Now we'll be in touch!

This is a test to see if our home internet connection is working! We just barely got our Vonage phone and the internet at home hooked up - and I'm so excited I can't stand it!! Dad is talking to Camille right now! What a relief to have it working!!

We've had a busy week.

We took the elders and went for family home evening and dinner with the Maurice McGoon family. He is from Fiji and is so fun - he's got a quick humor - is just like one of our kids! He is a return missionary and has married a New Zealand girl who is not a member. They have twin little girls age 2 and a 4 yr old boy. His wife prepared a wonderful dinner, with vegtables, potatoes and gravy and pork and mutton. (they live on a farm) and apple crisp for desert. We all went around the room and told about ourselves, and heard everyone's testimony and it was really sweet to hear the conversion story of Elder Fafita from Tonga who has just been a member for 1 year, and Elder Neil who is from Australia . It was a wonderful evening.

Our missionary assignment this week has been to go check in new cars for the elders - one for Elder Sayers(from Australia), and Elder Tepaki (from Aukland NZ), up north at Blenheim, and one for Elder Skewes (from Australia) and Elder Rollins (from Idaho), who are south at Dunedin, and one here in Ashburton. We don't have a picture with the Ashburton elders, because neither one of them have their drivers liscenses yet, so it's sitting in our garage, until they do!

It has been a lot of driving this week, but we've enjoyed all of the beautiful scenery. There are rolling hills with lush green pasture, and cattle and sheep grazing, and every little while there is a bunch of pine trees and vineyards. Miles and miles of vineyards. One hill was so steep, that you didn't know how the cows could stand up on it without sliding off. (I wish I had taken a picture!!). I could see how they would inch their way up and across the hill, but I can't figure out how in the world they will turn around, or get back down! I'm so worried about them! I keep saying if a sheep slipped and started to fall, they would roll clear to the bottom of the hill! Anyway, there are sheep everywhere and quite a lot of cows too. The weather is in the 50's, so it's plesant but a little cool.

On the way home from the north, we had been told about a place where there were seals along the coast. There were hundreds of them right by the side of the road. We couldn't believe that we hadn't seen them when we first came down. Then you could go across the road, and up a little path and there is a fresh water waterfall, and the baby seals go there and play in the pond. It was a wonderful thing to see.

On the way south, every time we stopped, people ask us if we were "Latter-day-Saints"! So funny that people could recognize us by our badges. We met a man who was a counselor in his branch presidency, named Brother Pia in Timaru, when we stopped for gas. And we met another man in a parking lot in Oamaru, and he said if we were looking for Pres. Gaski - he works right over there! So we went and met Pres Gaskil who is an Idaho boy (38 yrs old) and he's in the district presidency which covers the southern 3rd of the island. He's been here for 12 years and has 4 kids. Another lady at a gas station, said she was member of the church. Very fun!

Today we went and visited a less active family that Pres. Ponga ask us to visit. They are planning to move to Australia in Sept, where there are better paying jobs, and they have family there. It was fun to meet them.

Our big thrill of the day, is to get the Vonage hooked up and to get to hear our kids voices!! A happy day for sure! We've felt kind of isolated - until now! I couldn't get dad to quit talking!

So we'll be in touch now! You can call us at 208-346-7836 any time after 1:00pm your time (that's 7:00 am here) or as late as you want. It only costs what a regular call to Idaho Falls would cost. And our e-mail at mneider@ida.net works here at our house. By the way, our mailing address is: 8 Moore Street, Ashburton, New Zealand 7700.

We are about settled in! We got a new couch for Kenny's birthday, and a humidifier! We also got him a new book on his I-pod. We've had a busy week. We went to Christchurch and met some of the missionaries there. The earthquake damage is incredible. Big tall buildings leaning and being demolished!

This Kathmandu sign reminded us of Nancy - and Grandpa is wearing a tie from one of the little boys!

Saturday we had meeting with branch presidency and then all went out to find "missing" people on the branch directory. We met one lady, who was very kind, and we invited her to church and she said she would be glad to have visiting and home teachers. We felt like real missionaries!! The other homes we went to were vacant or the people had moved, so it was a good thing to do. I fixed a big pot of soup for everyone when we were done for lunch, and 8 people besides us, ate it all up, along with rolls and ice cream and cake. I had bought a brownie mix and made brownies, and cooked them too long (they were hard as rocks!), so we sent two of the guys across the street to the grocery store to get a cake with $20. They came back with 2 cartons of ice cream and a cake and no change. Kenny laughed and said he's just like my kids - no change!! Anyway, it was fun. Sunday, church was wonderful. Such sweet talks and lessons with a beautiful spirit. Sunday night we stopped by our landlords house, and they invited us to stay for tea - which is their dinner. We had a lovely dinner and a good visit with them. I think we'll give them some of our pamphlets about the church! Today is our P-day - we just skyped with everyone and were glad to be part of Brendon's farewell! We are so proud of him and all of our sweet family.

