Wow! What an amazing day! I had no idea that this day was going to be like this when I woke up. I got up and did the usual morning routine and then went to catch a bus that would take me to church. The church wasn’t next door to my hotel but it wasn’t hard to get to.
I attended church and was going to go back to my hotel to eat and change my clothes (Wellington is quite chilly and windy, not really skirt weather). I was standing waiting for the bus to come when a minivan pulled up in front of me. It was a woman who recognized me from church. She told me that she would give me a ride to wherever I needed to go. I told her it was ok because the bus was coming in a minute, but she insisted and so I got in her van and as I closed the door she said, “Do you have plans for dinner?” I said, “No.” and she said, “Alright you’re having dinner with us.” And off I went in a minivan with a woman and her 4 sons. It’s amazing to me how these things happen. It is amazing to me that people are willing to just take in a stranger to their homes and feed them and make then feel a part of their family and home. But it goes back to that conversation I had with my Dad on the way to the airport. I’m not a stranger to them and they are not strangers to me. We are all children of God and they are my brothers and sisters. “No longer strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). And it is so awesome that once again I was completely adopted for the day.
So, this family fed me lunch. Then took me to what they called the “wind farm.” Not sure if it has that name because it is harvesting wind for electricity or because the windmills are in the middle of a sheep field, but regardless of why it has this name it was a truly spectacular sight. It was also VERY windy. It was hard to take pictures because the wind was blowing so hard that I couldn’t hold my hands still. You may see that some of the bushes are blurry and that is because the wind is blowing so hard and fast – faster than my camera shudder speed.
The view of the coast from the parking lot of the wind farm.
At the base of one of the wind mills. I am wearing a skirt but it looks like I am wearing pants and leaning forward on the wind. It was so strong!!!!
Did I mention that it was windy?
The land in the misty distance is the South Island. This is as close as I will get on this trip. I'll have to come back. Everyone said that the South Island is so amazing.
There were also some old bunkers there built into the hills. We sought shelter from the wind inside one of them while we waited for the sunset, but as you can see from the way my hair is slicked back there was still a lot of wind inside the bunker.
After that they took me to dinner at their friends’ home who were also at church. Then they took me to a devotional meeting where Jona Lomu was the primary speaker. For those who aren’t avid New Zealand Rugby followers, Jona Lomu is a retired rugby player who is very famous in New Zealand, and maybe in the world. I’m not sure how well known he is in other countries but he is a huge celebrity in NZ. About a year ago he was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So basically he is the Steve Young of New Zealand. It was very interesting to hear about his faith in God and how he has felt sustained in all his trials and hardships. For example he was injured once and was told that he would never walk again. But does and even played rugby after that.
When I was at the Missionary Training Center learning Tagalog (Filippino) there was a woman in my class from Wellington, New Zealand. She was assigned to a different area of the Philippines from me so we only saw and knew each other for those 9 weeks in the MTC. Since I have been planning my trip to NZ I have been trying to find her so that I could meet up with her while I am here. But it has proven difficult for a couple of reasons: I didn’t know her first name. All I knew was Sister S...... I had no contact information for her and even if I had it would have been a mailing address and maybe a land line phone number. This was pre-email and cell phones (not much, when I got back from the Philippines everyone had email and cell phones). So I had been stalking her on-line trying to find out any information about her. I found her first name on a website for the mission in the Philippines that she was assigned to work in and that was it. I couldn’t find her on face book. I couldn’t find her in any kind of contact info source. Nothing.
While I was riding in the minivan this afternoon I asked Lindy if she knew of this person and she said, “Oh, I think she is married to Xxxxx, but I’m not sure, but my husband will know.” Well, long story short, her husband did know who she was and got her phone number and called her. It took a few tries but after the fireside he finally got through and on the way back to Wellington he stopped at her home and I was able to see her. It was so miraculous how that turned out! It was so great to see her! We are going to meet up again tomorrow afternoon. It turns out that she has a job for the government working with abused children and so she is not allowed to have any kind of internet presence, which is why I have omitted her name from this posting. Seriously, it is so amazing how all of this worked out.
The suset at the wind farm from inside the bunker.
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