The Last Entry

I am writing this from our home in Oakton, Virginia. We left New Caledonia on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 after a very full two weeks including lunch with all the missionaries, a zone conference followed by a farewell soiree, district conference and a final p-day. We are enjoying being with our family again but miss dear friends and missionaries with whom we served. The entire mission experience continues to be a blessing from a loving Heavenly Father far exceeding anything we could offer Him.

Before actually entering the final two weeks, we had a number of dinners with families in the District. Meals were 'en famille' with wonderful food and great company. We have come to know these good people, their challenges, disappointments and successes. So time with them was even more precious.



Shirley Ann Munikihaafata, named for Sister Mautz, was born Monday, February 14, 2011. Just days before our departure. She is a beautiful little girl with a full head of black hair. We visited her and her mother Wednesday morning.



Eight days before our departure, we enjoyed a final p-day including a last birthday cake. With more than a week ahead of us still. Time was slipping away. That Tuesday, we took all the zone out for lunch at a favorite pizza, burger/ steak place around the corner from our apartment. We had eaten there a number of times with missionaries after stolen back packs, to plan upcoming events etc. This time, we had the whole group. The owner always greeted Sister Mautz fondly and this time exclaimed, 'Oh, you brought all the kids.' After lunch we came upstairs for cake and ice cream and a final birthday cake. We should note how impressive our group of missionaries was to the local shop keepers whom we avhe come to know during our stay. Everybody recognizes the black name badge and knew who we and they were.
We are always grateful for the way they conduct themselves.





Friday brought both a last zone conference as well as a farewell soiree from the District. We particularly enjoyed the zone conference and then shared testimonies with the missionaries before departing.





Saturday as District Conference started, we also had a last baptism, the son of President and Sister Parau of the Noumea 2 branch.





The Farewell Soiree was in our honor and was larger than we could ever have anticipated. One member commented to us that we should understand how much we were loved. Some couples had left with nothing at all. Each branch shared a cultural tradition in music or dance. The final branch was Tontouta who brought a Tahitian band made up of members with them. They sang and danced and then presented us with traditional Vanuatuan clothing as well as a hand made bed spread.



District Conference and an evening youth fireside brought our member activity to its close. A wonderful spirit at the District Conference as we taught priesthood leaders about branch councils and then in the general session spoke to the theme of 'following the prophet.'



Our last p-day brought rain. We had much to do that day as we helped a Samoan elder who had come in from Vanuatu. He had 4 impacted wisdom teeth, and nobody in his part of the mission could help him with this dental problem. So our Mission President asked us to set up time with an oral surgeon in Noumea. That required panoramic x-rays that had to be taken early Monday morning preceding his pre-op visit with the surgeon that evening. In between, we finished packing, helped one last member with a BYU-H application. Joined p-day during a rainy day for a few minutes and then suddenly the day was passed.



And so we have traveled home via New Zealand with minimal discomfort to find all well in our home in Virginia. We were surprised to be met by dear friends at the airport. We have been officially released by our Stake President and have reported to the Seminary classes. On Sunday Shirley Ann Munikihaafata was blessed by a member of the branch presidency in her branch.

We are grateful.

Penultimate Post?

The end of our mission here in New Caledonia is rapidly approaching. Our routine activities being replaced by those of saying good-by and taking time to visit sites we have not earlier visited.

Of course the missionaries still have birthdays and we are still baking cakes and singing to celebrate. Sister Maretafau's birthday brought yet another lemon cake, a favorite among the Tahitians. The weather is so warm that we celebrated in the shade of one of the large trees just outside our office.





And, wonderfully, we still get to attend baptisms. This Horiu Uffa was baptized by her father as the entire family returned to activity in the Church. The chapel was filled with members of her branch supporting her and her whole family. What better way to pass an evening then with fellow saints celebrating the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.



The 'good-bye's have started even though we don't leave for another 2 1/2 weeks. Having been here for almost 2 years, we are more than acquainted with the triumphs, concerns, desire and efforts of many individual saints here. We rejoice in their happiness and mourn for them in difficult or disappointing experiences.

We enjoyed a wonderful Saturday noon meal with the Bayonne family. Our conversations took us back well over a year when they had just arrived here. Their son, Stanley, was unhappy and withdrawn having left friends behind in the move. Tender recollections of Elder Huuti and Elder Morrill who first visited them and encouraged Stanley. They could not then know the result of those early efforts as they encouraged him to read his Scriptures and go to his Heavenly Father for help. Stanley is a happy young man and knows from whence his joy comes. Successive teams of missionaries kept up those visits and encouragement. He will be studying in New Zealand this year having made significant progress with his English also.



We visited Mont Dore the next day for Sunday services and bid that branch good by as we shared testimonies with them. Among dear friends there is the Mocellin family. We have appreciated their willingness to serve and to give of themselves.



And then a family home evening with the Leau family. Great conversation with people whom we love as they fulfill significant callings in their branch, work with the missionaries and serve. Our former zone leader, Vetea Aiho has married their older daughter. We presented a lesson using scriptures around the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel to play 'fish.' And then had a rousing game of musical chairs. Gets a little rougher with adults playing! All followed by a delicious dinner.




And then we took a 'tourist' day. The island country of New Caledonia is surrounded by a barrier coral reef that is between 10 and 15 miles off shore reaching all around the island, about 1600 kilometers long.
The reef creates one of the world's largest lagoons or calmer bodies of water where tropical fish and water creatures can live. Snorkeling and scuba diving as well as pirogue, sail boarding and kite boarding are all very popular in this large lagoon.



At the most significant break in the reef providing an entrance to the lagoon stands the Amedee lighthouse. A local company provides day trips to the small island 24 kilometers out from Noumea. the small ilot (small island) on which the lighthouse stands, hardly rises above sea level, but the lighthouse guides ships into the lagoon. The hike around the entire periphery beach was 15 minutes. the contrast between the side facing the ocean and that facing the lagoon onto which our boat brought us were real.



The lighthouse was built in 1862 in Paris, then dismantled and shipped to New Caledonia where it was re-constructed. the pictures below will illustrate that this is clearly a French lighthouse or phare. You can see for yourselves.



During the course of the day we also climbed back on the boat for a trip out to the reef. Rollers crashing on a beach but with no beach at all. the coral below the surface caused the rollers to break. We can also see this from our balcony window as an undulating ribbon of white caused by the breakers on the reef 24 kilometers out at the horizon.



The day was completed with a delightful noon meal of seafood and fresh tropical fruits.

An update from the last blog. Soane received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a Priest the week after his baptism and blessed the Sacrament for the first time February 6, 2011. At his side teaching, assisting and blessing the Sacrament was 16-year-old Stefano Sekeme whose family joined the Church just 2 1/2 years ago. No pictures of this event for obvious reasons, but a great blessing in the lives of man people. Soane was clean-shaven.

Yet ahead before we leave is our last zone conference as well as the inevitable preparations for such a trip. We are grateful to serve with great young missionaries and with these wonderful people. What examples they are of faithful service to their Heavenly Father, as they serve each other and their neighbors and friends.

At last...birthdays, wedding and baptisms

Last Saturday we wondered if all that had been cancelled due to hurricane Vania could be rescheduled. Or at least how soon those events could be rescheduled. Today, a week later, we have celebrated the long awaited marriage and attended three baptisms. 'On deborde de joie.'

By Monday morning, much of the flooding was starting to recede although it continued to rain. The 3rd p-day in a row with rain. But we all had work to do cleaning apartments, washing and cleaning cars, picking up mail and having a little fun together before the week's work began. And also celebrating two birthdays that fell that very day. We are surprised that among the 26 missionaries here, we have a number of double ups on birthdays. Somebody better in statistics will have to explain that one. Shortly after missionaries arrived in the early afternoon, we sang happy birthday with great gusto and ate cake. But we still didn't know when the delayed wedding could be rescheduled at the Mairie.



