Saturday, October 11, 2025

Early Morning Seminary, Comp Study, General Conference, Flat Inspections, and President Nelson's Funeral

A couple of weeks ago, I volunteered to substitute teach for the Monday morning Zoom Seminary teacher. The school holiday was over so I taught Monday morning. I only had four students show up so the discussion wasn’t quite as engaging as I would have liked. If I called on them directly, they would read or answer questions for me. Overall, it turned out pretty well.

After taking care of some administrative things, we managed to watch the first two sessions of General Conference. I really loved the talks. Here is a brief summary of some of those talks that impressed me.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson encouraged peacemaking. Peacemaking begins first in hearts, then in homes and families, and ultimately spreads into neighborhoods and communities.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning spoke about the power of music in teaching children the gospel of Jesus Christ. That resonated with me. I think music goes directly to our hearts and souls. 

Elder Kelly R. Johnson talked about being reconciled to God. He is a forensic accountant and was able to help me understand how we can be reconciled to God by comparing it to what he does for work. At least it helped me understand it.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf started his talk with one of his airplane anecdotes. He said that “Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift but receiving it is a conscious choice that requires a commitment of all our ‘might, mind and strength.’ It is a practice of every day, every hour. It takes constant learning and a determined commitment. Our faith, our loyalty to the Savior, becomes stronger as it is tested against the opposition we face here in mortality. It endures because we keep nourishing it, we keep actively applying it, and we never give up.” 

In the afternoon session, Brother Chad H. Webb gave a moving talk about how the Holy Ghost is a perfect tutor as we study the gospel. He shared some experiences with a teacher that changed the course of his life. 

Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi is one of the Area Seventies in the Pacific Area. We had a Zone Conference with him a while back. He gave a wonderful talk about altars of the Lord.  

Sister Roylance

I was very moved by Elder Kevin G. Brown. He spoke very passionately about the gift of testimony. He focused his thoughts on three “powerful truths” of the Restoration — 1. God is a loving Heavenly Father, 2. Agency is the gift to choose and act, and 3. A testimony comes through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Elder Cook encouraged members to accept and welcome new and returning members of the Church. He concluded his message by saying, “As we contemplate the challenges of our day, we must remember that the Savior, during His earthly ministry, also lived in turbulent and violent times. His focus was not on the political challenges of the day; it was on the perfection of the Saints. Following the Savior and His doctrine and teachings has never been easy in a world that is constantly in commotion. It was not easy for the Savior in the volatile world during his mortal sojourn, it was not easy for our early leaders and members, and it is not easy for us. Fortunately, living prophets provide the guidance we respectfully need for our day. President Dallin H. Oaks will continue that spiritually powerful legacy.”

On Tuesday we were at early morning Seminary again. This time the Elders taught. We were in Doctrine and Covenants 112. Doctrine and Covenants 112:10 is a verse that really resonates with me. It says, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers.” I tend to struggle with pride, so I try to pay attention to everything that talks about humility. I love how this says if we are humble, the Lord will lead us by the hand. Too often I want MY will to be done and not the Lord’s. This reminds me that His will is what is best for me. And if I humble myself and let HIS will be done, He will lead and guide me and answer my prayers. It really is that simple. 


We had comp study with the Riverside Elders later. We studied Mosiah 2-3. We had a very good discussion about King Benjamin’s sermon. We especially talked about when we serve others, we are only serving our God. We shared experiences when we found that to be so true. 

We next had a nice video call with Douhet. We missed it the day before, I’m not sure why. By the time I contacted Douhet yesterday, he was at Holiday Singer’s practice and asked if we could do it today. We talked about the kids, the progress on things around the house, and Christmas plans when we get home. 

We watched the last session of Saturday's General Conference. Then it was time to prepare dinner for the Elders and snacks for our DCM. The Elders had their car in the shop, so Elder Wilcox had to pick them up while I finished dinner. Since I forgot to start the rice when I should have, we did comp study for a while before we were able to eat dinner. It all worked out. Elder Wilcox dropped them off at a member's house that was not too far from their flat so they could get home. I did the dishes. 

I substituted in early morning Seminary on Wednesday. Sister Paratene had to work the night shift and didn’t get home until 8 in the morning. Our lesson was about Healthy Relationships. It went really well. Both kids were engaged and seemed to be into the activities.  

We picked up the Elders on our way home since we had DCM and they didn't have their car. Just before our meeting started, Elder Ihaka got a phone call saying the car was done. It was a whole day early! We had a great DCM meeting. We said our goodbyes to Sister Roylance as she was being transferred to the Cook Islands and headed to Auckland on Thursday. We reminded the missionaries that we would be doing flat inspections starting Thursday so be prepared. After DCM and delicious snacks, we took the Elders to pick up their car.

