Bikes and Bites

Elder Bartlett finally found a souvenir that he wanted. We went to a place that was recommended by some Missionaries who served in the Henderson area of our Mission. Some of the Missionaries had done a service project for Tiki Souvenirs and so they gave us a break on this hand carved Maori club. We had them put 2017-2019 which are the years we serve here in the NZAM (New Zealand Auckland Mission). We only want one more souvenir and that is the Putatara (Maori Conch Shell Horn). We are trying to find a place to buy one.

There is a really good burger place here where they have the best burgers. It is called Burger Fuel. We went to lunch with the one in Takapuna near the Mission Office with Elder and Sister Stosich who are an office couple. We struck up conversations with the staff and found that one of them was from India and another from Russia. Wow this place is international. They posed for this photo.

We visited the Auckland Museum art and we really enjoyed the portraits of some of the Maori Chiefs and prominent women. We didn’t quite understand the more modern art.

We really enjoyed these displays of children’s cardboard creations. There were thousands of them. Several children who were there with their parents were looking for their creations from previous visits and somehow found them among the thousands and were so excited.

Now I did say something about bikes and bites. Since this transfer began we have had two Missionaries crash on their bikes. One resulted in a broken wrist and the other some scrapes and bruises. This last week we had three Missionaries bitten by dogs. When that happens we are supposed to get them to the doctor within 8 hours of their bites, so we spent several hours of our Preparation day at the urgent care getting them looked at. Nothing serious thank goodness.

We couldn’t leave you with that sour note so we will leave you with some natural beauty. These we were told are named King Protea and are $25 a stem in the US. Here they are just growing in the yard across the street from our flat.

And to close out this session we just had to post this picture. Why you might ask. Any of you who know Elder Bartlett, know that his first name is....? You guessed it Sammie just like this ice cream bar. We don’t know why? Well that will just have to be one of the mysteries. We love you all and enjoy sharing our Mission Experience with you all.

Love Elder and Sister Bartlett