Last Monday the 15 January, on our way to tract for the evening, we felt we needed to stop by Moses and Antonina's and check on our little Samantha. She is 6 years old and has been in the hospital for several weeks with a liver infection and it has been hard to communicate with the family. We grabbed a few gifts from our gift box (Uncle Todd would be so proud) and were on our way. When we pulled into their driveway we could see Antonina on the front porch with a neighbor. She was having a difficult time. She told us that Samantha wasn't doing well. They were home for a couple of hours and then would have to go back to the hospital. All the antibiotics had not helped. Samantha's liver is failing. They are talking about a liver transplant and want to do it as quickly as possible before she becomes too ill.
Samantha is very yellow. She came to the door to see us dressed in a big parka. Antonina said she is just embarrassed to have anyone see her. Antonina was just overwhelmed with everything. She is stressed by the financial burdens, having to be in the hospital with other children at home, how it had gone on and on without improvement and now facing the heavy prospect of a transplant for her little girl. We asked Antonina if she would like a blessing and she said she would love one for Samantha. We made arrangements to return in an hour or so with the Bishop.
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| Naomi and Samantha wearing one of the gifts we had brought her and dressed for her blessing |
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| Naomi, Samantha, and Keisha |
We made the trip into Auckland to the Starship Children's Hospital to visit Samantha on Wednesday.
Antonina and Moses seemed much better even though the circumstances haven't changed. The liver transplant is imminent.
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| Starship Children's Hospital - looks like a ship |
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| Somehow we found our way inside |
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| I thought it was the nicest hospital we have been in here in New Zealand. Maddie, Kaitlin, Brig and I would have lots of fun exploring this place |
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| The doors leading to Samantha's room |
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| At first no one was in the room but soon Samantha popped in and loved playing The Bee Game with Elder Thatcher. She has become a very smart player and beat poor Elder Thatcher both games. If she's not careful he will stop playing with her |
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| Soon Antonina and Moses joined us |
Moses wants to be a live donor for Samantha. They will have to do a lot of testing to find out if he is compatible. But both Moses and Antonina seemed calm and good. They said there is just so much to learn and consider. It is a humbling time for all of us. Samantha seems happy and is not miserable other than the itching. Everything itches. It must be due to the liver not filtering correctly. Samantha is constantly on our minds.
New Prophet Russell M. Nelson
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| President Dallin H. Oaks, President Russell M. Nelson, President Henry B. Eyring New First Presidency |
We set our alarm for 5:00 am so we could hear the announcement from President Russell M. Nelson. We are so thankful for latter day prophets. We loved President Monson and we love our new prophet.
At our last visit with Enekosi and Leitu we left the video 'On the Lord's Errand' about President Monson's life. When we visited them this week Leitu told us how they had loved it. They had watched every minute and thought his life was so full of service. We have been led all our lives by prophets of the Lord and their influence in our lives has been profound. 'Follow the Prophet' children, and all of us, 'He knows the way!'
Richie Edmonds and the kids
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| Kori, Mahina, Sister Thatcher, Pana, Georaeah, and Tiare |
Children are wonderful. Kori is Keala's other son, and Mahina and Pana are Doug's. The children love each other and are very sad when some need to go to their other homes. Children respond to the gospel. It is always sweet to hear their comments and feel their simple faith. And at least here in New Zealand all the children seem to love the missionaries.
We also learned that Richie and Keala's cousin is a missionary right now at the MTC. We made the connection later - it is Elder Puckey from Auckland going to Brisbane. He is a handsome one like all the Edmonds family.
MTC Devotional with President and Sister Halleck
On Tuesday we had the Area Presidency Devotional at the MTC. This time we were privileged to hear from Elder Halleck our area president. As they walked in Sister Halleck whispered to me that they needed to talk to us before they left. We had no idea why and were a little nervous during the devotional. After they had met every missionary personally and shaken everyones hand they sought us out. Sister Halleck told us we had a mutual acquaintance - Brad Nelson. We both were stretching trying to remember Brad Nelson, and then we realized that he married Rebecca Johnson, Uncle Andy and Aunt Tally's Rebecca. Brad had been President Halleck's Assistant in the Samoan Mission and they love him. I just happened (I'm kind of known for this) to have recorded their talks and told them I would send them to Brad and Becca. I've been trying to get their email address to get this done. I'll do it! Anyway it's fun to make connections in the church. 'It's a small world' in the church and at Disneyland! The connections are happy ones as well, just like the dolls in the ride.
