The Isles of the Sea

We have had some very busy weeks lately. In fact, we just had our first P-day (preparation day...meaning a day to do things outside of missionary work) last week. The first one in a month. The last one was when we were on an island called Makemo in the Tuamotus. You kind of have to take a p-day when you go to these small islands, because there are only one or two flights on and off the island each week...which means you are there for four days. We attended a District Conference...which consisted of some visits with members and amis (people learning about the church)...and a leadership meeting and a general meeting. So, the extra time was spent doing some relaxing...which is about all there is to do on these small islands 😊.

We arrived on Makemo and took an hour speed boat ride to Taenga (both these islands are in the Tuamotu archipelago). Taenga is an island of not quite 100 people, no cars, and no way of getting there except by boat. There are approximately 80 members of the church who live there, so we went to do a district conference. It was a darling little chapel...between the ocean and the lagoon.

An atoll in the Tuamotus.

The Taenga branch

The Taenga branch and chapel

Looking to the ocean side from the chapel

The Taenga Chapel

Looking down the main street on Taenga toward the dock.

The Taenga dock

Looking from the dock to a motu. We were going to be heading that direction for an hour to get to Makemo

The speedboat we took to Taenga from Makemo.

We returned to Makemo and stayed four nights there. Makemo has approximately 800 people. They do copra (coconuts) and fishing there. There is one store. We drove a half hour over a dirt road from the village to reach our pension. Beautiful views...but cold showers, lots of mosquitos, no A/C...a lot like girls camp, Polynesian style,... 😉

The road to the pension on Makemo.

Our pension on Makemo. 

Looking at the Lagoon from our pension.

Our pension.

And the sunsets and stars were amazing.

What you don't see are the hermit crabs that stand between you and the bathroom in the middle of the night😂.

Life on an atoll like Makemo is so different from anything I have ever experienced, having been raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and having raised our children in the suburbs of Seattle. It is hard to get across what it is really like there. It is so small and everyone knows each other. They live so humbly. To go anywhere you have to take a plane or a boat. And there is so little to do. But the people were gracious and warmly welcomed us. And there are many who, having been raised in the Tuamotus and moving away to Tahiti,  want to return there after awhile. They miss the slow pace of life.

Back in Papeete, Tahiti, the mission life goes on with its 6 week transfer cycle. Because the weather is so much the same everyday/season...a little wetter during December/January/February...we sometimes say we feel like we are in "Groundhogs Day". We wake up and have the same weather and pretty much do the same things every day (training missionaries, talking with missionaries, emails, speak at meetings, conferences and councils, etc). But then we see the fruits of our labors with a missionary who finally understands why he/she is out here...to serve the Lord and help the people in French Polynesia return to Him one day; We see how much a missionary has grown by the end of their mission; We receive a message from a recently returned missionary thanking us for helping him/her so much; we see those returned missionaries moving forward with their lives in wonderful ways (education, marriages, church callings, and now even some babies arriving).

One wonderful thing we did recently was attend the Tahiti Temple with a newly arrived sister missionary from Guadeloupe who had not been able to attend the temple yet. While in the temple with this sister and five other sister missionaries I realized that each one was from a different country: Guadeloupe, Madagascar, Cape Verde, France, Tahiti and USA. The experience of meeting so many wonderful young people from so many areas of the world is a true blessing. The gospel has truly been spread throughout the world.

Our beautiful Soeur missionaries in front of the Tahiti temple! Along with Soeur Liz Hardy from home.😊 

Missionary life can be very hard. But it is rewarding as well. We know we are helping the Lord find His children and bring them home to Him.

Love you all!

City Art of Papeete

As you all are aware, we live in Papeete, Tahiti. Despite being in Tahiti...which is known through out the world as "paradise"...Papeete is a small, urban city in a developing country...which means it is not very modern and is rather rundown and weathered by the tropical environment. But there are some wonderful murals painted throughout this little city...amazing artwork by amazing artists. There is also a lot of graffiti...though some of that is quite artistic as well. So, this is just a post of various wall art found throughout Papeete. I have included some close ups of a few so you can see the details.We as humans try to bring beauty to our world wherever we are. Enjoy!

An electrical box.

Some of the more graffiti-like art work.

One of my favorites

Probably my favorite wall.

So you can see the setting for this wall.

And up close

Kind of cool yet creepy :)

You see a lot of stores with painted fronts (roll-up doors)

Notice the details in her eyes.

Families Can Be Together Forever!

I took a couple months off from writing this blog...though not from working.😊 The end of June was a time for celebration. Our son, Chance, was married to his beautiful bride, Jayci Haynie here in Tahiti on June 27th. All five of our children, and 3 of our grandchildren, were able to come for the wedding, which was wonderful! We also reached a milestone on June 30th...one year on the mission.

Before the wedding we spent time with the families both having fun (shopping at the Marché, eating at the food trucks, a little beach time) and preparing for the festivities. Many hands went into helping Rachel make the gorgeous cake (hard to do with a lame hand mixer as your only mixing tool.)

The day of the wedding was wonderful. We walked down to the Temple for the ceremony. We took pictures outside the Temple afterwards. Then we had a little reception for some of our Tahitian friends at the church behind the Temple. We walked up to our house for a luncheon with the family after that. (Notice how we walked to everything? where else could you do that?) We were able to share stories and thoughts about the newlyweds during the luncheon. We then went to a beautiful hotel for some Tahitian looking photos (our neighborhood isn't very picturesque). It was a truly beautiful day in all ways.

We were able to spend a few more days doing family activities...hiking, shopping, pool activities.

We have since had to say goodbye to all of our family...the last to leave was my mom and Hans, who stayed three weeks! 😍 What a boost to us here in Tahiti, to have so much of our family come and visit. It often feels very far away down here. Now all of our children know where we live and what it looks like.

We are back to doing our regular mission schedule. It seems easier, though, because of that time with the family. Truly, our reason for being here on a mission is to help people find joy in coming to Christ and thus being together as families for eternity. The most important thing, really the only thing that truly matters in this life, is our relationships. Our relationship with God and with our families and with our other loved ones. Everything else is temporary... our stuff, our positions, our worldly pleasures.

I am so grateful for my family. I am so grateful for Christ and His atonement for all of our sins, sorrows, and pains. I can't thank Him enough for giving me the chance to be together again with my family after this life. Life would be unbearable if I thought this would be the end of family relationships. Thanks be to God that it isn't...and thankfully I can testify of that truth.

I love you all!