A Good Week
July 12, 2026
Mark and I are celebrating our 42nd anniversary today! When
Mark came home from his mission, he told me it was my turn. I had always wanted to serve a mission. Waiting until I was 21 would test me. I had met the man I wanted to marry and was
not wanting to risk the chance that it just simply would not work out. Maybe I should have had more faith. Anyway, you know the story we got married and
set a goal to go serve a mission together. 😊 Here
we are, continuing to write our story.
Yesterday, I woke up from a nap, and since we are a day ahead, hugged my
man and said "guess what today is?". We
have been so engaged in serving others, our anniversary snuck up on us. Actually, we did remember it earlier in the
month and have made plans to go to Fiji during our end of term break. Isn’t it wonderful to have so many wonderful
experiences learning and growing together as a couple. We would wish on all that we know the
happiness we have experienced. Keep
dating, keep holding hands, keep finding opportunities to serve one another and
above all Keep forgiving and keep going to the Temple together so you can be
reminded of the covenants that you’ve made to each other and with God. Enough of the mushy stuff.
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| Mark and I during our dating years some 44 years ago. It continues to get better. |
Our Week! Let’s catch up! Here are a few of the favorites for the week. This past Monday we had the privilege of attending a seminary class in the Mele Branch. Our teacher there is Mayline. I have mentioned her before in one of our blogs. This was my 2nd visit and Mark’s first, as last time we scheduled a visit Mark stayed at the stake center to teach an SIS class, as we had a teacher not show up. Mayline’s class meets in her humble home, and she has around 6 students. We were visiting to celebrate the students who have been working hard to memorize their Doctrinal Mastery scriptures. A few have 12 out of the 24 memorized. Each student stood up in front of the class and recited the ones they knew. I was so impressed! It’s so scary to stand up in front of your peers and do that. It was sweet to hear the whispers of words as the one standing would pause and then miraculously the whispered words would come and the pausing would end. They were helping each other. It was a sweet experience, and we celebrated by bringing pizza and watermelon. It was a feast for them, and I think everyone was stuffed by the time class ended. I just love our seminary teachers! Mayline loves her students, you can just tell by the way she invites them to pray and to participate. She uses words like you can do this. She has complete confidence in them, and they know it and it produces results. Mayline’s husband is the Branch President, and they both do so much to serve the members and then Mayline ask me about getting books to teach the kids who don’t attend school. They are building Zion in their little village. What a special day for Mark and I. It’s days like these that teach us that we can do so much more to make a difference in our own villages.
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| Posing with Mayline (right) and her seminary students after their class |
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| Mayline and her students all sitting listening to her teach them from the scriptures. |
Last week, Katimal asked Mark and I to go by the bookstore he has been working with to see if we could negotiate the price of the bibles down further. I have been blessed with the power to negotiate and hoped to come through with my assignment. So, on Tuesday Mark and I headed out to find the bookstore. We looked on several streets near the area in which our map told us the store was. No luck. We went to the mission office as we thought it was in that area with hopes that one of the senior missionaries had information we didn’t. No luck at the mission office. Finally, Mark called and spoke to the bookstore employee who told him if he was coming by taxi to tell them to take you to the Seven-Star area. The taxi would get us there. Hmmmm, well we were driving ourselves, so we put in Seven-Star Area, and the only thing that was in that area was a hotel that said it was closed. We put the information into the GPS and it took us right across the street to the store! It was a miracle that we found the place. We went inside and met with the gentlemen we had been speaking too. We introduced ourselves and told them that Katimal had ask us to come and ask if it was possible to reduce the price of the bibles. We are purchasing 600 bibles written in Bislama. He responded with a “no”, and I already gave him a price. I said I know that we shared price with our area leaders, and they ask if you might come down maybe more, He said he had already come down 10%. I ask, could you maybe come down 15%? He went to his desk to work the figures and came back offering us the bibles with 15% off!!!!! Mission accomplished. We are so excited to get the bibles to the kids, we really hope that they will treasure this precious gift. I can’t remember our family ever not having scriptures in our home. We take for granted the simplicity of life in the USA. I am so excited for these bibles to be in the hands of the youth. This will be a game changer when it comes to studying God’s word. I’m so thankful for the tithes of the church members that makes this a reality for the church members here in Vanuatu.
On Sunday I spoke with Momma Ruth, and she asked if we could come out and teach the mommas phonics on Friday morning. Thursday, I kept going over our schedule thinking I had forgotten something. I went to bed and woke up around 12:30am remembering our commitment to Momma Ruth. I picked up my phone and flipped through Pinterest for some ideas. After about 45 minutes I had a plan and went right back to sleep.
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| Teaching them how to read |
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| The children we sang with at Momma Ruth's |
When we woke up, I reminded Elder Lovelace that we had to be at Momma Ruth’s at 10am. We showed up and Momma Ruth said the mommas were doing something else. We said that’s okay, how about we spend some time with the kids. So, we gathered the kids and we sang songs: “Old McDonald had a farm”, “Five little Ducks went out to play”, “Five Little Monkeys”, “Do as I’m doing”, “If you’re happy and you know it”, and “The itsy-bitsy spider”. Afterwards we read small sentences and ask questions about what we just read. The children did such a great job retelling the information from what we read. Oh, and “We sang the ABC song”. After about an hour we were exhausted from jumping around and singing. We just love spending time with Momma Ruth’s students. Momma Ruth thanked us on behalf of the school committee (which were 3 individuals) and gave me a straw basket that had been made by one of them.
