27 December 2020

It will be fun they said. 

Had I watched a video of what we would be doing BEFORE we purchased the tickets, chances are the HUKA falls jet boat ride would have been two people short. 

I thought speed boat ment "quick way to get to the falls". I should have suspected something when I saw the driver...

I about lost my life trying to take this video and hold on with one hand. Tree's were millimeters from our faces, we were drenched, and he kept spinning 360's at 80 mph...

And the screaming in the background, well that was the one on the right that suggested we do this thing that would BE SO FUN...Thank you Sister Schofield for always having my back.

It was really fun and quite beautiful and we did survive the experience. I would even do it again.

It was amazing to be almost under the waterfall. 

In case the video doesn't work...

Then we went on a 3 hour Gilligan cruise on Lake Taupo. Lake Taupo was created by a volcano. It is the largest lake in New Zealand. It was a wee bit boring after the jet boat adventure. 

But the Maori carvings out in the middle of the lake made it better

The color of the water was breathtaking. 

Our office buddies, The Follands, finished their mission the end of November and went back to Utah. We sure miss them. This was our last work trip together. 

(Before we played we delivered a car, supplies, replaced a CO2 detector, fixed window blinds, and replaced a washer..)

We worked hard with these beautiful people. We feed 100's of missionaries every 6 weeks, shared tough times, happy times, sad times. We were together in the same office 8 to 12 hours per day trying to keep the missionaries needs met for flats, cars, telephones, bikes, visas, drivers licenses, transfers, supplies, mail, records. Some days we would laugh so hard we cried. Ohter days, we cried so hard we laughed. We complained to each other, encouraged each other, picked each other up, and enjoyed the beauty of New Zealand together. 

They went to the South Island before they left for home and mailed the sim cards from their telephones back to the office. Enclosed with the sim cards was a baggie full of unique beach pebbles they had found on a beach, because they knew that pebbles from the South Island would make my day just right. 

Love these people.

It's been a busy two months. We had to move again. 4 times. Let me say that again. FOUR TIMES in 16 months. We have moved more than some Jr. missionaries. 

This was our first house. 5A Lyon St. 

Left side.

We were here for 6 weeks.

31 Cowley Drive

We moved here when the Taylors (the couple we replaced) went home. We lived here 5 months. (October-March) We had to move the night Level 4 lockdown began because the owners were serving a mission in Hawaii and needed their home as they were sent home. 

4/4 Maynard Place. 

March--November

We lived behind the yellow door. Lorne and Shaday live behind the blue door. They are whanau.  Leaving them was the hardest. The bad news is we didn't have phone reception here. The good news is we slept well because the missionaries couldn't get ahold of us at all hours of the night. Shucks, huh. It's empty now because all of our senior missionaries are finishing and not being replaced. We cooked our Christmas day ham here because we needed another oven to cook dinner. President was quick to tell us we were pretty lucky because he said no other senior missionaries have a summer home...

We moved December 12. This house is owned by a professional rugby player who lives in Japan. It's exceedingly lovely. Full size refrigerator and freezer, full size washer and dryer. Two baths. GARAGE that can be parked in. And this is the view out our back window...

The temple has been under renovation for the past 3 years as it is a pioneer temple. We will be home before it is rededicated. 

Proof we won't be here when it is done in July...

Where has the time gone? We will be working on our airline tickets this week. 

Eating breakfast on the covered patio

Christmas

We went to Hamilton Gardens as the roses were in full bloom. There were acres of roses of every color and shape. Here's a few to enjoy.

The rose gardens are also full of sand flies which bite you and inject serious venom into your skin which makes you itch worse than chiggers do and then your legs and feet swell up to the size of Rhode Island.

And now I know why...

This makes TOTAL sense. 

I'm buying gum boots to match all my skirts.

We had our 3 day Christmas Conference this week.

 It was a lot of preparation, but so worth it. There is nothing quite like being with 150 missionaries!

Meal set up.

President Erekson is known for his "Redneck Milkshakes". We are taking this tradition home with us. He uses a 5 gallon bucket, a paint/sheetrock drywall mud mixer and heaps of ice cream, milk and misc flavorings/fruit/soda to make the best milkshakes I have ever eaten. President is mixing and Elder Colton donned his goggles, and work clothes to hold the bucket. He was covered in milk shake. (This is the Colton's 4th mission!) We had way too much fun. We made 150 milk shakes in 20 minutes. 

Clean up after Conference is the worst. But we are so blessed to have dedicated Senior couples that assisted us. 

Elder Baxter was in charge of missionary Toilet clean up...

Elder Clayton directed the music at church today. He did a great job.

I'm sure it was penitence for a few days before when he was pulled over for 

"DRINK DRIVING". 

No I did not spell that wrong. We were minding our business driving down Tuhikaramea Road and everyone on the road had to do a Breathalyzer Test.  Never having done this before and being taken by surprise and not being able to understand the words that the police officer was spewing, Elder Clayton was a bit unnerved.  So he started huffing into the breath machine like the big bad wolf and the officer told him to STOP BREATHING ON IT, and count to 5. ELDER Clayton passed with flying colors and we were on our way. 

Can you say COVID???

A few more signs.

So this must be a 1st world problem, here. I noticed this for the first time last month. And I have seen 15 since then. 

I still don't understand how.

Everytime I see this sign, I have to think about it. Do the signs in the US say "Work Ends"?

After a road fix by our house, we were told to wash our cars... Very polite of them.

Won't be staying in Bob's Hostel over the bar. FREE EAR PLUGS? Another random act of kindness...

This is my favorite picture of all time. Yes, that is President Erekson out in the Lake with the missionaries and the ones being baptised. 

We found a treasure in New Zealand. 

A Sand Dollar Beach! When you walked you stepped on them! There were miles of them...

Aren't they beautiful?

I am going to leave you with a thought tonight. I was chating with a friend the other day and she was telling me a bit about her pre mission life. Her mother was very ill and she took care of her mom for the last 3 months of her life. During the last week of her life, her mother was in the last stages of death and was unresponsive. Moments before she died, she opened her eyes, sat up on her elbow, looked my friend in the eye and said, "Life is NOT what I thought." She laid back down, closed her eyes and never woke again. My friend said she so badly wanted an explanation from her mom for those words. But of course, this was something she had to find out on her own. Over the years, she has come to the conclusion, that many times we put importance on things that really don't matter. Life is not all about us. It's about lifting and helping others. It's knowing that there is more to come. Earth life isn't the end. It's all about understanding the timing of things. When the car breaks down, right before your family vacation, it's being thankful it happened before you started your long journey and you weren't stranded along the way. Is there something in life that is making you miserable that really won't make a difference in the end?  Is there something you can simplifiy to make life better? Is there someone you can help that needs lifting? LIFE IS NOT WHAT WE THOUGHT.  

Thank you google photo's for making this for me. You spent more time on this than I have to spend.  

Happy New Year to you all. Our Christmas this year will be one that I will always remember. We were shown an outpouring of love that is uncomprehensible. We are surrounded by kind, loving, giving people.  May you feel the peace and love in 2021 that our Savior, Jesus Christ can provide for you. 

Much love, 

Elder and Sister Clayton