Wellsford, New Zealand Chapel


It's amazing... the busier we are the faster the week goes by!
Last Sunday, we attended the Wellsford Branch for the first time. Typically there are around 30 people in attendance, but we had in excess of 100 people, due to a Young Single Adult Ward attending a nearby camp for the week. Lisa and I were able to introduce ourselves and also share our testimonies during fast and testimony meeting. The spirit was very strong throughout the meeting. We were happy to see Sister Buxton in attendance for the first time in  awhile.


It has been great getting back to a regular exercise routine. We are lifting weights Mon,Wed & Fri and then running at a nearby school on Tue, Thur, and Sat.

Early in the week we participated in our district council meeting and attempted several visits of less active members and part member families. On Tuesday evening we attended a Maori class at the community center in Kaiwaka. We learned approximately 20 or so words and attempted to learn a traditional Maori song and dance...we've got a ways to go before we are performing like our instructor!

The missionaries recently had their transfers, so it was time for us as Senior Couples to do the  apartment)inspections. We spent most of Wednesday traveling to 6 different flats (apartments) in the Northern Zone inspecting for cleanliness, safety, and doing some minor repairs.

Lisa has found a local knitting group that meets at the Church of Christ near us, so she "hung out" there for an hour or so on Thursday, while I went to mow the yard of Sister Pratt, a recent convert in the branch. We made it home to find our landlord  doing some pruning and cleanup in our yard, so I jumped in to help him. He brought his horse float (trailer) to haul off the debris. He ended up hauling off 3 loads of debris and was grateful for my assistance. Later that evening we visited and left a message with Brother and Sister Body and invited them to come back to church. They were happy for our visit and as we were leaving we found out that Sister Body is a knitter....so Lisa invited her to attend the weekly knitting group! Thursday evening is the local community choir, which we attended again. It is a great opportunity to get to know some of the locals. I was able to have a good discussion with Jeoffery, who was seated next to me. He became very excited to know that the Tabernacle Choir was a part of our church!

Friday Lisa met with the local sewing group and worked on a quilt  for a new baby being born int he Dargaville Branch. We had a good introductory visit with Campbell Richards and also attended a basketball game of Pyper Buxton, the 9 year old daughter of Pat Buxton.

Saturday we drove to 20 miles to the  Matakana  farmers market and to visit a yarn shop. It was a very windy day...but not much rain. We bought some local honey from a man who happens to live not far from us.

He saw my name tag with Jesus Christ on it, and said that he knows that God is real, and that the only way back to God is through Jesus Christ. He went on to tell us that he had died and what he experienced before being brought back to life! We asked if we could stop by and visit with him at his home, and he agreed.

Today Lisa and I attended the Dargaville Branch. We met with the branch council and then we both spoke in Sacrament meeting. We then had to travel an hour to Ruakaka to pick up some visa paperwork for Elder Salmon to extend his visa. We will be going to Auckland tomorrow, so we will deliver the paperwork to the office for him when we go.

We just received a copy of our mission picture that was taken when President Nelson and Elder Gong visited 2 weeks ago.

If you want to play "Where's Waldo", you can try and find us! Hint: we are not standing together!