THE NORTHERN TIP OF THE NORTH ISLAND AND SACRED GROUND

Since we are back at level 1, we’re able to play pickleball again at Brown’s Bay community athletic club.  So Alisa and I are doing that again on Tuesday nights.  Otherwise, in the evenings I worked a little on a power point presentation of our mission which I can show when we get home.  Part of it are some slides I got from the Area presidency showing some of the statistics in the Pacific area which gives a little more context to where we are serving and what we are dealing with.

This is the Labor Day holiday weekend, with tomorrow (Monday) being NZ’s Labor Day.  So Alisa and I decided to make one more trip north, this time all the way to the northern tip of the North Island, I’ve been wanting to see that countryside.  So we left a little early on Friday afternoon from work and drove to the tiny town of Waipapa, near Keri Keri.  We had arranged a farm BnB to stay at.  That was fun, we drove by a lot of citrus and avocado orchards and grape and kiwi fruit vineyards.  At our BnB they had hogs, sheep and a couple of gardens.  I picked and cooked myself some chard, and fed some to the animals who were my buddies.  This whole area reminded me of central California.

Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Kaitaia, one of the northernmost towns in NZ.  We met our 4 wheel drive bus and guide there and spent the day touring the peninsula.  We drove along 90 mile beach (similar to Oceano in California but longer), slid down the huge sand dunes there on boogie boards, stopped at the lighthouse on the northern tip of the North Island where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific join each other (the Tasman waters are green and the Pacific blue), stopped for a bbq at a park, stopped at a stand for fruit ice cream cones, and arrived back to Kaitaia in the early evening.  According to Maori legend, the spirits of the dead depart their bodies, pass along 90 mile beach, then at Cape Reinga (where the light house is located) depart from NZ and eventually travel to Hawaiki (Heaven). So Cape Reinga is considered sacred ground.  We stayed overnight at the Loredo motel there.  Sunday morning I decided to try driving our little 2 wheel drive Nissan on 90 mile beach, but I didn’t even make it 20 feet before I got it stuck in the sand.  I couldn’t push it out with Mom driving, so finally I asked a local fisherman to pull me out with his 4 wheel drive vehicle and rope.  We then did a bush walk, attended Sacrament meeting in Kaitaia that was only a couple of blocks from our motel, then packed up and headed back.  We stopped at the Kawiti glow worm caves, which were quite impressive to hike through.  We learned that 88% of the world’s glow worms are found in NZ, with the other 12% in Australia.

Back home again in our little apartment in Auckland, we’ll take most of tomorrow off for the holiday.  The YSA’s have scheduled a bush walk, so we’ll probably accompany them.  Next weekend Alisa and I continue on our farewell tour by flying down to the southern tip of the South Island!

Kawiti glow worm caves

 

Stuck in the sand of 90 mile beach!

 

Lighthouse where Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean

 

Sliding down the sand dune on boogie board

 

90 Mile beach and sand dunes

 

Farm stay BnB

 

Sunday Dinner with the YSA's-Peter (Peru), Efrain (Mexico), Sam (NZ) and Angelo (Philippines)

 

House of Chocolate with the Dean and Vangie Walker

 

Our Shoelhaven Apartment, A-405, Auckland NZ

 

A QUICK RECAP OF THE WEEK

 A quick recap.  Tuesday the Area Presidency gave our weekly devotional.  Each of them spoke, and they showed power points.  The highest rate in the area for baptisms is PNG.  The activity rate amongst newly baptized is around 33% after one year, fairly typical.  We got membership counts by country, etc.   I was able to get a copy of the power point (without some of the confidential stuff) which I downloaded onto my laptop and which can be the basis of a power point about our mission to show when we get home.  Otherwise it was a typical work week. 

