the main reason we went to whangerai for outreach was to help paint a building in the local community center. i have never painted before but it was such a blast. we painted every side of the outside of the building a different color (my favorite was, of course, the yellow) and we painted the inside white with a blue ceiling. it was great team building (i was blessed with the best, most hilarious team ever) and even when it got hot and tedious, there is nothing blasting mamma mia and a few laughs couldn’t fix. i sure do love these people.

i’m finally back from outreach week so prepare for lots of posts. one of our first stops when we were in whangerai was the waitangi treaty grounds. this was where the first treaty between the maori and europeans was signed in 1840. its interesting to be in a country even younger than america because america has always seemed so young to me compared to everywhere else i’ve traveled. we went to a maori ceremony in the marae (maori meeting house pronounced mor-i) on the grounds then explored houses and gardens based on those of the first settlers to new zealand. the houses were cute and reminded me of the architecture on the east coast in america. the gardens were beautiful and we had a fun time exploring and taking pics.