Learning together ... another week in Port Vila

Halo Family and Friends,

Math class on Monday night
Here’s an update from Vanuatu, Port Vila from your favorite missionary couple!  Elda Lovelace and I have been teaching a math class every Monday.  This past week our focus was on Number and Set Theory.  We LOVE the enthusiasm of our students; especially when they start to compete.  We ask a question and all of them start shouting out answers.  It is an absolute JOY to see them enjoy learning.  As part of the SIS (Succeed in School) program the 
Math class on Monday night
students are provided a snack.  I made Banana Bread, and they loved it so much they were begging me to bring it again.  We teach the Intermediate class which is 6-8 graders.  There is a  foundational class meeting the same hour being taught by another lady for 4-5 graders.  On Mondays we have Math and on Fridays they have Reading.  We have another Unit who are also functioning, and their classes are on Wednesdays and Fridays and we attend those classes supporting the teachers.  Our goal is to establish this in all the areas and units on our Island and then hopefully take it to Malekula, Tanna, and Santo. It is an amazing program, and I am so happy we get to help educate the children. 

This week an organization called, “Library for All” - “Save the Children”; were meeting at our Stake Center.  They are creating books for the children of the island to read.  They have books for Younger and Older Children.  The books are relatable to children.  A book entitled “THAT DAY” is about the earthquake that happened in December of 2024.  In the back of the book, it says this book was made possible by the generous support of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This and other books are helping children cope with their feelings and anxieties.  They have distributed 65,000 so far.  The children here don’t have books and the ratio currently for book to child is 0.5.  Mark and I are looking for a project that we can volunteer for and assist in.  I hope we can help this organization continue their work. 

So, to my grandkids and to the youth who may be reading this.  Be thankful for the gift of books and for the beautiful schools you attend every day!  Each of you are truly blessed.

Wednesday, we watched the funeral service of our dear prophet, Russell M. Nelson.  He was truly a man of God.   He served God and His church until his dying breath just as he promised. He was a beloved Physician.  I will remember his teachings and continue to accept every invitation he gave us.  Every promise he made with those invitations prove to manifest themselves after accepting the invites(which I have personally experienced) . I thank God that there are prophets in the Land.

We have at least 2 meetings a week that we attended in association with the planning of a Single Adult Conference.  Ages 18-35 are invited to attend in January.  I believe we mentioned that before in our updates.  Mark has been busy cleaning up duplicate registrations.  He has also been helpful in trying to secure the school that we will be staying at and work with the area church transportation team to help book flights for the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.   Lot's to do on this project as it keeps us busy almost every day.

Mark with the YSA Young Men
Darleen with the YSA Young Women
We had an amazing experience on friday evening.  Our "boss" (Katimal) was traveling to another Island, and he usually teaches a class on Friday evening.  We asked if he would like us to sub for him.  So that’s’ what we did.  Our lesson was on Setting Goals and Time Management.  I made Sloppy joes (Now, what am I not telling you).  Ha!  So, the food on the island is very different.  But, I found a recipe for sloppy joes and was able to find all the ingredients I needed.  I made a full crock pot.  We cut up some apples and carrots and had some potato chips.  The food was eaten, and the lesson was really fun to teach.  Mark and I switched back and forth trying to teach smaller parts of the lesson to keep them engaged.  We had 16 attend.  Mark talked about time management.  He shared a scripture: “Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean, cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to they bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and minds may be invigorated.  He taught; you can’t get time back… Don’t waste time.  Plan daily and then work that plan. Don’t bury your talents.  A great reminder for all of us to use the time the Good Lord gives us each day to magnify and bring glory to his name; and to be thankful for the time he gives us each day to improve.  “God is so Good to us”!

Funny story.. The day before we went looking for the Simbola church building we would be teaching at.  THEY DON'T HAVE ADDRESSES HERE ... JUST GENERAL AREAS.  

Simbola Ward Church building ...YSA's
waiting for Institute to start on a Friday night

Thank goodness we found it and, on the way, back decided to take the dirt road on the opposite side of the church.  It was a pretty steep hill and Mark was excited to be in a truck heading down.  There was a HUGE dip and HUMP to climb over.  Mark was successful in navigating us to the end of the road. I was thankful to get to the bottom, it felt like a roller coaster ride.

The roads are so bad. On that same day we took a ride and I found myself getting nauseated; and turn to Mark and asked him if he could hit 1 more pothole.  He hit a lot more than 1 more after that comment.

Clown fish ensuring Mark
didn't touch his home
On Saturday (Which is our prep day) or free day. Mark treated himself to his 1st dive in Vanuatu.  It was anti-climactic.  He saw a turtle and some small fish. Only diving about 45 feet.  They wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing; so, the next trip will hopefully be better.  I spent my afternoon with the other senior missionaries at honeymoon beach.  I snorkeled and enjoy the heat of the sun.  The fish are neon beautiful and I could have stayed in the water for hours.

