Elder David A. Bednar, a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is currently in New Zealand on a tour of the South Pacific.
Earlier this week he met Shilo Kino, a reporter for Fairfax Media. They met at the Church’s New Zealand Missionary Training Centre in Manukau, Auckland.
When Ms Kino asked Elder Bednar how he felt about visiting New Zealand with his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, he said, “It feels like coming home. We love the people, we love the place. It’s magnificent to come here.”
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Ms Kino then asked Elder Bednar what it was like to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, to which he replied: “We only have one responsibility and that is to travel the world bearing special sacred witness of His living reality. So all we do is capitalize on the opportunities that we have to declare that He lives, that the tomb is empty, that His Church has been restored to the earth and the greatest happiness comes from following Him.”
This is Elder and Sister Bednar’s fourth visit to New Zealand. They are meeting with leaders, members, missionaries and guests of the Church in Sydney, Auckland and Melbourne.
Elder and Sister Bednar are travelling with Elder Lynn G. Robbins, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy of the Church, and his wife, Sister Jan Robbins.
Members of the Pacific Area Presidency of the Church, Elder Kevin W. Pearson, Elder O. Vincent Haleck and Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, and their wives, Sister June Pearson, Sister Peggy Haleck and Sister Wendy Nielsen are accompanying the visiting leaders this week.