New Missionary, Transfers and 2 C3's

Last weekend slipped away as Sister Mautz's hip recovered by limbering up and Elder Mautz prepared an unexpected talk for Sacrament meeting in the Noumea 1 branch. In the meantime, we have welcomed a new Elder, Elder Seiko, cracked the code to import meds, cleaned the closet and sent off dear missionaries to new assignments.

Elder Seiko, whom you met a few weeks ago with his enthusiastic willingness to depart with less than 24 hours notice, returned to us this week from his 3 weeks at the MTC in New Zealand. He is glad to be at work and is a great addition. Elder Styles is his new companion and trainer. We picked up Elder Seiko at the airport in Tontouta on Wednesday after a false start on Tuesday. Seems they didn't get him to the airport in time for his flight. But he arrived via Fiji Wednesday right on time. We got him to his new companion. They are working hard and having fun at it. Pictures nearby show him with Elder Styles and during his orientation with the zone leaders. We should note in passing that Elder Seiko is from New Caledonia. His father is a passed District president here and now is a branch president in Lifou, an island part of New Caledonia just to the East. His sister is currently serving here in the Tontouta branch. We were to join that district with Elder Seiko on Tuesday. When he didn't arrive as expected, we went on to the district meeting, also pictured nearby, where his sister was teaching a lesson. When we walked in without her brother, she carried on without batting eye. We admired her tenacity and faithfulness.

As we start our 6th month of our mission, it became time to need more prescription medicines. We had originally been told that importing them was out of the question. However, in doing a little listening at the customs office which we visit regularly while picking up packages for the missionaries, we began to understand that with some proper preparation, we could have prescription medicines shipped in. Now to crack the code as to how that was done. When Elder Mautz asked just how this could be done, he was sent 'over there' to another building. With some more questions, we met the medical inspector who explained just what we needed. The hardest part, we thought, was already done since we had with us copies of our prescriptions. That turned out to be the easiest. The hardest part was securing the importation form from the government printing office a few blocks away and which is only open until 3p in spite of what the signs say on the building. After 3 tries we succeeded, completed the form, got back to the medical inspector who efficiently stamped it, got it to his superior for signature and back to us in 24 hours. So now we are authorized drug importers, of a sort. We feel like Carl cracked the code.

Behind our office is a storage closet all our own. And stuffed with leftovers from closed missionary apartments, car wash supplies, and whatever else somebody thought might be useful sometime in the future. One afternoon while Sister Mautz was finishing up all kinds of reports, Carl cleaned the closet. (Yes, all we ever needed to know we did learn from our Mothers!) Pictured nearby are 3 shots of the before, contents all over the yard and after shots. Not only is it more useable, but we actually know what is there. When one of the apartments needed a vacuum cleaner, we knew we had one! Somehow not as quite as big a deal in writing as it was as we washed floors, wiped down shelves, carried away the true garbage, washed and cleaned bed covers that were again needed this week in the cooler weather we are having in winter, and organized!

The arrival of new missionaries always begets transfers. And we had the second major round of these since our arrival. The lesson we learn each time is that the Lord guides this very sensitive part of His work carefully. New missionary companionships bring new opportunities for service, to learn new skills in teaching and to support each other. We note that the missionaries continue to be concerned for former companions, their comforts and needs. As we were responding to opening a long vacant apartment and getting new mattresses, a missionary noted to us that an apartment he had just left also needed a mattress.He was OK being uncomfortable himself, but his successor deserved better! Pictured nearby are several of the new companionships, the general 'chaos' of transferring luggage between cars etc and the evident joy these good missionaries feel in being together.

Part of these transfers included sending our senior zone leader back into full time proselyting service for the remaining 8 weeks of his mission. He is a gentle Tahitian. A hard worker and great teacher. He will help his new companion as well as strengthening the branch where he will be serving. We will miss him a great deal as he has been at our right hand these last months patiently training us in everything from how to drive through a 'rond point' to banks, visas, and all the rest. We will see how we survive and look forward to seeing him when we visit the Tontouta branch.

We are in good health, busily engaged and grateful to be here.