I know we missed last week for the Blog. I actually started an entry talking about Tuan Tran and how he had decided to get baptised.
Elder Thatcher teaching Tuan |
Then he decided not to get baptised and I didn't know how to finish the entry. It was like we had been on top of a roller coaster and took that plunge to the bottom after which you walk away from the ride feeling a little sick. Now we can recap and tell the story.
We were headed to an appointment on Saturday March 31, when we got a call from Tuan who wanted us to come and teach him. He calls us when he gets a few minutes. It was the first time we were happy that an appointment fell through - we headed over to the Tran residence with wings on our heels.
At the end of the lesson Elder Thatcher told Tuan we would love to help him get baptised before we leave for home. We set a date for his baptism and he agreed. Can you imagine our joy? We also told him that there was a baptism that evening at the Dawson Chapel. It would be in Samoan but he could see a baptism. He agreed to meet us there and also asked if he could get a hymn book. Tuan loves music. We picked one up at the MTC.
Tuan and Elder Thatcher waiting for the baptism to begin |
The baptism was an hour late which gave us a chance to sit with Tuan in the chapel and talk. We shared some scriptures with him and also opened his new hymnbook and quietly sang some of the songs of Zion together.
The baptism itself, as I said, was in Samoan so we didn't understand a word of the talks but Bishop Mua, the Bishop of the Tamaki 2nd Ward (who happens to have a daughter at the MTC right now), treated Tuan like a special guest. He personally escorted Tuan back to the baptistry and got him a chair placing it right behind the group of children kneeling in front of the glass by the font. That way he could see the baptism clearly.
We think most of the ward must have been there. The crowd was large. Before the person getting baptised walked down the steps into the water the ward began to sing 'The Spirit of God'. It was spontaneous and beautiful, even the children were singing. It brought tears to my eyes. Tuan must have felt the Spirit too. We opened Tuan's new Hymn book and sang the words in English with the deep rich voices of the Samoans filling the room with musical testimony. To paraphrase Peter, it was good for us to be there.
Seated behind the children at the Samoan Baptism |
That was a joyful day. It was the next Tuesday April 3 that we again got a call from Tuan and went to teach him. He decided that he couldn't be baptised. He feels responsibility to his community and his family. We know it was a hard decision. It broke our hearts but we still have hope that Tuan will someday join this church. He still reads the Book of Mormon and loves the new light that has enhanced his understanding. Tuan knows we love him and Tuan loves the Lord and the truth. We think it was just hard for him to leave his community who need him and we also worried about him being so alone in the ward. Perhaps the timing just isn't right. We need to have him come into the church along with his wife. We probably won't have the time to see that happen while we are here but we know that in the timing of the Lord, things work out perfectly.
Can the Spirit lead you to a Garage Sale?
When I first saw the chandelier that hangs in the Fairy House, at the DI, I thought, "Heavenly Father wants me to have a Fairy House!" I said that in a joking way, but deep inside I believed it.
Well . . . we love to go for walks at night. We look forward to this time together when even the traffic has slowed down. Friday night March 30, on our regular route we found the following sign stuck in the lawn of a round about.
We saw this sign on our walk Friday night |
It was the first Garage Sale sign we have seen. We didn't know they even had them in New Zealand. If you know me well, I'm sure you can guess that I was at that sale bright and early the next morning. I just wanted to look, knowing that anything I bought would have to be taken home and my suitcases will hold nothing more. But . . . there were Legos - two massive plastic containers of Legos. It had to be hundreds of dollars worth. I asked how much they were selling all of them for and the woman said $5. I couldn't pass it up. I took the two cases and since they were way to heavy to carry home I had to go get the car and have the young man help me lift them into it.
What would I do with all those Legos? After deciding there was simply no way to get them home we started to think of who we could give them to here in New Zealand and it didn't take long to think of Larry and Lavon who have been such good missionaries to Ronak our Hindu investigator. And Ronak might like the other carton. Those boys were in Heaven. Larry and Lavon couldn't believe their good fortune. They had always wanted Legos but they were just too expensive. They immediately sat down by that big plastic container of Legos and began to build.
It was even better when we arrived at the Singh home with the 2nd container of Legos for Ronak. 'Did you know it was Ronak's birthday?' asked Roy his father.
Ronak Singh's 10th birthday |
Of course we had not had a clue but Heavenly Father knew and He knew just how to get me to help Him give a gift to Ronak. All it took was a yard sale sign. Ronak said he had always wanted Legos but never had any. When I told him that one of the sets in the plastic carton was of the Millennium Falcon he kind of went crazy - jumping and cheering. Ronak is a serious boy and his delight surprised us. He gave us treats from the party they were having for him.
We also gave his little sister Riana a Disney Elsa wand, also picked up at the yard sale. She was more excited with her gift than Ronak was with the Legos. The wand played, 'Let it Go' and lit up.
'Let It Go- sing it out for Riana Elsa! |
Ronaks birthday party - that's Roy in the back |
Anastasia
We have been teaching Anastasia. We stop by often and the children, Zion, Zara, and Omari come rushing out to greet us. Anastasia wants to be a member of the church but it is hard to catch her home. She lives with her parents and some siblings and at least one aunt and maybe a couple of cousins. She is in charge of driving everyone where they need to go so it is tricky to catch her home.
