Still Rocking in Christchurch in October

Wedding plans
We have a date – Jessica has booked a date for their wedding on 6th April 2011 at the Manti temple. (William is marrying Jessica Prisbrey, whom he met on-line about 3 years ago.) It will be a modest event, but all are welcome to attend who can make it. It is the Wednesday after General Conference, so that should suit those people who would like to attend General Conference as well as go to the wedding in one of the most beautiful temples in the church. There will be an “Open House” the night before, and Jessica has asked me to make sushi. It sounds like fun. Mark and Jonathan and I will drive from Los Angeles via Las Vegas so my body can get used to the change in altitude a bit more gradually. William will go ahead of us as he has to be there a week early to get the marriage licence. It is all very exciting. (William comes home at the end of January, we have Jonathan’s party at the end of February, and at the end of March we head off for the wedding.)

Goalball tournament
Mark and I (but mainly Mark) helped out at the National Goalball championships and had a good and worthwhile time. I like being around a group of people for whom blindness is a natural part of life. It was fun and lively, with a nice atmosphere. We had helped three years ago as well, so it was easier to have some idea of what was happening. Goalball is a sport for blind people. Jonathan plays, but not competitively.

We attended a baptism in Riccarton Ward. It was an older man, who is married to a long-time devout and hard-working member of the church. He bore his testimony, and it was wonderful. He is smart, funny, humble, and so happy to be getting baptised, and willing to serve wherever he is needed. It reminded me what a wonderful gift we have for people – to know where they come from and who they are, and to be able to make good choices. Jeff Clendon is the Bishop and gave a lovely welcome. Earlier in the day we had all been working at the Goalball tournament together and Jeff was a referee. It was sort of funny, but also nice to see him in both roles. Earlier in the week he had visited my office at work to examine the cracks in the concrete resulting from the earthquake. I like our lay ministry.

I have discovered Family History on the internet. It is like a computer game, but without the guilt at wasting time. I was working on the Redwood family, parents and 8 children who came to NZ in 1842. I have a family tree done by one of my distant cousins and was unable to find records of  the marriages of several of the children in the family. I prayed before starting the other day, and later felt to put the two surnames – Redwood and Greaves – into Google and just do a search on them. I found an article written in a Nelson Historic Society newsletter that included reference to a triple wedding in the family. It gave the date, place, and full names. They did not appear in the civil registry. Very cool!

In anticipation of leaving university I now have a new email address: DrRogo@me.com. Mark also has a new email address: Rogoman@me.com So it is Dr Rogo, and her trusty sidekick, Rogoman!

I really enjoyed General Conference. I laughed and laughed at President Uchtdorf’s comments about tree rings and aeroplanes. I very much enjoy his style of humour. I believe President Packer’s comments about homosexuality and same-sex marriage did not go down well in the gay community. (What a shock!) What do they expect him to say? We DO believe that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Are we supposed to change what we believe in order not to offend people?

William has started sending us letters. Real, written on paper records of what he has been doing. We have received 4 so far. They are everything I ever wanted in a letter from my son on a mission. We REALLY appreciate them. Mark is typing them out for him. William seems to be enjoying Wairoa and much prefers the slower pace out in the country.

Elder Petty on the East Coast

We had a few more big aftershocks this month. There were a couple of 5s when I was at work. Everything moved a lot! I don’t mind them too much, but I will be happy when they are really all over. Some people get very anxious. The second 5 was after about a week of only small ones. It was the biggest for quite a while. I was in the computer lab on the second floor, in charge of about 50 students. I just told them to take deep breaths and be calm. It was a 5, but seemed bigger than the 5 previous week.

How Jonathan and Mark spend their time:

We went to a Quiz night with the Clendons, and got William’s friend, Nick to go with us. We won. The prize is a swing dancing lesson for the whole team! Should be fun. It was very nice to see Nick again. Believe it or not we aced a sports round. It was about the derivations of the names of sports, and we managed to guess the few we didn’t know. One round was on cartoons and puppets and we aced that one too. Jonathan would not have been pleased if we’d got them wrong.

On Friday Fritz brought peanut butter cookie dough to work for a student function, and I ended up cooking it. (He finally got me back in the kitchen where I belong!) They were nice cookies, so I asked him for the recipe. I made some myself on Saturday, using the really good peanut butter from Nelson. The recipe had an egg in it, but in honour of William,  I left it out and put in a little milk instead. They were superb. Truly amazing. Mark thinks they were even better than something Sara Berg made, so that is high praise indeed. They are crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle, and sweet and buttery and a little salty and very roast peanutty.

We were asked to do a three person presentation at Rangiora Branch as the High Council visit. The three of us gave talks about strengthening homes spiritually, and Jonathan played. Mark used the computer game, Civilisation as an example in his talk. Then we came home, had lunch and went to Avonside where I gave another talk. It was a long day. Jonathan is such an asset. He gives lovely little talks in his slow, pleasant voice, and then plays like an angel. He did a very touching arrangement of “Love at Home” today. He only does it because President McDonald asks him, and he is Talia’s father. (Not because he is the Stake President.) I worked it that Mark had to speak after Jonathan played, rather than me, so he got to be all choked up instead.