It's a world of laughter a world of tears,
it's a world of hopes and a world of fears,
There's so much that we share,
That it's time we're aware,
It's a small world after all.
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| President and Sister Halleck and Sister and President Halleck |
We meet the most lovely, beautiful people tracting. I'm learning not to dread going. I think Elder Thatcher is right, by the time we go home I may even enjoy it. We met the siblings below on the road called Vetori Place. Their home was back behind other homes at the end of an alley with banana trees growing. Their parents weren't home but they were excited to watch a children's video on their porch with us. The beautiful sister in the middle is Folosi. She is 19 and a student at the university.
They loved the videos - we ended up showing at least 3 and they kept begging for more. We asked Folosi if she would like a Book of Mormon and she said she would love one, that she loves to read. They told us to come back late,r that their parents would love to meet us. We don't know about that. But we will surely return.
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| Ropeta, Folosi, Stephen and myself on their porch - our classroom |
We also met the nicest man from Cambodia on Vetori Place. His name is Pin Pang. Isn't that the best name! He spent 10 years in a refugee camp. He looked so young but he is a grandfather. His home was beautifully neat and I loved the flowers in his yard. His wife was working with the flowers as we walked up to the house. He let us in and we talked about God. He is Buddhist but doesn't seem to have great love for his religion. He listened to the Joseph Smith story and was interested. He said he can read English but can't understand what he reads. We ordered a Cambodian Book of Mormon for him and our Zone leaders just got it for us. We are looking forward to returning and giving him this priceless gift.
The Singh family
We had an appointment with the Singh family but when we got there only aunt Lolita and Ronak were home. Ronak told us he wants to be baptised. He asked when he could be and we told him that he was nine so he could be baptized anytime.
"OK," he said, "this week!"
We asked if he would rather be baptized alone or with his mother. He would like to be baptized with his mother. We will work on that. We also told him he needed to attend church at least three times. He said he had been there twice and so that wouldn't be hard. Our sweet Primary President who has a brand new baby picked him up for church last week and then took him to their home after. Her sons, Larry and Lavon are such great friends for Ronak. We are thinking she probably picked him up again yesterday. Clover Park Ward is the best.
We will also send a referral to Fiji for Aunt Lolita who went home on Friday.
Enekosi and Leitu
It was a week of a lot of broken appointments but Enekosi and Leitu had us come on Friday for a lesson. It was good. We asked them to tell us what they were thinking and learning. Enekosi told us he loved the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He showed us the Articles of Faith that he had found and said he believes every word, especially number 4 and number 11. He believes the first principles and ordinances and wants to be baptized. He doesn't want to be baptized at the church though, but in a river and he wants Elder Thatcher to baptize him. But then he told us he doesn't think the church is necessary. He likes that Joseph taught about letting a man worship anyway he wants. We don't think he understood what Joseph meant by the 11th Article of Faith. His understanding isn't quite where it needs to be. We pray for help in teaching him the importance of the church.
Because of this our minds have been full of thoughts about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the kingdom of God on earth and the blessings of membership in the church.
The last two weeks we have witnessed a dear Prophet leave the earth and another be ordained. It was a beautiful thing to watch. We have talked about the way the church has blessed our lives. What it has meant to have prophets to lead and guide us and what a blessing the church was in every aspect of our family life. Do we need a church? Absolutely! Without the church and the priesthood we couldn't receive the ordinances and that would be a definite problem, but what if somehow we could one by one get baptised? How would we take this blessing to the world? Can you imagine doing the latter day work that needs to be done without the organization of the Church. Who would build a temple for us to go to. Who would preach the gospel to the world? Where would the order be? Who would record what is done on earth so it could be recorded in heaven?
It has been an eye opener to work at the MTC and see up close and personal, the organization of the church in just one aspect of it's mission - missionary work. It is a marvelous thing to see. These missionaries from all countries are called, set apart, endowed, receive Patriarchal blessings, make travel plans and are trained in MTC's by servants of the Lord all dedicated to this work. It is a marvelous work and a wonder.
