People and places

We have now spent over 2 1/2 years in Tahiti. It's been a long time...longer than anywhere else we've lived as a married couple, other than Woodinville, WA.

Here are some of the people and events from our life here:

The Malarde family...Crystal, Gabby and Henri. He was just released as Bishop. They are amazing!

Dinner at the Malarde home with all the Senior Couple missionaries and Assistants.

 

Annette, Cathy and I. What amazing women! Cathy greets everyone with a huge hug!

Mirae and I before church. Her son is leaving soon to serve a mission in England.

Nicola and Vaea's wedding. After which Nicola was baptized.

Visiting a woman from the Australes with Soeur Sperry, one of our sister missionaries.

Some of the district presidency of the Tuamotus Takaroa District the day it became part of the Faaa Stake.

Visiting the Mariteragi family with Elder and Sister Nattress. 

There is a woman from our local ward, Paeru, who taught all of us senior sister missionaries how to weave a panier (basket). She was sooooo patient with all of us! I now understand why the handmade paniers cost so much...in fact, they are a steal! It is a lot of work!

Et voila! The finished products. We had a luncheon together in celebration and thanks. 

And then there is Justine.

 She is our angel helper...cleaning our house, helping with leadership meeting lunches, and bringing smiles and love into our home with her wonderful friendly spirit. 

So these are some of the people we have gotten to know and some of the experiences we have had here. We are anxious to be home in 5 months so we can be around family again, but we know we will leave friends here that we will always treasure and miss. 

You can really see the hand of the Lord in our lives as we see the people he has placed in our paths.

❤

Light in the Darkness

So, we had an interesting thing happen recently...the island of Tahiti went dark. It was Thursday, October 10th. It was during the last 45 minutes of the last of five zone conferences for this transfer period. I was in the middle of my training and the lights went out. It was not a big inconvenience for me since my PowerPoint slides were not integral to my training...nor for Steven, who followed me. We finished our zone conference without power and left to drive the hour back to our house. Ten minutes later we tried stopping at a restaurant to get a hamburger, but the power was out there too. Because it was still light out it was difficult to tell if there was power at stores or houses. We got back to Papeete and tried stopping at another burger place, where we know the owner well. Joe came out and told us the power was out on the whole island. What?! The entire island of Tahiti without power? My first thought was for the food and ice cream we had just purchased the night before for a dinner for 30 people we were having the next evening. Then, I started to wonder how we could get into our house? There's an electric gate blocking the driveway. And then my concern became more global. What if this lasted for a while...what would the people of Tahiti do if there was no power in the grocery stores and homes for a day or more. It is hot here. Food would be ruined. Water pumps wouldn't work.

As we drove toward our house, we noticed there was power...both at our house (the Mission Home) and at the Temple. We had a generator. The Temple had a generator. I later learned that the work in the Temple never stopped during the five hours of power outage. And as the night fell, the Temple was the only place lit in the whole neighborhood.

One lesson from this experience was that the preparation really pays off. The church made sure that the Temple, as well as the Mission Home, had back up generators.  "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." D&C 38:30

There was a more symbolic lesson learned that night. We heard how, as night fell, there was only one building lit up in the neighborhood...The Temple. It shone in the darkness...like a beacon. We live in a world that is often times very dark and frightening. But we have been told that Christ is the light of the world. That Thursday night, the light coming from His temple here in Tahiti was truly a light to the world...to the neighborhood...to the people of Tahiti.

We will never be left in the darkness if we are following Christ and his gospel.

Love you all,
Debbie

The Staff (and so much more!)

I truly cannot express my thankfulness and love to our wonderful mission staff. Here's a glimpse into some of what they do.

Our last transfer was on Monday and Tuesday, May 6th and 7th. We had missionaries leave and arrive Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, Thursday night, Saturday morning, and the following Monday night. At each departure or arrival there were several of our staff there to welcome and say good bye to the missionaries, even though the flights were at 11pm or 6am...sometimes the same day. When one missionary's flight was canceled after the passengers had waited on the plane for three hours, our senior missionaries were the ones receiving the phone calls and texts until 2:30am. And that was just one week.

They take care of all the financial business of the mission; all the visas, the driving permits, the cars, the bikes, the food for conferences, the housing...which includes fixing many things each week. Every time Steven and I think of something that needs to be done and tell the staff about it, it has either already been taken care of, or we are answered with a "Great! We'll do that. We'll be there. No problem."

They are so LOVED by the young missionaries!

Soeur Hoffmann

Hoffmanns and Havens

Elder Havens cleaning up after a lunch.

Soeur Hardy and Havens

The Havens with their zone.

The Hardys

...with a departing elder, Elder Ballstaedt

Waiting at the airport for new arrivals...even when injured they are there.

The young missionaries love the staff!

