Our Zone wearing our new Christmas shirts

Week 13 on Tanna December 29,2014


Dia famle blo mi we mi lavem tumas,

It was so great to hear your voices for christmas.  Sorry we didn't have much time to talk, I wanted to talk a lot more but we just had such short time.  But the half an hour call was a big blessing. So this email won't be too long since we talked but I want to let everybody else know what went on for christmas here.

So on Christmas Eve, me and my companion woke up and started making some food for a christmas program we would be holding in the afternoon with all the missionaries. I made a big batch of tortilla dough and refried beans while my companion made salsa and fried up some steak so we could make some chimmychangas to bring to the program.  At 1pm we started our program and ate together and it was a potluck dinner.

Each companionship brought  a dish of food and we all ate together. We ate chimmy changas, potato salad, kumala, beef, and chicken. Then we started a devotional where a couple missionaries gave
christmas talks and then we had a testimony meeting.  The testimony meeting was very spiritual and we could really feel the spirit of christmas and the savior.  After the testimony meeting we sang some
christmas carols and hymns to 6 members who came to listen.  Even though only a few came they loved it and we all had a great time.

Then we opened up stockings that were given to each missionary and we all got a new christmas shirt like last year.  It was so cool, I'll send you a picture. After the Program we dropped of the two Elders up north in greenhill, and then we dropped off the two elders in saet siwi and the two sisters in whitesands and that was the end of our christmas eve.

Christmas morning we drove to whitegrass to give a phone to the sisters so their families could call for christmas.  When we got there we saw the branch president and some members and they were about to start a little christmas program and eat together.  They invited us to stay and we ate with them and talked for awhile.

You are all probably wondering what christmas i like here and how the people celebrate it. The people seem to go home and get together with their families where they make a "bigfala kakae" (big feast) and eat together.  They invite anybody who walks by to eat with them and christmas here seems to be a time to eat together and rest from work.

Well we ate in whitegrass with the members and since we both had nothing else to do we decided to go to evergreen restaraunt to eat. We were already a little full but decided to eat more at evergreen and I had a beef burrito there that wasn't that bad.  Then we drove home to rest awhile but then we got bored again and in the afternoon we decided to drive to middlebush to drop off a christmas package for an Elder There.  We dropped it off and them too like whitegrass were about to eat together and the Unit Leader there invited us to stay and we ate dinner with them. 

Afterwards we went home and played magic for the night. We were glad to spend christmas with the members and just being with them and talking with them was very enjoyable.

On the 26th,  my family called in the morning and my companion's family called.  After our phone calls we drove to greenpoint to the christmas activity there.  Dec. 26th in Vanuatu is a holiday called
Family day.  So the branch started a program where we talked about the importance of families and christmas.  Then us and the members all ate together and did some activities.  One of the activities we did is we put a cookie on the people's forehead and they cant use their hands and they had to use their face muscles to move the cookie into their mouth.  They loved it and they had a lot of fun.  They played lots of music where many kids danced.

One side note about tanna, the kids here, regardless of what age, can Dance!   It's so cute and funny when they dance.  Me and Elder Child danced with the pikinini for fun as well.  Then the last part of the activity was a gift exchange.  It's kind of like our cousin gift exchanges that we do every christmas eve at grammy's house.  You have someone to give to and they give to you. Everybody was gathered around and the 1st counselor was in the center and he called out 2 names and they came to the middle and one gave their gift, and the other gave theirs.  Their gifts they gave were mats, baskets, chickens, pineapples, plates, flowers, and clothes. They give all kinds of things and it doesn't matter what it is and everything they give comes with a lot of love.

After the activity we went to an appointment that cancelled and then we went home do do our weekly planning.

Saturday we went to whitesands and we had a guy replace a bad door at their house and then we stayed in Lenakel where we met some families and just talked with them to build their trust.   Then that night we taught Tiffany about how the church is organized and we watched 17 miracles with them for the night.

Yesterday we went to Inapkasu for church and we taught our investigator Elina about tithing before we went back to Lenakel and we taught a group of mamas about the restoration.  We then taught our
investigator Thomas about how the book of mormon and bible work together and then we taught our investigator Mary about the restoration again.  Then that night we went and visited Rodger's family and taught them.  It was a very busy day.

Well know that all was well during christmas this year.  I hope your christmas went well and I wish you all a happy new year!

Mi lavem yufala bigwan!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Down in Greenpoint near Imanier

   

Week 12 on Tanna December 22, 2014

Dia ol famle blo mi,

First off I want to let you know that my package already came! It came last week!  Sorry but I couldn't resist and had to open it up early. Tank yu tumas blo evri samting!  We ate mashed potatoes and gravy last night.  I can't wait to talk to you in a few days and let's stick with the time I gave you, call on Dec. 25, at 1pm.

Well last week was CRAZY because we were getting ready for Zone Conference. Last Tuesday we spent the day picking up perspective missionaries to drop them off at members houses in Whitegrass so they could interview with the mission president on Wednesday.  We drove to Inapkasu in the morning and picked up a perspective missionary named Jimmy who's going to Papua New Guinea. 

Then we drove all the way down to greenpoint and we drove all the way to Imanier to pick up our perspective missionary Phillip who will be serving in Mississippi.  There's no reception in greenpoint so there was no way that we were able to let him know that we were coming ahead of time to pick him.  We saw him and told him what's going on and he ran up to his village and packed up for the next few days.  We played with kids down by the beach while we waited and I practiced using my sling and i'm starting to become pretty good at it. 

Phillip came and we started driving back and we saw one of our new investigators on the side of the road and we taught him about the importance of prophets.  He's a 10 year old boy and we had Phillip and Jimmy teach and translate for us during the lesson.  When we finished we drove all the way to Karimasanga and we taught his family about the Temple and they really want to go.  After the lesson it was already getting dark and we picked up another perspective missionary of ours named Ryson.  And we drove all the way to the other side of the island to Saet Siwi to pick up a perspective Sister named Rosali.  We drove all the way there and all the way to Whitegrass so the perspectives could stay overnight with some members so they could interview the next day.  By the time we got home it was late.  We were in the truck almost the whole entire day!  Well that's part of our work here. 

Wednesday morning we drove to the airport and picked up President Brewer and his wife and we dropped them off in whitegrass so they could start all the interviews.  We stayed awhile and then found out that Rosali's leg had a bad sore on her leg and it was swollen so mission president told us to go back to lenakel and take her to the hospital.  We did so and drove back and then mission president needed to meet with the district president so we drove to his house and picked him up and brought him to  meet with Pres. Brewer.  Then we drove back to his house to drop him off.  It was a rainy day and it was really muddy and the truck got soooo dirty!  It was pretty cool though.  There were puddles and mud everywhere.

