Okay, I think we missed the New Year's Celebrations

Happy New Years to you all!!!

Christmas and New Years are now well behind us, and we are finally sitting down to write this letter. Our New Year’s season was especially busy as we prepared to host the YSA Convention. We promise we will stop talking about this in our future letters, but it has been a nonstop weekly list of activities that consumed a lot of our time and has defined our mission these past 4 months. After weeks of planning—meetings with the committee we wrestled through the list of open action items we needed to get done. We were constantly reviewing the list of attendees for last-minute flights and ferry schedule changes. While continuing to get new names and adding more to the flights. Brother Tounguen and I ran around trying to get checks written and signed to pay for items. Many hours were spent running around town buying items needed for the convention. I had to go to a number of different stores to purchase mattresses for the additional dorms we had to set up. Cleaning the school in preparation for the convention took many hours and days. We washed windows, made curtains, swept and mopped floors. We moved desks and tables to accommodate room for sleeping dorms. Many other additional problem-solving actions—it was hard to believe it had finally arrived.

Enjoying Christmas breakfast at the Mission home
 with some of our senior couples 

Christmas itself was spent largely at our Mission President’s home. We helped with a morning breakfast and later returned to assist with dinner, which included hamburgers, pasta salad, potato salad, and a green salad with mandarin oranges and feta cheese. Darleen had her hand in the food as she did all the breakfast bacon, bought and made hamburger patties for dinner, made potato salad, and the green salad. It was a joy to spend time with about 60 senior and junior missionaries serving on Efate, enjoying good food and even better company.

Sail boat day fun before the work begins for the 
Convention

We did get a weekend of relaxation after Christmas. We spent all Saturday on a sailboat and snorkeling trip with a few of the other senior missionaries. We enjoyed a small sail trip to a small remote island where we anchored and then did a snorkel adventure. Then we went to the other side of the island and had the opportunity to buy items from their local "momma's market". The market was basically a small area in the woods where the women of the island brought some of their local crafts to sell to those who visited. Darleen and I bought a few nice woven baskets and a few other small items. It was a great opportunity to take a day and enjoy before we went into the craziness of the YSA Convention.

Darleen posing with some of our YSA's workers 
that helped prepare the Lycée school for our Convention

The following week was devoted almost entirely to last-minute convention preparations at the school where the event would be held. With only about 230 dorm beds available for more than 520 expected attendees, several classrooms had to be converted into makeshift dorms. That meant deep cleaning, washing floors and windows, moving desks and chairs, and organizing sleeping areas. Over two days, 50–60 YSAs volunteered to help with these service projects. By the end of each day, Darleen and I were completely exhausted. We did our best to prepare the school for what was to come with the convention.

As the person responsible for logistics, I continued receiving requests to add attendees from the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and Santo. Amazingly, flights and ferry spots opened for everyone who wanted to attend. Only a few weeks before the convention we still had not found a way to get about 100 YSA’s from Santo and Malekula to our convention due to a limited ferry schedule; reduced travel during the Christmas and New Years holidays. Finally, we were able to find a way for them to take a new ferry that had started coming to Port Vila. No stress at all… right? Watching everything fall into place felt nothing short of miraculous.

On New Year’s Eve, we helped again at the mission home. Sister Ball had asked Darleen to assist with organizing lunch for a joint Zone Conference. She kept it simple due to all the other work we were doing for the convention —27 pizzas, salads, and ice cream with toppings—but the spirit of the gathering was wonderful. It included farewell messages, birthday celebrations, and instruction from mission leaders. I arrived just in time to deliver the pizzas after handling more convention logistics last minute changes, but Darleen was able to be there for the full morning zone conference. The leadership and maturity of these young missionaries continue to amaze us.

New Caledonia YSA's arriving into Port Vila

Although the convention officially began on January 5th, arrivals started days beforehand. Tanna island was the first to arrive on 3 different flights between January 1st and 2nd. Sixteen arrived on the 1st, then we had the rest (67) were to fly in on January 2nd on two different flights. Unfortunately, the second flight arrived with only about two-thirds of the fliers onboard due to “weight limit” issues. This meant that both people and bags were missing. They got booked on other flights on the 4th and 5th. They finally made it, and the luggage was reunited with those already here.

Our check-in for the Convention.   A ready group
to greet our attendees.

