New Zealand Temple

We are sad to say the New Zealand Temple in Hamilton is now closed. We did get to go through a session the day before the last day. We still have 5 1/2 months to go so we will miss going to the Temple.

We were blessed with a beautiful double rainbow that was right next to the Temple.

The Young Men and Young Women in our Ward had a special Mini Mission activity. They were separated into companionships and left their families to stay with other families. They went and visited with inactive members. Sunday evening they had a devotional complete with refreshments.

We haven’t had much chance to attend our District Council meeting which is each Tuesday because of our schedule. We decided to take a few photos. This is Elder Mahu’inga and Elder Tuala.

We decided on a funny picture with Elder Peresetene, Elder Mahu’inga, Elder Taeiloa.

We try to bring some fresh fruits to our meeting so they decided a funny photo with the fruit was appropriate.

We finally got the Sisters involved. Sister Faatuai and Sister Falute.

We didn’t have to much exciting going on the last few weeks. Just lots of colds and flu and several sprained ankles from playing sports. We did have one ingrown toenail operated on. We have had to pick up several bikes that were badly rusted after being left out in the rain. It is the middle of the winter here and yet there's still something blooming. We found this one interesting. The blossom is red and then opens up and blue and green come out. We never are disappointed in the beauty this country brings. We love you and miss you all even though the time passes quickly.

Love Elder and Sister Bartlett

Zoned In!

Since transfers are over it is now time to start with Zone Conferences. This is our Mangere Zone and Mount Wellington Zones which was our first Zone Conference.

Of course when you hand a Missionary a phone to take a picture you get a selfie. I told Sister Willcocks that this would end up in our blog. She didn’t mind.

Our next stop for Zone Conferences was the Waitemata Zone and the Auckland Zone. Sister Bartlett talked about Health issues concerning Colds and Flu. Sorry, no selfies at this conference.

Another stop on our Zone Conference tour was the Ferguson Zone. This is actually our Zone. We told you what Sister Bartlett talked about. Elder Bartlett did his part on bicycle safety and security. At this point we had seven bikes stolen this year in the mission. Shortly after this conference 2 more bikes were stolen in the Mount Wellington Zone so the tally is 9 for the year. Elder Bartlett does not like that part of his calling, but it is better than them crashing and hurting themselves.

We did have some selfies, compliments of Elder Tonga with Sister Park in the background. To the right is again Elder Tonga, with Elder Tongi in the background. We love the selfies, it shows the lovable nature of the Missionaries.

The last Zone stop was in Northlands Zone. These Missionaries get to enjoy the beauty of the land and people north of Auckland. We always love to go up there and enjoy the Missionaries and the beauty. We stayed a little longer to fix a few of the bikes we have up north.

Sister Tapu got hold of our phone and had a good time with Sister Garrett and Sister Ufi and with Sister Blandford and with Sister Ufi and Sister Malo. Finally with Sister Tenischeva (from the Ukraine).

Then Elder Tonga confiscated our phone again and took this selfie with Elder Kraft in the background.

One of the young adults in our Ward, Sister Fametau was married in the Temple yesterday. She and her family are stalwarts in our Ward. Her father was in the Bishopric when we started our Mission and now is the Elders Quorum President.

They love to dance and this is their Wedding march.

We had a drizzly day at the golf course on our day off but it was worth it when this rainbow appeared.

Remember there is a rainbow after all that rain.

Love and best wishes from Elder and Sister Bartlett!

They come and they go!

This is monumental. The last set of Sisters who were here when we arrived have now gone home! We can’t say that about the Elders since they serve for 2 years. We are sad to see them go since we have learned to love them.

All of these wonderful Missionaries left us this week. Top left to right. Elder Cowl from Melbourne, Australia. Sister Qui and Chiu from Taipei, Taiwan and Sister Hall from Hurricane, Utah. Elder Sully from Sydney, Australia. Sister Brady from Utah.

We missed a picture with Sister Dela Cerna going home to Davao, Phillipines pictured front row far right. God be with you till we meet again.

Luckily we had one more come in than went home. We have them from Tahiti, France, Australia, and the United States. They are always so excited to get going on this new Mission adventure.

Again whenever you give missionaries the phone for pictures you always get some selfies. We love these playful missionaries.

It is our pleasure to serve with these wonderful Missionaries and to take care of their illnesses and injuries and bikes. It is not all sunshine and rainbows as you can see in the picture to the right. Sometimes it is a little foggy.

We love youse (New Zealand for all of you) heaps(New Zealand for a lot)! May the Lord bless youse till we meet again! Love Elder and Sister Bartlett from New Zealand.