Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 has been and gone. This year we wanted to continue last years tradition and share with others rather than receive ourselves. We are very fortunate to have the things that we have and it is hard to celebrate knowing that the simple things in people's lives are often put before the spoils of the Christmas season.

I made contact with the bishop of the ward in Fiji to see if he was happy to help us out again.

He was thrilled to assist.

Last year we shared what we had done with our family and some were touched enough that they wanted to contribute in 2014.

The funds were sent and the wait began. I trust the discretion of the Bishop to delegate the funds to those that need them the most.

This year we were able to assist a family with paying their school fees, a single mother have the windows in her home replaced, and provide some needed food and essentials to families who needed the help of others.

The first lot of news came through while we were eating dinner. The Bishop and his family had called in to visit the family that needed help paying for their school fees. When the gift was presented the father, a man in his 40's-50's cried. He was amazed that someone from across the globe would be thoughtful enough to share this gift with him. He revealed to the Bishop that he had been praying that somehow he would be able to pay the debt and allow his children to attend school in the coming year. He, nor I, ever thought that this act of giving would bring such great joy to each other.

This is what Christmas is about. Knowing that we have in some way made a real difference in someone's life. Christmas has a greater meaning to me now than ever before. I no longer am concerned that I have or have not purchased something for every person that I interact with in one way or another. It is more than all the retail hustle and bustle. It is hearing and seeing that we have become someone's Christmas miracle.


Last year we received photos of the gift giving. This year we sent and received videos to and from those that we assisted.

This idea of the Maiwiriwiri family was brilliant. It allowed us to get the kids more involved, and feel as though we are actually there participating in the giving.

I am not going to post the videos on here as I believe that they are a personal communication that does not need to be shared on the WWW.

I will share pictures of the kids that we took while making our video.

We look forward to 2015 and hope that we will be blessed with the same opportunity.

Radio

Living in a small community means that you have a lot of opportunities to serve. Well that is what I thought any way. But each community is filled with opportunities to serve as a volunteer. Living in a small community just means that you are more aware of the opportunities that arise.

 

When I first arrived in St Helens, one of my colleagues, who is involved in just about every organisation in St Helens mentioned that she was a volunteer Ambulance Officer and also worked at the local community radio station.  I mentioned that one of my goals was to become involved in the community. She said that the radio station were looking for new board members and she offered to put my name forward as a potential member.

 

It was approved by the board and I now attend regular meetings and help out where I can. It was from my involvement with the board and fundraising efforts that I was approached to become an announcer for the station.

 

I was not confident about the offer, but deep down inside I was thrilled that I would be able to have my own radio show. I came up with the name “Breakfast with the Big Fella” as the name for my show.

 

I started doing a regular Saturday morning show 7:30-11am, which I thoroughly enjoy. I then went on to pick up an extra shift on a Wednesday morning 6:00-8:15. This one I am not so fond of. Particularly if I don’t get a good night’s sleep the night before. (like last night).

 

It has been very enjoyable getting to know different people, being part of the community, a voice of the community and showing my children that you can do anything.

 

Hanisi has visited the station with me on a number of occasions. So much so that she has her own on air name and a small following of supporters. I have been stopped in the street on a number of occasions asking when ‘Little Chick” will be back on air. She started off by reading parts of the weather and now she reads some of the adds with me. She wishes she could have a whole show of her own, and who knows, maybe one day she will and I will be her co-host/special guest?

 

Mariah says that we work well together.

 

All the kids have been to the studio and have a look around. Milly has done a little on air time, but is a little shy to talk through the microphone.

 

So that is one way that I have assisted the community of St Helens. I keep them entertained and informed. (I hope).

Annie Mariah Terry

Annie is about to turn 1 in a couple of weeks and I have not even completed a post about her arrival.
I realised yesterday that I had not kept a record of the events of 2014 and there were so many that needed to be reported.

Annie was a baby of choice. Mariah had felt for some time that she had wanted to have another baby. Me, on the other hand, was not feeling those same feelings. I was content with what we had. Chester was just starting to sleep through the nights and the girls were settled and becoming more independent. Why would anyone want to spoil that?

Well we did.... and this is what we were blessed with. They say "sacrifice brings forth blessings."
 

I would say that we have been blessed beyond our comprehension.

I know that this is a blog about Annie, but I have been looking at Chester the past couple of weeks as I have spent time with him and I have realised that his is such a handsome little fella.

