Amid the ferns and mossy trees that flourish in the perennial mists of New Zealand's Northland lies a branch of faithful saints whose roots go back to the past century.

The Awarua Branch is one of the eight branches, which, along with eight wards, comprise the Kaikohe New Zealand Stake. The stake, composed mostly of Maoris, covers the top portion of New Zealand, an area known as the "Northland."Although the largest number of stake members live in Whangarei, a city of 40,000, the outlying branches and wards also offer pockets of strength.

Awarua Branch is among the strongest. It is also one of the most remote.

Members of the branch live in the rural countryside, their homes obscured by hills and greenery. The branch meetinghouse is also hidden from view on the nearest paved road. Nestled at the foot of hills, the meetinghouse rises neatly white over a carpet of greenery. A few miles along the way flows a stream where the hamlet's first converts were baptized in 1898. Not far away is a field where an all-New Zealand conference or hui tau was held in 1912 under a tabernacle-shaped bower of palm fronds. On a hill overlooking the meetinghouse is the site where missionaries taught school in the early days.

Today, the branch's activity rate averages nearly 70 percent, among the highest in the country. Its 80 active members include two high councilors, a stake patriarch, and the stake Primary, Sunday School, Young Men, and Relief Society presidents.

Branch president Duncan E. Wihongi, a contract mechanic, explained that "we have all the Church programs operating in our branch. We have Cubs and Scouts, early morning seminary with 15 of 19 youths enrolled."

The branch used to have an activity each Friday, but scaled back a year or so ago to one a month "to allow all the people a bit more time with their families."

Like many of the wards and branches in this "Land of the Long White Cloud," the Awarua Branch's strength is the strong families at its foundation. Duncan Wihongi's great-grandfather, Pere Wihongi, was the first convert in the Awarua area. A former minister, Pere was baptized in 1898. His children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been prominent Church leaders throughout New Zealand.

One of Pere Wihongi's grandsons is stake patriarch Patrick Wihongi, a former district president. Brother Wihongi, 79, recalled serving with Matthew Cowley, when Brother Cowley, who later became a member of the Council of the Twelve, was president of the New Zealand Mission. He was "one of the greatest men I've ever served under," said Brother Wihongi, who also served a labor mission when the New Zealand Temple was constructed.

One reason the Church thrived in the bush with few members at first, said Brother Wihongi, is that there was a natural harmony among the Maori people.

He explained that when a Maori joined the Church in the Awarua area, "there was no persecution. They kept their love and concern for each other."

Members respected those of other religions, too, he said.

In the early history of the branch, members met in the chapel of another faith. And, "when we built our building, they used it; we mixed in quite well."

Brother Wihongi's father - and Pere Wihongi's son - was Henare Pere Wihongi, a powerful missionary for the Church.

Henare learned to read and write in Maori and English only after his conversion. In 1899, about a year after his baptism, he left behind his young wife with two babies and served a mission. He served a second mission two years later. He served a third mission in 1917, leaving his wife and 10 children. Among the children was Patrick, who later served two full-time missions. Four other sons also served full-time missions.

One of the people influenced by Henare Pere Wihongi was Susan Ere Ngakuru, originally of Waimamaku, a coastal valley west of Awarua where a tiny branch was established. A widow in her 80s, she is now a member of the Kaikohe 1st Ward.

Sister Ngakuru was not a member when she married her husband, Mairangi. Her husband, she said, "was full of patience for me. I had my church, but as time went on, I could see that was not the way things should be. It was not difficult for me. I decided I could not be without him. I learned little by little about the Church."

During this time, Brother Wihongi, a visiting leader, taught her to recognize the influence of the Spirit in her life. "He said I had to have a good feeling, and I did."

Just two LDS families lived in the remote Waimamaku Branch in the 1930s. Each Sunday they met in one or the other of their homes and taught their children the gospel, explained Sister Ngakuru. "We just grew up together. We were united - there was no bickering."

The death of her husband was a difficult challenge for Sister Ngakuru.

"After losing him, I could never get settled," she said. "It was like losing part of me." She was called as a temple missionary. At the temple, "I was happy. You feel closer to the Lord there. It is my second home. I am grateful for the Church; I know the Lord loves us all."

Another outpost of strength in the Northland is the Maromaku Ward, which some call "Mormon Valley." Among the LDS families there is the family of Kaikohe stake Pres. Leslie Norman Going, a busy dairy and sheep farmer and third-generation member. His grandfather was Percy Going, a British settler who was baptized in 1893. The Going family has made many contributions to the Church throughout the country. Pres. Going's brother Sid, now in the Maromaku Ward, gained prominence as a rugby player on the country's famous "All-Black" team.

"There are six families of Goings here now," said Pres. Going.

He lives up to his name as he travels the long circuit of more than 300 miles to the 16 units throughout the Northland. "You . . . do what has to be done," he said. "You get by on less sleep."

Baptized in 1956 in Auckland, he recalls with feeling the visit of President David O. McKay during that period of time. "That was a choice experience for everyone," he said. "He announced the temple in New Zealand then.

"The temple was an enormous blessing to the saints. Thousands of people attended the dedication. Combined choirs of different areas practiced for months and months for the dedication.

"We probably would be up to singing those songs now, we learned them so well."