Monday, June 22, 2015

Elder Smiler going home
Week 14 on Port Vila

Dia famle blong mi,

First off, HAPPY FATHER's DAY!!!   Last week was great!  we were very busy with transfers as you know and on Thursday morning we checked in Elder Mesui and Elder Taleo at the airport to transfer to malekula. Then we went home to do our personal study and we went back to the airport to pick up Elder Esplin, and we brought him to the office and then me and Elder Dakunimata had some time to teach so we visited Edmas and we taught her how the church works with auxiliaries and how it's possible that she could get a calling.  then we saw Sele and Mimo and taught them about the priesthood, he's very excited!

We also went to Jonassy's house and we saw him and taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we invited him to be baptized!  So now we have 5 investigators with baptism dates.  We hope to baptized them on July 11th.

Friday morning we did our studies and weekly planning and had the chance to teach Bella again.  We taught her about the Sabbath and she still wants to be baptized and we were glad to see her again. Then we went to Nambatri to find people to teach. 

We had been praying for the lord to place people in our path to teach and we started walking to the futbol field to go play with some kids when a man named Cyrus carrying a bag of rice looked at us, shook our hand, and said "Gud Aftanun",  and we asked how he is and then he said "my house is right down there if you want to come."  The lord had answered our prayer!

He immediately placed someone ready to hear the gospel in our path and we played futbol with some kids and then we went to Cyrus's house and we talked with him, got to know him, and taught him how the gospel blesses families. Then afterwards he showed us some of his art, he has the talent of drawing and painting, but no one really knows about it but he showed us some cool things he's painted and drawn with his bare hands.  He's a great guy and we hope to teach him again.

Afterwards we visited Moses and Norman's family and we taught them both about the priesthood as well.  then we taught maria and her kids about the law of chastity.  It got dark and then we went to the airport on behalf of President Brewer to pick up President Mahit, them district president in Santo and we took him to the Melanesian hotel where he'd stay so he could witness the Stake Conference.  All the district presidents in vanuatu would come for the conference. President Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy had also come earlier in the day.

Saturday morning we studied and picked up President Nalawas and checked him into the Hotel with his wife and then taught Avock about Following the Prophet and then we went back to the airport, picked up President Vanu, district president of Malekula and we checked him into the hotel. 

Then we drove to Blacksand's  Branch where the church was holding an activity for every branch on the island to come together one last time before the Stake is Created and ward boundaries change and everyone gets put in their new wards.  The activity started at 3pm and all the missionaries were invited and i'm guessing 1500-2000 people came to the activity.  Each branch had members do a custom dance and danced for everyone.  It was really cool.  There were custom dances from Pentecost, Banks Islands, Malekula, Tanna, and North Efate, it was a lot of fun!!!  It went on until about 8pm at night.

Sunday morning  we went to "Le Lagoon" again and helped usher the people inside the big building so Stake Conference could start. SOOOOOOO many people came probably 2000 or 2500 people!  Members from other islands around the country came to Efate on Ships, some on plane so they could see the Event and see the Stake Presidency sustained! It was an amazing conference.  President Johanssen of the area seventy talked, the new stake presidency bore their testimonies, and Sister and President Pearson both gave talks to the people.  The spirit was so strong and it's taken about 36 years for Vanuatu could get to this point.

Many members and Families have been enduring through all these years with their callings so the church can grow, and now they can have the fulness of the priesthood keys in their country, held by their own people to help the church grow.  It's amazing how fast the church is growing here ands so many blessings will continue to be poured as the church strengthens, NOTHING will stop the lord and his work. 

After the conference we dropped President Mahit off at the airport so he could fly back to Santo and then we picked up Sam Matua, a friend of ours from Saet Siwi and he taught with us while we taught
Matilyn about the Plan of Salvation and we also taught Sele about Temples.

This morning President Pearson and his wife met with us missionaries and talked with us for about an hour before they would fly back.  Man you can always know the disciples of the lord just from when they speak, I love how we have a living prophet today and his servants!  Well all is great here in Vanuatu, the people are being SO blessed and we're excited to see what's to come!

Dad you are such  great example to me and you have been such a great Papa to me!  Happy
Father's Day!  Mi lavem yufala tumas!