28 March 2018
We went to our appointment with Anastasia and she wasn’t home so we waited outside and visited with the elders. Elder Allart and Elder Rich. I showed Omari some children’s Bible videos in the car. He loved learning about Jesus. I felt the joy of a mother who is the first to teach a child the love of Jesus. He had a cough. We rescheduled for this evening.
Anastasia was home at 6 but Omari was not feeling well at all. Elder Thatcher had Elder Allart anoint and Elder Rich seal the anointing as they blessed little Omari. When they were finished he perked up and said he felt better but his little cough still sounded bad.
We also met Anastasia’s father (Ralph) who is a mechanical engineer and an impressive man. He told us he knew our people and that the head man for the church in the pacific had visited him at his home. We realized he was talking about Gifford Nielsen. We pulled up a picture of him on my phone and her father said, ‘that’s the man!’ He had come to meet him we assume the last time Anastasia was meeting with missionaries.
We skipped the lesson because Elder Thatcher felt we should leave so Anastasia could take care of Omari who wanted his mothers attention.
2 April 2018
Stopped in to make an appoinment with Anastasia. her father Ralph Holland was in the garage drinking beer. Elder Thatcher struck up a conversation. Vincent and Max (Anastasia's brother) were there, Ralph was praising the Mormons to those young men. He said they were great people ‘and I’m not just kidding!’ he emphasized his point.
3 April 2018 (Tuesday)
We left the MTC about 7:00 in order to stop in at Anastasias and see if we could catch her father. Elder Thatcher had a good talk with him yesterday and wants to see if we can teach him and his wife. Her mother, Caroline Magdalene Holland was there and was ill and in pain. ‘ We asked her if she would like a blessing and she promptly said, ‘yes, please! Elder Thatcher gave her a blessing before she left for the hospital. Anastasia wasn’t there but we gave the children the tea set and the little lightning mcQueen car I had picked up at the yard sale on Saturday and they were delighted.
Middlemore Hospital - one of our most frequented places here |
4 April 2018 (Wednesday)
Before meeting with Anastasia we ran to Middlemore hospital to check on Caroline. She was doing better. We left her a church magazine and told her we would take supper to her family that evening.
In our lesson with Anastasia we covered 3 of the commandments in PMG; prayer, scripture study and the word of wisdom. Anastasia committed to live all three starting today. I will text her tomorrow and see how she did. She said she smokes but doesn’t think it has much control on her. We shall see. We asked her to pray privately and with her children and to read the scriptures with them. She liked that.
She sincerely wants to become a member and shared with us that since we met her her family sees something different in her. She wants to change her life. We love her and the children and her parents. We would love them to have the blessings of the gospel.
5 April 2018 (Thurs)
I sent a text, as promised when I got a spare moment during intake at the MTC to see how Anastasia was doing. She responded with excitement that she was doing well. We stopped by on our way home from the MTC to congratulate her and set up an appointment for tomorrow at 5:30. She told us the missionaries had come with a man from the ward and she was excited that she knew two people from the ward she will attend. She also told us that Omari said he wants to be a missionary. As always the pajama clad children came running to give us hugs.
6 April 2018
Text from Anastasia
Good afternoon Sister Thatcher, how are you guys, just checking in to say I’m doing good today just walking to pick the kids up. Love you guys
Response:
Good for you !!!! We will see you at 5:30. so proud of you.
That is two days in a row without smoking. When we pulled up at her home she came out and met us in the car. Her mother had just barely returned from the hospital so we didn’t feel like we should go inside. We asked if we could just visit for a minute in the car. She sat in the drivers side and Elder Thatcher in the back and we had a quick lesson on the Sabbath Day. She has been praying and not smoking. She hadn’t read the scriptures today so we had her read D&C 59:9-16. she read all of that so now she has read her scriptures for today as well. We invited her to church on Sunday to watch conference. Her grandmother had taught her about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. Her grandmother taught her many good things she she was a little girl.
Last night when she told us that Omari wanted to be a missionary we thought it would be good to have a missionary badge made for him. We asked Abinadi this morning while we had gone to the MTC to interview and register the last missionaries from yesterday and he said he would make Omari a little tag. He couldn’t make an official one but he found something online that he could print and he even picked up the little plastic holders for it. He made him two. One for now and one for incase he loses the first. They said:
BROTHER OMARI
FUTURE MISSIONARY FOR THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER DAY SAINTS
Brother Omari future missionary |
Anastasia seemed really touched by this. She wanted to go get Omari dressed up but he came out to the car and she put it on his inside-out pajamas. He looked so pleased and proud. We took some pictures. Elders Rich and Allart had come so we got pictures of him standing by those two good missionaries.
Elder Rich, Brother Omari, and Elder Allart |
Anastasia, Elder Rich Zara, Elder Thatcher, Omari, Elder Allart |
when we got home I received this text from Anastasia
Sister Thatcher I appreciate you
We were sad that Anastasia didn't come to church on Sunday. We will just keep working with her.
