Our Mission Experience in Vanuatu

Hello again! It’s my turn to write this week’s letter. Rather than re‑telling all the routine things we do each week, I’ll just say that our days continue to be filled with teaching Succeed in School (SIS) , supporting seminary teachers, preparing lessons for SIS and Institute, and meeting with leaders. Those efforts keep us busy, but they are also deeply rewarding. The picture I used in my Friday Institute lesson where I was  talking about women that are my heroes.  My mom and Darleen are at the top of the list.   This was taking last May when we visited mom for Mother's Day. This week I’d like to share a few highlights of our week. We’ve mentioned before how excited we are about the opportunities opening up for youth here in Vanuatu to attend the Church’s Fiji School in Suva. This school, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints, provides an incredible blessing: if students qualify, the Church covers everything—flights, food, uniforms, books, and mo...

Hello from the beautiful Island of Vanuatu!! What a week! I love the work we are privileged to be involved in. This past Monday, Mark and I had the opportunity to host Robert and Tania, our released YSA representatives, for dinner and games. Sister Bertelson—our senior sister missionary, who also serves in the office—joined us as well. Robert will be leaving Vanuatu on August 26 and heading to Indonesia to study international relations. Tania will be leaving on August 29 to attend BYU–Hawaii, where she will study cybersecurity. Sister Bertelson—“Sister B,” as we affectionately call her—will be heading home this week, on the 21st, after completing her 18-month mission. These three individuals are some of the finest people we have had the opportunity to serve with. We treated them to salmon and shrimp with pesto noodles, a delicious, tossed salad, peach cobbler, and vanilla ice cream. The food was wonderful, but the company was even better! We also taught them how to play 3–13, o...

Hello Family and Friends, This past week was our final stretch of preparation before schools start back up on August 10. Since seminary and Succeed in School classes haven’t yet resumed, much of our time was spent meeting with island seminary supervisors and the Area office, learning more about how we can get more information on what it takes to get the youth in Vanuatu accepted at the LDS Fiji Secondary school, among other activities. Some of the beauties you see every day from all the flowers growing on the different trees, bushes, and plants across the island.    On Monday, we held our weekly Seminary & Institute (S&I) meeting with our Coordinator, Katimal, at the new office facility where many church employees have recently relocated. Previously, meetings were held at the Stake Center, but now the office is about 10 miles away near the site of the future Vanuatu Temple. Unfortunately, the move has created challenges. The Facilities Management (FM) team, the Tra...

Hello Family and Friends, Term 2 school ends – off to Fiji for a small break (July 13 thru 19 th ) Well, we’re still alive and well! Darleen and I recently wrapped up the second school term here in Vanuatu on July 17th. Afterward, we enjoyed a short break and received permission to travel a few hours by plane to Fiji. There we visited the temple and celebrated—just one week late—our 42nd wedding anniversary. When school is out, much of our work slows down, since so much of what we do focuses on the youth of the Church. Classes resume on August 10th, so we’ll be back in full swing soon. For this letter, Darleen and I decided to share together: I’ll write about some of the things we did before heading to Fiji, and Darleen will add more of the Fiji adventures (with each sharing commentary). To help you follow along, my comments will be highlighted in blue, while Darleen’s remain in black. Before the break, we finished strong with the Succeed in School (SIS) program. Monday throug...