SUMMER THERE--WINTER HERE

Last Saturday we attended a baptismal service for our young contact, Tae Harris.  His family is LDS but are just returing to activity.  I think Tae set a record for the number of attempts before succeeding.  The branch member responsible for fillimg the font arrived late delaying the start of the service.  When the font was sufficently filled we turned the water off and started the program.  After the song, prayer and talk we pulled back the curtain only to find the font had been draining.  We thought there was sufficient depth so the baptism proceeded.  After four unsuccessful attempts we stopped the service and added more water.  It appears the brother doing the initial filling didn't have the drain all the way off.  The fifth attempt went forward without a hitch.  Tae surely will remember this event.

Tae is standing next to his grandfather who baptized him

Following the batism we linked up with Elder and Sister Goodman who we had met in the MTC.  Their assignment is to set up and get running the new mission office for the Hamilton mission that is to open come July.  They had a couple  free days so the President suggested they get up to the north country and do a little sight seeing. After all the northland has some of New Zealands most beautiful country.  They wanted to see the norther most tip of the country, Cape Reinga, and asked us to go with them
.  This is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific.  Unfortunately the weather was extreme that afternoon.  The clouds had set down on sea level, it was raining sideways with 100 mph wind trying to sweep us off the trail.  We hiked out to the light house that sits on a rocky point.  For just a few moments the clouds parted and we could look down and see the surf and agitated water where the two oceans colide.  We were cold and drenched when we made it back to the car, but are certain we will remember it more vividly than if it was your typical sunny day.

the light house on Cape Reinga

Where the Tasman sea meets the Pacific

Sisters Goodman and Olsen seeking protection from the wind