Happy Birthday Sign found in a drawer!

We found a cute little house to rent - unfurnished! A wee flat! We got a cute table and 4 chairs at a second hand store (and bought a table cloth!). We bought a new bed and sheets and blankets. Reminds us of when we first got married 45 years ago - those are the exact same things we bought then! Anyway, we bought one pan at the trift store, and some new dishes and silverware and glasses and towels and hangers, and iron and ironing board. It has been crazy living out of suitcases for 3 weeks, so we were very happy to get unpacked. I cooked us grilled cheese sandwiches last night, and it was tasty! Everything is very expensive - we would have been cheaper to fix an extra suitcase with stuff and bring it with us - but we didn't know. Anyway, it's been fun, and we are enjoying the jouney! Kenny is being a very patient and loving companion. We hope to get the internet and phone hooked up in the next day or so. Everything is so humid - the towels don't try with out a towel dryer. I rinsed out some socks 4 days ago and they won't dry. I think we will try to get a dehumidifier. That's a switch from home!

We had a district meeting with our elders yesterday, and were so impressed with their commitment and optimism. They are working hard are trying to be good. So fun to be with them. We are hoping to be good missionaries! We have a cute landlord that has been very nice, and the counselor in the branch who lives near us, has been very helpful and kind.
We are loving it here! It's cool and rainy - and we understand that winter is just getting started - my go into Aug and Sept. But we're staying warm so far.

President Pongia and his family in the light grey suit, his couselors Pres. Ede and family with 3 kids, and counselor Pres Toulopa with large family

Today was Sunday and we went to chuch in our Ashburton Branch. There were people from Tonga, Fiji, Argentina, Samoa,Austrailia, Phillippines, and New Zealand in this branch and they all have different accents and expressions that are all hard to understand, but other than that, it was just like home! Beautiful spirit there. They ask Kenny and I to bear our testimonies, and they act like they are very happy to have us here. Everyone is friendly and loving. Most everyone has beautiful brown eyes, and they are beautiful people! This evening we went to a family home evening with the new branch presidency and their families. It was a large group and everyone sat around on the floor, and there was a ton of food - some things we didn't recogonize. They have something like a potato that they boil and then put coconut milk over and bake. Quite interesting! We took some fruit platters as our donation. Chocolate cake and ice cream for desert! It was the branch presidents wife's birthday June 17th and she is 31!

Our little blue car with steering wheel on the wrong side!

President Jolliffe is the mission president for 2 more weeks, then they go home to England. They are lovely people and we had a wonderful evening with them.

On Thursday, we "drove around on the left side of the road" and practiced "going backwards" on round-abouts, looked around at the shopping areas, and then in the evening went to dinner at President and Sister Jolliffe's home with the Brazzeals. It was such a nice evening - we sat around the table and visited for a long time. They are really lovely people, and we wish we were going to get to know them longer. They leave for their home in England in a couple of weeks. We probably won't see them again, but it was really lovely. President Jolliffe told us that we would be going to Ashburton about an hour south of Christchurch, and that the branch president there was very excited that we were coming.

On Friday morning - the 16th, we got up at 5:00 am, got ready and to the ferry by 7:00, and then had a beautiful 3 hr ferry ride. Then we drove in our car down the east coast to Ashburton - and got here at 8:00 pm. It was a beautiful drive, and a winding road, so we couldn't go very fast. The mountains were all green with lush pasture, and sheep and cows everywhere, with ocean on the other side. It was a beautiful 9 hour drive! One place we pulled over, there was a seal or a sea lion. We woke him up and he was very kind to pose for a picture! When we got to Ashburton, we were exhausted! There was not a motel room available in any motel - a track meet in town! We went by the last motel, and I said, "just go in and ask". There was a young oriental couple checking in, and when the manager said he didn't have any rooms, they said, "you can have our room, we have some friends we'll go stay with". It was a miracle! We were so exhausted and thankful! All they had was a house which had been converted - 3 bedrooms, and everyone shared the bathroom & living room and kitchen, and a small heater in the middle of each bedroom - but we were thankful! It was right next to the highway and the train tracks - when the train roared by, all we could do was laugh! We said, "whose idea was this - to go on a mission!"

