It Was A Busy Two Weeks!

Sorry we haven't posted our blog for several weeks. Two weeks ago we were involved with Zone Conferences all week, so by the end of the week we had a lot to catch up on and just couldn't get to it.

Our first Zone Conference was in Whangarei (pronounced Fangarei) where we met some wonderful Elders and Sisters. Since we are new we had to introduce ourselves to all the Elders and Sisters.

The Relief Society was so wonderful to feed us while we were there. We always eat too much and will be huge if we don't stop.

We took advantage of the long trip to Whangarei by visiting the falls that are right in town. Because of the great amount of rainfall here in a short period of time, the falls were a little muddy.

Our Tuesday Zone Conference was in Takapuna. We had our first real experience with the horrendous traffic that can take place in Auckland. The meeting was just north of Takapuna where the Mission Office is. It is only about 26 km (16 miles) from our flat (apartment) and should take about 30 minutes. We left our flat at 7 am and didn't arrive until 9:30 am or about 30 minutes late.

It seems we have Missionaries from all over the world. We have met Missionaries from the US, Australia, China, New Zealand, Africa, Taiwan, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Korea, and Ukraine. We are truly an international mission.

Our next Zone Conference was finally south of the Bridge (South Auckland) closer to where we live. We were finally able to make it on time.

We have wonderful Sisters in our Mission. Our last Zone conference was on Friday and because we had to go see some Elders from another Zone we didn't get in the picture.

Not everything is work. On our anniversary and Elder Bartlett’s birthday, after our Missionary Correlation Meeting and Rescue night, they surprised Elder Bartlett with pizza and cake.

We were also able to attend a Stake dance for the Relief Society birthday. We were able to find matching outfits for the occasion. They love to dance and have very colorful outfits. They even put on a floor show of Polynesian dances.

On Saturday we attended Polyfest with thousands of other people. It is a whole week affair where they have food and entertainment (dances) from all the Pacific Islands. What a crowd. We didn't last long because of the big crowds. Because we wear our Missionary name tags, many members stopped and talked with us.

Sunday we were able to talk in Sacrament Meeting about Missionary work. We get the feeling this will be a common occurrence. There were no Sunday School or Priesthood classes since they were replacing the carpet in the classrooms and the glue smell was nauseating. The counselor in the Bishopric invited us to dinner which was wonderful. We loved his little granddaughter. She reminded us a little of Claire. All princess.

Last week was transfers of incoming and outgoing missionaries. Another busy week for both of us. We had to introduce ourselves to the new Missionaries, several of whom had just arrived after a 13 hour flight from the United States. Most of the new Missionaries attend the MTC in New Zealand so they just had a short ride from the MTC. We also had to arrange bicycles for the new missionaries.

We are amazed at the wonderful flowers they have here and we took these pictures after church today. We have many things to be thankful for and we are just happy to be here. Sister Bartlett is finally getting brave enough to drive. This driving on the other side of the road is a little nerve racking, not only for the driver but for the passenger as well. She did great on her maiden voyage back and forth to church. We love the work and the Missionaries. We love our Savior Jesus Christ and his message that brought us to this beautiful land and among these beautiful people.