Then we drove quick to the airport to pick up the AP's and we brought them to Whitegrass and then we had our MLC meeting (Mission Leadership Council)  After the meeting it was already dark and we went home with the AP's and made burritos for dinner.

Thursday we picked up President Brewer and we drove to Whitegrass for Zone Conference.  It started at 9am and everything went smoothly.  We had many cool trainings and it was a really spiritual Zone Conference. We ate good food too for lunch.  After Conference was over all the Elders interviewed and when everthing was over we dropped President off at the resort and we went and taught our investigator Tiffany with the AP's.  We taught them and went home for the night and ate a lot of
soup and Kumala that Elder Tupou cooked up.

Friday we studied and did all our weekly planning and we went to a few appointments but they cancelled.  And we decided to eat some lunch at the restaurant that catered for us at Zone Conference.  Then we went to the airport with the AP's and checked them in so they could fly
back to Port Vila.  Then afterwards a new investigator of ours named Jeff came over so we could teach him.  Then we went to Rodger's house and taught him and his family about family haos naet.

Saturday morning we went to Karimasanga and taught Henry's family again and then we drove all the way to Greenhill because they needed us to interview someone to be baptized.  We did so and then went to Whitegrass where the sisters had an investigator ready to be interviewed as well.  Then we met with the Sister Training Leaders to plan our christmas devotional for the missionaries.  I'll tell you about it when you call.  Then we waited for the district president to come so we could meet with him but he never came so we decided to just postpone it.  It was already dark and we decided to go to Evergreen Resort and we each bought a Burger with fries for dinner.  It was very good! Expensive though but worth it.  That was the best burger I've had since I've been here.

Yesterday we went to Greenpoint to church and we went there for sacrament meeting and then we drove back to lenakel to a couple appointments that cancelled but we were able to go teach Royal,  David Jonah, and a new investigator named Maria.  It was about 6pm when we finished teaching Maria and we then recieved a call from the mission office saying that Phillip would be flying on Monday to go to Port Vila and then to Fiji to work on his Visa paperwork.  But there's no
reception and no way to contact him there.  Luckily his parents were in town so we picked them up, drove all the way back to Greenpoint and they went up to their village Imanier and told him what was going on and then he packed up and we drove all the way back to Lenakel and dropped his parents off and he slept in our house last night.  When we got back it was late and we didn't get to sleep until about midnight because we needed some dinner because we hadn't eaten at all that day.

Well know that even though things are busy here everything is fine and I enjoy serving the lord!  It was mostly crazy because of Zone Conference but everything is winding down now.  Well I hope things aren't to crazy for you getting ready for Christmas.  Know that I love you and thanks for all the goodies you sent in the package.  I can't wait for you to call!

Iako keke ik sio Famle!

Elder Beynon

Me and the kids in Inapkasu

Tanna Week 11 December 15, 2014

Dia Famle mo ol frien blo mi,

So last week if you remember, I said that we planned on making Tacos for dinner,  well we changed our mind and decided to make Chimichangas!!!  Elder Child cooked up some beef and made some salsa. I made refried beans and tortilla dough and we deep fried some chimichangas!  They were so dang good!  I haven't had mexican food at all on my mission.  We were so satisfied.

Well on Tuesday we went to Karimasanga to see henry and his family and when we got there, there were about 20 other people gathered together to hear our message.  So we shared the message of the restoration with everyone who was there. It was an awesome lesson and many of the people agreed with what we taught and at the end we asked if anyone had any questions.  And one papa asked many questions and we answered every one with the bible.  It was really cool though because we did it in a loving way and there was no argument whatsoever.  Then we found out that he was a pastor for another church.  He was a really good guy though.  We ended up being there a long time and then we drove to Greenpoint where a member gave us some slings we asked him to make.

The slings are kind of like the ones that David used against Goliath and the kids here are very good at using them.  I've been practicing and I'm pretty good at using it as well.  It's so fun, there's so many
cool weapons here.  We then went to Miraweng where we taught a perspective missionary named Johnny and his family.  He needed some money for a passport so I told him that if he made me bow and arrow, I would pay him to help him earn some money for his mission.  The people here make bow and arrows all the time and it's really cool.

Wednesday we had Zone Training in the Morning and then we started getting some stuff prepared for Zone Conference.  Then we dropped a couple perspective missionaries off at the airport so they could go to Port Vila to get some stuff done.  Then that afternoon we taught our investigator Tiffany about Missionary Work.

Thursday we planned on going to Inapkasu and when we got there there were about 60 people gathered together.  People were playing Volleyball and eating and apparently the Unit Leader there had planned a christmas activity for the day there.  So we hung out with the members and played Volleyball and spent the day up there with the members and people who came to the activity. Then we taught our investigator Elina about Eternal Marriage.

Friday morning we went to the hospital and helped a perspective missionary get a medical check up for his mission papers.  Then we went and taught our investigator Joe and Mary about the Sabbath.  Then we visited a less active member and taught her.  Then that night we visited a member family and ate dinner with them and shared a spiritual message with their family.  Then when we went home we decided to try and make burritos for dinner.  I made the tortillas and beans and my companion cooked up some steak and we ate some good mexican food for dinner again!

Saturday we went to Karimasanga again and taught Henry's family, then we drove to Greenpoint and saw one of our investigators with some members sitting on the beach so we sat with them and just talked with them awhile.  Then we saw Johnny and we walked up to Miraweng and he gave me a bow and arrow he made for me.  It's pretty cool, I will have to try and bring it home.  It's totally made out of natural materials. We stayed with his family awhile and we taught them and then we went back to Lenakel to an appointment but it got cancelled.

Yesterday morning we drove to Whitesands to church because there was a perspective missionary named Daniel who needed to go to the airport to fly out and go on his mission.  We went to church and left during class to take him all the way to the airport.  He's serving here in Vanuatu so he will go to the New Zealand MTC for a few weeks and then fly back to Vanuatu.  We dropped him off and then we went and taught a new investigator papa named Peter about the Restoration.  It was an amazing lesson. He agreed with everything we said and he accepted the Book of Mormon so proudly!

Then we went and taught our Recent Convert Royal about family prayer.  Then we taught David Jonah and his family about the Word of Wisdom and they totally knew that it was true and that we need to look after our bodies. Afterwards we went to the hospital and gave a couple blessings to 2 members that were sick. Then we went to a recent converted family's house and taught them about prophets and how the book of mormon came about.  Then we made burritos again for dinner.  I made the tortillas and beans again and everything came out well.

