Monday night, July 30, we went to "tea" with some very lovely people and I felt I needed to share these feelings. The family that we went to have dinner with is a beautiful little Argentine family. They have moved here to improve their way of life. They are from a large town in Argentina and I guess the work opportunities are limited there as well as the wages. Anyway, we found ourselves sitting at a table with a mini-united nations. We Americans were there with the Argentines, a German exchange student and her sponsor who is a Kiwi Maori lady. While we were sitting there, a call came in and a Brazilian family was quickly invited to join us.
We couldn't help but think what an opportunity this was for all of us with our language and cultural differences to take the time to get to know what we had in common. Opportunities like this have made me even more grateful that we chose to come on a mission. Most of the world is good as evidenced in these wonderful people at one table. The little German girl who is 15, is still having a time adjusting to the food here as well as the language and customs. I'm sure many things are unfamiliar to her but we remarked as we traveled to our little place what a brave young girl she is to travel half way across the world to learn new things. This is not to mention her parents who let her go. She is an only child.
The beautiful Maori lady who is all of 4'11 and 3/4", lost her husband a few months ago and took the brave step of trying to run their company by herself. It was too hard so she gave it up but invited an exchange student into her home to fill some lonely times. What a lovely thing to do. She is so cute and pretty amazing. Her great grandfather knew our great grandfather more than 100 years ago. We have a pictures of both of them in the things that we brought here with us. She is from the North Island but here we both are on the South Island connected through ancestors 100+ years ago.
The little girls of the Argentine family make me homesick for our little grandchildren. They are delightful little girls, one quiet and tentative, the other full of energy, both very sweet. Their mum and dad are wonderful, strong saints, committed to the gospel and the things it does for their family. How wonderful it is that we have so many things in common to bring us together in learning about each other and sharing our lives and our hearts.
I had planned to end here but we went to dinner again on Friday, this time with the Maori lady and her little exchange student and a couple who came to be a part of one another's lives when they both came here after WWII, she from England, he from Austria after serving in the German army and being held in a Russian prison camp. His life was actually saved by being wounded and put in the hospital. All of his other "mates" did not survive.
We watched as a 15 year old girl and a 90 year old man became united by their common language. It was a lovely thing to behold. The rest of us watched in amazement and then started our own little conference on genealogy. The older couple are not members but they are really wonderful people with full lives and a great understanding of what is good and right. We feel so fortunate to have been entrusted with this sacred opportunity. We can only hope and try to fill it well.
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