This week along with the daily/usual phone calls and texts, there have been doctor’s appointments on 2 days with missionaries, transfer planning meeting (transfers next week), English class, Health Council, and an activity at the Kauri Museum with the senior couples.
Tuesday was our final Zone Conference for this transfer period.
Sister Bunker teaches an English as a second language class every Wednesday evening at the church. She was out of town this week so she asked me and another nurse in our ward to substitute for her. We taught the English words for health problems and body parts so that if a person needed to go to the doctor, they would be able to explain the problem they were experiencing. We also discussed illnesses and over-the-counter medication names and uses. We had students from Asia, South America, and Central America. It was a fun evening for me.
I have mentioned Lillian, my Chinese friend, in previous posts. Her husband has been here visiting with her and Kevin, their son. Michael had to return home to China on Saturday so I was invited to go to dinner with them on Friday evening. Lillian knows I like soup dumplings, so I was treated to a very delicious dinner with pleasant company.
Saturday morning I rode with Elder and Sister Lewis to The Kauri Museum for lunch and tour with other senior couples.
From Wikipedia:
The Kauri Museum is in the west coast village of Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand. The museum, to the south of the Waipoua Forest, contains many exhibits that tell the story of the pioneering days when early European settlers in the area extracted kauri timber and kauri gum.
The museum has over 4000 sq metres of undercover exhibits, including the largest collection of kauri gum in the world, and the largest collection of kauri furniture. It has a model of a 1900s kauri house with furniture and models in the dress of the early years, and an extensive collection of photographs and pioneering memorabilia. On the wall, there are full-scale circumference outlines of the huge trees, including one of 81⁄2 metres, larger even than Tane Mahuta. The museum includes a working mock-up of a steam sawmill.
It tells its story from the colonial viewpoint, and presents its representation of the kauri gum industry as part of the process of creating the New Zealand identity.
Here is a little information about the kauri tree from Wikipedia: It is the largest (by volume) but not tallest species of tree in New Zealand, standing up to 50 m tall in the emergent layer above the forest's main canopy. The tree has smooth bark and small narrow leaves. Other common names to distinguish A. australis from other members of the genus are southern kauri and New Zealand kauri.
Read more here.
The museum was interesting. I enjoy history so this was a memorable excursion. I have a lot of pictures to share in no particular order.
 |
| My husband, Kay, liked to collect canes. He even has a few similar to some of these. |
The next few pictures are represent just a portion of the large collection of kauri gum. The gum is a valuable collection. Some gum pieces have sold for thousands of dollars. Kauri gum is a resin (a sticky substance) produced by New Zealand’s giant kauri trees. The resin helps protect the tree by filling in holes and damaged areas.
Kauri trees can live for more than 1,000 years, so they make a lot of gum over a lifetime. As the trees die and fall, the ground where they grew becomes littered with kauri gum. Over time, this often gets covered by soil or swamps.
Most kauri gum is found in Northland. This is really interesting if you would like to read more.
 |
| Gum diggers |
Around the grounds of the museum there are other significant buildings of the period.
Flowers and other things on the grounds.
My Monday morning walk in Takapuna
As I’ve done quite a bit of driving this week, I have had time to think about some of the things that mean a lot to me. I had watched this video, Living Beyond “What If?” | Cambry Kaylor – Hope Works, and had time to ponder and think about hope.
I recognize that many people struggle to have hope in their lives. I see missionaries and family and friends struggling with loss of loved ones, financial woes, job and work stress, and health issues. The list is endless. Yet with hope we can press on and endure.
On the church website I read the following:
“The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language, the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering, and active.
When we have hope, we trust God’s promises. We have a quiet assurance that if we do “the works of righteousness,” we “shall receive [our] reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23). Mormon taught that such hope comes only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ: “What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise” (Moroni 7:41).
As you strive to live the gospel, you grow in your ability to “abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” The principle of hope extends into the eternities, but it also can sustain you through the everyday challenges of life. With hope, you can find joy in life. You can “have patience, and bear with … afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions” (Alma 34:41).”
At times life’s trials can weigh us down. I am forever grateful for the hope that has come into my life through the Atonement of my Savior. I have hope that I will be with my eternal companion again and that I will be with my family for all eternity. This hope gives me the courage to continue on and to try to do the things that will lead me in the direction I must travel to have these hopes fulfilled.
I love my Savior. I love you my family and friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment