The Temple and School in New Zealand

President McKay, President Richards, President Clark and President Smith, fellow members of the Priesthood of God, I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will give me utterance this night, that I may bring to you a message of the people who dwell deep in the South Pacific. I ask our Heavenly Father to bless me that I may bring to you the spirit of these people who have lived for many hundreds of years, tucked away in the South Pacific Islands, a people who have the blood of Israel flowing richly in their veins. ¶

I thank President McKay and the First Presidency for the assignment which was given me, and I was very humble in the performance of this duty, knowing something of the nature of the mission which I had to perform. My good brethren, I invite you tonight to indulge with me and imagine that each of you was a returned missionary from one of the many South Pacific Islands. I invite you to do this in order that you may fully appreciate the things that are being done in the interests of those people who are members of the Church. I am grateful I know them, that I know their hearts and their feelings. I am above all grateful for the simplicity of their souls, for the implicit trust they have in God, their eternal Father. ¶

I pray to my Heavenly Father daily that I shall never in all my life be anything but one of them, that I can keep the spirit of their simple faith, their humility, and their trust in things that are divine. They literally believe in the words of God and in the words of the prophets of God. They believe if they keep the commandments of God, God will bless them and this is the premise upon which they live. I only wish every member of the priesthood of the Church could have been there and could have witnessed the manifestation of the spirit of those men and women and children when they, for the first time, saw the Prophet of the Living God in this age. We must remember that in the land of New Zealand the Prophet of God has never stood, and to our knowledge it is the first time in recorded history that the Prophet of God had set his foot in this land. These people truly appreciated this glorious experience. ¶

One night, as we were getting ready to hold a meeting to set up the itinerary for President McKay, a woman got up in the audience and said, "President Mendenhall, we do not care whether we hear a single word from the Prophet of God. All we want is to see him. If I can just bring my six children and let them see him, it will serve them all the days of their lives." ¶

I wish all the membership of the Church could have heard her humble testimony. I wish every member of the Church could have the same simplicity of faith, that humility to believe in very deed in the greatness of the Prophet of the Living God. The experiences which followed President McKay's visit there were many and touched the hearts of thousands. ¶

As President McKay told you, one of my assignments was to select several likely spots on which a temple could be built. Several spots which looked like they might be desirable were found, but as I was traveling in a car one afternoon I came upon another spot and without any question of a doubt I knew the reason why the temple should be there. I drove up over the top of a hill overlooking the area and my decision was confirmed. ¶

The next morning at daylight I went back by myself to look around and take some pictures. About ten days later President McKay came. He arrived at the college at Hamilton after dark. At daylight the next morning we set out to look over the properties. We drove up over this hill, opened a gate and went out into the paddock. We drove up to the spot I had seen. There were five of us in the car and as we stopped, three of the brethren got out on the right side while President McKay and I got out on the left. He took me by the arm and we walked about 15 or 20 paces from the car and he turned to me and said, "What do you think?" ¶

I had not said a word to him. No one else knew a thing. When President McKay looked around the area and saw this beautiful hill, he said, "This is the place where the temple should be," and this statement confirmed the thing which was in my heart. Then a week later President McKay came back to this beautiful spot and I bear witness to you, my brethren, that I saw the Prophet of this Church in the spirit of vision and when he walked away from that hill, he knew the House of the Lord was to be erected upon that particular spot. ¶

The property was not ours. It lay between two pieces of property owned by the Church. We had to investigate and find out if it was possible to purchase this property. It was owned by three brothers, their sister, and mother. I went to see these people. I had been to see them before, however, and they had told me they did not want to sell. One day as we were leaving the college the three brothers came up to the car and said they would like to see me. President McKay went on up to the house and I stayed and talked with them. They said, "President Mendenhall, we have decided we do not want to sell the property at all, but after President McKay has finished his tour, will you come and see us?" ¶

The day President McKay left for Australia, Elder George Biesinger, who is in charge of the construction, and I, went back to see the Murray brothers. We sat on the hill that morning and talked to them about their property, and about eleven o'clock we decided we would go see an attorney. There were two of the brothers present so they called the other brother who was fishing. They called the sister from another community and they got their mother and all went into town. At three o'clock that afternoon they had decided to sell the property. ¶

Elder Biesinger and I had gone over the property very thoroughly and had put a valuation on it by breaking it down into various lots and acres. We met with the attorney and he overpriced the property considerably. After discussing the matter for about an hour, he said, "Would you be willing to consider this purchase if I break this property down my way and arrive at its valuation?" And we hazarded the chance and said, "Yes." He figured the property his way, not knowing what was in our hearts or that we had our own valuation on paper in our pockets. He passed his paper to us. We looked at it. It was exactly the same figure, right to the penny, we had figured that morning before going to his office. At five-thirty that evening we had the signed papers. ¶

The attorney had his stenographer go to his home to draw up the contract. It then had to go through the Land Court, the Aggregation Court, to determine whether the government would approve this purchase. We had already been to the House of Parliament. President McKay and his party had had a visit with the deputy prime minister and we had visited with the Minister of Lands and Maori Affairs and others concerned. Following our visits to the different offices, and due to the favorable impression President McKay had made on these men, we were assured that the Minister of Lands and Maori Affairs would come and view the property. ¶

In the meantime the property was turned down by the Aggregation Court but the Minister did not know this. At ten o'clock the next morning he came and we escorted him over the property and later he said, "It will take about two weeks to determine whether we will approve this purchase or not." And as we drove by the beautiful buildings under construction around the college, he turned to me and asked, "Mr. Mendenhall, what are your intentions concerning this school? Is it for Maoris only?" I said, "No sir, Mr. Corbett. This school is for Maoris and Pakihas (meaning English) alike. We believe in developing the Maori people to the highest standard of any people in this land," and he replied, "That is the very policy I believe in." ¶

As we drove out of the gate Mr. Corbett turned to me and said, "Will you please take this dictation?" I took a pad from my pocket and he said something to this effect: "Received personal assurance this day from the Minister of Lands and Maori Affairs that the New Zealand Government will not oppose the acquisition of this property." And the transaction was closed. The property is now owned by the Church and will soon be ready to be used for the purpose of building a temple and the development of the school and farm lands. To my knowledge there is no other project underway in the Church that is comparable to this one in New Zealand. ¶

In 1949 President Gordon C. Young bought the first piece of property in New Zealand for the Church on which the college was to be built. There is a very spiritual story back of this purchase and the way it was purchased, similar to the one I have just related. However, a portion of the property was acquired and later on additional property was purchased. Elder George Biesinger was sent to be the building director. They started out. They had no transportation permits. They had nothing with which to build. They had no timber. One of the first things they had to have was a brick plant. Then they had to have concrete. Then they had to have someone teach them how to proceed. They had to have labor, and so they established themselves on this basis. They acquired a rock quarry and more than 4,000 acres of timberland. ¶

They purchased a sawmill and started to saw timber. They started to crush rock. The concrete started to arrive from America. They taught the Maori boys how to make bricks. They built a big planing mill in which to do their shopwork. They had to get all their machinery and materials as well as all the instruments that are necessary for building. They had to develop the property for farming and they went out and called about 200 boys to give of their time and service to this building program. The boys came to the college and were supported by their parents and by the mission district. By the time President McKay arrived most of the boys had already worked for two years. Some of them had returned home. President McKay asked many of them if they knew anything about their trade when they first came to work and they told him no, they knew nothing about construction work. ¶

Under the direction of Brother Biesinger the group sent there from Zion have done a marvelous job in directing this work. The women who have gone from here are working 12 and 14 hours a day on this program. Every one is working in the sawmills, in the rock crushers, in the lime pits, in the cement plant, in the planing mill, in the timber, and some are laying brick. You have never seen such a pioneer organization in your life, or conditions under which they are working. They have built 5 chapels and have made all the materials for these chapels right at the college site. The school is, undoubtedly, in progress now. Families are learning how to produce. They are learning how to live. Boys are learning trades. Everyone is learning something about life during the construction of this school. ¶

It is amazing what is being done under the direction of these people who have been called to go there to direct this great work. It is the finest single missionary in New Zealand, and without a doubt it is the dawn of a great period of progress for the Church in New Zealand. Everyone has his eyes on this vast building program. ¶

Brother Biesinger is on his sixth year in New Zealand. He has his wife and six children there, three of the children having been born in New Zealand. We cannot give this man too much credit for the things he has done. I want you to know that he has put in many more hours than most of us can appreciate, and his life is dedicated and devoted to this work, to the building of the school and to the building of missions and other projects in the Pacific. ¶

President McKay assigned Elder Biesinger and me to go through the mission to call men to come to help build and to help finish the school. We were going to locate 15 or 20 men. We covered all but four districts of the mission and came back with 100 men. Some of them owned their own business. Some were carpenters, bricklayers. There were farmers, plumbers, and they just dropped their work and said, "We are willing to give our time and our services to the building of this college." They knew nothing at all about the temple at this time. They were only coming to build the college in response to a call. ¶

About six o'clock one morning I was talking to a man and he said, "President Mendenhall, I have only been a member of the Church for two weeks. May I bring my wife and go to the college and build? I will spend the rest of my life doing anything you want me to do." Following this conversation another man came up to me and said, "I have milked cows all my life. You must have a dairy at the college. I have 12 cows and a milking plant and if you will bring a truck and take the 12 cows, I will give you both the milking plant and the cows and I will devote the rest of my life on the dairy." ¶

We had a man who has spent most of his time in bed for over two years call to us one morning as we went by and wave a 50 pound note from his window. He asked us to come in, which we did. He said, "I can't help build this college but I will support one man for two years and here is a 50 pound note for my first installment in keeping that man on the job." ¶

I was talking to a man on the college grounds one day and I said, "Who are you?" He replied, "I belong to so-and-so, who is my wife and she is a member of the Church." I said, "What are you doing here?" He answered, "I came here because my wife asked me to come." I said, "Do you do everything your wife asks you to do?" and he replied, "Sure I do. She is a Mormon and I believe what she says." I said, "Are you a member of the Church?" and he answered, "No sir." Then I asked, "Why aren't you a member of the Church?" and he replied, "Because my wife hasn't asked me." Well, that is the way these things go. Today, that man is a member of the Church. Someone besides his wife asked him. ¶

My brethren, these people have real faith. They are willing to respond to the call of authority, and this vast program that is in progress in New Zealand merits our humble prayers and our humble attention. I pray humbly that all of us may have an interest in these people. We owe a great deal to Matthew Cowley who spirited this program to a great extent and I testify to you and as President McKay would do also, that on many occasions while we were there, Brother Cowley's presence was actually felt. ¶

President McKay talked of this one night in the little town of Tauranga, where Brother Cowley first started his early mission, and I testify to you that the grand and powerful spirit of that man, as well as his influence, was felt many times while President McKay was touring that mission. ¶

At the close of the tour there was a great farewell given for President and Sister McKay at the Auckland Airport. Following the dancing and singing prepared for this farewell, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker that there would be a closing prayer. Everyone, including the airport officials removed their hats. A very personal friend of President McKay's stood up to the microphone and offered a most beautiful prayer. As I looked around I saw hundreds of people with their heads bowed. Jim Elkington, a Maori man whom President McKay has known for 34 years, gave this prayer and asked the blessings of the Lord to remain with President and Sister McKay and Brother Murdock. It was most touching indeed. ¶

Just before President McKay left, a parting message to the people of New Zealand was read and I should like to read it to you. "Our assigned week in New Zealand is ended—one short week. Truly time rushes by us like the wind. The welcome extended to Sister McKay, President Murdock and me by the people of this great country will ever remain one of our hearts' treasures. To the Government, County, Municipal and City Officials, to the many non-member friends, to the Church officials, missionaries in the field, and at the college, to the thousands of loyal members of the Church, who have so graciously expressed their love in the meaningful 'haere mai, haere mai', to each one and to all, we say with hearts full of gratitude to you, and especially for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that makes us one, 'Thank you. Goodbye, and God bless you.' Affectionately, David O. McKay." ¶

The influence of the prophet of the Lord in all the Pacific is historical, and the blessings of the temple in the Pacific will do more for those people such as nothing in all the history of Mormonism has done for them. This brings to them the fulness of the Gospel. God bless them for their desire to serve him and to keep his commandments, and I bear my witness to you I know that these things are true, and the Gospel is true, and my life is only important to me and to others as I keep the commandments of God and serve him, all of which I ask in Jesus' name. Amen. ¶