But Elder Child cooked the meat and accidently spilled too much salt when mixed it with sauce.  The
burrito was so salty that we couldn't finish it.  But it's alright, sometimes things don't turn out. Well know all is well and I love you.  I know you're all busy for christmas and so am I.  Take care and I can't wait for you to call on christmas!

Love,


Elder Beynon

 

Me and the kids with my bow and arrow

Tanna Week 10 December 8, 2014

Dia famle blo mi we mi lavem tumas,

Last week after you heard me we headed over to our Recent Convert Royal's house.  He said that his grandpa was sick and needed a blessing so we drove up to Royal's grandpa's house to give a blessing.
We hadn't met this man before but he was so nice and inviting.  We gave him a blessing and he said we can come back any time.  Then we went to Rodger's house and taught his family prayer and how the lord blesses us when we come together as family. 

Thursday we had originally planned on going to Inapkasu, and then Karimasanga, and Greenpoint.  But when we woke up in the morning it was raining really hard and we knew that the road in Inapkasu and Greenpoint would be too dangerous to drive so we decided that we would study a while and see if the rain cleared up and then go to Karimasanga if possible.  So we did an hour personal study and then we did our companion study for 4 hours! We learned a lot and it was fun to study like that with my companion.

Then we decided to do our weekly planning and afterwards the rain had mostly passed and we drove down to Karimasanga.  We crossed 3 rivers on the way there, it rained a lot the last few days.  We taught Henry and his family about enduring to the end.  We asked them about how they've been since the baptism and they said they've seen big changes and big blessings in their lives. That's how the gospel is, it blesses families and brings happiness in our lives!

Friday we  taught our investigator Joe about tithing and many of our other appointments were cancelled because no one was home.  We were however able to go teach Tiffany again and we taught her about the Atonement and why it was needful.  Then we drove up to Rodger's house again and we taught them about the temple and now they are really excited to prepare and go!

Saturday we started driving to Inapkasu but the roads were really bad there so we decided not to go up there, we didn't have much time to get everything we wanted done either.  So we drove to Karimasanga but the road that goes up there was too muddy so we had to walk up.  We walked up and saw Henry's family again and their were many other people around who were interested in hearing the gospel so we taught them all about the Restoration and Henry taught with us.  There are
many recent converts i've seen here and they are all so faithful. Especially in Lenakel, almost everyone in our unit there are converts!

Well we taught many people in Karimasanga and we walked down to the truck so we could drive to Greenpoint.  But we reallized that one of the tires was a little flat,  we had a spare so we changed our tire before going to Greenpoint.  Surprisingly we were able to drive all the way there and we wanted to go teach our investigator David there but everyone was gone but his son named Jacob so we taught him.  Jacob is already a member and we taught him about our baptismal covenant and after the lesson we drove down to Miraweng to talk to a perspective missionary.

We are preparing many perspective missionaries for Zone Conference, it's coming up in a few weeks and everyone who has their papers done will be going and they will be able to interview with the mission president. In fact we have a perspective missionary named Phillip at Greenpoint and he's leaving at the end of next month to go serve in Mississippi, cool huh?!!!

This island is amazing, we have a total of 20 perspective missionaries who are starting to prepare to serve. Well after we went to Miraweng we drove back to Lenakel and went to District Clerk Daniel and Julie's house where we ate dinner and shared a thought with them.

Yesterday we went to Church in Lenakel and 5 kids that we didn't recognize came. Only 1 was a member.  They walked a long ways to come to church. It was testimony meeting and Mama Kia (Papa Rodger's Wife) bore her testimony.  She said "I have many kids and they're all girls, but i'm sad because I don't have any boys. But now Papa God has sent me some boys, the missionaries, 2 of my boys are in this room,  and I have many others."  She was referring to me and my companion and we
were so touched by her testimony and it meant a lot that she referred to us as her kids.

One thing I like here in Vanuatu  is that you can call the mamas here "Mama blo mi" which means "My mom",  so whenever we say "yu mama blo mi" they laugh and we feel instantly like family to them. After Church we went to Whitegrass to hold a meeting with the Sister Training Leaders.  We met with them to plan out Zone Training and Assignments for Zone Conference.

After the meeting we went to try to find where those kids that came to church lived. They showed us what roads to follow and  they told us that their family sent them because they wanted missionaries to come.  We found their village all the way in Middlebush and their mom and Uncle were home and they said that some missionaries came before to their house but not for along time. They were so inviting and asked us to share a message so we taught them briefly about the Restoration.  Then we told them that the other Elders in Middlebush would come because it wasn't our area.

But we were so grateful for their invitation for us to come and they want the missionaries to come so bad. Afterwards it was late in the afternoon and we went to our Unit Leader Wilfred Nos's house and ate dinner and talked with them awhile before going back home for the night. Well know that all is well and I'm glad to be here again this christmas season and thanks Grammy for the package you sent! It came this morning and we plan on trying to make tacos for dinner! (I have a tortilla recipe to try out).

Iako Keke Ik Miam Pam! (Mi lavem yufala evriwan famle blo mi!)

Love,

Elder Beynon

Walking to whitesands along Mt Yasur

 Tanna Week 9 December 2, 2014

Dear Famle Sio,

Sorry, we've been busy the last few days now finally we've had the chance to email. Well since you last heard me, I had the chance to go on an exchange last monday night to Saet Siwi, my first area!  We drove there and I stayed with Elder Godfrey.  He's from Gaua, I met him when I was there
and he flew out to go on his mission and now I have the chance to see him again!

We got there late at night and on Tuesday we walked down to the village of "Imaeo", I hope you remember it.  While I was there I interviewed a mama so she could be baptized and we played with the kids there. Then we walked down to Ikuarumanu (I used to call it Korumanu) where we taught a less active kid who I used to know. November 25th and 26th is when school ends here and at the school in Ikuarumanu there were many cool dances that the Students and people did,  It's kind of like our spring fling we used to do but it's cooler here!

Then the Branch President said that he was going to walk up to the village of "Navateng", which is up the mountain directly east of Saet Siwi.  I've been there once before and I told you that there was an
area where it's forbidden to look back or talk, or step on the leg of the person in front of you.  Well we followed the branch president up there to the school there and they were doing dances there as well. We sat and watched with members and non-members, and we played volleyball with the people and had a great time!  Then we walked back to Saet Siwi when it was dark and many kids followed us.  That's one thing I've always liked about Saet Siwi, there's always a friend that want's to follow us around there.