The ferry from the islands of Luganville (Santo, Ambea, and Gaua) and Malekula, with some 90 YSA's on it, arrived later than expected on Saturday the 3rd. Instead of 1:30pm, they made it at 9pm. Then our late evening fliers from New Caledonia arrived around 11pm. Official registration started on Saturday the 3rd, with travelers coming in during the day to get registered. While not perfectly smooth, we learned a lot about how to do it better the next time we have to do a convention of this size.

Here's a brief synopsis of the Convention daily highlights:

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Convention Highlights (Darleen's adds in red below)

The YSA's creating a flag that represents the 
theme of the conference.   All very engaged.

Day 1 (Monday):

By 10:30 a.m., the convention was officially underway. The day was full of activity, including creating room flags representing the theme, “Let thy confidence wax strong in the presence of the Lord.” While I tracked down supplies, Darleen was urgently called to the nurse’s station. One YSA from Santo had a dangerously high fever and was taken to the hospital. Darleen kept applying wet towels to his head and body to bring the fever down. (I seriously had to reapply the cold wet towels about every 5 minutes) Thank goodness I was there. The care in the hospital is less than desired. Usually it takes hours to be treated. They pumped this young adult full of antibiotics and gave him an IV. All the while guessing what it could be? Treating him for diseases that are often contracted on his island. He coughed and I said to the Dr.” Did you hear that?” He said yes, yes, I did. I told him his sister had mentioned he had the flu about a month ago. He ordered an Xray. Darleen stayed with him and his sister for over four hours until his condition stabilized. She witnessed a miracle that happened as his leader, and another priesthood leader gave him a blessing of healing near the end of the four hours. After giving him a blessing he woke up and said, “I’m hungry”. To that point he had been shaking uncontrollably trying to fight off the 105 degree temperature. Darleen said it was almost instantly after this priesthood blessing happened. She was then shortly on her way back to the convention. We received word that after the completion of the x-ray he had been diagnosed with a chest infection. (Most likely pneumonia) He returned back to the convention that evening after receiving additional medication to continue through the week)

The Tanna YSA's getting ready to march down on
the soccer field for the opening ceremony

That afternoon featured an unforgettable opening ceremony, like an Olympic parade. Each island group entered dressed in traditional clothing, dancing and celebrating their culture as they passed cheering leaders and spectators. Darleen returned from the hospital midway through and even joined one of the dances. I loved all of the dances. Why don’t we have cultural dances or state dances? I was so touched by one. The young adults from Malakula perform a Bird dance. It is often described as one of the most beautiful and delicate-looking dances on their island. They stoop down like a bird ready to take off and rise to the music and literally move as if they are flying birds. It was so moving and so beautiful it made me cry. If that wasn’t enough, all the other islands came and joined in with them. To see all these beautiful Young Adults flying was a heavenly experience. It was spiritually moving and my eyes beheld what can only be described as the LOVE of GOD. YES, I cried! My heart was full! To see these individuals display their culture through dance was moving. All the dances tell a story. The evening included a fire show, followed by 20 smaller group fires where the young adults participated in icebreaker games. One of the activities was to do a session of “one truth and two lies”. They got to know each other better through this ice breaker. Day one ended on a joyful, energetic note. And we surprisingly survived!!!

Day 2 (Tuesday):

The YSA's waiting for Elder Wakolo to speak 
to them.   

The day began with a Zoom meeting with Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, a General Authority Seventy who also serves as 1st Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency. Given Elder Wakolo’s other responsibilities on this day, he was unfortunately not able to be with us in person, but we enjoyed his message via Zoom. Afterwards, we broke into four groups with facilitators. Darleen and I were one of those facilitators. We led a discussion with about 100 YSAs, reflecting on Elder Wakolo’s message about learning for themselves and strengthening their testimonies.

The afternoon featured workshops with 21 different topics to choose from across spiritual, life skills, and fun categories. On Tuesday they were to attend 7 of the workshops, and on Thursday 5 (so 12 over those two days). Let's just say trying to show them how to register for these classes on Day 1 was an event in itself. Darleen wasn't over registration but said she would help show them how to register. She was trying her best to show the YSA’s how to fill in a card that was to be kept in their lanyard badge to help them remember what they registered for. Even though we wanted them registered for these workshops on Monday, probably half of them hadn't signed up for the classes on the day of the event, and probably a quarter of them left their filled in cards on the ground around the venue having forgotten to put them in their lanyards they were wearing. While there were a few presenters that couldn't make it at the last minute, and YSA's not all knowing where they should go, it all worked out okay. 

