President Nelson in New Zealand

[Stargazer]

Am I actually the first one to notice this?  President Nelson and Elder Gong stopped by the New Zealand Prime Minister's office and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon!  I can't imagine that President Nelson does NOT know that she is either no longer a member of the Church or just a non-practicing member.  But by the look on their faces in this photo, the irony did not escape either of them!  In the church article there was no mention of the PM's former member status. However, the Deseret News article about this did mention it: "Ardern was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but is no longer a practicing member. She showed the church contingent the books the church prepared for her about her family ancestry after she became prime minister."  Of course, the SL Trib mentioned her former member status in the headline, as one might expect.

Link to Church article.

Link to Deseret News article.

Link to SL Tribune article.

President Nelson is quoted as:

“She’s courageous,” President Nelson said of Prime Minister Ardern.  “The world will discover they’ve got a real leader here. It’s an unlikely scenario, a young mother leading a great nation. ... We’re very impressed with her, she will have a great future.“

EDITED TO ADD SOME DETAILS I DIDN'T STUMBLE ACROSS IMMEDIATELY
 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Stargazer

[Tacenda]

I know that the critics wonder why Pres. Nelson gave her a picture of the first presidency and quorum of the twelve. Seems pretty funny, but oh well, and I don't know that they do that too often.  

Edited May 30, 2019 by Tacenda

[webbles]

The church article mentions that her uncle is a Seventy.  And one of the pictures it has at the bottom shows President Nelson in front of the New Zealand Parliament with various General Authorities and I'm pretty sure her Uncle (Elder Ian S. Arden) is in that picture.  I would bet that the things given to her were picked out by her uncle or maybe other members of her family.

[webbles]

I found a church video talking about this and it has a photo of most of the people in the room with the Prime Minister.  It looks like her uncle is sitting on the opposite side of her from President Nelson.  The picture is around the 43 second mark.

 

[Robert F. Smith]

3 hours ago, webbles said:

The church article mentions that her uncle is a Seventy.  And one of the pictures it has at the bottom shows President Nelson in front of the New Zealand Parliament with various General Authorities and I'm pretty sure her Uncle (Elder Ian S. Arden) is in that picture.  I would bet that the things given to her were picked out by her uncle or maybe other members of her family.

Wow.  Just another indication of the strong presence the LDS Church has in New Zealand, and that the Prime Minister is apparently not an enemy of the Church.  A family affair.

All quite aside from the fact that New Zealand is one of the nicest places in the world.

[Tacenda]

4 hours ago, webbles said:

The church article mentions that her uncle is a Seventy.  And one of the pictures it has at the bottom shows President Nelson in front of the New Zealand Parliament with various General Authorities and I'm pretty sure her Uncle (Elder Ian S. Arden) is in that picture.  I would bet that the things given to her were picked out by her uncle or maybe other members of her family.

That makes sense then, as to why Pres. Nelson gave her the pictures. Great (!) and just goes to show that people like me and others can be quick to judge.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Tacenda

[The Nehor]

4 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Wow.  Just another indication of the strong presence the LDS Church has in New Zealand, and that the Prime Minister is apparently not an enemy of the Church.  A family affair.

All quite aside from the fact that New Zealand is one of the nicest places in the world.

You would think so but I hear it has Mordor in it.

[Robert F. Smith]

1 minute ago, The Nehor said:

You would think so but I hear it has Mordor in it.

And those cute little huts for hobbits.

[The Nehor]

7 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

And those cute little huts for hobbits.

Not huts, hobbit holes. Admittedly the poorer hobbits live in more conventional houses but the dream is a hobbithole.

[sjdawg]

On 5/30/2019 at 7:21 AM, Tacenda said:

I know that the critics wonder why Pres. Nelson gave her a picture of the first presidency and quorum of the twelve. Seems pretty funny, but oh well, and I don't know that they do that too often.  

It does seem a little egotistical.  

[Stargazer]

20 hours ago, sjdawg said:

It does seem a little egotistical.  

It's actually quite reasonable.  Robert E. Bush, a man of my acquaintance who won the Medal of Honor for valor at the Battle of Okinawa in WW2, had autographed and signed photographs from all kinds of celebrities displayed on his bedroom wall.  One might think it a bit egotistical that they all felt like they needed to give him such items, but reflect upon this: in giving these tokens they were acknowledging him and demonstrating their respect for him and his courage.  By the same token, the leadership of the Church is acknowledging and giving respect to the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

I have an amusing family story to tell you.  My stepmom was a big Telly Savalas fan.  She and my sister went on a tour of Universal Studios back in the 70's and during the tour who should happen to unexpectedly pop out of a door but Mr. Savalas!  My stepmom rushed up to him and gave him a hug, stroking his bald head saying something to the effect of how much she admired it  This seems like it might have been an incredibly invasive thing to do, but Mr. Savalas was cool about it, and hugged her back with a "Hey, baby!" in his trademark dry tones.  Later, my sister wrote a letter to the star telling him how her mother had been thrilled by this encounter.  In return Mr. Savalas sent my stepmom a signed autographed photo, on which it was written "Florence, who loves ya?  Telly Savalas".  This framed photo was kept in a prominent location on the living room wall until her death.  Sending the photo didn't represent ego on Mr. Savalas' part so much as it represented his appreciation for her support of his work, and the enjoyment she had gotten from it.

[Tacenda]

15 hours ago, Stargazer said:

It's actually quite reasonable.  Robert E. Bush, a man of my acquaintance who won the Medal of Honor for valor at the Battle of Okinawa in WW2, had autographed and signed photographs from all kinds of celebrities displayed on his bedroom wall.  One might think it a bit egotistical that they all felt like they needed to give him such items, but reflect upon this: in giving these tokens they were acknowledging him and demonstrating their respect for him and his courage.  By the same token, the leadership of the Church is acknowledging and giving respect to the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

I have an amusing family story to tell you.  My stepmom was a big Telly Savalas fan.  She and my sister went on a tour of Universal Studios back in the 70's and during the tour who should happen to unexpectedly pop out of a door but Mr. Savalas!  My stepmom rushed up to him and gave him a hug, stroking his bald head saying something to the effect of how much she admired it  This seems like it might have been an incredibly invasive thing to do, but Mr. Savalas was cool about it, and hugged her back with a "Hey, baby!" in his trademark dry tones.  Later, my sister wrote a letter to the star telling him how her mother had been thrilled by this encounter.  In return Mr. Savalas sent my stepmom a signed autographed photo, on which it was written "Florence, who loves ya?  Telly Savalas".  This framed photo was kept in a prominent location on the living room wall until her death.  Sending the photo didn't represent ego on Mr. Savalas' part so much as it represented his appreciation for her support of his work, and the enjoyment she had gotten from it.

Are you saying what I think you are??? You think Pres. Nelson is like a celebrity and that the Prime Minister has a crush? I'm sure you didn't mean to say that. Maybe you are pulling legs or something, haha, I get it!!😕

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

Are you saying what I think you are??? You think Pres. Nelson is like a celebrity and that the Prime Minister has a crush? I'm sure you didn't mean to say that. Maybe you are pulling legs or something, haha, I get it!!😕

No, I think he is saying sharing a picture of oneself is not self aggrandizement, but can be a way of showing you care for the individual (as in 'when you look at this picture of me, please remember how I think of you' though at times when there is a 'crush' it might also mean 'think of me appreciating how you care about me').

Edited June 5, 2019 by Calm