Another Transition Begins

 Well,  it's hard to believe but we are down to 1 month until our mission in New Zealand will come to a close.  Our release date is November 20.  Although we have been thinking about that date for the past few months, the fact that we do not have a home to return to and needing to make some plans as to what will happen when we return, we need to think about it.  It is a bit different for senior missionaries due to the number of things that have to be organized in order for our lives to continue  after the mission.   It really hit home this past week when we began the process of training the couple who will be taking over our responsibilities.  The couple, Elder and Sister Atkins, are New Zealand natives who live in the Hamilton area.  For the past few months we were  wondering who would take over for us since it had become obvious the couple called from the States was not going to make it to New Zealand any time soon.  Then the Atkins appeared on the scene.  They came into the mission office wondering if there was anything they could do.  They had been called to serve in Utah at the  Salt Lake Headquarters mission but, of course, Covid has altered their plans.  They wanted to be able to serve until the time arrives that they can serve in Utah.  They previously served a mission in Australia and even spent 3 months in the mission office.  President jumped on that and arranged for them to be called to serve in the New Zealand Hamilton Mission.  The Lord really does watch over our mission and provides for the needs of the mission to keep it moving forward.

Two weeks ago, I had an interesting experience.  I was working in my office when President Erekson came in hurried and said, "Elder Folland- come with me- hurry!" So I  jumped up and followed, not thinking to pick up my cell phone.  When we got to his car he explained he had receive a phone call from a member who said she had just seen a couple of our elders at The Base, a large shopping mall in North Hamilton.   The elders had jumped out of their car and met up with a couple of young ladies and disappeared into the mall.  As many of you know, such a rendezvous with missionaries is seriously against the mission rules.  When we got to  the mall, we quickly searched,  finding no trace of the missionaries. President called the member back to find out the exact location of their car, which she described.  Low and behold there was the missionary car right where she said, or so it seemed.  President told me to go get his car on the other side of the mall while he waited, watching for them to return.  When I got back with the car there had been no action so we waited, watching the car for awhile.  I suggested I should make a another trip through the mall again while he waited.

Well, I was gone for about 10 minutes and when I returned President, his car and the missionary car were nowhere to be seen.  I thought for a moment and then reached for my cell phone and low, it wasn't there.  It was still on my desk in the office.  I thought " I can just find a pay phone and call president".  Of course, now days there is no pay phone anywhere and most people don't even know what they are.  Luckily, the lady at the information desk let me make a call to President and I learned he was about 10 minutes away from the mall.  Here is what happened:  Shortly after I left, a young woman(not a missonary) walked over to the missionary car, jumped in, and started to drive away.  President was quite perplexed and immediatly thought someone was stealing the car.  He chased the car for 10 minutes trying to get the driver's attention, but she ignored him.  Finally, they were both stopped at a stop light and President jumped out of his car,  walked up and wrapped on the window.  She sheepishly ran the window down and said "Hi".  She explained the sister missonaries, to whom the car belonged, had asked her to drive the car over to a Kmart across the street from the mall, where the sisters would meet up with her.  The sister missionaries were at the mall in their casual P-day clothing( also a breech of missionary rules, but a minor one).  When they saw President watching their car, they were afraid to show themselves in their P-day clothing.  So,  they concocted this plan to have their friend drive the car where President wouldn't see them, then they would meet up to get their car.  Well, what started out as a minor infraction turned into a major problem-allowing a non-missionary drive a mission car.  This presents major liability issues for the Church, as you can imagine.  President was not the least bit happy with the situation and suspended their driving privledges.

So, you are probably wondering what about the elders and the young ladies, who started this whole adventure.  We never did find them at the mall, but President had his suspicions and by 11 pm that night, he had discovered a web of disobedience involving at least 12 missionaries. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become a private investigator on my mission.

This is a part of missionary life that is not usually discussed, but is, none-the-less, a reality.  It really is not surprising when you consider these are young adults, who really are closer to young than adults.  They are only six years from graduating from Primary and still six years from having completely developed brains.  Our focus is missionary  work and our purpose is to bring people to Christ, but we are also trying to help these wonderful  young people to grow up under somewhat protected circumstances with adult mentors to help them along.  Coming on a mission does not cause them to become men and women of God overnight.  It takes lots of experiences, good and bad, to make that transition.  Every missionary should be appauladed for making the decision to give themselves this opportunity.  They really are some of the best young people this world has to offer.  

The plan for us going forward is to train for 2 more weeks,  then Sister Folland and I will gradually bow out of the picture.  We will go less and less into the office, but be available for questions.  On Novemeber 20 we fly to Christchurch where we will explore the South Island for 16 days.  Then on December 6 we fly home.  Are we "trunky" do you ask?  We are very excited to see and interact with our beloved friends and family back home.  We have missed you.  We really dont' think about is much, though.  There is too much work to do.  We have one more month to soak in the lovely Hamilton countryside and surrounding area and many problems to solve, missonaries to support and love, and dirty flats to clean!  We love our mission, the Gospel is true, Jesus is our Savior and we have a living prophet who guides us in these turbuent times.