Dec 15, 2019Catch Phrases9 December 2019 Hello — When you serve a senior mission, you are together a lot. All the time. As a result, like twins, we are beginning to form our own language. Or maybe we are just dull, and so repeat the same things over and over. …Christmas3 min readChristmas3 min read
Dec 8, 2019TVNZ1 December 2019 Hello — Remember that video story I told you about a few weeks back? Well, here it is, and here is the English version. Welcome to New Zealand! You may notice the one girl that appears in both videos. The Maori version is filmed at the Bay…New Zealand4 min readNew Zealand4 min read
Dec 1, 2019Happy Thanksgiving!24 November 2019 Hello — Happy Thanksgiving! I admit I’m a little in denial here that it is Thanksgiving this week, so we don’t have any plans as of yet. We might just go see the new Frozen movie and call it a day. I know I keep saying this…Thanksgiving4 min readThanksgiving4 min read
Nov 23, 2019Odd Jobs in the Summer21 November 2019 Hello — Since Institute is on summer vacation, we have been asked to do a variety of odd jobs. One is to inspect the missionary apartments. This is about as funny as me doing temple laundry. I remember once my mom pointing out to me just how…Laundry4 min readLaundry4 min read
Nov 17, 2019Ceremonies10 November 2019 Hello — Today was the Primary Program! If you are an OEC (Only Easter and Christmas) church goer, let me invite you to add the Church’s Primary Program to your annual calendar. They are typically held sometime during October or November, but it varies from congregation to…Culture4 min readCulture4 min read
Nov 10, 2019Stories on the Edge of Education Week6 November 2019 Hello — I am sitting on the big deck of the “Big Deck” (the cottage’s name) overlooking the Tasman Sea while Jeff is down on the beach, about a 1/4 of a mile from our Air BNB, taking photos of the surfers. Our ”Big Deck” is located…New Zealand6 min readNew Zealand6 min read
Nov 9, 2019Zone Conferences Begin27 October 2019 Hello — Our big event this week was driving up to the “Northlands” and staying for a couple of nights at The Bay of Islands. We had a Zone Conference about an hour away, and the senior missionaries decided to make a trip out of it and…Christianity4 min readChristianity4 min read
Nov 9, 2019Why Missouri?25 October 2019 Hello — We finished up our semester this week. It was a good week, but now we have a long summer in front of us with many empty holes. We have some S&I training, some Zone Conferences, and an Education week to get us through the next…Mormon4 min readMormon4 min read
Oct 20, 2019Food: the good, the bad, and the ugly13 October 2019 Hello — We are heading into our last week of teaching at the Institute for this year. Whew, that went fast. We work in 12 week semesters, and we missed the first two due to VISA delay. It has taken me most of these past 10 weeks…Food4 min readFood4 min read
Oct 13, 2019Saia’s Baptism!6 October 2019 Hello — It’s been a busier week than normal around here. I cooked an extra meal and gave an extra lesson, which bulked up my schedule quite a bit, but the exclamation point at the end of the week was Saia’s baptism. We were so happy to…Lds4 min readLds4 min read
