Senior Activity, Granddaughter Mission Call, Flat Inspections, Seminary, and Family Name Assist

Monday started off with a fun Senior Activity. We picked up the Carlisles and headed North to Kaikohe for lunch and a soak in some hot thermal pools.  It is always fun to get together with our other Senior Couples up North. We managed to see all of that, just not all at the same time. Our core group was Michaelsons (they organized it - Kaitaia), Nygrens (Dargaville), Bowens (Kerikeri), Carlisles (Pipiwai), and Wilcoxes (Hikurangi). The Nelsons (Kaikohe) joined us for lunch, and the Wards (Wellsford) joined us for the thermal pools. Lunch was delicious. We enjoyed visiting with one another. 

After lunch, we headed to Ngawha Springs to enjoy the Nga Puna Pools. They are natural hot springs. The sulfur smell wasn’t so hot, but we got used to it and it didn’t bother us. They have two sets of pools. One set has 16 different pools that range in temperature from about 18oC (64oF) to 47oC (116oF). The other set is smaller with only 8 pools that temperature from about 21oC (70oF) to 40oC (104oF). We went to the smaller set because the big one was closed that day. We went in the 40oC pool for most of the time we were there. Then we moved to a little cooler one (not sure what that temperature was.) The water was muddy looking, but it felt so good. The first pool had a wooden plank floor so that was nice. The other one had a mud floor. It was fun to dig my toes into the mud. The deeper you dug the hotter the mud got. They had benches in the pools to sit on. 

Tuesday was Early Morning Seminary. I had received two notifications the night before. One from Sister Paratene telling me she was not going to make it and if I could cover for her. The Elders were supposed to teach so I didn't think anything of it. We had to be there anyway. I started to glance over the lesson so I would know what they would be talking about. I then contacted the Elders to remind them of Seminary. They responded with they weren't going to make it because one of them was sick. This was at almost 9:00pm. So, I scrambled to put together a full lesson before going to bed. In the morning it all worked out. 

After Seminary, we had a fairly busy day. I prepared a fun FHE lesson for the family we teach every other Wednesday. I also prepared my regular Seminary Lesson for my Thursday class. We had a nice Comp Study with the Riverside Elders. After that, the Sisters showed up so Sister Roylance could use my phone to call BYU I. Unfortunately, it was after hours when she ran into some technical difficulties. We put it off until Wednesday to try again earlier in the day.

After they left, we had our normal Monday video call with Sierra on Tuesday because of the Senior Activity. They are planning a hiking trip with Alena over Labor Day weekend. She shared a couple of cool experiences she had running into different people. She had a visitor at her work who was from New Zealand.  Then she ran into someone, who after talking for a while they found out the man help direct MyLiege at Oregon City High School when she played in Steel Magnolias. It is a small world!

After that call, we had another call with Season's family so we could watch Brooklyn open her mission call. She has been called to the Philippines San Pablo Mission and reports to the MTC on January 10. We are so very excited for her. 

Wednesday was a little slower. We had a nice DCM. Elder Na Nongkai was a trooper. Even though he didn't feel well, he fulfilled his responsibility as our District Leader. He gave a very good training. Normally, he and Elder Ihaka would come over later in the day for Comp Study, but with him being sick, we postponed it until Friday.

We spent the afternoon working on various things that needed to be done, like preparing for flat inspections, researching possible caterers to do future Zone Conference Lunches, and putting out the Ward Council Minutes after Kea sent them to me. We missed the previous week's Ward Council meeting since we were doing a training at the Henderson Stake in the Auckland area. 

Later that evening we went to the Snow's hours for our Family Home Evening. I think everyone had a good time. 

Thursday was a busy day. We started with Early Morning Seminary. We had two visitors from Auckland for a total of 11 students! I think the lesson went well. I had several interactive segments, so it kept everyone busy. For the most part, everyone participated.

After Seminary, we headed to the Murdoch Crescent flat to do an inspection. We were so impressed with our Elders. That flat was the cleanest we have ever seen it. When we finished there, we headed to the Hikurangi flat. It was also very clean.  Both sets of Elders received 125 points. 

Our SPF lesson kind of matched the theme of our DCM training. President and Sister Allen taught the need to simplify our message. President Allen is a heart doctor. He asked an Elder to explain to the group what he had just told him about a heart patient using medical terms. Of course, the Elder was very vague that basically said the 65-year-old man was sick and got help. President Allen then told him the same condition using more common terms and asked the Elder to tell us what his said. The Elder was able to give a somewhat detailed explanation about the man and what the procedure was going to be to help the man to make him feel better. It was night and day difference on understanding what was being said. Sometimes our unique Church language makes it difficult for our friends to understand what we are trying to teach them. We need to use more common words that both parties understand. 

Later we had our Comp Study with the Zone Leaders. Once again, we had a wonderful discussion. We talked a lot about how we have so many things we can study and learn. It is a lifetime pursuit. It is exciting to learn new things and to share what we learn with others. That way each is strengthened and edified…especially with the Holy Ghost is present. It was a great discussion. 