However, By Tuesday afternoon that question had been answered and we looked forward to Saturday, January 22 with much anticipation.

The day dawned rainy with squall lines passing overhead bringing intermittent showers and sunshine. We were up early to drive to Tontouta for Jean-Claude Ouasette's baptism. We met Jean Claude many weeks ago as he faithfully attended church services in the Tontouta branch. The service today was small but with several members of his family present. His only daughter and grandchildren as well as his brother. He shared a simple, yet powerful, testimony of the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his life, then encouraged his family, through tears of gratitude, to realize what they were feeling also.



The baptism was early so that we would have time to get back to Noumea for Soane and Vaea's wedding at 10a and the following baptisms at noon. We are grateful for the tender mercy that allowed a heavily scheduled day to roll along and the resultant blessings from Heavenly Father for so many people.


In French counties, marriages must be solemnized before a representative of the government in the city where the spouses live to be legal. This is important because at this ceremony the couple receives their 'family book' which records and is legal proof of all major events in their lives including marriages, births, deaths etc to which are tied all government benefits including healthcare.


The wedding took place at the appointed hour. All the necessary papers had been provided weeks before. That sentence took very few words, but the efforts to get to that point were enormous. Documents at Soane's birth had not been properly prepared. He is Wallisian by birth but was born in Vanuatu, formerly a French country, but now independent. Corrections to these all-important documents had to be done in Nantes, France. These corrections had mistakes themselves that had to be corrected. Every correction effort took 8-10 weeks of turn around time. Many months had passed trying to get it all done so that this marriage could happen and then the baptisms. In retrospect all of this provided both Saone and Vaea the opportunity to conform their lives, their family to a Christ-centered culture including family prayers, daily family scripture study, and weekly time together as a family studying the scriptures. Soane has learned to preside in his home, not as the boss, but to insure that his family is blessed with a stable, happy environment where the Gospel can be lived as well as studied.  Two young children in the home are blessed with peace and are eager to learn and do more. And Vaea's life has been blessed as she has prayed to be able to forgive others for difficult events earlier in her life. The peace of that forgiveness surpasseth understanding.

The ceremony itself took 15 minutes with the government representative addressing the couple on their responsibilities before the law in sharing each others financial obligations and responsibilities in raising any children coming from the marriage. These sacred concepts seemed sterile in the secular world in which they were presented. Where was the understanding of the eternal nature of the family and the importance of being sealed together across he generations as we care for each other knowing how important each is as a child of Heavenly Father and a member of a family linked forever across the generations. the event was joyous, however, because of the baptismal covenants that would follow. Pictures below will tell the story.




We were soon at the chapel in the baptismal service. Elder Hammond, one of our zone leaders, and Elder Sherrod performed the baptisms through their Priesthood authority.  In attendance was a large contingent of Soane's family. Significant because they were accepting of the events without the usual 'coutume' that might have been expected in earlier times. The pictures below will show the changes in clothing style, grooming that they have adopted as they leave local cultures behind.




Following the baptismal services was a wedding lunch provided by Soane and Vaea for a large group including most of the missionaries as well as his family. A great opportunity to get to know each other.



Toward the end of the festivities, a group of former missionaries from New Caledonia joined the events of the day via 'skype' to congratulate Soane and Vaea. As you might imagine, many missionaries have been involved in teaching and preparing them for baptism over the last 18 months. Several of them were together and had a wonderful 'face-to-face' conversation with Brother and Sister Munikihaafata. We enjoyed the reunion also. The twin miracles of having such a day as well as sharing it with friends and co-workers half-way around the world made an extra-ordinary day.


We are grateful for the blessing in our own lives of participating in gathering Heavenly Father's children into His Gospel. We see the blessings of peace and happiness that accompany those who accept it. In itself a testimony of the truthfulness of this great work.

