Saturday is Preparation Day

New Zealand has many, many beaches including one a few blocks from our flat.  One beach on the northern tip of the north island is 55 miles long. Curiously it is called 90 Mile Beach.  Still 55 miles of uninterrupted white sand beach is a long beach!  Below are a few beach pictures. We have long been beach combers and love to collect sea shells. With so many beaches we decided to collect only one shell from each beach visit.

Fun Facts:  New Zealand has some extremely large trees, Kauri for example. The average price of a home in Auckland is $860,000 NZD.  Unlike the one pictured below, most houses are modest and older.  An average home in Smithfield transplanted to Auckland would sell for over $1,000,000 NZD. One of the nicest beaches close to Auckland is Omaha Beach (pictured above with its yellow flowers) not to be confused with the famous D-day beach in France. Below is a picture of Takapuna Beach near our flat.

Have We Done Any Good in the World Today?

Below is an example of the types of short articles we write and post on the Pacific Newsroom. In this case the article was picked up and published by the Fiji Sun newspaper, which is our goal. Additionally, it was posted on Facebook.  The combined "likes" on Facebook and Pacific Newsroom is approaching 1000.

In our assignment we seldom know if what we write has a direct impact on a reader. Does it help in our goal as missionaries to help others come unto Christ?  We are primarily "seed planters," but in this case we were fortunate to receive some feed back.  (Read below, following the article.)

Focusing on Family Trees in Fiji

Members of remote Fiji village upload family histories to FamilySearch.org

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VANU LEVU, Fiji -- Members of a newly organized congregation of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Fiji village of Nakawakawa are working together to upload their family histories to the internet.

Recently, Church members from the small but growing congregation located in a remote mountain village on Vanu Levu, brought their written and mental lists of ancestors to the meetinghouse they built themselves.

Larry and Lynda Bennett, a retired American couple who serve as family history missionaries, brought laptop computers and remote internet connections from their base in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Peter Vakalala, local lay leader of the Church, brought the generator to supply power for the laptops.

Together they uploaded four generations of ancestral names, vital dates and other family details for each participant to FamilySearch.org, a free internet-accessible service provided by the Church.

This ensured their family history information is permanently recorded, and available in the future to them, their descendants and others desiring to discover and connect with their ancestors and their ancestors' personal stories. 

"Preserving oral histories and other living memory is critical in areas where official documents may be scarce or non-existent," said Sister Bennett.

Branch President Vakalala reacts to seeing his picture and family information of FamilySeach

President Vakalala was shown how to access records, add new families and upload family photos to FamilySearch.org.  He will train others in his congregation how to use it themselves. 

According to Elder Bennett, family history research has the potential to keep families strong. "When you do your family history and write memories about or read stories of your deceased ancestors, you feel connected to them in a very special way."

The Bennetts work to help people fill in the blanks in their family trees in New Zealand, Austrailia and the South Pacific Islands. 

They are not alone. "Mormon family history missionaries are assigned throughout the world to help implement strong family history programs," said Sister Bennett.

FamilySeach, a service provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is committed to helping people connect with their ancestors.

This effort is rooted in the Mormon belief that families are meant to be central to our lives and that family relationships are intended to continue beyond this life.

Because interest in family history is not limited by culture, ethnicity or religious faith, FamilySearch's resources are available to everyone who whats to discover more about their family and heritage. 

Getting Started: My Family Stories That Bring Us Together

See this story in its original form

The Rest of the Story:

About two weeks after this article was published we received an email from Sister Bennett.  In part it read:

"I got a message this evening from Peter Vakalala thanking me for getting the story about Nakawaka Branch into the Fiji Sun.  As a result of that story several of his family members have contacted him about family history and now one of his cousins is taking the discussions.

"Sometimes it may seem like your assignment doesn't directly impact testimonies as much as some.  But know that you...are touching lives."

That was a welcome tender mercy.  

They Put Us Right to Work

Screen Shot of the Pacific Area Newroom

Our first two weeks have mostly been spent behind our desks in the Pacific Area office in Takapuna, a North Shore suburb of Auckland. As public affairs missionaries we have three focuses.

First, the news website and Facebook page used as a resource for media, opinion leaders, leaders of other faiths, our members -- basically anyone interested in the workings of the church in the Pacific Area.

(To View go to: mormonnewsroom.org.nz )

Next, helping the Area Presidency and local Church leaders foster valuable personal relationships with government leaders.

Third, assist in relationships with leaders of other faiths and other people who can have a positive or negative impact on the reputation of the Church.

Although we will work in all three, we are assigned to take the lead with the Newsroom and the Facebook page.

Richard Hunter, a Public Affairs professional and Church employee born in Australia, heads our group. We, along with another senior missionary couple, Barry and Susan Preator from Alpine, Utah, assist him with all the countries in the Pacific Area except Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Brother Hunter oversees the Public Affairs in those countries as well, but most of the work is carried out by an Assistant Public Affairs Director and two other senior missionary couples living in Australia.

Elder Champlin going after it!

We work on the third floor of the Church office building in Takapuna. (Actually it's the fourth floor, except in New Zealand the buildings have a ground floor and then are numbered.)

Arriving in Auckland

It takes 17 hours to fly to New Zealand from Salt Lake City, including a layover in San Francisco. That said, our plane lifted off on Monday evening, October 25, 2015, and landed in Auckland on Wednesday morning October 27 at 5:30 am. Time Travelers? No, we crossed the international  date line.

All Smiles Before Takeoff

We arrived and were given two hours to "fresh'n up" and then put to work in the Public Affairs department at the Area office in Takapuna, a suburb of Auckland.   More on our work later, but suffice it to say we have been working almost non-stop since our arrival.

Downtown Auckland at sunset as viewed from a 10th floor flat at Devon Point, across the bay. Not our flat!

President and Sister Balli and Elder and Sister Champlin at the New Zealand Auckland mission office. 

Although we work at the Pacific Area office, we technically report ecclesiastically to President Rick Balli, fellow former NY Rochester missionary circa 1975-1977.  It was great to get reacquainted.  He and Sister Balli were gracious and welcoming.

New Zealand is hilly.  Looking down on Auckland. 

Mission Training Center in Provo

We spent 5 days at the MTC.  There were 92 couples in our group and approximately 2,200 young Elders and Sisters.  The number of couples serving throughout the world is down significantly this year over the last few years.  In fact, at the end of our stay we were asked to list anyone we knew whose Stake President could be contacted about them serving a mission. MORE COUPLES NEEDED !!

The week was primarily spent studying the missionary lessons in Preach My Gospel. The most difficult part was the role playing.  We roll played among our district and had two role playing sessions with members who came from the community and acted like investigators.  Although just practice, the spirit was there and testified of the truths being taught.  I actually was an amazing experience.

                     Our District: Camerons, Jeppsons, Champlins and Gatherums along with one of our instructors Jentry                                       

 We could not resist taking the traditional "point at the map" photo.