Taranaki With the Olsens

 

Over the Labor Day weekend we went down to the Taranaki District with another Senior Mission couple, Elder and Sister Olsen.  We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast on working dairy farm, and enjoyed exploring the area.  

Us with Elder & Sister Olsen at Waitaha Villa B&B in Rahou, NZ

Cows getting milked

Moyra, owner of Waitaha Villa B&B

Some of the trip was mission work as  Elder Gary Olsen is the mission doctor, and was making the trip to check out the medical facilities in New Plymouth to know what resources were available to the missionaries in that area when he needs to make  to recommendations for care.  For our part, Larry and I did a family history presentation in a combined Priesthood and Relief Society class for the Waitara Branch.  The presentation was very well received, getting people there excited about the 15 in15 goal.  The Branch President there has asked us to come back again in a few weeks to do a hands on training for how to use FamilySearch. 

 

Apart from mission assignment, we also had an opportunty to explore.  Being a holiday weekend, the Pacific Area Office was closed on Friday.  So we drove down that day and took some time to visit  Pukekura Park.  It was absolutely stunning. 

On Saturday we took a drive up to the base of Mt. Taranaki and got to see Dawson Falls. 

On Monday Larry and Elder Olsen went ocean fishing and brought in a great cash of fish that was very tasty. 

While they were out on the water, Sister Olsen and I went into New Plymouth where we visited a museum, did a bit of shopping.  We enjoyed each other's company and had a lovely walk along the beach boardwalk.  

Other high points of the trip were some great beaches, a light house, and sunsets at the end of the day.

On the way back we stopped in Hamilton to meet with the Hamilton Mission President and his wife, President & Sister Rudd, and then got to do a session at the temple.  Larry and I had met the Rudds early on in our mission when we went down with the Winters, so it was great to connect with them again.  

Us with President & Sister Rudd from our visit in December 2014

This meeting was also important for the Olsens since they sometimes need to confer over the phone about health issues that come up with missionaries.  One thing we have definitely learned is that trusting relationships can be maintained through phone and internet, but in the beginning it really helps to meet someone and get to know them face to face.  So we were glad the Olsens were able to spend some time getting acquainted with the Rudds.

We came when there was a Senior Missionary conference for all the Hamilton Seniors going on so we were able to join them for lunch.  Then afterwards we had a very sweet session in the Hamilton NZ temple, which was a wonderful close to our weekend away.

  All in all it was a great trip. This is what Wikipedia has to say about the area:

Taranaki is a coastal and mountainous region on the western side of New Zealand's North Island. Its landscape is dominated by Mount Taranaki, its namesake volcano, which lies within the rainforested Egmont National Park. The port city of New Plymouth is the area's hub. It hosts green spaces like Pukekura Park, with lakes and formal gardens that grow rhododendrons and king ferns.

Following Spiritual Promptings

Larry and I are exploring the possibility of leaving our mission for a couple weeks to go back to the USA over the Christmas break.  

For some time now we have known that our son Aaron and his wife Stephanie are planning to go to the temple to get their endowments.  Initially we told them they had our full support and not to worry about the fact that we would not be there.  But as their time to go to the temple gets closer, we have both felt strong spiritual promptings that we should be with them if at all possible.

When we were in Tonga last time President Pearson gave a talk to the Senior Missionaries at a Family Home Evening about the importance of our bonds with our family back home.  While it is fully expected that ALL Senior Missionaries make sacrifices to serve, and missing out on special family events is a big part of that,  President Pearson told us that it was acceptable to have any of us go home briefly if we had a family situation that we felt we needed to attend.  Of course, the trip would be totally at our own expense, and we are expected to come back as soon as possible.  But he made it clear that as Senior Missionaries the rules are different for us than for the young elders and sisters.  He said to let the spirit be our guide in counseling with the Lord about what things we would request leave for.

A big part of this mission has been about developing ourselves spiritually and learning to recognize and heed spiritual promptings.   So far, most of those promptings have had to do with how to fulfill our assignment.  Over the last couple weeks, though, both Larry and I have had some new promptings telling us we need to go back to Idaho for a short time.

At first we wondered if we were just feeling homesick or not wanting to miss out.  So we really made it a serious matter of prayer.  In the days that followed we both felt a strong sense of peace that going home over the holidays is the right thing to do.   Part of it has to do with Aaron and Stephanie going to the temple.  But somehow we feel there are other reasons too, perhaps some we won't know until we get there, or might not ever know.  Yet we have a powerful sense of direction making it clear to us that this is what we should do.

So we are going through all the steps to get permission cleared for us to go.  First, we talked to our manager, Mike Higgins.  He was fine with it, once we assured him we really would be coming back.  Next we need to get the okay from our Mission President.  I'm pretty confident that will not be a problem since we already know we will have President Pearson's support.

At first I was quite concerned about the expense.  We are not wealthy and this will cost a big chunk.  However, when it became very clear to both Larry and I that this was not just about our wishes, but a clear direction of something important for us to do at this time from the Spirit, then I began to let go of that worry and just trust that it would be ok.

There is a great talk on YouTube by Dr. Gordon Limb, a professor of Social Work at BYU, about how to tell spiritual promptings apart from your own emotional desires.   (See full talk HERE).  He relates the following five steps for inviting the spirit to be with us so we can better recognize and follow spiritual promptings:

                                      

We are trying with all our might to follow these practices.

I am also mindful of the lesson taught by President Monson on the importance of following promptings as soon as you recognize them:






Sometimes it is easy to fall into the trap of wanting to have all the answers of full understanding of how things will work out before taking action.   I'm working hard to learn to recognize the spiritual promptings I receive and to have the faith and trust to act on them quickly.   I don't always get it right.  In this particular case, however, I feel a definite peace that we are doing exactly what we need to do, even in the absence of knowing all the whys.

Sick Again

We are now back from Fiji and trying to regroup for our time here in New Zealand.  I've been fighting another bought of bronchitis and have felt pretty puny.  Sigh.

When we got back from our Tonga trip I got really sick, coughing so hard for days I could hardly get any sleep.  (And I REALLY needed rest, having come back utterly exhausted after doing 22 trainings in 12 days which probably had a lot to do with why I got sick in the first place).  This time isn't as serious as that episode, but it still feels pretty crummy.

During the time I was struggling with the chronic pain after I injured my shoulder in Samoa, or when I broke my wrist the first time we went to Fiji,  I often would find myself sitting up in the wee hours of the night, unable to sleep.  One of the ways I coped was to read every conference talk I could find with searches like "Adversity", "Suffering", or "Pain".  I found some really great talks on these topics and have had time to seriously ponder them.  I am well familiar with the scripture that says "For it must needs be that there is opposition in all things...."   (2 Nephi 2:11)

Right now I am not that bad off. I am definitely not well. But it could be so much worse.

Still, I feel sick enough to be uncomfortable and whiny.  It also has caused me to think about the challenges that lie ahead as an inevitable part of aging.  Granted, aging goes smoother for those who practice good health habits, staying strong and flexible, managing weight, and being engaged in life.  Still, ALL of us sooner or late will go through a time when our bodies will experience increasing aches and pains and limitations.  For some, serious illness or debilitation can bring crushing emotional as well as physical suffering.   

I think about the people I know and love who are going through truly huge challenges right now...and there are several.  I think of times in the past when I was going through dark periods when life really was a struggle.

I ponder about the nature of suffering, not to be gloomy, but rather to understand better my own reactions to difficult experiences and seek the lessons that it has for me.

If I have learned anything at all about coping with opposition it is this:  hurting is not permanent.  It can feel like it at the time.  Some kinds of pain can be so overwhelming that we can feel as if we can never see the light of day again.  But having ridden my way out to the other side of some very dark situations in the past, I find I've gained a sense of perspective.  So now I am much more able to see that tough times we go through really can soften us spiritually,  give us more compassion for others, gift us with a greater appreciation for the blessings of our lives.

EVERY life will know pain.  Some big.  Some more minor.  The trick, I think, is not to fight it or blame it or bemoan my state when I'm in the thick of hurtful times, whatever the nature of the specific circumstances may be.  Ideally, I'd like to be able to practice acceptance of all things more completely..  It is what it is.  That's easy to say.  Sometimes, however, it's hard to achieve.  Even though I truly do believe there is always much to be grateful for, even in the midst of hardship,  when stuck in the middle of a challenge, it can be incredibly difficult to maintain that detached optimism.   

I have no doubt that life still has plenty of lessons to teach me about adversity. For now, I just wish I could quit coughing and get some rest.

Fiji Wedding

On Saturday the Senikuriciris had a family wedding to attend.  The groom was the son of one of Brother Senikuriciri’s nephews.   We were honored to be able to attend.  It was held in a Pentecostal church and was a very intriguing mix of traditional and modern.   Nearly everything said was in Fijian, so we didn’t know what was going on most of the time.  Still, we enjoyed watching it all and sharing in the feast after.  It was wonderful to see this large extended family come together to celebrate the happy occasion.

