Driven

Driving to a training on Saturday in our trusty Toyota and saw one of these old classic cars driving down the streets of Manakau, Auckland.  Pretty classy.  A Packard. 

web photo

 We also caught a 1956 turquoise and white Chevy the same day (there’s a classic car show the last weekend of every month in the area that keeps some great looking antique cars on the road).  Made us think about what people drive…and what "drives"people. 

On Saturday afternoon we "drove" through a ponderosa pine forest.  Pretty unique because "pinus ponderosa" is not native to New Zealand.  It was introduced here from the US in the early 20th century for timber.  It was obvious that the forest was planted by men as you could see when we got deep into the forest, the 60-70 ft. trees were planted in uniform rows.  The trees looked familiar but we had never seen green moss hanging from ponderosa pine back home before.  Pretty interesting.  Worth the "drive" .

Our "drive" destination at the end of the forest was the Muriwai sand dunes.  Motor bikes and 4-wheel drives can’t get enough of the literally knee deep black sand.  Regular vehicles had to park before the sand got deep as everything would sink easily into the soft sand.  

Besides the 4 wheelers, also “driving” through it were some fit horses and riders.  The tall (17 hands high) darker horse is "Mortimer" and he's a shire...a breed of Clydesdale horse.  He and Little Red got a pretty good workout running full speed in the deep sand.  But it was easy to see how they and their riders were "driven" by the beautiful beach, fresh air, the workout and the thrill. 

A panorama of the deep sand and beach.  The waves were too rough and the sand too deep for it to be a swimming beach, so except for a few vehicles and the horses, the beach was empty.

 Some of the native trees on the edge of the forest with a small ponderosa and a native tall missionary along with some of the native deep black sand.

GAMES

We went to a high school (called college here) basketball game night to support Sophie and Rosie, two of Bishop Dil's daughters on the Westlake girls team. Westlake beat their rivals Carmel by 77 points, they were pretty “driven”, and continued to “drive” up the score right to the end.  The boys game followed and it felt almost like we were back home watching high school basketball. 

One difference here, in high school the game is literally "driven" by a 24 second (not a 30 second) clock. Really pushes and drives the game.

It was our second week back at Uni and, as we were trying to encourage YSA to join us, we included a known "driver"…Food.  We had a Taco night Tuesday after evening classes. 

Tuesday night students, a few left before the photo but we had 30 in all.  Great numbers.  We hope they were driven by more than just the taco's.

Wednesday Devotional was Mariana Roos (great young lady who just returned from serving a mission in Sydney Australia) followed by pancakes and ice cream... web photo

Pancake loving or "driven" people

Mariana and Avea feasting.

Thursday we have standing orders for "build your own salads" after our "Lunch side" class.  

This week the discussion was "driven" by Elder and Sister Kopp from Switzerland, they are "alive" and definitely driven in all they do!

Then on Friday we had our first “Oodles of Noodles” (you warm up your choice of noodles while we go thru questions sent in to the our “oodles of noodles” jar and together we look up Scripture and Prophetic direction and answers).

They ate oodles and fed their "noodles"

Hunger can mean a lot of things and be a powerful driver.  We have found YSA's are definitely "driven" by their physical hunger, but we also hope that the more powerful driver is hunger for wisdom and learning the things of God.

These faithful beauties in Hibiscus ward are definitely "driven" by good things, most have served missions, enrolled in Institute, and are ones you can count on to give and give and give in school, church and all they do.

A story of one "driven".  Fane lives in Tonga and has been one of the Tongans involved in the pilot “Eat Healthy and Be Active” program in the Islands to help curb the epidemic of diabetes and its tragic effects that seems to be overly abundant and growing in the Polynesian culture.   
Fane lost almost 50 lb, is still losing, and has changed her lifestyle in a major way.  She is a vice-principal at a school in Tonga and can affect many more with her "drive" and accomplishment.  A longer healthier life and feeling good are "driving" many to begin doing something about it and Fane’s example is a great inspiration.   

We had a great young man come into AIB this week "driven" by his spiritual hunger.  “Rish” is from both India and the UK, and knows there is a God, and wonders why each religion views, teaches about, and worships Him differently.  Got to share with him about another young man in the early 1800’s who felt much the same.  Shared also that as a result of Joseph’s inquiry and prayer there came about an eventual restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as He established it anciently.  Rish loves to read anything that might be God’s word and has taken to writing some beautiful prose about his search for Jesus Christ and God and truth. He was thrilled to get a copy of another testament of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon and couldn’t wait to start reading in his search for truth.  He said that he had passed the AIB many times but was “driven” to stop and come inside that day.  He said he felt something, like the feeling he gets when he prays and feels that God can hear him.  THOTL

Our friend Mary Stosich says she is "driven" to bring home dropped flowers from her walks.  Her "flower" bowl is always full because there are ALWAYS dropped flowers that need a home.

We had another “driven” young man, David from China, stop in and ask if he could come to our Old Testament class and listen in and learn more English. He did join us on Tuesday night and we were actually able to also get him enrolled in an English class being taught by some Elders nearby.  David has some good friends who are regulars at AIB who have shared much with him.  Like our friend Anderson, David is “driven” to take the initiative to help him reach his goals.  He was determined to find the time to do what needs to be done,  and the way to be better.   

What "drives" you…and where will it "drive" you?  Food, a diploma, sandy beaches, health, 24 second clocks, and loved ones are all motivations.  
Where will they lead?  What will be your destination in the end? 
With a good vehicle and the right Guide we hope our "drive" gets us back Home.
We hope that for you too.
We testify that He is "the Way..."


All our love,
Vance and Louenda
Elder and Sister Downs