What is our culture?

Ward Cultural Night at Clover Park Ward

Tongan Twins perform a Tongan Cultural dance

It was the Ward Conference for the Clover Park Ward this past week.  They do things a little different here as far as Ward Conferences go.  There is an activity every night of the week.  

Monday - Family Home Evening.  

Tuesday - 'Trade off' Visit next door neighbors of lost ones, retrieve info and invite them to allen's     ward conference. 

Wednesday - Stake Leadership Training

Thursday - Rescue Visits 

Friday -  Ward Cultural Night 

Saturday - Ward Temple Day

Sunday - Ward Conference

Cultural Night on Friday was such fun.  I found my self wondering what our culture is.  Do you know?  These island saints all know what culture they come from.  The ward has many different cultures in it; Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Maori, Cook Island etc.  Each person knows their culture and can celebrate it.  They know how to have a good time and how to put on a 'feed' as well.
Here are a few of the dances performed.


1st video * The beautiful Vaivai women of our ward perform.  They are Samoan.  President Vaivai is the first counselor in our Stake Presidency

2nd video* Sister Picard and her son.  She is from Tahiti where they speak French and of course English.  She is a gem.

3rd video * two young women from the ward perform a Samoan dance. They are so graceful

4th video * The Lesa family.  Brother Lesa is very talented.  He was Elvis at our Christmas party and was a better Elvis than Elvis

5th video * this shows the personality of the ward.  Sister Lavea in the purple skirt starts to dance and then the bishop and many others join her on the floor.  Such fun! If you watch till the end you might even see Elder Thatcher join in

6th video * The Maori Haka - performed by a Maori family in the ward

As we watched these wonderful performances I couldn't help but wonder what our culture is.  If we had been asked to dance and demonstrate our culture what would we have done?  I really don't know. What is our music, our dance, our food (other than lots of whatever ).  Let me know what you think our culture is.  It has made me curious.  

Elder Mondejar and Elder Leao enjoyed the party

Elder Thatcher still found time to tract this week.  I believe it was the first time we went tracting in the rain.

I love to take picture of flowers while tracting
Elder Thatcher cooperates with a pose

He lists every door we knock on in his tracting book and briefly records what transpired at that address

 H

I do other important things

I must report that in one hour of tracting yesterday we scheduled 4 appointments.  We also tracted into our ward mission leader not knowing where he lived.  It was a fun surprise to find him and his wife and they seemed really interested in our message.   I usually carry candy with me and we make friends with the children on the street.

We love our days at the MTC where we are taught and inspired not only by the leaders and teachers there but also by the missionaries who live and learn there.  The Spirit is there each time we enter.  We will always treasure our days spent at the MTC.  This week we taught a devotional on Sunday Evening on Recognizing the Spirit.  We thought how much we have learned on this subject in 9 short months.

 group activity 'Learning to Recognize the Spirit'

Other happenings of the week:

A lesson with Moses, Antonina and girls about tithing
A wonderful lesson with Leai and Alofa - we love meeting with them at the church and teaching them there - we have great hopes that Leai will be baptized.
Short visits with Leitu, who has been ill and Tuan Tran who is still very, very, busy.
A wonderful Temple trip with the MTC missionaries
District meeting - a weekly joy for us

Some of our favorite times each week are when we get to FaceTime with some of you.
We loved hearing Gideon sing songs.
We loved seeing the boys of Winnemucca.
It is always fun to see your faces and hear of the happenings of your days.
It was fun to see Anna in a variety of wedding dresses and share a little in that fun.
A special thanks to Amy for helping Anna look for a wedding dress and for all the rest of you who joined in on the fun.
We especially appreciated visiting with Aaron and Lorraine.  Can't tell you what that meant to us.  Thank you for calling.

It was a big week for Murphy and Andrea who have moved into their new home.  Can't wait to see pictures.

We understand there was a fun clogging trip to St. George for Brooke.

We are sure that Sleeping Beauty at the Eccles was great and hope the flower presenters had a fragrant time.

We are thankful that Tiffanie is home from a wonderful trip.

The Bayles' have a new piano.

Rosie is learning new tricks - smart dog!

Aaron is starting a new treatment.  We mention all these fun things that others are doing and then slip in a new chemo treatment for Aaron.  Life isn't fair is it Big A.

We are sure there are many other happenings in this big wonderful family.  We love you all and pray for each of you.

