In the first verse of Hebrews 12, the
Apostle Paul shares these thoughts, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us, . . . "
This was the theme of today’s Sunday School
lesson in the Glen Innes Ward where we attend Church. It caused us to think
about our lives, our missionary service, and the week we have just concluded
here in New Zealand. The sentiment of Paul’s message is worth considering each
day. It’s been a good but busy week, as is usually the case.
We began the week with a Monday morning
Devotional at the Pacific Area Offices of the Church where we work. The
gathering was a special occasion as we heard from the Young Men’s General
President of the Church, Stephen W. Owen, and the Second Counselor in the
Sunday School General Presidency, Brian K. Ashton, who replaced John S. Tanner
last June. Interestingly, Brother Tanner was inaugurated president of Brigham
Young University–Hawaii just last week. Brother Owen was sustained in his
presidency at last April’s General Conference. These two brothers had also
participated in a six-stake Priesthood Fireside on Sunday evening at the stake
center near the New Zealand Missionary Training Center in south Auckland. I
attended that meeting and was charged with taking photographs for a news story
about the meeting. The story has since been published in Mormon
Newsroom-Pacific. You can see the article online at:
Each of these men spoke about changes
taking place in various Church programs, including a complete rewrite of the
Church’s teaching curriculum which is currently being evaluated by the Church.
These two leaders had just concluded a several-day visit to New Zealand and
were on their way to stops in Tonga and Vanuatu. Undoubtedly, their time in
these three countries will give them contrasting perspectives to consider in
their callings.
It was fun for us to say “hello” to Brother
Owen again since we have known him personally for many years when we lived in
the Provo Utah Edgemont Stake. In fact, I served on the Stake High Council with
Brother Owen during the mid-1990s. He was surprised to see us but seemed happy
about it.
Much of this past week was taken up trying
to serve the needs of the Area Communication Committee, a group commissioned in
each Area of the Church by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We were called as
Coordinators of the Pacific Area Communication Committee by Elder S. Gifford
Nielsen several weeks ago. The purpose of these committees is to facilitate the
spreading of messages from the Brethren to members of the Church. In this part
of the world, we are trying to meet the needs of the Church in three stages of
Church-maturity. These are known as the Emerging Church, the Growing Church,
and the Mature Church. We are happy to serve, but our tasks of coordination can
be a bit daunting, and so we sometimes find ourselves very busy with this part
of our missionary service.
One week ago, we invited Elder and Sister
Jeff and Linda Champlin to travel with us to Matakana, New Zealand. There we
had fun at the farmer’s market, which is held each Saturday morning. We enjoyed
ourselves very much. The Champlins replaced Elder and Sister Guy and Paula
Fugal who returned home to Pleasant Grove, Utah. The Champlins are from Cache
Valley, Utah. We have tried to be as much help to the Champlins as the Fugals
were to us when we first arrived last summer. Being new missionaries can be
quite challenging; and being Public Affairs missionaries has its own set of
challenges, as we’ve learned in our first months here in the South Pacific.
At the end of this week on Saturday, we
decided to stay close to home (our apartment), doing cleaning, washing, grocery
shopping, and so forth. We also took time in the afternoon to walk to the beach
at Takapuna, where we live. It was a beautiful day, and many people were out
and about enjoying the sunshine. After our walk, we had a very fun dinner at a
beach-side restaurant.
On different occasions during the week, we
enjoyed talking and texting with members of our family back home who are spread
from Utah to New York, Minnesota, Texas, and California. For us, an important
part of serving as senior missionaries is our desire that the Lord will watch
over and care for our loved ones; and we are convinced that He is doing just
that!
Have a wonderful week, and we will be in
touch in another few days. In the meantime, it is our prayer that Heavenly
Father will bless you in your daily walk; or as said by the Apostle Paul, “. . .
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, . . .
Elder Barry and Sister Susan Preator