The Avonside Chapel has been “red-carded” which means we can’t go into it or the carpark. I arrived at Seminary on Friday morning to see a red card on the doors. It said we were not to enter. So we just had a shorter lesson, and the girls helped me to move the gear out of my cupboard to the car. That was my last seminary lesson ever in that room. We will be meeting at Nikita’s place for the final week. President McDonald came to talk to us today at church so that we know what is going on. We will be meeting at Opawa at least until March next year. The ground is such that they can’t do anything much at the Avonside chapel until things have settled down. That is pretty apparent from the ever increasing hole in the road outside the front gate of the chapel. (We have since been told it is okay to go into the chapel for small meetings.)

The hole in the road outside Avonside Chapel

Then that Sunday I was teaching Sunday School (at the other chapel) and we had a 4.8 aftershock. I went under the stage lip. It was pretty impressive. When it stopped I told everyone to breathe deeply and they did. One sister was not coping well. They have had a tough time, and have to use a portaloo as they have no sewerage at present. She didn’t like it when people made light of the earthquakes, but it is what most people do as a coping mechanism.

I hesitate to say it, in case I put a jinx on it, but there have been no noticeable aftershocks this week. You’d think it would make us more relaxed, but in fact I often find myself waiting for one, and sudden gusts of wind or creaks in the house give me a fright. It  gives an interesting insight into how life must have been in London in the second world war, with the bombing at night. How did anyone sleep? I suspect they entire city was sleep-deprived. There has been an increase in domestic violence in Christchurch as a result of the earthquake and after-shocks. Sad, but not surprising.

On the last day of the term I had my usual students who had procrastinated begging me to give them some extra time. It was interesting. As far as that course goes, I am god. Well “a” god, not “the” god (Groundhog Day). I can decide to let them through or not. But in fairness to the other students, I need to stick to the rules, but I can do it kindly. I did get one very pleading email, which I chose to ignore during the weekend. I did try to be as kind as I could be, while still being fair. There was no need to be nasty or harsh. But it is not my fault that they have made bad choices, and it doesn’t do any good to take away the consequences.

Mark has put a video of Jonathan playing on Youtube. It was at the concert last month. We have had some good feedback already. He is playing “White Cliffs of Dover”. The Sesame street episode that we saw being filmed was screend in the US, and our friend Sara kindly videoed the opening and put it on Youtube for us. Notice the muppets call out to Jonathan. I was there on the other side of Jonathan. Someone kindly said they could see my hair!

On Labour Weekend we had a barbecue for the families in our corner of the Ward – the Baileys, Armstrongs, Pearl Walker, the Oti family, Bert McIntyre, and we invited the Cammocks, but they couldn’t make it. I had a blast shopping for food and getting it all ready. It was a definite success, food-wise. We had barbecued vegetables – mushrooms, courgettes, onions, capsicum, aubergine, and lamb chops, kranskys and chicken tenderloins (with mesquite seasoning thanks to Jessica). I made a potato salad and home-made corn chips and dip and hummus and baked my raspberry chocolate brownies and peanut butter cookies, and we had homemade vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. We also drank root beer as we have found a good supply of A and W at the Asian warehouse. I like to feed people.

Jonathan making porridge

Jonathan is doing well at making his own porridge. He seems very pleased with himself which is great. He is pretty pleased with himself that he is getting a certificate for completion of the class at Institute. In fact he is the only one in the class who is getting a completion certificate. Today he mentioned to Mark that he did miss a class when he had his wisdom teeth removed. We told him that was a valid reason!

Labour Day at Ferrymead

Near the entrance to Ferrymead

Ferrymead Main Street

On the train

We all had a great day on Labour Day. We went to Ferrymead as they had an Event day, which means the steam trains and steam tram were running. We got there as it was opening, so we avoided lines and got a great carpark. It was funny, though, as all the other people there that early were parents of little children. We did look a little different (just for a change). We all had such a nice time! We went on different vehicles, and had a guided tour and played the pianola and sat in the sun and relished the peaceful atmosphere. We visited the radio station and tried out a dinosaur slide, and Jonathan was so interested and excited and patient – it was a total pleasure to take him.

I had my final week of seminary, probably forever! Yes I know I’ve stopped before, but this time it feels final. I have learned a great deal, and especially this year I have developed my understanding and testimony of, and love for the Book of Mormon. It is a truly amazing book. I didn’t even find the war parts boring this time. Still a little challenged by Isaiah, though. On Tuesday one of the PhD students started asking me about the church At one point she asked me if I agree with all the teachings of the church. I said I believe in the Doctrine, but I have problems with some aspects which are more cultural. It was a worthwhile question.

And that is that for October. We are REALLY hoping the app will be finished soon so that it can get on the market before too long and start bringing in some money. Jessica is working on the website, so I will let you all know when it is live. The old one is still there, but is a bit too amateur. I will be making a video to go with it and wish William were here to make it for us.

I hear Dylan is doing well on his mission. I would have been surprised if he wasn’t, and I’m sure Ellen will be doing well too. A mission has been really good for William, and even though it has been quite a challenge at times, he is very glad he served.

It’s all good
Love Nicola, Mark and Jonathan