NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND MISSION

April 2024

We attended two days of training in the Office of General Counsel in Salt Lake City.  Cameron and Kathy MacLennan, from Lethbridge Alberta, Canada joined us.  We’ve already forged a friendship as we face the tasks ahead.

Fourteen areas in the world feature OGC teams.

Training with the MacLennans.  Doug Matsumori teaches Property Law and acquisitions.  He reminds us he always deals with the dirt.

Daffodils and tulips were in full bloom.  Ahh, the aroma of spring flowers filled the air.

I had but five minutes to walk from office to hotel and enjoy Spring in the city.

The Salt Lake Temple was almost unrecognizable.  

It was my pleasure to run into Elder Massimo DeFeo and his wife.  My Italian sounded awful but reminding him we served in the same mission was delightful.  He arrived in Rome close to my finishing date and we never crossed paths.  I was caught up in the moment and didn’t ask for a photo.  He serves as Area President in Frankfurt, Germany.  His DTA (Director of temporal affairs) is Paul Hansen.  Paul was our DTA in Hong Kong and our Branch President.  Small world! 

Our ALC (Area Legal Counsel) from Hong Kong, Marty Slater, now works with the OGC in SLC.  We were thrilled to reunite with him and share memories.  (Yes, we are a church of acronyms)

 

WELCOME TO NEW ZEALAND

Landing in Auckland after a 13-hour flight and 26 hours since leaving our home.

This stunning carved archway welcomed us to the airport.  A beautiful culture surrounds us!

No wonder we prefer traveling with just a single case.  Maneuvering with this much luggage creates stress (and muscles).  Customs proved to be fruitful, ha-ha.  We lost our beef jerky but kept the dried fruit.

Kitekite beach (pronounced Kittykitty).  We visited this amazing spot on our first Friday afternoon – yes, we played hooky.  Thankfully Paul, our fearless leader, drove the escape van.  After an especially tense week of training and jetlag he felt we needed a break.

More of this adventure next time.