New Families
Cilla and children
We had met and made an appointment while tracting last week with Cilla and her children. We didn’t know if anyone would be there but we kind of remembered a mother who told us she had two daughters who were members of the church and there were 2 children with her when we met them.
In our planner we had written to take treats and show a video so we thought maybe we should just show them ‘The Restoration’ and pop some pop corn to take with us and make a party out of it. It was the perfect thing to do.
It took a while before someone answered the door and then Lupe opened it with the two younger ones smiling and waving to us around Lupe. They remembered us. We told Lupe we had an appointment with her mother and we brought popcorn and a video to watch.
'Thank you so much for showing us that.' Cilla thanked us. 'I have gone a couple times to support my girls since they joined your church, but I knew nothing about this.'
We also told the story of the Angel Moroni and the gold plates and gave them a Book of Mormon to read. We have a return appointment but it is over a week away. We will try to find a Samoan Book of Mormon tomorrow and take it to them and also encourage them to go to church on Sunday.
Before we left we took pictures of us together. They seemed to want one as much as we did.
It was one of those wonderful missionary times that fills you with gratitude and wonder. Spirit filled times don’t compare to any other type of good times. They are hard to describe but ever remembered.
Lupe (15), Suega (7), Myself, Waitangi (6), Winnie (17 what a great name!) and Cilla |
Nili (or Nelly) and family
We meet the nicest people tracting.
We had an appointment tonight with this lovely family. We found them tracting but couldn’t remember them when we were planning to go tonight. The children opened the door and we were warmly welcomed. The home was clean and neat and felt homey and warm. They have no TV which was impressive. They are from Niue which must be a beautiful small island. There were pictures of family on the wall and many medals hanging also. They were earned mostly by Ethan who is 12 and a rugby player. He must be fast.
Ethan (12), Nasalia (14), Otto Rose (9), Nili |
They were waiting for us. I had texted Nili this morning to remind her. She was cooking in the kitchen but told us to start with the children.
We told them that we are all children of God and he loves us. We played I am a child of God and then passed out the popcorn for the video, The Restoration. The kids were very respectful and reverent. Nili came in and watched it with us. Nasalia clapped when it was over.
Next Elder Thatcher told them the story of Moroni and the plates. It felt like he was telling a bedtime story to the grandchildren. His rich deep voice held them in its power as he told of the angel and plates of gold and a father who said the experience was of God. He then gave them a copy of theBook of Mormon after telling them how to know if it is true.
Before we left and after making a return appointment Nili said to me, "I love it when they hear the stories of God. Thank you."
Wouldn't all you grandchildren like to come with us and tell the stories of God to beautiful families - to children who never knew that they were the children of God. Wouldn't you love to sing the primary songs you know so well to these beautiful children and share the things you know about Jesus with others. We hope all of you get the chance to do these things someday. Maybe you will have different companions than grandpa and I, but you will feel the same sweet feeling that we feel in these homes with these people who we love. We might have only met them, but when we are with them we feel such love for them. We know that Heavenly Father loves them. We know it.
So much more. . .
We can only tell you a few of the experiences we have as missionaries. We know a little of how Mormon felt when he said he could only tell a fraction of the history of his people on the plates. Our days are full of wonderful activities.
We have a new intake of missionaries at the MTC |
President Thatcher is always telling new friends that they will be fine missionaries some day |
We do a little shopping once in a while - Greenstone Store |
It also meant that Sister Howes had help on Easter getting treats ready for the Missionaries |
We visited a different temple this week - a Buddhist one |
The Senior Home Evening group met for a Cowboy evening |
It was our last meeting with them so they had us bear our testimonies Group: Thatchers, Briggs, Smiths Woodards, Downs, Phlens, Ashbys, Kopps, Stosichs, Bartletts |
General Authorities cross our path and walk our halls - Elder Cardon with President Howes |
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Elder and Sister Cardon discuss things with President and Sister Howes |
And prayers for Samantha who at this moment is undergoing her transplant surgery.
We think of all of you at home and hope you feel our love.
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Hang in there Aaron and Lorraine. We hope this new treatment helps and you start feeling better |
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We are happy that Rosie gets the attention she deserves |
Easter looked delightful - such a cute little bunny Kate and her beautiful mother Sara |
beautiful cousins enjoying being together - love you Millie and Lauren |
My cowboy Ty has grown He looks ready for the range |
Eric, Lauren and Grace - we love seeing you in Paradise |
We hear that KJ fits in nicely - everyone loves him - kids know, don't they! |
Wonderful news this week about Will - We are so grateful! Love you Will |
and how cute is little Mae? Can't wait to get our hands on these darling babies |
We love this Gospel, this Church and Jesus Christ who is the head of it. We love our Heavenly Father and know that he hears and answers our prayers. He watches over all of us in all our various circumstances and causes the things we go through to work for good in our lives. He does this because of His Son. Somehow, all things work for our good if we love and serve Him. That is our testimony. We will see you all soon.
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Elder and Sister Thatcher
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