A Year in Aotearoa
Last Friday we passed another milestone- one year in Aotearoa-"Land of the Long White Cloud". The Maori name refers to cloud formations that helped navigate early Polynesians to the Island. This time of year, the island is covered by clouds much of the time. We remember when we arrived to New Zealand, a year ago, it was indeed shrouded by clouds. We have received some rain almost every day for the past couple of weeks. We had 3 consecutive days of frost on the car last week, reminding us that winter is again near. Luckily, between the storms we have been able to get out for walks and bike rides- much needed because of the intensity of the past weeks and into the next 3 weeks.
We received on Wednesday, the first 13 of our influx of 73 missionaries slated to arrive in the next few weeks. Not as many as we expected because of challenges arranging travel. We will make up for it with 26 likely to come this week. We have come to learn that things change rapidly in this new "normal" and plans are obsolete almost as soon as they are made. Here is an example: Wednesday morning, we were to pick up 9 missionaries in Auckand, who would arrive here at around 9. An additional 3 were to arrive in Hamilton around the same time, by air, from Wellington and Christchurch, with one more arriving by air in the afternoon. About 8:50 President Erekson received a call that the group from Auckland had been delayed and would be unable to meet the missionaries at the airport. He asked Sister Folland and me to quickly run out to the airport to greet the missionaries as they arrived. As is often the case in Hamilton, we encountered heavy fog on the way to the airport. When we arrived we learned the flights had been delayed 30 minutes from Wellington and 15 minutes from Christchurch. That was perfect, they would arrive within 15 minutes of each other and we could get back to the office to start orientation. After about 15 minutes, it was announced that the fight from Wellington could not land due to the fog and was diverted to Tauranga, 90 minutes away, but the flight from Christchurch was circling the airport, hoping to make a landing. Fifteen minutes later we learned that flight was diverted to Auckland, 90 minutes the other direction. Of course the group coming in from Auckland had long since left and actually were now in Hamilton. So we left the airport empty handed.
So the plans for the day were pretty much shot and we had to regroup. The diverted missionaries were put on buses to Hamilton. The miraculous thing is, by the end of the day, all of the tasks for getting the new missionaries oriented, interviewed and checked in were nearly completed and the rest could be done first thing in the morning. I somehow found time to have the temporary housing for the new missionaries ready before bedtime.
In addition to the new missionaries arriving, we had 2 zone conferences. On Tuesday we traveled to South Auckland for the first one and then in Hamilton on Thursday. It really was kind of nuts but we made it through.
We told each other several times during the week that we are only human and we could only do our best- anything that got missed would get missed and that was just too bad. The amazing thing is, everything got done and nothing of importance was missed. The zone conferences were a success, all of the new missionaries arrived and got out to their new areas with their new companions, and their keys all worked to get them into their new flats.( The key reference is another story related to the chaos of the mass exodus and not getting several keys returned)
So, Friday night, we took a deep breath and started to relax a little from the crazy week. President and Sister Erekson took the office staff out for a nice dinner as a "thank you" for all of our work. We had a great dinner and fun conversation. Just as we were leaving I got the CALL- of course something had to go wrong. It was the sisters assigned to Welcome Bay, East of Tauranga 90 minutes way. They had just locked their house and car keys in the flat. Usually, we have an extra set of keys with the zone leaders in the area, but with all of the upheavel of the past 2 months, that was no longer the case. Then a thought struck me-the service missionaries in Tauranga who help with flat inspections have a set of keys. I called them and sure enough, they had a set. I arranged to get them to the sisters and I thought "problem solved" ----but, bad luck, it was an obsolete set. As it turned out, I had them stay with another companionship of sisters in a neighboring town for the night and in the morning I arranged for a locksmith to get them in. I'm sure it was a long night for them with no beds or blankets, but it was the best I could do.
Who knows what this week will bring with 26 more missionaries arriving?
We hope you are all well. We are pained by the happenings back home. We pray for the welfare of our beloved United States and we pray you are all well and safe.
Love,
Elder and Sister Folland
We received on Wednesday, the first 13 of our influx of 73 missionaries slated to arrive in the next few weeks. Not as many as we expected because of challenges arranging travel. We will make up for it with 26 likely to come this week. We have come to learn that things change rapidly in this new "normal" and plans are obsolete almost as soon as they are made. Here is an example: Wednesday morning, we were to pick up 9 missionaries in Auckand, who would arrive here at around 9. An additional 3 were to arrive in Hamilton around the same time, by air, from Wellington and Christchurch, with one more arriving by air in the afternoon. About 8:50 President Erekson received a call that the group from Auckland had been delayed and would be unable to meet the missionaries at the airport. He asked Sister Folland and me to quickly run out to the airport to greet the missionaries as they arrived. As is often the case in Hamilton, we encountered heavy fog on the way to the airport. When we arrived we learned the flights had been delayed 30 minutes from Wellington and 15 minutes from Christchurch. That was perfect, they would arrive within 15 minutes of each other and we could get back to the office to start orientation. After about 15 minutes, it was announced that the fight from Wellington could not land due to the fog and was diverted to Tauranga, 90 minutes away, but the flight from Christchurch was circling the airport, hoping to make a landing. Fifteen minutes later we learned that flight was diverted to Auckland, 90 minutes the other direction. Of course the group coming in from Auckland had long since left and actually were now in Hamilton. So we left the airport empty handed.
So the plans for the day were pretty much shot and we had to regroup. The diverted missionaries were put on buses to Hamilton. The miraculous thing is, by the end of the day, all of the tasks for getting the new missionaries oriented, interviewed and checked in were nearly completed and the rest could be done first thing in the morning. I somehow found time to have the temporary housing for the new missionaries ready before bedtime.
In addition to the new missionaries arriving, we had 2 zone conferences. On Tuesday we traveled to South Auckland for the first one and then in Hamilton on Thursday. It really was kind of nuts but we made it through.
We told each other several times during the week that we are only human and we could only do our best- anything that got missed would get missed and that was just too bad. The amazing thing is, everything got done and nothing of importance was missed. The zone conferences were a success, all of the new missionaries arrived and got out to their new areas with their new companions, and their keys all worked to get them into their new flats.( The key reference is another story related to the chaos of the mass exodus and not getting several keys returned)
So, Friday night, we took a deep breath and started to relax a little from the crazy week. President and Sister Erekson took the office staff out for a nice dinner as a "thank you" for all of our work. We had a great dinner and fun conversation. Just as we were leaving I got the CALL- of course something had to go wrong. It was the sisters assigned to Welcome Bay, East of Tauranga 90 minutes way. They had just locked their house and car keys in the flat. Usually, we have an extra set of keys with the zone leaders in the area, but with all of the upheavel of the past 2 months, that was no longer the case. Then a thought struck me-the service missionaries in Tauranga who help with flat inspections have a set of keys. I called them and sure enough, they had a set. I arranged to get them to the sisters and I thought "problem solved" ----but, bad luck, it was an obsolete set. As it turned out, I had them stay with another companionship of sisters in a neighboring town for the night and in the morning I arranged for a locksmith to get them in. I'm sure it was a long night for them with no beds or blankets, but it was the best I could do.
Who knows what this week will bring with 26 more missionaries arriving?
We hope you are all well. We are pained by the happenings back home. We pray for the welfare of our beloved United States and we pray you are all well and safe.
Love,
Elder and Sister Folland
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