A world map at the Church Museum of the Pacific - they empty it often - one of these days I'm going to add all your missions to this map - then each of your names will be recorded in the museum

We will leave you for another week with our testimony.  The following is a mix of statements from Grandpa and I, all mixed up together like our teaching is.

We've enjoyed our mission a great deal.  We've become closer together and closer to the Lord.  We've been grateful that He has helped us find so may investigators even though we feel our teaching skills are weak.
We have been proud of all of you and grateful for the way you are all raising your families.  
Our testimonies have grown while we've been in this beautiful place.  We realize more than ever how much the gospel has blessed this family'.  ( I asked dad what he thought the Lord meant in 3rd Nephi when he said  'unto you who fear my name. . .  ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.'  He simply said, 'like our children and grandchildren who grow up in wonderful homes and are taught the gospel.' )
We are grateful to the Lord that we can repent and try to do better every day.  We hope that all of you grandchildren will follow Megan's and David's example and serve missions.
The Book of Mormon is true.  This church is the only true and living church on the face of the earth.  God lives and we are His children.  He sent His son to be our redeemer and make all things possible for us.  We have this gospel and this knowledge to guide us all the days of our lives.
How can we show the Lord our gratitude for all we have been given?  We must be true!  Thatchers are True, and so are Howell's, and Ellis', and Hadfields, and Bayles', and Pattersons!  Now as Mark and Emily's family ask after repeating the motto 'Thatchers are True', what are we true to?
We are true to God, to covenants, to parents, to the commandments, to each other, to ourselves, to the the promptings of the Spirit, to the prophet.  We are true to the Faith that our parents have cherished, true to the truth for which martyrs have perished.  To God's command, soul, heart, and hand, faithful and true we will ever stand.

Say your prayers and read the Book of Mormon.  Hold to the rod and stay on the path - the gospel path - the path of happiness.  We will be seeing you all soon.   Till then and always, we love you!

Mom and Dad
Grandpa and Grandma
Elder and Sister Thatcher

Meet some missionaries . . . a call to serve

We meet the most wonderful, interesting people here on this mission.  We want all of you to get to know them.  Meet Elder and Sister Skibbe.   They came on their mission from Australia and are going to serve in the Marshall Islands but they are both originally from East Germany. 

President and Sister Briggs, Sister and Elder Skibbe, President Thatcher

The Skibbe's grew up behind the Berlin wall.  Elder Skibbe was born in the church and when 3 years old his family secretly crossed a white line drawn on the road to go to the temple in Switzerland to be sealed.  Then they snuck back into the country.  He was very angry with his father as a youth when he realized that they could have been free like some of his friends who had left.  The Uchdorf family was one that had gotten away when they could.  They knew President Monson and all the saints of East Germany that President Monson told stories about, his father being one of the faithful.  He knew them all and can talk of them and those years of miracles when the Freiberg Germany Temple was first promised to the saints and later miraculously built.

Elder and Sister Skibbe are faithful saints who can talk of Agency and Freedom and the lack thereof with understanding and passion.  We asked him if he would write his story for us and he sent us this copy of the bullet points from his farewell talk.

My farewell talk using Elder Uchtdorfs talk “The Adventure of Mortality”

• *  born 1954 into 1 room 2mx3m (shared toilet downstairs, food stamps)
  
• *  1957 temple trip to Switzerland with parents and grandparents for sealing
  
• *  in order to get there we had to cross secretly the white line from East Berlin to West Berlin,
      and then use the train to Switzerland
  
• *  1958 Meyer family (mum Helga, 3 daughters and son Siegfried) left over night our branch
      for SLC, by also crossing the white line in Berlin. I inherited Siegfried's toy train
  
• *  1961 Berlin wall was built (to stop the East Germans from leaving the country)
  
• *  I was too young to understand but a few years later it dawned on me that I would be locked
      up for the rest of my life
  
• *  I struggled to understand my parents decision to stay when they had the chance to leave and
      by doing so “ruining” my future.
  
• *  When I turned 18 I had to serve in the army for 3 years in order to go to uni, mission not an
      option
  
• *  after uni the government assigned the jobs for all gratuates. We couldn't choose where we
      wanted to live and work but through a miracle I was able to get a job in my home town and
      to support our little branch
  
• *  1989 freedom
  
• *  1999 Australia
  
  Steve Jobs said: “You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”
  
  Looking back today I’m grateful for:
  

• *  finding my wife and having a wonderful family in that country
  
• *  experiencing how it feels when your free agency is taken away (satan's smart plan)
  
• *  learning about the true value of family vs. “stuff”
  
• *  when the wall came down the value of “stuff” like furniture, cars, and other possession    dropped overnight down to zero and everything people had worked for for 20 or 30 years ended up on the nature strip.
  
