Week 14 (1-8 Oct 2018)
We have not seen the month of September go. I just can't believe it is October already. While the weather for you is cooling off and the colors are changing (which we miss seeing), here it is spring, meaning it is getting warmer. I was outside yesterday trying to show our granddaughter Coralie the mangoes that are growing in the trees around the mission home and the beautiful flowers, and I had to hurry back inside, I felt like I was melting. But here are some pictures of what I was sharing with her.
It was quite an interesting week. Mainly office business : training, trying to help getting the booklet ready for the new missionaries arriving next week,
(this is the cover of our booklet, drawn by one of the sister missionaries)
preparing applications for families who want to go to the temple and need monetary support (GTPAF General Temple Patron Assistance Fund). Families give what they can, financially (which is not much) and thanks to the generosity of church members around the world, the fund is there to pay for plane tickets and housing and food, while the family is being sealed at the temple in Fiji. Since some districts have no computers because there is no internet on some islands, I make sure the Church records for the families are in order, then I fill out the form and send it to a sister in Fiji who calculates the costs, makes flights and housing arrangements. She sends me back the application with all that information and I send it to a sister in New Zealand to get the application approved by the area presidency. Simple enough, right? NOT. What is complicated is getting the Church records untangled. Yes untangled. The reason being that the people here change their names whenever there is an important event or they have a certain name at birth plus a Melanasian name. When they are baptized they put down another name or a mixture of the Melanasian one and another member of their family or a name they like, or the men add the maiden name of their spouse and it becomes their first name. Confused? Wait I am not finished. Their children can also have different last names because when they started having children it was the last name they had but when they change along the way so will the children being born during those changes. 🤪. Now people often do not know their birth date. Not just the day but also the month and even the year. So I receive the form filled out by the branch president with the names of each family member and their Church record number and date of birth , with a copy of the passport. Thankfully the Church membership record number is acurate and that it is often the only thing that matches. The name on the form, the name in the Church records and the one on the passport are often all different and so are the date of birth. So with the birth certificate, I send the corrections to the district president who sends it to someone in Fiji to make the corrections. Why Fiji? That is how it is set up since these districts do not have computers/internet on their island. The district president on the Island of Tanna is on a mission to clean up all the records and it is a blessing for the members of this district so they can go to the temple to be sealed to their family. And when they get to the temple all the names are the same on all the documents.😬 I felt very overwhelmed at first but now I share that district president's mission and I am excited to help for such a great cause.
On Thursday, Benoit also met with the humanitarian missionaries of the church to get an update on the relocation project of people evacuated on the island of Santo from the island of Ambae where volcanic ash covers most of the island. The Church is helping prepare a site to accommodate approximately 150 families. We hired a bulldozer to clear the land, provided temporary shelter (tents) until homes can be built, provided water and will dig a well and install rain catching equipment for continuous water supply, provided food for immediate needs and seeds for gardens. Members and non-members alike benefit from this project. People are so resilient. They went straight to work and started to plant their garden already. They expect their first crop in December. In the meantime, the church and other organizations team up so they will have food until then. The church will also provide them with all the material necessary to raise chickens so they can be self-reliant soon. So much is being done by the church that we do not hear about. What a great thing it is to witness this quiet service that blesses these families.
Some of our wonderful office elders. They are the best.
We said goodbye to Elder and sister Robison who returned home this week after serving for nearly 18 months with financial auditing. They have been a blessing and we are so thankful for their help and service. We have two other senior couples and the mission nurse leaving before the end of this year. We pray others will feel inspired to serve a couple's mission and bless the lives of the wonderful people in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission.
Saturday we visited the little island of Iririki where there is a resort. It is located less than 10 minutes away from the mission home. A short boat ride gets you there in less than 5 minutes.
This week I have been pretty good at doing my water pilates. I can really say for the first time that I am enjoying exercising.
We were able to watch the Saturday sessions of General Conference today, Sunday. We watched live the second session at 7:00 am here and the women's session at 11:00 am. The first session we decided to watch this afternoon because 3:00 am was too early.( but I was tempted when I woke up at 3:30 am). I figured it was unwise especially because we will be picking-up a senior couple arriving at 11:30 pm tonight at the airport. They will be serving in the Solomon Islands.
We just love General Conference and I have to admit that for a few hours we felt like sitting in the theatre room in Utah and we could also see some comments from our girls appearing on the screen. We felt like we were with them. So many good teachings, I can't write them all but here are a few:
"Life can be full of purpose and peace by following the Lord Jesus Christ in the cause of Christ. Make the gospel a part of what we are and do." Elder Uchtdorf
President Eyring said that our prayer of faith is the key to successfully nurture whom the Lord wants us to nurture. And to never stop loving.
Sister Cristina B. Franco talked about what is important is the love behind the service.
And of course I took note of the 4 things our prophet, President Russel M. Nelson is asking us sisters to do. And I will happily do them.
1. 10 day fast from our devices that is not productive. Pray to see how it helps us. Record and follow through the inspiration and revelation we will receive.
2. Read the Book of Mormon. Prayerfully study it and the Lord will increase inspiration and revelation we will receive. Mark the verses that teach about Christ.