Then it was a kickback weekend.  Since we traveled last weekend and will travel again the next 2 weekends, we just took it easy and did small chores at home.  Saturday morning I rode my bike 10 miles again and ran our 5 flights of stairs 5 times for exercise.  Took a nap and read some.  Then we watched the BYU v. Houston football game, with BYU prevailing 43-26 over a good team and improving to 5 wins 0 losses.  Due to Covid 19, it was the first time this season that they played in front of live fans, about 25% of the typical attendance in the Houston stadium was allowed.  Today we’ll teach our 4^th Temple Prep class, I’m still doing a new power point for each class and am getting pretty good at making those.  Last Sunday evening we had 2 sisters and 1 brother over from the YSA branch for a Hawaiin haystack dinner, and this evening we have 4 brethren coming over for a taco dinner.  Alisa tries to fix some foods that are fun but not their typical meals here.   It’s a good way to get to know the YSA’s a little better and make us feel like we’re doing our part.

WAIHEKE ISLAND TRIP

While the weather has warmed up, the wind has been blowing all week here.  Not much of a problem since I spend my days indoors working. But not much fun when I go jogging in the evenings.

Work progresses.  The rush this week was when I got notice from one of our local attorneys in the Cook Islands that he had a hearing in 2 days on a hostile request for a substantial rent increase for one of our chapel properties in Rarotonga, with the request being retroactive over 20 years!  This would have been over a $200,000 hit in back rent had the request been granted.  The problem was that he had had the matter for over a year and had never informed our office that the case was pending!  I quickly retained other competent local counsel to respond and to ask for an extension of time for us to respond and to get our own valuer to assess the fair rental value.

Our Temple Prep class continues to go well.  We are averaging 6-8 students each week.  I’m getting more skilled at using Power Point which I believe makes the lessons more interesting and easier to teach.  There are no regular Church meetings today since the Saints here watch General Conference the weekend after since the live sessions are on Sunday and Monday, the latter being a work day here.

For fun, Friday evening Alisa and I went out to dinner with the Romneys in Devonport.  The restaurant was in an historic building, and we had reserved the First Table.  That’s a tradition here where if you get the first table of the evening, everything on the menu is half price.  On top of that they don’t tip servers here.  So Alisa and I got our meals (her’s Salmon on a salad, and mine pork ribs and fixings) and a shrimp appetizer for the equivalent of US$24.  Not bad.

Saturday morning I rode my bicycle for my regular 2 laps around Pupuke Lake for 10 miles, visited with Rachel’s family, then Alisa and I caught the 45 minute ferry to Waiheke Island.  We just hiked around downtown there, had lunch at a Thai restaurant we had eaten at before, then had some terrific gelato for dessert before catching the ferry back.  I took a nap, then once again moved my office from the extra 3^rd floor apartment in our apartment building back to the 3^rd floor of the Area Office building, since we are at level 1 again, the lowest restrictions of covid 19 here.  I calculate that this is the 7^th time I’ve moved offices in the 16 months that I’ve been here!  As a result I’m getting quite good at it, and it only took me about 2 hours this time.  After I had again set up in my old office in the area office building, I came back and cleaned and re-set up the apartment as it had been before.

Waiheke Island trip

 

SUMMARY OF WARD MISSIONARY FUND TAX CREDIT CASE THAT WENT BEFORE THE NEW ZEALAND SUPREME COURT

Prior to 2015, the Tax Commissioner of the New Zealand Inland Revenue department (NZ’s IRS) allowed Church members who donated to the ward missionary fund to claim a 33% charitable gift tax credit.  However, effective 2015, the Commissioner changed her position and began disallowing such credits.

The Church filed a legal action against Inland Revenue contesting this new position.  Justice Hinton of the High Court (trial court of NZ) issued her decision on June 25, 2018, finding that a donation to the missionary fund resulted in a material benefit to the missionary and family (room, board, travel, educational experience) and thus was not a true gift for tax purposes.  Accordingly, she held that a donation by the missionary, parents and grandparents was not entitled to the tax credit, but that a donation by siblings, aunts/uncles, or anyone else was entitled to the tax credit.  She wrote “This may seem arbitrary, and to an extent it is.”  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Trust Bd. V. Commissioner of IR (2019) NZHC 52.  Neither party liked the split decision so the Church appealed, and the Commissioner cross-appealed.