  My experience was similar to Elder Uchtdorf's.
  
  D. Uchtdorf: “When I was your age I had no idea where my life would take me. I definitely didn’t see any dots connecting in front of me. But I did trust God. I listened to the advice of loving family and wise friends, and took small steps of faith, believing that if I did the best I could in the moment, God would take care of the big picture. He did.  He knew the end from the beginning when I did not.  I could not see the future, but He could.  Even during those times of hardship when I thought I was abandoned, He was with me. I see that now.
  
  In Proverbs, we find this great promise: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
  
  Story of Joseph of Egypt
  
  In many ways, his life was disastrous. He was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was cast into prison for a crime he did not commit. Despite all the terrible circumstances forced upon him, he maintained his faith. He trusted God. He made the best out of it. Year after year—even when it appeared that he had been overlooked and abandoned—he believed. Joseph always inclined his heart to God. And God showed that He is able to turn negatives into positives.
  

Your adventure may not be quite as dramatic, but it will have its ups and downs. So, remember

Joseph’s example: Remain faithful. Believe. Be honest. Don’t become bitter. Don’t be a bully.     Love God, love your fellowmen. Trust the Lord, even when things appear bleak.

You may not see it until much later, but you will look back and know that the Lord did indeed direct and guide your path. The dots did connect.”

2 Nephi 2:2, teaches that God "shall consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain."

Author unknown: 
I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, "No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up."
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, "No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary."
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, "No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned."
I asked God to give me happiness. God said, "No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you." I asked God to spare me pain. God said, "No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me."
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, "No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful."
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, "No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things."
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said, "Ahhhh...., finally you have the idea."

If it would be up to us we would avoid all hardship, challenges and trials. But God let's bad things happen to his children so we draw closer to him, to teach us important lessons, and to give us opportunities to exercise charity.

D. Uchtdorf: “We may not be able to see the entire picture just yet, but we’ll see enough to trust that there is a beautiful, grand design. And as we strive to trust God and follow His Son, Jesus Christ, one day we will see the finished product, and we will know that the very hand of God was directing and guiding our steps.” 

(Beautiful counsel from two East German Saints, Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Skibbe)



Mission Report
Enekosi and Leitu update

We have felt so sad about Enekosi and Leitu.  We both felt that we were losing them.  When we first began teaching them we had some of the most beautiful experiences of our mission.  The spirit was  strong and Enekosi ate up everything we taught, especially the Book of Mormon.  Then our meetings became more scarce, we couldn't get them to come back to church, and they wanted to be baptized but then go to another church. We have yet to get them married.  Leitu texted for us to come last Friday and we thought maybe  it would be them telling us they didn't want to meet anymore.  

But. . .  we were greeted warmly at the door just like always and our meeting was full of the Spirit as scriptures were shared and we talked.  Enekosi still reads the Book of Mormon every day and we felt that maybe his understanding is growing.  This time he had found Moroni 8, which teaches about not baptizing children.  He said he turned to the back of the book because he wanted to know about Mormon and Moroni.  He loved what he read and said his church baptizes babies, but that he  believes what Mormon taught, that it is an abomination to God.  

We taught again about the spirit world and baptism for the dead.  This time they liked the doctrine. It was as if they hadn't heard it before.  We read 1Peter 3,  and 1 Corinthians 15.  and then in answer to Enekosi's question about if Jesus visited the spirits who had been rebellious, did he ever visit the faithful spirits?. . . we had them read Doctrine and Covenants 138.  Enekosi seemed fascinated by this.  

We left with great hope rekindled for them.  Elder Thatcher made the statement that their reading the book of Mormon allows the Spirit to keep working with them.  That is the hope we have for them.  Without this reading we are sure we would not be going any more.  Leitu told me that every day Enekosi goes to a room in the house where he studies the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  We left them with a sheet full of scriptures for Enekosi to study and read to Leitu.  They are all about the importance of the Church.  He loves assignments like this.  We look forward to meeting again with them and we pray that the Lord will bring them along.

