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Signing Off

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It's hard to believe our mission to New Zealand is essentially over.  We left Hamilton on November 20 and flew to Christchurch in the South Island.  Everyone told us we needed to see the South Island before leaving New Zealand so we are taking that opportunity now.  More on that later. Our last few weeks in Hamilton were unlike any of the previous 18 months.  Because our replacement office couple arrived in the mission over a month before our release, we had plenty of time to train them.  After 2 1/2 weeks of training there was really not much we could do to help them further- they just has to jump in and start doing the job.  Sharon and I found many odd jobs to do, tying up loose ends and completing tasks we wanted to do but never had time to do.  We tried to leave everything in good shape for the Atkins, our replacements. The last week was rewarding as we received many expressions of gratitude from our associates but also very hard to say good bye to...
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Read the Book of Mormon!

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                                                 Nature paints the best pictures!                             Elder Clayton is worn out at the end of transfer week! We've had some special times during the holidays the past month.  We missed the tradition of being with family and the special things we do around the holidays, but we have enjoyed being here in New Zealand.  It is a special time in our lives that has given us so many opportunities---to concentrate on service to our missionaries, to meet and mingle with people who have a distinct culture, to live in and get to know quite intimately a different country and its traditions and customs. We had another missionary go home this past week who became very dear to us.  He was an assistant to the president of the...
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Another Transition Begins

 Well,  it's hard to believe but we are down to 1 month until our mission in New Zealand will come to a close.  Our release date is November 20.  Although we have been thinking about that date for the past few months, the fact that we do not have a home to return to and needing to make some plans as to what will happen when we return, we need to think about it.  It is a bit different for senior missionaries due to the number of things that have to be organized in order for our lives to continue  after the mission.   It really hit home this past week when we began the process of training the couple who will be taking over our responsibilities.  The couple, Elder and Sister Atkins, are New Zealand natives who live in the Hamilton area.  For the past few months we were  wondering who would take over for us since it had become obvious the couple called from the States was not going to make it to New Zealand any time soon.  Then the...
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