Smooth Sailing . . .

27 February 2019

Get on at night in Los Angeles and get off in New Zealand the next morning. All the anticipation and sympathy expressed for the 13 hours in the air was wasted. It was almost a non-event. Barry slept great on the plane. Me, not that great but my adrenaline carried me through the day.

The real non-event was customs! I fussed and fretted over my Rx medications and how much would be allowed. I declared it all and NO ONE CARED!!! I was almost disappointed. No questions, no bag search, no pat down, no sniffing dog. Just nothing!! What!? Let me go home and get what I left. Too late. I'm here and relieved.

Elder Lynn Summerhays (our predecessor) and Elder Carl Armstrong (our new right hand man), picked us up from the airport and took us directly to the Auckland Missionary Training Center to make a delivery from the Provo Missionary Training Center. There we had our own private tour with our friends, President and Sister Dil. They had stayed with us in Utah before their training in Provo just a few weeks before.

The New Zealand Missionary Training Center has a capacity of 90 missionaries, preparing to serve in the South Pacific Area. Many are non-English speakers and translation services are essential. President and Sister Dil speak French as a second language. It is a mini-version of Provo with no Branch Presidencies as the whole population there is not much more that some of the larger branches in Provo. Elder and Sister Dil live on site and have two local counselors. We brought them a flash drive with a library of videos prepared in Provo.

The art on the walls reflects the South Pacific culture.

I began to notice immediately that the sunlight is much stronger here in the southern hemisphere.

Our next stop was the Matthew Cowley Church History Centre. Our new home for the next two years. This was not our first visit to this 2 year old centre but we were looking at it with new eyes this time.

Sister Summerhays was not quite ready for us to unload at the house so after a quick change in the restroom at the centre we went in to meet some of the staff.

The heart of the centre is Rangi and Vic Parker. Rangi has been on a mission for the last 30+ years collecting the history of the church in the South Pacific and especially New Zealand. To talk with Rangi about her collecting journey is to hear about miracles. Faith, prayer, spiritual direction and miracles is a way of daily life for her. To meet her and Vic is to fall in love with angels.

They have amassed a large collection of photos, videos, oral histories and artifacts that constitute the largest part of the center's holdings.

Next we met Sister Summerhays and went to our new home.

Here is the passing of the keys at the back entrance--

Notice the clouds and the color of the sky. New Zealand is famous for its clouds!

This view below is looking at our house and toward the center. It is a 45 second walk to work every morning. And a 1 minute walk to church every Sunday.

This is just a bit later standing just outside our back door looking at the Stake Events Center where we attend church. You can see the spire of the temple just peeking over the trees. Notice the CLOUDLESS sky now. This summer has been the second driest summer on record. The grass looks very brown by New Zealand standards.

We are HOME! And we are SPOILED!! See Barry smile. He hasn't stopped.