Shirley in New Caledonia and other minor points

You really have to be here to see this. But I am hopeful the accompanying pictures and the added verbiage will give you the idea. I also wanted to add just a little about our day to day living here. 

Our arrival here plunged Shirley into  language isolation. Just as her sons had predicted, the French she had been studying seemed far removed from the language she was hearing day to day. But she is undaunted and progressing. While I am out in the evenings for meetings with the District Presidency or the High Council, she digs in to her language study hard for several hours. I usually return 3 hours later and find her with head phones on repeating phrases. She is beginning to understand the native speakers picking up words or a phrase. Last Sunday, one of the speakers was particularly strong in his enunciation of each word. She got a great deal of it. So the vocabulary is coming also. Usually there is a good member eager to sit with her and help with translation. During Sunday School I can be with her also. She does find it a little frustrating when I turn from one of the members to her, continuing my French as if she should understand!

But even better is how she reaches out to the members with the French she has. Already we knows the universal greeting, particularly between sisters, is a kiss on each cheek. Ca va bien? and she is off as if a native. Love really does transcend everything else. 

She has fallen in love with the little children. And they all speak French so well! 

The missionaries already know not to mess with Sister Mautz. But also that she is their best ally. One of our responsibilities is to regularly inspect the apartments where they live. Young men are generally NOT known for their housekeeping abilities or cleanliness. So we visit the living quarters unannounced. (By the way, this is a long process taking us all over the island for the better part of a couple days) We have been pleasantly surprised generally with only one visit that was unacceptable. However, when she discovered a refrigerator with a door with broken hinges such that it simply fell open into your unsuspecting arms, she was on the phone to Fiji that very day. After researching the lease, we are off to buy a new one this week. The same with a front loading washing machine whose hinges had given way. Now she is the heroine. These elders have been living with this for some time. The result of not having a senior couple on the island for almost a year. 

For those of you who know her well, the shedding of hose and shoes for sandals might be just a little surprising. But practicality and comfort prevail in the end.

And finally, the question of cars. Upon arriving, we found that we were to purchase 3 new cars. These had been requisitioned since February when we were supposed to have arrived. Two are basic 5 passenger small repair truck like vehicles that the missionaries drive who are assigned to areas with vast walking distances.The 3rd was to replace a 4 year old vehicle that we drive to pick up missionaries arriving at the airport or departing. As well as the Mission President. The process of expending sacred, contributed funds of the church is the topic of another posting. Suffice it to say I don't have quite the authority I might have been used to in a prior career responsibility. The process starts with the authorization from the Church already completed with an expected price and trade in value for the used car. Perhaps a predecessor did this for us. In any case, it is interesting to take such a document to a dealer and then try to understand just how the bargaining process might work. We don't change brands here easily since dealers don't take any other brand but their own in trade and aren't expected to. And as soon as we have Church approval for purchase of the vehicles we start the labyrinthian process of getting them registered with the government. That process starts with the presentation to the dealer with a utility bill showing the address of the mission office since the Church is the owner. Only difficult since all those bills are paid in Tahiti! But we are learning and hope to finish all of this next week. Best of all is the color of the new vehicle we will drive. We are graduating from gun metal gray to robin's egg blue at the choice of the senior sister missionary on the island.

A few of you have asked of our living conditions. We are quite comfortable. Our apartment is on the 10th floor of a 16-story hotel-apartment residence. It has AC in the 2 bedrooms and a great view of the bay at the far south end of the island. Since the senior couples bear their own costs we have elected to have a little more space/comfort and be able to entertain groups of missionaries such as the sisters on the island during zone conference with our Mission President's wife. We have a washing machine in the apartment so laundry is reasonably easy to do. The kitchen is reasonable although we have supplemented with a few pots and pans etc.

Most important is the patisserie that is just around the corner so that we can have fresh croissants, pain au raisin or pain au chocolat each morning that we care to for breakfast. The French bread is almost as good as Paris. And the cheeses are wonderful. A piece of cheese, some fruit and some French bread and you have a great casse croute any time. 

Morning exercise frequently finds us walking along the beach sidewalk just a few steps away from our apartment with a fresh ocean breeze blowing in our faces either going out or returning home.

And we have found a hair dresser for Shirley. You can note the new do in the pictures.  I was a bit distressed over the cost of a haricut for me, almost double the US prices and was sharing this with one of the zone leaders as I inquired just where they got their haircuts. Some do it themselves, others by a companion. Neither an option here. However, Elder Huuti whom you met in an earlier posting took up the challenge immediately and said, 'Elder Mautz, tu peux leur dire que tu veux une coupe de cheveux, mais parce que tu n'as pas de cheveux, tu ne dois payer que la moitie.'   (Translation:  Elder Mautz, you can tell them you want a haircut, but since you don't have any hair,  you should only have to pay half.)  Good laughs all around.

We have two departing sister missionaries this next week.  A third left a week and a half ago.  At the last district meeting she wanted to record with her camera the mission song.  Shirley thought that was a good idea as well so we have added that to the posting as well.  The lighting didn't show up well, but it is the song we want you to hear.  

The translation goes like this:

Song of the Fiji Mission

We march in the service of our Lord

Endowed with power from on high

Armed with faith, let us preach His word

The Lord is near

We are working in the service of our God

with heart, strength, and might.

Always the extra mile, faithfully holding the rod

Let's go the extra mile, we are serving our God.

Faith is the power, and obedience the price.

Serve the Savior faithfully.

Love is the motive.  

The Spirit is the key for eternity.

We are working in the service of our God

with heart, strength, and might.

Always the extra mile, faithfully holding the rod.

Let's go the extra mile.

We are serving our God.

The following video is a view from our apartment on a Saturday afternoon. Note the speed of the sailboarder. The wind makes for quite the ride.

Here are some pictures from our visit to the Mont Dore Branch for Church today.  We hope you enjoy this weeks blog.