We Are Learning

We are slowly learning more about our local surroundings, Māori words and place names, and the Pacific Island groups. I am helping to compile the 2024 Pacific Area Church History report. The Area leaders and managers all write their reports, while my job is to collect proofread, edit, and standardize the formatting. I have also been asked to write the monthly senior missionary newsletter, so I'm busy.

Larry is also busy. Here is a journal entry from him:

March 5, 2025 - I had an unusual and tender experience with the Mission Training Center (MTC) president in Auckland after I gave a presentation there. He told me that he and his wife had been mission leaders in Brazil in 2015-2018. One of their missionaries was a strong, capable young man who was serving in a difficult area. His missionary companion alerted them that there was something terribly wrong with this young man. The president described a very psychotic missionary who had to be hospitalized and then transferred home for further hospitalization in the USA.

The president and his wife had continued to agonize for years about what they could have done to prevent this. I told him clearly that if the young missionary had been at home, in college, working, or in the military, he would have had the same outcome. This is a powerfully biological illness. I explained that 75% of first episodes of psychosis occur between the ages of 15 and 23. The average duration of untreated psychosis in USA is 74 weeks from onset to first treatment. The best place to have a first psychotic break is in the mission field, because it gets treated so quickly. Early diagnosis and treatment can permanently change the course of the illness for the better. The MTC president said with obvious emotional relief, "This is so helpful to me. If you don't mind, I am going to tell my wife right now."

Here are a few highlights of the past month:

Feb. 22 - Auckland Harbour Cruise. The ferry dock is next to the cruise ship wharf, where the Queen Anne, a new Cunard line ship that is travelling around the world, was moored that day. We cruised around Waitematā Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf and saw islands and headlands, the port, the towns near us on the North Shore, and the Harbour Bridge.

Queen Anne  and Sky Tower (background)

Rangitoto Island - This is the newest volcano (last erupted about 600 years ago) in the Auckland city area and is considered dormant. Auckland is built on an ancient volcanic field of 53 volcanoes!--now all extinct.

Auckland Harbour Bridge - We cross this to get into Auckland.

Transit Station sign boards in Māori and English

Feb. 26 - Have you ever heard of a travelator? It's the name of conveyer belts for walkers. At Costco and in malls, a travelator carries shoppers from the parking level to the shopping area one floor up. 

Mar. 8 - Our Panmure Ward hosted a special activity for the over-65 crowd. We had a nice lunch, sang karaoke songs, and played games. It was fun, but it also felt a bit strange to be on the receiving end of an event honoring seniors. I now find myself referring to people in their 80's and 90's as elderly--not me in my 70's!

Mar. 9 - A great teacher, Lima Drysdale, in a Samoan dress. 

Mar. 11 - EnglishConnect class. Church missionaries and members teach free English classes wherever there is a need. I am helping in a beginner class. Right now our class members include 3 from China, 1 from Mongolia, 1 from Sri Lanka, and 1 from Colombia. Our lesson was on the body and various aches, pains, and sicknesses. One young missionary was our poster board for body part signs. We all laughed a lot.

Mar. 12 - Auckland Temple Open House

We met a Malaysian woman named Kim on one of our regional park hikes and told her our son would soon be moving to Malaysia. She was interested in attending the open house, and we arranged to meet her and her two American friends who were coming to NZ for a visit, at the temple. They came straight from the airport. It turned out that they were church members from Montana. The wife was also Malaysian and had been high school best friends with Kim.

Mar. 14 - Larry talked to Glenn Reid, an employee at the Area Office, and they realized that his wife Debbie, who is a Stinson, has grandparents who were good friends of Larry's father John when he was a missionary here.  Arthur Stinson, Debbie's older brother, and his wife drove up to Auckland to meet us for dinner at the Reids' home. We spent 5 hours there, looking through the 300+ scanned pictures from John's album and telling stories. We were able to see them in large size on the TV. They recognized their family and some other people, as well as places and events. Glenn told us what the Māori words in the album meant. The Stinsons had brought their old family pictures from that time period, including signed original pictures from John and some of his companions! We took a lot of notes. It was a great evening!

Arthur, Debbie, and Glenn

Mar. 15 - Larry: We hiked in Shakespear Regional Park, which is located about 40 km north of Takapuna on a long peninsula. We took a 4 km hike up a small stream to the highest point in the park, where there were spectacular views of the waterways around Auckland. The weather was perfect. What a joy! We also saw two large eels in the stream. One was nearly as long and as large as my calf. 

We saw 4 bird species I have not seen before, including the Paradise Shelduck, North Island Saddleback, Hihi (Stitchbird), and Fernbird, as well as NZ Fantail, Tui, Sacred Kingfisher, Eastern Rosella, and others. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take their pictures.

Freshwater eel

On Whangaparāoa Peninsula with Rangitoto Island in background

We are enjoying our time here and are grateful to serve the Lord on this mission.