TANNA

Here we are in Tanna again!   Our third trip!   Had great experience with audits and training and showing Brother Reid around Tanna.   The branches are learning!   Much improvement over last time!  

We visited the volcano and actually saw it erupting every 5 minutes!   

OUR GUIDE....  A young an from church.  He said he comes up the volcano everyday.   You can tell he loves it.   He didn't know how old he was....he thought 18 or 19.   You can hear the volcano from miles and miles away.   It was a level 2 out of 3 the day we saw it.   

Some children celebrating in their village.  Local customs...   Children's day!

BRO. REID with one of the elders of the village.  He loved seeing his picture.    

BRANCH NEAR THE VOLCANO,   Audited 2 branch presidents.    The one on the right came from another branch to meet with us and walked 1-1/2 hours one way carrying his records to be with us....

The one on the left is a 25 year old returned missionary, just married and really sharp.  They live out in the bush and are very happy people.   

A young member of the branch that prepare coconuts for us to drink!   Yum!

Church in WHITESANDS  TANNA

CHURCH in WHITEGRASS that has a congregation of up to 300 people each Sunday!

Big sports competition!  Many villages turn out.

 

Great men of Tanna with Port Vila District Presidency

Friends at Luganville Branch

Some of my friends at church.   The woman holding the book is the District YW President.  I was asking if I could help her at all and she asked if possibly she could get some white paper.  I thought of course she meant for the girls to have paper to use in class and she said that as she thinks and prays about helping the YW Program in the stake, gets ideas and then later she forgets them.   Se said it would be helpful if she could write it down.   I was very humbled to think that she just needs a little paper for herself....   Did I say they really have nothing?   She is such a lovely lady!

Our neighbor lady clearing land........by herself!

Famle Haos Naetz,

Family haos Naet with pres. Mahit and his daughter, brother Reid from New Zealand (our boss in the area office), Brother Charles Mol, one of the first members of the church in Gaua and the Branch President from Gaua Bro Jansen, and two other members from Malekula...   Great night.  They told us how the church began on Gaua and how it has grown after the eruption of the volcano back a few years.  The missionaries came over and helped villages relocate to safer area as well as bringing food and materials they needed.  The work on Gaua is growing quickly. 23 people were baptized a few weeks back and every week more.    It is a very, very, very small island that is mostly volcanic.  A spiritual night as they shared how they came to know the gospel is true!  

GREAT TRAINING MEETiNG.....   SANTO BRANCH PRES and CLERKS

Back home in Luganville, Santo!

Famle  Haos Naet with Branch President Anderson and his Family and a few missionaries.  Sang hymns and had a nice lesson of bearing testimony.    After had a dinner of traditional food  of laplap, beef with island cabbage, chicken with island cabbage and cucumbers with garlic and plenty rice!   It was great!!  They cook in their outdoor kitchens over wood  fires or wood stoves.  I want sister Anderson to teach me to cook.

The Solomon Islands!

We spent 6 days in the Solomon Islands.   It is quite interesting with all the WWII relics  which we saw on our last trip.  This trip we stayed right in the main town of Honiara in one expensive hotel!   $350 per night!   Our mission president told us that was the only really safe and clean place to stay.   It was small and would have been perhaps $80-90 per night in the states.  Things are so very expensive in the Solomons.   Their dollar isn't worth much and the fact that they have to import everything, like Vanuatu is another reason.   

We toured the cultural museum and the man In charged asked us if we could get a Buk Blong Mormon and a King James Bible to put on display there to represent some of their religions.....of course we said YES!

The betel nut habit is a real national problem for Solomons.  It is a stimulant and causes crime, ruins lives, is dirty and destroys whole mouths.  

We had great meetings with good leaders that are wanting to learn how to do things right.   We have seen an Improvement from our last trip.

Betelnut stands!!  Yuck.  They chew and then project...  A huge amount out of their mouths anywhere they want to.  The sidewalks are red and so are their teeth.  It makes them aggressive.   

Young Adult And Youth activity in a small branch outside of Honiara.    

I call this picture, Good And Evil.  You see the top of a new large District church building being built.  What you see outside the walls are mainly Betel Nut stands....  The real downfall of the Solomon Islands.   So glad this isn't a problem in Vanuatu!

Fun with our young Missionary Sisters! AND YSA game night, In Vanuatu!

Our young sister missionaries stopped by for a visit!   Sister Gera is heading back home to Papau New Guinea...   

Taught the Luganville, Santo YSA some fun games after their lesson.    Some I. This group are RMs some have their application in for missions and others just 18 and deciding when they can go.

WE HAD SO MUCH Fun!   REMINDED US OF YSA BRANCH IN WASHINGTON!

Seminary Teachers Meeting, Vanuatu style

We Drove out into the bush villages to meet with a few seminary teachers and their branch president!  Just a couple hour drive over challenging, yet beautiful roads....

Fanafo Branch, Santo

Today we had a visit from the CES Coordinator, Baia Saoken, from Port Vila.  He came to help me learn how to support the Seminary teachers so we began our two day schedule of visiting Seminary teachers on Santo.  I will be overseeing them until the new senior missionary couple  comes in October.

First stop was the Newly improved Fanafo Branch.  Elder Williams had visited this branch last week during the construction of the side walls being woven from strips of Bamboo.  The walls are very sturdy.  It will keep the wind and rain out.  

Here is After!    Pictures with some of the branch members.

They gave us some breadfruit to take home.   Some young people were playing volleyball next to the church and loved to have their picture taken.

On our way to Palon we met a couple more bushmen along side the road who were more than happy to pose for a picture.  They liked seeing their picture after.

Th

To be continued!