The Party Family - Aisea and Teleni

The party family has been very busy the last few weeks.  Aisea and Teleni's son Michael Angelo has been practicing hours every day for Polyfest, which is a HUGE Cultural event where Tonga, Samoa, Mauri, Cook Islands and other islands present their dances and music in a competition.  I'm telling you the crowds were worse than Disneyland on a very busy day.  (The price was much better than Disneyland however as it only cost 5$ to enter).  

St Paul's College - Michael Angelo's performance at Polyfest

The costumes were amazing and all hand made.  The costumes in this picture were made with real leaves so they had to be made just before the event.  The level of performance was great.  We could see why students at BYU Hawaii can get jobs at the Poynesian Cultural Center and perform so well.  



This group took 2nd place but should have been first (according to Aisea).  This is the Tongan stage and the drums were magnificent.  The parents of the students are also behind the dance group.  They provided the music and the singing.  

We did have a lesson with the family on Monday night and they were happy that we had gone to Polyfest.  Here are a few more pics of the event.

Cook Island Dancers

gathering ideas for the next reunion

1/2 watermelon all cut up and put back in the rind topped with ice cream and toppings

The crowd 

Antonina and Moses and girls

Samantha is doing well.  She is still waiting for a transplant but her color has improved and she feels good.  All this is great because she still needs the liver transplant but is healthy while waiting.  The family seems to be doing quite well.  Moses has a new job and they continue to work on being a forever family. 

Samantha follows along during the lesson

Antonina and Naomi learning about the Holy Ghost

Special Guests - Visitors from the Past

My long time childhood friend Kaye Dittmer Cowley Sivori and her daughter Cosette came to new Zealand and stopped in for a visit.  So far most of our chances to see a little of this beautiful Island have been when we have had company.  This time we headed to Rotorua,  famous for where the Maori culture is on display and also for its geothermic attractions.  It is much like Yellowstone with sulfur mud pots, geysers and other attractions. 

Tamaki Mauri Village 

We learned the Mauri Culture - This man taught about tattoos

Can you see the flowered white circles at the top of this canoe?  That is how they navigated the Pacific.  They kept two stars within those circles to guide them - fascinating!

Entertainment at the village

Elder Thatcher soaking his feet at a park with hot springs
 where we met a very interesting woman named Kimi

Kaye, Cosette and I on our walk among the redwoods

Yes, we got to go to Hobbiton again, and they loved it.
  Elder Thatcher even enjoyed it more this time.
 It is more than lovely, charming and magical - it is 'bucolic'

There are 44 Hobbit Holes on the property
and we saw some we hadn't seen on our first visit

This is the only Hobbit Hole with a Thatched roof
We felt it calling to us 

Thatch End

Our family would never fit in a Hobbit Hole

Old Friends with new memories

Anyone recognize this Hobbit Hole?
It's Samwise Gamgee's - you can see it at the end of The Return of the King
The flowers are lush - Samwise knows his stuff!

All good things must end - Happy Flight home dear Kaye and Cosette

Happenings far from Hobbiton and Middle Earth

David Howell's Mission Call - Merida Mexico!!!!!!

Pretty exciting David - You will be a fine Missionary

There must have been a fun group there for the opening!
Ella, Katie, Kaitlin, Anna, Evelyn

Luck of the Irish 

St. Patricks Day in Paradise was eventful
Easton, KJ, Benson, Anna, Easton

Thoughtful notes to Leprechauns from sweet children

And well laid plans to trap a few from tricky kids

So close Sam! The King left surprises in their fridge - green milk!
Pretty neat to get a letter from the King of Leprechauns himself!

Miscellaneous happenings

Fun performances - Looks like Ty loves Millie the Mermaids

Dream Shopping 

And fond remembrances. . .
Look at that gorgeous sunset as if bidding a fond farewell to Megan's beloved Lucille

Happy Birthday Ben
Send us a picture of your birthday and we will put it right here on the blog.  We love you! It was surely a happy day 7 years ago when you joined us in this great adventure on earth. 

Ben must be mighty old by the looks of that fire on his cake!
Happy Birthday Ben

That's enough for the week.  Sorry to be late in posting.  I needed Greg's help again to get my computer to let me onto the blog.  

We love you all.  We are thinking of you now especially Aaron and all he is going through.  We seem so far away and of no help when you need us.  We hope you can feel our love and that prayers count because we send many of those heavenward for you.

