Paradise, or in other words, New Zealand!!!

Ready to leave the MTC

Monday was the LONGEST day ever. We were up while it was still dark so we could check out of our room by 7:00. (It was more like 7:15.) We had to wait in the lobby of the MTC until our shuttle that took us to the SLC airport arrived at 11:15. We waited at the airport until about 4:30 PM when we were finally able to board the plane. That flight took us to the Los Angeles airport where we waited until about 10:45 PM, when we could finally board our plane to New Zealand.

We tried to spend our waiting time wisely. I worked on HawkSoft. We walked around a bit. We ate lunch in SLC and dinner in Los Angeles. And of course, we played some games on our tablet. The plane to New Zealand was an Airbus 350-900. That means it is pretty big. There were 9 seats across. Three on each side and three in the middle. We were in the middle of the back row of the Main 1 section. I actually liked our seats. Even though the flight was very full, we managed to just be the two of us in our row so that was nice. They fed us very well. Those flight attendants worked hard. We tried to sleep, but only managed to doze from time to time. I did most of my "sleeping" while supposedly watching movies. I tend to sleep at home when movies are on too. 

We have Arrived!!!

We arrived in New Zealand at 9:00 AM Wednesday morning. Tuesday disappeared sometime during the last movie. It went from Monday night to Wednesday morning just like magic. It took a little over an hour to go through customs. A friend of mine was here a week or so ago, and she said it took her 3 hours to go through customs. It really went pretty smoothly. The lines were long, but we got right through.

Elder Wilcox on the Left
side of the road.

Elder and Sister Geisler were there to greet us and take us to the Mission Office. I think it was about an hour's drive. We met Sister Jones and Elder Bailey in the office. Their companions were out at the time. We met them later. Next, the Geisler's took us to our temporary apartment so we could unload our luggage. Then we went to the grocery store a block or two away to get some groceries for just a few days. We dropped our groceries and then went back to the Mission Office so we could pick up our brand-new Toyota Corolla car. Pretty cool! Once back at the apartment we intended to shower and take a nap as we were very tired. We managed to shower and then spent time unpacking and getting situated. About the time we finished, The Geislers and the Joneses were knocking at our door to take us to dinner. It was a "short" walk to the restaurant they chose. Talk to Elder Wilcox about how "short" it was. I think his definition and their definition of short are two different things. We had a very nice time with the missionaries. We met Elder Jones; and, Elder and Sister Bailey met us at the restaurant. Needless to say, we slept GREAT that night.

The beach a couple of blocks
from our apartment.

Thursday, we ventured out on our own. Elder Wilcox did pretty good driving on the left side of the road. We only got lost a few times but managed to find our way back OK. We headed to the only Costco in New Zealand. It is about 30 minutes away. We needed to pick up a few things that we couldn't pack from home. For one thing, I wanted a monitor for my laptop. Two years on just the laptop screen was not going to work for me. We bought the display model because the monitor was being discontinued. We got a good price and were happy. After we made it home, I hooked up the monitor only to realize that it had probably been dropped at some time. The laptop recognized it just fine, but the display was a mess. It kept blinking in and out and there was a weird squiggly line and only part of the screen actually showed. Big disappointment.

Friday, we ventured out again. More shopping! I normally hate to shop, and today did not change my mind. We got a text message from one of the missionary couples we met more than a year ago. They were visa waiters heading to New Zealand and were waiting in our apartment complex in Salt Lake on our last mission. We met them and immediately were jealous because they were actually going to go to New Zealand. We exchanged contact information and have kept in touch. We also met a couple at the MTC who

The Bay Bridge

were also going to New Zealand. Both of those couples are assigned to the Hamilton Mission on an S&I Mission. They were coming up north to go to Costco today and wanted to know if we could meet for lunch.

So, we ventured out to Costco again. We had to return the broken monitor and get a new one that worked. We also wanted to pick up a few other things that we will need. At about noon, we went to the Food Court in Costco to save seats. We took two tables, the guys on one and the girls on the other. We had a wonderful time visiting and learning what each other is doing or going to do. Elder and Sister Welsh have been here the longest. Elder and Sister Hansen got here a few days before us. We hope to see them again.

The Norfolk Pine Tree

After lunch we did some more shopping. I got tired of that, but it was necessary. We missed a few turns and ended up going back to the same shopping center we were at earlier because we didn't know a different store we wanted to go to was in the same complex. I guess that is what you might call gaining experience.

After we got home about 5:00, I set up the new monitor and it worked perfectly. I put in a couple of hours on HawkSoft. The funny thing about that was the time difference. Even though it was March 1st where I'm at, the time sheet recorded it as February 29th, so I made it on the end of the pay period. Hahaha.

Suzanne and her family.

Saturday, we spent the afternoon with Suzanne Huffman Bharade and her family. She used to be one of my young women back in Oregon City. When they first moved to Oregon City, they only lived a few blocks from us. Then they moved closer to the Church. Anyway, I haven't seen her in over 12 years. She immigrated to New Zealand even before that.

She has a wonderful husband and delightful little boy. They took us to the Sky Tower in Auckland. It is the tallest building around. It kind of reminds me of the Space Needle in Seattle.

Elder Wilcox on top of the Sky Tower.\

After that we went to Mission Bay. It is a beautiful town on the beach. We walked along the beach for quite a while. Then we went for ice cream. The ice cream in New Zealand is so rich and creamy. We can't eat too much of it or we won't fit into our clothes anymore.

We spent ALL evening doing laundry. Everything in New Zealand is small. The washer and dryer are no exception. I think we could only put about 10 or 12 items of clothing in each machine. The wash cycle is 1.5 hours, and the dry is at least that or closer to 2 hours. I think for the future, we will do laundry multiple times a week, so it doesn't take a full day anymore.

Sunday! We are still in Auckland, so we attended the Takapuna Ward. We LOVED it. The Bishop is from Brazil. He was really quite funny and yet very spiritual. 

Our Temporary Apartment

He bore his testimony about Temples and Missionary work. He shared an experience when he was taking a bus load of members to the Temple in a different country. This was when he lived in Brazil. When they got to the border they were stopped, and everyone had to get out. The guards were very mean looking and carried guns. They pointed them at everyone, including the kids that were going to be sealed to their parents. The Bishop proceeded to talk to the guard. At first the man was very gruff. He asked them where they were going. He didn't know what a Temple was. As the Bishop explained things, including the fact that everyone had a obtain a Temple Recommend to enter the Temple signifying they were keeping the commandments and being honest, the guard became less hostile and even somewhat friendly. Finally, the man told them to not show their passports, but instead to show their Temple Recommends. He looked at all of them, including the youth recommend for the kids, and said, "oh good. You are all honest. You can go to your Temple." He didn't check any luggage or anything.

Everything is smaller in New Zealand

The other testimonies that were born today were equally spiritual. We loved hearing all of them. I loved all the different accents...especially the New Zealand accents. 

Our weather was a little cooler today. We still hit the low 70s and the humidity was above 80%, but there was a nice gentle breeze all day. It was very pleasant. We spent a nice relaxing day in our apartment.

All our Love and Prayers,

Elder and Sister Wilcox