Friday was filled with doing things to help others. After several failed attempts for Sister Roylance to connect with BUY I, we met her at the Stake Center Friday morning to see we would be early enough for her to reach someone. Eureka! It worked!!! She used my phone and my laptop and was able to take care of whatever it was she needed to do. 

From there we headed to the Murdoch Crescent flat to install a toilet paper roll holder since theirs has not been on the wall for who knows how long. We were sad to see that the flat was NOT in the beautiful condition it had been the day before when we did our inspection. I sent them pictures along with a crying emoji to say how disappointed we were. Hopefully they have got the point that it should be clean WHENEVER they leave their flat. 

From there, we headed to Hikurangi. Elder Wilcox dropped me off at the Chapel and he headed to the Hika flat so could fix a few things. For one thing, he wrapped the wood stove in saran wrap to remove any temptation from the Elders to light a fire. The Elders we have now had no problems, but one of the first Elders in the flat had to light paper in there even though they were told NOT TO TOUCH IT! This should eliminate the temptation from future Elders. 

I spent the bulk of the rest of the day setting up the new Chromebook that was delivered to our Ward to replace the OOOOLLLLDDDD computer we had. It used to take 15 minutes to boot up. I am not exaggerating! The Chromebook is quick!!! We had to “donate” our HDMI to HDMI cable so we could connect the bigger monitor to the Chromebook. That was one of the last things we did. We will go to buy another one tomorrow to replace ours. I’m quite happy with the setup We now have two screens since we have the laptop screen as well as the bigger monitor. I’m also happy as I will be able to use the Chromebook to take the notes for Ward Council instead of my personal laptop. 

We spent Saturday morning trying to get our "weekend" things done, like laundry, before we packed and headed to Auckland. I finalized the Ward Council Agenda and the Sacrament Program so I could print them and drop them off at the Bishop’s house. I wanted to make sure we could see him so we could explain the new laptop in the clerk’s office. I assured him we would be back on Sunday when Church started at 10:00.

We had a nice drive to Auckland. We were early enough that we avoided traffic. We got to our hotel early enough to get settled in and relax a bit before we had to go out again. Then we headed to the Mission office to pick up a couple of mattress pads. We ran into a few little problems when we got in the car. 

I pulled up the GPS so we could figure out how to get from our hotel to the office. We no sooner started driving when we heard “GPS Signal Lost.” We didn’t know which way we were supposed to go. From what the map looked like, we went straight. By the time the GPS came back up, we discovered we were going the exact opposite direction. We lost GPS several more times in the city, which caused further mishaps with missed turns or wrong turns. We turned our 15-minute trip to 30 minutes, before we finally arrived. I felt bad because Elder and Sister Hurst were waiting for us. They explained they had the same GPS problems when they went to Dargaville, so they were very understanding. LOL

Following our office trip, we headed to a restaurant not too fa
r from the office to meet a friend of ours from our Salt Lake City Mission. Kendrick works for the Music Department in Translation. He came to New Zealand to work on the Tongan translations of the new hymns. He was able to bring his wife with him. We had a wonderful dinner with both of them. We had a great day. Luckily, our GPS sent us back to our hotel with no problems. 😉

Sunday dawned at 5:30am. Since we stayed overnight near the Mt. Roskill Stake Center, we didn’t have a very long trip to our training meeting. We didn’t have to get up nearly as early as we would have if we had driven from home. 5:30am is still early, but a lot better than 3:30am. LOL

Our training went very well. The Spirit was very strong in the room. It was just the Stake President and 5 Bishops. They were very receptive to the training. One of the Bishops had already used the Family Name Assist, but the others had not heard of it. After the training, I sent them a copy of the PowerPoint presentation so they can share it with their Ward Councils. 

As soon as the training was over, we were excused and headed immediately back to Hikurangi. We pulled into the Chapel car park 1 minute before 10. We walked in during the opening song. I have to admit, I was a bit concerned. Saturday evening at 7:20, we received a chat message from our organist saying she wasn’t going to be there and asked if one of the other players could help out. I saw the message after 9. No one else responded. She said she would contact Sister Paratene since she thought she was going to lead the music. I expected to be back in time to lead the music. I’m glad she contacted Sister Paratene. 

We heard the music and then saw Sister Horsford playing the organ. All was good! We slipped in and enjoyed our meeting. Our speakers were great. We heard from two primary youths who did a great job. The mother of one of the youths spoke also. Brother Walker was conducting and invited all the brethren up to sing the intermediate song. Since the next speaker was not there, Brother Walker gave his talk as the “concluding” speaker. He then invited the rest of the Bishopric to speak to us also to finish out the time. It was great!

After Church, we had our Soup Sunday. We didn’t hang around for too long. We swapped out the HDMI cable with the one we bought. After mingling for a bit, we headed home. We unpacked and finished preparing for the Personal Finances class for later that day. 

