Moroni 10:32   Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Lisa completed this Kiwi quilt for Tomasina, one of our Maori teachers at the community center in Kaiwaka, who just had a baby boy!  We drove out to the Maori school in Oruawharo, where she and her husband teach and presented the quilt to Reno, her husband. We have so many opportunities to serve and love all around us, no matter where we are. We love it! 

I'm just not sure though...who receives the most joy...

the giver or the receiver!

We traveled an hour South to Red Beach to participate in the Baptism service of Deziah Richards. I was asked to conduct the service and Lisa was asked to speak on Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We were thrilled to be a part of her special day. We love meeting with this sweet family and participating in Family Home Evenings with them. The girls are always anxious to learn and eager to participate!

Campbell and Cheyenne Richards
Deziah 10, Payton 7, Izabelle 5, Levarne 4 and Miracle 1

On Saturday we drove a little over an hour North to Whangarei for the
baptism of 11 year old Massi Schaumkel.
Due to our building in Wellsford not having a baptismal font, and much of Massi's family living further North, it was closer for them to travel to Whangarei to the Stake Center for the baptism.

Elder Evans and Elder Tenny with Massi.

And of course there was food to share after the service!

 Wellsford held a spring clean up day last week , so Lisa and I helped clear debris and old furniture from under, in,  and around Sister Pratt's home. Sister Pratt was not home, so we started hauling things out to the road, and made a pile for the city to pick up. As soon as we started, it began to rain and rain and rain... and we worked for some time in a torrential down pour. We finished and  left and then the sun came out! Several hours later Sister Pratt arrived home and called and asked if we could come back over and help with a few more items that she wanted to put out. We went back over, and black clouds appeared again, and we frantically carried more items out to the road until we were totally drenched again! But what always happens after the storm?!?  Of course, a rainbow!

A before and after picture of four foot tall weeds that had totally overtaken the blueberry bushes in Sister Pratt's yard. With the help of the Elders we have been able to help transform much of her yard.

President Nelson spoke to the young adults at BYU and shared 5 truths that are not only applicable to young adults, but to all of us.

We held a fireside with the youth in Wellsford and replayed some of the video from the new children and youth program. We had a good discussion and activity on anxiety, and how to overcome fear.

The evening ended with ice-cream sundaes and a resolve from all in attendance, to have more of these kind of activities for the youth.

Elder Tenny and his new companion, Elder Hunter helped us move President Pere's family on Saturday.  The story began a little over a month ago, when  the Pere's were informed by their Landlord that they were going to need to move because he had some other plans for the home that they were renting.  The Pere's wanted to stay in Mangawhai, because of the proximity to Sister Pere's work and also the children's school. With the summer and holiday season fast approaching, the small town of Mangawhai transforms from approximately 1000 residents into a vacation town of 5,000 tourists. Most of the home owners will rent out their homes to tourists for 2 -3 times the normal rent amount for the season. The Pere's were at a loss as to what to do. We fasted and prayed, along with them, to help them find a new home in the area for their family. Within a few weeks, a home was found just a few kilometers from where they were living. The owners of the new home had just finished building their "forever home" but found that the commute to and from Auckland was getting to be too much for them. They wanted to be able to have a long term lease with a family that would take care of their home, and they found the Pere's. Isn't it wonderful! This was not a mere coincidence, but rather a tender mercy! The Lord is aware of all of our needs, and is always willing to help us as we turn to Him!

Lisa and her Primary Presidency working with the children in Wellsford in preparation for the Sacrament meeting program coming up in a few weeks.

The term has ended for the schools and the children are out for 2 weeks. We are finding it difficult to find people at home, due to so many people going away on holiday. We were able to take a meal to the Pere's, whose son just had knee surgery, Lisa took Sister Pratt to Whangarei to receive her Patriarchal blessing, we spent a day in Dargaville attempting to visit 6 different people...(but nobody was home), we have spent several hours at the food bank unloading supplies and filling orders, we dropped small birthday gifts off at Pat Buxton's and also Rehydyn Taihia-Paki's, we spent time in the Community garden, missionary correlation meetings and baking treats for the missionaries and sewing group.
Life is good! We are happy and  so blessed to be able to do what we can to help the people here in New Zealand.