The gospel is true.  We know it!  We have many times each day when we feel our testimonies burning within us.  Always that burning calls us to higher ground.  We want to be better.  We want to be more like Him whose story we tell and to whom we all look for help and salvation.  May your faith grow, and your repentance be constant.  May the Spirit always be with you as you endure in faith all you face.  The Doctrine of Christ is as applicable to each of us as it is to those who we teach who are not members of this Church.  It is a doctrine of love.

Mom and Dad
Grandpa and Grandpa
Elder and Sister Thatcher 

Congratulations Anna and KJ

The happy news of the week is that Anna and KJ are officially engaged. We have known this was coming and are pleased that we can now tell the world. They will be getting married on June 9th, which just happens to be our 46th wedding anniversary. We think it's pretty sweet that our youngest child will be married on our anniversary. We are so happy for the two of them.

She said 'Yes!'

We've never seen Anna happier

Sister Nouata update. . .

Remember Sister Nouata from Kiribati?  She is our darling little sister missionary who was raised Catholic and wanted to be a nun.  The story she wrote for us before she left the MTC ended leaving many questions in our minds.  What did her family think when she got baptised?  How did she decide to serve a mission? etc.  Sister Howes emailed her and asked for more of the story and here is the first update.  Enjoy!

Hello Sister Howes
thank you for keeping in touch and thank you for all the lessons that i have learnt. well as i wait for my companion to finish emailing i just want to continue my story which i wrote to you and Sister Thatcher. it was so hard for me to be baptised but i knew that i have to and that i need to...i had my strong testimony that Heavenly Father wants me to take this path and i loved to follow it. in my family i was called as a "school girl" cause i loved studying and i graduated from high school when i was 18....i wanted to continue studying but i have to be a nun too. so after meeting the missionaries and gaining my testimony i decided to continue my study instead of being a nun.my father was happy with the decision that i wanted to continue studying. but he made me choose between baptism and studying. Honestly at that time i want to study but if i choose baptism then no one will pay for my study. but i choose baptism and i have no idea of what will happen next...but i trust the lord that he will do the rest.
But 1 week before i got baptised my little cousin passed away. She's only 2 years old and of course i loved her, but that day my family blamed me for her death saying that the lord was very angry with what i am doing and that he took my cousin so that i can realize my mistakes. Honestly, that day i have doubts but when i met the missionaries they told me that God is a loving heavenly father and that he won't punish me by taking another's life. To be honest, i forced myself to believe what the missionaries said that day. i got baptised cause i feel like it something that i need to do and when i did it it feels so right. After baptism there's no study in the university but i had a institute, seminary, and self reliance class for 1 whole year before i came on my mission. And let me tell you that i never regret choosing this path. i will continue next week cause my companions are done already

love you heaps,
Sister Nouata

(Hopefully Sister Nouata will send more information this week and if she does we will pass it along to you. These missionaries are some of our finest heroes)

Meeting with Elder L Whitney Clayton

L Whitney Clayton shaking Elder Stringer's hand


We have been richly fed this week. It started with our Zone Meeting on Tuesday with President Walker. He taught us powerfully from Preach My Gospel. We wanted to be better missionaries and felt called to repentance. He talked about being bold and helping people make commitments. We have also been taught by several General Authorities this week and have felt the strength of their witness of the truth.


The Auckland Mission had a special missionary meeting with Elder L Whitney Clayton, the Senior President of the Seventy and his wife on Friday. Elder Craig A Cardon, also of the Seventy, and his wife, and President and Sister Walker also taught us. It was a wonderful meeting.


Mark told us that Elder Clayton is his guess for one of the new Apostles. We weren't that familiar with him but after hearing him we can understand why Mark thinks that. He was a powerful teacher and seemed so kind and loving. He taught us how the Lord works below the radar and that the church is growing and the Lord is performing his work without much notice from the world. He quoted the scripture from 3 Nephi 21:8


'And when that day shall come (referring to verse 7 about the work of the Father having already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of israel) it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.


Then he quoted D&C 101:94-95

That wise men and rulers may hear and know that which they have never considered; That I may proceed to bring to pass my act my strange act, and perform my work, my strange work, that men may discern between the righteous and the wicked, saith your God.


He reminded us of JSH:33 where Moroni told Joseph that God had a work for him to do; and that his name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues. . .