Wednesday morning we woke up early and walked two hours down the mountain across the ash fields along the volcano to Whitesands where we held District Meeting.  After the meeting we exchanged again and went back to our areas.  I was so happy to see Saet Siwi again!  We weren't able to teach at all that afternoon because everyone was at the schools where they had all the dances and activities.

Thursday, we went to Inapkasu and taught a recent convert family about the restoration and another investigator about the word of wisdom. Afterwards we drove all the way to the airport to pick up Elder and Sister Duke, a senior couple who looks over the missionary houses and health of the missionaries.  We brought them to the hospital so Sister Duke could get an idea of what's available here and while we were there we checked on a kid we gave a blessing to last Sunday.  She was
doing better but her dad asked us to give another one and then three other people asked us to give blessings to their kids.  It's such a blessing to have the priesthood in my life to help others and my
family.  Then we took Elder and Sister Duke to the Whitegrass Resort. Friday (Thanksgiving your time,) we drove to Whitegrass Resort and we met Elder and Sister Duke and they said "Do you want to eat before we go?" and they bought us lunch.  I ordered a pizza which was soooo good and Elder Child was able to eat a pork wrap with french fries, so I guess you could count on that as our thanksgiving meal and I was very happy for some good food!

We took them to some houses to see and the Whitegrass chapel and a few missionary houses.  We were basically their taxi for the day and helped them with anything they needed to get done.  And that's all that happened that day, it was a good thanksgiving!

Saturday we were able to teach a few lessons in Lenakel and at night we went to Evergreen Resort for dinner and I bought a burger and fries which was so dang good! It was expensive though.  Then the AP's called to let us know about transfers and me and Elder Child are still staying together.

Sunday we went to Inapkasu for church and we taught the kids and youth about the word of wisdom and we made a little games for them to play to help them remember it.  It was fun.  After church we went back to Lenakel and taught a few investigators.

Monday was busy, there was a big rainstorm in the south and we had to go pick up the elders from saet siwi and bring them to town for p-day and then we did some shopping but also had to buy stuff for a new missionary house in whitegrass.  We bought everything and Elder Ross and Elder Killpack came with us because we had to go to greenhill because we needed to grab elder killpack's luggage because he would be transferring on Tuesday.  On our way there we stopped by a bridge that
was blocked because it was under construction so there was a side road that we had to take.  But down this side road was a truck down there that was stuck in the mud trying to get up,  There was mud everywhere and the truck couldn't get traction. Some of the people tied a rope to the front and they were trying to pull it out.  Then we helped them out and pulled with them and eventually they got out.  Then everybody started fixing the bridge,  they filled up each side with dirt so the truck could get across and that's how we got across.  Then we grabbed Elder Killpack's things and brought him with us to stay with us for the night.

Tuesday morning we brought Elder Killpack to the Airport.  He flew out and Brother Toro from fiji came so he could do some training for the branch presidents here. And also Elder Rausika came, the Elder that hung out with me and Elder Leva while we were in Gaua.  Elder Rausika is from Saet Siwi and he came so we could bring him home because he finished his mission.  Then 2 other elders came who were transferring here.  We dropped them off at lenakel and then Brother Toro held  a meeting with some branch president's at our house.  Afterwards we drove all the way to Saet Siwi to Imaeo where Elder Rausika's from.  I know his family because I was able to meet them last year which is
cool.  We got there and his family was so glad to see him and they removed his missionary badge and we all ate with his friends and family who came.  We played soccer with many of the kids and had some fun with them and had a great time.  Then we drove all the way back to drop off Brother Toro at whitegrass resort and he offered us some dinner.  He bought us Sirloin Steak and Ice Cream and it was amazing food!  I haven't had a medium rare steak since before my mission!

This morning we picked up Brother Toro and we went to the Whitegrass Branch so he could do some training there and we joined district meeting with the north tanna district.  Afterwards we ate lunch with brother Toro and brought him back to the airport and we came straight here so I could email you!

Well know all is well and I'm so happy to be serving as a Zone Leader here.  Thanksgiving was great and I'm glad all went well.  Mi lavem yufala tumas!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Dances at the school at Ikauramanu

Driving south to Inapkasu

Sunset

Baptisms!

 

 

 

 

Tanna Week 8 November 24, 2014

Dia Sio Famle,

Since last week on monday night we drove to Middlebush so we could do exchanges with the elders there.  I had the chance to go there and stay with Elder Willoughby, from North Ogden, Utah.

Tuesday we walked to many villages and we taught an olfala about prophets and the time of Jesus Christ.  Then we walked to the village or Lonotuan and taught an investigator named James about the Book of Mormon.  Many others were there to hear and they knew it was true. James was awesome, he said "It's so true, there must be another witness of Jesus Christ and the book that Joseph Smith translated is true. Well what can I say, Jos blo yumi i tru i tru!

We were also able to teach another investigator about missionary work and we were out the full day and before we went home we stopped by some members house who were from Port Resolution and I met the head chief.  They were surprised because I knew their language so well. Then I did some magic tricks for the people and many people around came so it was kind of like a magic show, it was awesome.

Wednesday we hung out in Lenakel as usual and we were able to teach a new investigator named Susan about the Restoration.  Then we saw our Recent Convert Royal and then we taught Linda.

Thursday morning we woke up at 4am because a couple perspective missionaries from whitesands needed to fly to Port Vila to do some mission stuff.  We drove there and picked them up and checked them into the airport at 6;30am and they flew and then we went to Evergreen resort and had pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  It was sooooo good!

Then we drove to Greenpoint and taught a new investigator named David. He's the branch presidents brother and we taught him and his family about the restoration.  Afterward he told us "I've never heard anything like that before, it's so true!"  Then we drove up to Ianapkasu and we went to the village of Iatafum and we taught a recently baptized family about family prayer.  I love bringing
families together and teaching them.  When we finished it got dark and we drove back to Lenakel
and we taught Linda again.

Friday we drove to Greenhill to do some baptism interviews for Elder Ross and Elder Killpack, but everyone who should have been interviewed were gone. So we drove to Middlebush and I interviewd a 10 year old investigator there.  It was the first baptism interview i've done.  It was cool and I was very glad to do it.  It also gives you the chance to see the testimonies of others. we then went to lenakel and taught royal about the need of the atonement and  that afternoon we ended up driving back to greenhill to bring a propane tank regulator to them, because their gas was leaking.