We felt better in the morning and went by the place that the mission home had "secured" for us, on the recommendation of a realator. It was really not acceptable - garbage all over and a box with a dead cat in it, and cigerette butts out front. Nasty! I almost went into shock from it all. We decided to spend the day looking around for another place - which we did! The city of Ashburton is really a beautiful little town (about 30,000 people). Every neighborhood we saw was lovely (except where that place we were to stay!) We found one nice little house that was about the right price - but it's unfurnished, so we'll have to see about that. We also met the branch president, (who is 36), and his councelors, (one has 13 children) and the missionaries! The church, is down town - and as luck would have it, there is a dollar store (only it's $2 here!) right across the street! It's not quite the "quality" I'm use to, but will have to do! We went to "movie night" at the church tonight, and met quite a few people, and watched the movie "Tangled". Kenny even enjoyed it! Only on a mission! The McDonalds is our landmark - everything is some direction from there. There is also a Domino's Pizza and a KFC and a really nice grocery store. We are staying at a nice motel for a couple of days until we figure out where to stay. We are feeling much happier tonight, and are sure everything will work out fine. Will add some pictures tomorrow!

After a royal send off from our family, we were off on our adventure. We flew to LA (5 1/2 hr layover there) and then on to Auckland 13 hrs and then Wellington 1 hr. It was a long ride - ! The skycouch, which gave us a third seat, and would fold down to make a cuddle couch, wasn't really designed with people our size in mind, but it gave us extra room to stretch out our legs and was very good. We were met at the airport in Wellington by Elder and Sister Brazzeal, and two elders, who took us to the mission office and then brought us to the Brazzeal's flat to stay with them. It is a nice 2 bedroom duplex, and they have been most gracious to us. Elder Brazzeal is helping Kenny figure out how to drive on the left side of the road. The streets are very narrow, and there is a round-about at nearly every intersection where everyone goes the wrong direction! (Kenny hated the couple of round-abouts in Idaho Falls!!) So it is really going to take some getting use to! More practice today. Sister Brazzeal fixed us a delicious dinner last night and they have been so gracious and extremely helpful in telling us about everything. We slept WELL last night! We can't believe we are really here after anticipating this for many months. It is very cool and breezy here, but the grass and trees are green and some flowers, - it isn't like the winter we know from home. The sky was blue yesterday and today. It's was about 57 degrees (I think) yesterday and very plesant. We went to a few stores yesterday - got Kenny a GPS and me a curling iron - so I think we are set!! The people speak English, but with a very strong accent, and fast, so you really have to listen!! Yesterday at the bank, Kenny ran into a man who wanted to know about our church and he got to visit with him a little - that was pretty exciting! Tonight we will go to dinner at President and Sister Jolliffe's house and find out about our assignment and where we are headed. This is very exciting!

We have just finished a wonderful week at the MTC in Provo. It was fun to experience it for ourselves after our kids had all told us about it. We learned a lot, and met lots of lovely people, and ate glorious food, and had a great experience! They had the "overflow" couples with cars, stay at the Marriott downtown - so that's where we've been staying all week! Pretty rough going! Our kids and grand-kids have joined us for the weekend, and to bid us farewell! We are excited to begin this adventure as missionaries! We have our name badges and are ready to go!

Our adorable Grandchildren practicing song for our farewell Sunday.

This is a test to see if I know how to add to our blog! Yikes!
We had a wonderful "farewell" Sunday, Memorial Day weekend, May 29th. So many of our families and BYU Idaho friends came to support us. Our grandchildren all sang, "As Sisters in Zion/The Army of Helaman" and it was beautiful. A loverly day!!
It's now a week later and we are about packed up. We get set apart at the Stake President's office at 11:00 tomorrow, June 5th, and then we'll kiss Donevan's family goodbye for a week (we'll see everyone next weekend at Mike and Rosy's "farewell"). Then we'll head down to Utah, stop and kiss Camille's family goodbye, and then on to Shawn's where we will spend the night and go to the MTC in Provo Monday morning at 10:00. Can't believe it's really time for us to go. But hopefully, we're ready. We are taking our car to the MTC and then after the kids take us to the airport Monday, May 13th, they will bring it back up here and get it sold.