KEEPING BUSY IN NEW ZEALAND

Another week has sped by.  It seems like we always have plenty of issues at the office to review, research and deal with, which keep up hopping!  We finally got an appellate hearing date in mid March 2020 on our appeal of the February 2019 High Court decision which held that donations to the ward mission fund are not deductible for the missionary, parents or grandparents, but are deductible to other relatives and friends.  I’m looking forward to attending that hearing and argument before the appellate court.

Tuesday evening there were fewer than normal players at the indoor pickleball courts, such that as soon as we finished one game, we were into the next one.  After 2 hours I had worked up a pretty good sweat.  I probably played the best I have, but my serves are still a little suspect and inconsistent.

Thursday evening we were invited along with the Miekles to the Walkers’ apartment for dinner.  We had lasagna.  Then we watched slides of the Walkers’ trip to Vanuatu (they are welfare missionaries).  One of the islands in that chain had a volcano erupt a year or 2 ago, which covered the island with lava, such that the entire population of the island had to move off it.  3 LDS branches decided to relocate to another nearby island, and start over again.  The members have been living in tents for the last year and knocking down vegetation in order to farm.  They are living in pitiful circumstances as refugees, even their chapel is homemade, it looks like it was built out of drift wood and scraps of wood.  The Church’s humanitarian efforts to help refugees are usually pretty dramatic, but even more so when the refugees all happen to be members.

Friday we went out to dinner with Gordon and Julie Tanner, then went over to their apartment to play card games.  I particularly liked one called “Cover Your Assets”, and they happened to have 2 sets of the game so I bought one to use when we have spare time.

Saturday morning we drove with Elder and Sister Riggs to Muriwai beach, about 45 minutes away, which is home to a gannet (albatross) colony from August through February.  The shore line and area reminded me of Hanalei bay and the Napali coast on Kauai. The gannets nest on the cliff tops, wiIl hatch their young and teach them to fly over the next few months.  It is amazing to see so many nesting birds so close together, I’d like to go back and see the new hatchlings learning to fly.  We also found a baby seal hiding in the rocks which then made its way into the water, and we explored a cave.  Back at the apartment we grabbed a bite to eat, then went to a ward member’s rented home, Zara, who is originally from Iraq.  It was a service project by the young single adults to clean up the yard, trim, and pick up brush.  It was nice to do manual labor for a couple of hours.  In the evening I did lesson prep to teach our Starting Your Own Business class, and then Alisa and I watched an old movie, Sabrina, before bed.