Transfer Breakfast and Queenstown!

I love our Transfer Breakfast where we get to meet the new missionaries in our District. We got up early to get everything ready and started cooking. The Carlisles arrived around 8:30 to make the waffles and scramble the eggs. Elder Wilcox fried bacon, I put the hashbrowns in the oven and cut fruit. We met our three new missionaries. We have a total of five in the Zone, but we didn’t have the whole Zone for breakfast. After breakfast we played several getting-to-know-you games. Everyone had fun. We enjoyed getting to know each other better. I love these breakfasts because it is a way to become an instant family.

After everyone left and we were all cleaned up, we had our video call with MyLiege's family. Sean joined us on the ride home from Church. We enjoyed talking with the whole family. Well, not Djeryd and Eva. They didn’t come over so we didn’t get to see Ruthie. 😢I have to admit; I am looking forward to being able to hug our great grandbabies in December. 

After the call, we watched the first part of Follow Him, as well as doing a load of clothes before we left on Tuesday. We also called Joey for her birthday. We had to leave a message, so we sang to her. We took care of a few other things like packing. Not long after that we headed to bed early!!!

3:30am came early that Tuesday morning. We caught an early flight from Whangarei to Auckland. I rather liked dealing with our little airport in Whangarei compared to the BIG airport in Auckland. We had a short layover in Auckland before we boarded our airplane for Queenstown. We landed in Queenstown at 9:30am. By the time we got to the hotel it was nearly 10:30. I was sure there would be NO WAY we could check into our room that early, but they were almost done cleaning our room when we got there and it was ready by the time we finished our check-in. That was so nice to check-in and get unpacked. 

We were in the secluded Waterfall section. It was the furthest away, but it had the most incredible view and a full wall of windows. We had a waterfall out the window, as well as a lake, and of course, beautiful mountains and lots of trees.  We unpacked and went to get some lunch to take back to our room. We sat at a little table by the big window and ate our lunch. After lunch, we still had a couple of hours before we had to pick up Brother Ah Mu, so we decided to take a nap. Did I say that 3:30am is really early? I don’t ever take naps, but we both managed to fall asleep. We were tired.

We picked up Brother Ah Mu from the airport and took him back to the hotel to check in. Then we went sightseeing around downtown Queenstown. We looked for someplace for dinner as well as checked out the local sights. After dinner we went to a place called Skyline and then rode a gondola up the mountain. We couldn’t get over how quiet the ride up the mountain was. It was also very beautiful. At the top we got out and walked around the area. We went to the view deck to take some pictures. It was actually snowing a little. There were very tiny flakes, but it was snow!!! On the way back down the mountain, we rode in a gondola with another family. The aunt and uncle were from the Philippines, and the rest of the family were living in Auckland. They had a couple of kids who were so excited to see the wild goats on the mountainside. We all spotted goats for them to take pictures. We had a nice little visit with them. I mentioned that Brooklyn will be going to the Philippines in January to serve a mission. They were very nice people. Then it was back to the hotel to get some rest for Wednesday's adventures. 

Wednesday morning took us about an hour away to a place called Glenorchy. That is the nearest town to the “real middle-earth” locations. We drove further into nature amidst the beautiful mountains, rivers and lakes. Elder Wilcox did a better job of picturing scenes from the movies than I did, because I don’t always pay attention to details. However, the views were spectacular. No wonder Peter Jackson and many others have chosen that location for backdrops to their movies. It is virgin area, virtually untouched by man. 

We went down some gravel roads off the beaten path that took us to even more incredible places. That was when we started seeing lots of sheep. It is true that there are more sheep than people in the South Island. Since it is springtime there, there were lots of adorable little lambs. We were surprised that so many sheep gave birth to twins. In a couple of herds, we only saw two lambs with every sheep. Other herds had a mixture of one or two little lambs. 

Brother Ah Mu took us further back. We drove across two streams. There was a total of seven streams to cross. However, when we got to the third stream, the increased rainwater rose the stream to an unsafe crossing. We turned the car around and headed back to town. 

