26 December 2019--Boxing Day

Volcanos and Earthquakes and Fire Trucks! OH MY!

Well, it's bean (that's how we say been around here) an exciting week. The White Island volcano erupted in the Bay of Plenty. We are about 1 1/2 hours away. It didn't do any harm except to the 40+ people that were gathered around the perimeter gazing into the bubbling volcano. 16 are dead, several are in critical condition and 4 are still missing. 

The next day, we had an earthquake in Gisborne 5 hours away. It was a 5.2. All missionaries were safe and accounted for. I'm starting to think we need a mission emergency plan. I'll get to the fire later...

Summer has officially arrived. (Holy hot and humid, Batman!)

Just another over achieving tree.

Christmas came and went. We didn't have snow, but we had white flowers in every ditch, on every tree, and along side the roads. It was different than what we are used to yet somewhat the same. I'm so grateful for my missionary companion and since "TOGETHER IS THE BEST PLACE TO BE", we made it fun. We worked all day Christmas Eve. Left the office around 5 ish and delivered packages that came late in the mail to the Missionaries in the farthest North Zone two hours away. As we were driving through town we saw a LOG building called the STAM PEDE Steak house.

 So we had Christmas Eve Dinner there. It was full of Old West artifacts. We could have even sat on a saddle to eat if I wouldn't of had a dress on! They had calf roping and bull riding on the TV and it was comforting to feel a little bit of home.

Our table was under a picture of Sitting Bull with his "original"  (ummm hmmm) feathered war bonnet draped below. We got home way later than missionaries should be out.


Christmas day, we opened a few gifts from each other. I received a phone holder, Beach Chair, neck pillow and lollies.

Elder Clayton got Dial soap and a scale, and yes, he really did cry when he opened the soap. (4 months without your Dial, is a real trial!) Now that I think about it, I'm glad he wasn't offended by soap and a scale.

Before we came, someone said New Zealand was 50 years behind. I finally understand! Life is slower paced here. We are so distracted in America by excess! There are 3 different kinds of bar soap to chose from here. LUX, Palmolive, and Detox (or Detromol or something that sounds really detrimental to your health.) There are 5 kinds of shampoo. Not a full isle to choose from like at Wal Mart. Back in the 70's we had 5 shampoo's to choose from: Breck, Prell, VO5, Head and Shoulders, or green Herbal Essence that smelled like a funeral. So in this respect, New Zealand is like the past. It's quite refreshing. I've come to appreciate SIMPLE.

After opening presents, Christmas morning, we loaded all the gifts in the car for the missionaries in the farthest East Zone that hadn't been picked up, and delivered them. We picked up a new car for the mission on Tuesday with 0.9 kilometers on it. By Wednesday afternoon we had over 500 kilometers on it. Then we had a dinner apppointment with the most delightful family from Holland. It was a lovely day.

Then came...BOXING DAY...

The day after Christmas is BOXING DAY. So I asked 3 teenage girls at church what Boxing Day is. The first one said, "I don't know. We get the day off and everything is on sale." Great, but that still didn't answer why and what. The next YW said, "It's the day we go to the BEACH". So I looked at  contestant # 3, and she said, "No! It's the day we bring out the boxes and put Christmas away." (Do we go to the beach or shopping before or after bringing out the boxes?) Well, folks the internet which NEVER lies, said it is the day to bring out the boxes. ( ? ) BUT it originated in England when the wealthy would make their Servants work Christmas Day. The Day after Christmas, boxes would be filled with left overs and given to the Servants to take home to their families to celebrate their  Christmas. The best part of our Boxing Day was mumu and jammies ALL day while talking to every last one of our children and Grandchildren and extended family. We love them so!

Pics of the Week:

We had 15  missionaries leave on Tuesday, 16 arrive on Wednesday, and 102 missionaries affected by transfers on Thursday. ( That means102 missionaries changed companions, living space and cars and sim cards in their phones and went to a new area) Whew.

This picture was taken late afternoon in Elder Clayton's office after finally getting all 102 missionaries situated...I don't now how he slept through everyone tiptoeing into his office, putting their fingers to his nose to make sure air was coming out of his nostrils. It was. He was just really tuckered out. 

These are our office elders.  Because Elder Clayton was asleep, they thought we should take our pictures together becasue they matched my sweater better than the sleeping guy in the back who wore a red striped Christmas tie. Office Elders do everything that "Senior" Missionaries can't do. Move furniture, haul boxes of supplies, furnish new flats, set up tents or tables for zone conferences, etc. The Elder on the right, is from Tonga. His father was a Mission President several years ago and took his family with him when he served in Africa. On his first day of school in Africa, one of the kids  in his class was being disrespectful to a very old and feeble teacher. "Elder On The Right" walked up to the boy, got in his face and told him not to talk to his teacher that way. The boy scoffed at him and continued on. Tender hearted "Elder On The Right" 16 at the time, threw him on the ground, punched him and told him to respect his teachers! Needless to say, he was sent to the principal. The principal called an asssembly together for the student body of the school. He started by talking to the kids about coconuts. He asked what is on the outside of a coconut. A hard shell. What was on the insided? Tender fruit with liquid. Then the Principal said that this Tongan was like a coconut.  He had a hard shell on the outside but was tender on the inside and it would be a good idea to not mess with this Tonga Brother.  "Elder On The Right" had a very good next three years at his school.  These two are such great young men. 