Elder Clayton then had the missionaries stand according to the countries they were from. There were missionaries from the US, Canada, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, England, France, Taiwan, Tailand, India, Italy, and more. Then he said, 'If you can't see the fulfillment of that prophecy and the miracle of it in this room, then you are blind!"

It is so true that as missionaries we see the fulfillment of this prophecy not only with those we teach but with those we serve as well. It is wonderful to be a part of prophecy being fulfilled and to see the marvelous work of the Lord going forth in power and yet under the radar of the eyes of the world. There was so much more taught. It was a meeting, I suppose, like I have heard missionaries talk about in missions before. The spirit abides in meetings where missionaries are being taught. Maybe it is because as missionaries we are seeking to know, seeking to learn, seeking to improve. We come to such meetings hungry and with ears and hearts open.


Elder Clayton shook every missionaries hand.

Stake Conference with Elder Neil L. Andersen

We spent much of our time this last week visiting everyone we have met in our months here in New Zealand inviting them to come to a special Stake Conference that was held in our Stake yesterday and where our Apostle Elder Andersen was going to talk to us. We had several families who told us they would come and we told them we would meet them there. We got excused from the MTC in order to attend the meeting. The crowd was so large that we were unable to spot any of our investigators. It has left us thinking that none actually came but we are not sure, and hope springs eternal.


It was one of the greatest meetings we have ever attended. We would have loved for all of you to have been there. It was a meeting like we would have expected from these Polynesian Island people when an apostle or prophet comes among them. The honor they gave to Elder Andersen was just beautiful. Elder Andersen said he could feel the faith when he walked into the chapel and it was true, you could. The love was palpable. There was a choir of saints which had prepared to sing for the Apostle. They had fasted multiple times for the occasion and it was like a heavenly choir. These people can sing! All the visitors were moved by the song they sang. It was 'Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning' and in all our years in the church we have never heard it sung with more power. I recorded most of it and will see if Greg can put it on the blog. I haven't listened to the recording and fear it won't do justice to what we heard.


We were sitting in about the middle of the crowd trying to watch for any of our investigators when an usher came up to us and took us to one of the front benches that had been reserved. We tried to tell him no, that we needed to watch for people, but the man insisted and that is how we came to sit by Sister Andersen's brother, a brother Williams who has served as a Stake President in Florida and whose son was married last week in the New Zealand Temple.


In this wonderful meeting we not only heard from Elder Andersen but also from his tiny, sweet wife, Kathy, and Elder and Sister Paul Coward, and our Stake President, President Lavea whose son is in the MTC right now. What a meeting!










Elder Andersen shaking hands with the children after the meeting


The meeting was held in the Ferguson Chapel in Otara. Elder Andersen has a son who served here some years ago. Elder Coward also served here as a young missionary 30 years ago. He asked if any one remembered him from back then and then told where he lived on Johnston road and the name of the family who they lived with. We heard gasps in the audience. Every talk touched the hearts of these wonderful faithful saints.


Elder Andersen began by talking of the great faith of the island people. He said, "You all have faith, so I am going to talk to you about keeping covenants." It was an inspired message. At the end of the meeting Elder Andersen said he would shake hands with any of the young people who wanted to shake his hand. He stood by the pulpit and so many lined up to shake the hand of an apostle. It was a sweet sight.




Missionary work goes on here in New Zealand. We are kind of sad today because one of our families told us they don't want to learn any more about the church. It is really the first family that has totally turned us away. It is Koi and Milz and we love them dearly. We were just talking to Katie who told us we are just sowing seeds. We hope we are, and that we can make a difference in some lives here. We better pick ourselves up and get back to work.












This time we gave a friend instead of candy to these cute sisters










President and Sister Vaivai - Sister Vaivai was in the hospital -

they told us their love story when we went to visit her










A tall hedge of geraniums - you can't believe how big they grow here







Maybe the most beautiful Stake Center we have been in

It is by the temple in Hamilton










The Islanders love President McKay - He dedicated the temple here












such beautiful woodwork on the Chapel stand





Back Home


We are thinking of all of you back home. Happy things and hard things are happening there. We love you all and pray for each of you. We were happy to face time with Jeff on his birthday and get to meet the youngest member of the family, Rosie, the puppy. Seemed to us that she didn't lack for attention. We hope there is a spot of joy like Rosie in all of your lives.


Be true,

Mom and Dad

Grandpa and Grandma,

Elder and Sister Thatcher