From the first appointment that we had with the doctors we knew that the Drs had their dates wrong. What they were saying just did not make any sense. I felt that Annie would come earlier than expected. We were so fussed with the dates because we now lived 2 hours from a hospital that had the ability to deliver a baby.

I must admit this was my biggest concern as Mariah's past labours had been very short and I was sure that this was not going to be any different.

I had reviewed my training through my volunteer involvement with the ambulance station and had a plan in my mind if it all went wrong.

As the day drew closer, we had parents on stand by, and Mariah's mother booked in to come and be with the kids. I was lucky enough to have 6 weeks off work from the third week of January. The time had come and we had been spending a lot of time at the beach and exploring the East Coast of Tassie.

It was Australia day long weekend coming up, and I had considered that Annie may be born on Australia day. If that was to happen, I thought that it might be nice to call her Matilda. No sure if Mariah was sold on the idea.

Australia Day (Sunday) came and went with not even a hint of a birth. I was a little disappointed with that, but it was just not meant to be. But that was ok, because we had a big day planned at Bridport the next day. It did mean that was the name Matilda out the window. Oh well, back to picking another girls name... It was not easy.

Monday came and we were all excited about the day at the beach. The weather was as it should be on any public holiday - Hot and Sunny.

The kids were so excited. We love the beach. We live on the coast and still feel like we don't go to the beach enough. We packed the Patrol, loaded the kayak and thought at the last minute that we should bring the labour bag and extra baby seat. We thought that we should pack it just in case.

We had a blast at the beach. It was a beautiful day for swimming, kayaking and being told off by old ladies for not wearing a life jacket. We spent the day with a lot of friends doing what we love to do.

At the end of the day we went back to the camp site of a friend and just sat a talked. They invited us to stay for dinner, which we did. When we got back, I noticed that Mariah had gone missing. She had gone off for a walk. When she came back she was eager to get going where I was happy to stay. She kept making up excuses as to why we had to leave and I just kept ignoring her requests. In the end I gave in and we decided to leave

I was debating if we should go home via Gladstone, long and straight, or Scottsdale, shorter winding through the hills. I sat at the intersection and debated. I tried to get input from Mariah, but she "did not mind." About 5 mins from the Bridport turn off, Mariah tells me that she has been having some pains. I asked what they were like, how far apart, and when they started. She then tells me that they started back at the camp site. I asked if she felt like we should go to Launceston or keep going home. She said she didn't know. I said she had until Scottsdale to let me know what she wanted to do. It was just as we were coming in to Scottsdale that the huffing and puffing started, and she was grabbing at her knees.

I knew it was on, and we needed to go to Launceston. I got on the phone to mum to let her know that we were coming as quickly as we could and expected to be there in about half an hour. We arrived in Launceston and Mariah wanted to have a quick shower before we went to the hospital. By this stage the labour was well underway. I unpacked the car and put the sleeping kids in to their beds. Mum was fussing as a mother would and getting towels etc for the car. But there was no time for fussing.

I don't recall if I called the hospital or not. I think we did, because a grumpy old nurse told me off for not calling when we turned up to have Chester.

I think we got to the hospital about 8:00pm. I really don't recall what time it was but it was about then. Soon after Annie was born.

Trying to think back I don't recall too much. I do recall that the nurse was telling Mariah to push and Mariah kept saying I am so tired, I just want to go to sleep. I explained to the nurse that we had just had a big day at the beach and are all exhausted. Poor Mariah just wanted it to be over. Lucky for her it was a quick delivery and we were introduced to Annie.

Annie was not a name that we had both decided on. It was a name that we had discussed, I liked it, Mariah not so much. But, here she was, she needed a name. So we quickly decided Annie Mariah Terry would be just fine.

After Annie had spent some time with Mariah and the nurses had completed all their checks, I got Annie dressed and then came home so I could get some sleep and so could Mariah.

12 months on and Annie is doing great. It has not been an easy 12 months. It has been difficult for us to adjust to a new baby. Well for me it has been.

Annie is such a happy baby, and really, has been a good baby.

This is Annie.

Policeman's Point.

Wow.. It has been 12 months since I wrote a blog. What a 12 months it has been. I have a lot to catch up on.

I will start with the weekend just gone.

We caught up with Stinky Dan and his family over Christmas and he mentioned a camping trip. I said I was keen and quickly forgot what I had said.