We then went to see the old Gold Rush area, in particular what legacy the Chinese immigrants built up and left behind. Pretty much after all the gold was mined, the old miners left in search of more gold. However, before they left, they let the Chinese immigrants come in to work the mines even though there wasn’t much gold left. The immigrants that stayed ended up reverting back to what they knew, growing food. They had a hard life but left a legacy behind. 

After lunch, we went to Arrowtown. It is this very cute, picturesque town that looks like it is out of an old movie. We walked down main street and stopped in several of the various shops along the way. Sometimes we just looked in the windows. Of course, we had to check out the Sweet Shoppe and the Ice Cream place. We also visited a little museum/art show in town.

As I reflected on the day, I realized that the weather just kept getting better and better throughout the day. When we were strolling down the street in Arrowtown, I didn’t even wear my jacket. Before we came to Queenstown, the long-term weather forecast for that week was very, very stormy. We didn't see any of that. I found out later that the storm hit on the coast of the island and it was pretty severe. Queenstown is more inland and only had a few little showers and some heavy winds. 

When we got back to our hotel, I sat in front of our beautiful view and wrote about my day. 😊

The storm must have hit Queenstown in the middle of Wednesday night, because we woke up to evidence of the storm. The normally little waterfall/stream that runs just in front of our window was a raging, muddy waterfall. Granted, it doesn’t fall very far, but I could see the top of the falls from my window when normally I can only see the flowing stream. It was also raining and very windy. 

Our first stop was a little town called Cromwell just north of Queenstown. By the time we got there the rain had stopped and the wind had died down. We got out and looked around. It was a gold mining town and had lots of relics from all the mining. It also has a lot of sheep. We got up and got close to the sheep. 

From there we headed further north to Wanaka. We stopped along the way to take more pictures. We had a nice lunch in Wanaka. We could over look a big lake while we ate. It was nice. We headed back to the hotel after that. We took the scenic route back. We went up a mountain and saw some beautiful sights. At the summit it was a little cloudy and extremely windy. We could feel the car shake when we stopped to take a picture. The road down was very, very windy. Some of the turns were very tight and were almost 360 degrees. We went very slow. We pulled off on a few turnouts to get more pictures. 

The weather was pretty good for the rest of the day. We still had some wind, but it wasn’t too strong. By the time we got back to our room, our little waterfall was once again a small waterfall/stream.

On Friday, we had beautiful sunshine for most of the day, although it was much colder today. The Lord really blessed us on our trip. The forecast had been stormy, but we had great weather all four days. 

Our journey took us to the top of the mountain that we could see out of our window from our hotel room. There were some breath-taking views to see. We stopped several times on the way up the mountain. We wanted to go as high as we could to finally see some snow. There was a little snow on the roadside, but the road became very icy, so we decided it was high enough. Elder Wilcox got out of the car to take some pictures. It was COLD. 

After our mountain trip, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch. We enjoyed a nice visit before we headed back to the Hotel. Brother Ah Mu checked out that morning, but his flight didn’t leave until 8:00pm. So, we went back to our room and spent the afternoon playing some games. We played a dice game called Bank and a card game called Swoop. We also made Brother Ah Mu watch our Christmas Eve video that the kids put together for us during COVID when we couldn’t be together. We have watched it several times since we have been here. This Christmas we will be home! After that, We said our goodbyes and Steve took Brother Ah Mu to the airport.

After one final breakfast at our hotel on Friday morning, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. The hospitality was incredible. Our view was beautiful. There were a few things I would have liked to be a bit different. The bed was very low, so it was hard to get in and out. I guess we are just a little too old, hahaha. There was no TV, but we managed to do other things like play games and actually go to bed earlier than normal. We got nearly 8 hours of sleep every night. YAY!!!! Those were minor inconveniences compared to the way everyone was so welcoming and helpful. Breakfast was included with our room, and it wasn’t just a continental breakfast either. It was a restaurant breakfast. We enjoyed it every day. Most of the workers were on Holiday Work Visas from other countries. They were all young and so fun to be around. 

Then we headed to the airport. Once again, the weather was beautiful. There were white billowy clouds and blue skies. I think the snow level was a bit lower on the mountains. The scenery in Queenstown was breathtaking. The scenery in the North Island is also very beautiful, but we don’t have the mountains there like they have in the South Island. 

