June Thoughts and Adventures

Thoughts from Larry:

I remain adequately busy. My missionary clients and consults are invariably interesting and often serious. In the last two weeks, I have been consulted on or worked with missionaries serving in many locations, including Japan, Kiribati, Fiji, NZ, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Vanuatu, Cambodia, Tahiti, Australia, and Taiwan. They have come on their missions from all parts of the world. I now also do some mental health training with all the missionaries in the NZ Missionary Training Center every three weeks. People consult with me when the diagnosis is confusing, medications seem to be needed, or something "bizarre" is going on with a missionary. 

Our grandson Adam Richards stayed with us for two weeks. We took a lovely hike together almost every day. What a delight it was to have him with us! The astonishing thing was that the weather was cool and sunny almost the whole time. It only rained at night. Adam taught us some great word games, and I taught him my father's favorite two-person card game, which he called "High, Low, Game." It’s the first time I have played that game in many years!

Adventures:

7 June - The senior missionaries went to Howick Historical Village in Auckland as a zone activity. We had fun churning butter, making beeswax candles, and learning about the early British settlers in this area.

10 June - We made delightful Australian friends, Ian and Linda Carroll, when we served missions together in Germany. Imagine our surprise when we met Ian's sister Penny and her husband Grant Owen, who are serving here in the Area Office. The Carrolls came for a visit from Australia, and all six of us had fun together. In the picture, from left to right, are the Carrolls, Owens, and Deweys. 

13 June - Adam arrived! His suitcase had been badly damaged, so we waited at the baggage office while his claim was processed. The sign lists several airline companies that we hadn't seen in other airports. How many do you know?

18 June - We took Adam south to see some tourist areas (our first trip past Hamilton). First stop - Hobbiton! All but one person on our guided tour were Lord of the Rings fans. Our guide knew tons of details about finding the location, building the road into the set, etc., etc. It was such a great Hobbit nerd experience! The land is beautiful, and the sky was blue that day.

19 June - We traveled south to Rotorua, where we spent the next two days. Rotorua is known for its geysers, hot springs, mud baths, and Māori culture. We started the day with a hike in a redwood forest. The redwoods were brought from California and grow well here. Then we went to Te Puia, a tourist attraction on Māori land, with geysers, a Māori craft workshop, and a kiwi restoration program. We got to go into a dark building and actually see kiwis up close (they are nocturnal). In the evening, we attended a hangi (traditional underground oven) dinner and cultural program at Mitai Māori Village, another tourist attraction. It was a full, educational day amid natural wonders.

20 June - We hiked around Blue Lake outside of Rotorua and enjoyed some more scenery.

21 June - On our way back home to Takapuna, we visited the Hamilton Gardens, which we had heard good things about. We discovered that it includes 18 enclosed gardens, each representing a different time and culture--from ancient Egypt to China, Japan, Italy, and Māori. Even though it is winter, it was fascinating and beautiful. We took so many pictures! This was the last section we visited--the surrealist garden.

28 June - Adam left on the 27th to fly to his next family adventure in Alaska. On Saturday, we went to "Last Night of the Proms," an Auckland Symphony Orchestra concert that our friends the Owens had organized. I expected a mix of classical and pop music. The reality was way beyond that! This is a British tradition, and the attendees wore British costumes, waved English flags, and brought noise-makers. We enjoyed the orchestra, choir, bagpipers, highland dancers, and a talented soloist. We sang "God Save the King" and the New Zealand national anthem (which is beautiful). At the end, balloons and streamers were released and bounced around the audience. It was a new, very fun cultural experience for us.

In conclusion - back to our real purpose for coming to New Zealand:

Even though I've highlighted the fun things we did in June, we don't ever forget that we are here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. I will close with a poster I found online that illustrates a favorite scripture.

 May: Late Autumn

Teresa: May was a good, busy month for us. We attended the new Auckland Temple, gave talks in church, and attended a Mother's Day luncheon. I also taught a study class and wrote the senior newsletter. I'm still working on preparing the 2024 Pacific Area History, and I help teach English each Tuesday evening. Last night, our class included people from Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), South Korea, and China. It's really fun to help them and see their confidence grow.

I titled this blog as late autumn, but it's hard to tell except for small differences. We are having more rain and wind, and the temperatures are in the 50s and 60s. The trees and grass are green and flowers are blooming. We have found wild banana, orange, and lime trees. I looked up some latitudes. Auckland is almost 37 degrees south, and San Francisco is about 37.8 degrees north of the equator. I think that is why their climates are somewhat similar. 

