Wednesday and two bedrooms will be framed inside. 

Current home

New home

We saw two other houses that were far worse than the first. In one a husband, wife and their six children were living in a small, inadequate shack. In the other a couple and their nine children were living in a house that had been built for them on land that they had been allowed to use by the landlord. Surprisingly, the completed house still looked like it needed to be renovated. The people here don't expect much and are grateful for what they receive. I'm so grateful that they are being helped. We'll be writing a story on this for Mormon Newsroom Pacific.

At 4:30 Jim and I went and met with Bishop Kamesese and the Nuku'olofa 6th Ward members as they gathered to clean up the waterfront, as they do every Monday afternoon.  We were excited to meet with them and take  pictures for a story highlighting their service.  They have been doing this cleanup for 6 years now.  Sometimes the prime minister comes and joins them to show his appreciation for what they are doing.  The Bishop and his ward members are very respected by the government for the work they do in Nuku'alofa. In fact, because of the work the ward has been doing on the waterfront, the government has recently given all employees time off on Friday afternoon to undertake cleanup projects throughout Tonga.  Jim left early to go back to the hotel because he wasn't feeling well.  Probably the water.

After cleaning up the waterfront area they went across the street to the home of the Royal Princess's home and spent a long while cleaning up her yard.  While I was there the Royal Princess came out and was expressing gratitude for their work and invited me to have a photo taken with her. I had failed to brush up on Princess protocol and didn't know if touching is allowed so I decided to play it safe and keep my hands in front of me. I wasn't aware that we'd be meeting with the HRH Princess.  I had been advised in our Public Affairs training to find out what the proper traditions and protocol are when meeting with VIP's from other  cultures. (Thanks, Jeff and Karen for your wise counsel)

HRH Princess Pilolevu Tuita

On Tuesday we had lunch and dinner with members of the media. Independent newspapers and a radio station were represented by reporters and an editor at lunch and the government-owned TV and radio station were represented at dinner. Members of the Tonga public affairs coordinating council set up and attended the meetings, which went very well.

Lunch with leading Tongan newspaper editors and reporters

Dinner with local newspaper reporters  (in blue)

JM: Between lunch and dinner on Tuesday we snuck away to attend the temple. We only had about an hour so we were limited in our choices of ordinances in which we could participate. We found that we could do sealings at 4:20 pm. That would leave us just enough time to get back for our dinner appointment! We had 45 minutes until 4:20 so we decided to go to the Blow Holes again and got back just in time. We had prepared some names from our reserved list and the temple printed them for us. We completed the ordinances and got back just in time to freshen up for 15 minutes at the hotel before going to Cafe Escape for dinner.

Wednesday morning we slept in a bit, had breakfast at the hotel, packed our suitcases and went down to the lobby at 10:30 to meet with Sione and Ametisi. They came bearing gifts! We chatted for 30 minutes, Sione took our picture for the newspaper and we were off for the airport. We are so impressed with the Tongan people. They are so kind and so generous. I think a part of our heart will always remain in Tonga.

Sione Langi saying farewell

Ametisi and Sione brought farewell gifts from the Public Affairs team

On our way to the airport we drove by the place where Captain Cook landed in 1773 and drove around the west part of the island. It seemed to us to be less occupied than the east part of the island and there were some areas that were very lush.

We arrived at the airport at 12:30 pm and checked our luggage. The man checking us in for our flight addressed us as Elder and Sister and we learned that he was a return missionary. The flight home was uneventful and we appreciated having a shuttle ride from the airport to our flat. What an amazing week we've had.  But it's always nice to come back to our home sweet home away from home!