Family Comes to Town!

One of the fun opportunities we’ve had on our mission is the chance to host family members who come to visit us in New Zealand. My brother, Lanny, and his wife, Alice, of Provo, ventured over the ocean to spend the last week of October in this beautiful land. We had a long national holiday weekend with the office closed, so we traveled north with them to Bay of Islands (one of our favorite places) and stayed at the historic Duke of Marlborough hotel.

Russell was New Zealand’s first permanent European settlement and seaport. The pier surrounded by sailboats, historic buildings, and a waterfront walkway with little cafes and boutique shops gives Russell a romantic quality and reminds us of a charming New England seaport with its clapboard houses and picturesque setting on the bay.

We chartered a boat to take us out to Hole in the Rock and do a little fishing. It was thrilling to be accompanied much of the way by a pod of several happy dolphins. We caught a few kingfish and mostly just enjoyed the lovely day.

Another area that holds many fun adventures is just two to three hours south of Auckland in the Tauranga/Rotorua/Hamilton/Raglan area, a band of the North Island that stretches west to east, coast to coast. That can be visited in a single (long) day.  

Bridal Veil Falls, near Raglan on the west coast, is accessed by a well-developed (rain forest) trail, not too long or difficult a hike for four old folks, but with many many stairs down the cliff. The payoff is seeing the impressive falls from the pool at the bottom. 

In the heart of the area sits the Hamilton temple with its lovely grounds and gardens set high on a hill in a most beautiful rural setting.

Hamilton Gardens is another must-see for our guests. Just a few minutes from the temple, this free of charge, open year-round garden is a lovely tour of different garden "rooms" modeling the Chinese, English, French, Italian, Tudor, etc. styles of gardens. Just delightful!

And, of course, few tourists can miss visiting Hobbiton (even those of us who’ve never seen or read the notorious Lord of the Rings books or movies!). But the scenery is breath-taking and who doesn’t love seeing the creation of this little village with its winsome “houses” and settings. It’s all about the artistic cuteness, for me. And I want to replicate the millhouse in my backyard!

One of our favorite places to visit is Mount Maunganui on the east coast, a few hours south of Auckland. It is both a town and a mountain, a single volcano rising on the tip of a peninsula. The town is a fun beach town, one of only a few in New Zealand that has oceanfront hotel accommodations (mostly condo towers). It has a magnificent white sands beach on a curving bay and several restaurant and boutique shops for sampling. Our favorite activity is walking the well-developed trail that rings the base of Mount Maunganui. It’s an easy hour-long walk (including photo stops) with shaded benches along the way to enjoy the breath-taking scenes of rock, sand, and ocean. Because it is the tip of the peninsula the walk is ocean-side for all but a few minutes at the beginning and end. Just lovely.

On this trip, we didn’t make it as far south as Lake Taupo, but that is another of our favorite places to visit. Nearby Huka Falls is amazing for two reasons, at least. The amount of water that goes rushing through the short narrow chute of this large river can fill five Olympic-size swimming pools each minute! And, second, the crystalline aquamarine color of the water is stunning.

It was great to have Lanny and Alice visit. We walked our legs off each day, their devices measuring our thousands of steps, and talked for hours about all our favorite subjects, mostly the people and places we love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ that holds us all together. Thanks for making the trip!!

Brisbane Australia, General Conference and Newsroom-Pacific

September and early October of our missionary service passed very quickly. During this period we had a long-awaited opportunity to visit Australia and to once again participate in wonderful General Conference.

Late in the evening of September 13, 2016, Susan and I boarded a plane for Brisbane, Australia, arriving there at our hotel just after midnight. Even in the dark, we were thrilled to see the majestic outline of a beautiful city on the banks of the Brisbane, River. This river is the longest river in the south east region of Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823.

Our hotel was on a narrow point which juts into a bend in the river called Kangaroo Point. We later learned that our supervisor, Richard Hunter, had family living at almost the very address of our hotel in the early part of the 1900s. He just learned that news, the day we arrived, from his sister, who lives in Brisbane. The news was clearly emotional for Rich as he spoke to us about his feelings—to know that he was walking on ground where once his family lived.