This church is the most amazing organization on the earth. We are in awe of what it accomplishes and the huge task that it faces. We are in awe of the members who are consecrated and willing to give their lives to this latter-day work. We are humbled to see the smooth operation of the church as it moves in it's majesty. It truly is led by the Lord.
As Elder Thatcher often quotes one of his favorite stories, 'Do we really know what we have?' Do we understand what we are a part of in this church. It is such an honor to be a member of the Church. We need to be loyal, grateful, faithful members. The riches of Eternity are ours because the Kingdom is ours. I can hardly type this without falling to my knees. I am so grateful for this church.
I know I have taught the kids this many times, but if Christ is the bridegroom, who is the bride? It is the church. When we are born again into the family of Christ, the Church is our mother. It nourishes us, teaches us, watches over us and helps us grow up in Christ. We would be as lost without the church as a new baby would be lost without it's mother. And like any child that grows up with a good mother, those of us who have grown up in the Church love it. We know how it has blessed us. It is forever dear to us. And in our old age we like to serve our dear mother and help her all we can.
Beloved Missionaries
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| Elder Bingham, Elder Daunasiga, Sister Ryter, Sister Thatcher, Sister Peck |
At District meeting on Tuesday we saw some of our missionaries from the MTC. Elder Daunasiga has been a companion to our Zone leader Elder Salesa for a couple weeks. We heard he has now finished his medication and has flown out to his mission in PNG but we got to see him one last time and I asked him to bear his testimony. It's the testimony that he bears to everyone he meets. I will have Greg attach it here for you.
Sister Ryter was in the first intake of missionaries that we met in the MTC when we arrived here in July. She is a fine missionary and it was so good to see her.
Church Museum of the Pacific
We went to the church museum after the temple on a rainy Thursday. I stepped into Rangi Parker's office to tell her about a text I had received that morning from Aunt Rosie saying that she is sending her grandfather's history of when he was the mission president in Samoa and Tonga as a young man. Rangi was delighted. I also told her a little story about Wendell Ohlwiler when he served in Tahiti and she got so excited she asked to record the story on video. I grabbed President Thatcher who remembered the details better than I and we made the recording. We are now officially part of the collection and so is Wendell Ohlwiler. A little of Paradise in the Pacific.
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| President Thatcher, Sister King and Sister Rangi Parker preparing to video the story |
Hunua Falls
The Senior Couple Missionaries had a picnic on Saturday at Hunua Falls. It is a beautiful place about 45 minutes from our flat.
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| Hunua Falls |
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| We might have found the baptism spot for Enekosi |
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| down stream |
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| The group of missionaries |
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| Elder and Sister Downs |
Elder and Sister Downs are from Farmington. Elder Downs was a coach at the middle school in there for years and knows Tiffanie. I thought I was recording him while he spoke about Tiffanie and found later that I hadn't turned it on correctly. It was so sweet to hear him tell us about Tiffanie and how she stood out of all the students he had taught over years. He spoke of her kindness and how she never needed to be in the spotlight. We knew he knew our Tiffanie. He spoke with such love for her and you could tell he was in awe that our son had married Miss Tiffanie Bell. We grew in his admiration after that. They are a wonderful couple who serve in the Institute here and all the YSA's love them. Sister Downs is as outstanding as Elder Downs. Such great souls. One of the blessings of being senior couple missionarie is that you get to associate with such wonderful faithful people.
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| bright colors all around us here |
Birthday Greetings
I'm afraid we've missed a few birthdays back home. We hope you all know how happy we are to have you a part of our family. Each and everyone of you is most precious.
Happy Birthday this month to:Michael
James
Heidi
Alison
Tiffanie
Brigham
Truman
We hope all your dreams and wishes come true.
It is always fun to here from the other Sister Thatcher who seems to be doing very well in Jolly Ole England.
Take care of yourselves. Be kind to one another. Pray for the missionaries, and read the Book of Mormon. It is a treasure and in searching it more and more treasures become ours. In your prayers you might just want to express gratitude to your Father in Heaven that you belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Much love,
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Elder and Sister Thatcher
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