Elder and Sister Baxter in New Zealand: Winter is Still Here

When I say Winter we have to frame it in New Zealand terms. Here in Turangi, Winter means occasional frosts but no deep freeze. Since coming here we have had to scrape the frost from the car windscreen twice. The usual temperature spread from high to low is 10 degrees F. We have seen much rain but even in those rainy days the sun will peek out occasionally. Often the rain is mixed with strong wind; the kind that turns your umbrella inside out. The up side is gorgeous rainbows.

The town of Turangi was built in the 1960's to provide housing for temporary workers on the Tongariro Power Scheme. We are only a few miles from the Tokaanu power plant. It's population then was over 9000.

The town today has a population just over 3300 people. It's not a large town. Ruth Ann and I walked the perimeter this morning in about 90 minutes. It has most of what we need. For some items we need to travel to Taupo or Rotora.

Now that the power project workers are long gone, the town is supported by tourism and a two prisons. It is billed as the Trout Fishing Capital of the world. There are always people fishing the river but we have not been in the right place to see anyone catching.

The people are the best thing here. Most are Maori. They are very friendly, open, and spiritual people. The more we get to know them and study their culture, the more we love them. We are often greeted with warm hugs and and occasional Maori kiss.

Our duties have been varied. Primarily we are here to support the small branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Secondarily we support the proselyting efforts of the Hamilton New Zealand Mission. To that end we have been ...

Teaching/ hosting an Addiction Recovery Group (this has mostly been Ruth Ann)
Teaching a Temple Preparation Class
Teaching missionary lessons
Teaching returning members basic gospel principles.
Helping with genealogy or as they say here, whakapapa.
Visiting local members of the church

We have been supporting the local missionaries in a number of ways. This Thursday, for instance we drove to Hamilton (2 1/2 hours away). We helped serve pizza to the large group of missionaries involved in "transfer day". Then, I drove separately in a mission car to Taupo with two elders inside while Ruth Ann followed. The reason for this strange arrangement is that one of the missionaries was a non-driver, and the other one, a brand-new elder, just arrived from a country that drives on the left and his driving experience was limited. The mission leadership wanted to assess his capabilities before turning the keys over to him. It rained heavily the entire trip.

I had to stop for gas in our car about 2/3 the way there. Being the good Scotsman, I found the lowest priced station. It wasn't until we stopped that I realized there was no cover over the pumps and it was raining heavily. After fiddling with the credit card readers and moving to another pump, I finally started pumping gas. Needless to say, by this time I was soaked and chilling. We pulled into a nearby McDonald's to go to the toilet. Since we were there I treated the four of us to some food.

The menu was somewhat recognizable though made with local ingredients. My bacon, cheese, and egg McMuffin had ham instead of bacon. In this country, bacon is round, thinly sliced ham. "Streaky bacon" is what we call bacon. Nonetheless, I was cold and hungry and the international menu difference was mute. It tasted great.

We deposited the elders at their apartment and told them that we would be back tomorrow to do a driving evaluation an practice for our new elder. Even though I didn't specifically say not to drive, I assumed they wouldn't.

The next afternoon when we arrived at their apartment (which is 45 minutes for us to drive to) they and their car were gone. After about 30 minutes, here come the two elders driving their car. I was on the telephone talking to a Māori woman who I had been trying to teach for several weeks. I couldn't interrupt the call so I asked Ruth Ann to go speak to the elders. The next thing I know, they are driving off again.

After another half-hour, they returned. They must have felt confident that the new elder could drive without further training! So we left them to their own devices.

The real success was that Ruth Ann got about 6 hours of driving on the left side of the road. You will notice that I didn't say the wrong side. That is not well received here. New Zealand roads are what you might expect in Kentucky; little or no shoulder, winding, two narrow lanes. I still don't feel completely at ease while driving. That's a shame because the countryside is absolutely gorgeous. Where we are there is not much traffic, so that's a blessing. Around town we usually walk or ride our bicycles if it isn't raining. Thank goodness for bicycles.

We have been about the town. We go one day per week to the RSA here in Turangi. On Fridays there is a gathering of senior citizens. They chat, play games, and there is always a lunch served. Attendance is around 25 people. We have met many people who have introduced us to local lore and have given us some handy tips for life in this area. We've made some good friends too.

I'm sorry that we don't have many photographs of actual missionary work. We don't always have our cameras available or in a position to snap a picture of walking, biking, or teaching. We'll try to do better.