We flew into Auckland and had a 2-hour layover. We grabbed some lunch while we waited. When it was time for our short flight to Whangarei, they announced two flights. The waiting room for all the flights further up north were all in the same place. We waited until the announced Whangarei before we got up. However, we somehow managed to get in the middle of the crowd going to the other place. Both flights went through the same door from the waiting room to go down a hall that had various gate numbers leading off the walkway. We ended up following the crowd and boarded the wrong plane. Gratefully the flight attendant at the door spotted the boarding pass and saw we were on the wrong plane. Our gate was 39. We assumed it was at the end of the walkway because it was one of the highest gate numbers. The crowd went to 36 which was actually at the end of the walkway. Anyway, we turned around and went back the way we came and found 39 was halfway down the walkway. We made the flight and managed to make it home. I’ve never been in such a confusing gate situation as that one. It was good to be home.

We got home early enough to shower and even do a load of laundry. We watched a little TV and headed off to bed. 

On Sunday, we had a very constructive Ward Council meeting. We also had a delightful Primary Children’s Sacrament Program. We had nearly 20 primary children all bearing testimony and singing songs. Some of their talks were in Māori. Usually, those were then interpreted into English (but not all got interpreted. 😢) Other talks were in English. They did a beautiful job. I think they may have included a few of the older nursery kids in the program.  They all did an amazing job. We even had several solo songs by the kids that were absolutely beautiful. I was very impressed. And the solos were not done by the oldest kids either.

We had record numbers in our Sacrament meeting so that was awesome too. Unfortunately, not everyone stayed for our Soup Sunday after Church. We had a good turnout, but so many left after the Sacrament meeting, I know it could have been an even bigger turnout. The food was great, and we enjoyed visiting with those that stayed. 

After Church, it was home to work on my recap and to rest up from our vacation. LOL

All Our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox

Senior Activity, Last Seminary Lessons, Transfers, BOM Reading, Seminary Breakfast, and Temples 

It has been a busy and fun filled week. Monday started with prepping for our dinner with the Reads. Then we headed to Wellsford for our Senior Activity. We left a little early so we could pick up some supplies to repair a wall at the Russell Road flat after the activity. We had a wonderful lunch with lots of visiting. It was the last time we would all be together with Elder and Sister Michaelson. They go home in a week or so. We left a little early so we could go patch the wall at the flat we were closing. The rest of the group headed to the beach to collect seashells. 

Eric 1st place, Sharon 2nd Place,
Sister Wilcox 3rd Place

Steve dropped me off at home so I could make dinner for our guests, and he went to the flat to put the first layer of the patch on the hole. He got home just in time to help with a few things left to do for dinner. Michael, Sharon, and Sharon's Dad Eric arrived just as everything finished cooking. Michael and Sharon were in Australia for 10 days visiting their daughter and her family. We checked in on Eric a few times during the time they were away. We wanted to hear all about their trip and also repay them for the several dinners they had us over for. We had a wonderful visit during dinner, and everyone loved our “American” meal. After dinner, we played a fun game called “Bank”. Of course, we continued talking and sharing. It was a very fun evening. 

Tuesday, we went to early morning Seminary. The Elders taught the lesson on Tithing. We went straight from there out to the Russell Road flat so Steve could put another layer on the patch on the wall. Then we headed back home to be ready for our Comp Study with the Riverside Elders.  We discussed General Conference talks today. I couldn’t believe how many we talked about without even having to look up their talks. We managed to get the speakers right and covered the main focus of their talks. It is always hard to choose a favorite talk when they are all so good. 

I worked on my Thursday Seminary Lesson prep before it was time to go back to Russell Road to sand, paint and turn the key in. After we got home, I spent an hour or so working on ACORD forms for HawkSoft. 

Elder O'Riordan with the Carlisles

We had our last DCM meeting with the current District. Between transfers and one missionary going home, we lost a total of 5 out of our 12 missionaries. The only companionship that remained the same was Hikurangi. We combined our DCM with the South District so that was nice. We ended our meeting with testimonies from the missionaries that were leaving. Then we had our snacks and signed bye-bye books before it was time to go. 

