Faye:

Our letter is late because we went on a little trip to the Bay of Islands with Brent & Ella Romney. It’s a 3 hour drive from where we live. We left at about noon after our Sunday meetings and brought our lunch with us to eat in the car. There was a waterfall on the way there not too far off the highway and we stopped to see it. It was drizzly and misty there. So Beautiful! The drive was along rolling green hills passing farms with lots of cows and sheep. We arrived in time to cook dinner at the little place we rented in Paihia. On Monday we went to a park where the treaty was signed between New Zealand & England, so they would work together instead of fight each other. We learned a lot about the Maori culture, and saw our first Maori performance. There were only 5 of them but could they ever SING! That was the highlight of the whole trip for me. Tattooing is very popular in the Maori culture, even the woman get tattoos. We also learned a lot about New Zealand. We ate at a little Mexican restaurant for lunch and it was GOOD! We were all surprised. The Romney’s are from El Paso and now live in Dallas, so they are missing Mexican food too. I found out from the restaurant owner where to get good chili powder so I can make some enchiladas. I think I’ve mentioned before that the chili powder here is pure cayenne. Not the chili powder we use. 

We took a ferry across the bay to visit the town of Russell. It’s the very first city in New Zealand. I experienced a tender mercy from the Lord while we were there. When moving my purse from one shoulder to the the other my phone dropped out. I picked it up and kept walking. We crossed the street to look at another shop and while we were in there, someone came in and yelled loudly, “Did anyone lose their wallet?” He was holding my black wallet! It must have fallen out when my phone fell out and I didn’t realize it. Someone had picked it up and put it on a teller machine close to where I dropped it. Nothing had been taken.  I had brought some extra cash on this trip, but everything was in there and I was so grateful. My LIFE is in that wallet! I was so grateful and wanted to hug that young man who brought it to me. The Lord is so good to me.

We made it home in time to attend the virtual Family Home Evening with the senior missionaries at 7:00. It turned out to be a trivia game about New Zealand. I knew the answers to 3 more questions than I would have known because of our trip. At the end they had us tell 2 things we loved about New Zealand. Mine were that I love the beautiful ocean around it and I LOVE that they speak ENGLISH! It’s my favorite language. 

The fire alarm went off at 3:00 am last night. No fire. Just alarms being set off somehow. That is the 4th time in the 5 months we have been here. It was raining, so many of us huddled inside on the ground floor. I had time to check our mail and found a card that my sister had mailed April 2nd! I have no idea why it took so long to here. Everything else gets here in about 10 days. It was a nice surprise to get at that hour of the morning!

I see the hand of the Lord all around me. He has heard our prayers and accepted of our fasting in this pandemic. 

I see Him now in the people and beauties of New Zealand, and I’m grateful to mingle with the kind, chatty people and experience the breathtaking beauty here again. We are receiving relief from the pandemic. 

I hear Him now in the increased noisy traffic outside our apartment. Before the pandemic, I let those loud, rumbly motorcycles get under my skin. Now when I hear them I think of how our life is becoming more normalized.

I see Him in the busyness of the stores, restaurants and shops that are opened again. He is strengthening the economy.

We still pray for those things President Nelson asked us to pray for, along with the health care workers to be protected.

I also see Him in the lives of our families who we miss and are away from right now. We have prayed for them to be safe and protected during this pandemic and they have been. He has answered our prayers.

I feel Him in the help I receive from heaven when the hard things from Ashton’s death come at times. I feel His help. I feel His love….. and I am so very grateful.

Carter:

We renewed our temple recommends with Pres. Walker. He and his wife go home July 1. There may need to be a temporary president over the mission until the new president can get here — with all the coronavirus delays.

I attended a video call to discuss a patient who might have cancer – and whether they should go to another country to have that treated. I feel like the patient’s situation was considered with an abundance of compassion.

We had a couple of more discussions with my Venezuelan “son“ and his family, who are in Lima. The plan is still for them to be baptized on May 30, but that depends on whether current coronavirus restrictions there will be relaxed by then. Prayers!

I attended a video call with other suicide loss survivors — I knew some of them from the group we attended in Tucson! It was good to see them again! I am optimistic that this group will be very helpful for us – and that we will be able to help others who are grieving.

I was able to speak to two missionaries from Colombia who are serving in New Zealand. They speak pretty good English, but the mission nurse wanted to make sure that language was not an impediment to complete mutual understanding. It was great to be able to speak Spanish! One of the missionaries’ father and grandfather were from Maracaibo, Venezuela, where I served my mission as a young man. His grandfather was one of the first converts there.

There are a lot of cyclists on the roads near where we live. It’s been interesting thing to me that I have not missed cycling all that much. I’m grateful to Heavenly Father for “tempering“ that love of mine. I’ve also had the thought that if I were to get injured in a cycling crash, it could really impact my ability to serve and even to stay here.

I completed the 40-Day Joy Challenge by Tommy Newberry. I highly recommend it. It’s free! I’m going to modify a couple of inspirational affirmations from the program: “I am a forgiving, repenting and learning machine.“ As I write this, I think of my Mother, who very much wanted to “Do the right thing“ and had an insatiable desire to learn.

May I pay a tribute to my children in law — and their parents? When our oldest Richardson niece, Sarah Innes, got married, I was profoundly impressed with what an impact our children’s future spouses have on our future grandchildren. All of our children were still living at home at that time. Faye and I started praying for the parents of our children’s future spouses – that they would raise their children in love and righteousness. I am grateful to say that those prayers have been answered. Jonathan, Rubi and Gracia, I love you! Please tell your parents thank you for how they raised you!

I solemnly proclaim that God loves his children and every nation of the world. What comforting doctrine that is! I believe it with all my heart!