Plane Ride to New Zealand

After 21 hours of travel we finally arrived in Wellington, New Zealand.  We were met by President Kezarian, Elder and Sister Brazzeal and Elder and Sister McVey.  We were met as soon as we got off the plane.  The security at Wellington is kind of lax.

We left Salt Lake at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 3rd and went to Los Angeles Airport and had a 3 hour layover.  We left LAX at 9:30 p.m. and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand at about 6:00 a.m. on Monday, September 5th.  We then waited another 3 hours and then flew to Wellington at 8:30 and arrived at our destination at 9:30 a.m.

Because we crossed the international date line we missed Sunday the 4th and we are now 5 hours earlier than California and 6 hours earlier than Utah plus a day.  We also missed New Zealand's Father's Day.

The McVey's (Tom and Ann) took us around to set up our checking account and buy some items necessary to start an apartment (flat).  This is the first time in our married life we have lived in an apartment.  Don said we should of had a bridal shower.  We also drove around and saw the town.  It is built on the side of a mountain so there is a lot of climbing.  Also we ate lunch with the Brazzeal's and the McVey's.  They took us to a Chinese restaurant.  Dad was very good about eating it.  They have a lot of Chinese restaurants here.  They also have a McDonald's, KFC and Burger King (but no In & Out).

We made it till 8:00 p.m. and then jet lag really hit.

Our apartment is old but nice.  It has very high ceilings and a bay window in the living room.  The kitchen and bathroom are small but the living room and bedroom are a nice size.  The sun shines in the bay window and it is nice to sit in the sunlight.

The apartment has bare walls but everything is so expensive here that it may have to be a little bare.  We went looking for a trash can which would normally cost about $15.00 at Wal-Mart and it costs $60.00 here.  So no trash can yet.

The bathroom also has only one outlet on the other side of the sink and mirror so we now have extension cords.

It is nice having an apartment (flat) close to town so we can walk to the bank and the stores.

September 5, 2011

Field Trip to Salt Lake City

Happy Birthday to Kevin and Kirk today.  It seems strange that they are getting more mature but we are getting younger.  Pretty soon we'll be the same age.  It seems like yesterday that they were born.

Today we had a field trip to Salt Lake City.  We went to the Church Office Building to meet our auditor and to be briefed on what they look for when they audit.  They then took us out to lunch at the cafeteria located in the building.  It was nice to meet them and also to get out for the day.

We are now trying to fit and arrange the luggage to meet the 50 lb. limit on the luggage that goes on the plane and the 15 lb. carry on limit.  Air New Zealand only allows 15 lbs for carry on or you are charged $80.00.  Wish us luck!!!

Alex Olmstead entering the MTC

We contacted Amy Wixom to see what time Alex Olmstead (our neighbor in St. George) was suppose to report to the MTC for his mission to Guatamala.  She e-mailed us and said around 1:25 this afternoon.  Since Don and I are the only two in our digital camera class we took a later lunch and got to see his family drop him off.  Susan (his mother) was wearing sunglasses to hide the tears.  It was nice seeing the whole Olmstead family.  The Spanish speaking Sisters and Elders are in the same building where we have our training so we saw Alex once in one of the classrooms.  He got his mission call about a week before us so we both have been waiting for about 4 months.  I think he was excited to finally be here.

Devotional - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

It was another day of training on the digital camera.  We feel a little more confident with it but right now we have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.  An auditor came from Salt Lake and talked to us this afternoon and then reviewed our work.  Luckily, we passed.

Tonight we had a devotional and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was the speaker.  He admonished the missionaries to be good examples in the mission field and be remain faithful when they return home and throughout their lives.  He is a very powerful speaker with a great sense of humor.  For example, he said that he was so old that he had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.  It was fun afterwards to see the young missionaries silently standing outside waiting for him to exit to his car.

We don't know what happened but he said he was very emotional because less than 4 hours ago a missionary had given her life for the church.  We pray that comfort will be with that missionaries family.  (Today we learned that a sister missionary had been killed in an automobile accident in the state of New York)

Elder Holland then answered about five questions given to him by missionaries.  One of the questions was what was his best advice.  His answer was serving a mission, marrying his wonderful wife and continually gaining an education.

You could certainly feel his Spirit during the devotional.  He is one of our favorite General Authorities.

It was another great day at the MTC.

The following is from Don's journal:

Kathy and I just got back from Tuesday night devotional.  The speaker was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  He is one of my favorite people.

