Shake it Off

In February 2011 I was on my mission in New Zealand. I was serving in the second largest city called Christchurch on the southern island. This city is a decent size, with tall buildings in its city center and many shops and homes surrounding it. One morning my companion and I were driving on one of the main roads and started to notice everything shaking around us. Everyone stopped, and office buildings with lots of glass windows started to shatter. The shaking kept going for a few minutes and roads started to flood and sirens started to sound. We later found out that it was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that had just hit this city. Many buildings had crumbled to the ground, 185 people died, and thousands injured. Lots of screaming and panicking was going on around us right after it hit. We had no idea what to initially do.

We abandoned our car and went on foot to locate other missionaries and help others along the way. There were many people running around like crazy, chaos was definitely present. We tried to calm down a few people, including a man who needed to get to his wife and child. We were able to give him our bike so he could get there faster. We felt that official authority did not exist in that moment because there wasn't a whole lot that could be done except for people to help each other. I would say whoever wasn't panicking was able to step up and help others. As missionaries, we did our best to usher people to safety.

If everyone was in panic mode, no one would get helped and chaos would destroy everyone. Because we had faith that God would protect us, we were able to step up in an authoritative role and try to restore order to those around us. It was a humbling experience and one I will never forget.

KA MATE! KA MATE! KA ORA! KA ORA!

Kia Ora. I was fortunate enough to serve a mission for the Latter-day Saint church in New Zealand back in 2009-2011. I knew nothing about the place when I first got there, and didn't know how I was going to adapt over a two year period. They say going on a mission turns you from a boy to a man. Well my mission did even more for me. It allowed me to find a culture that I had been searching for. 

The Maori people have been in New Zealand since sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE. When the English settlers arrived in the land in the 17^th century, things changed and the Maori warriors created a war chant called the haka. This would scare off the white settlers who wanted to settle in their land. On my mission, I was fortunate to learn this haka, and for some reason, it came very easy for me to learn it. In fact, I learned to pray, share beliefs, and everyday phrases in the Maori language, although everyone spoke English. This unique culture became a huge part of me, and I almost wondered if I had been born in the wrong culture to begin with! Today I still embody that same culture I picked up while I was in New Zealand. I participated in the BYU luau, and somehow connected with most of the Polynesians living in Provo.

The Maori language is almost considered a dying language because many schools stopped teaching it. It has been my goal to spread this culture like wildfire, and keep the old traditions and history of the Maori people going for ages to come.