May 17th, 2008

Hello everyone: Guess that it is about time that we update what we have been up to. We are having a quiet Saturday and decided to walk over to the office and get on the computer. We have done our wash for the week, gone grocery shopping, changed the bed, put away the groceries and have stake conference tonight to go to. Our co-missionaries are the main speakers tonight. Brother and Sister David Brown serve as Public Affairs for the Asia Pacific Area. They are the ones that were behind the Tonga publicity that you have been seeing between conference sessions and in the church news. They meet with dignataries all the time and do a great job. We have morning prayer with them each work day and I get a hug and Tongan greeting from her daily. They live in Sandy in Diane Linfords ward. They go home in September. Our exec. Sec. is going home on the 2nd of June. He is doing the sealing for a grandson in Dallas so is leaving before the new changes take place. We will have an interem exec. for three weeks before the new one arrives from his current duties in Australia. One of the current counselors in Australia will be the new one here to our President Baxter (PRes. Hilbbig sp?) and we will have a new counselor who is currently a mission president in Canada. (Elder Collister). His family will have two weeks between callings. The DTA (:director of temperoral affairs for the whole Pacific Area) had a big televised meeting with all employees yesterday. We were not invited. Bishop Edgley of the presiding presidency was also here. We did manage to meet him in the hallway. Guess that the combining of the two areas has much more impact in Australia than there. We currently have 20 jobs to fill plus extra people coming over. Just heard that they are sending one or two more Family History couples from there to here. Guess it will impact us. Our lives are speeding up abit. We are incharge of the Family Home Evening group on Monday. We meet in the conference just in our office. Woody will do a demo. of sites available for Family History (BYU etc.) and what you can do with them. I am trying to figure out what to feed them. We usualliy have a light snack (dessert) at the beginning. I am tryng to round up the ingredients to make Mississippi Mud. Walnuts are non existant here. Did find two little packages (all that the store had) of about 3 oz. each for about $2.50 per. Then I tried to find marshmellows. Finally found a little package that might partialliy cover the top for $3.00. (No such thing as marshmellow creme or cool whip here. No dryer sheets, alcohol for cleaning, dill pickles, mexican green sauce, chopped green chili's for mexican, etc. There cookies are called 'biskits', elevators are 'lifts'. (ours was out for 2days last week. Only 66 steps up and then down twice or more times a day.) We are on the top floor of a four story building. I was not the only one complaining!) Anyway, that is Monday night. Then Tues, Wed and Thur. we are having all the area advisors from NZ come in for a conference here. It will start about 9 a.m. each day and end after getting them all entertained and to bed at night. On Wed. we are going down to the temple (two hour trip down, temple and lunch and two hour trip back and then dinner at Michael's house. (He is our Stake President and immediate boss). We are mainly observing and backup at this conference. We will do a demo. for one session. It is preliminary to a similar conference we will conduct later when we have all the area advisors from the islands fly in. Probable in July or so. On the 30th of May we are flying down to Christchurch. It is over $1100.00 just for airfare. Didn't realize that it was that far. They are having minus zero weather ==glad that I brought my winter coat and thermos. We are doing a vendors booth for Family Search at the NZ Genealogy Conference. That conference will run Sat., Sun (we will take time out to go to Sac. Mtg) and Monday. We will stay overnight Monday at our hotel and then take some time for ourselves. We have booked a room at Hanmer Springs for Tues. It is about 1 1/2 hours out of Christchurch. We hope to see as much of that area as we can during our trip to the south island. However, it will be cold. Our boss is talking of us going to Samoa and Tonga when the temples there go live with New Family Search. He wants us there a few days before the 'live' week and a few days after so it looks like we may be in both places for two weeks each. Possible first trip the end week of July and the second end week of August if the schedule holds (it hasn't in the past). However, our exec. sec. strongly advised us not to be away from the office during the first week of the new Presidency taking charge. Sounds like there will be some major changes that could affect us. Guess we will just play it by ear. We are currently heavily advertising for a couple to come to Wellington on a digitizing mission for 18-24 months. Maybe one of the new couples will be doing that. Oh yes, then Michael wants to get us up to the north part of the north island as trainers and support to the FHC's there. The area advisor up there has just been released and it will be handled by this office in the future. The Lelo's the couple that does all of NZ and Figi and the Cook islands can't handle it all so we will be helping. Sounds like Michael thinks it would give us hand's on and also a chance to see more of the north island. So we will start to travel soon. We go from below zero to tropical on this mission and get to see lots of the area. Our new combination will include all of Australia, New Guinea and everything that they covered. The main boss is retiring and we haven't heard yet who is taking over or if the two sub bosses will take it over on a co basis. Good chance that it will go to our boss though.No, we (:us)will not be covering or traveling to Australia. We had two couples over last night for games. We met at the fish 'take out' place and all got fish and chips and pineapple fritters. Walked back to our place and ate (I had my tomato-cucumber saled to go with). We played Nertz and then Mormon Bridge with our Nerta cards. I tried a new recipe with grilled pineapple (lime, fresh grated ginger, brown sugar). It went over very well. (there is a restaurant here that roasts pineapple and we are all trying to figure out how they do it.) It is getting colder here in our 'flat'. I bought a thermometer to see how cold I really am. It was 54 degrees this morning in the kitchen. Our little heaters warm it up but we do have throws etc. to keep us warm. I am burning insense to try and get the smell better at home. We ae very close to the beach on one side and the lake on the other so it is damp and smells like it. TV is pretty lame here. We get a few shows from the states. Mostly last seasons or last years issues of some series. Lots of pretty lame realitiy shows here We have been renting movies from the library for $2.00 each so are seeing some really old shows. Saw Anne of Green Gables the other night and really enoyed it. Also the Count of Monte Cristo. (Guess that I had never seen it clear through). We had Kip Sperry from BYU appear at our office door this week. He was here with a group (church historian etc.) They are visiting the whole area--Samoa and Tonga included and all the temples they can attend. He was head of the dept at BYU (a big wig). He of course didn't recognize us. He was only in the library on a weekly basis and used our handouts at his seminars--oh well. His son Daniel worked as a student there too--now in Med school in NY. Bryan knows him. Anyway we do see bunches of interesting people. Well, we need to get back to the flat and have dinner so we can get to conference to get a good seat. Dad and I are battling colds right now. He had his for a week before giving it to me. Our Area Doctor and his wife just popped in from the airport They have been in New Caledonia for the past few days. Nicole, the ladies in the office know your Elder Forsyth sp? We will keep our eyes open for him. Acutually one of the elders in our ward here is from Highland, Utah. How did the pictures turn out from last week end? We took a walk Sunday afternoon just as it was getting dark. Hopefully they weren't too dark. Drop us a reply so we know you are there. Love, to hear from each and everyone of you.

Love, Mom and Dad, Woody and Andrea.