Love,

Elder Beynon
 
Me and member friends

One of Cyrus' paintings

Blacksands Branch

Stake Activity

Kastom Danis Blong Pentecost (Custom Dance)

Our Zone

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Family Hous Naet with Hungai  Family



















Week 13 on Port Vila




Me with some kind of bird

Me and Elder Passey and Elder Namak

Family Hous Naet with Basil Family

Elder Tissanamal's homecoming

Bein' Goofy

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Week 12 on Port Vila

Dear Family Blong Mi,

Alright since you last heard me I was getting ready to go to Tanna.
Thursday me and Elder Hubbert, one of the Zone Leaders, flew
to do an exchange with Elder Ross and Elder Ngatehau.  We arrived and
drove to Lenakel to our house and did a small plan and we drove to
Whitegrass where we dropped off Elder Hubbert and Elder Ngatehau there to teach.
Then me and Elder Ross drove all the way up to Saet Siwi and we
arrived at around 12pm.  Everything was much greener and the road up
was fine.  We got up there and met two of my good old friends named
Maban and Jerry.  Both are preparing to go on missions now.  We went on
splits with them and Elder Ross split with Maban and I split with
Jerry.  Me and Jerry stayed up in Ikurup as Elder Ross and Maban went
down to Imaeo.  We ended up teaching Elder Benry's mother named
Natinmen about the Restoration.  Everyone in his family are members
except for his parents.  I was able to teach a little in the language
and Jerry translated as well as needed.  Afterwards we walked around
and talked with people and many people were surprised when I talked to
them in their language.  We then walked town to the village of Iabowr
and taught a new investigator named Ellen who was interested in the Church.
We taught her about the restoration as well and she knew everything
was true.  We walked back up through Inias Village and past Iakunamari
and back down to Ikurup where I ran into Elder Benry's dad.  He's the
one who makes the bamboo flutes I told you about. I ended up buying 4
off of him to bring home.  Then we taught a group of kids about
prayer and we ate some manyoke and Maigargar (a type of cabbage) for
dinner.  We met up with elder Ross and Maban and even Elder Rausika
came with them and I was very happy to see him.  I said goodbye to
everyone and took some photos and then we drove all the way back to
Whitegrass and picked up the other 2 elders and drove back to Lenakel.
We all made new teaching records and updated the area book and we were
very happy with the work we did.  Combined we all taught 11
lessons and all were new investigators!
     Friday morning we studied and then in the afternoon we flew back
to Port Vila and we had lunch with the Zone Leaders, and then we
taught Elorine about Missionary Work.  It got dark and the Zone
Leaders came over to bake a cake for Saturday's Zone Baptism.  I made
a cake as well which turned out pretty good.
     Saturday morning at 10am we held our Zone Baptism Program.  All
the missionaries came with there investigators and many members came
as well.  A total of 16 investigators were ready to be baptized!  The
baptism was organized really well and Me and Elder Smiler baptized
Avock, Rose, Anna, Sele, Moses, Norman, and Elorine, a total of 8
baptisms in our area!  Afterwards we heard the testimonies of the new
converts and it was very strong meeting, many great testimonies were
shared.  Then we all had cake and biscuits for refreshments.  We
didn't get done until the afternoon and we went to President
Tiasanmal's house that night and visited with the prospective
missionaries.
     Sunday morning during sacrament meeting 3 babies were blessed and
we gave all 8 of our confirmations before the sacrament was passed.
The blessings and confirmations took up so much time that the first
counselor bore his testimony and had to end the meeting.  All the
confirmations took up the whole time!  After church we went to
President Basil's house where many members came to for an afternoon
meal.  President Basil and President Toungian ended up both adopting a
baby and we all ate together to commemorate it.  We also taught Moses,
norman, and Elorine about enduring to the end.  They were so happy to
be baptized!  Then we went to Namba Tri and taught Avock about
Chastity and mama Mara and her family about the plan of Salvation.
She too knows everything we've been sharing is true and she has a
great family.
   Everything is great here in Vanuatu.  This next week will be busy,
Wednesday through Friday we will be going to Santo for Zone Conference
again and then next week will be transfer week again!!! So a lot will
be going on and we will be keeping busy.  Mi lavem yufala Evriwan!!!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Teaching in Saet Siwi

My Family in Saet Siwi

Our Zone Baptisms


Thursday, June 4, 2015

Moses and Norman's family
Week 11 on Port Vila

Dia Famle Blong Mi,

Wow, it's been a while!  Well everything has been great here! Last Tuesday we had a lot of work to do in the office and we were able to teach Avock about the Word of Wisdom, and teach Edmas the
Baptism Interview Questions. That afternoon we also taught Norman and Moses and Elorine about Tithing.

