For the past two weeks I have been sick with some sort of Martian flu (I tested negative for Covid), which is why there was no blog post last week. Elder Rooks is still slowly recovering from his Achilles tendon mishap. So, we are quite the pair of Senior Missionaries. Emphasis on Senior. I am feeling much better today.
Many of the pictures for this post were borrowed from the Facebook pages of ward members of the Rotorua Stake.
It is high summer in the North Island, so the Rotorua Stake planned a day trip to Kinloch Beach on Lake Taupo, about an hour's drive away. The water was dark under cloudy skies, and the young people were out on rafts. The lake itself is as large as an inland sea.
The beach here is gravel, but spirits were high, and there was barbecue.
Elder Rooks and I were asked to attend a meeting this particular Saturday, and we hadn't brought our bathing suits anyway. Details of the meeting are below.
Another ward activity, this time involving the young men at The Squeeze hot waterfall and pool on the Waikato river halfway between Rotorua and Lake Taupo.
Enjoying the waterfall through The Squeeze
Navigating rafts through the shallows
For the younger children, there was an activity looking for rocks with messages painted on them and placed along a trail in the Redwood Forest.
Coloring and rocks. What could be better?
Here, the Fairy Springs Elders and Sisters accompany the Myler family to the Blue Lake Walk and Glowworms caves
Two baptisms on a Saturday in February. This is Waaka with Elder Watson and Elder Ruediger. He is a thoughtful and sensible young man who takes the Gift of the Holy Ghost very seriously. Here he is wearing the bone Manaia pendant belonging to his father, a family taonga, treasure.
The Manaia is a protection against evil spirits.
Kyros was also baptized. He was very excited, but he is also very sensitive to what he is feeling. This is the last we will be seeing of Sister Tekaiti and Sister Perkins, who have been transferred to other areas. The first groups of missionaries, mostly sisters, that came after the pandemic have now gone home, so there aren't enough sisters to go around. The Fairy Springs ward already misses them terribly.
Elder Marble was also transferred out, as was Elder Watson. They are good missionaries and will do well in their new areas. Our meetings will now be a lot quieter.
Kyros' father, after encouragement and visits by Elder Hubbard and Elder Marble, performed his son's baptism. He has a wonderful humble testimony of Jesus Christ.
One beautiful sunny day we went for a short walk. Elder Rooks did ok although he was limping a little.
I'm not looking very good here, and not feeling so good either. But I was glad to be upright and out of the house.
On Friday morning Pres. Winiata invited us to meet with members of the Life Bliss of New Zealand Charitable Trust of Rotorua. As we walked in to the Capers Cafe on Eruera St, we were greeted by Elder Gary and Sister Qeren Beal, sitting on the stools near the front door with friends of theirs who they were visiting in Rotorua. They are the assigned senior missionaries for Pukekohe in South Auckland.
We visited with Sarah Roberts, a non-attending Maori member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Ma Kalaadevi Ananda, formerly known as Marilyn Carbone, a Hollywood makeup artist from New York City who has run for mayor of Rotorua, among other adventures. During Covid she was unable to travel, and has been teaching yoga in Rotorua.
President Winiata asked us to represent the LDS Church at an interfaith roundtable titled "Nurturing Adolescents Out of Depression -- Insights from Different Faiths." He already had plans to attend the Rotorua Stake barbecue at Lake Taupo. We didn't blame him for going to the stake activity with his family.
Saturday morning, we parked in the Pak'nSave parking lot and walked the half mile to the Pullman Hotel, where the roundtable was going to be held.
Here Ma Kalaadevi is introducing the Interfaith Panel, including Thomas O'Leary, a Maori also working for the Life Bliss Charitable Trust. He had a good grasp of the situation. The cardboard cutout wearing red is Swami Jay, which is what it sounded like to me, apparently the guiding light for the Life Bliss group.
Our panel included a pastor from the Evangelist Fellowship, who admitted to me that his grandfather was a Mormon bishop; a rather imposing Sikh wearing white, with a black turban; an Anglican bishop, a Zen Buddhist who introduced himself with a long chant, a Baptist minister who made a lot of sense, Elder Rooks and me, a Hindu gentleman wearing royal blue silk, and a woman from one of many Maori Trusts. The invited representative of the Catholic church was unable to make it.
We exchanged introductions and our faith's approach to nurturing youth, but by the time we finished, we were an hour over, and had to spend the next thirty minutes not only eating our refreshments but discussing how we would collaborate on a communal project. Elder Rooks and I suggested service projects for youth, which several of the attendees approved of. The meeting adjourned after 3-1/2 hours.
Surprisingly, I found it interesting and enlightening.
Above is a picture of all of us.
There are probably more meetings in the future. The refreshments, which were vegan, included cucumber sandwiches and avocado tarts. Elder Rooks and I especially liked the cucumber sandwiches.
Sunday afternoon President Winiata asked us to be on a Q&A panel for seniors considering serving as full-time senior and at-home service missionaries. There are very few Kiwi senior missionaries presently.
I gave a five-minute talk on where to find senior missionary opportunities, including the website for Full Time Senior Missionary Opportunities as well as BYUI Pathways student mentoring service missionaries and Family Search service missions for those wishing to serve from home.
Because few New Zealand couples or single women can afford the cost of serving as full-time missionaries, the cost is now equalized to $1,000 per month to those serving in the Pacific area.
Elder Shortt-Smith, above, Senior Missionary Coordinator for the Hamilton Mission along with his wife, is talking with Mary Leathers, who could possibly be a Pathways missionary for Maori students.
This transfer we got Elder Wiseman from Moses Lake, Washington, replacing Elder Marble. Fortunately Elder Wiseman can sing and is a good athlete, like Elder Marble.
Also Elder Karaitiana from Perth. His Maori name means Christian. His companion Elder Ruediger from Sydney doesn't mind handing over being District Leader to Elder Karaitiana.
Mr. Pukeko still hasn't found another girl chicken to keep him company. We'll see how he does heading into Fall.
