Breakfast, Auckland Time 3, Leavers Lasts, Transfers, and More!

Carlisles, Auntie Sandra, Wilcoxes, and Kreutzkamps

I'm not sure we could pack anything more into last week. We started the morning by packing for an overnight trip to Auckland.

The Kreutzkamps came to New Zealand to celebrate a birthday for a special Sister in the Te Horo Branch. We were unable to go to the party because of our presentation in Kaikohe. So, Auntie Sandra had a breakfast for the Kreutzkamps, the Carlisles, and us. Such Fun!  We had a wonderful time catching up and visiting with one another. Sandra had a couple of cousins that were also in the area for the birthday, so we got to meet them and enjoy their company as well.

Sisters Roberts, Kana, Watson,
LeBaron, Polton, and Jones

We headed over to the Sisters flat to do a final inspection since Sister Poulton was going home and to see if they needed us for any overflow luggage. Sister Jones came down from Kaikohe to ride with Sister Poulton. The flat looked good, and we only had to take one large suitcase and a laundry hamper for bedding. We dropped the luggage off at the flat the Sisters were staying at until Wednesday.

We headed to the Mission office where Sister Hurst rode with us to let us into their flat for the afternoon. Her husband came by, and they took off to finish their work for the day. I was able to do some HawkSoft work and to have a nice long video call with Sierra and Shonee. 

Tuesday was a long and busy day. We left the flat around 8:30 to go to the Temple for our session with all the missionaries who are going home. Most of them went home on Wednesday. A couple will go home closer to when we go home near the middle of December. It was a very special session to have so many missionaries in the Temple. The Spirit was very strong. 

After the Temple, we went to Denny's for lunch. Sister Allen asked each of the Sisters at our big table to share about a highlight of their mission. I don't know what President Allen asked the Elders to do. All of them gave very touching and spirit-filled stories of how they were able to touch someone’s life, or how the Spirit touched their life. We also enjoyed some funny stories too. 

After that we headed to a fresh fruit ice cream place near the mission office. I couldn’t help myself; I had to get salted caramel instead. LOL So Yummy. The fresh fruit cones looked amazing though. 

After we rested for about an hour at the Hurst's flat and then packed up our stuff to go home, we headed to President and Sister Allen's house for dinner and a testimony meeting.  can’t even begin to say what a wonderful experience that was. We had dinner with Elder and Sister Ward at our table. They are leaving in December too. Dinner was delicious as was the desert. The Testimonies were amazing. After lots of pictures, songs, hugs, and tears, we headed home. 

Wilcoxes, Elder Tumanuvao, and Carlisles

Wednesday morning brought our last DCM with the current District. We lost two missionaries from our Zone. We expected a lot more. We had a great meeting and spent time signing bye-bye books. I had Sister Carlisle sign mine as they won't be there next week. Their daughter and son-in-law are coming for a visit. We are hoping to connect with them the Monday we leave Whangarei for the last time.

The afternoon included getting an extra key made for the Zone Leaders flat and then having two different Comp Studies. The first one was with the Hikurangi Elders and then The Denby Sisters showed up for theirs. Normally they come on Tuesdays, but we were in Auckland, so we moved it to Wednesday. 

Not long after they left, we ate a quick dinner and then headed to the Chapel for Book of Mormon Reading. We got there early so I could print a 4-to-a-page flyer for the Elders. 

Very early Thursday morning we headed back to the Sisters' flat. We picked up two Sisters to ride with us, and the two other Sisters rode together to Auckland. It was Transfer day! Neither of the two that rode with us were authorized to drive. Transfers were an experience we hadn't really had before. It was chaotic, but very fun to see so many missionaries who had previously served in our area. We were able to say goodbye for the last time to many of them. I'm so glad we were able to do that. We were asked to hang around in case we needed to transport any missionaries to their flats, but as it turned out we were not needed. We got home in the afternoon. 