HURRICANE and other events

January 15, 2010 had longed been planned:  a wedding of two investigators finally arranged so that they could both then be baptized, and a third baptism in Tontouta.  But none of it was to be, just yet. We had a hurricane instead. To say nothing of the 7 richter scale earthquake that we missed entirely.

But before that, we welcomed the arrival of three new missionaries. Elder Faura arrived first from Tahiti via the MTC in Auckland. Eager to get to work, he joined Elder Sherrod in Vallee des Colons.  They are teaching Soane and Vaea, the couple to have been married on January 15, 2011 and then baptized that afternoon.

Soane and Vaea ( his real name is Giovani Mari-Jean) have been studying with the missionaries for 18 months. There life has been changed completely as they have learned to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is from Wallis and she from Tahiti. However, he was born in Vanuatu and his birth certificate had a couple errors on it. These had to be corrected. (One of these errors was that he was female. How did his parents ever sign that one, we wonder.)  The difficulty with all of this is that the documents have to be sent to Nantes, France to be corrected. After multiple efforts to make corrections, each taking 8-10 weeks, finally things were ready. But that will be a story for another week when this marriage finally takes place. But you begin to understand our impatience just a little.

Second missionaries to arrive were Elders Lamb and Barker.  Elder Lamb is from Cedar City Utah, and Elder Barker from Sandy. Both arrive speaking great French. They arrived in the midst of increasing rains on the leading edge of the tropical depression that would become Hurricane Vania.  A tender mercy on both of their parts is that they both drive manual transmission cars. So in heavy rains before leaving for their new sectors and after having taken just a moment to get downtown for their immigration documents, we did driving tests. Hurricane Vania was arriving with wind and lots of rain. They were calm and learned the rules of the road and how to negotiate traffic circles quickly.

Transfers took place just before noon in driving rain. And they were off to their new sectors and shown in pictures nearby.

One of our local members, Jeffrey Tuihivaatetoohiti, aka Jeffrey Tuihiva, is awaiting his visa to serve in the Oakland San Francisco Mission. He is anxious to serve as a missionary as well as to strengthen his English so is serving with Elder Harry now in Bourail. The branch, as well as the missionaries, are excited to be back there.

Just before the storm arrived, we celebrated Elder Hammond’s birthday at a small, favorite local restaurant. The chef is from Provence in France and serves only 24 people at a time. In nearby pictures are images of several carved figures, very much from Provence called ‘saintons’ or small saints. Each face is individually carved. They are to represent common people bringing their gifts to the Savior and are usually presented as part of a nativity.

And then we hunkered down for two days of hurricane. Not a big storm as hurricanes go but beyond a local cyclone. Wind speed of 65 mph with gusts hitting well above that. The government put the country on ‘red alert’, which means ‘stay home and all shops are closed.’  The view from our 10^th floor apartment was spectacular. The lagoon outside, usually blue and calm, had 4 foot rollers crashing on the beach. Driving rains hit our large balcony windows head on and challenged us as water leaked underneath them. Took us a while to master the system of changing towels used to plug the leaks. These quickly saturated and had to be changed. We were grateful to have a high speed-spinning centrifugal washing machine to remove the moisture and that electricity stayed with us through the whole storm.

And we learned about the ‘eye of the storm’, which fooled us for a couple hours before the storm started up once again. By that time however, the storm had moved far enough south that we were no longer taking the storm full face on. After 24 hours of storm, the rain, which had been falling for 5 days, finally stopped and gave way to sunshine.  Chapels are cleaned up and ready for worship tomorrow. But another tropical depression threatens to envelope us tomorrow evening into Tuesday.

Pictures nearby show the only real damage, which was a series of landslides blocking the road north to Tontouta. We encountered the problem as we drove up to check on a team of missionaries whose cell phone didn’t seem to be working, making them unreachable.

Next Saturday promises to be exciting for the marriage and baptisms originally planned for Saturday. In the meantime, we learn patience and find great opportunities for service cleaning up after the storm. We are blessed to be safe, dry and comfortable.