After class, settled down and rest!

All Our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox

Seminary, Comp Studies, Farewell Dinner, Google Drive, and Family Name Assist Training

Grandma and Andrew

On Monday, we actually had a p-day, well at least for part of the day. We didn't go anywhere or actually do anything, but we did relax.

We woke up at 5:00am so we could watch our Stake Conference back home. Our grandson, Karsten was speaking, and we wanted to see him. Halfway through the first speaker, the Internet went out in the Stake Center. We lost sound and picture. Since there were a number of people on Zoom, that connection stayed open and we were able to chat about losing sound and picture. We didn't know what happened. 

After the first speaker, the choir sang a song. The sound came back on at that time. They never did get the Internet back so they connected a cell phone to the Zoom meeting and put it on the podium so we could hear what was going on. It worked pretty well, although we would have liked to see who was speaking.

Comp Study with Elders Phipps and Na Nongkai

Karsten did a great job. I expected him to talk about Youth Conference or Young Men's Camp, since he had some leadership roles in both activities. Instead, he talked about his relationship with his Heavenly Father and the things he learned through scripture study. He is definitely preparing to serve a mission, just as soon as he graduates from High School this coming school year. 

We had a very nice video call with MyLiege's family. We got to see our newest great grandson. He was wide awake. It even looked like he gave us a smile!!! LOL Ruthie was there too. She is talking so good. She said, “I love you, GG.” It made my day. Of course, Alyx had to feed her the words, but I’ll take what I can get. Alyx received her Patriarchal Blessing on Sunday. We had a wonderful talk about how to read and study these blessings throughout our lives. 

Tuesday morning started with Early Morning Seminary. The Elders taught the lesson on the blessings in Section 89, The Word of Wisdom. I couldn't help but share my Word of Wisdom Math.

3 Don’ts (no alcohol, tobacco, or hot drinks)

+ 5 Do’s (herbs, grains, fruits, meat sparingly, with prudence and thanksgiving)

___________________________________________________________________

= 8 Blessings (health in the navel, marrow in the bones, wisdom, great treasures of knowledge, hidden treasures, run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and destroying angel will pass you by)

We had a wonderful Comp Study with the Riverside Elders. After we shared highlights from our personal studies, we talked about sections 89 and 90 in the Doctrine and Covenants. After lunch, I spent the rest of the day working on my Seminary lesson for Thursday.

Wednesday was filled with a wonderful DCM followed by another Comp Study, this time with the Hikurangi Elders. Elder Na Nongkai did a great training on how to be an effective missionary. I love how the missionaries are there to support one another. They always are willing to share different things they have done to help their friends progress. Several of the missionaries had questions on “what to do when….” And the other missionaries had great ideas for them to try. We are working hard as a mission to meet our mission goal of 81 baptisms for this transfer.

Our Comp Study was actually with one Hika Elder and one Riverside Elder. They were on splits. Elder Phipps got a double dose of us. 🤣After we did our study, we talked with Elder Na Nongkai about people they have been visiting. They found at least six families who had moved out of the Ward. I was able to clean up the Ward list after they left.

Thursday morning started with Early Morning Seminary again. I had 9 students, which was awesome. It makes breaking into groups work so much better. They all worked together and gave great answers. I felt energy that morning. It was nice.

After Seminary, I made brownies for the Farewell Dinner we were going to in Auckland that night. For some reason they didn't turn out very well, so we ended up buying something to take. After I took the brownies out of the oven, it was time for SPF. Sister Allen talked about the blessings we find in Section 89, The Word of Wisdom.

Shortly after that, the Zone Leaders showed up for our last Comp Study for the week. They were still on splits, so we actually had our other Hika Elder join us along with Elder O'Riordan. As usual, we had a great discussion. Since we finished at lunch time, Elder Wilcox invited them to stay for lunch. We continued our discussion. We love our missionaries so much.

After they left, I made a goodbye card for the Garners, who will be living in a week or so. Actually, three senior couples are leaving very soon. Because of the Garners, we decided to make the trip to Auckland for the dinner. We had a very fun night. The food was good, the games were fun, and of course, the friendship and fellowship were great. We don't normally get to enjoy the events they do in Auckland because of the distance, but we decided we had to go! I'm so glad we went.

We spent Friday doing some different things. We have a baptism coming up next week in the Te Horo Branch. The Elders and the Carlisles were looking for some baptismal clothing and wondered if Hikurangi had any they could borrow. I knew we had some but know who knew what we actually had. I chatted the Bishop to see if Te Horo could borrow some if we had the right size. He said yes. I then asked if we could organize what we had.

The Bishop had a stash in his cupboard in his office. The Relief Society had another stash in their cupboard. Still, no one knew all of what we had. So, we went to the Chapel to see if we could get it organized and all in one place. The Relief Society suggested we put the clothing in the cupboard in the room opposite the Bishop’s office. We will get a lock for the cupboard as they were removed some time ago when the Stake Center reopened and the other wards all left.

