Hello everyone! Thought we were done sending these blogs? You are not so lucky. Sometimes we get a little crabby, like this crab that crawled out of one of the shells we collected when Kathy and Josh were here. We have been a little lonely since they left.
We are so sad to see some of the Missionaries go home that we have grown to love. Like Elder Canoy died (finished) and went home to the Philippines.
Elder Chi died and went home to Malaysia
Elder Augustin, who died (finished) and went home to Malaysia. He also has the distinction of riding his bicycle more than 1000 Km in two transfers. He also holds the speed record I believe at 58 Km/hr. I don't suggest that to anyone. We have heard from him since he went home and he bought bike parts and put together his own bicycle and has broken his speed record. Happy cycling Elder Augustin, I wish he could come back and help me with bicycles.
Elder Shumate who died and went home to North Carolina.
Elder Ale Tua, Elder Siuta, and Elder Whalley who died and went home to Australia. All of the Elders I have mentioned, and more that I haven't, we have served with and are great. We are sad to see them go.
This sweet member lady makes her way to the airport to say goodbye to the Elders that she loves so much. She brings leis for them to send them off properly and is often in tears when they leave. We love the members here and they love the Missionaries.
Well that is enough of the sad farewells. We had 16 new Missionaries arrive the day after most of the Missionaries went home. That means Elder Bartlett had to prepare 14 new or used bicycles for them. Since we have changed the location for our incoming Missionaries, we also had to transport all of the bicycles to one location for that day so Elder Bartlett put about 200 Km on the car to get them to the Church. This is him lecturing the new Missionaries and their trainers before sending them out into the field.
It was Labour Day in New Zealand and so the Ward decided to get together for games and an Imu (Hangi) only above ground which I will show later. We had some fun volleyball. Elder Bartlett only fell twice during play when he tripped over his own feet.
We also had a remote control car for the little ones. That is, for the little ones to ride in. There was activity all over the cultural hall. Besides volleyball, there was basketball on either end of the court. Those who didn't want volleyball or basketball were playing games in other parts of the hall.
Then the Imu arrived. Basically they have a rock lined oven where they burn the wood, and they remove the coals and put in the food, which is cooked by the heated rocks. In New Zealand, the ovens are in the ground and they call it a Hangi. Kind of like a pit BBQ.
We were also privileged, along with this group of Missionaries from our Zone, to review and critique segments of the new Book of Mormon church videos. They were just small segments, and we gave our opinions of them and expressed how we would use them in Missionary work. It was quite enjoyable and exciting. We do have a picture with us in it but the sun was shining through the windows and we all look like we were being translated.
We spent most of the remainder of the week in Accident and Medical waiting rooms and Hospitals. We had 5 bike crashes which resulted in three broken hands, one broken foot, and teeth that were almost knocked out. We had an eye with shingles and heaps of sick stomachs and flea bites and scabies.
Along the way, Elder Bartlett also fixed some flat bike tires and other broken bikes. We were both so worn out after that week. During one of our long waits to see doctors, Elder Bartlett was approached by a man who wanted a Book of Mormon. He had just moved to the area and wanted to come back to church. Elder Bartlett sent the Missionaries to his home that day and they had a wonderful discussion.
After such a hard week, we had to take some time out with Elder and Sister Stahle to play another escape room. This time we were in a forest and had to get food and water in order to find our way out. With only a few clues, we made it on time.
Well, this has been a long time coming because of the busy last few weeks. We love you all and miss you and we pray for you all. We hope you are praying for us also.
Love Elder and Sister Bartlett
No comments:
Post a Comment