Another Week Flown By!
Wow! It is hard to believe another week has passed by. We seem to be settling in to the mission office routine now. We are understanding our responsibilities and the skills to perform them are becoming developed so we can be more effficient. I (Elder Folland) actually started to feel like I have dug out of the hole-at least until the next transfer. This week we received the first two of about 20 new vehicles that will be added to our fleet. Our net number of vehicles will not increase because I will be removing the same number of old ones to auction. I have to be the referee because everyone would like to have one of the new cars. I have let it be known that bribes of food will be taken into consideration when new cars are given out. There is a fair amount of logistics involved in this process. Sister Folland is getting much more comfortable with the process of making sure the missionaries are legal drivers. It is quite a process to do that. She also successfully renewed a missionary's visa, which is a big deal.
We received two new missionary couples this week. On Wednesday, Elder and Sister Hulse arrived from the States. We take turns with the other office couple with the reponsibility of picking the new senior couples up at the airport. It was our turn on Wednesday. The flights from the States always arrive between 5:30 and 6:30 am in Auckland. It is a 90 minute drive to the airport from Hamilton so we have to get up early. This was our first time on pick up and we ran into traffic which got us there late. That coupled with the fact that the plane arrived almost 30 minutes early, left the new missionaries concerned if someone was going to meet them. It all worked out fine though. Saturday, the Baxters arrived. We met them at the office to give them a car and other things before sending them out to their area of service.
Friday night we decided to go out on a "real" date to the movies. We went to see Toy Story 4, which we enjoyed, but almost more fun was the theatre. It looked more like someone's home theater than what we are used to back home. The seats were all loveseats with pillows and blankets. We grabed a wonderful roast lamb and potato dinner at a local take away and ate it during the movie- that's ok to do here. Yesterday, we went to a ward social at Opal hot springs in Matamata. Matamata is about 1 hour drive from Hamilton and is the closest town to Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings fame. We didn't soak in the hot pools because we didn't bring our "togs" (swimming suits) to New Zealand. We ate sausages and chips- big fat hot dogs and French fries. We found out they don't provide plates and utensils. The food is spread out over the table and you just pick it up and eat it with your fingers. We brought potato salad, which idn't work that well as a finger food, so we piled it into a bun to use as a plate. Afterward we went to a beautiful waterfall- Wairere falls. It is about a 45 minute hike to a view point. The track is very steep and in areas as has many stairs to climb. Well worth the effort though!
We continue to love our mission. We love feeling like we are conrbuting, in a small way, to the Lord's work. We do not have an abundance of amazing spiritual experinces with the work we are doingin the office but we do feel the Lord's assistance in our work. We know it helps the young missionaries accomplish their missions. We know the Savior lives and love the opportunity to be in His service full time.
We would love to hear from you and learn how things are going back home. When you have a minute, drop us an email. dogdoc.dwf@gmail.com or sharonsclan.sf@gmail.com.
Love,
Elder and Sister Folland
Friday night we decided to go out on a "real" date to the movies. We went to see Toy Story 4, which we enjoyed, but almost more fun was the theatre. It looked more like someone's home theater than what we are used to back home. The seats were all loveseats with pillows and blankets. We grabed a wonderful roast lamb and potato dinner at a local take away and ate it during the movie- that's ok to do here. Yesterday, we went to a ward social at Opal hot springs in Matamata. Matamata is about 1 hour drive from Hamilton and is the closest town to Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings fame. We didn't soak in the hot pools because we didn't bring our "togs" (swimming suits) to New Zealand. We ate sausages and chips- big fat hot dogs and French fries. We found out they don't provide plates and utensils. The food is spread out over the table and you just pick it up and eat it with your fingers. We brought potato salad, which idn't work that well as a finger food, so we piled it into a bun to use as a plate. Afterward we went to a beautiful waterfall- Wairere falls. It is about a 45 minute hike to a view point. The track is very steep and in areas as has many stairs to climb. Well worth the effort though!
We continue to love our mission. We love feeling like we are conrbuting, in a small way, to the Lord's work. We do not have an abundance of amazing spiritual experinces with the work we are doingin the office but we do feel the Lord's assistance in our work. We know it helps the young missionaries accomplish their missions. We know the Savior lives and love the opportunity to be in His service full time.
We would love to hear from you and learn how things are going back home. When you have a minute, drop us an email. dogdoc.dwf@gmail.com or sharonsclan.sf@gmail.com.
Love,
Elder and Sister Folland
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