I received a text to make sure that we were still keen for camping. My response... SURE>...

Nothing like a last minute decision. I had other things that I was doing that weekend, some would have to take a back seat, others I could work around.


We went to Policeman's Point. It is located on the southern side of Anson's Bay on the North East of Tasmania. It is part of the iconic Bay of Fires Conservation Area.



Photos from the Southern part of the Bay of Fires.

When we arrived Annie, (I'll introduce Annie in a later blog) decided to complete some maintenance on the Patrol while the rest of us unpacked.

 

She was so proud of the work that she had done.

We knew that Saturday was going to be a HOT day. The forecast was for temps in excess of 30 degrees with a strong northerly wind. As a result a total fire ban was declared from midnight Friday. We made sure that the marshmallow toasting was completed early on Friday.

 The Bureau got it right. Saturday was HOT... I had my radio show (ohhh yeah I'll blog about that later) and the temp at the station was 36 degrees before 11am. I could not wait to get back to camp and jump in the water.

We got back to find the kids and adults all in the water and cooling off.

It was a beautiful spot when the tide was out.

There was a lot of sand for the kids to run around on and build sand objects.

Milly, our Frozen fanatic, built a sand version of Olaf.  She was so proud and rightfully so. She did an awesome job.

Our cute Milly.

My Dad had decided to come down to visit us that same day. When I told him that we would be at the beach I knew that he would not mind.

He had a ball with the kids.

Notice Milly's hand gestures... My father is deaf and Milly is trying to communicate with him. Her and Hanisi are good with their signing.

 

 

All of the kids ran and played most of the afternoon. 

 

Others were exhausted from the heat and the excitement.

 

Annie thought she was ok to park her pram there for more than an hour. Beach Security had other ideas.

Until he was chased away like a pesky seagull trying to rob you of your chips.

 



They were proud of themselves.

 

 

 

Annie was just glad that she got out of a ticket.

 

The guard was sent packing. We never saw him again...

 The kids went back to playing without a care in the world.

I remember those days. Going from day to day without and thought for tomorrow, just enjoying the moment that you were in.

I like this final picture. To me, this is a representation of a good holiday. Feeling free and HAPPY.

Two nights away, and a life time of memories.

Thanks Stinky Dan for the invite.

 

The Spirit of Christmas

As Christmas drew close this year, I began to think of what I could do for Mariah. What did she want? What did she need, What would make her smile? I had no idea. She was faced with a similar dilemma. I was frequently being asked, "what would you like for Christmas?" "Is there something in particular that you would like for Christmas?"It became apparent that neither of us really needed, or wanted anything so badly that we desired it as a gift from each other. We had decided not to get anything for each other.

One night after a long day at work, I was on the computer filtering through video clips on You Tube when I came across this video.

I encourage you to watch it.

As I watched I was thinking with my business hat on. I thought this was a great marketing video to show at this time of the year. The company must have spent millions making this happen. My thoughts carried on like this until I saw the lady towards the end open her gift. It was a camera. Something that she desired so much that it brought her to tears. It was this simple reaction from a complete stranger that sparked a memory. I had seen and experienced similar feelings before.

Christmas 2004 sprung to mind.

I was serving as a missionary in Fiji at the time. It was my second Christmas in Fiji, and one thing that I had noticed was, there were no Santa's in the shopping complexes. There was no Santa on the back of the fire truck throwing lollies to the kids in the streets.

I didn't see children having the experiences that brought so much excitement to me as a child. So I thought that I would do something about it.

I asked around for donations from other missionaries so that I could buy the biggest sack of lollies that you had ever seen. There were a lot of kids in Fiji, and we had a lot of ground to cover. My companion, Elder Maiwiriwiri and I secured 2 Santa suits, borrowed the mission president's car and set off to bring some cheer to the kids of Fiji.

This is us, all suited up and ready to go. Note that only a Santa in Fiji wears sandals. I have to tell you ... it was hot in that suit.

I don't have any more photo's of that day, but I do recall the joy that we brought to not only children, but adults as well. We stopped to get fuel at one of the major service stations and the reaction from those that were filling up their cars was amazing. To have one, show up was amazing, but to have two... WOWZERS.. that was just amazing.

I will never forget that Christmas. The smile of the lady in the video clip reminded me just how special Christmas can be when we reach out to others. I wanted to feel that again.

As my desire to feel like I had back in 2004 grew, I came across this quote from an Apostle of our church.

