Matariki

 Matariki is the Māori New Year celebrating the appearance of the Pleiades star cluster, which is visible in the early morning sky, near the horizon, west of Orion's Belt. It is a time for spiritual reflection, cultural renewal, and community gatherings in New Zealand. Families share stories, feasts, and traditions, honoring ancestors and welcoming the new agricultural year with hope and gratitude.

Rotorua's Aronui Indigenous Arts Festival on June 27 and June 28 at the lake front, along with an expanded Night Market and booths for children, also featured 160 drones programmed to form images in the sky, sharing the story of how Matariki is connected to the taiao (our environment).

We were lucky enough to be invited by the Mylers to attend the Te Puia children's day Matariki celebration. The highlight was the dancing with poi, singing, and haka, the war dance.

Sunday night we had our expanded Family Home Evening, held at the nearby AirBnb to accommodate the larger group we now have. It was a beautiful evening with our friends.

Mere Wharamate-Leathers gave Elder Rooks this pounamu Toki, the Adze, indicative of strength and courage. This is an honor, since it belonged to Mere's husband, and is a gift of great significance.

Belinda was able to come, and spent the evening getting to know the Carters, who stayed the weekend with us and will be replacing us in our calling as senior missionaries assigned to the Rotorua Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

We told them they are very lucky, since this place is very special to us

The food was plentiful and good.

This lovely sister, Mere, who lives down Tarewa Road, told us how she came back to church after seeing us out talking our usual walks. After the third time seeing us, she came to church again and is now an excellent teacher for the Relief Society

We took the Carters on a walk so they could see the lake front and the downtown district, and the Visitor's Center. 

Elder Carter and Elder Rooks are in front of the St. Faith Anglican Church in Ohinemutu

A workman was working inside the chapel, so we slipped inside to take pictures, since it has always been closed before. The inside is quite beautiful, with Māori carvings and stained glass.

Elder Rooks at the doorway

The lake was misty over Mokoia Island, with the usual black swans along the shore

We had Robbie and Wiki over for lunch, so they could meet the Carters, who will be giving temple preparation lessons to Wiki. We will miss these two! They have been great friends to us.

We attended several baptisms, including one for Dante

Also three members of the Smith family, with Share Kai afterward

We visited Joy, a baptized member, with Sister Middledorf and Sister Sorensen. She was a bus driver in Auckland for many years, which makes her a much braver woman than I will ever be.

Our district missionaries were happily able to go to the Hamilton Temple this week for endowment sessions. 

Belinda came for more Family History, and Alleen felt inspired to come. She will be able to help Belinda with her Scottish family history, something I have been worried about when I am gone. They hit it off and had a great time together.

It was a healing day for all of us.

Belinda gave me this adorable needle felted pixie sitting near forest mushrooms on a little plate. I will treasure it always.

Matariki dawned clear and bright with a gathering of Rotoruans at the lakeside for the opening ceremonies, to see the star cluster rising.

Later in the evening, the 160 drones put on a light show for hundreds of amazed spectators

We were invited to the Matariki Fun Day with the Mylers, who consider us their New Zealand grandparents

There were several stick games, including this one where you dropped your stick and had to run and pick up the stick of the person standing next to you, amid much laughter

Rebekah Myler again looking good wearing a temporary moko. When asked if I wanted one, I had to admit it probably wouldn't be appropriate for a senior missionary

I did join in on the poi lessons. Here, little girls are learning from Auntie Mere. The mom on the right is mother to the little princess wearing the veil and sparkly dress.

For the main event, a Maori warrior is welcoming people to the marae in the pōwhiri ceremony, meant not only to welcome, but perhaps intimidate or amuse. The person being welcomed must keep a poker face, which can be difficult

The dancers of Te Puia performing a song while throwing sticks

On Saturday Belinda was finally baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is a special spirit and we will miss her!

We were also able to witness the marriage of our friend Karla to her fiancé Fasene. They are certainly in love with each other. It has been a pleasure for me all week to be privileged to play the piano for the baptisms and for the marriage certificate signing for Karla. 

Karla and Fasene were greeted when they came out of the chapel by relatives performing the haka

Karla and Fasene's wedding haka. Karla's son is in the middle wearing a vest, while Fasene's sister is in the green dress on the right.

We will be flying out of Auckland in a few days' time. It will be hard to say goodbye to Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. I can't believe our year as senior missionaries is coming to an end.

