Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I ended up in my last post with our son Jacob and his wife Shayla arriving at the airport. This post will be about some of our adventures with them along with some of our Missionary activities. Our children have asked why we don’t post more about our Mission and less about this beautiful country. Our Mission is mainly about keeping Missionaries healthy and keeping their bicycles running properly and safe. Sister Bartlett sent our daughter pictures of ingrown toenails, broken wrists, warts, flea bites, sprained ankles, and other ailments. Our daughter finally said no more. I don’t think you want to see broken bicycles either. So here we go!

As you may know most of the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” was filmed here in New Zealand. Fortunately after filming the “The Hobbit” they left the set intact so that you can visit there. It is on a sheep farm out in the country of rolling hills and green pastures with about 30,000 sheep on the farm, none of which were featured in the film since they were the wrong species of sheep.

I don’t want to disappoint any of you readers out there but they really didn’t have actors who were so small they could play Hobbits for the films. We saw Hobbit houses which were larger like this one giving the illusion that we were small like a Hobbit.

Some are smaller like this on to give the illusion we are very large like Gandalf. In case you were wondering there are only a few of the Hobbit houses you can actually enter. It was about 2 metres in depth, just enough to stand inside with the door open. It was a great to see this site and remember what happened in the movie.

No tour of Hobbiton is complete without a stop at the Green Dragon Inn for a taste of Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic). We enjoyed our tour of Hobbiton and its beauty. It is still a working farm with this set on it. They actually moved a full grown oak tree to just above Bag End because it said there was one in the books. In the The Hobbit they had to make an artificial tree since they removed the original after The Lord of the Rings. If you are planning to visit the Shire you might want to watch the movies again, at least the parts with the Shire in them.

After we visited Hobbiton we went to the Waitomo Glow worm caves. Unfortunately photography was not permitted in the caves so there were no pictures. It appeared to be a starry night when in the glow worm cave. One of the children reminded the guide that the glow worms were simple fly maggots (yuck). Very interesting how the fly lay their eggs on the ceiling of the dark cave and the hatch into these larvae that glow in the dark. There are sticky strings that hang down from the larvae that catch insects attracted to the glow, that the larvae feed on.

This was a beautiful natural bridge we discovered on our adventure. We were looking for a particular waterfall and happened upon this natural bridge. It was beautiful but we took the loop trail and it was not so great after the bridge.

We did find the Marokopa Falls which is one of the most fantastic falls we have seen, both wide and tall.

We also discovered the beach by the same name, which was a black sand beach. We took this opportunity to take a picture with our Missionary

We also saw this small cave for a photo opportunity and collected some black sands. Guess what? We discovered the black sands are magnetic, for after we put our badges down and picked them up again, some of the black sands stuck to our badges.

The next adventure we had was going to the Hamilton Temple. We enjoyed the blessings of the Temple along with its beauty. Unfortunately the lights were not on yet so we didn’t see them when Jacob and Shayla were here.

We also were able to visit some falls and beach the same day just west of Hamilton. This was Bridal Veil Falls near Raglan New Zealand. Each waterfall we see is unique and we love seeing them. We also have a Bridal Veil falls in Provo canyon in Utah. Not quite the same.

We also found this group of cute baby ducks on our walk to the falls. There can be such beauty in nature that the Savior and our Heavenly Father created for us to have joy. I am so thankful that we have opportunities to enjoy it.

We were so hungry after a long days adventure we decided to get a pizza from Hell’s Pizza. Yes we went to Hell for a pizza. Ha Ha! It was very good pizza. We were very dissatisfied with our Hotel during our stay in Hamilton. There must have been something going on since the availability of hotels was limited and we ended up with one that was hot with no air conditioning. And the parking was back by the garbage bins and was very smelly. Don’t stay at the VR Hamilton.

Our next adventure was in Rotorua where we visited the Living Maori village of Whakarewarewa and enjoyed learning more about the Maori people.

They had a great show featuring traditional Maori song and dance and some of the school children attended and sang for us at the show. To top it off we had a “Hangi dinner” which was a stone stove build over the hot steam vents that are all over the town.

This is the dinner which was chicken, corn on the cob, taro, capsicum and a dessert. We enjoyed it very much.

We also saw some beautiful hot springs located in and around the city where people were living. Rotorua is also known for its hot water spas where you can go and enjoy the hot water. We however we frugal and went to Kerosene creek and enjoyed a hot water creek. Very fun and free.

The next day we ventured to the Coromandel peninsula and to Cathedral Cove. This is the site from the parking lot as we ventured down to the cove. It was about a 50 minute walk for us oldies and Jacob and Shayla went on ahead. It was an awe inspiring site when finally we walked down the last flight of steps.

