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| This is Cape Reinga at the northern tip of New Zealand. Oops, this is
the Cape Reinga we saw. Only about 10 kilometers from our destination
the road was flooded so we weren't able to get to Cape Reinga. Bad luck
after driving for six hours to get there! |
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Bishop and Sister Ahokava invited us to their home for dinner. He is
the Bishop of our beloved Glen Innes Ward. We had a lovely evening and
lots of good food with their beautiful family.
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| A sight of which we never grew tired - the Auckland skyline. |
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| This decorative fence is in front of the wharf at the harbor |
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| Some of Sister Pinson's (Janet's) DELICIOUS cupcakes. I had to have them even in spite of my enlarged wasteline! |
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| We love Takapuna Beach!!!! |
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| In Hamilton to attend the temple before it closes. We stayed at the Novotel downtown and walked along the river in the morning fog. Cold, but beautiful. |
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| We will miss attending this gorgeous temple located in Temple View. The Spirit is very strong at this very special place. |
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| The love of my life! New Zealand is almost as beautiful as she is. |
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| Love these ladies from the Glen Innes Ward |
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| After faithfully serving in the Pacific Area Presidency, Elder Craig A. Cardon and his wife, Deborah, prepare to go home to Arizona. Their influence will be greatly missed. |
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| Our wonderful group of senior missionaries gathered to bid farewell to Elder and Sister Cardon. Since McGuires and Buckners will be leaving about the same time we were seated on the front row with the Cardons. |
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| We were so blessed to be able to associate so closely with and develop an enduring friendship with our dear friends Muriel and Junior Samuela. Their hard work made us look so good! |
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| Our dear friend Winnie Yee. We met Winnie at the Averill Court Motel in Paihia and have been blessed by her love and friendship. A few weeks before leaving New Zealand, we made this trip to Paihia especially to see Winnie one more time. |
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| Winnie is one of the kindest, most caring people we have ever met. We truly love her. |
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| What a joy it was to work with Rich Hunter and to be able to enjoy being with his family! They are such wonderful people. As a parting gift, along with the Pinsons we gave the Hunter family a framed map of New Zealand drawn by Tom Swain. Rich's wife, Laura, and two of their five children (Grace and Adam) are pictured. |
Rich wrote a sweet farewell song that was far too complimentary of our missionary service. Our friendship with him is something we will treasure forever.
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| On Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. many of the sister senior missionaries would gather to discuss the scriptures. |
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| An emotional night as the senior missionaries gathered to bid farewell to Elder and Sister McGuire.These are times and friends never to be forgotten. |
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| Elder and Sister Wright (Lane and Marian) carry a tremendous burden as they counsel with Mission Presidents regarding challenges they face. Wrights are some of the most Christ-like people we know and live just a few blocks from us in Draper. We look forward to their return home. |
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| Elder and Sister Henshaw (Vernon and Susan) arrived in New Zealand shortly before we did and will leave just a couple of months after us. They made a huge contribution to the Church's education system in the Pacific islands and to the morale of the senior missionaries as they hosted our monthly gatherings. Thanks for having us over for dinner and games. |
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| Shirley in front of one of her favorite "op shops" (charity shops). She donated a lot of clothes to this shop before we left. If you look closely you will see a blouse on the mannequin that was hers. LOL. |
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| Elders Pinson and McGuire (Quin and Jim) conferring at Jim's desk on an undoubtedly serious public affairs matter. | | | |
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| Tom Swain is an amazingly talented young man who works for the Publishing Services Department, a friend and helper of senior missionaries. |
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| Area Seventy, David J. Thomson, has been an amazing support of Public Affairs in the Pacific Area. He has also been a great friend. |
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| President Gardner (counselor in the Panmure Stake Presidency) at the Ratana Morehu Day celebration. He provided us some tasty, tender beef that we greatly enjoyed. |
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| Area President O. Vincent Haleck released us just before we departed New Zealand. |
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| Paul Jack (counselor in Glen Innes Ward bishopric). We look forward to seeing him and his wife, Mariana, in October when they will be in town for general conference. |
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| On our last Sunday in New Zealand, the Glen Innes Ward held a special feed (dinner) for us after church. It was very humbling to realize they would have a dinner for us and even more humbling that they gave us several gifts. |
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| The ward gave us beautiful greenstone pendants and this framed collage of Maori ceremonial attire made by Sister Gardner. |
Check out the above link. Some of our ward and stake friends joined Junior Samuela sing to us following dinner. We will surely miss them.
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| A spirited and long awaited welcome at the Salt Lake City airport. |
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| This banner, the warm embraces and smiles of our family made us feel welcome after an 18 month absence. |
We loved New Zealand, its people and places, our public affairs work and the incredibly wonderful people with whom we worked from February 8, 2017 until July 30, 2018. We thank the Lord for this fantastic opportunity to learn, grow and serve.
Tumanako ki te kite ano hohoro koutou
Kite koe i ano (hope to see you again soon).
Elder and Sister (Jim and Shirley) McGuire
