To Our Children and Grandchildren (and anyone else who cares to read this)

Dad and I have talked about this much while we have been away from you in the far land of New Zealand, Aotearoa, The Land of the Long White Cloud.  What have we talked about?  We have talked about the effect this experience has had on each of you.  We hope you remember it for a long, long time. 

The hardest thing to do in coming here was not going through the tests or the application or the money we had to find to be able to do it or the waiting to come here.  It was not leaving our house or selling the car.  It was not going to a new land that we knew very little about.  It was not going to a place that we knew virtually no one.  It was not new customs or old traditions or learning to understand the Queen's English. 

The hardest thing was leaving all of you when we love and care about each of you so very much.  It was missing the birthdays and the baptisms and the Black Belt tests and all of the dance and music recitals.  It was missing all the little milestones for which we have normally been present.  It was the hugging and the kissing and the talking and the crying.  It was the learning and the growing and the totally deep understanding even in differences that exists in a family that truly, truly cares for each other.

We see very little of that depth of caring here and we cherish it more than ever before but the point is, THE POINT IS, we were willing to give up something we wanted badly now for something we knew would be a pattern for the future.  We know that while this has been very hard for all of us, it teaches you that it is important to do hard things for the betterment of others.  Because we have done this, we have learned things we could have learned no other way.  We appreciate each other like we never have before and we appreciate you in a way not possible had we not been separated from you.

We have seen you love and support one another without us.  I don't know what that means to you but it means a great deal to dad and I.  We have seen you be there for us and for each other.  We have seen growth in you that you perhaps do not see in yourselves.  We have seen the fruits of your labors as well as ours.

We expect to see videos and pictures of many events that we missed.  We hope you remember why we were not there.  We have often thought, "What can we say if we miss this thing."  We counteracted that with, "What would we tell the Lord if we didn't do this thing we undertook to do."

We now understand even better the depth and breadth of our love for one another lies in our commitment to do hard things for the greater good.  We hope we pass on a legacy of loyalty, love, faith, commitment to do the right things for the right reasons, to give up what we want now for for something that will make a better future for all of us.

I would never change this in spite of it's difficulty.  It has made us and you better children of our Heavenly Father and better brothers and sisters in Christ.  NOTHING ELSE is of so great an import!