The evening of Day 2 was filled with sports (volleyball, basketball, soccer, rugby), a movie night (which we oversaw), and just socializing.    We survived the day.  :-)

Day 3 (Wednesday):

End of the hike before getting to the stop point

YSA's after hiking several hours and getting 
opportunity to relax

YSAs rose early (5am) to be bused up to a location about 20+ minutes away for a hike. They were divided into three themed “tracks” based on Lehi’s journey: faith, endurance, and courage. Each of them was given 3 different stops where individuals explained specific lessons from the things that happened along Lehi's journey from Jerusalem to the promised land. Once they finished their hike and discussions, they all met up afterwards on the beach. Darleen and I didn't go on the hike, but we helped to be there for the breakfast that awaited them at the beach. Up to that point the weather had been very hot, which was very concerning for this 2+ hour hike, but on this day it was overcast with some light sprinkles. It really helped to make the activity a blessing. We were grateful for the small tender mercy. One group even got lost, adding an unexpected adventure to their experience.

That afternoon, President and Sister Ball taught a devotional on temple marriage and eternal families. The evening concluded with a DJ dance and light show—while Darleen and I briefly escaped for a quiet dinner. We came back for the middle part of the light show and DJ led dance before retiring to our apartment.

Day 4 (Thursday):
The morning was dedicated to a service project, which included assembling 1,000 solar-powered flashlights for communities without electricity. The workshops that started on Tuesday, continued in the afternoon on this day. Again, several of the YSA’s didn’t know where to go given their sign-up challenges, but someone helped to shuttle them to the different classrooms.

Just a small sampling of the ball dance crowd

The highlight for the day was the evening Ball Dance that was held at a venue up the road from where we live – The Warwick. Up to this point, all week the YSA's had been taught how to do a few ball dances in preparation for this big culminating event. The dance was interesting to watch. They put the boys on one side of this large hall, with girls on the opposite side. At one point they had the YSA's find a "partner" to go dancing with. Unlike the US, this would mean go dancing with them for that dance. When they partnered, those partners in most instances stayed together and danced together for most of the rest of the evening. We had many that seemed to start to like each other because of this "partnering event". Darleen tried to encourage some of the shy YSA boys to go dance with the women. She would prod them to go ask the girls. They would walk over and at the last second say “no” and shyly run back to the other side of the room. Over the evening, they seemed to gain confidence and finally dance with each other more willingly. It gave us a great opportunity to see how they interacted together in this type of activity.

Day 5 (Friday):
The final official day of the convention had the morning focused on what we had entitled as the Covenant Path sessions. Darleen and I taught “Covenant Renewal Through Service, Repentance and Temple worship—Enduring Joyfully.” We were to teach 4 different 30 minutes sessions, while 3 other couples taught other aspects of the covenant path theme (baptism & confirmation, priesthood & sacrament, and temple endowment). We had been trying to get our discussion put together for several weeks, but with all the other preparation work we were involved with up to that point, we had not found any time to get it buttoned up until the day before. So I know Darleen was nervous about our preparation, and I too was feeling a little unprepared.  

I kicked off the first session and proceeded to take some 15 minutes on the introductory section (should have been more like 5) so we rushed to finish the rest of the session material. The next session went more to our planned times. The third session we only had 1 person show up at the allotted time. About 15 minutes later about 50 YSA's show up. So we kicked it off, then about 5 minutes in another 50 show up and say they are here for the last session. I just had them join the one we had started. On this one discussion I was trying to go fast given we started so late and we were to have one more group after this. Well Darleen decided she wasn't going to be rushed, and she was the one that now took 15 minutes for one of her sections. I guess she surmised (which was accurate) that we wouldn't teach anyone else, so she was not going to be rushed!!! To Darleen's credit, she was right, but at the time I was wondering “why are you taking so much more time?”. (I just want to add that our presentation went very well and I am loving every opportunity to co-teach with my companion. He inspires me!)

I have to say that during our covenant path classes it was 90+ degrees outside with 100% humidity. Needless to say we were HOT. By the end of the sessions we were drenched with sweat. Darleen's hair was showing it, and we both were ready to be wrung out.(How did I ever survive growing up in South Carolina? I think we lost 3 to 4 lbs just from sweating) Good thing we were going into lunch so we could run home and freshen up for the afternoon concluding sessions.

Elder Guidi speaking to the YSA's at the end 
of the week.   

