Carma comes to visit

We get to have  one more visit from USA friends before we leave this beautiful land.  My best friend from Boise,  Carma Christensen, and her youngest son, Jeff, are here for about 10 day.   Carma and I were assigned as Visiting Teaching companions when I first moved to Boise.  Through our service together we developed a very sweet friendship that has richly blessed my life.  We are different in so many way.  Still, our love for each other transcends all those differences.  We are having a blast showing them both around some of our favorite spots.

Some of the time they are here the two of them will take a bus to go see sights on their own while Larry and I are working.  But we did get to take them up to Whangarei, to One Tree Hill, and to a few different beaches and bush hikes.  It will be fun when we get back home to have someone there who I can share stories with about how special this land truly is. The pictures are nice, but they can never entirely capture the feeling of being here.

Carma Christensen

Carma, Jeff, Larry, Me

Jeff Christensen

Teaching at the MTC

 

Today we did training for the young elders and sister missionaries in training at the New Zealand Missionary Training Center.  It went great!  We felt the spirit so strong as we talked about how they can teach the people they meet about the importance of family history and get them pointed toward the blessings of the temple even before they are baptized.

We know that when new converts go to the temple for their deceased family members within the first few months after their own baptism, they are far more likely to stay strong and active in the church.  Making major changes in life is hard for anyone.  There is a saying that the only people who like change are babies with dirty diapers.  All the rest resist it, resent it, or run from it.   When someone shifts to new religious commitment, even though entirely sincere, it is all to easy to relapse back to the familiar when the change begins to feel hard.

But the powerful spiritual feelings we can experience in the temple help keep brand new testimonies strong.  Beyond that, commitment to being temple worthy helps people live in such a way that they will have strong families and develop a closeness to Heavenly Father that will bless them in many ways.  So having the missionaries teaching about Family History and temple ordinances right from the start is a great thing.

We did three 50 minute sessions with different groups.  The first group were all French speaking, or in the process of learning French, as they would be going to Tahiti (also known as French Polynesia).  Most were fluent enough in English to understand what we were saying, but a few wore headsets to listen to interpreters who translated as we spoke.

The second group were all English speakers so we were able to have great interaction with them.  Then the third group were learning English for the first time, with some being more advanced than others.   We had no interpreters with them so we did some juggling in how we explained things to keep it simple but still be sure we covered all our main points.

I love the way Larry and I work together when we are teaching.  We've learned a lot over the course of this mission about following each other's cues.   I am so grateful for these experiences.  I hope I will remember these days all of my life.

Third Time is a Charm

On Saturday we had an opportunity to do a presentation to the New Zealand Society of Genealogists about FamilySearch.  It was a great success.   We had about 60 people there, all long time researchers.  There were some great questions from the group and everyone seemed eager to learn all they could.

When we teach seminars for church members and leaders we focus more on WHY we do family history and the spiritual aspects of the endeavor.  When we do presentations for outside groups we focus on the specifics of how FamilySearch works and why it is such a great tool for people who are already interested in family history.

We were supposed to present for this same group last year, but had to cancel the first time when I broke my wrist in Fiji.  Then, the second time, we were invited at a time that conflicted with our travel in Tonga.  We were all glad that things finally worked out for us to be there and that the presentation went so well.

Listening to the Spirit

Brother Mike Ramirez works as a Media Services Producer with the Publishing Services Department of the Church.   He gave an inspired message at our Monday morning devotional that I've been thinking about a lot.

The context of his message was about the importance of family history work, so of course I found it to be of interest.  He spoke of going home to his native land of the Philippines to find information about his family.   He bore strong testimony of the truth of this work and the inspired nature of the My Family 15 in 15 challenge from the Area Presidency.  He shared some key quotes form church leaders.  It really was a great talk.

But what impressed me most was what he said BEFORE the main subject of his talk.

Apparently Mike had been on the ball, preparing his assigned talk several days ahead of time.   He had prayed and pondered to know what to say.  He looked up key scriptures to use, included a personal story and put together a talk that he felt good about.  On Sunday night he went to bed, feeling confident he was ready for devotional on Monday morning.

However, he woke up about 1:45 AM with a feeling he should not give that talk that he had worked so hard to prepare.  Mike recognized the feeling for what it was, not any personal misgivings about speaking,  but a prompting of the Holy Spirit telling him that the Lord had a different message He wanted Mike to share.  At first he was tempted to tell the Spirit "Shut up. My talk is ready.  It's a good talk.  I don't want to start all over now."

