HAMILTON GARDENS

We've been in our new area for a month now and becoming more and more occupied with the work on the Tuhikaramea Youth Camp.  We have been getting ready for the ground breaking ceremony which takes place Monday evening on the 4th of November.  Two Area 70's will be attending, Elder Thomson and Elder Coward.  We'll report on it more fully in our next blog.  We wish that our proselyting work with the Raglan Branch could be more engaging.  We have two families that we are teaching the discussions to and we share the small town with a pair of Sister missionaries who have been very dutiful in contacting all the members and have tracted the entire town, though many were not at home.

Bridal Veil Falls near Raglan

wind surfer at the bay opening in Raglan

One of the families we are teaching is an older couple (mid 60's) that the sisters referred to us.  The husband, Ken Brown, is totally blind and Jullia his wife are very devout Evangelical Christians.  They were older when they married and consequently have no children.  Well educated and now retired, they earlier in the 90's spent three and a half years serving in Botswana with several other Evangelical missionaries.  So can you imagine how our discussions have been going?  Our first meeting with them was a protracted exchange about the nature of  God and mankind's pre-mortal estate, (which they do not accept).  We learned that they earlier had a senior couple meeting with them, a set of Elders and then the Sisters who referred them to us after they didn't make any progress.  Perhaps they are trying to convert us.  Our second meeting with them we changed our approach and shared our life's experiences with each other and how the gospel has blessed our lives. We had the spirit and were able to relate to them much better.

Italian garden at Hamilton Gardens

water lilies in the gardens

Two weeks ago Denise Peacock, the English convert from Kerikeri spent several days with us.  She really was excited to see the temple, even though she could not enter.  We took her to the visitor center and to visit Sister Parker with whom she made good friends and now has a place to stay when she comes to the temple after we are gone.  We took one afternoon to visit Hamilton Gardens, there is so much natural beauty around this country, these people are surely blessed.  We took her to Raglan one day and showed her around the town, surfing, and the falls and had her accompany us to a discussion with a mother and daughter.  Denise is so excited now about going through the temple next August, she can hardly wait.

Elder and Sister Olsen and Denise Peacock

part of the India gardens

Hamilton Gardens 

more of Hamilton Gardens

 mote in Hamilton Gardens