“If every member, young and old, will reach out to just 'one' between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior.”
—M. Russell Ballard, October 2013 general conference

This was the piece of the puzzle that made everything fall in to place.

I was at lunch with Mariah one Thursday afternoon, when I said to her, "What if we give some money to my companion in Fiji to distribute to those that were in need in Fiji?"

I think Mariah was a little concerned at first that the funds would not be used for their intended purpose. But I reassured her that I trusted my companion and his family. There were good people and they would not misuse the funds. Mariah agreed and I was straight on to Facebook to ask my companion if it would be possible for him to help us.

The reply came that His family would be thrilled to help us. He could see that it was going to benefit so many and most of all it would allow him to teach his family the blessing of giving rather than receiving.

I had two conditions attached to the request.

1- That they take photos of them handing out the gifts so that I could share it with my family at Christmas.
2- No kava was to be purchased with the funds.

The money was sent and I eagerly awaited the photos.

One afternoon I received a message on Facebook,

"First Delivery had to be today as this young woman Frances Kotobalavu is leaving on Thursday for MTC. She will be serving in the Vanuatu Mission. Terry you may remember her grandmother a widow - Sis Ramaqa. They were thankful for the assistance and sent their loloma to your family. Vinaka vakalevu and she gave a small mat made out of newspaper as her way to say thank you. We told them that a family from Australia provided this."

With the note came these photos.

 

 

This was it. This was the feeling that I had all those years ago. This is what Christmas is really all about.

 

Another message came.

 

 

"A need came as we were doing our Ward Family history my wife found out that the Vanuatu saints maybe in need of food as they will be staying in here Fiji till the 29th of December. So we spent about $116 worth of groceries for the five families that came to the temple. All the adults had gone to the temple except for this lady in the picture Sis Sovuai who had to babysit."

 

 

 



As Christmas drew closer, I received more news and more photos of the preparations that had been taking place.

"Service Centre was out of stock for many of the things we initially thought of so we switched plans a little on the family gifts."

Empty shelves at the Church Distribution Centre

Wrapping and Packing

This is the oldest daughter of my companion. The two daughters were often referred to as the elves during this process. 

"we will definitely keep the pictures coming most will be on Christmas morning. We have invited the youth sin our ward to be part of this spiritually uplifting experience. We are thoroughly enjoying every effort. Thank you again for allowing this to do it on your behalf."

By this time most of the packing and purchasing had been completed. We just had to wait till Christmas morning. My Companion had said that they hoped to be up and about very early to deliver the gifts, then would send through the photos so that I could share with my family.

Christmas came and I was awake just before 4 am. It would have been around 6 am in Fiji. I knew that the gifts were being distributed. I kept checking my phone, hoping for an update, or a photo. By 4:30 I realised that I needed to get to sleep as I had a busy day ahead of myself. I was so excited.

Finally it came. At 6:33am

"Terry, isa what a wonderful experience to delivery. We just finished. The youths in the picture Boila siblings.Their mother left them for almost 7 years now. We invited them to be part of the experience. Here are the rest of the pictures"

For the next hour, we struggled to get the photos to come through. At one point I said, feeling disheartened, don't worry about it, go and spend Christmas with your family and try again later."

He replied that he would keep trying until we received all of the pictures.

Finally they came through. One by one I opened them. My smile grew and grew as I read the things that they had provided.

 

I won't go in to the detail of what each received as a gift. One thing that they did receive and that is evident in their faces is the true meaning of Christmas. They received joy. They felt the love of others. I hope they felt the love of the Saviour.

 

 

I made a DVD of the things that were provided and the help that we were able to provide to these people. There were a few tears as we watched and offers of assistance if we choose to do it again.



We hope to do it again. It would be nice to travel there in a couple of years and experience it first hand. It is something for us to work towards.

I have to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the Maiwiriwiri family for their help. They are the ones that have worked so hard to make this happen. All we did was come up with the idea and provide the means to make it happen.

This is a little of what they said about the experience.

"It was an inspirational experience for us too and thank you for helping us feeling of our Saviors' Love through this kind action. Every family here in Fiji have thanked your family in ways that are known locally food. Thank you again."

When asked about how the elves were doing he responded.

"....They are so excited. in every gift we prepared a journal jar for each family which they have been making since 2 in the morning. So excited"

 Santa and his helpers.

The man behind the beard and his amazing wife.

Vinaka!