Saturday morning it was raining and we drove south to Greenpoint so we could baptize Henry and his family from Karimasanga.  Sadly we forgot to grab our baptism clothes so we had the branch president and a priest baptize.  It was cool because we started the program in the church house while it was raining and when we got ready to walk down to the ocean and the rain stopped, it was still cloudy but the rain stopped.  So we went town and the family got baptized, a total of 6!  And when we walked back up to finish the program in the church house, it started raining again.  It was really cool, the lord was preparing the way!  We stayed there and talked with members before going back to Lenakel to teach a new investigator named David Jonah about the Restoration.

Yesterday morning we drove to greenpoint and we had to walk a ways because the truck couldn't get up a muddy incline so we walked about a mile to the church and we had sacrament meeting and confirmations. The family was so happy and they were so happy to be baptized!  Then after church we had a meeting with the Branch President and then went to Lenakel and taught Royal about Temples, then we went to other appointments but they were gone but we did recieve a call from a papa who asked us to come to the hospital to give a blessing to his child that was sick.  So we went and gave this child a blessing, and then another mama asked us to give a blessing to her newborn baby who had some sores on it's body.  I love the chances to exercise the priesthood and come do the savior's work.

Well know that all is well, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving just so you know but there's a senior couple coming this week and we will be helping them with the work so if we are lucky, maybe we will hit a restaurant or something.

 

Well I love you all and know I am staying busy and having a great time here. I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Doing magic tricks in the middlebush

Sunset over the volcano in Tanna

Walking up to Inapkasu

Week 7 on Tanna November 17, 2014

Romassen iakuarsikar ik miambam (that means "gud dei yufala evriwan" in the south Tanna Language),

So last week since you last heard me um....... oh, on tuesday we went to greenpoint.  We origionally planned on going there to meet with the branch president there and teach a few lessons but we had a change of plans and checked out a house that missionaries can stay in the future.  We drove there, talked with the owner and took pictures of the house, then came back to lenakel to email the pictures to the mission president. But mission president declined and said another house would be better.  So we drove all the way back to greenpoint to tell the owner of the decision made and by the time we got back to lenakel it was dark.  So that's all that happened Tuesday.

Wednesday we stayed here as usual and taught many people. We taught one of our investigators about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how to "Sakem Sin" (Repent).  Then we were able to read with a few recent converts in the book of mormon.  Many people were ready for us to come and teach them.  We also taught a new investigator named Susan about Heavenly Father and how he loves us.  We just worked, worked, worked! So that was good.

Thursday we stayed home because we were sick.  We both had a cold but Elder Child was soooooo Conjested.  I was alright but we decided that it's better to take one day to rest instead of getting more sick and going to the doctor or hospital.

Friday we felt a lot better and we went to the Whitegrass Chapel for District Meeting and afterwards we went on an Exchange with the Elders in Greenhill.  This time Elder Ross went with Elder Child and I went to Greenhill with Elder Killpack.  Me and Elder Killpack knew each other in the MTC, he was in my zone so we already know each other which is cool. He's from Orem, Utah. So we started walking in one of their areas called "Coffee" where theylook over a Unit.  I think they call it coffee because people grow coffee beans here and it is one of the main sources to get money in Tanna.  They don't sell Kobra or Cocoa like Malekula does.  Alright so in Coffee we saw a family and made Laplap Sorsor with them,  I can't remember if I told you about laplap sorsor already but it's a syle of laplap made in malekula where they make regular laplap but they put coconut milk in the middle so you can dip the lap lap in it and eat. It's really good.  And the people are surprised when we make it with
them because not many people can make their island foods. Yeah so we made the laplap and taught this couple about eternal marriage and about temples and they were very interested. We stayed there awhile and then walked an hour north to greenhill.  It was dark by the time we got there so we planned and played a couple games of magic before going to bed.

Saturday morning we walked to the village of Eniu and met a family from Wala, Malekula where I went on my exchange with Elder Jensen awhile back. I knew their language a little and it was easy to relate to them.  We helped Marie, the mama, make some Laplap Sorsor and then we taught them the plan of Salvation. It was a very good lesson and we used the book of mormon alot with the bible to show how it makes everything clear and how the two books work as one.

Then we went to the village of Itonga to look for some investigators but they were gone so we went to the village of "Lowita" instead and taught a less active family.  We played games with the family and taught them how to play ninja and they loved it!  It was  a lot of fun.

Yesterday we went to church there and afterwards taught a few little kids about the word of wisdom.  There was a member at a clinic who needed a blessing so we walked there to give a blessing and afterwards there were some kids playing with bow and arrows they made.  It's really cool, the people make bow and arrows here, I might have to get a hold of one for myself sometime.  We followed the kids back to the house where we taught one of them about the word of wisdom as well. And then Elder Child and Elder Ross came back from the Exchange.

Sorry  this email is short,  not much happened last week but all is well.  I love you all and hope all is well.

ia ko keke ik sio famle! ( I love you, my family - south tanna language)

Love
Elder Beynon

The branch church house in Greenpoint

The White Grass District Building

District Building

Smith and the Lenakal Unit Leaders family

Sunset by the church

Eating lap lap Sorsor

Smith and the kids in Lowita

Smith and some kids

Playing with the kids at the beach at Greenpoint

Week 6 on Tanna November 10, 2014

Dear Ol Famle Blo Mi,(I can't wait to speak bislama with you guys when I get back),

So, last Monday after I emailed and we had no famle haos naet planned and Elder Child felt sick so we went home for the afternoon.  The good news is that I had time to teach him how to play magic!

 

Tuesday we went south to Greenpoint.  When we got there we went to the main village "ikakahak" where the church house is and there was only a member named Kennedy and his wife were there. We asked them where everybody else was and they said that everyone, just about everyone from every village in Greenpoint went to a big meeting.  It was a meeting that they held because there were some arguments there.  So chiefs and families got together to meet and fix the problems.  That's how it works here, each village has chiefs and when there's problems they hold meetings together.  Sometimes it requires members of the family to come and sometimes others too.  But EVERYONE was at the meeting and we knew that we wouldn't be able to teach.  But down the mountain a ways there was a beach where many pikinini were playing and swimming.  So we hiked down a steep hill down to this beach where the kids were playing.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  I wanted to swim so bad!  But it was alright.  We ran and played with the kids and we practiced doing backflips on the beach.  I couldn't rotate fully off the ground but when I stood on a big boulder and jumped I was able to do it.  We played with the kids and stayed there until about 4pm.