Elder Mabaso
Elder O'Riordan

After lunch and the first half of the Follow Him podcast, the Hika Elders arrived for Comp Study. We talked about General Conference and then it kind of morphed into life. We had a wonderful visit. Later we headed to the Chapel for our Book of Mormon Reading group. We had another couple show up so that was nice. We had a wonderful discussion about Lehi's Vision of the Tree of Life. We talked about how we can apply what we learn to our lives. 

We had our last early morning Seminary class on Thursday morning. We had six kids show up. I was hoping for more since it was our last class. Our lesson was on how to share the Book of Mormon. I invited the Elders to help do the last part of the lesson. They did a role play to demonstrate how they share the Book of Mormon. Then I had the two students they presented it to be the missionaries and they then shared the Book of Mormon with two other students. They did a really good job, and I think they had fun. We gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and asked them to give it to a friend. I also asked for a commitment from them to read the Book of Mormon and find out for themselves if it is true. They all said they would. 🤞

I spent the rest of the day prepping for Sunday with the Ward Council Agenda and the Sacrament Program because we were gone both Friday and Saturday. I also finished the ACORD forms for HawkSoft. Lastly, I finalized plans for two Temple trips in the next few weeks. Both involve the Hamilton Temple. I had to make overnight plans since both appointments are fairly early in the morning for doing a 4-hour drive beforehand. 

On Friday morning, we went to a Seminary Breakfast for our Hikurangi Seminary. We met at a local cafe for a nice enjoyable breakfast. After eating and visiting for a while, we headed home. We took care of laundry and packing. I also fixed a few minor issues with the ACORD forms. And I had a video call with Sean about a project we started last July. We are finally getting around to finishing it. After lunch and the second half of Follow Him, we headed down to Hamilton. We made great time until we got to Auckland, then we hit traffic. It took us at least an extra hour to get to our B&B. We have the Bridal Suite. We have beautiful views on both sides of the room. It is nice to see our friends one last time before we go home. 

Elder Phipps
and Wilcoxes

Saturday was filled with both the Hamilton Temple and the Auckland Temple. We started with a delicious breakfast at our B&B. We had a very nice visit with several guests in addition to the owners of the B&B. I think that is probably the last time we will stay there. It has been a highlight of our time in New Zealand. 

We made it to the Temple in plenty of time before the Endowment session for Teina. We had about 15 people from our Ward there to support him. It was wonderful to see so many there. I loved sitting in my row with several other sisters that I love so very much. We had a very nice session, and it was great to greet everyone in the Celestial Room. Usually when we go to the Temple we don't know anyone else. It was a real treat to see so many Whanau (family). 

After a short visit, we headed to the Auckland Temple. I had previously made appointments at the Auckland Temple to do sealings and an endowment. When we were asked to go to Teina's endowment session, I thought I might have to cancel our Auckland appointments. But when I checked the times, I realized we could do both. It was actually pretty great to be at two different Temples in one day. We managed to get all our sealing names done. I was so happy about that. We also did two endowments each so that was great too. After that, we headed home and made it just before 7:00 so it wasn't even too late. 

We had a really good Ward Council Sunday morning. In General Conference Elder Jackson gave a talk in a Saturday session entitled "Remembering the Sheep". Elder Wilcox pulled a part out of the talk to use in his training for Ward Council and tied it to the Ministering Training in the General handbook. I think it really set the tone for our Ward Council. Bishop has been moving more and more to focus on individuals in our meeting and that is exactly what we did today. We could really feel the Spirit. 

We had a nice increase in our attendance. With the realignment a couple of weeks ago, we had many members show up as well as several guests. It was very nice to see the Chapel full. Our talks were very good. Rita is 4 years old. I love watching her in Church. She usually sits in the row across from us. She gave a talk in Māori about Temples. Even though I didn’t understand a word she said, the Spirit was strong. She spoke clearly and with great confidence. I just love her. Her oldest sister also gave a wonderful talk about how Education is for Eternity. I have always been impressed with her. She is preparing for a mission soon. I enjoyed having her in Seminary last year. We also heard from another sister who talked about Elder Uchtdorf’s General Conference talk. She did a great job too. And we had a very full class for Sunday School. It was AWESOME!

Have a GREAT Week!

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox

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

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