Our Last Full Week of Our Mission

Sisters Spencer, LeBaron, Daines, and Watson 

It has been busy and full. Full of a lot of lasts. Monday morning started with our Last Transfer Breakfast. We borrowed the Carlisle's waffle iron because they were touring with their daughter and son-in-law. This breakfast ended up being a little different. Half of the missionaries showed up around 9. We ate, played games, and got to know our newbies better. We had the two sets of Sisters and the Hikurangi Elders. We made enough food for several more missionaries, so we had a lot left over...and that was after we sent food home with the missionaries. 

Elders Sanders, Mabaso, Wilcox, Bird, and Taimikovi

We also put out a bunch of our food from our pantry to see if anyone wanted anything. They took quite a bit. 

Then, just as we were finished cleaning up and putting the rest of the food away, we had a knock on the door. The Zone Leaders and the Dargaville Elders showed up. I thought they were ghosting us. We had just enough food left over to feed all four of them. They also took most of the rest of the canned goods that were left. After everyone left, we sat down to rest and watched the first half of Follow Him. 

We called Kinzley for her birthday and had a nice visit with her. The rest of the day was taking care of "business." Elder Wilcox removed the white tarp we had on the floor of the garage. We received a call from our Bishop at home. Sean wanted to have a Tithing Declaration appointment. That was a nice visit too.

On Tuesday, I wrote up our Christmas Nativity program and sent it to the Relief Society President at her request. We had both sets of Sisters show up after lunch. We did Comp Study with one set, and the others had a mentoring session for their newbie. We covered sections 137 and 138 in our Comp Study.

Our Amazing DL Elder Ihaka

We did some more cleanup such as wiping down all the cupboard doors, wiping down all the furniture, and cleaning the stove top. We then cut up some fruit and veggies for DCM on Wednesday.

Our last DCM was Wednesday morning. We missed the Carlisles but had a good time with our District. I brought my bye-bye book for people to sign. A couple of the Elders said they would sign it later when they came to Comp Study.

After DCM and lunch, the Hika Elders came over for our Comp Study. We were barely into it when we got a frantic call from Ben. He had an accident with a chainsaw and was at the doctor’s office getting stitches. We didn’t know how bad it was. He called to see if we could meet him and drive his truck home as he wasn’t supposed to drive. I think he will be able to drive tomorrow. It was just the medication I’m guessing. It turned out to not be too bad after all. I’m glad. We rescheduled with the Elders for Thursday.

We had our Book of Mormon Reading at 6:00pm. We had a GREAT turnout. They even planned a little kai (food) for us after our reading. We couldn't stay too long, as we had our FHE with the Snows. I used the same Christmas Nativity program with a few modifications for our Family Home Evening. The four kids got to act it out. I gave the older kids their speaking parts. We sang hymns too. After that, they asked if we had any family pictures. I pulled up our Family Christmas Nativity video that the kids put together the year COVID kept us from meeting together. We had a very good time.

On Thursday we had missionaries at our house all day long. We started with the Zone Leaders at 10:00am. We again covered sections 137 and 138. I also touched on Mosiah 15:9-10. They also signed my bye-bye book. 

We did the same Comp Study for all the missionaries this week. The Doctrine and Covenants sections talk about life after death and also a little bit about our pre-mortal life. I wanted to emphasize D&C 138:54-55 that mentions those that have done ordinances in the Temple for our dead were also among the Noble and Great ones spoken of in Abraham 3:22-23. I had them recognize that those verses were talking about them. They were chosen before they were born to do a great work.

The verses in Mosiah talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He suffered for our sins. I shared a quote by Merrill J. Bateman that emphasizes how personal the Atonement is to each of us individually. I ended with my personal testimony about how important each of these principles are to me and that I never want them to forget that they are among the Noble and Great ones who were chosen before they were born.

Elder Wilcox's 2nd Cousin, Sister Brough

The Otaika Valley Sisters arrived just as the Elders were leaving. We fed them lunch before they had their mentoring session with their newbie. 

After they left, Elder Wilcox picked up the Riverside Elders because right now neither Elder has a driver’s license. While he was picking them up, we got a text that the Hika Elders’ car was still not ready and could Elder Wilcox pick them up too. So, he did. We then had all four Elders for another wonderful Comp Study. They had a lot of questions because we had Elder Hunter in the group. It was really good. 

We later helped Elder Maile try and get his driver's license by filling out a bunch of stuff online. They ended up staying for dinner as their dinner appointment fell through. It was all good, cuz we still had food we needed to eat up. LOL

Friday was long and busy. We picked up the Riverside Elders at 6:30am to go to Zone Conference in Auckland. I'm afraid the Carlisle's are going to have to finish up with Elder Maile on his driver's license. In the meantime, we brought bikes back from Zone Conference to make it a little easier for them to get around their area. 

Zone Conference included four zones. That was nice because we could see many of our missionaries who had served in our area before. It was our last Zone Conference, so the missionaries sang to us and the other leavers. Then every missionary, both junior and senior came through a line to say goodbye and wish us well. Lots of hugs and tears. 

The Conference was great. We had a morning session where the leavers bore their testimonies. Then President Allen shared where we stand in the mission statistics. We are on target to reach 500 baptisms by the end of the year. We are so excited for that. We also had a beautiful Christmas Devotional with beautiful music and great talks by the missionaries. That was followed by a delicious lunch. After lunch, we played games for about two hours before we finished with each zone creating a Christmas song that had to include three words we drew out of a cup. We were assigned to work with the Service Missionaries. We chose to create our song to the tune of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." Our words were "Christ's Birth", "Gethsemane", and "Atonement". I think our song turned out pretty good.

After Zone Conference, we took the Riverside Elders home and dropped off their bikes. Then we headed to the Hikurangi Chapel for a Farewell Activity and Kai (food) for us. The Bishop's sweet wife created the cutest train for decorations for the party. It was so sweet. I wish it would fit in my suitcase cuz I want to take it home. LOL

We worked hard on Saturday. We helped another Elder try to set up an online account with the DMV in Virginia, but it said he has to go to an office in person to set it up. We called for help and were told they would send an email that would allow him to set it up. That didn't work either. The Carlisles will have to try again next week with them on the phone. 

We mopped all the floors, vacuumed the carpets, and deep cleaned the bathrooms. We also spent a long-time juggling things around in the suitcases so everything fits. I think we may be a little overweight oin one suitcase. At this point I'm willing to pay the penalty if it comes to that. 

Sunday was a beautiful and yet hard day. So many kind remarks and wonderful expressions of love. So many hugs and thanks. So many tears and smiles. 

I got to lead the music for the last time. We bore our testimonies. We heard beautiful testimonies from others. People signed my bye-bye book. I will read that on the airplane!

After we got home, the Bishop called to see if he could come by. He wanted to give us a blessing before we leave. He planned on doing it at Church but forgot until after we left. This sweet, humble man, drove to our house, laid his hands on each of us and gave us a very tender and loving blessing. Oh, how we love him! We are going to miss the Hikurangi Ward. 

We know that we were meant to be here in this beautiful place among these beautiful people who have so touched our hearts. Elder Wilcox said he knows we were called HERE by a prophet of God and sent to Hikurangi by our Mission President to serve in a Ward halfway around the world to serve with his 10th cousin. How special is that? Miracles do happen!

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox