Miracle of the Rainbows

We have had an amazing time with my sister, Sharon, during her visit here to New Zealand.

We very much enjoyed taking her to see some fun things - walks in our favorite places like Smith Bush and plenty of time at various beaches.  Of course we did a trip to Hobbiton and we also took her on a trip to the tippy top of New Zealand, doing a bus trip from Piha to Cape Reinga.  So many precious memories!  I will never forget the view of the Milky Way from our cabin at Piha - truly stunning.

I had warned Sharon ahead of time that because she was coming in what for us is late Autumn, the weather could be dicey.   Indeed, we had plenty of breezy, rainy days.   However, not one time did we get wet when we had things planned.    It was uncanny.   When we drove places we wanted to see it would be POURING rain the whole way there.  Then, as soon as we parked the car and were ready to get out, the rain just STOPPED.  Granted, the ground was still soggy and the trees were dripping.  But every time we wanted to walk around - whether it was at the Hamilton Gardens or Ninety Mile Beach - the skies opened up and gave up a window of calm, if not full sunshine.

Because of all the rain we had rainbows every single day of her visit.   Some of them were truly spectacular.

Of all my family, my sister Sharon has been the most supportive of me being on this mission.  While we do not share the same beliefs, she has been tremendously respectful of how important my faith is to me.

It felt so good to be able to get in a good long visit with her.  We took lots of photos and talked and laughed together till our sides ached.  She is such a blessing in my life.   It was hard to put her on the plane to send her back home.  But I know she was ready to get back - she was missing her husband and anxious to prepare a baby shower to celebrate the impending arrival of her first grandchild.  I am so grateful that with all she has going on, she found this window of time to come be with me.

When we first came out on our mission I had NO idea we would be allowed to have family or friends come for extended visits.  That is a privilege the young missionaries don't get.   But senior missionaries have a whole lot more freedoms.  Chances to have Larry's sister, Toni,  come with her friend Sheryl, and now my sister too have been priceless.  It will make it all the more special when we get back home to have someone we can share memories with of this amazing land.

Here are just a few of the scenes from our wonderful time together:

Whangarei Rainbow from the day we had lunch with our good friends there

Fall colors at Hamilton Gardens

Auckland skyline from Devonport harbor

One of the cool fig trees in Devonport

At Hamilton gardens

View from Hobbiton

Smith Bush

One of our many lovely walks together

Sharon and I in front of Hobbit House

Another stunning rainbow!

Rotorua

Maori show at Rotorua

Larry and I inside the Kauri staircase

Me holding a stuffed kiwi bird at the Kiwi house 

Confirmation of Michael Wood - Auckland Ward

New member Michael Wood and his sweet wife, Jucilene

I used to think that when a person was being confirmed a member of the Church after baptism, when the Priesthood holders administering the ordinance spoke the words "Receive the Holy Ghost" that the person would have the influence of that Spirit come into his or her being  it was something which the blessing caused to happen.  I falsely assumed that the newly baptize person accepted this gift passively, obviously with gratitude, but without any particular action on his or her part.

Recently I have learned through the teachings of Elder Bednar   that this is not the case.  In October 2010,  Elder Bednar taught:

This fits so very well with the gospel doctrine of agency.  We each must choose for ourselves to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit.  Once that gift is received, we then must stay worthy, repenting often, and renewing our covenants regularly so that we may "always have His Spirit to be with them".

As I listened to the confirmation of new convert Michael Wood in the Auckland Ward today I felt an absolute witness of the truthfulness of this doctrine.

Last Day in Samoa

Today was our last day in Samoa.  At church we went around saying our farewells to the many different people who have been so dear to us. We have so enjoyed getting to know the leaders, the members and the other senior missionaries.  The hardest good-bye, of course, was to Atalina and Poao AhHoy.  We will never forget them.  They feel like family to us.

When I think of Samoa I will remember the many colored fales, the food, the beauty - but above all we will remember the people and the spirit we felt here.

I will remember the singing.  I will remember the sunsets and the rain.  I will remember the love that we felt among these dear people of these islands.  We have truly been richly blessed for our time here.

It has been an incredible experience....not easy and not always comfortable. Sometimes we have been exhausted, confused, discouraged, uncertain, or overwhelmed. But over and over again when we have seen when we put our full faith in God and do whatever may be asked of us, the work comes together far beyond our own abilities.  Over and over again we have been humbled by the sacred ways we were guided to know what to do and say. Truly a transforming experience!