We got our lunch and watched the two Sunday Sessions of General Conference. They finished just in time for us to head to the Chapel for our Book of Mormon Reading class. We had 5 people in addition to the Elders and us. I am really enjoying our reading each week. We have some wonderful discussions and a lot of fun too. 

We had to leave right at 7 and leave everyone else to continue without us so we could head over to the Snows for our FHE night. Dean was making a chocolate cake for our dessert. We had a pretty good interactive lesson with the kids about the difference between being humble and not being humble. We showed a cute little video from Latter-day Kids about what being humble is. After the lesson, the cake was done, and we had cake and ice cream for dessert. Yum!!!

We had our last early morning Seminary lesson on Thursday. That is my "normal" day. We only had six students. The lesson went pretty well. They were all engaged and answered questions. 

We headed out to do our two flat inspections right after Seminary. We did some training at DCM about the new inspection forms. We also really emphasized that flats are supposed to be clean EVERYDAY, not just once every six weeks. Both flats did a really good job. I told them we might be doing spot checks and hoped they would still look really good. Both sets of missionaries said they would keep it up. 

We got home in time for SPF. We watched President Nelson's Funeral for SPF. It was a beautiful service. All the talks were great. The Zone Leaders came over after SPF for our comp study with them. It was a little shorter because of the longer SPF, but we really enjoyed it. We talked a little about the clean flats, and the Zone Leaders are going to ask for the missionaries to send in a clean flat video every day for a while to see if we can make it a habit. 

On Friday we took care of our normal Saturday stuff since we weren't going to be home. We did laundry and cleaned the house. I also took care of bills. I spent the afternoon working on HawkSoft catching up on ACORD forms. 

After that, it was time to get ready for our Personal Finances Dinner. We started preparing at five to be ready by 6. We had Hawaiian Haystacks. Several class members brought toppings and others brought desserts. I only had to put out a few toppings. We cooked the rice, slow cooked the pork and shredded it, and made the cream of chicken gravy (actually it is just cream of chicken soup. 😉) We also made a yogurt fruit salad. We set up an extra table and set it with dishes instead of paper plates. Everything looked nice. 

Everyone arrived and we visited all night. They had never had Hawaiian Haystacks, but they loved them. The desserts were delicious! We just talked and talked and laughed a lot. Everyone left around 10:00. Thankfully nearly all the dishes were done so it wasn’t much of a cleanup for that. However, we did remember that we needed to take some kai (food) to the Chapel on Saturday for our lunch between sessions of conference. So, we stayed up another hour making Broccoli Salad.

We headed to the Chapel first thing on Saturday morning so we could set up the computer to run General Conference. Apparently, no one had the information on the projector, so we had to use a large screen TV instead. I’m so glad the Ward has its own laptop now, so I didn’t have to use mine. We had it all set up and just waited for the Bishop to arrive so I could make sure he knew how to get back into the system if the screen timed out before he was to start Conference. 

We ran out to Punaruku to the Russell Road flat so we could close it. We met the owner and her mother there and did a walk through. For the most part, everything looked great. However, somehow, we all missed a dent in the wall that wasn’t there when we moved in. Unless you looked closely, it didn’t look like a hole. The house is old, so I’m guessing it just looked like a slight indentation. As we looked at it closer, we noticed that it did indeed break through the wall and was a hole. You just couldn’t see the “black hole” from a distance. It was on the wall where the stairs led upstairs. At that point, we weren’t sure if the Elders did it or if it happened when we were moving furniture out last weekend. Regardless of how or when it happened, we will be repairing it on Tuesday and turning the keys over at that time. 

As soon as that was over, we headed back to the Chapel to watch General Conference. We missed almost an hour. Throughout the day we ended up with a total of 13 people counting us. Seven of us were there from the beginning and stayed clear through to the end. Five came and went at various times. We had a nice kai (food) between the first and second session. We put up some tables and chairs on the lawn near the kitchen. The day was so beautiful, we all wanted to enjoy the outdoors. We had a good variety of food. There was pulled pork, deviled eggs, coleslaw, broccoli salad, fruit, and some little meat pies (at least that is what I think they were). After lunch and visiting, we went back to watch the second session of Conference. Again, I loved all the talks. We only took a 10-minute break between the second session and the evening session. That way we were able to be home before 5:00.  We all enjoyed it very much.