But as much as he would have liked to simply roll over to go back to sleep, Mike is an obedient servant of the Lord.  When he recognizes a spiritual prompting, he knows he must do what he is asked.  So he got up out of bed, said a prayer for guidance, and started from scratch to write down whatever it was the Lord wanted him to share.  Mike said the whole talk just came to him in about ten minutes.   He typed as fast as he could to capture the words as they came to his mind.  What came out was this beautiful talk about family history.

Many people were moved by that talk and several followed through right away by going on to FamilySearch to find family names to submit for temple ordinances.   Families will be strengthened on both sides of the veil as a direct result of  that talk.  That's powerful stuff!

The part that impressed me, however, was how the talk came about.  I will long remember Mike's ability to recognize the voice of the Spirit and his willingness to follow through.  The scriptures refer to communication from the Holy Spirit as "the still small voice".    When that sort of inspiration comes,  it is a whisper, not a shout.   It comes as a gentle nudge, not a shove.

Boyd K Packer has taught:  "The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. It is described as a still,small voice. And while we speak of listening to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes the Spirit's prompting by saying, I had a feeling."

I so appreciate Mike Ramirez for his wonderful example of heeding the Spirit.  I hope in the final days of our mission and throughout my life, I can do a better job of following that example.  I know that quiet, gentle prompting do indeed come.  I want to be ready to recognize them when they come, to learn to be able to distinguish clearly the promptings of the Spirit from my own ideas and emotions.  Then, when those true, genuine promptings do come, I want to have the faith to heed them.  

***

I'm including some links to talks about "the still small voice" so I can come back here and review this topic more.

From a 2005 Conference talk talk by Richard C. Edgely of the presiding bishopric:
"When Elijah was fleeing for his life from the wicked Phoenician princess Jezebel, the Lord directed him to a high mountain, where he had a most unusual experience. As Elijah stood upon the mount before the Lord, he felt “a great and strong wind … ; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice” (1 Kgs. 19:11–12)."


Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant, (2011), 180–87 https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-heber-j-grant/chapter-20?lang=eng

S. Dillworth Young. April 1976 General Conference Address:  "The Still Small Voice".
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/04/the-still-small-voice?lang=eng

A Perfect Autumn Day in New Zealand

 After several days of gloomy skies and rain, the sun finally came out today.  It was a beautiful fall day in New Zealand.  This morning Larry and I took a walk out at one of our favorite places, Tuft Crater.  We enjoyed the colors of the changing season and crunch of falling leaves mixed in with lush evergreens and fern trees.

Then this afternoon we got together with Elder & Sister Graham and a cousin of theirs who was visiting, Parker Andrus.   The Grahams are fairly new here, having replaced the Whiddens to serve at Area Mental Health advisors.   Parker is originally from Utah, but currently lives in Japan.  He is a sales manager with accounts throughout the Pacific Rim.  Since he was here for a couple days on business, he decided to look up the Grahams.  

We all went together to One Tree Hill, a place where we always take newcomers to get a good view of Auckland and the surrounding area.  Generally we drive all the way to the top, but today the road was gated off for runners who were participating in a race.  We didn't mind parking in the car park half way up and walking the rest of the way up the hill, but we certainly weren't going to try to run!   We enjoyed visiting and taking in the views

I've been at the top of this place many times, but it never gets old.  From the monument platform you get a 360 degree view, and on a clear day can see all the way to the Coromandel.  We enjoyed sharing this special spot with the Grahams and with Parker.

 When we came back down we introduced them to their first taste of New Zealand ice cream at the Creamery  (to die for!) and then walked over to the big fig tree we always like to see.

While we were walking down the hill I was sharing some of our experiences from our mission with Parker and he was telling me about his own heritage - with a mix of Samoan and Scottish on his mother's side.  As he said that I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  Where was his Samoan ancestor from?   From the island of Tutuila - where we so recently were.   While there, we had worked with a lady whose ancestors included a local island lady and sailor from Scotland.   Could it be the same?

Suddenly this chance encounter of our meeting Parker seemed bigger as  we might be the exact people he needed to meet to make the connection to that long ago relative.

I'll have to do some digging to find out more details about Parker's family and then reach out to the people we met in American Samoa.  But this very much seems like one more time when we are put in the right place at the right time to help someone make connections.   The list keeps growing of times when it seems so clear the Lord has used us as his instrument to help people find their family lines:

Sometimes it's just us doing our assignment, as we would expect.  We've helped many stake presidents, bishops, high counselors and others to find family names to submit for temple work.  That aways is a special blessing for us.  But there have been other times when the circumstances came together in such remarkable ways that we couldn't help but believe the angels on the other side were guiding our words and our steps.

Dallas Olsen's family in Fiji
Raj and his Father-in-law in Labasa
Jual Franks who I met at Cape Reinga
Sister Loveless's great aunt who she has always felt such a special connection for

 It is such a blessing to be part of this sacred work.  Through the blessings of the temple, families really can be eternal.

Queens Birthday

Today was Queen Elizabeth's birthday, and is a National Holiday here in New Zealand.  I'm never quite sure why royal birthdays in England are celebrated as they are here, but Kiwis definitely love their holidays.

Since our office was closed, we took a drive over to Albany to return some shoes to the Sketchers store there  (Note to self ...do NOT buy shoes because they are cute if they are not comfortable to your feet!  You would think I would know that by now.  But these were really, really cute.  Oh well.)

Afterward we took a long walk at Long Bay Reserve.  The tide was way out so we were able to follow the cliffs and climb up some rocks to an area that is often under water.  That took us to another, more secluded beach and then to a spot called "Granny's Bay".  We left the beach at that point to hike up a mowed grass trail through a grove of cabbage trees, then up a hill to a spot where we could look over the whole area for a long, long way.  It was gorgeous.  Besides that, it felt really good to get out and get moving again.

During our time in Samoa, and then after during our wonderful visit with my sister I got out of the habit of being sure I walked 10,000 steps each day.   I sleep better and just FEEL better when I make sure to get some exercise each day.    Lately I've been spending a lot of my free time in the evenings sitting in front of a computer working on family history for various friends.   I love doing that work, but too much sitting is not a good thing.

When we first came back from our trip to America in January it was summer here so days were long and mostly warm.   I often would get up early and walk to Lake Pupuke or to the beach first thing before work or we would take long walks in the evenings after supper.   That just is not happening now.   Our days are much shorter this time of year and it is often stormy and cold in the early mornings.  So I've let my daily walks fall by the wayside.

Making lasting change is hard.   I was working so hard to get stronger, more fit, and drop some excess pounds.  I was doing great for quite some time.  Then I slacked off - with good reason, perhaps.  But it was oh so easy to lose sight of my goals and all those hard won healthy habits.  Now I feel like I have to start all over again.

It reminds me of the principle of repentence.   We set spiritual goals, character goals, life goals and work toward them.   We make progress.   But all to often, we fall back into old ways.   We slip back into the "natural man".

Whether physically or spirituallly, I am grateful for the chance to begin again.  I keep striving and trying, knowing I will stumble at times.  The important thing is that I continue to get back up.

Shifting Tides

This morning it was rainy and cold, so we decided to stay in and do some much needed organizing in our flat.   We have traveled so much lately that we have not taken the time to do any true deep cleaning for a while.  The place is easy to keep picked up, but today we did those other chores - sorting out the closets and scrubbing floors and walls. We cleaned out the refrigerator and took inventory of the pantry as well.   We took every single can, box and package of food out of the shelves, wiped everything down, then took inventory of what we had so we could plan meals based on what we have on hand.

We know all this effort won't last. Within a few days of making meals and living life, all the lovely order in our pantry will get muddled and laundry will pile up again. Cleaning is one of those things that you don't get to keep. We will need to do it again and again.  But for the moment, it feels really good to have the place tidy and organized..

I am mindful of the scripture in D&C 119 that says:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; 

When we got it all done there was a break in the weather, so we went down to Takapuna Beach and played in the sand, making a sand castle.

When we started, we began building quite a ways away from the edge of the water.  However, we were there just as the tide was shifting.   Before we knew it, the waves were lapping the walls of our little structure.   In  no time at all, it was washed out to sea.

It made me think of the impermanance of so many things.  As our mission winds down, I can't help but wonder what sort of difference all our hard work will have made.  Will we be completely forgotten after we leave, with no sign we were ever here - like our sand castle that washed away?

But there was something I noticed as we were building that dorky little castle.  Nearly everyone who walked past us on the beach, whether they were in groups or alone, families or couples - all of them seemed to take notice of what we were doing and smile.  A few made comments.  Some told us "good job!"    Silly as it may seem,  what we were doing there on that beach seemed to spread happiness to those who saw us.  Then, as we left the beach after our castle washed away, we saw a little boy digging in the sand further up from where we had been - building a castle of his own.  Was that because he had seen us building ours?  Perhaps.

In our own tiny way, we made a difference for good by making people smile, by setting the example of two people loving each other, having fun, enjoying time together playing in the sand.

That's no big deal.

But in this mission,   we have set a far bigger example.  We have taught principles of eternal familys that really do matter.   And in so doing, we really have made a difference.   Maybe we will be forgotten over time as other missionaries come and go.   But the skill sets we leave behind will matter.   The testimonies we strengthened will matter.  The friendships we've built will matter.

Our pantry will get messed up again, no doubt.

Some projects we work on will definitely be forgotten.

But the Gospel is eternal.  Family ties sealed in the temple continue.

No ocean will wash that away.