Visits, Dinners, and General Conference 

Because of the time difference, New Zealand will watch General Conference next weekend. We decided that we wanted to watch at least ONE session live. The only one we could see was Sunday afternoon when we watched live on Monday morning at 8:00. It was a fairly emotional experience for us. It was the first session we've seen live since April 2021 before our mission to Headquarters. While watching it, we were emotionally and spiritually attached to our Interpretation team back in Salt Lake City. We had been praying for them for weeks. We longed to be with them at that particular time. We missed all the excitement and energy of being with the Interpreters and our team, but we also felt excited to be watching it live. We were excited to hear the announcement of the Yuma, Arizona and Brisbane, Australia Temples as well as 13 other Temples. 

Steve put the chairs together

We didn't really take a P-Day because we wanted to visit with Brother and Sister Ah Mu. They work at the Temple on Wednesday and Thursday, but because of the distance they leave on Tuesday. So, Mondays are about the only time we can visit with them. We had a great visit. They worked with us going through the ward list and giving us information about people who have moved. Sister Ah Mu also asked me to direct the Ward Choir for Stake Conference. Hesitantly, I said yes. I've never directed a choir before, other than a few times at practice. Wish me luck.

We started Tuesday fairly early as we had to take the Rubbish cans out at the Hester's house. They only live a little way from us now. They went to Auckland for a few days. I spent most of the day working on the Ward Directory. Steve hung our pictures. We tried to keep busy since we had to wait for a repair man to show up to fix a burned-out heat lamp. It wasn't just burned out, it was broken. We called the landlord and told them what Steve had done to check it out. We told them we would probably need a new unit. The guy showed up with two new bulbs, but of course that was not the problem. After he looked it over, he said it would have to be replaced and he would have to order a replacement. So, we will have to wait again at some future time for him to come back and replace it. 😏We also secured a big tarp to the garage floor. Our garage is carpeted, but we want to actually put our car in there. The tarp is working out great. I created a couple of flyers. One for the Choir and another for an activity we are having with the Te Horo Branch on April 25th. 

We got an email that our office chairs had arrived and were ready for pickup. After we picked up the chairs, we picked up a small potted plant for the Hesters as a thank you gift for all their help with our move. We dropped the gift, all the boxes we borrowed for the move, and her casserole dish off on our way home since they arrived back on Tuesday afternoon. We didn't stay long, and they kept their distance as they thought they may have caught COVID while in Auckland. They did. 😢We watched the first session of Conference that evening.

Wall Hanging in the 
Seminary Teacher's House

Wednesday was our DCM (District Council Meeting). We have moved back to the North District. The South District has been moved to meet in the Hikurangi building until further notice. The Buchanans have been assigned to that district now. We got to do a role play in our DCM. It was fun.

We stopped at several homes on our way back to our flat for a very light lunch. Unfortunately, no one was home. I finished up the work on the Ward Directory and Steve finished scanning some documents that Brother Ah Mu gave us, so we could return his notebook on Sunday. After watching the World Report from General Conference, we headed to one of our Temple Prep class member's house for dinner. She was sick on Sunday, so she missed our class. We offered to come and teach her during the week, and she invited us for dinner. We had a wonderful visit with her. Her husband was away on business, so I think it was a win win for everyone.

Thursday was a "banner day." After our SPF (Short, Powerful, and Frequent) Zoom meeting with the mission, we headed out to do more visits. It was kind of a stormy day, but we decided to brave the wind and the rain. We got to our first house, and it was pouring rain. We said a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to bless us for braving the weather to visit the members of the Ward, and that we would find some home today. Well, our first house was a wonderful visit with a family we see each week with three little kids. We say Hi and shake hands and give High Fives to the kids, but we didn’t really know them. We had no idea they lived there. The kids were in school and both parents were home. It was nice to finally get to know them.

