A Legacy!!!

June 15, 2026

Salutations everyone!

It’s raining, It’s pouring! I have never seen it rain like this since we arrived. We have entered dry season, and the Lord has blessed the island with an abundance of rain. We attended our Eton unit yesterday and with a tin roof we could hear absolutely nothing. With no Microphone, and the rain slamming the tin roof, it was difficult to stay engaged. The speakers were definitely the benefactors yesterday as they prepared talks and at least knew what they were speaking on, whereas we really didn't know what they said.

This is our Sunday morning Sacrament meeting.
A little loud outside. Poor sister who was speaking
wasn't heard by anyone.

Although, when we all sang the hymns that was a beautiful sound. We had 22 who attendance. We usually have 70 – 80. Mark and I picked up Brother Fred Massing who teaches the temple prep class in Etas. We had planned the primary singing time and the teaching time. Mark had planned to teach the story of Samuel as a boy hearing the voice of the Lord, He made these cute little headbands with ears that said; “Tok, Lord, from sevant blong yu I stap lesin!” -Speak Lord for your servant is listening.

These views never get old!!!

For the last couples of weeks, the senior missionaries saved their toilet paper rolls so we could make shakers for music time. Mark filled them with various levels of rice and beans or beans or rice and spray painted the rolls. We had planned to use those shakers yesterday while singing songs. Due to the crazy weather, the lack of primary (only two were at sacrament), and the fact that you could hear nothing we held sacrament meeting and then went home. It rained all day! With the wind blowing and the rain coming down I actually got cold yesterday.

Mark and I had made Elder Lamph a spaghetti dinner coupon for his birthday. Elder Lamph loves spaghetti. Elder & Sister Lamph are the senior missionaries serving in the office. Elder Lamph is over Financials and Sister Lamph runs the office, along with many responsibilities. They live right next door to us. They will be going home July 14^th after serving a 2-year mission here in Vanuatu.

After getting home Elder & Sister Lamph joined us for a late lunch, cashing in Elder Lamphs’ birthday coupon. We have learned many lessons of ministering from them. If I had to describe them it would be the salt of the earth. They make everything and everyone better. They are so humble and kind. I can’t imagine serving without them. We cherish our friendships with all the senior missionaries. They have become cherished friends.

Every Sunday we take turns gathering together in our homes to play a game or share spiritual message or both. It is nice to gather and just share our week of experiences.

Last night we went to the Beck's, and the focus of the evening was on service. Sister Beck reminded us of the story of the starfish. If you don’t know it here is the condensed version.

It follows a person walking along a beach who watches a young girl throwing washed-up starfish back into the ocean, so they won't die.

When the observer asks why she bothers, pointing out that there are miles of beach and countless starfish, the girl simply picks one up, throws it into the waves, and says: "Well, I made a difference for that one!"

Sister Beck then shared a quote by Sister Wend Nelson: “We need to be of service whether it is across the room, across the street, across the world or across the veil.”

We were invited to share an experience when our service to others seemed to make a difference. It was a sweet experience hearing how these friends have made a difference in the world we live in.

I love Sunday's! A chance to look back on our week and review and a chance to look forward and plan a new week.

This past week marked our official halfway point; we have been on our mission for 9 months. We anticipate the next 9 months to fly by.

I’ll give you an update on our seminary class in our Eton Unit. Due to the fact that we are now training teachers in the Erakor Branch to be Succeed in School teachers our Tuesdays and Thursdays are now devoted to Erakor. More about that in the next update.

Erakor Branch young group
of SIS students that I'm teaching

We have only been able to teach seminary to the kids in Eton on Mondays. I had asked for prayers for our teacher, Sister Sereh, and they are very much appreciated. Last week Sister Sereh attended our class and reported that she had taught an additional class the week before. Yesterday, I had a chance to talk with her, and she asked us to leave it to her this week. So, we will not be going this week. We hope you’ll continue to pray that she can gather the kids in the village Monday through Friday for seminary. She asked me to check in on her daily to see how things are going. I told her I would. Thank you for including her in your prayers.

This weeks Succeed in School update is as follows. We entered our second full week of class with the kids and teachers in the Erakor branch. On Tuesday, my class was 7 and Mark's was 2, and on Thursday, my class was 9 and Mark's was 6. On Thursday, I had a new student who attended class and who just moved here from one of the outer islands. She did not have much schooling and so the teacher in training spent some one-on-one time helping her as she arrived late to class. By the end of class I could tell she was having a fun time. It is so rewarding to me personally to see these kids gain confidence and enjoy learning.