That evening, Elder Georgie Guidi, an Area Seventy from New Caledonia, spoke powerfully about God’s plan and the choices that shape our lives. He set the stage by having the YSA’s think about what it was like before they came to earth in their Pre-mortal state. He talked about the plan that was laid out for all of us, and how we wanted to come to earth. He then went through his life and choices that he said he made that was part of the plan. He talked to the youth about things he learned along his path of this life, and how they should consider doing similar things. For instance, serving a mission, marrying someone that raises you up, getting an education, having children, working, and how to study and raise those children every day. One of the things he talked about was that their children would be watching them from the pre-earth and seeing on the "big screen" things they were doing. He said when we made a good choice in life they would be cheering them on. And when they didn't, they would say "oh dad or oh Mom!!". We heard several YSA's that said afterwards, "I hope my kids will see me doing good".

Elder Guidi invited Darleen and I to have dinner with him in the school cafeteria. While we were finishing our dinner, a YSA young man started talking about coming to the convention in hopes that he would meet someone at the convention who he felt was someone he should spend his life with. He then in front of those in the cafeteria proposed to this young woman, which we believe she was surprised. She said ‘yes’ to his unexpected proposal.( Everyone who witnessed the proposal went crazy with JOY) It was so much fun watching this couple throughout the week. The Saturday after the convention was over, he had to go and do a formal traditional meeting of her family and offer some gifts for her hand as is customary. Some of the convention's adult leaders helped him with the traditions of the island of Efate, which he was not familiar with. He took them a chicken, some mats, and some clothing. Just small gifts. We heard her grandfather cried by the news. He is a great young man who is educated and working full time. We hope all goes well as they get to know each other better and prepare for upcoming wedding. They definitely move faster than I did in my engagement proposal.

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The last group of YSA's getting ready to board
the ferry (left one) to travel 24 hours to get home

Though the convention officially ended Friday night, departures stretched into the weekend partly due to the storms that delayed one ferry trip from Saturday to Monday morning. Watching the YSAs say goodbye—laughing, hugging, and lingering—was deeply touching. Their love and genuine friendship for one another is infectious. The delayed ferry to Luganville & Malekula left Monday morning at 7am, so all are either home, or still traveling to their final destinations. Speaking of ferries, if you haven't seen a ferry that they use, you may not be too apt to jump on it, but they are happy to come and go by them. We continue to pray for them until we hear they safely arrived on their home islands. We are glad that all but this last batch have safely made it to their homes.

Looking back, I’m amazed at how everything came together. Not everything went smoothly (especially the dorm plumbing!, and some last minute thieves that decided to take some items from the dorm rooms), but Heavenly Father truly magnified our efforts. The theme, “Let thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God,” became deeply personal for me as I witnessed His hand throughout the week because of the preparation and work that went into the overall planning. A huge lesson learned for me is we need to get more involved in the committees. Most of the work was done by a handful of us, and I can personally speak to how worn out we feel now. I know Darleen and I could write a book on all the challenges we faced, but I want to keep it as positive as possible. 😊(I would just like to add that I absolutely have a deeper love and respect for the Brothers and Sisters I served with to help prepare for this convention. They sacrifice time with family, sleep, and plans during the holidays to make this spiritually fun filled experience happen in the lives of our Single Adult members.. When working towards a common goal Miracles take place not only in our lives but in the lives of all who attended.) thank-you friends and family for the many prayers offered in support of this grand undertaking.)

Now, we finally have a moment to breathe as we prepare for the next season of work with seminary and institute and succeed in school activities. We wish you a very Happy New Year and hope 2026 is filled with growth, joy, and fulfilled dreams. Thank you for taking the time to read through our long—but heartfelt—ramblings.

Much love,

Darleen & Mark aka Nana & Papa 

Additional photos

Christmas with the missionaries at the 
mission home

Day 1: Signing up for the 21 different
workshops ...it was definitely
a challenge for them to do it.

Day 5: Our cooks posing after cooking for ~450 YSA's

Day 1: Solomon Islands crew preparing to walk in 
opening ceremonies

Day 1: Port Vila dancers in traditional island dresses

Pre-Convention: Our first group of  16 from Tanna
to arrive on January 1st..

Day 1: The open ceremony fun happening on the field

Day 1: The end of the opening ceremony and the YSA's 
doing a pose

Day 1 evening icebreakers with
individual bonfires 

Day 3: Sky bridge

Day 3:  Top of the mountain

Pre-convention:  A few days before the convention started
and rain was flooding all the area.   Luckily
more rain held off until mid-convention.