That is our update for the week.  We hope you enjoy some of the pictures we’ve attached.  We love you all and thank you for your influence in our lives.  

Elder & Sister Lovelace ... Or for many Darleen & Mark, mom & dad, or nana & papa!!!

5 minute walk from our apartment right
as sun went down

Full moon


Etas Ward 4-5th grade youth attending their
Succeed in School (SIS) Reading & Writing Course 




The "Momma's Marketplace" in the center of town.   
Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables to buy.
"Momma Market"

Some people can sleep anywhere!!!!



Lizard Man

A good reason to EAT!!!
Afternoon walk up on the hill near our apartment

Darleen under a banyon tree - to some villages
these are where the town may meet to make important decisions

Another banyon tree - the branches reach down to
the ground and add stability to the trunk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time really does fly when you’re having fun & have miracles cease?

Image
Family and Friends!!!   Hello again from the beautiful Island of Vanuatu! We can’t believe we have only 5 days of October remaining, although, most of you have 6 who are living in North America!   Seeing as we are a day ahead of all our family and friends in the USA.   This week my grandson Tate asked me one of my favorite questions when he spoke to me via Marco Polo.   He said: “ how is tomorrow?” (flashing a big smile).   I loved Grants questions also, he said: “ how are you doing and what are you doing ?” Well, tomorrow is always a blessing.   It is another day to do what I love doing.   I love putting on my nametag every day.   It reminds me that I am representing the Lord and I have the wonderful privilege of ministering and loving in the Saviors name to the beautiful people of Vanuatu. Grant, you ask how are we doing?   So good!   What are we doing?   Well, that is the purpose of this letter.   Papa and I agreed th...
Read more

Vanuatu - the adventure continues!!!

Image
Hello Family & Friends coming to you from  our small paradise in the south pacific. The island we will most likely stay on  for most of our mission - Island of Efate (our apartment is close to the star on the map)  We hope you are all doing well.   We continue to love serving on Vanuatu Port Vila amongst the people of this island.  We haven't really given you a lot of information about the island we are living on, or the people we get to serve with.  So here is just a little bit of what we are learning. We are living on the island which is the Efate Island, part of Vanuatu cluster of islands, which is part of approximately 83 islands making up Vanuatu.  Efate is the 3rd largest of the islands, and is home to the capital city of Port Vila.  Efate is the most populated island with about 66,000 people, representing about 20% of the total population across Vanuatu.   Efate is about 347 sq. miles around, and supposedly you can drive ...
Read more

Amazed at the dedication!!!

Image
  Dear Family & Friends, We are learning our way around Port Vila and learning how to serve every day.    This past week was one where we found we were in a lot of meetings, whether that was a class meeting for SIS (Succeed in School) Math and English classes, YSA (Young Single Adults) convention preparation meetings, weekly Seminary & Institute meetings, or a monthly ministering meeting with the 5 different areas that make up the Vanuatu Seminary & Institute.  While meetings are necessary to coordinate efforts, we do look forward to expanding our ministering to the YSA in Port Vila. Sister Taravaki, young service missionary serving in Port Vila Stake We’ve been amazed by the dedication of many members in serving the Lord. One example that stands out this week is a young woman named Sister Kerolyne Taravaki. Sister Taravaki is serving as a service missionary for our church. While she had hoped to serve as a full-time proselyting missionary, some physica...
Read more

A cyclone doesn't make for a great road experience

Image
Hello to all our family and friends, It has been several weeks since we last wrote. During that time, we have been busy working to get the Seminary, Institute, and Succeed in School programs ramped back up here on the island. A few weeks ago, however, we were able to take a short break and travel to New Zealand. While there, we attended the temple and spent time seeing the beautiful sights around both the northern and southern parts of the country. One of the things we loved most about the trip was being in the temple. It reminded us how much we miss attending regularly. We are especially looking forward to the completion of the temple on the island of Efate, where we are currently serving, which is expected to be finished later this year. It will be such a blessing for the members here, who currently must travel to Fiji, New Zealand, or Australia to do their temple work. We could easily fill this entire letter describing the many places we visited in New Zealand, but we want to ke...
Read more

Ministering each day!!!

Image
Hello Family & Friends, We continue to learn and grow each day.   One of our main responsibilities is to minister to the youth and young single adults in our locations.   The Savior taught the importance of ministering to the one, which is what we are trying to do each day in the Vanuatu Port Vila mission.  Here's a few simple ways that we are finding to do this.  We had the opportunity to attend a seminary class taught in one of the units.  The class had some 16-18 students in this small room.  The teacher was a sister who does so much in the church, holding down many callings.   As she was teaching, Darleen and I were sitting at the back of the class observing.  At one point Darleen noticed that several of the young men were not actively participating in the discussion/message.  So she naturally just got up and sat right next to them and opened up her phone to let them read along with the scriptures that were being taught...
Read more