New Zealand Labour Missionaries Share Experiences, Look to the Future 

In a new series of short videos, a group of labour missionaries who assisted in the construction of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, Church College of New Zealand and other Church buildings in the 1950’s and 1960’s, share some of their experiences and feelings about Temple View.

Watch and listen as Brian Hollis, Ray and Joyce Park, and Jack and Daphne Dowell talk about their time and work in Temple View.

In one video, Daphne Dowell notes that when she and her husband Jack travelled from Invercargill to Temple View to volunteer to work on the projects, George Biesinger, Construction Project Manager, told the Dowells:  “We do not need you here as labour missionaries.” 

Then Mr. Biesinger asked Jack Dowell what his skills were, and he answered:  “I am a plumber.”

“Oh, we do need you here!” Mr. Biesinger quickly replied.

In another video, Brian Hollis says he was just fourteen and a half when he started to work on the Church College and Temple construction projects.  He worked as a labourer, a painter and then a “brickee” during his time in the volunteer labour program.

Watch the video clips of these fascinating people and their stories here:

The videos were shot by Hamilton videographer Garth Watene.

These people lived the story of the beginnings of a suburb now well known as Temple View.