Labour Day in New Zealand

Before I get into our Labour Day (New Zealand spelling) I will tell you a bit about our Sunday. We went to our new Ward in Takapuna. I was very much like home with wonderful speakers and teachers and the spirit bearing witness that what they said was true. I didn't know anyone else there but a beautiful Moari woman came up to me and wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She told me her name was Victoria. We will be friends. That is quite an ice breaker don't you think. After we came home I had time to try out some of my recipes from home with my forced improvised ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies with molasses instead of light corn syrup will not be attempted again. Just getting the oven to work was quite a feat. There were 3 or 4 options to bake on alone. We found the instruction book and it worked pretty good. our dishwasher is really cool. We have two half dishwashers. This works great because you don't have to empty your dishwasher before you clean up your kitchen. We haven't been so lucky with the microwave. We can't find an instruction book and it is just trial and error. I try to avoid it.

This morning when we woke up we had planned to do a tramp out of the book that Laura gave to us. It would have involved a 2 hour drive. Half of which was on a dirt road. We took the easier options to Auckland downtown district. It may not have been easier. We have been dreading the drive into the busy city. We studied the maps and made sure we knew where our streets became one way and started out. It worked out well. Bob did great. He remembered to stay on the left and yeild to the right and use his blinker instead of his windshield wiper all day. We spent 4 hours in the National Maritime Museum on the Harbour (another NZ spelling). Any of you that know Bob will know that this is amazing for him. He really did enjoy it (or was awfully patient with Miriam). We loved the New Zealand History lesson that we gained there the most. Then we walked the busy historical streets. It kind of reminded us of San Fransisco. In one of the pictures that we will post you will notice behind Bob how steep the streets are and the wonderful architecture of the buildings. In all but one shop the owners were chinese (or asian). This is sweet for us because it reminds us of Joey. But I can not get the language. I seriously need a translator when I talk with them. New Zealand English is hard enough but then you through in a chinese accent on top of that and I have the hardest time understanding. Well this is the second time I have posted the same blog. I will learn. The Senior Sister Missionaries called and I get to go out with them tomorrow. That will be fun. Check out the pics of the museum!