Categories
New Zealand

Saturday

Good morning! It is 11:10 am on Saturday, June 4 here in NZ. I think that means it is 6:10 pm Friday night for y’all back in the States.

Yesterday was a very good day. We spent most all of the very cold day outside letterboxing. I think our grand total of literature distributed is already close to 7,000. Yesterday, as we worked, we got caught in two or three hail storms with hail stones just over pea size. Those things stung pretty badly in a nice, driving wind. It is amazing that it will hail hard enough to turn the ground pretty close to white for about 5 minutes…then just quit and be beautiful and sunny, with a sky full of rainbows. I saw probably 3 different rainbows across yesterday, one that was complete and even had a rainbow “shadow” next to it. Gorgeous!

Today is our “day off.” We’re using it to catch up a little on sleep, as we’re told this is when jet lag is supposed to kick in. We’re getting ready to teach the kid’s classes tomorrow. Paavo and I have the 6-10 year olds. That will be interesting…. I get to preach on Sunday, June 19…so I’m very excited about that.

All in all, we’re having a great time. No injuries or major problems thus far. Today we get to take in some sights and have a great time. Maybe even eat some more kiwis (the fruit, not the bird or the people….)

Have a great day!
Matthew

Categories
New Zealand

We’re Here, Finally

Hello Family & Friends:

We’re in New Zealand, alive and well. You probably heard that our flights were messed up. Our first flight from Memphis to Phoenix was delayed, causing us to miss our connecting flight to LA, and thus, potentially missing our 9:30 flight to Auckland, NZ. Fortunately, we all fit on a later flight to LA and there was virtually no one on a later 11:30 flight to NZ. That meant we had lots of room to sleep and move around. The flights were all a bit on the bumpy side, but our luggage pretty much all arrived on time and everything went well. Angie was delayed because of some problems with her visa, but is in the country now, we think. After arriving in Wellington, our final air destination, we had probably 6 more hours on the road to drive to New Plymouth.

By the way, it is 7:15 here. Compare that with whatever the post clock says central time. We began our first day of work this morning after a good night’s sleep in our host family. I’m staying with the Blackman family, along with Paavo. They have been absolutely wonderful, and the New Zealand food isn’t half bad.

We began this morning, as we will every morning, with a devotional. We are working with evangelist Rod Kyle. After devotion, he leads us in a personal work class, detailing what to expect here in NZ and how to react to situations we have been faced with. We spent most of today letterboxing (leaving flyers in mailboxes–yes, it’s legal here).

The country is beautiful–even when the weather is not. The plus side of the on and off rain during sunshine is the beautiful rainbow that we see so often. It is a gorgeous place, just a little cool, but not too bad. You should
see it. And there are lots and lots of sheep. Our host family has one…as a pet! Haven’t eaten any yet….

We’re starting to understand a little bit more of what people are saying, and most of us don’t flinch…as much…when we’re driving on the other side of the road. We’ve also picked up a renewed appreciation for mind-numbing puzzles you find in newspapers. We’re all addicted, and very bad.

Thanks for everything–our trip is going great. We’ve certainly been blessed.

Take it easy, I’ll write when I can….. see you in a month!

(By the way, go to the annoying game’s website…)

Categories
New Zealand

New Zealand Itenerary

Just so you know, I’m leaving for New Zealand on Monday. Thanks to Ben and Alison & Mick for putting me up [read: ‘putting up with’] before we get out of the country…and when we get back. Instead of e-mailing people who want to know how the trip is going while I’m gone, I’ll be posting updates to this page whenever possible. It’ll be quicker and easier that way. Thanks for your prayers and support and all that good stuff… It’s going to be great!

Here’s the itenerary:

  • America West Airlines 30 May Memphis Intl -> Phoenix [Sky Harbor Int] 2:20 P 3:43 PM (Local time). HP 6443 Economy. 3:23 Duration. Canadair regional jet 900.
  • America West Airlines 30 May Phoenix AZ -> Los Angeles CA 4:19 P 5:42 P HP32 1:23 Duration. Airbus Industrie A319
  • Air New Zealand 30 May Los Angeles -> Auckland, NZ 9:30 P 5:15A 01 June. NZ 1. 12:45 duration. Boeing 747-400
  • Air New Zealand 01 June Auckland -> Wellington 7:00 AM 8:00 AM NZ405 1:00 duration. Boeing 737-30
  • Return– Air New Zealand 22 June Wellington -> Auckland 5:30P 6:30PM 1:00 Duratoin. NZ464 Boeing 737-300
  • Air New Zealand 22 June Auckland-> LA NZ6 7:45PM 12:40PM 11:55 duration. Boeing 747-400
  • America West 22 June LA->Phoenix 3:50PM 5:10PM HP30 1:20 Duration. Airbus Industrie A319
  • America West 22 June Phoenix->Memphis 6:00PM-10:57PM HP6398 2:57 Duration Canadair Regional Jet 900
Categories
News

Cruel? Unusual.

According to this news story, evidently mannequin theft has been an issue in Japan. The dolls resemble children about the age of six and are named “Peko-chan.”

Reuters reports this about the sitings:

After a wave of “Peko-chan” disappearances last year, the company suggested chaining the dolls down, but customers complained that this would be cruel.

Cruel!? It would be cruel to tie down an inanimate object? Am I missing something? Are we that materialistic? Must we personify hunks of plastic that are trying to sell us more junk? Good grief…

Categories
Hate When That Happens

Wal-Mart: Axis of Evil

Alolng with the disappearing lake story, this Wal-Mart News is hereby deemed worthy of the new category, “I Hate When That Happens.”

Categories
Religious

Victory

All in all, several hours have been lost to this battle. In the end, victory was rediculously easy. But nobody has to know that. I finally figured out how to add a new speaker to the GWFS page on CrieveHall.org! So be on the lookout, there should be new content in the near future. I know you probably didn’t really care about that, but it was fun to type anyway… So deal with it!

And I go to New Zealand in a little over a week. Yeee-haw!

Categories
Hate When That Happens

Missing a Lake?

Anybody missing a lake?

Man, I hate when that happens…

Categories
News

Rethinking

I may be leaning more towards the drugs, now.

By the way….why is there nothing on TV….ever?!?

Categories
Me

Summer Livin’

Summer is here. Wow. I miss Freed… and its people…. some more than others. But I won’t bore you with that. Home is very good. I started work at church on Monday and loved every second.

I guess the closest I can come to topping skydiving is to tell you I had my wisdom teeth cut out today. I must say that this experiment to test whether I prefer drugs or Jesus is leaning heavily towards the Jesus side… I suppose it isn’t really crazier than jumping out of an airplnae.

Which, by the way, was not caused, forced, ordered, etc etc etc by Leslie. So quit asking! It was lots of fun, and you need to do it. The skydiving, not the wisdom teeth, that is.

So you, dear reader, have a wonderful day.

Categories
Me

Proof, Part 1

14,500 feet. 120 mph. Wow.