Return to Saniatu

Larry and I got a chance to go back to Saniatu.  It was every bit as beautiful as we remembered from when we visited there last year.  (And the road is just as rough!)   This time around we got to go swimming in the pool below the waterfall, which felt wonderful.   While we were there a group of young men and one of the bishops who had been on a camp out together came down to join us.  They enjoyed climbing up the canyon wall and jumping from the cliffs into the water below.  Then they started singing.  Their rich, Samoan voices reverberated off the rock walls with such power and majesty it gave me goosebumps.  

We are winding up our time here and will soon be returning to Auckland. In all likelihood this is the last time we will ever see this magical place.  We have had many spiritual experiences and loved soaking in the amazing beauty. Each country we have visited has its own challenges and opportunities.  Here we struggle with marginal Internet that sometimes can be out for days.  We have more of a language barrier since English is less prevalent than what we have in either Tonga or Fiji.  And there are other limiting factors that have at times been frustrating for us.   Still, we feel that we have touched some lives.  We have made some special friends.  Our own testimonies have been strengthened.  I hope I will always remember these days.

Living Legends Comes to Apia

Photo from Mormon Newsroom

We had a very special treat in getting to attend a performance by the BYU dance troupe, "Living Legends" who are currently winding down their South Pacific tour.   First they went to New Zealand where they gave performances in several cities.  Then they went to Nuku'alofa, Tonga.  Now they are finishing up here in Apia.

They put on an AMAZING show that we enjoyed very much.  They did dances representative of Native American cultures as well as many different Polynesian dances.

The costumes were beautiful and the skill of the dancers was truly impressive.  The Eagle dancers and the Hoop dancers reminded me of the Pow Wow dancers I used to see in Flagstaff when I was growing up.  Then there were other parts that were reminiscent of the cultural program at Xel-Ha in Mexico.  There were distinctive Maori dances from New Zealand.  But of course, the most popular parts for the crowd here in Apia were the Samoan dances s- the crowd in the auditorium went wild for that.

There is a story about the group and their performances in Mormon Newsroom HERE   It says in part: "At both Friday night’s and last night’s performance over 1,100 people packed inside and outside the open doors of the gymnasium at the Pesega LDS Church College to enjoy the show.  Living Legends from Brigham Young University has 39 student performers who are of Polynesian, American Indian, and Central and South American descent who honour their respective heritages through lively song and dance."

We very much enjoyed the show.  I also was happy to see Sister Champlin, one of the Public Affairs missionaries we serve with in the Area Office back in New Zealand.  She and her husband were assigned to travel with the group for this part of the tour to take photos and write news stories about them.  She came over and gave be a big hug and a beautiful smile that reminded me all over again how precious our friendships with the other missionaries in New Zealand are to us.

This time in the islands has been very positive for us, but a month is a long time to be away.  I will be ever so ready to get back home to Takapuna.


Here is a video of the Living Legends show from YouTube.  This isn't from Samoa, but it is the same show with the same costumes that we saw.  They really were an incredible group.

Teaching Samoan Mission Zone Leaders

Photo of  President & Sister Hannemann from
DeseretNews.com

Recently we had an opportunity to meet with the Mission President over the Samoan Mission, Elder Arthur Doyle Hannemann, and his lovely wife, Sister Peggy Hannemann.  We were so impressed with both of them and felt very blessed to be able to share with them ideas for using Family History as a way for the young elders and sisters to teach people about the gospel.

After our meeting we were invited to do a presentation to all the zone leaders to share a presentation with them on the same topic.  So we drove across the island to where the zone leaders were having a meeting and taught them the principles.  It went really well.

We will probably never know whether the things we taught these young missionaries will specifically lead to someone coming closer to Christ.  But we certainly have developed strong testimonies of the many ways that learning about our ancestors and then taking their names to the temple draw us closer to Heavenly Father and His Son.We are so grateful for these opportunities.

To Soa Ocean Trench

We went swimming on Monday.  Ordinarily, that would not be a particularly impressive statement.  However, in this case, the PLACE where we went swimming was a very big deal, to me.   My husband and I joined some local Samoan friends to visit To Soa sea trench.   To get to the place where we would be swimming, we first navigated some very steep stairs, followed by a climb down a long wooden ladder approximately sixty feet (a bit over 18 meters) into the sea.