Sister Roberts

We rested up a bit, ate some dinner and then headed to the Stake Center for a short devotional where Teina was set apart as a full-time missionary in the Australia Sydney Mission. I was asked to lead the music, and thankfully, Merilene showed up so she was my pianist. It was a really lovely devotional. So many families and friends showed up to support Teina. 

Much of Friday was spent sorting, cleaning, and packing. We dropped off a bunch of stuff at the op shop. We also took care of cobwebs around the house, washed the car, and cleaned the microwave and oven. 

We had to house sit for the Zone Leaders for the Heat Pump repairman to show up. We were expecting him between 1 and 3. He showed up just before three. It looks like he is going to have to come back. It wasn't an easy fix. They may have trouble getting parts because the unit is so old. They may end up replacing it. After we left, we dropped a bunch of stuff off at the op shop (thrift store). 

Saturday ended up a little later than we had planned. We made our third trip to Auckland in a week. After we took care of laundry in the morning, we headed to Auckland for what we thought was a 1:00 Thanksgiving Senior Missionary Lunch. On our way through Whangarei, we got a text from Ben saying his grandfather was in the hospital and not doing very well. He asked if Elder Wilcox good give him a blessing. We turned around and went to the hospital. Ben wasn't there yet so we had to wait about 15 minutes. After he arrived, the doctor came in and told us what was going on. The news was actually better than expected. They thought he had several mini strokes, but it turned out that he had a couple of seizures instead. They think he may be able to go home by Sunday or Monday. After the doctor left, Elder Wilcox gave him a blessing. We were on our way shortly after that. 

I thought we were going to be pretty late for the Thanksgiving lunch, but when we got to the Chapel, the parking lot was empty. I texted a message to find out what it was supposed to be and was told we were at the right place, but the time was 4:00, not 1:00. I checked my emails and messages to see if I forgot about the time change and saw that the only message I had was 1:00. So, since we were early, we helped decorate with they got there at 2:00. 

I was surprised by how many people we didn’t know. Most of the people at the dinner work in the area offices. There were only a handful of missionaries that work in the mission office and no other missionaries from the North came down. We got to meet several new couples, so it turned out to be very fun after all. 

We got home about 2 hours later than we originally thought. It was still early enough to have a relaxing evening. 

Sunday was a bit emotional. We started with a Thanksgivagain video call with our family. It was fun to see everyone. They made breakfast this year. We got to talk to them before we went to Church this morning.

We were pulled out of Ward Council to meet with the Stake President. He expressed his love and appreciation for us and our service. He then released us from Ward Clerk and Seminary Teacher. He mentioned how much we not only helped the Ward, but we also helped the Stake. I hadn’t really thought about what we did in the Stake, but I guess we did something as we managed to get to know quite a few people throughout the Stake. We felt very loved and appreciated. 

Our Sacrament meeting was very nice. The talks were amazing. We had two primary children who gave AWESOME talks without the help of their parents. They were about 8 or 9. We also heard from Wini and Leona who gave beautiful talks about a talk by Elder Kevin G. Brown entitled “The Eternal Gift of Testimony.” They both chose the same talk and of course gave different perspectives. 

We participated in the 5th Sunday Forum by presenting the first 15 minutes to talk about Love, Share, Invite. We shared our Mission goal of 500 baptisms by the end of the year. We also talked about the Just Serve website that is finally coming to New Zealand. Brother Walker finished the forum by talking about the Giving Machine. It was a good meeting. 

After Church we had a Soup Sunday in the Cultural Hall. I briefly showed the new Ward Clerk and his Assistant Ward Clerk what I had done with the Share Drive. In particular I showed them the Sacrament Program worksheet and the Ward Council Agenda/Minutes. The Stake Clerk will train them in everything else. 

Later, we had the Otaika Valley Sisters over for dinner and Comp Study. They are in the South District, but with the Carlisles gone for the week, we wanted to invite them over so we can meet Sister Watson’s new companion. 

I hope you have a FANTASTIC week!!! Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!!

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox