Senior Couple journal — New Zealand Hamilton Mission
November 30, 2014 to December 13, 2014
Dear family and friends,
Another soggy but wonderful week in New Zealand. On Tuesday we had 4 inches of rain in 24 hours. Our surroundings went from green to intense green. :o)
1/ Clean humor of the week: Following are some clever anecdotes placed on outdoor church announcement boards by enterprising pastors:
- You many want to party in hell, but you’ll be the barbecue.
- Keep using my name in vain, and I will make your rush hour longer. Sincerely, God
- There are some questions that can’t be answered by Google.
- Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet Him.
2/ Church history quiz of the week: At one point in church history we had two sets of brothers serving in the Quorum of the Twelve at the same time? Can you name these two sets of brothers?
3/ Update of the week: We were blessed this week to have President and Sister Rudd come to Taranaki. They brought with them Tiffany and Cade Winegar, one of their daughters and her husband, and their son, Dan, who just completed an honorable two-year mission as a full time missionary in Puerto Rico. We enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful sites in Taranaki with them, and having them in our home for 2 days. On Saturday we climbed Paritutu Rock together. Paritutu is an imposing up-cropping of volcanic rock that overlooks the New Plymouth harbor. The climb is essentially straight uphill. Chains have been attached to the rocks along the path to help climbers with handholds as they make their way uphill. The climb is a 1000 foot elevation gain. The view from the top is breathtaking, with nothing but Pacific Ocean visible in most directions. As we were enjoying the view, a group of four “tweeners” (12 and 13 year-olds) reached the summit. One of the boys raced to the guardrail and let out a loud yell toward the ocean. Not getting the response he expected, he turned to his three companions and loudly exclaimed, “Come and yell with me. Let’s see if we can make an echo!” We were standing on a tiny pinnacle, with nothing to reflect sound but the Australian continent about 2000 miles to the west. I smiled as they tried in vain to “make an echo”. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the creation of an echo requires two things: a loud noise and a surface to reflect the sound. This experience was reminiscent of the young, green missionary from Idaho who, upon seeing the expanse of the Pacific Ocean from this same vantage point asked, “Is that the Pacific Ocean?” When assured that it was, he replied, “Wow, it is smaller than I thought it would be.” Think about it.
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4/ Answer to the Church history quiz: There were two sets of brothers in the original Quorum of the Twelve. They were Parley P. and Orson Pratt, and Luke and Lyman Johnson.
Much love and a very Merry Christmas season to all,
Elder and Sister Taylor
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