Two New Zealand Missionaries

January 20, 2014
Wonderful friends,

1- Church History quiz of the week -- Only two of the brethren that have served as prophets in this dispensation are buried outside of Salt Lake City. Can you name these two prophets? Answer found below.
2- Scripture joke of the week -- Did you know that giants are mentioned in the Book of Mormon? Check out Mosiah 25:15. Explanation found below.
3- Quote of the week -- "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet.. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." Proverbs 4:25-27

Sister Taylor and I are happy and fully engaged in the work. The highlights from this last week include:
• We taught our first lesson to investigators by ourselves. This is a young couple that lives just two blocks from us in Inglewood. The lesson went well and they accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and made a return appointment. Pray for Alex and Rohan.
• We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Dr. Mike Jones and his family. Dr. Jones is an ER doctor that was working at American Fork Hospital and decided to have an adventure overseas with his family. He picked New Zealand and ended up in a small hospital here in New Plymouth. He is serving as 1st Counselor in the District Presidency. He and his wife, Holly, have six children and they are loving NZ. We had to come all the way to New Zealand to meet them.
• Yesterday Sister Taylor received a calling to serve as 1st Counselor in the Taranaki District Primary presidency and I received two callings, one as the District Executive Secretary and the other as the District Clerk. We were also called as Addiction Recovery instructors and also as the District Newsletter editors. Our plates are full and our cups are running over, but we are delighted to serve in these capacities. No one has been serving in any of these callings for months, so we are starting from scratch.
• Believe it or not, we have an appointment to teach a family from Colombia on Wednesday. They requested that we teach them in Spanish. They also told us that they have several Latino friends living in New Plymouth! Que bendicion para nosotros.

Answer to quiz -- Joseph Smith is buried in Nauvoo, Illinois and Ezra Taft Benson is buried in Whitney, Idaho. President Monson is still living ;o)
Joke explanation -- They were assembled together in "large bodies"? Sounds like giants to me.

Sweet is the work. We miss and love you all.

Elder and Sister Taylor

January 12, 2014
Dear Friends,

Sister Taylor and I have successfully navigated a week at the Provo MTC, a 16-hour flight to Auckland, 2 days of orientation at the New Zealand Hamilton Mission offices, a beautiful 3 hour drive through lush New Zealand landscape, and our first week of missionary life. We are happy, healthy, and engaged in the work. Our "flat" or apartment is actually a home, and we are blessed to have a wonderful place to live. Yesterday was our first Sunday in our branch, and we were told just before the meeting started that we two would be the concluding speakers. Welcome to the mission field. We have been well-received and are very happy. I miss all of you wonderful friends at work and church, but we love what we are doing.

Much love,

Elder and Sister Taylor

1) Church History quiz -- One of our prior general authorities had the same middle and last name. Can you name him? Answer shown below.

2) Scripture joke -- Did you know that there were no termites during Book of Mormon times? Turn to 4 Nephi 1:17 (page 466) to find out why.

3) Thought of the week -- FAITH is the Power, OBEDIENCE is the Price, LOVE is the Motive, the SPIRIT is the Key, and CHRIST is the Reason.

4) Answer to quiz -- The full name of Hugh B. Brown is Hugh Brown Brown. His mother's maiden name was also Brown, so to honor both sides of the family, the little boy received the same middle and last name.