With 15 missionaries going home with 2 checked bags, 1 carry on, and a purse or backpack for each one, the office was full of luggage and so was the hall way. Standing room only. We weigh the suitcases in the office so there are no over charges or surprises at the airport.  It's so hard to decide what to leave behind when they are 10 kilo's over! One Sister's bag would have cost $785 to take on the plane had she not emptied it...

I love being the one at the front desk. Especially when they come and sit with me. Note the Ukelele. They were singing.We have a happy office! (I also get very little work done on these days.)

This carrot cake was given to us by our postie. (Aren't we suppose to give the mailman a gift instead???) Mid December, on a Saturday, he stopped at our house and dropped off a carrot cake! He used to own a bakery (as does everyone else) before he became the postie. BEST. CAKE. EVER. Dwight and I were ranting and raving over the cake and on the 23 Dec he asked if we still had cake. I told him there was no way it could last that long. The next day he comes into the office with all the parcels and comes behind my desk. He looks all around to make sure no one was within hearing distance and lifted papers up in a mail container and whispered, "I brought you another cake. You have to have carrot cake for Christmas! Sorry it's smashed. I turned a corner too fast and a parcel fell on it!"
Reason #3 this is a 20 K mission: Marc the Postie brings two FULL carrot cakes to you in a week...
Tonight we are just having vegetables for supper. Carrot Cake.

Lets talk about flowers in the lawn. The lawn was mowed 4 days earlier. Little flowers are starting to pop up.

This is what happens when you don't mow for two weeks. Flowers are two feet tall! I learned today that things grow 50% faster here because of the intensity of the sun combined with the moisture. You can plant your garden twice and get two harvests! 

So 3 days after the volcano, 2 days after the earthquake, we are working late in the office--almost 6 pm and the ear piercing fire alarms goes off. A womans voice comes from who knows where, (heaven?) and says "FIND YOUR WAY TO THE NEAREST EXIT IMMEDIATELY!"  (Every 5 seconds) All 5 of us in the office just ignored the alarm and kept working. Until the fire guys came up and told us to evacuate.



Evacuation Assembly Area took on new meaning. Of course it was pouring BUCKETS of rain and we couldn't go back inside until everything was checked and determined NOTHING WAS BURNING...

So, Dwight opens the fridge the other morning, slams it shut and screamed like a girl. (Almost) I came running in  and asked what was the matter. He said, "THERE IS A COCKROACH IN THE FRIDGE! HOW DID A COCKROACH GET IN THE FRIDGE!" I need to let you know that being the farmgirl that I am, I'm the one that takes care of spiders, cockroaches,wasps, moths, mice, and vermon. So I go to the the fridge to remove the cockroach so he can get food without fear of losing his life and this is what I find...

This was the big scary cockroach...Oh my, he still makes me laugh every day.

Have you ever seen Broccoli with a white bottom before??? Me neither.

One of our new Missionaries is Sister Fotu. Pronounced FOE-two. I was taking pictures of the incoming missionaries for the transfer board and I'd yell out, "Elder Blah Blah or Sister Yoohoo, I need to take a photo!" The next thing I knew, Sister Fotu would be standing by my desk looking at me. I would look at her and ask how I could help her and she would say in her broken English,  "You need me?" I would tell her no. Finally the 3rd time she was at my desk, I realized she thought I was saying FOTU when I said PHOTO!!! Then I started to laugh. And I couldn't stop! You know how when something strikes you so funny and it keeps popping into your head and you just burst out laughing at random, inapropriate times?  (like someone is telling you how they may need to go home because they need gall bladder surgery or they found out from their parents their dog died last week or  they have been going through a bout of deppression for the past month)  and you burst out in laughter? Well, that was me all afternoon. It was not good. 

At church on Sunday, we had the most lovely Christmas program. It was one of the best Christmas program presentations I have ever attended. One of the narrators said something that made me think a little harder about gift giving at Christmas in a different way. We all know that the greatest gift we have ever been given is the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through him, we can repent and be forgiven of our sins and return to live with our Father in Heaven someday.  BUT, what struck me today, was the reason we exchange gifts. Have you really thought about why we give gifts at Christmas? I never put much thought into it and thought probably because that's what the Wise men did. But there is something else.We give gifts because we have a deep love for those around us. Imagine how much you love your spouse, or children or Grandchildren or friends.  With each gift we give, we should remember how much our Heavenly Father loves each one of us. So much, he gave us his only begotten son. Each time we give a meaningful gift, let it remind us of the gift that Father gave us. 

Hope your Christmas was just right.

Much Love, 

Elder and Sister Clayton