Mission Adventures in Vanuatu

Adorable Ni-Van children. "Ya gat hamas yia?" (How old are you?) They don't know...  Our 5 day trip to Tanna did not disappoint. We were able to visit 8 missionary homes and 2 additional locations where we are setting up new housing. They actually have a nice resort on the beach that the older missionaries stay at while visiting this island. It is beautiful and peaceful, especially after a day of dust, mud, wild roads, and whatever else comes up. This is one of the nicer homes on Tanna. It has a toilet and shower inside. Tanna Island is big and the villages are spread all over so it was a lot of 4-wheel driving through mountains, gulleys, rivers, and many spots that I wasn’t sure we were going to get through.   We always have someone to drive us and someone who speaks English so we can go where we need to. On all of the Vanuatu islands they do not have addresses, so you literally stop along the way asking “Yu save wea ol misinari oli stap?” (Where do the missionaries live...

Dinner at our Chinese friends restaurant with Joes daughter and family. We had a great time. It has been a flurry of activity around the islands! On March 17th, we celebrated the 183rd birthday of the largest women’s organization in the world — The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over 500 women gathered together in this remote part of the world and celebrated in song and local dance. The party was on a Monday night and lasted almost four hours! There was a huge BBQ put on by the men. The women in each church unit (ward or branch) had a “presentation” of speaking and dance that was so fun. I remember thinking how remarkable it is that a women’s organization that started with 20 women in 1842 has now reached over 7 million and here I was in a distant “island of the sea” at a celebration with hundreds of women of faith. It was pretty cool. Women were inside, outside, everywhere! Some had traveled over an hour from the other side of the island to be there...

Crystal clear waters, beautiful sunsets It has been a very productive few weeks as we have continued with our work here in Vanuatu! Some have asked us what we do for fun. For workouts, there is a group of us who go walking in the morning and then play pickle ball. We do this 4-5 times a week and it's like playing pickle ball in a sauna. I'm thinking that all of the sweating has to be good, ha ha. We do have a great time. On Saturday's when we don't have other assignments we explore the island, go for hikes to waterfalls, find fun restaurants hidden away, and enjoy the ocean. There are many islands in the country of Vanuatu. We live on the island of Efate. We also have missionaries on the islands of Tanna, Malekula, and Santo. You have to fly on a (very small) plane to each of these islands. As we are in charge of the missionary housing and supporting the new construction, it can be quite complicated! Demolition of condemned buildings in Port Vila, Efate On Efate where w...

At the mission home for a Zone Conference It’s been a really good two weeks. Lots of positive things and forward movement going on. The initial reason we were brought out here was to help with the construction of new buildings… Church buildings, additions, and missionary housing primarily on the islands of Tanna and Malekula. As mentioned before, it’s very complicated because these other two islands are very primitive by American standards and there isn’t a local “Home Depot” that has everything all of the time. Logistics are a serious issue that slows the process of everything down. Throw the earthquake in there with the disruption of the supply chain and WA LA … an even more messy complication. Joe had two days of meetings with Dave Amende, who is a church employee based in New Zealand and the contractors. Several contracts were signed for 9 structures and 2 additions …   4 in Malekula and 7 in Tanna. Construction will start the middle of March. There will be a Senior missionary ...