2021 Month 4:4 (26 April-2 May)

 Last weekend, grand-papa was in Tanna for the last district conference for us.  After he arrived and held interviews for temple recommends, he went to the resort where he had made reservation with Booking.com to find out the resort was closed because of the lack of tourism due to the pandemic.  The people at the resort helped him find a place to stay at another resort about 5 minutes away.  He was able not only to get a room for the duration of his stay but also to have dinner when he arrived.  He was very grateful.  He took some pictures for me to see and he said it was nice.  

The members of the Tanna District worked hard to decorate the pavilion for conference and also to make gifts for us and even had a song they composed for us. I was not there because I feel I should stay with the missionaries here since we have no senior missionaries to hold the fort.  I am glad he took some videos so I could hear the nice words from a branch president in behalf of all the district and the beautiful song his branch had prepared to sing for us.  My heart is full with these wonderful testimonies of love for us.

They made me a mat, a mama's dress, a bag and a grass skirt with the Vanuatu flag they painted on it.

They made grand-papa a mat, a bag, a shirt and a tie, a fan with feathers and feathers

I am impressed with the many talents of our missionaries.  As we get to know them better we find out how talented they are.  A sister missionary wanted to make ties for a family they are teaching.  She had never used a sewing machine but she had sewn by hand.  She took a tie apart to find out how to make it.  She made three by hand and asked if she could use the sewing machine we have in the office.

When she came to the office, I found out she had never used one before.  So I invited them to come to the mission home so I could show her how it worked.  I did not tell her how to make a tie because I have never made one myself.  She sat down in front of that machine and after a few pointers from me she went to work on her tie.  Looking at her making it, I was wondering how it would turn out.  When she was done, she turned the fabric over and voila, it was a nice tie.

                                                 

                  

I spoke with Elder Arriola Alvizuris this week.  He serves in the mission office.  He was telling me of things he made before his mission .  I took a few pictures of the pictures he was showing me.

Below is a squirrel and also a bottle opener.  

I really like this tricycle also.

It was zone conference this week. "Begin with the end in mind" when teaching and posting in social media.  Sharing the gospel with lessons or using social media will be more productive when we begin in our preparation with the end in mind.  What do we want to see happening?

We have shared what has touched us during general conference.  I will miss this precious time of sharing with the missionaries.  The thought came to my mind that we can still have these moments of sharing the gold nuggets of general conference with our family.  So my invitation is for all of us to prepare to share together October 10th what has touched us during the October 2021 General Conference (time to be announced later 😊). It will be the perfect time to be together for Mylene's birthday too.

One of the nuggets I found was: "The mountains in our lives do not always move how or when we would like. But our faith will always propel us forward. Faith always increase our access to godly power." President Nelson

                                       Out of 26 missionaries, 12 are from Vanuatu.

We went to a ward today where 5 have received their call to serve here.  One in June, 3 in July and the sister in August.  They are posing here with our zone leaders/assistants.

8 missionaries are scheduled to leave in May and June if flights are available.  One will stay because he is from Myanmar and the political unrest there will not permit him to go.  So far his mission will be extended in June.  2 are returning to Samoa, 3 in Tonga, 1 in Kiribati and 1 in Tanna (Vanuatu).  He should be good to go but we cannot assume anything.

Life in Vanuatu

I took some nice picture of a sunset and a rainbow.  I saw the rainbow and could not resist, so I went out took three pictures and then it faded and disappeared immediately.  Good timing!

A new fence is being built on one side of the mission ground.

A la Vanuatu

I saw these trolley bags to put in the shopping cart.  I thought it was a good idea, but grand-papa said you have to empty the bags to get the items scanned and put them in the bags again. I still think it's a good idea.  You know exactly how many bags you need, it controls how much you buy (not to exceed the number of bags you want) and you still have to remove the items from the cart to be scanned in a bag or not.

This is Daniel.  We went to the Blacksands ward today.  I was amazed at the length of his eyelashes.  I tried to capture it.  He is the son of the ward mission leader.  They just had a daughter that was blessed today and is as adorable as her brothers.

MIFALA LAVEM YUFALA TUMAS!