We sorted everything we had and found we actually have quite a bit. I made a chart of what we had, sizes and quantities. Then we put everything neatly in the cupboard and labeled the shelves. Before we finished, we got a chat from the Sisters in the Otaika Ward asking if they could borrow a medium jumpsuit for a baptism they were having that night. Since that was the same as the one we borrowed for the Te Horo Branch, we figured it would work. The Sisters had seen our messages in the Chat group about it, which is why they asked us. We arranged for Sister Carlisle to take the jumpsuit after the baptism and have it ready for their baptism next week. We will get it back after that.

I spent most of the day on Saturday setting up a new shared drive for our Ward. Since our mission will be ending in December, we felt we needed to make the transition for the next Ward Clerk easy. We tried setting that up when we first got here, but because Google sheets don't do all the things that Excel can do, I chose to use Excel for everything I was doing. However, so things can be shared from one leader to another, I felt it was time to move everything over to Google Drive. I created a "user" that is not tied to anyone in the Ward. That makes it easier to make sure it is only Ward data in the drive. I managed to move nearly everything over to the new drive into the various folders. I also made sure that I have security in place that only Bishopric members can see the data in the Bishopric folder, while other folders are accessible to all the leaders. I'm hoping to have it all sorted out by next week so I can share it with the leadership team.

Once I got the documents and spreadsheets moved over, I had to do some tweaking to make them work right. One of the things Google Sheets doesn't do is run macros. That was one of the reasons I used Excel in the first place. I had automated several features in my documents that now have to be done manually. I added a notes page to hopefully make it easier to do what I had previously automated.

I also created an inventory list and checkout sheet for all the baptismal clothing we organized the day before. I then sent Elder Wilcox to tape the sheets up inside the cabinet where the clothing now resides. He then did some grocery shopping on his way home. I sent him out again, after he got home to drop off the Sacrament program and the Ward Council agenda to the Bishop's house since we had to go back to Auckland Sunday morning and were going to miss Church in our Ward.

We were up at 4:00am Sunday morning so we could be at the Henderson Stake Center by 7:30 for a training meeting for the Family Name Assist tool. We got to catch the last part of a Sister Missionary giving the report of her mission to the High Council. From what the Stake President said, she left a very shy girl and came back a strong, and confident young woman. We were very impressed with the portion of the report we heard. 

Our training went well, and we had a nice little discussion after. Then the Stake President followed us out the door. He said that meeting was his High Council and Auxiliary Presidents. He invited us back next month to meet with his Bishops. That meeting will be on a Sunday afternoon. I was sure I mentioned we wanted the Bishops there for the training meeting when we scheduled it, but that’s OK. We will be happy to go back. 

After the meeting, we headed to the Takapuna building for Sacrament Meeting. That is the same building that the Mission Office is in. The Garners attended that Ward, so we got to be with them one last time. Elder Garner was speaking and both of them put on a musical presentation with Sister Garner playing “Master the Tempest is Raging” and Elder Garner reading a beautiful script to the music. He then gave his talk after that. I think that really is the last time we will get to say goodbye to the Garners. 😢

After Sacrament Meeting, we met Elder Farrell in the foyer so he could give us a laptop that needs to go up north. Since we are having a Senior Activity on Monday, we passed it off at that time. We took some pictures, gave some hugs and then headed home. 

We got home in time for lunch, working on my weekly recap, and final preparations for our Personal Finances class before everyone arrived for class. It had been a long day, but a very good day!

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox

Seminary, DCM, Comp Study, Service Project,  Zone Conference, and New Great Grandson  

New Great Grandson

Monday ended up being busier than originally planned. We had two family calls as we missed Douhet last week. We caught up on Alyson's wedding on our call with Douhet. And we caught up with Season's boys about Youth Conference and Young Men's Camp. It was wonderful to hear all about the leadership opportunities that Karsten had at both Youth Conference and Young Men's Camp. Both were great calls.

Next, we headed over to Peggy's house where I mended several pairs of pants for two Elders. I hope I'm done for a while now. 

I tweaked the Personal Finances Bank Register Spreadsheet for our class members and then emailed it out to everyone. I think each member has started using it. I hope it helps them as much as it has helped me over the years. 

Elder Ihaka

I spent the rest of Monday working on the New Convert Initiative. We are no longer tracking the data we used to try and gather. Gathering the data was proving very difficult in the entire Pacific Area. The leadership has decided to focus on training on the Family Name Assist tool instead. I only have six more Stakes to train.

Tuesday started early with Seminary. The Elders taught the portion of Section 88 about the Plan of Love, or more commonly referred to as the Plan of Salvation. They did a very good job and showed us a nice graphic that shows the whole plan and spells out Love. They said they like to use that graphic with teaching children. They also have a wooden carving of Jesus Christ that has magnetic pieces that also spell out the Plan that they use for others. It is really cool. 