Fieldays at Mystery Creek

 This week we attended Fieldays in Ōhaupō at Mystery Creek, the "Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultural event and the ultimate launch platform for cutting edge technology and innovation." The event lasts over four days and is attended by over 100,000 people. We did not bring our gumboots, but Jackie wanted to return to the temple to do ordinance work for her late husband, and she wanted to attend Fieldays first.

So we got up early and drove to Tikitere, and then Jackie drove us the rest of the way. We spent over three hours there, and more and more people came the longer we stayed. Above is a walkway over a man-made lagoon in the Heritage Village, which had empty benches where we could sit.

We are still looking for members on the ward list, and one of the addresses was in Ohinemutu. The address in question was the little dark red house between the sulphur springs on the right and the wharenui-shaped house on the left. You can see the Rotorua Hospital on the hill behind.

We didn't find anyone living in the house, it was condemned, locked and boarded up, so we crossed that address off our list.

But it was a nice evening to look in the direction of Lake Rotorua.

We had another fun evening with ward members and missionaries and dinner

Here Sister Manning is pointing at something funny, while Elder Coombs on the left has an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.

Saturday morning we made the drive to Tikitere, to Jackie's house. I've seen these ceramic tiles around town and wish I could take some home with me.

A full rainbow on the way to Hamilton. It rained over two inches yesterday.

The car parks were filling up fast, and fortunately the ground wasn't too muddy to walk on.

This sand box filled up as the day wore on, with little diggers

Lots of gigantic logging equipment

...and dairy equipment, which didn't tempt me in the least

This looks like a comminuter to me, which if you ask me about it, I can tell you the story of a Progressive Cavity Effluent Pump someone bought and brought to the dairy barn in Ontario, Oregon, and then finally sold at a great discount to someone else even though it hadn't been used

Giant tractors at the tractor pull. The ground was so wet, however, that the tractor in front made a terrific wallowing mud hole and had to detach the tractor in back so that both of them could get out

I'm not sure what this is, but it was large, heavy and impressive. Maybe hay making equipment?

The Nepalese weavers' and knit hat tent. These guys get around.

Also Traegers for sale, and why not? The Kiwis do like their barbecues

There were large commercial exhibits. This one had household items, while the other was full of liquor and its accoutrements. I ended up buying some heavily discounted possum-merino gloves and hats at the Lothlorian tent, and a little salt cellar that looks like a sea urchin in the liquor tent.

The helicopter pad, where you could rent a ride for $95, which we didn't.

We were getting pretty tired by now, and the crowds were getting bigger. I got some pork and vegetable Chinese dumplings in the food court, and we ate them sitting at a table with an old farmer and his wife who have been coming here every year.

The Heritage Village looked pretty deserted, so we headed that way. There is a gas station, a hospital, a jail, a shed, and a church along the Heritage Lane, vintage buildings brought from elsewhere in New Zealand.

The vintage gas station

Elder Rooks was trying to tidy up the stocks, which were not staying together properly. There is always something needing fixing.

I don't think this lagoon is Mystery Creek. In fact, no one could tell me where Mystery Creek was. It is a mystery. The stories have to do with a mysterious gully off of the Waikato River not far from here. According to whoever is telling the story, the mystery is who was the rotting corpse in the gully, or where is the bridge going over it, or where did someone's lost cow go.

We were just glad to find a bench to sit on.

The last thing we saw was the National Dairy Museum, which had lots of old rusted things in glass cases that Elder Rooks especially enjoyed looking at, since they resembled old stuff from his boyhood. 

Unfortunately my camera card was full at this point, so the pictures I took, including several of Jackie, are absent.

We had a lovely time at the temple, as usual. We were glad we hadn't come yesterday when it was sheets of rain all day.

We saw the delightful Sister Tekaiti at our stake conference. She is still serving in Tokoroa.

Monday morning we ran into Sister Call and Sister Manning at Pak'nSave buying their favorite food, Whittaker's Chocolate. 

They think they would do well promoting Whittaker's Chocolate. I think so, too. We followed their example and bought more.

Across the Street from Pak'nSave. This may say McDonald's on it, but it is really Macca's.

No pukeko pictures today. Poor Ms. Lonelyhearts was limping around on a hurt chicken leg and I didn't want to embarrass her. I saw her this morning and she seems to be doing better.