Since being in New Zealand we have met wonderful people who have a great love for missionaries. Missionaries are honored here. I think I have mentioned how we are treated if we show up for a meeting. We are always asked to come to the front. We are treated like honored guests wherever we go. It is humbling and makes us feel a little uncomfortable sometimes. Rangi Parker, our friend, tells us often that the Maori people love the missionaries because they sacrificed so much to come here and bring their people the gospel. They lived in very hard conditions, living right with the people and brought the gospel into their homes and lives. Their gratitude knows no bounds. . . so they honor missionaries.
Today we were called 'angels from God'. This was not from a Maori but rather from Tuan Tran our Vietnamese friend. "That first time when you come I have questions. I think God send you, you are my angel. I love you."
We had stopped by his home to see when we could set up a time to teach him again. He met us at the door with the biggest smile and motioned us to come inside where we sat again at his kitchen table. He began to talk in his English that we strain to understand. He was speaking so fast it was hard to get a word in but we could catch the drift of what he was trying to tell us. He was sharing his feelings about what he has been learning and reading in the Book of Mormon. His life is busy he tells us, but he wants to research and study this book. Every spare minute he reads it.
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| Tuan with his Book of Mormon (Vietnamese) and other study items |
He is now in Alma 20 and this is impressive due to how he reads. He studies each verse, comparing it to the Vietnamese copy. He told us he likes the English copy best. Then he turned to the back page of his Book of Mormon where he had written a list from 3 Nephi 19 of the Nephite Apostles. He told us that it is not the same in the Vietnamese copy so he prefers the English one.
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| Tuan's list of the names of the Nephite Apostles |
He has also read most of 3rd Nephi and readings in Moroni that we asked him to read.
Tuan is being converted by the Book of Mormon and it is wondrous to watch. It is just as President Ezra Taft Benson taught, 'There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book.'
We are watching this happen with Tuan and it is wondrous to us and humbling to be a part of his finding the gospel. I have always wondered at the times in the Book of Mormon when people like Lamoni and then Lamoni's wife are overpowered by the spirit and fall to the ground as if they were dead. When they fell, Ammon too was overcome,
'Ammon seeing the spirit of the Lord poured out according to his prayers. . .was also overpowered with joy; and thus they all three had sunk to the earth.' (Alma 19)
We understand this feeling now because we are 'overpowered with joy' when we are with Tuan, and when we leave we are filled with joy and the spirit. We haven't fallen to then ground as if we are dead yet, but it is like our spirits fall in humility. We want to kneel. We don't have words to express what we are feeling so our voices fall as well.
It is hard to express the joy of missionary work but it is wondrous. We aren't teaching Tuan - the Book is. It is true as we have been told, those who love the Bible will also love the Book of Mormon. We testify of this for we have seen it both with Tuan and with Enekosi. Both men loved the Bible and both are finding in the Book of Mormon a great treasure.
Tuan is coming to church with us on Sunday. We will leave the MTC long enough to attend Sacrament Meeting with him. We hope he will bring Huyen with him.
The Kenyan's
We had a wonderful lesson on Friday with two of the Kenyan young men we met while tracting about a month ago. They are Hindu's of Indian descent who were raised in Kenya and are working and going to school here in New Zealand. The Lesson was fun to teach. They are good Hindus and quite religious.
They have heard of Christ but knew nothing of Him. They had never heard of Adam and Eve, or Moses, or Noah - nothing that we learned as children. We think they wanted us to teach them just so they would understand what Christians believe. When we told them about Heavenly father and that Jesus is His Son they were confused. They thought Jesus was God and only Him so they were interested when we described Jesus as God's son.
We gave them each a Book of Mormon and invited them to church. We won't know if they went because we can't attend church with them. But we will return to teach them more. They loved our teachings about families and said it was what they believed as well.
We taught the lesson differently than we had before using the Restoration pamphlet that goes along with the first lesson and I thought it was really effective. We would have them read from the pamphlet something under each heading. Then Elder Thatcher would have them read some scriptures that taught what they had read. Each had his own pamphlet and so could refer to it after we left. We were able to write on the back where there was already a place for it, the address of the church and the time for Sacrament Meeting. We also showed them 3 videos to reinforce what we had been teaching. "I am a child of God' the song for the first concept. "Prince of Peace" after teaching them about Jesus, and the short video on the Restoration.
It is always fun and exciting to teach the gospel. It was especially fun to teach these two who knew nothing of Christianity so what was being taught was totally new to them. They were like fresh clean slates to write on. It was fun to show them our scriptures and tell them that the Old Testament contained the writings of prophets before Christ and the New Testament had the story of Christ and his apostles and the early Church, while the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ.
