Kia Ora!
February was a lovely summer month filled with blue skies and warm breezes.
Our work is keeping us busy and we are enjoying the people we have met and the loveliness of the countryside. Now and then we get out of the city!
We are now teaching an ESL class two nights a week and two of our five students are meeting
with the missionaries, so we are enjoying some personal missionary success as well. The Chinese Branch is also baptizing and we have some stellar converts. It is such a joy to see others come unto Christ!
There will probably come a time when you will tire of the beautiful vistas from
our apartment windows, but until then, this lovely scene greeted us one morning!
The War and Cultural Museum is not to be entered with less than awe and a great deal of time! After 3 hours we had barely seen all there was to see!
The museum has an entire floor devoted to the Maori culture. They have been in New Zealand for over 1000 years and they currently make up about 14 percent of the population. Their culture and language have greatly influenced life in New Zealand. This relief above is on the front of a
"wharenui" (pronounced far-a-nuee) or meetinghouse. The carvings and weaving are amazing!
The Maoris put on a performance for us and explained weapons, cultural norms and songs and dance.
This particular stance with eyes widened, tongue sticking out and weapon in hand, denotes a warrior prepared to kill (or possibly scare) his enemy!
Many of the island cultures were represented, but the Maori had the most beautiful carvings and beadwork. When a young woman was to be married, her family made a beaded apron for her to wear, like the one above.
This intricate carving was done from a single piece of wood!
This beautifully carved war canoe built about 1836 could carry as many as 100 warriors. It is 25 meters long and was adze -cut from a single huge Totara log.
The workmanship of the carvings and construction is extraordinary!
Sister Trammell right after surgery...looooopy!
Our sweet Sister Trammell is nearly healed up after being with us for almost two weeks! She is from California and is serving in Fiji. She had to come to New Zealand to have her tonsils removed so we acted as her substitute parents (more like grandparents!) for her stay. The first week was rough and I spent 6 days in our flat, but after that she was able to work in the mission office. She heads back to Fiji today! We will miss her!
We had a real treat this past Saturday! Many senior missionaries and friends of the Area Office were invited to a sailing race! The exciting part (besides holding on for dear life) was the fact that our vessel was an actual participant in the 1995 Americas Cup! Wow! We were honored!
Team A - all the old folk
Team B - everyone else
Elder Brown said they might have all the strength, but our team had all the ballast! We were proud that they did not beat us by very much!!
The boats were long and sleek with masts that reached 115 ft into the blue! They were fast and relatively smooth as they skimmed through the bay waters.
They sit quite low in the water and when tacking you do not want to be on the low side, unless you have need of a shower! Here we are neck and neck with the youngsters!
It was a perfect day for sailing and we have the sunburns to prove it!
We came home to a perfect sunset...no this photo has not been photoshopped!
Just another day in paradise!
Haere ra!
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