New Zealand (1 Apr 2020 – 2 Dec 2021)

Michael’s major project for the Church History Department—the main reason Elder and Sister G were so eager for him to come to Hamilton—is to bring order to the Matthew Cowley Pacific Church History Centre’s large [...]

We have been asked on many occasions: “So, what is it that you actually do?” As designated “Church history specialists,” we are basically volunteer, unpaid full-time employees of the Church History Department (CHD) of The [...]

Rain began pounding against our windows at the Busby Manor Resort in Paihia after we went to bed on Saturday night (30 May) and didn’t let up until Monday. Although we had come to the [...]

Throughout the Commonwealth of Nations—countries that formerly were part of the British Empire—1 June is celebrated as the Queen’s Birthday (despite the fact that the Queen’s actual birthday has been 21 April for at least [...]

Alert Level 3 - Restrict: 28 April - 14 May 2020 Risk: High risk the disease is not contained New Cases: 29 Range of Measures: People instructed to stay home in their bubble other than [...]

As Memorial Day 2020 approached, we wondered how the Montgomery Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could possibly proceed with its annual Memorial Day picnic in the Time of COVID-19. This [...]

View south from Till's lookout toward Mt. Pirongia View north from Till's Lookout toward Hamilton In a previous post about our experiences during New Zealand’s Level 4 Lockdown, we focused on [...]

Level 4 - Lockdown: 26 March 2020 - 27 April 2020 Risk: Likely the disease is not contained New Cases: 1400 Range of Measures: People instructed to stay at home in their bubble other than [...]

Our education in New Zealand’s national sports obsession began before we even left the U.S. One afternoon while we were in training in Salt Lake City, we went to a bank to get some documents [...]