Later, we had our Comp Study with the Riverside Elders.  Once again, we decided to share our highlights from our personal study. Both Elders shared their thoughts on why we have a living prophet today. They had plans to teach that lesson with a friend later in the week. 

After the Elders left, we got on the road to go to the Temple. We wanted to get there before the distribution center closed at 2:00 so I could pick up some new garments. We made it in time; however, they don’t have the new garments yet. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks. We headed to the mission office to see if we could meet Elder and Sister Hurst. They were out, learning their new responsibilities. We hung around for a little while to see if we could visit Sister Garner, but she was out as well. We headed back to the Temple for our Sealing appointment. We had to wait a little while, so we ate our dinner before heading into the Temple. 

We had a very nice Sealing session. I got almost all of my sealings done. I only have three couples that we couldn’t finish. It is wonderful to seal those families together. We were able to seal 6 marriages and about 7 children to their parents. The spirit was very strong at the Temple. 

Wednesday was filled with DCM, watching the second half of Follow Him while we ate our lunch, preparing my Seminary lesson for Thursday's lesson, and another Comp Study, this time with the Hikurangi Elders. We talked about blessings, both the kinds of blessings we receive from Heavenly Father, as well as the priesthood blessings the Elders give periodically. It was a really good discussion. 

We finished the day with our Family Home Evening lesson at a member's home. He has his four little ones every other week and we do a FHE with them on those weeks. 

Thursday was very busy. It started with my Seminary lesson. We talked about "Seek Learning by Study and Faith." I think the lesson and discussion went well. We met up with the Seminary and Institute supervisor from Auckland and had a nice discussion with him. 

The Croshaws

Once home, I started on the Cowboy Bean Soup for Zone Conference on Friday. I finished the preparations around dinner time and then let it slow cook overnight. It turned out to be so yummy. After that we had SPF. After lunch, we headed over to Deborah's house to help with the packing. She has to move on Monday. We met her daughter who had come from Auckland for several days to help. She is very organized and really got a lot accomplished while she was there. The shed and garage were nearly done. Most of the house was packed up. There was still quite a bit to do in the kitchen, so that is where we worked. I think all that is left is a single box, maybe two, of things she is still using. After we got home, I finished the soup prep and made a double batch of brownies. 

Friday was a wonderful day at Zone Conference. I love getting to meet with our missionaries and our Seniors. Our Soup and Salad was a huge success. We received so many compliments for both the junior and senior missionaries. We were able to be part of most of the conference. Cleaning up was quick and we had lots of help with setting up. 

The Croshaws gave an awesome training in the opening hour about the Surrender Process. Basically, it is how we surrender our will to the Lord’s will. The scripture foundation is Mosiah 3:19 – “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” 

They came up with six steps guaranteed to work if you are willing to do it.

The Shaws

1. Pause and Breathe. (Count to 4 and breathe in. Then count to 8 and breathe out. Do this 3 times.)
2. Write it down. Whatever is frustrating you, causing you to have negative feelings, especially things you can’t control. Write it on a piece of paper. Then tear it out and rip it up into little pieces and throw it away.
3. Speak it. Tell someone you trust. You are not to complain about it, just say you are turning this frustration or angry feeling or whatever it is over to the Lord. That helps make you accountable.
4. Pray it. Take it to the Lord. Lay it at His feet. Turn it over to Him to bear.
5. Ask for the next right step. In your prayer, ask for what you need to do next to rid yourself of the problem. 
6. Do it. Proverbs 3 5-6 says, “…And he shall direct thy paths…” Let the Lord help you put off the natural man. Submit yourself to Him and He will guide you back to Him.
   

The Northland Seniors had a nice meeting with the Garners and the Hursts. Elder and Sister Hurst will be taking the Garners place when they go home in a couple of weeks. We are going to miss them so much. We look forward to working with the Hursts and I know we will grow to love them too.

Elder Garner

This transfer we are losing three Senior Couples. The Garners, the Shaws and the Croshaws. They are all in Auckland, but we did have occasion to work with all of them from time to time. They will all be greatly missed. They each shared their testimonies at the close of our conference. It was so touching to hear the missionaries, with their beautiful voices, sing to these three beautiful Senior Couples. I have to admit, I cried. 

By the time we got home, we had news of our newest addition to our family. Andrew Washington Hawkins was born on August 14th, but for us he was born on August 15th. LOL Everyone is doing well.

We stayed home all day. Well, I stayed home. Elder Wilcox went grocery shopping. I wanted to rest all day but still managed to find things that kept me busy most of the day. I had to prepare things for Sunday like the Ward Council Agenda and the Sacrament Program. We also prepared for our Personal Finances lesson on Sunday. I even did a couple hours of work on HawkSoft.

Sister Garner

And the best part of the day was having Comp Study with the Zone Leaders. We covered the same things we covered in Seminary on Thursday. We had a much different discussion. It was all good.

