WAIHEKE ISLAND AND HUMP DAY

Today is officially “hump day.”  We’ve been on our mission 9 months, and 9 months from today, Dec.1, we will conclude our mission.  Looking back, it seems like the time has sped by, but I suspect it will pass by quicker going forward.  Bump, hump, slump, then dump!

This was leap year, giving us 29 days in February.  My father Darwin Gubler passed away 5 years ago as of Feb. 28.  I still miss him and mom.

We had some great news this week.  Rachel and Brent safely delivered Redd Grant Smith (at least that is the latest version I’ve heard of his name) on Feb.26 (or maybe the 25^th with the time difference?), 8 lbs. and 21 inches, at home with the help of a midwife.  Also, Ed got word the same day that he had passed all his board exams to become licensed as a dentist.  I know that he will enjoy life a little bit more now.

A project I got to work on this week was to help clear title to property in Neiafu, island of Vava’u, in Tonga for the new temple that has been announced to be built there.  The location is still under wraps while more due diligence is being done by the legal department.

Friday evening Alisa and I attended a bbq at the home of our friends Michael and Trisha Fox.  We met Michael at pickleball, and he seems to enjoy our company.

The rest of the weekend was action packed also.  Saturday morning we awoke early, quickly packed our things, and took a bus down to the wharf in Devonport.  There we caught the ferry to Waiheke Island, about a 40 minute trip, past Rangitoto Island with its volcano.  This was our first trip to Waiheke, and we were met at the dock by Mike and Dot Hilburne, who are the grandparents of one of Lora’s former roommates, Kailea.  We finally found a good weekend with nice weather to visit them.  They drove us around the island, with its wine grape vineyards, cute downtown area and beaches. Then they took us to their retirement village, where they have a nice home.  Their boat was parked on their front lawn.  We decided to go on a picnic.  It turns out their boat is an amphibious craft.  We got in, and Mike drove it down the street, across the beach and right into the ocean!  We ended up circling the entire island.  We stopped in one cove to have our picnic lunch.  Then we went into another cove with a small town and long beach.  We drove right out of the ocean and parked on the beach, with plenty of people watching.  After playing in the water we had gelato cones then headed back out to sea.  Finally, we made it back to where we started from.  After a swim in their retirement center pool and hot tub, we showered then went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant downtown, with a beautiful view of a harbor with locally owned boats moored.  I treated the group to dinner since I figured the Hilburnes had spent a bit of money on the gas for their boat. 

I woke up refreshed after a good night’s sleep.  Then we all drove back to the downtown area where we visited the meeting hall which our Church has rented out.  The Church used to have a branch on this island but it was shut down a number of years ago.  There apparently are a number of less active members on the island currently. So the Church is trying to get up and running again.  This is the 3^rd Sunday which they have met together, with Bro. Hilburne (a former bishop) as the group leader.  The Hilburnes used to take the ferry every Sunday to come in to Takapuna to go to church.  Anyway, counting us, the Hilburnes, and an older brother who came on the ferry this morning to teach Sunday School, including 2 babies there were 15 of us present.  It reminded me of starting the old Ijiri branch in Japan as a young missionary.  Anyway, the Hilburnes had invited Alisa and I to be the speakers, so we were.  I spoke about miracles, and how with faith this little group will grow and thrive.  Then the meeting was opened up to testimonies for the remaining time.  After Sacrament meeting, Alisa and I said our goodbyes to everyone, then walked a kilometer down the hill to the dock where we caught the ferry ride back to Devonport, then the bus back to our apartment.  We dropped our stuff by the apartment then walked on to church in time to attend Sunday School with our YSA ward. 

Island tour

Amphibious ocean tour

Waiheke branch meeting

Good bye to Waiheke Island

ANOTHER WEEK

Another week.  Work progresses.  Wednesday afternoon Alisa and I took off work a little early to go be filmed with the local New Zealand choir at a beach at Wenderholm Regional Park.  It is for General Conference in April.  The Church has asked 6 or 7 countries around the world to have a choir to sing “We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet” which they’ll show with the Tab Choir I think at the Sunday morning session.  We previously pre-recorded the music and this was for us to be filmed in a NZ setting, of course a beach.  Don’t expect to see much of Alisa and I, they were more focused on the ones who look Polynesian.  But we had fun participating anyway.

Friday evening for a date, Alisa and I watched the new Lady and the Tramp Disney movie at home, and had a spaghetti dinner as part of the theme.

On Saturday, we had planned to visit a coastal island for the day.  But the day turned cloudy and rainy (the rain is appreciated as it has been a drought filled summer here), so we decided to stay closer in.  For a diversion, we drove again to the Otara farmers market, what I consider the best one in NZ.  As usual, we came away with a good supply of local fruits, vegetables and melons.  Afterwards I took an early afternoon nap, and dropped by the office for a few hours to get on top of a few old legal matters that I hadn’t quite finished up during a busy week of new projects.  Then we had a glutton free dinner for two senior sister missionaries, Ellen Bunker and Kate Lucas, whom we had been intending to invite over for a while but hadn’t due to their dietary restrictions.  Alisa fixed so much of the burrito bowls for them that we had a ton of left overs.  So we have invited over 2 other senior couples today who have similar dietary restrictions to help us eat it all.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Friday was Valentine's Day.  To celebrate, after work Alisa and I drove to Devonport to the historic Vic Theatre to watch Jane Austin’s “Emma” movie.  You can guess who chose that, it wasn’t me.  Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to demonstrate our love.  Even Alisa had to admit it was a yawner.  Then we drove back to downtown Takapuna for dinner at the House of Chocolate.  That choice was much more successful.  Alisa ordered a chocolate encrusted waffle with hazelnut topping.  I ordered a chocolate encrusted waffle with salted caramel ice cream and other assorted toppings.  We walked back to the apartment to work off the calories afterwards!

Saturday we slept in a little.  Then we drove about an hour to Mercer Bay (a regional park) to do the loop walk there.  We had some nice views of the cliffs and ocean.  We also hiked to Kera Kera falls.  Back home again, I barbecued hamburgers on our little fire pit, to go with corn and a cucumber salad and some chocolate chip cookies for dinner.  We invited over Elder and Sister Reynolds who are newly arrived from Utah, and Sister Tazuko Yamashita (who’s husband was out of town) for dinner.

 

I have been enjoying reading “The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook.”  It gives some interesting insights into the Pacific islands and their peoples.  I’m about 2/3rds through the book, just starting Captain Cook’s third and final voyage in his ship Resolution (a replica of which Alisa and I saw a few months ago in Auckland harbor).