 

We decided because we had nothing else to do that we would continue to drive on the road south and drive to the East part of the island and then go to the Volcano.  We thought that it would probably take an hour or so but that wasn't the case.  We drove on this bumpy, muddy, and windy road for 2 and a half hours before meeting some friends from Saet Siwi to go to the Volcano.  It was a beautiful drive though, but we were just shaking around so much in the truck crossing rivers, driving over stones and through the mud.  Well we drove up to the Volcano and took some pictures.  The volcano didn't go off that much and when it did it wasn't very big.  It wasn't as exciting as it used to be.  The boys said that it was because of the weather.  The people also have custom beliefs and stories about when the volcano goes off.  It was a lot of fun though, I've seen the Volcano 5 times now!

 

Wednesday we hung out in Lenakel and we were able to teach an investigator and a couple of recent converts.

 

Thursday morning we went to the Airport to pick up the AP's (Assistants to the Mission President).

They came to do an exchange with us and see how the Zone is here.  One of the AP's is named Elder Tupou from Tonga,  he's been on exchanges with me back in Malekula when I was a District Leader.  The other one is Elder Petty from Australia. He was the Zone Leader while I was in Gaua and he's been on a couple exchanges with me as well.

 

So they came and we decided that Elder Tupou and Elder Child would go to Ianapkasu while me and Elder Petty stayed in Lenakel.  were able to read in the book of mormon with many recent converts and help them know more about the stories.  We also taught a couple lessons with investigators and I learned a lot from Elder Petty.  Then we made mashed Kumala and Beef for dinner that night. It turned out pretty good, except that the gravy that I made was pretty salty.

 

The next morning (Friday) we went to the Whitegrass church house for Zone Training.  Me and my companion led the Zone into making a key indicators goal for each week.  I thought the training went great.  Then we went to the Airport so the AP's could check in and it was raining really hard.  We checked in and waited for the plane to come but it couldn't land because it would most likely hydroplane on the runway so the flight was cancelled and they would fly on Saturday.  So we drove back home and bought lots of chicken wings and made chicken soup for dinner which hit the spot!

 

Then on Saturday we decided to drive to Karimasanga so the AP's could inverview Henry's family to be baptized.  We plan on baptizing them next week!  We played with kids and threw spears and tried to shoot birds with our slingshots and just had a lot of fun.  Once we were done we drove to the airport and dropped off the AP's at the airport and then we went home to do our weekly planning.

 

Yesterday (Sunday) we drove to whitegrass to pick up the branch president to bring him to Lenakel so he could do some priesthood interviews for us.  We then had church and afterwards ordained our recent convert Royal a teacher! Then we drove to Whitegrass where a perspective missionary was ordained an Elder.  Then we came back and taught a couple families and had a meeting with our Unit Leader Nos.  It's kind of Ironic but I already met our Unit Leader and his family last year while I was here.  On christmas eve we came and cut their grass with bush knives to do some service.  Well after the meetings it was already dark and we played a few games of magic and Elder Child kept beating me!  

 

Sorry not too much happened this week but know all is well and I'm so grateful to be here.  I love you all so much!

 

Mi lavem yufala tumas!

 

 

The Beach at Greenpoint

Running on the beach with the kids

At the volcano with Saet Siwi friends

Lava action at the volcano

The tree we crashed into last week

Week 5 on Tanna November 4, 2014

 

Dia ol Famle blo mi we mi lavem tumas!

Not too much happened this week compared to last.  But since you last heard me, last monday night we went to the District Clerk's house. His name is Daniel.  His wife Julie and her niece named Linda is an investigator of ours.  Daniel set up a projector so we could watch the Restoration for Famle Haos Night.  It was really cool and I love that movie, the church is true!!!

Tuesday we drove to Karimasanga and taught Henry's family about the saving ordinances in the church and set a baptism date for him and his family on Nov.15th!  They're a family of 6 and 5 will be baptized!  The sixth born is too young to be baptized.  So the next few weeks are gonna be awesome!  We then drove to Greenpoint and walked up the side of a steep hill to the Village of Miraweng.  Before walking up you see trees and bush and when you get up their you're really surprised to see people and houses up there.  The people really know how to live and survive in the bush.  It's way cool.  Up there I put on a magic card show and many people came to see my magic tricks and it brought many members, less actives, and non-members together.  After the magic tricks we taught them all about enduring to the end and how it's so important for us to read the scriptures, pray, and go to church.  The people loved it and glad to have us teach them.  Then it started to rain so we had to get out of there fast because the roads wouldn't be good. 

 

On our way back we saw a crab crossing the road, decent size, and I got out and picked it up and I asked Elder Child, what do you want to do with it? Eat it? Then he said "no, let's put it on the windshield and see  how long it stays on.  This crab was strong and we put it on the windshield and it hung on for quite a few miles!  It would hang on to the windshield wipers and we would turn them on and the crab would be pushed over the edge but would somehow be able to catch itself and hang on!!! It was a random thing that we did but it was pretty funny I think!

Wednesday a man named John Bennion was flying to Tanna with 2 other people.  John looks over the church houses here and they all came so they could work on some things at the whitegrass church house and a missionary house.  So that morning we went straight to the airport and picked them up and the first thing he said is "Elders, are you Hungry?  Let's go to Evergreen Resort." So we drove to a tourist resort called Evergreen Green resort which is right by the airport.  We got their and went to the restaurant there and John ordered everybody eggs and bacon.  I noticed that I haven't had bacon since the MTC and it was sooo good! 

 

Then we drove to whitegrass and we helped them work a little on the house.  Then that afternoon they needed to go back to the airport and we also had to check in some sisters who were being transferred.  Then after we checked in,  we had some time to kill and John said "let's go to Evergreen agian".  So we went there and he bought us their homemade ice cream and cake.  The ice cream was Vanilla Bean and it was really good, I could totally tell that it was homemade.  So we had a good dessert before John left.  There was some good food there. Then we taught our investigator Linda about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized!  She gladly accepted and now we hope to have 6 baptisms by the end of this month.

Thursday we went to Ianapkasu and and walked up the hill that we slid down (we won't drive up or down that hill anymore). We got up there and played with many of the kids and then we taught them about the story of Nephi and his brothers, and how they sailed to America.  Then we walked up to a village nearby called "Ietufun."  There we taught some members about how the book of mormon came about and when Joseph Smith translated the plates.  

 

Then we went back home a little early to do weekly planning.  We ate good that night though.  Me and Elder Child eat good here, the best I've eaten on my mission.  We fried up some steak and I boiled Kumala(which is like a sweet potato) and I made some mashed Kumala and Gravy.  It turned out way good!

