DCM, Visiting, Youth Activity, Primary, and Goodbyes 😢

We were able to slow down a bit this week and catch our breath. I spent some time after our Seminary lesson Monday morning trying to figure out why Sister Paratene can't use the Annotate capabilities on our Zoom meetings. I had tested everything I could from home but found nothing. So, after class, I started a Zoom meeting on my tablet and had Sister Paratene join the meeting. We looked EVERYWHERE and no annotate icons were anywhere. What was really weird was she used to be able to do it. I finally did a google search on missing annotate on Zoom and Chromebooks. Apparently, Zoom made a change to their meeting platform when they introduced AI (artificial intelligence). They call it Zoom Workplace. Well, according to Google, Chromebooks and Macs no longer support Annotate. I'm hoping they will fix that very soon, but at least now we know it isn't something Sister Paratene was just not seeing. The mystery is solved, but the problem is not resolved. In the meantime, she will tell me what she wants to write on the screen, and I will annotate it for her.

Sister Budge, Sister Wilcox, and Sister Bird

We half expected to a bunch of missionaries for P-Day on Monday, but we didn't have any. They all went somewhere else. We were able to have a nice lesson with Madison and then a nice visit with Sierra. We spent the rest of the day planning the coming week, working on clerks' stuff, and reviewing my Seminary lessons.

Sister Budge and Sister Bird

Tuesday was very similar to previous Tuesdays we have had lately. After Seminary, we went to the library to find more addresses for our lost members. Steve actually took a detour to the city council first and was able to obtain a FREE parking permit for Whangarei. Everywhere in Whangarei is paid parking, so this will save us a bundle. The Zone Leaders joined us at the library. The other sets of missionaries had at least one companion sick so they couldn't come. We covered a lot of books, but we only found 1 name. 🙁We only have 13 more books to look at. We should take care of those this coming week. There is one book missing that we think may contain more names for us. It is one of the Māori books. We are going to see if we can find it in Auckland when we go down there this week.

We were home by 1:00 to receive Elder Moyes and Elder Sanders and then Sister Budge and Sister Bird. Elder Moyes and Sister Budge had to do their Pathway class. Sister Bird was sick so she couldn't do splits with the other sisters. She sat away from the rest of us. We were a pretty quiet group, each of us caught up in projects we were working on. At 3:00 the Elders left, and the other sisters came to swap Sister Szott for Sister Bird. We then had a wonderful companion study with Sister Budge and Sister Szott. We had such a wonderful discussion with the sisters. This is Sister Budge's last everything. She ends her mission on Monday. Her mother and sister are coming to get her, and they will tour New Zealand for a week before she goes home. She may still show up at our door next Tuesday for her Pathway class. She isn't sure what she is going to do about that. 

Wednesday was a busy day. The Elders were supposed to teach Seminary Wednesday morning, but Elder Cockbain was still very sick. We found out the night before they weren't going to make it. I at least read through the lesson. Sister Paratene always reads though the lessons just in case. She had to work the graveyard shift, so she didn't hear the Elders weren't going to be there and she didn't get home until about 10 minutes before class started. We talked about it briefly and said between the two of us and of course the Holy Ghost, we would make it work. It turned out to be a very good lesson and it looked like we had coordinated the whole thing. She taught part and I taught part, and it went very seamlessly. That just reminded both of us, that it really is the Holy Ghost that teaches these lessons when we just get our own egos out of the way. 😇

Later in the morning we had our DCM meeting. We were still missing our Hikurangi Elders and the Kreutzkamps. We had a great meeting. Several missionaries arrived early and decorated the cultural hall for a party. It was Sister Budge's and Sister Bird's last DCM. They both end their missions on Monday. Sister Bird was still not feeling very well, but she was a lot better than she had been on Tuesday. It is always so hard to say good-bye to these missionaries that we come to love so much.

Sister Enosa writing on cards

One the way home we stopped at several homes to invite them to our Stake Devotional on Sunday night. We caught everyone but 1 family home. We had some very nice visits. It has been a while since we have gone out visiting. 

After we got home, Elder Wilcox worked on contacting people for talks and prayers for the Sunday program. We got the information we needed to add a member to our ward. I worked on doing our bills and then some HawkSoft work. I also made some brownies for the Youth Activity at our house Wednesday evening. 

Elder Douherty in front and Elder Tqatafu in back

We had a GREAT activity. Because there was a holiday on Friday called Matariki which is the Māori New Year, Sister Lawrence gave a short presentation about it to the youth. It is a constellation that is best seen at the end of June or early July. It was a very interesting presentation about the significance of the different stars in the constellation. After the presentation we played games and ate dessert. They actually brought dinner over which they ate before the presentation. Everyone enjoyed it and we will probably get to host more activity nights in the future.

