A whole new world….

View from Elder and Sister Meurs balcony in New Zealand

What a whirlwind week and a half! It feels like its been two months! We flew out of San Fran on Sunday Nov 3rd and arrived in Auckland New Zealand Tuesday the 5th. We had an amazing 4 days there having meetings, enjoyed some time with Elder and Sister Meurs, as well as going to the Hamilton temple and visiting the Hobbiton movie set.

Elder and Sister Meurs 

Hobbiton
Hobbiton

In New Zealand they drive on the opposite side of the road and that increased the adventure level by about ten. It literally takes two people to navigate and we almost went off the road or hit something only twice so that’s good, right? I may or may not have said many times, “to the left, to the left, to the left” with some intensity in my voice, ha ha… 


The Hamilton temple is an hour and a half from Auckland, and then Hobbiton is 40 minutes farther so we were able to visit both on one of the days. It was a really fun experience.


Friday, November 8th we flew in to Port Vila, Vanuatu. Let’s just say we have entered a whole new world. The tourism industry shows certain parts but that is not how the people live. It has been interesting as we have been figuring out how to get around, buy food, do laundry and the other necessities of life.

Our small plane headed to Port Vila, Vanuatu

Living conditions: Our apartment is three times larger than the one we had in Hong Kong with two full bedrooms, living room, kitchen, dining area, and bathroom/laundry. We have a washing machine that washes in cold water only, but no dryer. We have hot water in the shower sometimes. The oven is not an American size but is not as small as a toaster oven, yea!! There are no temperature controls on it but has a thermometer on the inside so you can maybe see how hot it gets? I will keep you posted on how this works. We are on the second floor which is good! The first floor apartments have LOTS of very large creatures that take up residence with the missionaries. (Geckos, HUGE spiders, centipedes, and all manner of bugs) As of this bog post, we have not had any of that in apartment. We also have a balcony and our view of the ocean is gorgeous and very much like the tourist pictures. 

Arrival!

We are still in the process of getting all of our assignments figured out and will share more about that next time, but tomorrow we have a 40 minute flight to an island called Tanna for three days. There are several building sites that we are going to check out and meet the players involved. These sites are way out in the “bush”, meaning it is VERY primitive. I will share what that means when I find out, but they told us to bring food and water for travel during the days. At night we will be staying at a resort that we are told is “very nice”. Everything in Vanuatu very much runs on “island time”, which is slow, laid back, and not easy to get things done. It will be interesting to see how the next few days go.

While this really is “a whole new world”, I think about the Elders (younger missionaries who proselyte) who are sent to these remote areas of the world for months at a time. Some of them literally bathe in waterfalls, sleep in huts with mosquito nets, and eat from the local vegetable/fruit markets. One sweet young Elder from Utah told me that the first 4 month of his mission was in one of these areas and he had 100’s of bug bites and his Mom was worried but he was not. He knew that is where the Lord wanted him to be …. to connect and teach these beautiful people in this part of the world. Another young Elder who finished his mission and left for home today, had a white shirt on that was so worn that it was barley on him. The office secretary said, “Elder! Don’t you have another white shirt?” He said, “No, I left anything that I had with the other missionaries who needed them”. This young man is going home understanding why he came here and who’s errand he was on. 


We are grateful to be here, and we both are very clear about who’s errand we are on and know that a way will be provided for us to do what we are here to do.


We love you all!

The Kwans

Mammas market

Incredible views

Comments

  1. Johnson FamilyNovember 14, 2024 at 12:01 PM

    I thought your mission was walking the beach collecting shells? Haha enjoy the “gap” I bet it won’t be long before your gap becomes a pile…..a pile of work with not enough time to get it all done!! Love you guys!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carla LittleNovember 14, 2024 at 4:15 PM

    It sounds exciting! A step into another world, the place where Heavenly Father wants you two loving people to bless His children. When we were in Puerto Rico Bob stepped on a scorpion in the night and we had to drive down the mountain to a hospital to see about it. He got a shot for it. Sounds like you have already had adventures. Love your Blog! We pray for you and love you! The Littles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ЭнхбаярNovember 21, 2024 at 9:21 PM

    You two have been to another interesting place in the world. I imagine it's full of adventure. Your comments are preparing me for my future mission. Please continue your writing. I like them. David and Bo

    ReplyDelete
  4. David KwanNovember 24, 2024 at 6:05 PM

    Love the stories of the Elders's going home with no more white shirts and the bugs; and your attitude to humbly serve. I look forward to hearing more--I agree that very special things will happen with the Lord guiding.

    ReplyDelete

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