HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter everyone.  We’re still in lockdown here in NZ.  We’ll be celebrating Easter at home today.  A couple of weeks ago we attended our YSA ward Sunday School lesson via Zoom.  It was the first time Alisa and I had used that app, so I played with some of the buttons.  One button allowed us to put up different backgrounds.  So I chose a background with a picture of the Golden Gate bridge.  I was being a little silly so it showed Sis. Gubler and I in our Sunday clothes with the bridge in the background.  Later in the week, one of the YSA’s emailed us thanking us for our service in New Zealand and expressing the hope we could return to NZ again someday.  I emailed her back to let her know we are still here, and she replied that she thought we had returned to California since she’d see our picture on Zoom in front of the bridge!  We got a good chuckle out of that.

We did enjoy General Conference last weekend.  It was different in that only the First Presidency and the speakers for each session were allowed to attend in a small room somewhere in the bowels of the Church Administration building.  Even the Tabernacle Choir singing was pre-recorded segments from the past for the most part.  Many wonderful messages were shared, and even without the crowds that usually attend (due to the Covid 19 scare) the Spirit was still strong.  A highlight for us was the last song, We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet.  The Tab Choir sang the first verse (pre-recorded) then choirs from around the world sang the 2^nd and 3^rd verses (also pre-recorded, but it looked live).  Mexico, South Korea, Ghana, Brazil, Germany and finally Auckland New Zealand (our choir singing on the beach at Wenderholm Regional Park recorded in early February I believe)!  Then everyone sang the final verse together.  There were some good distance shots of Sis. Gubler and I, and a close up of the lower half of my head singing.  Then at the very end, a close up of Sis. Gubler singing in our choir.  It was quite amazing seeing ourselves singing at General Conference.  It provoked quite an outpouring/response.  I think that song was the favorite of everyone, quite touching and memorable.  And I was surprised at how many people from around the world contacted us and posted that they’d seen us, some of whom I was surprised even remembered us, some of my former boy scouts even. 

The rest of the week was back at the office as usual.  Actually, I’ve been swamped with work, which I prefer, it makes the days and weeks fly by quicker.  We have a 4 day weekend in NZ to celebrate Good Friday and Easter, but I went in to work anyway on Friday and Saturday.  Alisa and I have been looking for some exercise besides calisthentics, walking and jogging.  So we thought to borrow 2 bikes from the mission home close by, since most of the young missionaries are gone home and won’t be using them for a while.  Friday morning we got an early start and rode our bikes to Devonport and back.  We stopped to see the docks and wharf there.  It was about a 10 mile ride round trip.  We’ve found some pretty good Ubake pizzas at New World supermarket, so Saturday afternoon for a diversion I drove there in Devonport again to do some grocery shopping and pick up a pizza.  There are lines to get in, you have to stand 6 feet apart, and voluntarily distance yourself from other shoppers.  I still feel bad for all the “non-essential” businesses that have shut down due to the government imposed lock down.  Many will not be able to reopen because of financial distress, such as one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Porto Fina’s, which shut its doors permanently.  We’ve even voluntarily dropped the rent by 50% for a couple of our own commercial rentals to help those businesses stay afloat, although so far our residential tenants have paid their rents.  Because we have been required to isolate in our apartment, however, our expenses have gone down, mainly just groceries outside of rent, car, and health insurance.  So Sis. Gubler and I will make it by just fine financially, together with our rainy day fund.  Activity wise, I am reading book after book, watching some old movies (John Wayne and Kirk Douglas this week) and even The Mandalarian which Kimi recommended (just another Western except I do like baby Yoda), and exercising, besides work everyday.  It can be monotonous.  I have been bothered by the hives the last few weeks, but saw the mission doctor who prescribed some medicine which seems to have cleared it up.  Otherwise, I have been enjoying remarkable health, although I could stand to lose a little of the extra weight due to inactivity.

The legal tidbit for the day.  In Tonga, land and apartments are scarce.  So for the missionaries, the Church asks permission from members and others to put portable apartment units made from assembled kits in their back yards.  However, some of the units have been on some of the properties so long that the property owners believe that they now own the units!  So I was asked to help create a temporary license agreement which will be taken to all the property owners for them to sign, acknowledging that the Church retains title to the units themselves, while the property owners just give permission to set them on their properties.

For our good turn story of the week, Sis. Gubler made brownies one morning and during our lunch break we walked them to a young missionaries apartment about half a mile away.  There are 4 young missionaries living there who are also in lock down like everyone else, so they can’t go out proselyting.  They are from Samoa and other island nations, which have closed their borders and won’t let any of them return home.  So they are stuck here for the duration.  They appreciated our visit and mainly the brownies, and I picked some guavas I found on a tree in their yard for treats later on.
p.s. last week I wrote on this blog about the economic disaster being faced in Vanuatu relating to Covid 19.  Since then, Vanuatu has been hit with a category 5 cyclone!  If it weren't for bad luck, Vanuatu would have no luck at all.