Our reason for being in Brisbane was to participate with the Public Affairs Missionaries in New Zealand and Australia for a three-day seminar. Besides our boss, Rich, the other elders and sisters included Jeff and Linda Champlin serving in New Zealand, Leo and Marilyn Brown serving in Melbourne, Australia, and Elder Galan and Nancy Merrill newly called to serve in Sydney, Australia. Elder Robert Dudfield who works as an Assistant Director of Public Affairs in Melbourne and is an Area Seventy was also with us.

Our conference was rewarding and enjoyable. We learned much and left committed to continue our public affairs work throughout the Pacific.

We also enjoyed doing an endowment session in the Brisbane Temple. And on Susan’s birthday, September 17, I took a picture of a beautiful birthday girl standing on the balcony of our hotel, with downtown Brisbane, Australia in the background.

After the conference, Susan and I stayed in Australia for a couple of days to tour the countryside. We headed north a few hours to the Sunshine Coast area where we visited many charming smaller communities both inland and along the coast. We attended church on Sunday in Gympie. The saints there greeted us warmly, and we very much enjoyed feeling their spirits and knowing of their dedication to the restored gospel.

During our time in Queensland, we spent an afternoon at the Australia Zoo which is a 100-acre zoo located near Beerwah and the Glass House Mountains. We drove to a viewing site which looked out over the landscape where one could see the Glasshouse Mountains.

The Glass House Mountains are a group of eleven hills that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. From the Internet, they are described as, “The highest hill is Mount Beerwah at 556 meters above sea level, but the most identifiable of all the hills is Mount Tibrogargan which from some directions appears to be a face staring out to sea. Mt Ngungun is a sub volcanic mountain.”

The Australia Zoo was an amazing experience. Susan and I really enjoyed spending the better part of a day there. About the zoo from the Internet, “The zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on 3 June 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park. Their son, Steve Irwin [of television fame who tragically passed away], had helped his parents since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo. In 1982, the area of the park was doubled and renamed the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Steve and his wife Terri changed the name of their now growing wildlife park to Australia Zoo. As filming generated extra funds, Steve and Terri put all money raised from filming and merchandise into conservation and building new exhibits.”

“Australia Zoo won the Australian Tourism Awards for 2003–2004 in the category Major Tourist Attraction. In 2004, the Australian Animal Hospital was opened next to the zoo to help with animal care and rehabilitation. Visitors see a wide variety of birds, mammals, and reptiles, and can view crocodile feedings, hand-feed elephants, and have hands-on animal encounters.”

Our Australia adventure was a highlight for us. We very much enjoyed the small piece of the country we saw (Australia is approximately the same size as the U.S.) and the people we met.

During the month we continued to gather, prepare and write stories for Mormon Newsroom Pacific. Some of the stories included:

One about a Tonga Vision Impaired Centre which was painted by missionaries, both young and senior:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/%C2%A0tonga-vision-impaired-centre-president-thanks-missionaries-for-service

A story about life-sustaining water on the small islands of Tuvalu where the Church donated huge water tanks to gather rainwater, the only source of fresh water for the islands, for the children and pre-schools on the islands:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/%C2%A0children-of-tuvalu-receive-gift-of-life-sustaining-water

Another story reported the work being done by missionaries in Samoa to combat the effects of dental disease so the children won’t be subject to the high levels of tooth loss that is common there.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/saving-samoan-childrens-smiles

One more example was a story called “Come to General Conference with Us,” where we featured video clips and memes inviting people throughout the Pacific Area of the Church to participate in and personally benefit from the messages of living apostles and prophets:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/%C2%A0-come-to-general-conference-with-us

And a final story to follow up on the effects of Cyclone Winston that devastated areas of Fiji last February:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/3710456481944576502

We arose at 5:00 a.m. on the first day of General Conference to watch the session live. The time difference in New Zealand is five hours behind and one day ahead of Salt Lake City, so this made the first session early on our Sunday morning.

One week earlier, we watched the women’s session of Conference together, which we enjoyed very much. With the exception of the Sunday afternoon session, we watched all of the sessions live and enjoyed every speaker. Indeed, we are blessed to have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and inspired leaders who help us live our lives through the sharing of wise counsel, prompted by our Heavenly Father, the Savior and the Holy Ghost.