We went to the Stake Center for the Sunday Sessions of General Conference. We had a very good turnout for the morning session. It was a little thinner in the afternoon. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland bore a powerful testimony of what he knows to be true. He equated it to the blind man who received his sight from Jesus Christ. When the blind man was questioned, he answered, “whereas I was blind, now I see.” Elder Holland said that he knows in the same manner as the blind man. He has witnessed by the power of the Holy Ghost that he cannot deny the evidence of the restoration. He too said, “was blind, but now I see.”

Elder James E. Evanson said, “Go and do likewise.” He emphasized Christlike service and compassion.

Elder Ulisses Soares spoke on self-mastery and spiritual refinement. 

Elder Peter M. Johnson talked about “the power of ministering to the one.” He encouraged personal outreach and loving service.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “Look to God and live.” He focused on spiritual resilience and divine direction.

Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus talked about the “Prophets of God.” She testified of prophetic guidance and sustaining leaders.

Elder Henry B. Eyring quoted “Proved and strengthened in Christ.” He closed the session with a message of enduring faith and divine strength.

We packed a lunch and ate it outside in the parking lot. It was warm and sunny. We also had several ward members at another car in the lot, so we joined them after we finished eating. It was fun to visit with them for a little while.

The afternoon session began with Elder David A. Bednar. He taught that our choices determine our spiritual outcomes and emphasized personal accountability in the plan of salvation. He said, “They are their own judges.”

Elder B. Corey Cuvelier talked about “The Name by Which Ye Are Called.” He focused on the covenant power of taking Christ’s name and living with integrity.

Elder Matthew S. Holland told us to “Forsake Not Your Own Mercy.” He encouraged repentance and trust in divine mercy, referencing Jonah’s story.

Elder Carlos A. Godoy gave a beautiful talk about “Smiling Faces and Grateful Hearts.” He shared insights on gratitude and joy in gospel living, even amid trials among the Saints he is serving in Africa.

Elder Dale G. Renlund spoke about covenant belonging and the transformative power of discipleship when he said, “taking on the Name of Jesus Christ.”

Elder John D. Amos gave a delightful talk he called “The Good News Recipe” He used a metaphor of spiritual nourishment to teach about the gospel’s simplicity and power.

Elder Ozani Farias spoke on “The Book of Mormon — An Immeasurable Treasure on Our Journey.” He testified of the Book of Mormon’s role in guiding our spiritual path.

President Dallin H. Oaks focused his remarks on “The Family-Centered Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He announced a pause in new temple announcements and taught about the eternal importance of family, marriage, and children. He shared a personal story of losing his father at age 7.

All our Love,
Elder and Sister Wilcox

Saturday, October 4, 2025

The Passing of President Nelson, Eric, DCM, and Housing Coordinators

I spent much of the week reflecting on President Russell M. Nelson this week. He has served as the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the past seven years. And he was sharp as a tack when he died at 101 years old. I think we all thought he would serve until the Savior comes again.  I was really hoping we would get to see him one last time at General Conference, but it was not meant to be. He has been a wonderful President and Prophet of the Church. He has been a fantastic example of lifelong service to the Lord. He was the epitome of being a Peacemaker. He spent his life loving and serving others. He was a renowned heart surgeon in his distinguished career. He was a wonderful husband and father to 10 children. And he touched the hearts of millions around the world as he led the Church. Whatever he did, he did 100%. He will be greatly missed. 

On Monday, we had a nice video call with Sierra. We had a few technical difficulties for some reason, so our call was a bit shorter than usual. I wasn't feeling very well, so we kind of took it easy for most of the day.

I studied section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants on Tuesday morning.  It is the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple. I gained a lot of insight. Bottom line is I need to do a better job of preparing myself when I go to the Temple if I want to receive some of the promised blessings from the Lord. 

We had a wonderful comp study with the Riverside Elders after that. After we shared our highlights, we decided to study Jacob 5 from the Book of Mormon. It is the allegory of the Tame and Wild Olive Trees. We spent a lot of time discussing the first half of the chapter and basically just read the second half. All in all, we had a good discussion and shared insights we all found. 

After lunch, we visited Eric from our ward. He lives pretty far out from town. His daughter and son-in-law are in Australia for 10 days, so he is a bit lonely. We said we would check in on him a couple times while they are away. We had a very nice visit with him. I helped Eric with a little problem he thought he was having on his computer in Teams. He uses Teams to talk to her other daughter in England. We did several tests, and everything seemrf to be working just fine. I told him the problem may be on his other daughter's side as his side was working perfectly. It was kind of fun going to his house. He has a very long driveway and about 30 chickens ran to the closest corner of the fence when they saw someone coming up the drive and followed us all the way to the top of the driveway before we turned into the house area. If we slowed down or stopped, they stopped. They were hoping we had some food. They followed us all the way back when it was time to leave. So funny.

