Did I mention this before?

Something we forgot to mention in our last post is that a member of our Ward passed away. We were invited by the Bishop to go with the Ward leaders to her brothers home for part of the funeral services. The Ward put on a program for the family. We all sat on the floor of the home on woven mats in a room where the coffin was. We had songs, prayers, and talks by Ward leaders. When it was over the family invited us to take home a snack which consisted of some BBQ and a bag full of something we later found out was raw meat which we put in our freezer for later. The following day the above service took place in the cultural hall of the Church. We didn't understand much of it since most of it was in Tongan. The following morning was the final funeral and burial. Unfortunately, she left a 15 year old daughter and 10 year old son.

We love working with these young Missionaries. We purchased a pressure washer to clean the bikes and three Missionaries showed up at our flat to have bikes fixed. We told them to clean the bikes with the pressure washer and they had a little too much fun and started cleaning the cement driveway. That's right, you now have their names: Elder Cowl, Elder Chung, and Elder Vaioa along with Elder Bartlett.

We were able to attend the Otara and Tamake Zone Conference and this is our group. We are losing many Missionaries so the groups are much smaller. This is President and Sister Walkers 2nd round of Zone Conferences. Unfortunately Elder Bartlett had to take the picture so he wasn't in it.

Sister Christy pictured here with Bishop Samau and President Ofanoa (2nd Counselor to the Stake President) just returned to the Ward from her mission in The Philippines. They do put on a party for their Returned Missionaries. You can see the leis that people placed on her, she could hardly stand up. She also talked briefly in Stake Conference and bore her Testimony in Tagalog, which was amazing since the Sisters had an investigator from the Philippines so he heard testimony in his own language.

Our Stake Conference was this week and they seem to love to have a Stake Activity to go along with Stake Conference, which would be a fun tradition back home. In this case it was Karaoke night. They wanted representatives from Primary, Youth, Relief Society, and Priesthood. The Sister in this performance is the Stake President's Wife Sister Pulu. What fun it is.

This is our Bishop Samau and he was really getting into it. We could say we let our hair down, but some of us don't have much hair to let down. Let's just say it was a fun time with clean, wholesome entertainment. They also enjoy inviting government officials to their activities and to Stake Conferences. One of the officials was able to give a few words of encouragement and told them to get registered to vote and make sure to vote.

This is his daughter (and wife). His daughter got caught up in the fun and wanted to sing a song. It was great.

Some of the Missionaries decided to dress up for Stake Conference and wear some of the traditional island dress including Sister Bartlett, Sister Gorrela (from India), and Sister Romauldo (from Philippines). We couldn't resist taking this in front of these beautiful blossoms on the tree. Funny thing is the tree has blossoms but no leaves.

We couldn't help taking this selfie so Elder Bartlett could get in the photo. We had a great Stake Conference and afterward we were invited to have dinner that the Stake Relief Society put on for all of the visitors. Since we were taking home these Sisters they also were invited. They love the Missionaries. We sat with the two Stake Patriarchs and their wives and had a wonderful conversation.

Sunday evening there was a Primary baptism and Mele Felila was baptised. Her grandfather actually came from Tonga for the baptism and performed the confirmation in Tongan. Mele was dressed in her traditional dress after her baptism.

Yes, you are seeing correctly. Following the baptism the family put on a feast including a whole pig and all the trimmings. They do know how to put on a meal.

Since three sets of Missionaries were at the baptism dressed in the Island dress, we had to get a picture with all of them. From left to right they are Sister Loneza, Sister Fehoko, Sister Romualdo, Elder and Sister Bartlett, Sister Gorrela, Sister Miko, and Sister Tauiliili.

Many things are going on right now and we are involved with the Missionaries and our Ward. We appreciate all of your prayers in our behalf and we pray for all of you, our friends and family. May the Lord bless you all.

Love, Elder and Sister Bartlett

No time to stop and think!

Lately we have had little time to think or get much done other than bicycles and bodies. We are the Elder and Sister B&B Bartlett. Elder Bartlett takes care of the bicycles and Sister Bartlett the bodies. We just have to take the little joys as they come along. We have this large rosemary tree in our back year and it seems the butterflies and the bees like the purple blossoms. You can see a butterfly on the flower if you look closely.

We have had a little time to get out and enjoy collecting shells at some of the beaches. This is Longs beach and we collected some shells there. Lots of people and dogs on the beach this day but we had no flea bites. We had to see some sick missionaries up in this area so we took advantage of a beautiful couple of hours.

Here are some of the shells we collected on Longs beach. They have more blue in them than the ones we found on Red Beach. We just love the scenery and the tranquility of walking up and down the beaches.

We were heading toward this cliff on Longs beach to read what the sign said. When we were close enough to read it it said "Beware of Falling Rocks". Only then did we see the huge rocks that had fallen from the cliffs above.

We love the old drift wood. It reminds you that even the largest trees can succumb to the ocean. Elder Bartlett wants to bring some back to the Flat with the shells but Sister Bartlett always objects. What do you think, wouldn't this look good above our mantle?

We also visited Takapuna beach for one hour. It is only about 2 blocks from the Mission Office so we decided we needed to visit. As we walked out on the beach, there were homes right on the beach with volcanic rock walls. This tree branch was growing through the wall, under the sand and back up again. We are sure the homes along here are multi million dollar homes.

We found some very nice shells here. It is catching. We are starting to be more selective. We thought it would be good to put our Missionary name tags with the shells to show the relative size.

Elder Bartlett finally got his way and collected some driftwood, a volcanic rock, and this shell that still had a clam or whatever in it. It was dead but the shell was still together. These shells have a flat bottom shell and a curved top shell. We wondered how these flat ones fit together with a rounded one and now we know.

Elders Vaioa from Samoa, Elder Chung from Tahiti, and Elder Cowl from Australia, invited me to go to the Golf Driving Range with them on their Preparation day. We had a good time and only hit one bird. Is that why they call it a birdie? It is fun to hang with the Missionaries, they are excited about their missions.

This is what happens when you give your camera to an Elder to take a picture. You get a selfie. Thanks to Elder Taranaki. We stopped by a Zone Conference on our way to a doctors appointment to pick up some bikes and check on some Missionaries during their lunch break.

We wanted a picture of us with Elder Kessinger, one of the Missionaries going home that day to Spanish Fork, Utah. He will be going to BYU this fall. Go Cougars! Hey BYU son Jarom, look him up. He is a great guy. It is always sad to see them go.

We did find probably the best burrito in Auckland. It was a place called Mexicali and was introduced to us by Elder and Sister Briggs who work at the MTC. Ouch! A burrito and soda for two was $40. It was good.

Sister Bartlett prefers Elder Bartlett's cooking. It is good quality like this omelet, and it is served right to her table and much cheaper. She only has to do the dishes. We searched everywhere and finally found a waffle maker so Elder Bartlett has made some terrific waffles also. We like to put fruit on them like mango, kiwi, bananas, blueberries, strawberries. The machine looks like one of those you find in hotels where they have free breakfast.

Enough about food, we are excited that one of the families we are trying to get activated in the ward has been to Young Men's and to Church. We keep inviting them to other Ward activities but so far with no success.

We do hear of miracles back home as one of our longtime friends is getting baptised. He and his wife read this blog and we just wanted to say congratulations. We have always had faith that you would someday be baptised. Wish we could be there.

We pray for all of you our friends, and hope the Lord blesses each and every one of you.

Love Elder and Sister Bartlett