Our Thursday Zoom Seminary was a bit odd. Our family of three is still sick so they didn’t show up. The one other student was headed out of town this morning for the long holiday weekend. So, technically we didn’t have any students. Sister Paratene wanted to hold the class anyway, just in case the three that were sick decided to join us. We enjoyed the lesson. We had GREAT participation and discussions. Steve said it was the best lesson he has ever attended. Lol

Elder Dixon, Sister Lilloux and others

Later we had our SPF Mission Zoom meeting and then headed out for a long overdue walk. After lunch, we headed to the Chapel to take care of business there. We hoped to do more visiting on the way home, but everything took longer than expected. One of the main things we focused on is the annual supply order for the ward. It took some work, but we managed to get everyone to tell us what they wanted. We will place the order this weekend, in case someone wants to add anything to the order.

Sister Bird and Sister Lilloux

On Friday, we went out and did some more visiting. It was a school holiday and we managed to see someone at every place we stopped at. We had some really good visits. Later, I worked on some logistics for our next Zone Conference. I'm trying to secure permanent catering. I think I have someone who will continue to do it for us. They want to try it out for this next conference before they commit 100%. The mission is cleaning out some storage units that were used for doing the Zone Conference meals before. All the other Zones have caterers, so they don't need any supplies. Our Zone was going to do it ourselves because the mission couldn't find us a caterer. So, they are asking if we want all this stuff. We are going to pick it up next week when we go to Auckland. The caterers I have lined up are a couple of sisters in our ward that do some catering on the side. They don't have a lot of stuff so this will help them out too.

Sister Budge and Sister Szott

While we were out, I got a call from a member in the ward hoping I could find and send some missionaries to his family down south who have been involved in the flooding down there. He texted me the information. When I got home, I looked up the address to see who the missionaries will be. They are actually in a different mission, so I contacted our Mission Chat to see if anyone could help me. A wonderful Elder sent me the names of the Elders in that area, so I sent them a text about the situation. I then notified the member that I was making contact and that I would keep him posted. A few minutes later I heard from the missionaries down south. They immediately went over to meet the family and see if they could arrange a service project. I reported it back to the member and he was so surprised it all happened so quickly. We have such a wonderful network to take care of people in need. It is awesome.

The Matariki poster we made depicting the
nine stars in the constellation.

OH, on a side note. Our mission posted a video on Facebook of the Haka that the missionaries were doing for those that are leaving. I have posted it from our Zone Conference in the past. This time, however, they posted the words of the Haka AND the meaning!!!! It is wonderful. It is all about how they are the armies of Helaman serving the Lord. I need to take time and transcribe it so I will have it in my journal. 

On Saturday, I texted the Elders in the flat that has 4 Elders. They are the ones who keep passing sickness around like it is candy. They are also the ones whose washing machine is broken, so they have been doing laundry at our flat. I told them we had leftover Sloppy Joes from the Youth Activity that we would feed them for lunch if they were planning on coming over to do laundry either Saturday or Monday. Elder Bailey texted right back and said he and Elder Lea'ana would be over. We only got two of the Elders, because Elder Cockbain was still very sick and Elder Dixon had to stay with him. We had a nice lunch and visited with them before they took off to work in their area. I'm hoping we may have Elder Dixon and Elder Cockbain on Monday. 

Elder Wilcox and Brother Toi

Steve did some shopping, I took care of our laundry, worked on HawkSoft, and worked on my Seminary lesson. We also spent some time working on some training for another new assignment we have been asked to do for the Mission. I don't know much yet, but we will be receiving more training later on. I think each mission in the Pacific Area will be participating and as soon as they have a senior couple in each mission we will start our training.

Sunday was a longer day than expected. We got there early to get set up for Sacrament meeting. When the Bishop arrived, he asked if I could teach his wife's Primary class since she couldn't be there today. Elder Cockbain was supposed to speak, but Elder Dixon covered for him. They left Elder Bailey home with Elder Cockbain and Elder Dixon and Elder Lea'ana came to our Sacrament meeting. They had to leave right after Elder Dixon spoke so they could head to Elder Lea'ana's area for their Sacrament meeting. It is almost an hour away. All our talks were very good. 

Primary went amazingly well. Sister Henare had prepared all sorts of things to put on the board for the lesson. There wasn't really a lesson to read, but the things she prepared were all about Priesthood ordinances. So, once again, I got out of the way and let the Holy Ghost teach the lesson. The kids were very engaged, and I think it turned out very well. 

Steve had a Bishopric Meeting after Church, so I hung out in the hall for about an hour. I didn't find out about the meeting until all of my possible rides home had left. It turned out to be good because I was able to see Sister Budge and Sister Bird one last time before they headed to Auckland. 

Later this evening, we headed back to the Church for our Stake Devotional. That turned out very nice as well. There were lots of musical numbers and a few talks. I lead the music and joined the other missionaries for one of our songs. The Spirit was strong. It was very nice.

I loved seeing the baby while
she played the piano

Sister and Elder Wilcox, Elder Lea'ana
in back and Elder Bailey in front.

All our Love and Prayers,

Elder and Sister Wilcox