Beautiful New Zealand sunset.
We took a road trip to Hamilton with Elder and Sister Crossley to visit the Matthew Cowley Pacific Church History Centre. On the way down we stopped at a green-stone and bone carving museum.
Whakairo – the art of carving
Rather than purely being decorative, whakairo (Māori carvings) each give a unique narrative. The stories passed down through generations explain cultural traditions and tribal history. Traditionally Māori carvers were men; their craft included precious adornments, weapons, tools, musical instruments, canoes and decorative panels and posts for the various buildings within the village
Precious adornments were (and are still) worn as a sign of prestige; they included ear pendants, breast pendants and carved combs worn in the hair. These were made from pounamu (jade or greenstone), whale ivory and whale bone, although other materials, like albatross feathers and sharks teeth, were also incorporated. Pounamu from the South Island is highly prized for its beauty and strength, and is still used for making adornments today.
Māori carvings are rich in symbolism and use common patterns, though styles differ between tribes. Symbols include the tiki, which represents the human figure, and the manaia, a creature with bird-like head and serpent-like body, associated with guardianship. Traditional patterns used in carving were often inspired by the natural environment, including spider webs (pungawerewere), fish scales (unaunahi) and the unfurling fronds of the fern (koru).
The Matthew Cowley Pacific Church History Centre was dedicated in 2017 by President Henry B. Eyring. The centre operates under the direction of the Pacific Area Presidency and functions as a branch of the Church History Department’s library and museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The centre includes the Pacific Church History Library, with its environmentally controlled archival storage room, public reading room, and 400 square-meter Pacific Church History Museum. Admission to the library and museum is free to the public.
The Matthew Cowley Pacific Church History Centre was established to help the Church History Department fulfill its scriptural mandate to preserve records of historical significance for future generations (see D&C 21:1; 69:3, 8; 85:1–2). This mandate is best accomplished when records are stored in a safe, secure, and environmentally controlled facility. Since the organisation of the Church, records have been gathered to Church headquarters for safekeeping. However, to better meet the needs of the worldwide Church, records are now also stored at authorised records preservation centres and Church history centres around the world. The Matthew Cowley Pacific Church History Centre was the first Church history centre established away from Church headquarters. Click here for more information about the Church History Department’s records preservation program.
Elder Crossely's grandfather was a missionary in New Zealand and was one of Matthew Cowley's long time companions. The Crossley's were able to get a thumb-drive from the Museum with pictures and writings that they had never seen before. There were artifacts at the Museum that were donated by Elder Crossley's grandfather from the time he served with the Maori people on his mission.
The Privately owned Church College which was built in 1958 was closed in 2009.
The College was for grades 9-13, in America it would be a High School.
The Museum in Hamilton
After serving Church members in the Pacific for six decades, the Hamilton New Zealand Temple—the first temple in the Southern Hemisphere—has closed for an extensive, three-year renovation.
Announced in 1955 and originally dedicated on April 20, 1958, by President David O. McKay, the temple became the Church’s 13th constructed and 11th operating temple. Today the Hamilton Temple serves some 115,000 Church members living in New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Cook Islands.
We were told by a worker at the museum that we had to stop in Pokeno for ice cream.
It was a little "hole in the wall" shop, but it had the biggest and best selection of ice cream that we have found in New Zealand. Lisa was in heaven!
A 3-wheeler parked in Pokeno.
We visited with Sister McCarthy and her husband Barry in Mangaphai.
Barry does not like the mssionaries just "dropping by" to see him.
So....we made an appointment, and had a wonderful conversation with him. He is retired and dabbles in woodworking and gardening. He took us on a tour of his garden and then actually invited us for a return visit. The picture is of a small Macadamia nut tree in his yard.
A 4-story tall Santa and reindeer in downtown Auckland.
A bounce house, slip n slide, water balloons, BBQ and ice Cream. Unlike any Christmas party we have ever attended!
We walked away from the Christmas party with a pair of "Jacks" courtesy of the Dunn family
We attended a Pacific Island Celebration in Warkworth to see some of the children from the Manumalo family perform. The performers represented the Islands of Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati.
We had the normal activities along with apartment (flat) inspections, we have two new flats in Whangarei so we had 10 flats to inspect this transfer! We had the elders for dinner and of course, Gloria every Monday. We are enjoying watching the new Book of Mormon videos each week as they come out.
We also had a flat tire, from driving into one of the deep gutters that they have a lot of here. Luckily, Ed was able to put the spare on and get the car over to the only tire shop in Wellsford just before closing!
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