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.