Welcoming the new arrivals

Finally getting to eat after serving everyone at zone conference

They. Are. AMAZING! And we could not do this mission without them.

Thank you Hoffmanns, Hardys, and Havens. (H1, H2, H3)

We love you,
Steven and Debbie

Fabric of Our Lives

I love the fabric stores here in Tahiti. It is hard to find colors like blush and navy, as I discovered last June when I tried finding fabric for Chance and Jayci's wedding. But you can find any Polynesian floral in any color and design imaginable.  

You can also find eyelet lace in all the bright colors of the rainbow.

Here are some of the dresses that have been made from these fabrics and eyelet.

A typical Tahitian dress.

Living in this tropical environment is very different from living in the USA. The climate does not vary here. It is almost always 80-85 degrees There are no seasons except dry or rainy. There is not a lot of variety in the food either. So the variety comes in other ways...creative ways...such as tropical fabrics and clothing. 

In the Book of Mormon,  Alma 30:44, it says: "...and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

I think we were made to be creators like our Father in Heaven. It is in our divine DNA. We will find a way to be creative however we can.

I love the fabrics in Tahiti!

I love you all, my creative family and friends. 

Mission Life -- Earth Life

We just hit our half way mark on our mission...18 months down, 18 months to go. With that said, we just experienced having missionaries who arrived after us finish their missions. Sister missionaries serve for 18 months. It was so bittersweet to see them complete their missions. We were so proud of each one, yet so sad to see them go home.

This has really made me think of a mission as an analogy of earth life. When we come to earth we leave our heavenly parents and are welcomed by our earthly parents. While on earth we grow from an infant into an adult. We learn so many things, including how to talk, how to be independent, how to trust and have faith. We have to endure many trials, sicknesses, disabilities, disappointments, etc. Often, we are given families of our own. At the end of this life we will pass through the veil to the other side and will be welcomed back to our heavenly home by our heavenly parents.

Well, when missionaries come on a mission they leave their own parents and arrive here in the mission field, welcomed by Steven and me as their "parents" during their missions. They are given a family...companions and other missionaries in their districts and zones. Sometimes they are given missionaries to train, whom they refer to lovingly as their "son" or "daughter". They must learn how to talk again, this time in French and Tahitian. They learn how to work and survive in a new climate and country. They learn to trust the Lord by relying on His spirit to guide them each day. They learn to work with and trust their companions. They endure many trials, sicknesses, disappointments. Some come with disabilities that make a mission more difficult for them than for others. They become independent and strong as missionaries and individuals. Their growth is amazing in so many ways. And then at the end of their missions they depart, going through the "veil" (airport security) to the other side as they await their plane flights home. They are soon welcomed back home by their parents who sent them on their missions. 

I felt the reality of this analogy as we said goodbye this week to this first group of sister missionaries we had welcomed after our arrival here 18 months ago. They had learned so much. They had grown so amazingly strong in their testimonies. They had gone through some hard trials...including the death of a parent. Some had to learn how to trust others as part of their growth. They all had to deal with sicknesses and disappointments. They all had had success in seeing others come to Christ. We had grown to love them dearly during these 18 months together.

But one thing I was reminded of years ago as I left France after living there with a group of BYU exchange students...in French we don't say "adieu", which is a final farewell, but we say "au revoir", which means "until we meet again". That is the most important message we teach the world as missionaries: We will be together again one day, whether here on earth or after this life. We will see each other, give each other hugs, and talk and talk and talk. 

So, beautiful sisters who left us, "Au revoir...until we meet again. We love you! "...your mission mom and dad. 

The colors of Christmas in Tahiti

Christmas as a missionary is going to be different no matter where you serve...you are not at home with your family and friends. But when you are living in a completely different climate south of the equator it really doesn't feel like Christmas. Outside it is 89 degrees with 90% humidity. And yet the grocery store still plays Christmas songs about snow outside and fires glowing. You can see the decorations...

Yet the colors of Christmas abound here. It is summertime so the trees are in bloom. There are many red blooms to go with the green foliage.

 

Unfortunately this photo does not do this tree justice. The blooms are beautiful against the green leaves. 

And we have added our own Christmas inside.

Complete with a Tahitian print tablecloth :)

So we may not have a normal Christmas here in Tahiti. But we can still feel the true Spirit of Christmas...in fact because we are not as wrapped up in the hubbub of the season Christmas becomes simpler, more focused on Christ. We talked about this during our last Zone Conferences. We showed this video...

We talked with the missionaries about the fact that this Christmas will be either the only one or one of two that they will spend as a missionary. It is the only time in their lives that their focus will be on Christ and His gospel during the Christmas season. Let's make it special in a different way. Let's make it a CHRISTmas.

Wherever you are and whoever you are with, may you strive to feel the spirit of Christ during Christmas. He is the reason for this season.

Love and miss you all.