Friday

On Wednesday we saw Elder Finau off to the mission office in Wellington, as he has finished his mission. A fine young man who is the only member in his family. His parents are on a mission in the US for another church. They disowned him when he joined the church six years ago. He then moved to Tonga from Samoa where he was away from what he called a troubled past and found friends in the church. Greymouth feels more like home to him than anywhere as the Tongan's loved him. He was here way too long, (9 months) and became very close to the members.

Elder Wilson stayed with us for the next 24 hours as his new companion arrived by train at noon on Thursday. We took the opportunity to have him teach the seminary lesson in the morning. His new companion is a New Zealand Tongan from Auckland. His name is Elder Palinite. We sent the above photo to Elder Wilson's parents who replied with excitement. They had not seen a picture of him since he arrived 9 months ago.

Here are some pictures of our flat. Our laundry line is behind the fence. We need to have the land lord trim the shrubs by the front door. The shot is facing north.

Here is the garage. It rolls up
Our flat is behind the house on the left and this is the drive to it.

For our friends in Twin Falls, these are the new houses on the lot just to the north of the flat. There are a total of three of these little houses on the lot. They are very nice with double garages.

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We had a wonderful fast and testimony meeting on Sunday morning. We had over 45 people in attendance and one testimony after another. We were pleased to see Sister Powell there, the Sister we visited last week, with her two children. She is in the primary and they really need her. After our visit she said she felt guilty. We told her we didn't want her to feel that way, but at least it indicates that she does care. Judy said that primary was wonderful, with more children and now three adults. They sang very well. They are encouraged that they will have a wonderful program for sacrament meeting in the spring. The primary president said “Sister Hoagland made my job so easy.” We hope to get them to do it on their own so when we leave there will not be a big whole. At least they will see how the music is supposed to work in primary.

The other primary counselor has not been attending although her husband and children are there faithfully. It turns out she had been offended by Sister Kinikini who didn't know about it. She learned about it this week and she called her and we are told she may be back this Sunday. She doesn't speak English, but that should not be a problem in this branch. Judy is having fun training the primary president. She is not the most reliable person but she has a good heart.

We are now trying to visit the more difficult members to get a hold of. Not much luck this week. Maybe it will be better next week. I am told that the district presidency will be extending me a calling in the next week or two. We visit Westport this Sunday and will be the speakers.