He first stated that he loves all of us, especially because we are missionaries.  He stated that more missionary work will be done in this dispensation than all the other dispensations put together.  All the other dispensations ended in apostasy.  This one will not.  He stated that we are carrying on our shoulders the missionary work starting with Adam.  He also stated that we are chosen.  No one in history has done what we are about to do.  He said the Book of Mormon people are depending on us because they were not successful as missionaries.  Today is the day every prophet has dreamed about.  If there ever was a symbol of the church it would be the picture of two missionaries - Honor the church and be the best you can be forever.

Then he answered questions that the missionaries had prepared for him during the day.

1.  What is the most important thing Christ wants us to know?  This is the truth.  That everything He said is true.
2.  How do you invite the spirit? (a)  Dive into the scriptures.  The Book of Mormon is the vehicle to the Spirit.  The Spirit comes by way of the scriptures. (b) Learn to pray.  (c) Don't lose the Spirit.
3.  What the best advice you have every received?  (a)  To go on a mission (b) To get married at the right time, right place, right person. (c) Get as much education as you can.  Be as good as you can at what you do.
4.  What is the greatest gift I can give the Savior?  Give Him your heart.  Your job is to open your mouth.  Your tools will be words.  It must come from your heart.
5.  Why does God love us?  Because we are His children.  Remember that God loves you.  Get the Spirit and don't lost it.

Listening to Elder Holland tonight was very spiritual.  His talk was very spiritual.  His talk was a good testimony builder.  May the Spirit always be with Kathy and I as we serve this mission in New Zealand.  We both pray we will have the opportunity to do missionary work along with Family History work.  We plan to continue to study the scriptures and the Preach My Gospel Manual.

Training Day

Today was our first day of training on the computer (digital camera).  We thought you just took pictures of documents but the process is a little complicated.  However, with practice it should become a lot easier.

The hardest part is calibrating all the equipment.  There has to be just the right amount of light hitting the document and then everything has to be aligned.  At the end of every week a little box called a shuttle is sent to Salt Lake City.  We thought it was sent electronically but it is actually physically sent.

We actually have to log in our hours every week and they have to total 80.  It almost like going back to work but in a very beautiful place.  Hopefully tomorrow will be easier.  Luckily we like each other.  The instructor said a couple of weeks ago he trained a couple that kept fighting with each other.  So far we haven't fought so so far so good.

August 29, 2011

Sunday at the MTC

Today was a little different than any other Sunday we have experienced.  Breakfast was very simple so that fewer workers would have to work on the Sabbath.  This morning we could either have dry cereal or dry cereal with all plastic utensils.  Also at lunch we had only one choice pot roast, potatoes and carrots.  However, they did have ice cream from the BYU creamery.

We were assigned to a branch depending on the first letter of your last name.  Our branch was an American Branch so all the missionaries were from other countries assigned to missions in the United States.  When they blessed the sacrament it was the first time the elders had blessed it in English.

They then had a sister from an oriental country speak and a elder from Chili.  The elder from Chili has a mother who was just diagnosed with cancer but the mother and son both felt like he should serve a mission now.

The elders and sisters than sang the primary song "Armies of Helaman" with accents and the spirit was very strong.

Then for Relief Society they don't have a lesson but they have a song and prayer and then a new sister tells a conversion story.  They then had a special musical number and a speaker.

The speaker was the wife of a former Melbourne, Australia Mission President.  They came home about a year ago.  She looks very young but she served a mission in Peru when she was 21 and her and her husband have 8 children.  She showed pictures during her talk and it looks like most of her children went to Australia with them.  What an experience for those children.

From 5:30-6:30 we had a departure meeting for any missionary leaving the MTC this week.  There were 500 missionaries to that meeting.

Then at 7:00 we went to a fireside.  A counselor in the MTC presidency (President McIff) who was a doctor talked about relieving stress in the mission.  He committed all the missionaries to 20 minutes of exercise 6 days a week.  Don was all excited about that.

At the end we sang Called to Serve.  At first we sang very soft as if we were an army approaching.  Then the second verse was louder until the third verse when we all stood and sang very loud.  There were over 2,000 missionaries in the auditorium singing.  It was awesome.

August 28, 2011

Sidenote

This past week we were divided into districts and we had 8 people in our district.  So we don't forget who they are we would like to write a little about each one.

Elder and Sister Peck were from Seattle, Washington.  She taught college classes in nutrition at the University of Washington and when she retired they sold their home and will serve in Poland. 

Elder and Sister Craig are from Falls Church, Virginia.  He is a former Marine and they will serve at the temple in Brazil. 

Elder and Sister Black are from Mesa, Arizona.  They each lost a spouse and they have been married for 12 years and this is their second mission together.  They will serve in the Tallahasse, Florida in opening a new Spanish branch.

Don and I are the last of the group.