From time to time, we continue to enjoy taking brief jaunts, when we have opportunities, to travel around the North Island of New Zealand, witnessing first-hand the beauties of this marvelous country, and to enjoy meeting with, talking to, and learning about its wonderful people. As I’ve said since the beginning of our time here, “everywhere one turns, there is a photo-op.”

Each day, we arise, pray and read from The Book of Mormon; I have grown to love this routine. More importantly, I am constantly inspired by the tutoring of the Spirit and the consideration of the direction given through this modern day, scriptural miracle. It is absolutely wonderful!

We hope each of you is well, and happy. We miss our family and friends and the haunts of home, but for now, this is our home, and we are most grateful to be here, serving the Lord.

May the Lord continue to bless and watch over each of you!

Until next time,

Elder Barry and Sister Susan Preator

One Year Gone By

August went by quickly. August 3^rd was our one year mark and the beginning of our last six months. We still have much to do and there are always new and different assignments that keep us busy. We continue to write stories, at least one or two a week, to post on Mormon Newsroom. We hope they are informative, interesting, and inspiring. We get excited when we see that many people have read a story and liked it, especially when it is thousands!

There are several large malls in the surrounding area and they are similar to our US malls except with different stores. The Albany mall is nearest and the one we go to the most…usually on Thursday nights, because in New Zealand, that is the only week night that stores are open past 6:00.

So, it has become our night to have our favorite roast pork dinner at their food court. It is truly delicious and filling.

And what girl can’t use a pair of beautiful blue and orange heels?!

We were able to spend an evening with our wonderful Pacific Area president, Kevin W. Pearson, and his wife, June, over dinner at our apartment before they left for Utah, having finished their years of service here. The office held a going away reception for them, and there were hugs and tears all around. He is a master speaker/teacher and we will miss being inspired by him regularly.

Then come wonderful Elder Craig A. Cardon and his wife, Debbie to fill the hole in the Area Presidency. I was asked to be on the food committee for the welcome reception and was happy to provide the most delicious little cupcake morsels (ordered from a young LDS woman entrepreneur!) as desserts and artfully arrange (right?!) mountains of vegetables prepared by these good sisters.

And this was the delicious buffet enjoyed by all the office staff and missionary couples following inspirational talks given by the Cardons. 

Fortunately for me, there was a lot of food left over because the next day, a Saturday, I needed to provide a “light lunch” for this small group of people who met informally to discuss very important matters, and I was able to simply serve the “twice blessed” delicious food.

Member of Parliament (MP) Su’a William Sio, also a member of the Church, joined our Auckland public affairs YSA council, us, and Junior and Muriel Samuela, the Directors of Public Affairs over all the north half of the North Island, for lunch. We were privileged to have him speak with us about the political topics of the day and how important it is for the young people to be involved—to understand how best to help their nation take care of its people. (We look serious because we were talking about serious matters!) We continue to be very impressed by these young people and by Brother and Sister Samuela who are models of how effective DPAs and their councils can assist the Lord’s work to move forward.

Every chance we get, when we have a few hours, or are on our way to and from places, we stop to enjoy the never-ending beautiful places on these islands. Here Kitekite Falls (say kitty kitty and you are close) are hidden a short lovely hike off the road.

I continue to admire the wonderful job New Zealand does with their public parks and trails. They are so well-developed and maintained that it makes it such a joy to experience the natural wonders here.

Even their outhouses (they call all restrooms simply “toilets”) are beautiful and clean.
We went to a new part of town one Saturday looking for mini-cupcake pans, which led to a stroll down this charming street.

I don’t know what type of architecture this is called, but these Auckland city homes are typical of the type: sort of craftsman-Victorian-cottage-plantation. Whatever it is, I love it. These are smaller houses, but there are many beautiful, grand homes of this ilk and era plus many new and ultra-modern ones.

Can I please have one of these on my mail box at home?

The street looks across the water to the city’s iconic landmark, Auckland’s Sky Tower. And though they are small houses, they have high price tags because of their inner-city location and view and also because Auckland is experiencing a housing shortage and rapidly inflating prices. 

As we drive farther downtown we get a closer view of the tower which can be seen from almost everywhere in the area and lights up at night in a different rainbow of colors. It really sets Auckland apart from other city skylines.

Our department, together with the family history department, was in charge of conducting the month’s Monday devotionals. I got to take a turn at conducting and praying, and Barry conducted and spoke during the month.

