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
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