We beheld these marvellous formations that the sea and wind had carved out of the rocks. This one so big you could drive a truck through. Yes that is Sister Bartlett in the tunnel.

Also other formations that seem to stand as sentinels for the tunnel. Another reminder that man is very small in this massive universe we live in and that God and Jesus created for us to enjoy.

We next ventured to none other that the Hot Water Beach. This is a phenomena where hot springs actually surface on the beach and with a shovel people dig holes which fill up with hot water so you can have your very own hot water spa.

We did have to do some of our responsibilities during while Jacob and Shayla were here. We went to the Airport early to make sure Sister Kapeli and Elder Fonua were safely off on their return home. Also pictured are Sister Graffe and Sister Motu’apuaka. We also had to make some presentations at three Zone Conferences.

In between those Zone Conferences we took the opportunity to visit Poor Knights Island and do some snorkeling and scuba diving.

This is our dive group with our dive master. The first dive was in a cave and kind of dark but we did see some rays and some eels and other interesting things. The second dive was in the sunlight but you had to move the kelp around to see any of the life beneath. Sister Bartlett did snorkeling and said she could just see kelp. We had several rays and two huge schools of fish surround us.

The islands were very beautiful but are uninhabited and no one is allowed on them except for some scientists. They used to be inhabited by a Maori tribe and because of something that happened are considered cursed.

After our Zone Conference in Whangarei we visited the Whangarei Falls and hiked to the bottom of the falls for some photo opportunities.

Jacob seems to be drinking from the falls. Fun!

What would Christmas be without a Ward Christmas party and our Ward was no exception. During the party the youth put on a floor show and danced the cha cha. Heaps of fun for everyone but we were worn out from all the other activities and left early.

We saw this vintage car while shopping on Jacob and Shayla’s last day so we took the opportunity just like so many others to get a photo. Pretty cool!

We took this last minute drive up to Mount Victoria in Davenport because Sister Bartlett wanted Jacob and Shayla to see the colourful mushrooms, which are really the air vents for an abandoned underground military base. We saw this beautiful sunset over the City of Auckland.

All good things must come to an end so we had to say goodby to Jacob and Shayla. We had many wonderful adventures with them. We will miss them greatly.

The day after Jacob and Shayla left the Senior Couples in the Mission had the annual Christmas Family Home evening. Of course it was a Christmas Theme.

The couples in charge were very clever and knitted us all nose warmers. This is us modeling our nose warmers. We don’t have much use for them right now since it is very warm.

Yes, even the Senior Missionaries like to take selfies when you have them take pictures. This is Sister Stosich who took our picture.

Everyone received a nose warmer so we posed for this picture with them on. We have some great and goofy Senior Missionaries.

During our travels for to visit Missionaries for sickness or bikes we happened this District meeting so we took opportunity for a photo with the special moose and reindeer for the Sisters.

We wanted to send this little Merry Christmas greeting to everyone. We are a little late for Christmas and New Year.

Guess what the three Sister Missionaries in our Ward spent their Christmas money on this year. That is right, new matching Polynesian dresses. Sister Tapu, Sister Gorrela and Sister Romualdo. They wore these to our Zone activity that night at the Otara Town Center where we had food, music, and Santa even came. The two Stakes in our Zone sponsored the event and we even had Santa come and pass out candy to the little ones.

Pictured are the three sisters from our Ward with Santa (Elder Bartlett) and our friend Pranav from India and two photo bombing Elders in the background. Elder ‘Ae su’a and Elder Fakahua. Our friend Pranav we met at Pak N Save and he is studying here in New Zealand for his Masters degree in Engineering. He has been coming to Church and other activities. He even sang in our Christmas Choir and came to our baptism on Christmas Day.

Unfortunately we had to say goodby to one of the Sisters in our Ward. Sister Romualdo went home for Christmas. She lives in the Philippines. She will be missed.

Christmas Day finally arrived and we had a baptism in the morning. We decided we would do like many do here at Christmas and go to the beach. This beach was a little special because it is where the Gannet birds come from Australia to nest and have their babies. There are thousands of these birds nesting here and you can see the young ones from eggs to furry birds as big as the parents. It is a site to behold as the birds glide gracefully on the wind. The beach here is very popular also as we had a hard time finding a parking spot.

On our way home from the beach we decided to try to get a picture of Auckland’s Sky Tower lit up in red and green for the Christmas season.

Sister Graffe and Sister Hauata are from Tahiti and will be going home this next transfer so we treated them to an fresh strawberry ice cream from Strawberry farms. Delicious.