We had a wonderful DCM meeting on Wednesday. President and Sister Allen were here to hold interviews with the missionaries after our meetings. Sister Allen attended our District and President Allen attended the South District.  We had a great accountability discussion. Sister Allen then shared some statistics about the Mission and asked if we could help her figure out why there was such a huge increase in new friends from the previous month. We talked about several things that may have contributed to the increase. She took notes to discuss at their MLC meeting in a few days. After our meeting, everyone enjoyed our pineapple upside down cake and other snacks. 

At home, I started on the first of several Seminary lessons I need to prepare for next week. I’m hoping to get them all done this week, so I only have to review them before each lesson. We have a very busy week next week and I’m not sure I’ll have time to prepare them if I don’t get them done this week. 

After I finished that, I took care of a few things for the Bishop before it was time to go to our Book of Mormon Reading group. We had a pretty good turnout again. Some new ones showed up, and we missed a few from last week. We are hoping it will become a habit moving forward. Everyone seems to enjoy it. We have some good discussions.

I studied section 110 on Wednesday morning about the visitations of Jesus, Moses, Elisha, and Elijah to the Saints in the Kirtland Temple. I couldn’t help but think about all the promised blessings in that section that pertain to the Temple of the Lord. Verse 10 says “And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.” I just love that.

For SPF today, we watched the tribute to President Nelson. I enjoyed it very much. The music was beautiful, and the talks were heartfelt. You simply cannot say enough good things about President Nelson. We could feel the Spirit even though we are thousands of miles away.

Shortly after that, the Zone Leaders showed up for our Comp Study with them. Because the tribute was an hour, we had a shorter time with the Elders. However, we had a wonderful discussion about President Nelson and the Temple. We discussed his October 2024 conference talk entitled, “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again.” We focused on the things he said about the Temple. We then shared our thoughts and experiences with the Temple. It was a very spiritually fed experience, and we were all edified after it was over.

On Friday, we spent the morning getting everything ready for our dinner Friday night. The Mission Housing Coordinators (the Hursts, and Elder Seeley and Sister Watson) arrived around 11:20. The Carlisles showed up about 20 minutes later. They decided who was going to stay with whom and separated to the different houses/bedrooms. We got the Hursts, and Elder and Sister Seeley (she goes by Watson) stayed at the Carlisles.

The weather eventually cooperated with us. For a while we weren’t sure. When they went to get their stuff from the van it was pouring rain. By the time we got to Whangarei for the afternoon activities, the sun was shining.

We met at the Sun Dial shop in Whangarei. Elder Wilcox left to give a blessing to Dean, Leona’s foster son who is pretty much bedridden. Leona said he wasn’t doing very well today. The Hursts were with us, and we watched the mechanical clock for a while. Then we headed to The Quay restaurant for lunch. The Carlisles, Watson, and Seeley showed up right after that. We ordered our food. I called Elder Wilcox to see what he wanted. It took a while before they brought out the food. They no sooner set Elder Wilcox’s lunch down, than when he showed up. Perfect timing.

After lunch, we walked around the harbor for a while. Next, we headed to the Boat Shed, which is a nice souvenir shop. After we finished shopping, we headed to Whangarei Falls. We took a nice hike around the falls. Some of us hiked longer than others. Elder Wilcox and I were the two who didn’t hike as long as the others. LOL I actually went pretty far, but between my foot, and my back, I finally gave up.

We stopped by Bunnings on our way back to our flat so the Hursts can buy some bins they need. We used them on Saturday to help pack up the Russell Road flat.

We had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner and brownies and ice cream for dessert. We played a very fun game called Bank for a while. I came in second or third. Sister Carlisle was the other second or third. I think I was third. Elder Hurst won by a LONG SHOT. We all had a lot of fun.

Saturday was a long and busy day. We were up early to fix breakfast for our guests. The Carlisles came early to make waffles while we fried bacon, baked hash browns, and scrambled eggs. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we had a lovely conversation over breakfast.

We were on the road by 8:45 to clean out the Russell Road flat in Punaruku. With eight of us working we were done in about 2 hours. We were a little behind everyone so we could take care of cleaning up from breakfast and then picking up the Carlisles since they had to take their left-over batter home. And we didn't have a lot of parking space at the flat.

There was a slight problem when we got there. The Russell Road driveway is a NIGHTMARE, especially if you are driving a big van and pulling a trailer as Elder Hurst was doing. Elder Seeley was in another van, but there was no trailer. Somehow, Elder Hurst got into the mud on the right side of the driveway while he was trying to back into the driveway. When we got there, they hooked the other van up to Elder Hurst’s van and tried to pull him out. Apparently, that didn’t quite work but it helped. With a little back and forth and turning the wheels, he was able to get traction and got the van where it needed to be. Whew!!!!

