Our MTC District and our Instructors.  On left  is Sister Finau (instructor)  from Tonga; Brother and Sister Williams
from Australia - they are going to serve in the office in Thailand; Brother and Sister Palmer and
Sister Langkilde (our main instructor) from New Zealand, originally from Samoa who served her mission in Samoa. 
Sister Langkidle and Sister Finau are amazing women and great teachers.

The pictures below are all on the MTC property.  There is a hill between the MTC building and a chapel.

The story goes that the property had once belonged to the grandfather of the Mayor of Manukau City where the MTC is located. When the Mayor was a young boy he used to sit on the corner of the property and overlook the city. 
He said that he had the distinct impression that some day a spiritual light would come from that spot to brighten the city.  When the Church put a building permit in the Mayor was not there when the City Council denied it and threw it in the bin.  When the Mayor returned and saw it in the bin he told them the story and told them to let them build.  

This is the Chapel in the Church on the MTC property.  Notice anything missing?  Yup, the hymn books! There are 3 Wards that meet in the building with 3 different languages so they bring out the hymn books when they're ready to start their meeting and put them away after their meetings.

These are pictures of the view from our window. They have a great court, and a nice lawn area for the young Elders and Sisters to play on during our exercise hour.

New Zealand  Missionary Training Center

There is a large grassy hill just South of the MTC

This is our MTC Group • 5th Intake
63 missionaries from 17 countries going to 13 Missions; 11 are from Tonga
Elder & Sister Williams on far left, Presidency and then Elder & Sister Palmer
President & Sister Briggs, 1st Counselor, President & Sister Howes, President & Sister Thatcher, 2nd Counselor

We are flying over San Francisco Bay preparing to land after a 2 hour flight. On board our plane was another Missionary, Elder Saluone (pronounced S-all-oo-o-nay) from Denver, Colorado. Marlin actually visited with him while we were in the San Francisco airport waiting for our flight to New Zealand. He is half Samoan and is on his was to the same MTC that we are. He was glad to see us as much as we were glad to find another missionary. Things got even better when we noticed another young man who looked (dressed) like a missionary. It was Elder Johnson, from Glendale, Arizona, heading to the MTC in Auckland New Zealand.  Both Elder Saluone and Elder Johnson are called to serve in the Vanuatu Mission, an island country off the east coast of Australia.

We left San Francisco after a 3 hour layover (10:40 Utah time). The flight to NZ was thirteen hours, so when we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand we exhausted.  While waiting to go through customs we meet an Elder from Chile, who spoke very little English. He was really happy to find other missionaries. Our ride was waiting for us, but also waiting for others so we waited in the airport for another 2 hours looking for other missionaries.  We met another missionary couple, Kevin and Helen Williams, from a small town near Perth Australia. They are going to serve in the Mission Office in Bangkok, Thailand.  They are amazing, both are in their late 70's and heading out on a mission.

  

Salt Lake International Airport; April 3, 2018  • We are on our way!

We were set apart as Missionaries by President Calvin Workman, 1st Counselor in the Stake Presidency on Monday evening, April 2, 2018. We loved having family come.