We so much enjoy attending our Glen Innes ward where we are assigned. We also enjoy the thirty minute drive around the Auckland Bay to get there. It’s a small ward, but with faithful saints who are so loving and kind to us. We are always spiritually fed by the talks and lessons, and we enjoy learning about and experiencing different aspects of their various Tongan, Samoan, and Maori customs and foods. Following a missionary homecoming or farewell it is typical for them to bring “a plate,” and we gather in the cultural hall to share their delicious offerings. These cute Primary kids are twin daughters of our Bishop Ahokava and the sons of his first counselor, Brother Sua.

We also have frequent opportunities to take the young missionaries serving in the ward to dinner. Because we live out of their area, we can’t have them come to our home, but none have ever complained that we meet them at our favorite Italian restaurant at Mission Bay in their area for a filling dinner. A few weeks ago we had Elder Poole from Australia and his new companion, Elder Nakamura from Sandy Utah, with us.

A few weeks later Elder Poole was transferred, and we took Elder Nakamura and his new companion, Elder Tongi from Wellington to dinner. We have such good conversations about the gospel and our love for the work we are doing in serving our Savior, Jesus Christ, at these dinners. We give encouragement and love to the elders, hopefully leaving them “full.” We think they are wonderful and we are inspired by them.

We spent one Saturday attending the Tamaki Stake’s self-reliance fair and a wonderful cultural program performed by their youth, then writing the article about it for Mormon Newsroom.

We were also invited to tour the new Samoan Embassy and fale buildings just being completed. Accompanying us were the Samoan Trade Commissioner, Fonoti Dr Lafitai Fuatai, and the buildings’ architects, along with members of the church’s physical facilities department. It was a most interesting afternoon and truly beautiful buildings. You can read our article here…  
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/4897484876482954496

Barry loves to shoot waterfalls and there are many nearby to shoot! I photographed the photographer here at the Piroa Falls near Maungaturoto.

The US could take a lesson from the NZ alcohol restrictions. They are posted everywhere, including at all their major sporting events (All Blacks rugby games, etc.) Can you imagine if alcohol were prohibited at the NFL, NBA, and college games??!! It would make quite a difference (like national mutiny?!).

Waipu beach. There is no shortage of beautiful beaches in New Zealand and we continue to find new ones. Maybe this one is now our favorite!

A year in the planning, and with much time spent the past few months, the “YSAs to Parliament” activity finally arrived. We took some twenty-plus youth, LDS and Catholic, to Wellington for two days of interactions. They are beautiful young people.

The youth were addressed by several high-ranking members of Parliament, attended an evening devotional to which local members and friends were invited, and gave service at a community health facility.

Barry and I helped with the transportation, accommodations, meals, and photography. The Samuelas provided the overall direction, assisted by their great YSA council, and the other DPAs from the various areas of New Zealand. Additionally, a wonderful Sister Catherine Jones, a senior Catholic leader in Wellington, has been on the planning committee with us the entire time, and she was there with her YSA council also. 

The New Zealand Parliament building rivals any of the many castles, palaces, government buildings, and churches we have been in throughout Europe. The interior is especially breathtaking with classic architecture, finishes, and furnishings. I loved being in this gorgeous building.

Elder David Thomson, area seventy in New Zealand attended our activity and took an active role throughout. He is a giant of a man and so well-loved here. As he spoke at the various events, it was evident that this humble man is a great one.

We took the chance to detour on our long drive back to Auckland to see Castle Point lighthouse, a striking sight sitting on its high rock pinnacle overlooking the Pacific Ocean below.

We were happy to celebrate birthdays this month (and are so grateful for iphones and FaceTime!) with our grandson Dylan, our son John, two of our granddaughters, Fynnley and Jamie, and our son-in-law Kyle and be reminded of what a great blessing they are in our lives.

We are so grateful to be here in New Zealand, doing our best to assist in the work of the Lord. Our primary focus is to promote faith, family, and freedom throughout the world, to testify of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that families may continue to be strengthened and protected as the foundation of our societies, and that freedom of religion can be preserved for the good of all mankind.

We appreciate so much the love and support of our families, our friends, and our associates. We hope you are all very well, blissfully happy, and highly prosperous.

With much love and gratitude,

Elder and Sister Preator

Barry and Susan