Trip to Fiji and more...

Fiji Temple :)

We had an amazing time being in Fiji for a few days. We were able to go to the temple and attend church in english… It was fantastic and fed both of our souls. First time we had church in English in eight months. We spent two days in Suva, Fiji and then met Natalie and the boys in Nadi, Fiji for two days. It was so interesting to see the differences between Fiji and Vanuatu!

This is one happy grandma!
Fiji

We expected the beaches to be pristine and amazing in Fiji and surprisingly they were not. While Fiji is definitely about 30 years more developed than Vanuatu, the ocean and beaches are a pure turquoise stunning blue in ALL of Vanuatu. The population of Fiji is about 33% Indian, 33% Chinese, and 33% Fijian. It also was a lot cooler than Vanuatu. The vegetable markets are huge and very clean there. All in all it was a wonderful break!

Arriving in Vanuatu

Natalie and the boys came with us back to Vanuatu for a week. We had so much fun with them and there was still a bit of missionary work responsibilities sprinkled in there. We get multiple calls a day with things that need to be addressed immediately. (Power outages, water being turned off, water purifiers to be replaced, etc.) Basic necessities that need to be taken care of.

A beautiful hike to the top of Mele falls in Vanuatu.

So many places to hike, waterfalls to see, incredible pristine beaches to experience. When the kids were flying into Vanuatu, their first comment was, "This feels like Jurassic Park". We spent a lot of time deep in the jungle and they got to experience a whole different world than anything they have seen. There are also many tiny islands with resorts on them that you take a boat to and pay a day rate. We could use the beach, snorkel, eat at their restaurant, and use the rest of their amenities. I’ve said it before, coming here on a vacation would be a fun, relaxing, and adventurous experience ha ha… Glad we were able to do some of these things with the kids for a few days.

Bright blue starfish

Fun at a beach... Yes, older missionaries can swim and do not have any of the missionary rules like the young ones.

On the missionary side, while in Fiji at the temple we happened to be attending a session with a Chinese couple who had only been one time. They joined the church two years ago in Fiji and were feeling really alone, like they were the only Chinese people who are members. It was so fun to be able to share some of the things we know about the church in mainland China. They were blown away and comforted by learning how many people are not only members of the church, but also how many attend the temple in Hong Kong from mainland China. I found it interesting that we were “taking a few days off” and still had an opportunity to minister and connect with these faithful people. It was a wonderful experience.

Our new friends we met at the Fiji temple

I wanted to share a bit about the structure of the Vanuatu Port Vila mission that is interesting. This mission includes three different countries. Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. With three completely different countries, that means there are three completely different government VISAS required to serve in each one. Therefore, missionaries called to the Vanuatu Port Vila mission and are assigned to New Caledonia or Solomon Islands, will NEVER serve in Vanuatu because they can not be here legally for more than about a week without a visa. Missionaries assigned to those other two countries come to Port Vila for a day or two and then they fly to their assignment and stay there for their whole mission.

There are several missionary older couples who act as “mini mission leaders” in those countries. They handle all of the support, housing, branch or district support, etc. in those places. The Mission Leaders over the whole Vanuatu Port Vila Mission do go to those places every six weeks for Zone conferences and to connect with the missionaries there. The other caveat is, all of these countries are VERY far away from each other… A several hour flight to each one! AND lets not forget that in Vanuatu alone, they fly to three other islands… (Tanna, Malekula, Santo.)

SO that means the mission leaders (Pres and wife) fly every six weeks to:

Vanuatu -Santo

Vanuatu - Tanna

Vanuatu - Malekula

Vanuatu - Effate (Where we live as well as the President and his wife)

Solomon Islands

New Caledonia

Extremely complicated and intense in an area of the world where everything is like living in the twilight zone and nothing happens as planned. For us, our housing responsibilities include 52 properties only on the four islands of Vanuatu, where we have our VISA.

The church is growing like crazy on these islands…. For example, in the Solomon Islands where there are three couple missionaries and only 20 young elders, 171 people were baptized into the church in the month of June alone! Here in Vanuatu the baptismal numbers have quadrupled and it’s continuing to go up. There are many scriptures that prophesy of those “inhabitants from the isles of the sea would be brought to a knowledge of their God” and we see this happening in amazing ways!

Baptisms in the Solomon Islands.... WOW.

There is kind of this weird perception among many, that people are leaving the church in huge numbers and it is just not true. Not only are people from so many areas of the world seeking God and true meaning in their lives, but convert baptisms are higher than they have been in three decades across the globe including the United States. We see evidence of this here in the islands and it’s a beautiful thing to witness and be a part of.

Many people ask us what it’s like to serve here. Do we like it? Is it fun? Maybe a better question is, what are we learning and what is God trying to teach us? How are these experiences helping us become more like the Savior? How do we do our best to focus on the good and all that we are grateful for among the difficulty?

As we continue working on answers to those questions, hard does not mean bad… It’s the “hard” that can refine and perfect if we allow it. I have never been in a situation where no matter which way we turn it feels like there are no good answers, and that everything we need to do is incredibly complicated. This mission continues to be a HUGE lesson in surrendering to what we have no control of and continuing to push forward no matter what things look like on the outside.

AND THEN… Something like a new leader emerges and pulls out the church handbook and says, “We need to be doing (fill in the blank) this way” OR the young single adults organized an incredible activity with over 100 young adults, or different church units get their ministering program dialed in for their specific group for the first time, or the Stake president draws the line and says, you must attend church in your assigned area, etc… Growth and change happen slowly, especially when the church is kind of new in an area of the world.

It is happening. The Lord is in charge. Everything is on time and all is well.

As wonderful as all that is, seeing peoples lives change and become better is even more rewarding. Experiencing our own growth, healing and understanding through the saviors love and grace is the greatest blessing. He IS the reason and the one who makes sense of the mess even when we can’t see it in the moment. I can’t express deeply enough what that means to me and how grateful I am for that gift.

We love and miss you all,

The Kwans