Friday (Halloween), we stayed in Lenakel and decided to walk around instead of driving the truck.  It was good so we could shake hands and talk with people.  We walked across town to a member's house and we read in 1 Nephi 1 with her and helped her know more about Nephi and his family. Then we walked to our recent convert Royal's house.  On our way there was a teenage boy walking by and he saw us and told us "Elders, I want to join your church but I don't know how".  We talked with him for a few minutes and set up an appointment and gave him a restoration pamphlet to read.  It's amazing how the lord prepares people and puts them in our path to teach. 

 

We then taught Royal about the Plan of Salvation to make sure he knows heavenly father's plan really well.  He's so awesome and he sets a good example for his friends.  After seeing Royal, we went to a perspective missionary's house.  Her name is Belinda and her and her family invited us to come over.  And since it was halloween we decided to watch a scary movie! Just Kidding, we decided to watch 17 Miracles with this family to help them know about the early years in the church and how the Pioneers faith was so strong that they gave up all they had to go to Zion and go to the temple.

Saturday we drove to Karimasanga and we got to the base of the road to drive up to Henry's house.  For some reason another truck was parked in the middle of  road and it was raining and we decided to drive around the truck.  We started driving around it and almost made it but since the road was wet we couldn't go higher.  So we backed up a little but since we were on the side of the road and there was old deep tire tracks that our wheels were in so we went back and got high centered!  About 20 feet away from where we got stuck a few weeks ago!  Good thing I put a shovel in the back of the truck to prepare for these situations.  We were high-centered for about only a half an hour before we got out and then we just decided to walk up to Henry's house.  We were soaked because of the rain but that didn't stop us.  Nothing can stop me and Elder Child! 

 

We got up there in about 45 minutes and reviewed the baptism interview questions with his family and we just talked there awhile and then on our way back down a guy named Sam asked about our church and we set up an appointment with him.  Another man was placed in our path.  Then we taught a less active member about the priesthood before we went back to Lenakel. 

Sunday we wanted to go to Ianapkasu for church.  The Church house was finished so we went up there.  It rained alot saturday night so the roads were very slick again so we had to park the truck way down.  Then we walked 45 minutes up to Ianapkasu.  The church house is beautiful and many members came to church.  They used to place mats in a small kitchen and worship but now there's a bush house that we worship in.  They put in mats for everyone to sit down.  We taught the kids during sunday school about the story of Nephi and the Prophet Mormon and how he abridged the records.  During Sacrament meeting I had the Priviledge to give a baby blessing to a 2 week year old baby! Then it was testimony meeting and we bore our testimonies and taught a new investigator named Elina about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Then we had to walk all the way down to the truck and we drove to Lenakel to teach.  We shared a scripture with a member before going to see royal again.  After teaching him, we received a call from the Greenpoint Branch President's son asking us to come to the hospital to give a blessing.  We went there and there was a baby named Moroni that had respiratory problems so we went and gave a blessing.  I think the baby's doing better now. 

Well know that all is well, I'm glad that Halloween was fun and know that Everything is great here!  I love serving the lord and living among these people. I love you all so much and you're in my prayers!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Me and the kids at Inapkasu (man bush)

The church house we helped build in Inapkasu

Working on the church house roof in Inapkasu

Week 4 on Tanna October 27, 2014

Dia famle mo ol frien blo mi,

Since you last heard me, we went to a family house night at an investigator's house named Thomas.  He's very interested in the church but his wife is not.  So we went to their house and watched the movie of the Restoration.  The full family and many kids came to watch and at the end we bore testimony of the truth of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  The spirit was really there and we had a great time.  After the movie, we did a little activity.  We bought a pack of cookies and played the game where you put a cookie on your forehead and you use facial expressions to move it into your mouth.  It was hilarious! the people love it!  It was a fun family house night and we hope to teach this whole family someday.

Tuesday Morning we woke up early and met some sister missionaries at the airport.  One sister was transferring and one was coming.  One of our duties as Zone Leaders is to go to the airport to check in missionaries whenever they leave.  Then we met a perspective sister missionary from Saet Siwi at the hospital so she could get all her checkups done.  A boy named Sam (one of my good friends from Saet Siwi) came to help.  He's waiting on his mission call right now.  Saet Siwi sends out so many missionaries,  since I left Tanna last year one new missionary has left on their mission, four are waiting on mission calls, and my best friend Katum is waiting to finish his papers and wait for his call.  There are so many missionaries coming out of these branches, it's amazing!

So we did that and we drove south to Karimasanga.  (the place where we got stuck a few weeks ago.)  We drove up to a less active member's house and taught this guy named Simeon about enduring to the end.  And then we checked to see if Papa Henry was home but he was gone.  We plan on inviting his family to be baptized this week!  And in the future we hope to get a Unit set up there.  So I guess we are looking over basically four areas now! 

So to help you get an idea of where these places are, our first area is Lenakel, the main town on the island and it's where we live,  Then if we drive about a half hour south (on bumpy and windy dirt roads) on the main road on the south west shore,  there's a road that goes east up a mountain to Inapkasu, our other area. If we drive another five or ten minutes south on the main road, there's a road that goes east up to Karimasanga, and if we drive from Lenakel down the main road, it takes about an hour to get to our last and southern most area Greenpoint.

After we checked if Papa Henry was home, he was gone so we decided to drive back to Lenakel and go to the airport  at 4pm because another Sister missionary was arriving.  Afterwards we went to our Lenakel Unit Leader's house to have a small meeting with him and then we wanted to go to some appointments but all were cancelled.  So we went home after the meeting.

Wednesday we went to District Meeting and came back to Lenakel and went by the market.  One guy asked us some questions about the church and we sat down to answer his questions,  then since many people were around, two pastors from other churches came and started bombarding us with questions. One of them asked many questions but the other just wanted to sit and listen.  The first question the first pastor asked was" who is Jesus's brother?"  And my companion said "John". and this guy was surprised that we knew that.  Then they said "Revelations 22:18 says that there can't be anything added up to the bible",  and they were against the Book of Mormon.  So we shared Deutoronomy 4:2 and John 10:16 to help him know that Revelations is only referring to the Book of Revelations and there are other records on this earth.  They were pretty surprised when we answered their questions.  They asked a few more but we got the indication that they would just keep on asking questions to stump us so Elder Child ended with bearing a strong testimony so we wouldn't get into an arguement.

