A LITTLE ABOUT HASTINGS, NZ

Sister Kezerian, our Mission President's wife, told us that most of the towns in New Zealand have clock towers, so here's a picture of the one here in Hastings where we live. Right in the center of town is a large fountain, which is divided by a railroad track. The clock tower is to one side of this park-like area.

Here's Elder Farnes with the "lost sheep" he is trying to shepherd back into the fold. Behind him is the base of the large clock tower. It's our Preparation ("P") Day, which in the mission field is our day off, so we can dress casually and do a bit of sight-seeing. We also go on walks most every morning, so we dress casually for that, too.

Lest you think Elder Farnes has learned to walk on water while we've been here, he's standing on the railroad track that goes through the fountain pool. This was in the morning, so we knew he was safe...the train goes through about 2:00 pm and again around 6:00 pm.

This "globe" hangs in the town central park, too. As you can see, it looks like pretty nice weather, but fall is here now, and we are getting lots of rain. Even though we won't see snow, everyone tells us it gets pretty cold. Last Sunday, April 1st, we went OFF daylight savings time because our daylight hours are getting shorter. And now the United States is on DST again, so in addition to our being a day ahead of you, we are six hours behind you. If it's noon here, it's 6:00 pm in Utah, but we're a day ahead of you.

While on our walk one day, I saw a few girls waiting for their school bus and asked them if I could take their picture because I liked their uniforms. One girl was pretty hesitant, but the others said, "Oh, you have to be in the picture; this is going to the United States, and we'll be famous!" Well, before I could take the picture, several more girls joined in. The schools here all have uniforms, and part of the uniform is sandals, which is a step up for the children because, most of the time, they wear flip-flops or go barefoot...even when it's cold.

A little humor from a sign we saw in Hastings main street, Heretaunga Street. Wow! Did you know you can buy a mother and get one free?!

This is a PASTRY from a grocery store here in Hastings...would you buy something called "Fly Cemetery"? It's got a crust on it with raisins inside, which here in New Zealand are called "sultanas". We took the picture, but we did NOT partake! Also, we're still suffering from sticker shock...the cost of food (and everything else here) is astronomical. One piece of this "fly cemetery" is $6.75!