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| Momma Ruth and I being smothered by the kids |
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| Singing songs with Momma Ruth's class |
Later that day we headed to Etas for Succeed in School. My teacher was there and prepared to
teach. Elder Lovelace ended up teaching,
but his teacher was there. Please
continue to pray for our teachers.
Afterwards, we dashed off to take the snacks to our students at the
Stake Center Unit. Some of our older
students have been dropping snack ideas: “We love cookies and milk; can Sister
Lovelace do that again?”. So, I made
over 200 cookies for classes on Thursday and Friday. We not only treated the
SIS kids we treated our Institute kids to cookies. I love making those kids smile. It is worth all the time it takes to make
those cookies.
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| Sister Neslyne teaching SIS at Erakor Branch. She is taking over the class I was teaching. |
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| Etas Ward SIS class with Sister Ilene starting to take over the class I have been teaching. |
That same Friday evening Mark and I both taught Institute class again. Our Seminary & Institute Coordinator was on Fiji for an area training meeting and had asked me to cover his class. I love teaching the YSA institute class, they are fun and we have a lot of good laughs. I told them that last time I was here I taught the lesson on Finding Hope in Jesus Christ’s victory over death. Tonight I was there to lead the discussion on Assisting the Lord in the Redemption of the Dead. I am becoming the go to girl for death discussions. These classes reminded me of a trip I took with my mom to Utah to attend BYU Education Week. Every class mom selected for us to attend discussed death in some way. She also had been studying a Talk entitled, “What is this thing men called death”, by Brent L. Top. There is a quote she loved to share; The Prophet Joseph Smith taught:
“All men know that they must die. And it is important
that we should understand the reasons and causes of our exposure to the
vicissitudes of life and of death, and the designs and purposes of God in our
coming into the world, our sufferings here, and our departure hence…. It is but
reasonable to suppose that God would reveal something in reference to the
matter, and it is a subject we ought to study more than any other. We ought to
study it day and night, for the world is ignorant in reference to their true
condition and relation. If we have any claim on our Heavenly Father for
anything, it is for knowledge on this important subject.” [HC 6:50]
All those classes are helping me now, Mom. Seriously though, I have learned so much
about my personal relationship to God and my worth as his beloved daughter. Not only that, but I have also learned so
much more about what Jesus truly offers to us all.
On Saturday Mark and I decided to spend the day at Paradise Cove,
which is a resort not too far from our apartment. We met the owner who told us he came to
Vanuatu on a sailboat and ended up purchasing the 2 plots of land and built the
resort 17 years ago. He has created paradise.
It was a peaceful, quiet day. We had
lunch, fell asleep in the sun, and did a little bit of snorkeling.
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| View from Paradise Cove Resort |
This is the end of an amazing week. This week we bid farewell to Elda & Sista Lamph who are heading home after serving in the mission office for 2 years. We will miss them. They have become our forever friends. As a small token of our love for them I made them a Quilt.
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| Lamph's and I hiding behind the quilt I made for them. |
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| The back of the quilt showing off the Vanuatu color scheme that is found in their national colors |
Nana & Papa, Mom & Dad, Darleen & Mark, Elda
Lovelace & Sista Lovelace
LETTER TO THE LAMPH's
Elda and Sista Lamph, aka Cindy and Dee
As Mark and I think of your time in Port Vila,
our hearts are drawn to the image of a quilt—beautifully colored, lovingly
stitched, and carefully crafted. Each thread represents your consecrated
service, woven with faith, devotion, and love.
The quilt you leave behind is radiant:
- Deep
blues of steadfast faith, reflecting your calm
strength.
- Warm
reds of compassion, showing your love for the
people.
- Golden
yellows of joy, echoing the laughter
shared with missionaries.
- Gentle
greens of growth, symbolizing the
lives you nurtured.
- Soft
pinks of tenderness, embodying the gentle care
you gave.
- Royal
purples of devotion, honoring the
sacred calling you fulfilled.
- Bright
oranges of energy, capturing the
vibrancy of your service.
Woven into this quilt are also threads of
sacrifice—the quiet strength of leaving family behind for two years, trusting
the Lord to watch over them while you gave your hearts, might, mind, and
strength to His work. That sacrifice is a color all its own, deep and enduring,
making the quilt even more beautiful.
In the daily rhythms of mission life, you showed
love in simple, Christlike ways—cooking for the missionaries, nourishing them
not only with food but with the warmth of family. You loved them as your own,
and they will never forget the care you gave. Beyond this, you adopted a
family, taught temple preparation classes, and served faithfully in Primary,
extending your influence to every corner of the mission and every generation.
Through your work as finance and office managers,
you brought order and stability. Through your discipleship, you gave yourselves
fully to the people of Vanuatu and to the missionaries you served. Each stitch
of your service has bound us together in unity and love.
This quilt of memories will remain long after
your departure, a sacred reminder of your faith and devotion. Every square
tells a story, every thread binds us closer, and your legacy will be cherished
for generations. And while the quilt you leave behind will stand as a treasured
memory in the hearts and minds of the people of the Port Vila Mission and the
missionaries, the quilt we offer you will remind you that your service will
never be forgotten.
With heartfelt thanks! Well Done thou good and
Faithful Servants! Mifala luvem yu tumas!
Elda and Sista Lovelace
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