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.