BANANAS!!!!

 

Hello Everyone! [Mark's addition comments in red]

It seems like it has been a month since the last time I actually wrote the full weekly letter.

It has been a Month!  We were so busy.  Of course, in a really good way!  This past week has been a bit lighter since the convention ended.  With Summer vacation ending we are preparing for a New year and New Start to all our educational programs.  School starts back on January 26^th and so does Seminary and Institute and SIS.  We are excited for the new year.

I think I have it pointed the wrong direction!!!

So, at the beginning of our week, we met with one of our head Seminary teachers and planned a Seminary Jubilee for the Congregational that we support.  I’ll tell you more about that in a few.  After our meeting we set out to deliver fliers to other seminary teachers to attend a special training being held this week. Having no addresses, we really had no idea where to find them.  I suggested to my boyfriend that we go to the missionary’s house.  So, that is what we did.  After leaving I noticed bananas!  So the boyfriend backed the truck up so I could get into the back.  Unfortunately, when I opened the door, the weeds were high.  So, I told the boyfriend to grab the machete.  I grabbed my phone; because of course it is our first foraging experience.  Gotta record it.  Well with one whack that bunch of bananas fell to the ground.  Does anyone have any idea how many bananas are in a bunch?  A LOT!!!  We have given bananas to seven people and we still have more!!! I will have Mark post the video of the experience; you will laugh till you cry!

We didn't take a photograph of them before 
cutting them off the stem, but this is about 1/3 of 
what we got off the banana bunch.

 I would have to agree with Darleen.   We laughed at her photography skills.  Also, she is absolutely right, I thought it would take a few swings of the machete, however, it cleanly cut through it.   It is a a very sharp machete.   One thing I learned about bananas is that when you cut them off into smaller groups, that the stem area oozes white very sticky liquid.   We had it all over the countertop.   

Banana Bay restaurant view.  Small
area to walk into water and swim.

We continued forward and delivered the other invites and, on the way home we stopped and had lunch at Banana Bay 😊 It is a cute little diner on the coastline with views that were surreal.  After eating lunch Mark asked if I was ready and honestly, I could have stayed the rest of the day.  I hope you will enjoy a few of the pictures I took.  We started teaching our Wednesday night Institute class again.  I love the course study; It is Jesus Christ and his everlasting gospel.  Great topic, right!  For my friends and family, I highly recommend it.  It may be an institute course but, if you want a great course study that deepens your relationship and faith in Christ this is it! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/jesus-christ-and-his-everlasting-gospel-class-prep-material-2023?lang=eng

I feel so blessed to study and deepen my own relationship to my Lord and while helping others in their faith journey.  Wednesdays might be my 2^nd favorite day of the week!  Of course, Sunday is my #1 favorite day.

On Friday we had a 4-hour training session with our “lead” seminary teachers.  Because of the distances from the chapels, we have many teachers who teach in their homes in small villages.  So, we have lead teachers in each unit who oversee their needs.  This week we are holding a training session for all teachers.  This training will take place on all the isles of Vanuatu.  In the next few weeks Mark and I will be traveling to Santo to do the same training for the teachers there.  We are looking forward to visiting the Isle of Santo.  After making many new friends at the convention we look forward to seeing some of them again, while completing our assignment to train our seminary teachers.  Santo is really called "Espiritu Santo" and it is made up of several islands, the largest island referred to as Santo, and two main smaller islands are Ambae and Gaua.   

Friday, of course, was our training.  After completing that we headed to the store as we prepared for our Saturday seminary Jubilee!!!!  I made 72 cupcakes and 2 huge Caesar salads.  I made my own croutons as you cannot get those here.  While I did Mark prepare some of the items, we would need for the Jubilee.  So, I will cover that now!  What a great way to end our week!  Our Bishop asked us to work with Sister Hilliman to plan this seminary Jubilee.

Seminary Jubilee youth.   There were probably
another 10+ who showed up after this picture.

So, from 9:00am till 9:30am the students filled out their registration forms.  At 9:30am we began our program.  Sister Hilliman took a few minutes to introduce all of the teachers and let the students know we would be starting on January 26^th.  We would be meeting Monday – Friday.  Elda Lovelace then shared the curriculum, which is the Old Testament and the requirements to receive a completion certificate.  After that we began our program: I stood up and told the kids that we wanted to have an activity to help them get excited about studying the Old Testament this year.  I told them we made a time machine to bring a few visitors back from heaven to share their stories.  The way it worked was I would have to turn around three times as they counted 1,2,3!!!   Daniel was the first to arrive through our time machine.  He presented his story of being thrown into a Lions den.  The kids loved it!!!  Most of them had never heard this. I summarized by encouraging them to tell the story to their siblings, inviting them to strengthen their families through prayer.  Then Esther showed up and told of her experience of saving her people.  Again, I summarized and told the kids that they could protect their people through their faith and attendance at seminary.  Then King David came and told us about defeating Goliath and where his strength came from.   If you could have seen Darleen twirling around and having them count, you would have smiled and said, "yep, that is definitely Darleen".    She made it very fun for the youth to stay engaged.   Before the last guest visited, they were getting a little tired, as King David's message went a little long.   So she saw this and had each of them stand up and loudly count off as she spun around.   Really caused them to be engaged, and bring them back to life.   I wish I took a video of that!!! 

"Daniel" speaking to seminary youth.

We concluded his visit by talking about the different Goliaths we face and how the Lord will help us defeat them.  Then…. Abraham showed up!  Oh!  I loved them all!  Abraham shared his story about being commanded to sacrifice his beloved Issac.  He even brought knife.  Sometimes the Lord is going to ask us to sacrifice the things we love the most, but he will bless us because of our willingness to sacrifice.  We then learned a song that included all thirty-nine books of the Old Testament.  We had a little competition putting together a puzzle that had all the books of the Old Testament, which was so fun to watch.  Our last activity was a seek and find trivia.  The teams had a number of questions with scripture references to find the answers, the first team finished was rewarded with a place in the lunch line first and so on. It was a wonderful activity, and everyone had a grand time.  This of course is a small summary of our week. 

"Abraham" visiting and telling his story to 
the Seminary youth.

Mark continues to finalize the convention receipts and final reimbursements. We hosted the Senior missionary’s night and played Pictionary.   We prepared our Sunday School lesson with the YSA’s.  While we did not really get a p-day this week we had a few opportunities to chillax.  We are 4 months into our mission and to me it seems so much longer. It’s hot and humid and somedays we take 2 showers, but we continue to love every minute of our service.  I am reminded over and over again that Jesus Christ invites us to Come and Follow him.  Jesus Christ always looked outward, I love him for teaching me this important lesson.  True Joy comes from looking outward. So, this week, I hope you can see someone else’s need and experience what our Lord and Savior witnessed as he thought of us and was faithful in completing his mission.  We love you and miss you and have complete Joy in sharing this experience with you.    We love you!

Nana & Papa, Mark and Darleen, Mom and Dad, Elda & Sista Lovelace (That’s’ us!)

Additional Pictures:

Another Banana Bay picture

Banana Bay view ... I guess
it's shaped like a banana