The Clayton's Mission Adventures

ONE YEAR!  I can't believe we have been out for ONE YEAR! As we were driving around New Zealand the other day, Elder Clayton turned to me and said, "I'm really concerned." I asked him about what. He told me that if he were asked to give a homecoming talk post mission, he wouldn't have anything to say, as he has not found anyone to teach the Gospel too. Of course the first thing I did was reassure him that he  need not worry about speaking to a church congregation about our mission because:  A. Covid will probably will still be directing the course of our lives and there will be no large church gatherings. B. We don't have a home ward, because we don't have a home. C. And if we did have a home, we dont' have a car to drive to it from whatever airport we land in... after 14 days of isolation. Then I cuffed his shoulder and said, "What are you talking about?"  We then proceeded to recap our year in New Zealand. Three hours later he told me to re...

5 weeks post surgery! I've been back to the office for 2 1/2 weeks. I can walk up and down the 21 steps to the office several times a day with NO HIP PAIN! I do have some knee pain, but Dr. Hardy said he inflicted that on me. It is such a blessing to be able to walk and not have pain. And that means I get to enjoy this beautiful country even more!  Sunday afternoon, we walked through Hamilton Gardens. It is a beautiful garden of flowers and trees built on a landfill and is full of blossoming trees and plants. It is incredible.    As you can see, we are in the dead of Winter over here. Winter brings rain every day. Rain brings green grass and blossoms.  For the second time this year, every tree has a flower on it. I have to share.  I was upset that you could see Dwight's hand in this picture, but then I realized it was good to show just how big the flowers really are. I swear they are in some kind of a race to see which one can grow the biggest! Just a few more f...