The Seminary Teacher
with the Wall Hanging

The next few were either not home or had moved. Then we went to another home and had a great visit. One of the older daughters is in our Temple Prep class. We knew her but did not know the rest of the family. We learned a lot about them and enjoyed our visit. Next one was not home and then another great visit. This one was our Seminary teacher. We had a fairly long visit with her. So much fun to get to know the members of the ward. A couple more were not at home before we headed home ourselves. Oh, and the other frosting on the cake was the heavy rain stopped after we went to the first house. There was wind and a few sprinkles, but no more rain. Heavenly Father heard and answered our prayers!!!

Friday was a day that prayers were answered. After watching another session of General Conference, we headed out for a day of visits. The first place we went too, we missed the day before. I think there must have been a reason for that. We were expecting to find one couple but ended up connecting with an investigator that the young missionaries have been working with. We had a wonderful visit with Joe. We have met him a few times at Church. He had set his baptism date for July. Joe has had some very difficult times. He lost his wife last September to cancer. It was her wish that he look into the Church. To honor her he started attending and found peace he never expected. He told us about his struggle since she passed away and about the miracles he had been experiencing. He even told us that he had been thinking about us that very morning. He sort of prayed us there that day. Since he is not a member yet, he doesn’t appear in our directory. We never would have gone to visit him with our present searches. Anyway, we were meant to be there.

Flyer for our 
Combined Activity

We connected with a few other places enough to verify they lived there, but only because there was someone else in the house that told us they were at work. A few others moved and some were just not home so we left a little calling card.

We finished just in time to head over to Charlotta’s to give her a blessing to help with a problem she has. She had texted me earlier to say that she wasn’t feeling well and could we move the blessing to another day. I never picked up the text, so we showed up at her door. Again, it ended up being exactly what she needed. We visited briefly and then Steve gave her a beautiful blessing. Later she sent me a text saying how glad she was that we stopped by. She said that she had always been told that things work out the way they are meant to be, and so it did that day. I’m so glad I didn’t pick up her text in time. I’m grateful that we were in tune to follow the promptings we received. And I’m grateful for the miracles we see in our lives every day.

Saturday was spent at the Chapel watching General Conference. It was mostly just the missionaries there, but we did have a few members show up. One thing that was nice was we only had ½ hour between session, so we were done with everything by 4:30. I took lots of notes. The talks were so good. It was so good to see President Holland speak again. He gave such a personal talk. I have missed him. I loved all the talks. Each one spoke to me. The one central theme that I noticed was about the Temple. I love the Temple. We get to go again on the 23rd. 

After the last session, we rushed home to fix dinner. We invited the Hesters and the Kreutzkamps over for dinner that night. Part of what we needed to do was plan for a combined activity with the Te Horo Branch and the Hikurangi Ward on the 25th of April and part of it was to say thank you to both families for all the help they have given us since we arrived here. Unfortunately, the Hesters came down with COVID last week and had to cancel on us. We still did some planning via the phone. We had a lovely dinner and evening with the Kreutzkamps.

Sunday was also spent at the Chapel watching the Sunday sessions of General Conference. Again, I loved the talks. Elder Patrick Kearon spoke for the first time as a new Apostle. He said a funny.  He said, “behind every new Apostle stands an astonished mother-in-law. I don’t know if that has actually been said, but in this case, it certainly could be. And I suspect that the fact that my mother-in-law is no longer with us does nothing to reduce her astonishment.” He gave a great talk about God’s Intent to Bring Home all His Children. I loved it.

President Nelson was a concluding speaker for the Sunday Afternoon session. He focused on Temples and the Gift of Priesthood Keys. After explaining all the blessings we receive because of the gift of Priesthood Keys, especially those found in the Temples, he proceeded to announce 15 more Temples around the world. That is always an exciting part of his talks at Conference.

After conference we had Choir practice for singing at Stake Conference in a few weeks. We actually had a pretty good turnout. Hopefully we will have more on Thursday evening. I’ve been asked to direct the Choir. That is funny because I have never done that before. Oh, I substituted a few times with Ward Choirs when the Choir director was out for a week or two, but that was only during our practices. I have never directed a choir for an actual performance. Wish me luck!

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox