Where have we been?

Where have we been? I know it has been a while, but you know how time flies (or fleas as we say in New Zealand). We have been very busy, often getting home after 10 pm, trying to fix bikes and sick or injured Missionaries.

We just woke up one day, and it was December and we were transferring Missionaries out and in and six more weeks have past. We saw these cute pink flamingo’s in the Christmas section of a store and had to take a picture. The tree to the right is like a bottle brush tree that blooms in December and so they call it the Christmas tree.

In case any of you back in Utah or Colorado are wondering, this is what it looks like for Christmas in New Zealand. Who is dreaming of a white Christmas when you have these to look at in your backyard? Yes these were all in our backyard. You have to love the flowers here.

We were able to visit Julius, the Woodcarver in Henderson (a suburb of Auckland). He and his wife were very nice and they showed us the whole process of how he carves the wood. He actually uses a dremmel type tool to do most of the carving. He is from the Middle East near Jerusalem and has been in New Zealand doing this for about 30 years. His wife could tell us what kind of wood he was working on by the smell of the wood.

Elder Bartlett was able to help him by putting the eyes on this small kiwi bird which he gave to us as a present.

We also purchased this Nativity Scene from him for Sister Bartlett’s birthday. We also were able to see their little farm and saw their sheep and baby chickens, and came home with some lemons and avocados.

We had a Missionary activity at the Ward and invited members to bring their friends and neighbors to learn about the Plan of Salvation. They started by watching some Mormon messages while waiting for a flight. They each were given a boarding pass as pictured, and used that to get in the simulated plane which was set up on the stage. They were given refreshments while the plane simulated takeoff and the captain spoke to them. Then the lights went out and they were told they had now entered the Spirit World and that was explained to them. Then they were guided to another room in the Church and the Judgement was explained to them by Elder and Sister Bartlett.

They were then guided to three rooms representing the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial kingdoms, and those were explained to them. We had four investigators there for the activity along with a lot of members. It was a wonderful experience.

This is the group of Missionaries who participated in the activity, along with a lot of Ward Missionaries and Members.

We had the wonderful experience of going to the sealing of John DeLosa and his wife and child. We taught him the Temple Preparation and were excited when the whole family became a forever family in the New Zealand Temple.

Jacob and Shayla our son and daughter-in-law arrived for a visit for 10 days. We are so excited to have them here to visit with us and enjoy some of the New Zealand sites. Unfortunately they were not able to bring any of our grandchildren with them. I will let you know of some of our adventures next time. We love and miss you all. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are having a great Christmas Season. Love Elder and Sister Bartlett