The Friday after Christmas we took our friends Pranav and Sam to see the Temple lights. And of course you can’t go to the Temple without stopping at Pokeno’s for some ice cream.

The Temple lights were beautiful and we enjoyed them very much but it made for a very late night.

We miss our garden back home so we decided to plant a few plants on our back patio.

Yes that is a zucchini plant and we were able to harvest this unusual zucchini which was a Siamese twin.

After District Meeting the Senior couples in our Zone usually bring some fruit and snacks for the young Missionaries to share. Here Sister Gorrela and Elder Jheng are doing the chubby bunny challenge to see who can put the most grapes in their mouth and still say “chubby bunny”.

We are sorry for the length of this post. We have been so busy and lots of things happened during the holidays we didn’t get a chance to do much on the post. We will try to keep up. We love you all. Elder and Sister Bartlett.

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

Halloween, Kauri, and Rainbow Falls

We are back again with another exciting episode of Bartlett's on a Mission in New Zealand. There is a controversy in New Zealand whether they should celebrate Halloween. Well at least in several Wards we saw the tradition of Trunk-r-treat alive and well. Our Ward actually did it the Thursday after Halloween and it was great fun. This "turkey" got into the act. Elder Bartlett decorated one of his Missionary Bikes and got into the occasion. That isn't actually Elder Bartlett, it is a turkey who laid a golden egg.

Elders Peterson and Tu'tuila, Sisters Romauldo, Gorrela, and Tapu (Missionaries in our Ward) along with the Ward Mission Leader and his wife Brother and Sister Tavaga, went with Book of Mormon Characters. Quite appropriate.

Of course the children loved it also and not just the adults. What is better than candy? Elder Bartlett was dishing out candy from the bike basket and every time he wasn't paying attention someone was putting candy in the basket. He was finally able to give it all away and only had a few donuts, cupcakes, and chocolate.

Brother Sau and his father dressed up their car as a big scary mouth. When Sister Bartlett took this picture the lights on the Chapel make it look like two glowing eyes.

We were able to drive up to the Kauri forest on our preparation day with the Stahle's, a senior couple from the Office. We dropped in to see a kauri wood turner, who made these beautiful bowls and objects. It is illegal to cut down kauri trees, but they dig these trees up that were covered when giant tsunamis hit New Zealand thousands of years ago. This wood was from buried trees about 3800 years old.

Elder Bartlett is standing in front of some trees we saw that were covered by knitted decorations. We thought it was quite unique.

The tree behind us is the Tane Mahuta. It is a Kauri tree which is estimated to be several thousand years old and is the largest living Kauri tree. We are standing some 50 metres from the tree so it doesn't look so large in this picture. In the past these trees were decimated by the logging industry as great wood for building. They are now protected by the government.

This grouping of Kauri trees is called the Four Sisters since there are four trees growing close together. These trees remind me a lot of the giant redwoods.

On our way we stopped by Rainbow falls, which was quite spectacular. It is amazing that these falls were right next to a new housing development.

Sister Bartlett (alias the bird lady) saw some cute baby ducks and went to take their picture. After she took their picture the baby ducks started following her.

When we were going to take picture with them, Elder Stahle threw part of a muffin to them and the chickens and seagulls all of a sudden appeared and ate the muffin. The baby ducks didn't get much.

We happened to see these wild turkeys as we were driving. It was fun and every time Elder Bartlett would try to imitate their gobble they would all stretch out their necks and gobble back.

For my brother-in-law, I am showing this picture of beehives. Yes they produce Manuka honey here and it is very expensive. 

This is a very unique picture where the Tasman sea meets a large river so you see the river going out and the waves coming in. My picture doesn't show it very well. 

When you let the Missionaries borrow your phone for District Meeting you often get back selfies like this one. Sister Tapu, Romauldo, and Gorrela who are the Sisters serving in the same Ward as we do. Great Missionaries!

This is Elder Sully who comes from Australia. He has a unique scripture cover that he made himself from kangaroo fur. 

This is one of our wounded Missionaries, Elder Peterson, who had a bicycle accident. Sorry to say we have had many bicycle accidents the last couple of weeks. Three resulted in broken hands or wrists and one in a broken foot. We even had an Elder bitten by a dog instead of flees. Gratefully, some are just scrapes and bruises. These Missionaries are not discouraged by this, they just keep on going and doing the work they are called to do.

We have spent a lot of time fixing bikes and bodies. We pray every day for Heavenly Father to help and protect our Missionaries. We love the work and are staying very busy. May the Lord bless you all.

Love Elder and Sister Bartlett