We stayed home all day on Saturday. Well, I stayed home. Elder Wilcox went grocery shopping. I wanted to rest all day, but still managed to find things that kept me busy most of the day. I had to prepare things for Sunday like the Ward Council Agenda and the Sacrament Program. We also prepared for our Personal Finances lesson on Sunday. I even did a couple hours of work on HawkSoft. 

And the best part of the day was having Comp Study with the Zone Leaders. We covered the same things we covered in Seminary on Thursday. We had a much different discussion. It was all good.

I love Sundays. I always have. I love fellowshipping with the Saints. I love the talks. I love the lessons. I love our Personal Finances class. And I love our quiet evening together.

Sister Carlisle on Piano and Elder Carlisle on the Cello

I was a little worried about being on my feet Sunday because I really wacked my little toe on Saturday on the base of our shower. Basically, I kicked the tile covered cement REALLY hard. My little toe is swollen and black and blue all around the toe. I could hardly walk on it Saturday, which is partly why I didn’t go anywhere that day.

I wondered what shoes I could wear without squeezing my toe. Steve and I tried to think of wrapping it and then putting a plastic bag around it so it wouldn’t get wet in the rain. He suggested a brace or taping it. I finally said we would figure something out in the morning. 

Well, Sunday morning I went to the closet and decided my normal black shoes might work. They are wider than any of my other shoes. I put some black socks on and eased my foot into the shoe, and it didn’t hurt. I mainly walked on the inside of my foot, and it all worked out. Occasionally, I would get a little twinge of pain, but for the most part it was just a constant dull pain that wasn’t too bad. I managed to walk around the Church as much as I usually do. I was glad to put my slippers on when I got home. 

Our meetings were great. Our speakers had the Spirit with them, and we all felt it. I went into the Youth Sunday School class as the Second Adult. Charlotta gave a great lesson and had a couple of very fun activities for the youth. I think they all enjoyed it. To top it off, she made blueberry muffins! 

After we got home, I worked on my weekly recap and then got ready for our Personal Finances lesson. I sure enjoy our group. We are all learning so much. Finally, it was time to have a quiet evening together.

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox

Personal Finances Class, Seminary, Comp Study, BBQ Birthday Party, and Family Name Assist Training

This has been a slower week for us. As usual, I spent a lot of time on the computer working on various projects. We didn't have as many extra activities as usual.

On Monday, I worked on a Bank Book Register for our Personal Finances Class. I have used the spreadsheet for years. Season developed it and gave it to me 10 or more years ago. I have modified it some to meet al my financial needs and for tracing various things like our mission expenses. I created a copy and striped away much of what I added. I also fine-tuned it a bit to better meet the needs of our class.

Tuesday morning started with Early Morning Seminary. The Elders, were not feeling well, so Sister Paratene did the lesson. We were still there to be the seconds in class. She had a very fun lesson prepared that involved a talk entitled "They of the Last Wagon." As a class, we all created part of a drawing of a covered wagon. Then we talked about the trials of the pioneers, in particular, some of the trials those in the last wagon suffered. We related them to our lives today and how we all experience trials that we need to overcome to reap the great rewards at the end of our trials.

Later, we went to Peggy's house so I could hem some pants for one of our missionaries I fought with the sewing machine that was given to me for several hours on Monday before I decided to give up and just use Peggy's machine. I always enjoy visiting at the same time. 

Elder Na Nongkai

We had a wonderful Comp Study with the Riverside Elders sharing highlights of our personal study for the week. After that, I worked on a Song Fest flyer for an activity our Ward is sponsoring in September. I think it turned out pretty good. I spent the rest of the day working on the New Convert Initiative.

We spent our evening at the Ward Family Fun Night. We had a nice lesson by Brett on "Stand Ye In Holy Places" and then played games and had refreshments. 

We went to DCM a little early on Wednesday because Elder Wilcox and I were doing some training for both districts and I needed to set up a monitor for my presentation. I wish we could meet together all the time. Elder Wilcox did his training on 7 words to eliminate from speech to sound more professional. I think it was received very well. I did my Family Name Assist presentation and let them know what an important role they play in making sure this gets done for their new converts.

After finalizing some information for the Song Fest, I spent much of the rest of the day preparing my Seminary Lesson for Thursday. I also finished up the New Convert Initiative report from Tuesday. I spent some time researching the travel visa for Australia so I could let our friends know when one to use. Australia has about a dozen different visas. Most of them are in the $200 PLUS range. The one they want is only $20, but it is a little tricky to find. I found the link and sent it to them. They were grateful.

Lastly, we had our Scripture study with the Hikurangi Elders. We also chose to share and discuss our highlights from our personal study that week. 