It didn’t take long to load the furniture into the two vans and pack up the kitchen. I went to wash the drawers and cupboard only to find out there was no water. They have water tanks, and they were basically empty. There were two big jugs of water left in the flat, so we used that to wet some towels so we could wash the drawers and cupboards. It worked pretty well. We swept and vacuumed and we were done. We took some pictures, hugged everyone and said our goodbyes. They headed back to Auckland, and we took the Carlisles home. Not long after that the rain came, and it poured for a while. We were blessed both Friday and Saturday to do what we wanted to do and what we needed to do without any rain. ❤️

Before going home, we stopped by to check in with Eric again. He appreciated the visit, and we enjoyed our time with him. After about an hour, we headed home.

Once home, I started on study and Seminary lessons. I need to prepare a lesson for Wednesday because Leona had to work. I also needed to prepare my next Thursday lesson today. Surprisingly, the lesson prep went very well.

Sunday was an extra spiritual day for me. I don’t know if it was because President Nelson was on everyone’s mind and in the testimonies that were born. We had a very uplifting Ward Council in the morning. I think it started with our training from Kea about Sustaining our Leaders. All our testimonies were very heartfelt and testified of the love and leadership of President Nelson and of course all that our Savior has bless us with. I think I cried halfway through our Sunday School class too. We talked about the tremendous blessings that come from the Temple. That, of course, led to all the Temples that President Nelson has announced and how so many have been dedicated since he became the President. It was all just a very tender and spiritual day.

Once home, I took care of a few things for the Bishop as well as studied another talk by President Nelson in my scripture study. It was the talk he gave in the April 2023 General Conference called, “The Answer Is Always Jesus Christ.” It is such a simple statement but so true. No matter what the question or problem is, the answers IS always Jesus Christ. I would save myself heartache and frustration if I would just remind myself first to look to Jesus for the answer instead of wallowing through the frustration or trial.

Sister Wilcox, Elder Wilcox, Elder Seeley, 
Sister Watson, Sister Carlisle, Elder Carlisle,
Sister Hurst, and Elder Hurst

After almost finishing my weekly recap, we had to go to a special meeting with the Stake Presidency. It was for the Hikurangi and Denby Wards. They realigned the boundaries between the two Wards and gave Hikurangi a large chunk of the Denby Ward. It is the coastal area that is fairly sparce, but there are a number of active families in the area. It should really help to boost our Ward enthusiasm as well as our active numbers.

All our Love,
Elder and Sister Wilcox


Saturday, September 27, 2025

Comp Study, Book of Mormon, and Rainbow Falls


We called Griffyn on Monday to celebrate his birthday on Sunday back home. It was fun to talk with him. It looks like he will be driving when we get home! Before we left on our first mission, he was barely in Young Men.  Not long after that, we had our video call with MyLiege's family. All three girls were home, so we got to talk to each of them. Alyx sang her audition piece for us. Elle got contacts and looks more like Anna every time we see her.  Anna is still working on her mission preparation.  She and Sean just took a trip to New York last week. They had a great time. 

Tuesday was very low-key. We had comp study with the Riverside Elders. Part of our discussion included section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is all about the Priesthood. We had a very good discussion. After lunch, Steve did some shopping, and I worked on HawkSoft.

Wednesday was a little busier. I helped Leona with an automatic payment adjustment she needed to make. I think she will be fine in the future, should the need arise again. DCM turned out very well. The Zone Leaders went to the South District meeting and the STLs (Sister Training Leaders) came to our meeting. The Sisters also happen to be part of the Social Media team in the Mission. They filmed a short little video after DCM with all the missionaries in the Zone. I think it turned out cute. They staged Elder Carlisle on his knee holding a piece of paper in front of him facing Sister Carlisle. All the rest of the missionaries were gathered around Sister Carlisle looking very happy and excited. We were jumping and making noise. Sister Carlisle looked the happiest of all. The video camera showed us all very excited and then panned around until it focused on the piece of paper Elder Carlisle was holding. It said, “Will you go to Church with me?” It was perfect! 

After lunch the Hikurangi Elders came over to do comp study. We had a great discussion about section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants again. Elder Hunter had lots of questions. I very much enjoy our Comp Studies with the Missionaries.

I worked on a little Family History in the afternoon. I also made certificates for our Personal Finance class. Sunday is our last class. 