On May 6, 2020, the New Zealand Court of Appeal unanimously found in favor of the Church, confirming that all ward missionary fund donations made by members to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (New Zealand) Trust Board are gifts for which the tax credit is available. 

However, the Commissioner was not done yet, so she had her Crown Law firm file an application with the New Zealand Supreme Court for leave to appeal.  After further oral argument, on September 30, 2020, the Supreme Court denied the application, finding that a tax credit for missionary donations to the Church “is an intensely fact-specific question”, and “we are not satisfied that a matter of general and public importance arises.”  In other words, the issue as framed is unique to our Church, and does not have general application in other charitable donation situations.  The Church was awarded costs, and this matter is now finally concluded in favor of the Church and its members.

New Zealand Church members will now be able to retroactively to 2015 claim credits for donations to the ward missionary fund, and going forward.

UNDER TWO MONTHS TO GO!

Down to under 2 months remaining on our mission.  The time seems to pass more quickly now.  General Conference this weekend will be another big boost.  I looked at the list of missionaries currently serving from the Visalia stake, and saw that Sis. Gubler and I are the only ones still serving foreign missions.  The rest are serving stateside, mainly due to Covid 19.

Our Temple Prep class went well last Sunday, we had 8 in attendance.  Tomorrow church meetings start up for our YSA ward again.  We’ll teach our 2^nd lesson beforehand.  In NZ the wards meet the weekend of General Conference, then take the following weekend off to watch the tape delayed sessions, due to being a day ahead on the calendar.

I’m keeping busy at the office.  My big case relating to ward missionary fund donations finally was decided by the NZ Supreme Court on Tuesday in favor of the Church.  They denied the tax commissioner’s application for hearing after the Appellate Court unanimously ruled in our favor. That means that going back to 2015 and moving forward Church members in NZ will receive a 33% tax credit for their mission fund donations.  That should be a big morale boost for the members in NZ, as well as a financial boost in these poor economic times.  This has been my favorite case to work on. 

One more fun note about my missionary fund case.  On Wednesday afternoon (Thursday here) I got a call from Elder Ian Ardern (Area President) telling me that Elder Stevenson of the Twelve was excited by our victory and wanted a write-up he could share with the First Presidency and the Twelve at their regular Thursday morning meeting, and Elder Ardern wanted to know if I could do the write-up.  I replied that of course I could, so I dropped the other matters I was working on and got cracking.  I had it to him promptly so that he could forward it on.  I’m sure that my name won’t be on it when it is presented, but it’s still a privilege to know that something I wrote will be seen by the Brethern in SLC!

The NZ MTC is still closed, mainly due to the borders being shut done.  A new catering contract was entered into for all the meals there just a couple of weeks before Covid 19 hit and the MTC was closed down.  I reviewed the contract form, which unfortunately didn’t contain a Force Majeure or frustration of purpose clause in it.  It looks like the caterer after waiting patiently for months is now invoicing for their lost business and this might lead to litigation. 

Thursday we took Steve and Luann Peterson to the House of Chocolate for a visit and dessert.  Friday for date night Mom and I walked downtown and bought a couple of pizzas at the Pizza Club for dinner and left overs, and watched youtube videos about Tahiti which we will be visiting post mission.

Saturday I did my standard 10 mile bike ride around Lake Pupuke and ran the stairs in our building (5 flights x 5 times) for my morning exercise.  Then Mom and I took the Romneys with us to the Otera farmers market, but unfortunately they were still shut down due to the pandemic restrictions.  So we visited another farmers market we’d never been to, the Parnell market in Auckland.  It was much smaller but still fun with interesting items for sale.  I bought some fresh asparagus, fig and ginger jelly and some beef hot dogs from the local venders.  I cooked one of the hot dogs for my dinner during BYU’s football game with Louisiana Tech and it turned out to be the best beef dog I’ve had since being here, it tasted like the real thing.  Oh yeah, BYU won their 3^rd game in a row.  Time for bed so I can get up early tomorrow to watch General Conference.  Monday morning I will visit a BP gas station down the street to buy some Krispie Kreme donuts to eat with our hot chocolate while we watch the Sunday sessions of conference.