When we got done, many people were quiet and we gave three people a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet and committed them to find out for themselves if the Book of Mormon is true. Many people witnessed what we did and I think we put many thoughts in their minds,  we respect these people and hope that they will be interested in the future to hear more about the church.  So that was a cool experience that we had.  What else can I say?  The Church is True!  We have all the answers and the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We stayed in Lenakel and decided to drive to a chief's house named Joe.  He's an investigator and the missionaries haven't seen him in a while because he's been gone in Port Vila so we decided to go teach him and his family.  We taught him about the Book of Mormon and how it came about, and we testified of the truth of it and he was very happy for us to come. Then we went to a school to wait for an investigator to finish school so we could teach him but we soon found out that he wasn't there, so we went to the District Clerk's house here and he has a Niece named Linda that we taught last week.  We went there and taught Linda and a non-member mama about the Plan of Salvation and they were very interested.  They have never heard the plan of salvation like that before.  It was a really good and clear lesson, I just love the Plan Heavenly father has for us! Afterwards we taught our investigator Tiffany about Tithing and it was her daughters 2nd birthday so they put sparklers in a banana cake that they made and we sang happy birthday and ate some cake and cookies.  It was our last appointment for the night.

Thursday we studied in the morning and then went to Whitegrass to have an important meeting with the Branch President there and by about 1pm we drove to Inapkasu, it was a nice sunny day and we were able to get up without any problem.  Inapkasu probably has one of the most dangerous roads (when it's wet) and there's a big steep hill that's impossible to drive up when it's raining. Well we got up fine and drove straight to the Unit up there and taught a little girl whose a recent convert named Sionde.  A mama from Saet Siwi translated for us.  Some of you might already know but Tanna has more than 100 different languages and many areas it's different.  Greenpoint and Saet Siwi are the same so I know that really well, In Inapkasu, the language is different (but they understand Saet Siwi language), and in Lenakel there are many different languages as well, but in Lenakel, mostly everyone knows Bislama. 

Well after we taught Sionde, we found out that all of our other investigaors were gone so we decided to help our Unit Leader Sam work on the Church house that they're building.  It's a bush church house and we helped him make the wild cane roof.  We helped him and played games like duck duck goose and hide and go seek with the kids and just had a great time.  Then a rainstorm came and me and Elder Child left quickly because we knew that the roads would be dangerous.  And that leads to a miracle that happened that I want to tell you.

So it's raining pretty hard and the roads are really slick and we know that we need to get down the big steep hill as quickly as possible.  So we finally arrived at this hill and to give you an idea of what this hill is like is that the road is in the middle and both sides it's very steep and the sides lead down to ravines.  And towards the left of the hill the road branches left.  So we start to descend down this hill (we know we have to be careful) and we put the truck in 1st gear and we slide a little and pump the brake so we don't lose control.  But the truck is heavy and the truck starts sliding faster and out of control down this road.  My companion then stomped on the brakes and he pulled the E-Brake and the E-Brake went out so we are flying down this hill just sliding.  And where the road branches left is a big fallen tree and me and my companion crash into this tree, but the impact was so small, it only broke the  passenger headlight.  The truck was a little stuck so we put it in reverse and I pushed the truck and we got unstuck and then we talked about all that happened to each other.

My companion said as we came down the hill, sliding down the hill, he had two options, one veer left and miss the tree, or two, hit the tree.  He said a voice in his mind told him to hit the tree!  Then we came to the conclusion that if we would have veered left and missed this tree, we probably would have slid off the side of the hill, and rolled down into the ravine.  Then it was apparent to us that the Spirit had told Elder Child to hit the tree to save us, and yet the impact was surprisingly small for the speed that we were going, and there wasn't a scratch on either of us.  It was indeed a miracle!

We went home that night and bathed to wash off the mud that was all over us and we reported the accident to the leader who looks over the vehicles, and he was so glad that we were okay.  I am so thankful for the Lord providing the safety he had blessed us with that night, and know that everything is okay.

Friday we drove to Port Resolution under the Mission President's direction so we could give a report at what's available there and if it would be suitable for missionaries.  On our way there we stopped by a village called  Nikity that's not too far from the Volcano and we checked a house that missionaries might stay in the future.  Then we drove to Ikuaramanu (down the mountain from saet siwi) and there were football games happening there and we stayed and watched awhile and I talked to many of my friends from Saet Siwi.  We came down to Ikuaramanu all the time when I was there last year, it was part of our area.

Then we drove to Port Resolution to Papa David's house.  He's now the Unit leader there and him and his family are the ones that we would stay with whenever we taught and stayed there.  David wasn't there but many of his kids and other Pikinini were there and they showed us the way to David's garden where he was.  We walked along the beautiful beach there and the kids showed the way and we just had a great time with them.  I love it when the kids follow us around, we have so much fun!

We found David and he showed us around the area so we could find out about any infa structure and stores for the missionaries in the future. I was so happy to be there again, and David and his family  was happy too.  We stayed there the rest of the afternoon taking pictures and we ate dinner with them that night and shared a scripture with their family before driving an hour and a half back to Lenakel.  So in the future there will most likely be missionaries staying and teaching there, right now the Saet Siwi Elders are still going there every once in a while.

Saturday morning we drove to Whitegrass to get our front brakes changed on the truck and it's a good thing we did,  those breaks were seriously rubbing metal against metal, that's probably why we couldn't slow down the hill a few days ago.  We got the breaks changed and held a meeting with some members in Whitegrass.  They took forever to come so we had the meeting and didn't get done until the afternoon.  So we went home that afternoon and did our weekly planning that night.

Yesterday we picked up President Brewer and his wife to go to Whitesands (an area by the volcano) so they could go to church there.  It was a beautiful day and we got there and the branch there is so awesome!  Two hundred members came and the church was so full!  It couldn't hold everybody inside.  After Church they prepared good food for lunch and we ate and then we took the Mission President to a school so he could see the needs of some communities here.  Afterwards we we drove all the way to Whitegrass where there were some meetings and after all the meetings were done, it was already late in the afternoon.  While driving President brewer and his wife to the Whitegrass Resort there was a beautiful sunset that we saw while driving back.  I love Tanna, it's such a beautiful place!  Well, we dropped them off and then went home for the night. 

Well, know that all is well and last week many things happened and the Lord is really hastening his work here.   We had a miracle and are so grateful to be safe and to be serving the lord in Vanuatu.  I love you all and hope all is well.

Love,

Elder Beynon

Damage to our truck after smashing into the tree

Playing with the kids on the beach at Port Resolution

A view from snake hill overlooking the southeast part of the island

Me with my Saet Siwi friends after District Conference