Temple Trip
Our Temple trip this past week was extra special. We left after lunch at the MTC instead of first thing in the morning so we attended the 4:00 session. Then we boarded the bus and drove East of the temple to Camp Tuhikaramea, a church camp with a large pavilion where dinner was all set up for us.
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| Very expansive beautiful Camp - If we could afford it we would bring you all here for a family reunion |
I was blown away by it all. I knew we were having dinner at the camp but pictured the picnic tables down by the temple where there is a playground for children and beautiful walks. President and Sister Howes had arranged this beautiful dinner for the missionaries with linens and real silverware and all. The food was delicious - the whole atmosphere beautiful!
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| tables set at Camp Tuhikaramea |
The view is so beautiful of the temple and all the land that is owned by the church. There were cattle grazing on some of the fields and beautiful ponds. We thought there was a lot of land around the temple that the church owned but we had no idea. The camp is used by church youth groups and families, much like the Heber Church girls camp.
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| the view from the pavilion - all church land to the farthest trees in the distance |
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| No paper plates for this meal |
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| Sisters Yabaki, Faatuai, Devi, Preedy, Tuala, Gafa, Elder Avia, Sister Soe, Elder Seau |
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| Long shadows of the day - Elder Kaulave, Sister Ieremia, myself, Elder Ila, Sisters Fetuani, Matagasau, 'Auaea |
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| Can you see the temple? |
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| The Sunset was beautiful |
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| Even though it is summer here it was a chilly night with wind so the Visitor's Center was enjoyed |
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| Missionaries from the Hamilton mission were testifying and singing carols by the Christus |
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| Hidden Mickey on the Visitors Center tree |
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| Temple lights - the picture doesn't do it justice - the sky was a deep blue against the beautiful white of the Temple |
The Gannet birds at Muriwai Beach
We finally went to see something here in New Zealand. On Saturday we went with President and Sister Briggs on little drive north of Auckland to Muriwai Beach were a colony of Gannet birds nest from October to February every year. We knew our chance to see them was limited by time so we took our Saturday morning and made the trip. It was delightful.
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| Beautiful black sand beach. The white on the top of the cliffs is Gannet birds |
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| Paraglider were fun to watch - the wind currents kept them up - the ride looked fun |
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| filtered light through the trees on the way to view the colony |
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| some adults some young - the noise was fun - the smell not so fun |
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| fishermen |
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| mother Gannet keeping her chick warm |
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| Beautiful place- the Gannets come here because the wind currents help the young learn to fly |
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| More information for those interested |
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| Add caption |
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| We didn't observe any diving into the ocean but there are films on line that show this |
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| When mature their wing span can be 6 feet |
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| We wondered if at high tide the fishermen's perch is under water |
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| Sister Briggs and I did most of the exploring - Elder Briggs and Thatcher found a nice bench |
I'll see if Greg can attach some video of the Gannet Birds. They make flying look so fun. It's no wonder that the Paragliders want to try it.
Gannet 1 from Thatcher Family on Vimeo.
We are hoping that 2018 is a wonderful year for all of you. It has been wonderful to talk to most of you this week. We are so proud of all of you and how you are living your lives. You fill our prayers both the giving gratitude part and the asking for blessings part of our prayer. We are also thankful for the modern conveniences that allow us to talk to you and see you and feel close to you even though we are so very far away.
We are grateful to be missionaries and to be experiencing the things that missionaries experience. We love watching the young missionaries and are inspired by them.
We love hearing about all of you back home. This will be a big week for Carly and Claire who are getting baptised this Saturday. Just heard that Michael is getting baptised this Saturday as well. Now that is a big day in the family. Congratulations Carly, Claire and Michael. We can't wait to tell the missionaries that we are having 3 baptisms in our family this week. Wonderful!!!! Take pictures.
And doesn't Sister Thatcher look good in that nose warmer. We are sure she will get a little more respect wearing that. She tells us that the British people think she looks like a 12 year old. But she did say that after speaking in Church on Sunday a woman came up to her and said that she might look like a 12 year old but she doesn't speak like one. We love hearing about her missionary adventures.
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| Sister Thatcher and companion - the Darling Darlington Sisters |
With that we will wish all of you a Happy New Year. There will be changes in this coming year but some things will remain the same. The gospel is true - prayers are heard - miracles will happen - and family is forever.
Be true.
We love you.
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Elder and Sister Thatcher
What a tender visit with Tuan. You describe everything so beautifully. The kids loved seeing the pictures of the birds. We think of you often and pray for you always.
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