Larry: I have been working with a faithful sister missionary who had three serious concussions before her mission and then two more recently while on her mission. She has developed post-concussion symptoms and is now unable to do regular missionary work. We kept her at rest in her apartment for two weeks, but unfortunately, this didn’t cure her symptoms; and last week she had to return home.

While she was cooped up, I counseled with her and asked her to evaluate general conference talks by answering the two key questions below. I received the following response from her (shortened here) about one of the talks: “Your Repentance Doesn’t Burden Jesus Christ; It Brightens His Joy,” by Sister Tamara W. Runia (April 2025 General Conference).

How is this person trying to get me to think differently?

Sister Runia wants me to view things from God’s perspective. God is concerned about us. Not our mistakes. He doesn't ask us questions like, "Why didn't you do better? Could you have tried harder to resist?” Those questions are cruel and focused on the past. They come from Satan. What God does ask us is, "Are you okay? What are you going to do now? Will you let me help you? Will you let me take your burden?” God is focused on the one. He sees our potential. That is why He feels joy every time we repent and pray. Our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, love us.

And if I thought that way, how could it change my life? 

If I thought this way, I would find joy in all circumstances. I would be focused less on what's happened (the past) and be focused on how I will choose to react now. This will cause me to be anchored to God and Jesus and become an affectionate covenant keeper vs. a reluctant or fearful covenant keeper. It will cause me to repent because I love God and Christ.

Larry: I responded by emailing the following back to her. "What you wrote and what Sister Runia says reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures--Paul's words in Hebrews 4:14-16."

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

And now for some pictures:

3 May - We took a ferry to Rangitoto Island (the newest volcano near Auckland), and hiked to the top. Here are two views--toward Motutapu Island next to Rangitoto, and on the opposite side, Auckland:

7 May - While visiting the Auckland Museum, we saw this cute sign on the lawn:

9 May - See if you can find the bunch of bananas in this photo:

10 May - For Mother's Day, a group of Relief Society sisters attended the temple together on Saturday. We arrived at the church to carpool at 7 AM, and the men fed us a nice breakfast. We paused for a few minutes at the temple, and I took this photo of our group. Then we went back to the church, where the men provided a "lunch" (feast) to honor the women.

11 May - We gave rides to these young missionaries after church. From left to right, they are from the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and the USA. We love their big smiles.

17 May - Another tree picture. This is the silver tree-fern, seen from above. It is endemic (grows only here in New Zealand) and has been a symbol of national identity since the 1880s. The fronds on the underside are silver, and the Māori people would use them to see trails at night. 

25 May - A young woman from our ward just returned from the Australia Sydney Mission. She is wearing a lovely Fijian salusalu (the brown and tan garland), which is given for special occasions.

25 May - We had a "Linger Longer" after church. In the USA, we occasionally have these, but they feature something like a bagel or other snack. A "linger longer" in our ward here is an occasion for a big feast, featuring a whole roast pig and many potluck dishes.

30 May-1 June - On Friday, we took time off to visit the beautiful, mountainous Coromandel Peninsula east of Auckland. We stayed in Whitianga, a small resort town on Mercury Bay. Here is a view of the bay and cliffs from the beach.

We saw a funny dog sign in front of a restaurant.

31 May - On Saturday, we took a boat cruise along the coast from Whitianga. The boat captain told us that Mercury Bay got its English name when Captain James Cook landed here in 1769 to make measurements of Mercury as it transited in front of the sun. This observation helped establish their longitude as well as the distance from the earth to the sun. The next transit of Mercury fully visible from New Zealand will occur in 2052, so it's lucky that he had the opportunity when he did! 

Our boat visited Cathedral Cove, which has been featured in movies. We saw many other beautiful rock stacks, sea caves, cliffs, and rock arches.

1 June - On Sunday, we drove farther north up the east coast and crossed the mountains to attend church at a small branch in Coromandel Town. We stopped at a viewpoint. The first picture is looking to the west across the Firth of Thames, with Coromandel just visible on the shore in the center of the photo. The second picture shows the interior of the peninsula from the same viewpoint. We enjoyed meeting the members in Coromandel, but I don't think I'll ever go there again, because the road terrified me! The rugged terrain on the west side of the peninsula forced the highway to be extremely narrow and winding. In a few areas, the highway even narrowed to one lane! 

2 June - King's (or Queen's) Birthday is celebrated as a holiday on the first Monday of June each year, regardless of the actual birthday of the English monarch. When we got up on Monday, I thought the busy street next to our apartment building must be closed, because there were no cars at all for a minute or more. Eventually a few cars passed. I realized that all those poor commuters must be taking a well-deserved rest from driving. It was good to pass a quiet day.

All our best to you--Larry and Teresa