3. Regular temple attendance. Unfortunately we are far from the temple and I don't know if we will be able to go while we are here. But I decided I will continue to do family research.
4. Study the Relief Society purpose and declaration.
Ale tata from us and our friend Gustave, the gecko. Lavem yufala
It was quite an interesting week. Mainly office business : training, trying to help getting the booklet ready for the new missionaries arriving next week,
preparing applications for families who want to go to the temple and need monetary support (GTPAF General Temple Patron Assistance Fund). Families give what they can, financially (which is not much) and thanks to the generosity of church members around the world, the fund is there to pay for plane tickets and housing and food, while the family is being sealed at the temple in Fiji. Since some districts have no computers because there is no internet on some islands, I make sure the Church records for the families are in order, then I fill out the form and send it to a sister in Fiji who calculates the costs, makes flights and housing arrangements. She sends me back the application with all that information and I send it to a sister in New Zealand to get the application approved by the area presidency. Simple enough, right? NOT. What is complicated is getting the Church records untangled. Yes untangled. The reason being that the people here change their names whenever there is an important event or they have a certain name at birth plus a Melanasian name. When they are baptized they put down another name or a mixture of the Melanasian one and another member of their family or a name they like, or the men add the maiden name of their spouse and it becomes their first name. Confused? Wait I am not finished. Their children can also have different last names because when they started having children it was the last name they had but when they change along the way so will the children being born during those changes. 🤪. Now people often do not know their birth date. Not just the day but also the month and even the year. So I receive the form filled out by the branch president with the names of each family member and their Church record number and date of birth , with a copy of the passport. Thankfully the Church membership record number is acurate and that it is often the only thing that matches. The name on the form, the name in the Church records and the one on the passport are often all different and so are the date of birth. So with the birth certificate, I send the corrections to the district president who sends it to someone in Fiji to make the corrections. Why Fiji? That is how it is set up since these districts do not have computers/internet on their island. The district president on the Island of Tanna is on a mission to clean up all the records and it is a blessing for the members of this district so they can go to the temple to be sealed to their family. And when they get to the temple all the names are the same on all the documents.😬 I felt very overwhelmed at first but now I share that district president's mission and I am excited to help for such a great cause.
On Thursday, Benoit also met with the humanitarian missionaries of the church to get an update on the relocation project of people evacuated on the island of Santo from the island of Ambae where volcanic ash covers most of the island. The Church is helping prepare a site to accommodate approximately 150 families. We hired a bulldozer to clear the land, provided temporary shelter (tents) until homes can be built, provided water and will dig a well and install rain catching equipment for continuous water supply, provided food for immediate needs and seeds for gardens. Members and non-members alike benefit from this project. People are so resilient. They went straight to work and started to plant their garden already. They expect their first crop in December. In the meantime, the church and other organizations team up so they will have food until then. The church will also provide them with all the material necessary to raise chickens so they can be self-reliant soon. So much is being done by the church that we do not hear about. What a great thing it is to witness this quiet service that blesses these families.
We said goodbye to Elder and sister Robison who returned home this week after serving for nearly 18 months with financial auditing. They have been a blessing and we are so thankful for their help and service. We have two other senior couples and the mission nurse leaving before the end of this year. We pray others will feel inspired to serve a couple's mission and bless the lives of the wonderful people in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission.
Saturday we visited the little island of Iririki where there is a resort. It is located less than 10 minutes away from the mission home. A short boat ride gets you there in less than 5 minutes.
This week I have been pretty good at doing my water pilates. I can really say for the first time that I am enjoying exercising.
Look how happy I am.
Here is a picture of a hot pursuit police car in Vanuatu, it is a Kia...
We see a lot of these totems in downtown Port Vila.
We were able to watch the Saturday sessions of General Conference today, Sunday. We watched live the second session at 7:00 am here and the women's session at 11:00 am. The first session we decided to watch this afternoon because 3:00 am was too early.( but I was tempted when I woke up at 3:30 am). I figured it was unwise especially because we will be picking-up a senior couple arriving at 11:30 pm tonight at the airport. They will be serving in the Solomon Islands.
We just love General Conference and I have to admit that for a few hours we felt like sitting in the theatre room in Utah and we could also see some comments from our girls appearing on the screen. We felt like we were with them. So many good teachings, I can't write them all but here are a few:
"Life can be full of purpose and peace by following the Lord Jesus Christ in the cause of Christ. Make the gospel a part of what we are and do." Elder Uchtdorf
President Eyring said that our prayer of faith is the key to successfully nurture whom the Lord wants us to nurture. And to never stop loving.
Sister Cristina B. Franco talked about what is important is the love behind the service.
And of course I took note of the 4 things our prophet, President Russel M. Nelson is asking us sisters to do. And I will happily do them.
1. 10 day fast from our devices that is not productive. Pray to see how it helps us. Record and follow through the inspiration and revelation we will receive.
2. Read the Book of Mormon. Prayerfully study it and the Lord will increase inspiration and revelation we will receive. Mark the verses that teach about Christ.
3. Regular temple attendance. Unfortunately we are far from the temple and I don't know if we will be able to go while we are here. But I decided I will continue to do family research.
4. Study the Relief Society purpose and declaration.
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