Whangarei and Hikurangi 

We had a busy week. Monday we were able to talk to Douhet's family on a monthly call we are doing with each of our kids. He is the oldest, so he gets the first week of the month. It was fun to see them face to face. Their whole family squished on the couch, so they had to move the camera from time to time to see everyone. We enjoyed that very much.

We ran a couple of errands in the afternoon and got caught in a nice rainstorm. I think it rained the hardest when we got to the grocery store, so we waited in the car until it let up enough to run in and not get too wet. By the time we were done it had quit raining for a while. Back at our flat we put things away and just poked around a bit before we heard a knock at the door. Elder and Sister Bailey stopped by to let us know about the Family Home Evening event that night at the Chapel. Just as they were leaving, I got a call from Sean about an SQL question he had, so we jumped on a Teams call. Before the call ended, he went into the living room so the family could say "Hi". Djeryd and Eva stopped by with baby Ruth, so we got to see her, too. She smiles when she hears our voice over the computer. 😁 It makes this great grandma very happy!

Tuesday was spent going to the Hamilton Temple. It pretty much took the whole day. We enjoyed that very much. I loved all the diversity of people in the Temple. It truly is a melting pot here. On our way home from the Temple, we stopped at the Mission Office to check on the progress of our flat up north. President Allen was there. He just got back from the Cook Islands. We were able to meet him and have a nice little visit. He said he was sending us up north to our new area. We don't have housing yet, but we can stay with a wonderful Senior Couple who has an extra bedroom and bath. They host a lot of visitors.

Wednesday marked the official start of our second week in New Zealand. We spent the entire day in our flat. We cleaned it in preparation for our move tomorrow. I worked a few hours on HawkSoft. Steve read the car manual. We have a really good car! He found out several things he wanted to know about. We did laundry. We played some games and just hung out for a very relaxing day.

Elder Bailey, Sister Geisler, and Elder Geisler

Thursday was our travel day. We had to do another load of clothes so we could wash the sheets for the next people to get the flat we were in. It gave us time to do all our packing. We headed out after lunch and stopped at the office to turn in our keys and say goodbye to our new friends. Then we stopped and visited an employee we worked with on our previous mission with Interpreters. He is in the area office but works from home. That was a fun visit that we had been planning on since we received our call. Finally, we were on our journey.

It was long, through lots of curvy roads. At times we were right next to the ocean. Other times we were in thick green foliage. It was a very beautiful trip. When we arrived, we had to wait a while, as Elder and Sister Freutzkamp were much further away in their assigned area. While we were waiting, Season called us over the Wifi, so we had a nice visit with him. We met and visited with our wonderful hosts for a while before we all headed to bed. We slept like logs. 

Steven Stebbings from Area Translation 

On Friday, we got to tag along with the Freutzkamps while they worked in their area. It is a long way away. It was a very long day, but we had so much fun. We did flat inspections of the young missionaries in the Stake. We stopped for lunch before heading to the Freutzkamp’s area. We visited many people. Sister Freutzkamp gave several piano lessons at the chapel. Elder Freutzkamp and Elder Wilcox gave two blessings. Lastly, we went to a brother's house where we had dinner. The Freutzkamps have a standing appointment every Friday. The food was delicious. He sent the left-over desert home with us. Everyone was so nice and friendly. We learned a lot and enjoyed even more. Everyone greets you with a hug and a kiss. It doesn't matter that we are strangers. It was wonderful.

Elders Wilcox and
Kreutzkamp

By the end of Friday, Elder Wilcox knew he needed to get some different shoes. You have to take your shoes off in every home you go to. Elder Wilcox's shoes are TIE shoes and don't slip on or off very easily. There usually isn't a bench to sit on, because everyone wears slip-ons. So, Saturday we headed to a little shopping mall in Whangarei where Elder Wilcox could get some new shoes. We also decided to get haircuts since we were beginning to get a little shaggy. The Kreutzkamps had an activity planned in their area so we had the day to ourselves. It gave me some time to get caught up on some work for HawkSoft. We also made it to bed fairly early since we have early morning Sacrament meetings for the next few months. 

They are remodeling the Stake Center in Whangarei, so now we have 3 more wards that meet in our building. We are the Hikurangi Ward. We start at 8:30 AM. Our Ward is wonderful. The Bishop is so kind and humble. He is so happy we are here. Before the meeting started, I was asked if I played the piano. I shook my head and said, "No." Then I was asked if I could lead music and I admitted that I could do that. The next thing I knew was I was leading the music in Sacrament meeting today. Elder Wilcox was called on to briefly introduce us. We were both invited to the Ward Council that met after Church. At that meeting we were asked to start a Temple Prep class. They are getting us access to the Ward Directory etc., so I think we are ready to jump in with both feet.

Mayree and Sister Kreutzkamp

We are still waiting on permanent housing. I talked to Elder Jones yesterday, and he said he should find out for sure on Monday. If we don't get the house he is trying to get, then he is looking at another one near the Freutzkamps. I wouldn't mind that, as they live in a very nice neighborhood.

Until next week, All our Love and Prayers,

Elder and Sister Wilcox