We had a little lighter day on Thursday. I only had 4 students in my Seminary class. I think the lesson went OK. We did a Scripture Squeeze on D&C 87:8 which reads: "Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen." I asked the students to squeeze everything they could out of the scripture. We spent several minutes just underlining words or phrases and then asking questions about it. After we had a bunch of questions, they were asked to pick one question and search for the answer. We had a good discussion. This particular verse offers a powerful directive: in the face of turmoil, believers are called to remain spiritually grounded in sacred spaces—whether physical, like temples and church buildings, or personal, like homes and hearts devoted to righteousness.

We ran some errands after Seminary and got home just in time for our mission SPF meeting. We talked about using scriptures in our teaching every time and the power that brings to the lesson. That is so true as I have seen that many times throughout my life. 

After that, I did my scripture study until it was time for the Zone Leaders to come over for their Comp Study. Once again, we had a GREAT discussion. I have been very impressed with our Elders. The discussions we have had with each set are deep and meaningful. We ask good questions, and we all share the answers. We learn from them as much as they learn from us. It is awesome.

It rained off and on most of Friday. I was glad I was indoors for most of it. I thought about our granddaughter a lot. Alyson and Sam got married in the Columbia River Washington Temple on Thursday in the US, but it was Friday for us. The Portland Temple was closed for the annual maintenance, which is why they went to the Temple in Washington. Oh, how I wish we could have been there. I'm glad they didn't wait to start their forever for us to get home, but I do wish we could have been there. 

After an awesome hour of personal study, I worked on the bills and our Personal Finances assignment. I was able to do some work for HawkSoft for a while too.

Then it was time to go to Ben’s for his birthday BBQ. It was a little cold, but not to bad to be outside. Ben’s son, mother, and grandmother showed up. We had a nice visit with them. The Elders also came to help celebrate. I think a good time was had by all.

We spent most of Saturday working on our Personal Finances class assignment and preparation. I also finalized several things for Sunday such as the Ward Council agenda and the Sacrament Program. 

In the afternoon, I had a Zoom conference with the leadership in Cook Islands so I could do the Family Name Assist training with them. Even though they live very far from the Temple, the Family Name Assist tool is still very valuable to help them stay focused on the Temple.

Roman at the 4th of July Parade

I still have seven more Stakes to train. I only have one of those currently scheduled. I’m hoping to get the others scheduled soon.

I was glad I had a little extra time on Sunday morning to do my personal scripture study before we left for Church. I studied an awesome talk by Elder Michael B Strong of the Seventy entitled “Charity – a Sign of True Discipleship.” One thing I do when I study the Gospel is apply what I’m reading to myself. What do I need to do or repent of? How can I become more like my Savior? What lack I yet? Sometimes my list is very long as the Spirit whispers to me the things I need to change. This morning was one of those days. 

Alyson and Sam

I love to serve others. That’s why serving missions is so great. I have plenty of opportunities to serve. However, in my studies this morning, one of the things I lack a great deal is being observant of others and the unspoken needs they may have. I have teased often that I am the world’s most unobservant person around. I can walk into a newly decorated room and not notice anything different. I don’t know why I am that way. I have to have people point out to me what is different. I remember several years ago when we went to the Temple after it had been closed down for several weeks for annual maintenance. As the evening wore on, I kept hearing workers talk about all the new, beautiful paintings in the Temple. I stopped one of the Sisters and asked what paintings. She pointed out one that was right in front of me as being one of the new paintings. I looked at the painting and realized that I had never seen it before. I had been working in the Temple for several hours that night and probably walked past that painting a half dozen times and never actually looked at it. I then spent the next little while walking around the Temple again, but this time I looked at each painting. Most of them were new. How could I be so blind? I need to pray for guidance to SEE the unspoken needs of others who are right before my eyes. I want to serve like the Savior does. 

Our speakers in Sacrament meeting were awesome. I especially enjoyed our first speaker. He was a young 5-year-old little boy. He spoke on section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In particular he focused on the three degrees of glory. I was very impressed by how prepared he was and how great he did his presentation. Mom did a wonderful job of preparing him. 

In the afternoon we had our Personal Finances Class. I demonstrated the blank Bank Register Spreadsheet that I have created for them. I sent them each a copy after class. Steve facilitated the rest of the class. I love our class. We have wonderful discussions, and we are all learning something about managing our money. I love hearing some members say they are making better decisions and now have some money left over.

All Our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox

Zone Breakfast, Seminary, DCM, Comp Studies, and Ward Directory

We started the week off with a bang. Since transfers were last week, we had a Zone Breakfast to welcome all our new missionaries. More than half of our missionaries are new to our area. The Carlisles arrived early to help with breakfast. We had waffles, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and fruit for twelve missionaries. They straggled in over the course of 30 minutes. I think they all enjoyed it. We played some getting-to-know-you games after breakfast. Everyone left around 10:45. After cleaning up, we collapsed on the couch to watch Follow Him. I think we both took a short nap. LOL

The rest of the day we took care of the normal things we worked on. I organized the Zone Lunch for Zone Conference coming up in a couple of weeks. We are doing a Soup and Salad bar. 