For most of my life I have been deathly afraid of heights.  Being anywhere near even a medium level precipice would fill me with dread as all my senses went wobbly and my mind went swimming with vertigo.    I have avoided all sorts of activities in the past ranging from hiking mountain trails to sitting in balconies in order to keep myself feeling safe.

Recently, however, I’ve been examining the various ways I’ve allowed irrational fear to limit me.  I’ve begun to make mindful choices to take sensible risks, even when – or in some cases PARTICULARLY when – those risks trigger my old familiar fear responses.   I’m choosing to retrain my brain in how I define what is sensible and what I need to avoid to stay safe.

Initially this deliberate remapping of my comfort zones only applied to my personal life.   Soon enough, I will put the same pattern to work in my professional endeavors.

In six months time we will be returning to the USA after a nearly two year hiatus traveling the South Pacific.  When I go back, I will need to find a job.   As I have considered what sort of opportunities might be the best fit for me, I’ve had to confront a certain level of uneasiness and fear.   I’ve wrestled with doubts about my own marketability after such a long gap in my work history.  I’ve worried about how I will adapt to being back in the milieu of American social customs after such a delicious season of embracing Polynesian cultures.   I’ve wondered how I will deal with the inevitable rejections that come in any professional job search.   In planning my approach for when I get home, I’ve considered “playing it safe” by applying primarily for less challenging jobs that are an easy bet that I would be selected for.  

Then I climbed that ladder with my friends.   I confronted a big, scary situation and was rewarded by an amazing experience.   The intense beauty and sense of accomplishment I felt as I swam in that crystal blue water is something I hope I will never forget.  Without taking a risk, I would have missed that.

The key thing that made it possible for me to overcome my fear of heights to climb that very long ladder down was the power of encouragement.  With each step I took, I had people below gently cheering me on, guiding me where to place my feet, telling me they knew I could do it.   That made all the difference.

Because of this experience, I now know I can do big things, even things that may initially feel very scary.  I am also now more committed to being mindful about the ways I encourage the people in my life, both at home and in the workplace.   I will seek out mentors and friends who I can count on to encourage me as I take on new challenges, whatever they may be.  
Encouragement has tremendous power. 

Island AFHA Conference in Fiji

Fiji AFHA Conference group

We finally got to have the training conference for Area Family History Advisors (AFHAs) from the islands that we had spent so much time planning.   Originally we were going to do this back in March, but when Cyclone Pam hit Fiji so hard we had to postpone for a while.  

We flew to Nadi on Monday, May 2.   We had a chance to spend a bit of time with our dear friend, Fipe Rabuka from Savusavu who we had met last October.  It was really nice to connect with her again.

Me with Fipe Rabuka from Savusavu

Our boss, Mike Higgins, and the three couples we would be training all arrived the following day.   We were all staying at our usual place - Tanoa Waterfront Hotel in Latoka.   In addition,  Mike's boss from Salt Lake, Bruce Miller, and Mark Kelly from Australia were with us.  We had some great sessions and everyone got a lot out of it.

We have truly loved the people in every one of the islands we have visited throughout this mission.  However, if we ever wanted to pick a place to come back to on our own when this mission ends, it would probably be Fiji.  Both of us really love our time there.  It helps that the tap water in Fiji is safe to drink and the infrastructure is well developed (good roads, decent Internet, and many people who speak English). After our last trip there in October I spent some time dreaming of the possibility of going to live there one day, joining the strong expat community in Savusavu.   After the last big cyclone I would be less ready to do that.  But we will always have a special love for Fiji and the dear friends we have made there.

On Friday, May 6 we all went our separate ways - each of the couples going back to their homes and us returning to Samoa for the last part of our assignment there.

We've been gone from Auckland for  three weeks now and we are not done yet.   It's been a lot of travel with trainings in three different countries.  We are tired.  We are ready to get back to our own beds.  But we would not have up these experiences for anything in the whole world.

Here are a few shots we took during the conference.   Working with these people has been such a delight!

  Elder Bennett & I with Bruce Miller

Brother Victor & Sister Domonique Hapairai from Tahiti

Sister Siutiti and Brother Sioeli 'Unga from Tonga

Brother Tueri and Sister Seruwaia Senikuriciri from Fiji

Enjoying dinner together

Mark Kelly and Mike Higgins 

Bruce Miller

Larry and I dancing with the 'Ungas on the last evening in Fiji

                                                                Scenes of Fiji Beauty