After dinner it was time to go to our Book of Mormon Reading Group. We had 5 people tonight plus the Elders and us. We had a wonderful reading and discussion. I think everyone enjoyed the group.

We had a wonderful Mission SPF meeting on Thursday morning. Sister Allen talked about excuses and how detrimental they can be for us. We need to take responsibility for our own actions or inactions. 

The Zone Leaders came over after SPF for our weekly Comp Study. We talked about the Priesthood and the Second Coming. It is fun to share scriptures and insights with each other. They are doing such an awesome job with our Zone. We love them!

After lunch, we headed over to Peggy’s flat so I could borrow her sewing machine again. We received a pair of pants from Elder Tumanuvao on Tuesday that needed hemming.  Thursday, Elder Mabaso asked if I could fix a seam that had ripped out of a pair of his pants. Peggy is so nice to let me borrow her machine. We had a very nice visit with them as well. We don’t get to see them very often in our ward because they both hold Stake Callings. Her husband, Steve is the Stake Clerk and Peggy is the Stake Primary President. They are in the middle of all the Primary Programs. It is always nice when they can attend our ward. 


When we got home, Elder Wilcox worked on sending out reminders for talks and prayers for Sunday. I updated the program and also worked on the Ward Council Agenda. I checked in with our Personal Finances Group. I also worked on our bills.

On Friday, we did some sightseeing. We realized that we haven’t been able to get out much except when we have had Senior Activities. We thought it might be good to see some of the sights around the North Island that we haven’t seen yet. 

We headed up north to Kerikeri to a place called Rainbow Falls. It was a very short walk from the car to the first look out point. The falls are beautiful. We could have walked back to the car and called it good, but since it was such a short walk, we decided to go a little further down the trail. There were several people at that next lookout point. As we got closer, we figured out why it is called Rainbow Falls. We stood much closer to the actual falls. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining. Looking down into the pool of water we could see a beautiful rainbow that stretched quite a way across the water. It was very bright near the falls, and lighter the further away it got. We met a nice couple there who live in a retirement community right next door to the falls. They say there are no signs that tell you where to see the rainbow and many people never see it. We were lucky. It had been raining all week, and the rainbow was not very visible. Today, we had sunshine and moderate temperatures. It was beautiful. 

After we left those falls, we drove to several other places in the north and also a little south of Whangarei. It was a very nice, relaxing day to see some of the many beauties of New Zealand.

Saturday was a preparation day for us. We took care of things around the house. Changed linen, did laundry, cleaned the house, etc. We also made a slow cooked soup for our Soup Sunday after Church. We did some preparation for our last Personal Finances class as well. 

I had several things to take care of for the Ward. We even set our clocks ahead for Daylight Savings. I even had some time to do a couple of certifications for Darrin. 

Later the STLs (Sister Training Leaders) came over to use our Wi-Fi. They are also the social media Sisters up north. They are the ones who made that cute video with the Carlisles on Wednesday. They had a few things to upload for that part of their calling.

We started Sunday with Ward Council. We had a good discussion on several topics. I love the opportunity to greet people when they come to Church. I hope that is the calling I get when we go home. 

Our Sacrament meeting felt very special. Our little primary girl was a little too shy to speak, so her mum gave her little talk. Next, we heard from last minute speaker we got on Thursday evening after the assigned speaker ended up in the hospital. He did a great job and shared stories of miracles, including his when he was severely injured and should have been paralyzed. After much therapy and surgery, he was able to walk again and even play rugby again. However, after he broke his arm playing rugby, he gave up the sport. Someone was trying to tell him something. 

Charlotta gave our next talk. She did a marvelous job. She talked about the difference between unity and uniformity. We want and need unity. We can all have different ideas but still have the same goals or purpose. Christ shared many times “that they may be one.” Uniformity, on the other hand, it trying to make everyone do the same thing the same way. It was an excellent talk that encouraged compassion. She said:

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said:

“Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate.”

Love is central to our discipleship. It’s not optional.

Love is Active, Not Just a Feeling 

We had a wonderful Relief Society lesson. We talked about the General Conference talk by Elder Stone called, “Charity—a Sign of True Discipleship.” We discussed how we can be better Disciples of Jesus Christ and implement Charity more fully into our lives. We even talked about several things we can do as a Relief Society to help strengthen our Ward. It was really good.  After Church we had our Soup Sunday. The food and fellowship were really good. 

Then, at 3:00, we had our last Personal Finances class. We really enjoyed this class, and I think everyone else did too. We have learned many things that can help our financial planning now and in the future. I made certificates for each class member. We also made Pineapple Upside-Down Cake to celebrate. It was a wonderful day! 