In the Etas unit we have seen nothing less than a miracle of growth! On Wednesday, I had 18 students and Mark had 20 students! On Friday I had 5 new students with a total of 18 in attendance. So, 5 of my students were not there but I had five additional students start. I actually ran out of books! Mark had 19 students. I asked one of his students if their teacher was any good. The answer was yes; he is very good. I said, “So you like him?” The answer I got was "oh no, Sista Lovely we LOVE him" (they call me Sista Lovely more often than not).

The Stake Center unit draws a few less students but is still averaging 7 in the older class, which we used to teach, and 9-12 in the younger class. Our older class was about 12. During the week we saw several of them and invited them to return.

Last week our snacks were Cheese Sandwiches with Mayo and Juice. For our 2^nd day of class I made some Banana muffins and paired it with a small carton of milk. Mark and I spent our mornings preparing our lessons and snacks. We love this program and are seeing so many of our students improving not only in their work but in their participation and in church meetings.

We are excited to get the Erakor branch up and running and have devoted teachers already attending. This week my teacher will actually begin to teach. I look forward to assisting her. Mark will teach another week and next week his teacher will begin to teach. We will stay with them for several more weeks making sure they feel comfortable.

We received word this past week that the Mele Branch is ready to move forward with organizing Succeed in School for their unit. So that’s our next adventure.

Mark's Friday SIS class in Etas

Meanwhile in Etas we still do not have teachers. Our Bishop came by while we were holding class and took some pictures. After class we said "we need teachers, Bishop". He said he was going to make a call and ask that we only have the assignment to serve in his ward. We said "good luck on getting that approved!!! 😊

My Friday SIS class in Etas

This week we welcomed a new senior couple to our Seminary and Institute team. Elda & Sista Palm from Perth, Australia and they will be serving on the island of Santo. There is one other senior couple there who are Member Leader Support (MLS) missionaries. We are thrilled for the Island of Santo! This will really be a wonderful blessing to have their own Seminary & Institute missionaries living on the island. Mark and I love Santo and are a bit sad as now we probably will not be traveling there.

Elda & Sista Palm coming through
customs at the airport.

We picked the Elda & Sista Palm up Saturday afternoon from the airport and took them to the resort where they would stay until Monday. We met Katimal, our Seminary & Institute Coordinator, that night for dinner at the Waterfront grill restaurant. We had a wonderful meal and learned a lot about our new senior missionaries, who we will be serving with.

Katimal & Me getting ready for the
Palm's to arrive.

Visited the Vanuatu Temple with
the Palm's to show them the current
progress.

Something funny happen this week. I must begin with a bit of background narrative. On the island the people are transported by these big vans they call 'buses'. A lot of the buses put fur material draping over the dash. Sister Bertelson, or Sister B is how we address her, despises the fur tradition. To hear her describe the fur is hilarious. She took a trip recently to one of the other islands and had an experience were she saw bugs in the fur.

Sister B's pink "furred" dashboard of her missionary truck.

Well, someone ???? (who will remain nameless) in our senior group 'furred' her car with pink fur on the dashboard. She thought it was hilarious and still has no idea who did it. Several days later we were furred also, this time with smurf-blue color fur, as all who know Mark know he likes the color blue.

Our new smurf-blue "furred" dashboard in our
missionary truck

We knew who did it and thought it was hilarious, as we only briefly had left our truck doors unlocked to take some supplies into our apartment. Due to the fact that I can barely see the hood of the truck and having the fur in place makes it harder to see we took it off the dash. It also makes it extremely hard to see through the window with the reflection of blue fur. So, as you can see, we are having so much fun and we know what we are doing is meaningful and is profoundly changing lives. We will never be the same after this! We love being missionaries! We love our kids and grandkids and miss them. When we face time with our kids I wanna just crawl through the screen and squeeze my grandkids! They are beautiful, and I serve in hopes that they will know how much I love the Lord! Because the Lord has given us so much, we find immense joy in giving to others. I pray that this will be a legacy of love that we can carry forward in our family for generations to come. That’s our week y’all! We luvum yu tumas!

Nana & Papa, Mom & Dad, Darleen & Mark, Sista & Elda Lovelace

p.s. Thanks Grant for saving the tabs from cans for Ronald McDonald House!

Additional Pictures from the Week