Groundbreaking and Dedication in Hamilton

Last weekend we went to the groundbreaking of a new Stake Center in Hamilton and to the dedication of Camp Tuhikaramea.

The groundbreaking was exciting and we got also do some shoveling! Here's the article on the newsroom:
  - Groundbreaking in Hamilton

We went down in the van with the Area Presidency and since they had been gone for quite a while, we had an Area Presidency meeting on the way down (1.5 hours away from Auckland).

They had a cultural event along with a luncheon and that was cool!

A picture of the temple from the current stake center

Here's the article about the dedication:
  - Camp Tuhikaramea

You can see the temple in the distance

It was a fun day!!!

Social Media Work in TONGA!

During the month of July, most of the Area Presidency are gone. So, we are available to pursue some other assignments. Since we arrived (about 13 months ago), we have also worked on training people about the positive uses of "social media". This includes:
 - Showing members how to share the Gospel using social media
 - How we can increase LDS visibility on the internet
 - That social media can allow us to “Go where no missionary has gone before”
 - Plus, we teach about the importance of balance in our lives (don't spend too much time on social media) and how there are many things to avoid on the internet

Our training this week was done at the Liahona High School on island of Tongatapu in Tonga.

We shared numerous positive websites with the students besides just lds.org and the mormon channel. Ones like:
  - lds.org/youth
  - pacific.lds.org (the site for the Pacific Area)
  - create.lds.org (for creating content)
  - items on Facebook (like the "myfamily15in15" group)
  - and several other websites

We also had the kids make a meme of the temple (which they post) and we encouraged them to use a picture of the Tongan temple. Here are a couple:

The kids in our classes were great! We taught 7 different classes (some of them where done more than once). Here are some of our group photos:

Working on projects was very fun too:

They have a great campus:

We also did some videos:

We had plenty of time for fun too!!!  Going to the market in town, attending the temple, and we went to the island of Pangaimotu (where they have a shipwreck from many years ago)!

I got my haircut and after he learned we were missionaries we ended up with this kava bowl with our names on it!

Right off the island there was this shipwreck.

I got some great pictures with my underwater camera.

We had a great trip!!!

July 4th Activities!

We had a fun time with the senior missionaries at our July 4th activity:

We had a great meal and played some games:

We also went to Whatipu over the weekend. It was a very cool place.

Elder B's Surgery

Before going into surgery

Not to be out done by Patsy having gallbladder surgery, I went into the hospital last Monday. I figured this would be a good time, since most everyone is out of the office for the month of July. 

About 6 months ago, I started feeling a pain in my side. Given Patsy’s surgery, I checked out my situation with her surgeon. And, I have a right side inguinal hernia. From WebMD it says, “this occurs when tissue pushes through a weak spot in your groin muscle”.  That sounds bad, but it really has been just a very minor irritation. 

Here’s some more info from WebMD: “If you have a hernia, it will not heal on its own. Surgery is the only way to treat a hernia. Most people with hernias have surgery to repair them, even if they do not have symptoms. This is because many doctors believe surgery is less dangerous than strangulation, a serious problem that occurs when part of your intestine gets trapped inside the hernia.”  

After surgery!

So, given this and the fact that it has been an irritation for the last few months the doctor feels I should get this taken care of.  So, I went in on Monday and got home on Tuesday. Given the medicine I'm taking, I'm feeling pretty good, but still kind of sore. I went into work on Thursday and Friday, but not for the whole day. On Thursday, I stayed too long and was kind of limping home. Friday we left at 3pm and that was much better. I'm hoping by next week, I'll be close to 100%.

P-Days

I noticed I haven't recorded much about our Preparation Days (P-Days). This is typically on Saturday. Usually we'll get some shopping done early in the morning and then we'll head out to visit a beach. This last weekend we went to Mission Bay. It is about 10 km east of the city of Auckland. We've been here before and it has been a good beach to find sea glass. There actually wasn't too much glass there this weekend, but we got some excellent shells. Here's some pictures with various captions:

Sister B. looking for treasures!

We saw quite a few of these small boats getting ready for a regatta.

This looked like a neat tree!

Playing in the sand.

More playing!

Here's those boats out there ... looks like lots of them!

Running around the lake (4.25 miles) ... I like to do a long run Saturday morning.

Sailing in the lake (3.8 miles) ... I got to go sailing too, so that was fun!

Elder B. on Lake Pupuke!

We had a fun and relaxing weekend!!!  

Just got the shells and glass all washed up . It was a good collection:

Elder Quentin L. Cook's Visit

It was great having Elder Cook visit our Area. In the office, it took quite a bit of work to set up all the meetings and travel plans. There were a few issues along the way, but everything worked out good in the end.

Here's a video from the Missionary meeting. At the 11 to 14 second mark, you can see Patsy on the stand. At that time, I was guiding all the missionaries (over 500 from two missions) in an orderly fashion so they could all shake hands with Elder Cook.

Here we are at the Saturday night devotional (lower left). It looks like maybe I'm writing some notes:

We had dinner together at Elder Pearson's apartment:

Here's our Area Presidency:

Elder Cook provided many wonderful messages. It was great hearing from him. At dinner we learned he lived in the Bay Area for 33 years, so that was fun to find that out. He also knows our stake president, President Teuscher, from our Alameda ward (they are both lawyers).

Gallbladder Surgery!

Well, the big event for us last week was Sister B's gallbladder surgery. They found a stone in her gallbladder and some polyps on it as well. She did several other tests and the doctor decided it needed to come out!  The operation was last Monday. The procedure went well and she stayed in the hospital one night.

Here she is getting checked in:

All snug in her bed ... just waiting to be taken to surgery:

She is back ... looks pretty happy.

And, she gets a meal ... having not eaten for almost 24 hours. However, she wasn't too hunger, so I ended up eating most of the food.

She stayed the night in the hospital and got some breakfast as well.

Then we went home. It's been almost a week now and Sister B. is doing much better. But, she is still very sore.

Here's a post from Facebook that she wrote yesterday and this gives you a good update on things:

<< It's been 5 days since my surgery and I'll have to admit it's been heaps harder than I thought it would be! The actual surgery is healing nicely albeit uncomfortably. It's recovering from all that was necessary to perform the procedure that has presented the greatest challenge. Funny how they don't tell you about these things post op.... Like nausea, headaches, and being lightheaded. Like excessive amounts of leftover gas coursing agonisingly throughout your body with no hope of immediate relief. Like feeling like you have an alien taking up residence in your belly! Like being hungry and sick to your stomach all at the same time. What a whimpering baby I am! That being said if only to help others facing the same procedure, I am feeling better each day and have been cautioned to listen to my body, take it easy, and not to compare my healing pattern to others. The best part of this experience has been my friends! Oh how I love and appreciate you! >>

Here's a comment from a friend in Alameda:

<< Oh yes, how well I remember... the agony of the post cholecystectomy... they never tell you about the consequence of blowing your abdomen full of CO2 so they can see to lift your liver out of the way to cut the little troublemaker out.... You are better now? It takes about two weeks to get back to normal, as I recall. XOXO >>

So, things are moving in the right direction and Sister B and I took a wake to the lake this afternoon (1.2 miles round trip). We have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and then she is hoping to make it into work by maybe Wednesday.

Thanks everyone for your support!!!