All our Love,
Elder and Sister Wilcox

Sunday, September 21, 2025

Early Morning Seminary, Comp Study, Auckland, Two Zone Conferences, Temple, and Song Fest

We started our week off teaching Seminary on Monday Morning. Leona had to work so we helped her out. We had a good lesson and good participation.  The rest of the day involved scripture study and family video calls. 

We enjoyed checking in with Season's family. The boys started school and are doing good. Garren was nervous to start high school. Season helped him by talking to him and listening to his concerns. The next week he started school, and it turned out much better than he expected. Since then, it has been great. Seminary turned out better than expected as well. Karsten is a senior this year. Apparently, he has been doing a lot of speaking assignments in Church in different Wards. That is good. He gave a really good talk at Stake Conference a few weeks ago. Now it is being sought after. LOL

Sister Brough saying
goodbye to her
trainer, Sister Jones
A little later, we got a call from Sean wondering why we hadn't called them. We figured out what happened. Sunday was the last day of the month. Monday was the first day of the next month. We make the calls on Monday so we can talk to our family on Sunday. We call one of our kids each week. I sent out calendar reminders at the beginning of our mission based on our Mondays. So, instead of being the third Sunday for them, it showed up on the second Sunday, but our third Monday. 🤪 We visited with them anyway. Before our call ended, MyLiege asked if we would still have our "regular" call next week. Hahaha.  We said yes!!! It was nice to talk to all the girls. We also got to see Andrew and Ruthie. That is ALWAYS special.

Tuesday morning started with Seminary again. This time the Elders gave the lesson.  They did an object lesson to start things off. Each person was blindfolded and given a putting golf club. A cup was put against the wall, and we had to try and hit the ball in the cup without being able to see. I had a very lucky shot and was the only one who got it in the cup. Next, we did it without the blindfold. Most of us still did not make it in the cup but were at least closer to it. One of our students got it in the cup. I didn’t even come close. LOL

They related this to how it is sometimes hard in life when we can’t see where we are going. When we have our eye focused on the Savior, it is easier to see where you want to go. The rest of the lesson was about the hardships that many of the Saints experienced when they were being persecuted in the early years of the Church. They held fast to their testimony of Jesus Christ and that helped them get through the hard times. That is so true. If we focus our lives on Jesus Christ, we will find much more joy and happiness, even when we have trials.

Because of several different factors, our DCM meeting was changed from Wednesday to Tuesday this week. After Seminary, we got our snacks ready for our DCM meeting. We had a wonderful DCM and a great training about using the Book of Mormon in our teaching. We also had an introduction before DCM started by a member telling us what we will be doing for the Restoration Devotional on Sunday Evening. It sounds like it is going to be good. I’m very excited about attending. 

After DCM, I took care of some administrative things. We also had Comp Study with the Riverside Elders. It turned out some of our scripture highlights focused on similar themes. That is looking for the positive instead of focusing on the negative. It went along with our Seminary lesson that morning.

Elder and Sister Higgins
We spent most of Wednesday doing prep work for Zone Conference and Seminary lesson prep. We also had another Comp Study with the Hikurangi Elders. We talked about the things we were studying for Zone Conference. We had a nice discussion. It worked out well for me since I had been studying that material that morning. We fed them lunch and talked about Temples during lunch. 

I prepared my Seminary lesson after the Elders left. It was our last lesson for this term. We have a two-week break and then come back for two more weeks before the end of the year. I wanted to make this lesson special. I sent Elder Wilcox out to buy some sweet rolls or something for a treat for the class. I also planned a fun activity for our class. 

Thursday was our 54th Wedding Anniversary! How did we celebrate? We served!!! We started with Early Morning Seminary. We talked about integrity and honesty, especially in school. After we read and discussed several scriptures, we decided to put one of the students on trial to see if there was enough evidence to convict them of being honest and full of integrity at school. I had nine students and made sure everyone had a part. We had a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, defendant, and 5 witnesses. Each witness reported seeing something that showed the defendant didn’t cheat, or share answers, or sluff on a group project, etc. Then the defendant took the stand and shared several quotes from General Authorities about integrity and honesty and confessed that they try to live that way. In the end, the Judge convicted the defendant of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. After our trial, I asked them to seriously consider how they would fair if they were put on trial for being a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

As soon as Seminary was over, we headed to Auckland for our Zone Conference. They moved the north conference from Friday to Thursday to accommodate all the travel time for the missionaries in the northland. They had to be in Auckland on Wednesday for a missionary council meeting with Elder and Sister Higgins as well as President and Sister Allen for the Mission Tour. Rather than have them go back on Thursday, only to return on Friday it was decided to just switch our Zone Conference to Thursday. That way they could stay overnight with other missionaries and go home on Thursday. The other thing they changed was starting at 10:00am rather than 10:30. Consequently, we were a few minutes late before we arrived. They were just finishing the prayer when we walked into the building, so we didn't really miss anything.

Everything about Conference was great. I loved the three 3-minute talks given by three missionaries who were just called up to speak in the meeting. They were all supposed to be prepared to speak. All three talks were great. We heard beautiful musical numbers, and we heard wonderful training from President and Sister Allen as well as Elder and Sister Higgins. We had a delicious lunch and met a new Senior Couple who will be taking over for Elder and Sister Michaelson. They leave in about a month. We sat with the new couple (Elder and Sister Holmes), the Carlisles, and the Michaelsons. It was great getting to know everyone better.  After group pictures, we headed by for the closing session. 

We heard beautiful testimonies from the leaving missionaries. They are always so touching. We have quite a few who will be leaving.  We had a couple of musical numbers and then closing remarks from Elder and Sister Higgins again. I think we ended around 4:30. After the closing prayer, we sang our farewell songs to the departing missionaries as we all greeted each one to say goodbye. Several people brought candy leis to place on the departing missionaries. I always cry at this part of conference.  Several of our previous missionaries are going home as well as Elder and Sister Michaelson. I’m happy for them, but I’m also going to miss them a lot. 

On Friday we attended the South Zone Conference. It was basically a repeat of Thursday's conference. We heard from three different missionaries. They all spoke in their native languages of Tongan, Samoan, and probably Mandarin. One of the Elders sang a musical number that was so beautiful. I can’t believe his voice. Elder Higgins teased him after he finished saying he wanted to be his manager and make a million dollars with him. It was funny.

We had a different set of missionaries going home from the South area. We knew a couple of them. It was very fun to see so many of our missionaries who used to serve in Whangarei. It was so worth going. 

We ended around 4:30 again, but with Friday night traffic it took over an hour to get back to our temporary flat. We had to pick up some laundry soap so we could wash the sheets and towels before we went home on Saturday.

Saturday had been another long day. We were up pretty early for our 8:30 Temple appointment that morning. Our session was completely full. I’m so glad we were already in Auckland and didn’t have to get up at 4 to get there in time. 6 was early enough. It felt really good to be in the Temple. I think I really needed the peace that I always feel there. Things have been a bit hectic lately.   

We headed back to our temporary flat after the Temple so we could finish cleaning it. We washed the towels and sheets that we used and put them back on the bed or in the cupboard before we left. Our flat was very nice, and we were so happy to be able to use it.

We headed back to Whangarei but had to head straight to Hikurangi for our Song Fest activity that started at 4:00pm. I had to run a report for the Missionaries before the activity, so I was hoping to get their early. We were only 15 minutes early, but it was enough.  

We invited the Te Horo Branch and Punaruku Ward to join us. Everyone did such a great job. We had all kinds of numbers from solos, duets, and line dancing. We had a piano and cello duet by Elder and Sister Carlisle and hula dancing and choral numbers by the Hikurangi Ward. Punaruku did several songs including a medley of popular song tunes with fun words about their Ward. It was great. Elder Wilcox finished the night with one of his weird songs that made everyone laugh. It was a song by Johnny Cash called “Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog.” We were so tired, we didn't hang around very long before we went home. We still had laundry to do before going to bed.

Sunday was another busy day. Church was great. We had two delightful primary girls give the best talks that morning. They only had to share a scripture, but both girls gave regular talks. They are both 8 years old. One of the girls gave her talk in Māori and then interpreted it into English for the rest of us. We also heard great talks from a sister in our ward and our high council speaker. 

Our primary kids took over the Chapel the second hour in preparation for the Primary Program, so our Sunday School class met in the Primary room. I liked it better than the Chapel. It was much more intimate. We talked about sections 97 through 103. We especially talked about how much the Lord loves us, notwithstanding our sins, He still extends His mercy. 

Elder Wilcox had another meeting after Church, so I worked on some things like the Ward Council Minutes. 

It was later than usual after we got home. Since we had a devotional that night, we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner. Shortly after that, it was time for our Personal Finances Class. I sure love our class. We have so much fun together and we learn things too. 

Not long after our class, we headed to the Stake Center for the Restoration Devotional. All the missionaries had a breakout room where they presented different people that were important in the restoration of the Gospel. They all did a great job. The final piece took place in the Chapel, where Elder Ihaka and Elder Hunter presented the First Vision. I enjoyed the devotional very much.

All our Love,
Elder and Sister Wilcox