Office Life is Getting Easier

Making Kiwi Land Our Home

Week 2

We made it and it feels so surreal! We have (I have) been anticipating a mission for 40 years and I'm finally here. After a grueling flight of 13 hours, we arrived at 6am with these wonderful people as the welcoming crew. On the left are Ben and Pam Tanner. They are our partners in crime in the communication department. They work beside us and the sharing of their information has been our salvation! They are wonderful and already we can tell life will be fun, fast paced, and informative with them as our mentors. The couple on the right are Judy and KC Shaw, Kelly's brother and sister-in-law. We have been in close contact with them for a couple of months learning everything to bring in preparation for our mission. Just by coincidence, we have been called to the same mission location but with very different assignments. They work with the missionaries and the Pathway Program. They are amazing! We are so grateful for their help showing us the ropes of where to shop, how to drive, where to eat, and the names of everything!!! More on that later.

This is our cute little flat (apartment). It's nice and clean with lots of windows. It's best feature is the landscaping and that it is 100 yards from the beach. Everything is so green and beautiful. They have a housing person that furnishes the flats for the missionaries but we have gone to the home store 2 times already and I'm not going to tell how much we spent. It's comfortable and we are getting into a routine of what is where and when to do what.

After we got settled, we walked to the Area Office, our home away from home. We will spend a great deal of time there. Did I say this is an office job? We were introduced to everyone, about 10 couples, all serving in legal, welfare, medical, dental, audit, communications, in-field-rep (go-to person for all of the mission leaders in this area), and the area presidency. They are all amazing people!! Wow, there are wonderful people that serve the Lord with all of their heart, mind, and soul. It is humbling and inspiring at the same time.

The produce here is awesome with 2 foot celery and yummy tropical fruit. The Tanners were so sweet and stocked our frig with some groceries that were new and different. They have golden kiwi that is so sweet. I had to celebrate our arrival to New Zealand with sliced kiwi for the first breakfast I made. By the way, New Zealand got the name kiwi for a bird that is from this part of the world, not from the fruit, but you can buy yummy kiwi everywhere.

We were so busy learning the ropes, that we weren't able to walk the beach until Saturday morning. We have been waking up early getting used to the time zone here(4am yikes). Saturday we started our walk about 6:30 and found Judy and KC on their walk also. It's so nice to have family here. What a blessing and comfort.

We will walk everywhere. We live in a quaint town called Takapuna. We can walk to the office, downtown, beach, and to some small stores and restaurants from our flat. It reminds me of an older Carlsbad, CA.

They have a tradition here that helps new missionaries get to know the others. They have 2 or 3 couples invite the newbies to dinner the week you arrive. It has been sooo nice to have that one on one time learning about those you are working with. This is Claudette and Brent Hillier. They are the executive secretaries to the presidency. They are very good at what they do. So impressed!

How many days does it take to rewire the brain?? 5. For the first time today Kelly turned on his blinker instead of the windshield wipers. He kept saying, "I'm brain dead". This is the older brother teaching the younger brother how to drive again. So funny to watch the first day. Yesterday Kelly missed the freeway ramp (motorway) 3 times. We just went the long way which was good practice. Kelly is a champ today.

A Little Humor:

The first night after a LONG day we were laying in bed and Kelly says "1". Maybe you have to be there but I started giggling. It was just what we were thinking.

Below is a link to our first story that we posted on the church newsroom.  Baby steps, but we are learning.

Click Here for Link