Week 16 (15-21 October 2018)

Sitting at the airport now, wondering what happened this past week. The weeks seem to mesh together.  We had 3 missionaries coming in a week after the new missionaries because of visas for two of them and sister Myae stayed extra weeks at the MTC in the Philippines to learn English..  We came back from Tanna Monday and Sister Myae arrived Tuesday.  Benoit was conducting the interviews with the Efate and Tanna zones, so I went to greet her with the assistants and the travel elders.  It was weird to greet her without the mission president but we drove to the mission office and he met with her then.  She is from Myanmar.  I was very impressed with her English.  I enjoyed visiting with her as I drove her back to the mission office.  She is the only member of the Church in her family.  She met the Church as she was attending English class and she said one of the students really stood out.  She was so nice and helpful.  She asked her why she was always so happy.  She was invited to come to Church.  The first Sunday she attended was General Conference and it was all in English.  She told me she did not understand much but she felt really good and thought to herself that is probably why the girl in her English class looked so happy all the time.  She came back to Church the next week and started listening to the lessons from the missionaries.  She was baptized soon after. She said she was not planning to come on the mission but could not ignore the feelings she had twice about going.  She is very excited to be here and I know she is feeling the same happiness she had noticed in the sister in English class.  It is contagious and every time I am in her presence, I feel happy.  She is so sweet and we are excited she is here.  She actually converted from boudhism which makes the story even more extraordinary.

We held zone conference on Wednesday and sister Myae attended with her companion.  It is unusual to attend your first zone conference before any orientation.  She enjoyed it and has picked up
some Bislama already.
I found a little book with hymns in Bislama a few weeks ago and so we sang “Stap pikinini  blong God” “ I am a child of God” to start the conference.  I will copy a different one each time, so we can sing in Bislama in Vanuatu.  We also recorded the missionaries singing the medley “ As sisters in Zion and Army of Helaman to post on the mission Facebook page for the parents to see and hear.  I am always touched when I hear the missionaries sing that and it was no exception this time.  I had to swallow hard and blink as I was conducting the singing. 😬

Efate Zone                                                                Tanna Zone
 

                                         
                                                                  All serious and all silly

We met the couple behind our missionaries during lunch time (the man is standing up with the blue shirt).  They heard Benoit and I speaking french (Quebecois) and she told us, is this Quebecois that I am hearing?  It turns out they were from Montreal, and they were just finishing a 3 month trip in New Caledonia and Vanuatu.  They have a boat and they like to stay part of the year in different places.  Last year they were in Fiji and some other places for 9 months.  Then they go back to work in Montreal.  We had a nice visit.  She also asked us who those well mannered, well dressed young men where.  We left them with a pass along card, if they want to know more.

The other two missionaries ( a sister and an elder) got here Thursday afternoon.  So we had the orientation  and meal at the mission home for the three missionaries Friday.

It has been raining real hard the last few days.  Hoping the roof will hold up.  The repairs are scheduled on the 29 th of October and it should last 4 weeks.    The night from Saturday to Sunday was pretty active with heavy rain, thunder and a quick earthquake.  It was 12:45 am and Benoit had just been to the bathroom and was still awake to feel the sudden jolt.  I am very thankful  that I kept sleeping. 😴

                                                                   The pool is full
Today at Church it was the Primary Presentation at sacrament meeting.  It was soooo sweet.  It always touches my heart.  I could see our own grandchildren in the children giving their scripture and singing.  One little boy kept teasing another one in front of him.  He had that face : "What, who me?" when the other one got up, turn around and told him to stop.  I saw Mason right there.  Then he came to the front to say his part.  He got he members giggling with his delivery then he went back to his seat smiling at the audience.  It was so adorable.

So I am finishing this blog sitting in a hotel room in Auckland, New Zealand.  We have a week of training with the other mission presidents and their wives in the South Pacific Area. Stay tune next week for more details. 😁

I am enjoying studying the Book of Mormon and marking the passages about Jesus Christ.  This week a passage in 1 Nephi 15:3 caught my attention.

Some things are sometimes hard to understand "save a man should inquire of the Lord" Then Nephi reminds his brothers: "Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?  If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping the commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." 1 Nephi 15:11

I am very thankful for that knowledge and blessing.

Yufala gat wan gud week.  Lavem yufala tumas.