Joy - my favourite word

There's a visit I make every time I'm in Hamilton

I do it with a song in my heart and with a snack of some kind.

It used to be that Ngaire and I would make midnight pilgrimages to the Temple with mellowpuffs to have long conversations about everything you talk about in your 20s.

Now I find time to soak in everything I can as I have gone from the luxury of being so close to the Temple to being almost at the end of the earth from God's house.

This visit I met Sister Gee.

She and her husband Brother Gee (oddly enough) are on a Senior Mission - see it's not just our young people who choose to go on Missions, we send our least experienced and our most wise to spread the Gospel.

Sister Gee is based at the Temple Visitors' Centre where she greets and speaks with people who are interested in viewing the art displays, movies and all the cool interactive presentations.

The big attraction is the Christus statue or in my case His massive hand. I've always loved Jesuses hands, Him being a carpenter and all.

Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1768-1844) sculpted the original massive marble statue and it has been replicated around the world.

Dae and I visited after dinner at Lone Star, I have no idea why I keep going there. It always seems like a good idea and the meals are nice enough but I always leave with this feeling on not having been satisfied. I think it's their staff, although we did have a particularly funny wee waiter that night. Anyway accidentally we, meaning I, did not pay for desert. This was because we got it to go and I assumed that from the time we received and walked to the counter to pay that it would have been processed but it wasn't. Which I discovered after we had left and were sitting at the Temple dining on our stolen deserts.

So to redeem ourselves I made Dae join me on a walk up Temple hill and into the Visitors' Centre to look at the Christus. That was to redeem our thieving souls and our expanding waists.

Here's Dae having the time of her life.

This visit the exhibit was by photographer Mark Mabry, who should be commended for just having a cool name. Not quite as cool as Sam Land though, that's the ultimate in cool names of late.

Mabry has taken a series of the most amazing photos called Reflections of Christ, which you can see here.

My favourite photo is this one called Joy, 'taken' just after John the Baptist baptised Jesus - I think it's my favourite because I know how they must have felt and John the Baptist is one of my favourites. Anyone who loses their head for their beliefs must be worthwhile.

please take a look at the website and if you can visit the Temple Visitors' Centre and enjoy the inspirational photos.