Tuesday morning was stormy, actually the whole day was stormy. We had pouring rain as we went to early morning Seminary. The Elders taught the lesson on section 84 about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. 

The rest of the day was working on my Seminary lesson for Thursday. We also had our weekly call with Sierra. Monday didn't work this week, so we did it on Tuesday. We got caught up on what all the kids are up to. One fun thing they are doing is taking a sibling trip to Disneyland at the end of September. That should be a lot of fun for them. We made treats for our DCM meeting on Wednesday and prepared our Family Home Evening lesson for Wednesday night.

Wednesday was beautiful. The storm was over. We did get a few showers later in the day. We had a fun DCM meeting. Since it was the first DCM meeting for this transfer, we played another getting-to-know-you ice breaker game. We played two truths and a lie. It was fun to learn about each of the missionaries. Since the South District was also at the Stake Center, we invited them to join us for snacks. It was nice to have all the missionaries together. We don't get together as a zone very often.

After DCM, we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to Ben's mom's house to help her pack. She sold her house and had to be out by 18 August. Her health is not good, so she needs some help packing and cleaning. We helped Wednesday afternoon. She has some family coming next weekend to help finish it up. Our Family Home Evening got cancelled because they had visitors from out of town. It was their only time to visit with the kids.   

Thursday started with my early morning Seminary class. We didn't have as many students as normal, so it made the group activity I had planned not happen. I modified it on the fly, and I think it worked out OK. Later we had our Mission SPF Zoom meeting. After that I worked on the Ward Council Agenda and the Sacrament Program. Then it was time for the Zone Leaders to come for Comp Study. It was the first time either of them had Comp Study with Seniors. I think they enjoy it. Elder Wilcox made them grilled ham and cheese sandwiches after we were done with our studies. We enjoyed visiting with them very much.

The afternoon was a little crazy after that. Sister Garner called me to see if I could track down a Senior couple, she had been trying to get a hold of. They are kind of far away from everyone. She was worried about them because we had received a tsunami warning because of a big earthquake in Russia. This couple lives right on the beach. We thought we were going to drive out to their place as we are probably the closest to them at 1 hour away. After trying several times to reach them in different ways, we were getting ready to go, when I noticed a green dot appeared next to her name in Messenger. I quickly called her on Messenger, and she answered. Apparently, they were having trouble with their phone not having any service when they were away from their house. We verified they were all right and I let Sister Garner know. 

Friday morning started with a trip to the Bream Bay flat. The Sisters that were living there were ALL transferred and we didn't get any replacements. The Garners are finishing up their mission in a few weeks and are trying to tie up loose ends for the new couple that will be taking over housing. One thing they are checking on is all the empty flats we have. Sometimes when missionaries leave, they don't always take everything they are supposed to take. Also, they may not remove food if they are both leaving the flat. So, she asked if we would check out the flat. 

I was pretty sure our Sisters left the flat in good shape but told her would be happy to check it out. As expected, it looked great. There is talk that their flat may go to a Senior Couple in the future. With that in mind, the few things they left behind I felt were just fine. It was things that helped to make the flat a home. When we finally got our flat, we are happy the previous Senior Couple left some decorative things for us. That is what the Bream Bay Sisters left as well.

After we got home, I worked on some Family Name Assist invitations for training. I think we have trained about half our Stakes at this point. Later, the Hikurangi Elders showed up for Comp Study. We ended up spending our time talking about the Ward rather than actual scripture study. Elder Ihaka wanted to know all he could about the people and what they could do to help. It was a very good visit.

So, on Saturday I spent most of the day working on putting together a Ward Directory for them that will aid them in visiting the members. Usually, the Ward Directory is in alphabetical order. That is not helpful for visiting. So, I dumped the directory into SQL and then Excel so I could add some information and sort it by city, neighborhood, and address. I also had comments from our previous visits that I included. Lastly, I made every other household either shaded or no shade to make it easier to distinguish the households in the list. I think it should make it much easier to visit streets and neighborhoods as they visit the Ward.

On Sunday, we went from one meeting to another. In between the various meetings I worked on the Ward Council minutes and my blog recap. Somehow, I managed to get it all done. We had a great Personal Finances meeting. I love our group. We have about 8 in the group which is just about right. 

We had a wonderful Fast and Testimony meeting. At first, I didn’t think we would have enough people to get up and share, but I was wrong. We had lots of testimonies about how the Savior has blessed their lives. Some shared how they heard the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Others shared about how the Lord hears and answers prayers. I felt the Spirit strong, and I felt the love in the Ward. 

I didn’t get to hear much of Sunday School, because Bishop had me take care of some other business. I managed to poke my head in class for a little while. Sister Toi is doing a great job. 

Later that evening, we headed to the Stake Center for a video devotional with the Area Presidency. It was for those over 50 and talked about the wonderful opportunities of serving a mission. I have to admit, serving senior missions is AWESOME. 

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox