New Zealand--Part 2

On Sunday we went to church, then spent a lot of the day at the temple visitor's centre to see Elder and Sister Thornley at work, and to meet some of the other missionaries. Those sister missionaries were so cute. I wish I would have taken a picture of them. Three were from Australia and one was from Alabama. This visitor's centre is newly renovated and beautiful. Mark and I watched the newest Joseph Smith film with around 15 MTC missionaries (yes, there is an MTC there). I love seeing 19 year old boys cry. It was a very moving film. It was a wonderful day.

Mark standing in front of the visitor's centre with the temple behind him.


The Christus, inside the Centre

Mark and me in front of the beautiful NZ temple.

Sister Thornley and me in front of the visitor's centre

All of us in front of the temple

Me standing in front of the temple and the visitor's center behind me.

Sunday evening we went to the Hamilton Gardens.

Bekah and me sitting on a turtle dragon?? Notice that the dragon is biting Bekah's hand, hence the pained expressions.

All of the garden's had a theme, such as a Japanese garden, an American garden (which was quite ugly), a vegetable garden, etc... I can't recall which garden this was, but it was one of my favorites. Tuscan maybe....

The next day we were off to see more sights. Before we left, I had Brother and Sister Hutchins (a cute missionary couple from American Fork) who just happened to be on a walk at 7am, take a picture of us in front of the GR Biesinger building. George Biesinger was my grandfather's first cousin. The Biesinger building (which is still being used by the Maori's for meetings and such) is located directly across from Mom a Dad Thornley's home. George R Biesinger went on a building mission in the 1960's (could have been earlier). He lived there in Temple View, NZ for many years, made many friends, taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, and was well loved and respected by many. In fact, in the sacrament meeting that we attended, the stake president mentioned Elder Biesinger in his talk. The inscription on the sign (that Mark and I are standing by in the pic below), says that the building was erected in honor of Elder "B", by his many friends (or something to that effect). I felt very proud to be a Biesinger! Oh, I also want to mention that my grandfather served a building mission in Germany, around the same time his cousin was in NZ.

Then we were off.

We were heading north, so we drove past Auckland and took a picture from our car. Our final destination was the Bay of Islands, but we made a stop overnight in the city of Whangerei (pronounced Fongeray). I am very happy we did, because we found some gorgeous places to see while we were there. First we went to see a kauri forest. Kauri trees are the largest trees in the world (by volume), but not by height (although they are huge!), and they are among the most ancient. The kauri forest was beautiful! Mark, Bekah and I went for a run through this forest the next morning before we left, so we got to see it twice!! We gave my parents a table mat made of kauri wood, and Mark bought a kauri wood bowl for his office (it holds gum (Trident), for his patients).

Me, Mark and Mom Thornley standing in front of a kauri tree.

Me and Mark in the kauri forest.

We then went to Whangarei Falls. This was also gorgeous. It was just a short hike, but the scenery was breath taking.

Me and Mark's parents in awe of the Whangarei Falls.

That evening, Jon and Bekah took the car, while Mark, his parents, and I went to a Thai restaurant. We walked, and on the way home we got caught in a NZ rain storm.

Coming up.....the Bay of Islands and our trip to the Auckland Sky Tower.