Colo-I-Suva forest park

We returned to Suva on Thursday, 8 October.   The following day was a National Holiday in Fiji  so most things were closed and people not available for teaching appointments.   Having some down time,  Brother Senikuraciri took us for a hike in the Colo-i-Suva Forest park.  It was absolutely amazing.   There were many different pools and waterfalls.   The big pool down low had a lot of young people gathered for swimming and playing on a rope swing.   The higher trails, however, were completely deserted.  We felt like we were the only ones around for miles.  There were many stairs and narrow bridges to navigate.   I went very slowly and carefully, not wanting a repeat of my accident on our previous trip to Fiji.  One broken bone is more than enough for this mission.    We had a lovely day there that we will long remember.

Labasa - Answer to Prayers

One experience I always want to remember from our recent trip to Fiji is the time we spent with Raj and his father-in-law, Dharam,  in Labasa.

We had been somewhat disappointed by our time at the Family History Center in Labasa on Wednesday 7 October.  We spent an entire afternoon there when no one came.  We were able to use our time productively as Larry was working on the PKI reports and I had things I could do. But we really wanted to help members with their family history.

The following day as we prepared to head back to Suva. We packed up our things and got checked out of the hotel a little after 10:00 AM.  We then walked around the market some and bought some fruit.  We were just killing time as we had no appointments or any specific things to do.  Still, we had a very strong feeling there was someone we needed to help.  We just didn't know who that might be.

So we walked over to the chapel and sat in the courtyard reading Preach My Gospel.   We prayed together, asking Heavenly Father to help us find someone we could teach and to help us know the right words to say.  

We saw an older man sitting on the opposite side of the courtyard so we went to talk to him. We often hear people talk about receiving "spiritual promptings".   I suppose everyone experiences this in their own personal way.   It's hard to describe exactly what it was that we felt that morning as we walked across the courtyard to where this gentleman was sitting.  All I know is that when we absolutely KNEW we needed to talk with him.   There was just one problem with that.  He did not speak any English.   

The man we felt so drawn to was of Indian decent and only spoke Hindi.  (There are many Fijians of Indian descent around Labasa and in Suva - these are descendants of the indentured servants who were brought over from Calcutta by the British between 1879 and 1916 to work the sugar cane fields. Native Fijians have retain most all of the land in the islands, so the Indian population have become merchants or laborers.)  We had a My Family book in Fijian, but even that was of little use.  We tried our best through gestures to explain who we were and that we were hoping to talk with him about family stories.   He smiled and nodded, but just said again   “No English”.  

Shortly after this, one of the workmen that was there to do the power washing of the roof noticed us and asked if we needed the Family History Center to be unlocked as he had the key.   We said yes, so he opened the door.  Then he looked over to the man we had been trying to talk with and told us the gentleman was his father-in-law. The workman, Raj Naidu, told us his father-in-law, Dharam Raj, was not a member of the church, but it would still be good to get his information about family history.   We said we would very much like to work with him.

So Raj took a break from his working and brought Dharam into the family history center.   Acting as interpreter, Raj helped us get the information about his father-in-law’s  parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.   Dharam also knew the details about Raj's ancestors since the two families had been well acquainted for many years.   Three generations of Raj's family were all from Labasa, but those before had come from India.   We took photos of Raj and Dharam to add to FamilySearch and thanked them both for sharing their stories with us.   Then we helped Raj submit one of his great-grandparents’ name for temple work. 

We told Raj about how it had felt very important to us that day to find someone we could teach about Family History.   We told him of our prayer asking Heavenly Father to guide us to the person He wanted us to help, and then feeling strongly we should try talking to Dharam.    Raj explained that normally his father-in-law would not be with him on a work day, but that particular day  Raj had felt a strong prompting that he should bring Dharam with him.  We told Raj that with the information Dharam had provided there were now several names in Raj’s wife’s family who could have temple work done for them.   Raj said it was a miracle to him that we were there on the one day that he brought Dharam with him and that Dharam was able to provide all the details of their family.   We felt like the whole experience was a very clear answer to our prayers.   When we left, each of us felt like we had been guided to be there at that particular time to accomplish this work.

It is so humbling to know that our prayers truly are heard and answered.   This work we are involved in is not our own.  It is the Lord's errand we are on.   We are deeply grateful for experiences like this that remind us of that.

Beyond that, we often feel the presence of people's ancestors in the room when we work together to add names, stories and pictures to their family trees.  We can feel the sense of urgency and excitement like static electricity in the air.   In my mind I can still hear Raj's soft, lilting voice with the Hindi accent saying what a miracle it was to bring us together that day.  To others it may have seemed like chance or coincidence.   To us, these are the sort of experiences that we can never forget.  We are so grateful for this calling. We know that families truly can be eternal and is is a tremendous blessing to be a part of bringing that about.

Raj with his pedigree chart and ordinance request form after submitting  a family name for temple work

Our time with Dharam was truly an answer to prayer