Wednesday morning we checked in an Elder named Elder Rillang in the Airport so he could go to Malekula, then we went home to do our Studies and then we had district meeting and then we saw Matilyn.  We taught her about faith and then we saw Avock and Rose and we taught them about tithing.  We also taught Sele about the Baptism Interview Questions and he's very excited to be baptized!  We also had the chance to see Jonassy and we taught him about the Plan of Salvation.
He was very interested and already knew quite a bit from coming to church.  That night we went to Namba Tri to mama Josette's house and we shared a message in the Ensign with her and her daughter Isha.

Thursday morning we played basketball with the office elders and afterwardes got ready and had the Efate MLC meeting and it went on for 3 hours, man was it a good meeting!  We got stuck in the office afterwards and didn't get out until late in the afternoon.  We picked up the Elders in Pango and Elder Joseph interviewed Edmas and also Sele to be baptized and both are ready!   That afternoon we visited Avock and taught him about tithing and then a new investigator named Maria and her kids about how heavenly father loves us.  They were glad and we set a return appointment, everybody is so open to the gospel here!

Friday morning we studied and had to go to the office to meet with President Brewer and that afternoon we were able to have Elder Joseph interview Avock, Rose, and Anna to be baptized. We also taught Moses and Norman about the Sabbath and then taught them and Elorine about the baptismal questions.

Saturday picked up the Elders in Pango again and Elder Joseph interviewed Elorine to be baptized and then we participated in a marriage for a couple in our branch and a baptism for the Elders in
Erakor.  The marriage was great, it was done by the branch president and the couple invited us to eat with them afterwards and we had biscuits and good cake!  Afterwards we taught Matilyn and about 10 other kids who came and joined with the lesson about the Plan of Salvation.  It was cute having them all around.  One thing I've seen here in Vanuatu is that EVERYBODY believes in Heavenly Father and Jesus.  There's anti-christs or anyone who just believes in science, everyone knows of Jesus Christ, I love it, the people are so faithful here.

After seeing Matilyn we taught Edmas about baptism and confirmation and she too is very excited to be baptized.  Then we taught Sena about the Restoration and the spirit was very strong,  she knew everything was true, without a doubt.  Then we visited mama Maria and taught her, her son Japeth, her daughter Angelina, and her nephew Matthew about the Restoration, them too, knew everything was true, mama Maria has been coming to church alot as well.  Then for the first time we had the chance to meet Moses and Norman's full family! 

We asked them how they felt when they heard that their children were going to be baptized and they said they were so grateful.  The mama and papa want to become members as well but want to wait because contention from other people might rise if they do.  They absolutely love the church though and they plan to come to Moses and Norman's baptism.  They hope that when their kids become members first, they will be able to come afterwards.  We ended up teaching their family about family prayer and we had tea and biscuits for dinner with them. They're such a great family and I love  teaching them.

Sunday morning we went to church and had time to just partake of the sacrament and go meet President and Sister Brewer at the airport to fly to the Solomon Islands.  We flew out at 10:30am and arrived at 12:30am and it was beautiful but just HOT!!!  Hotter than Gaua. We arrived in Honiara, Guatal Canal Island, and Elder and Sister Sampson picked us up and we got talkin'.  I think some of you know a little about them already but they're from St. George, Utah as well!

We went to the area of Whiteriver and they were just finishing up with church and the people swarmed around Elder Smiler,  he served in the Solomon lslands for a year and 2 months before coming to Vanuatu, so many people knew him.  I was able to communicate with the people a
little bit.  Some of you may know that the main language in the Solomon Islands is "Pijin".  I could understand most of it but it is a little different than bislama.  Pijin seems to have more English mixed
in it and they say phrases a little differently.  Example, if I want to say "what are you doing right now? in bislama, I would say: "Yu stap mekem wanem naoia?"  or in Pijin you say: "What nao yu doem this taem?"  It's pretty funny.

Well after church we went to Elder Willoughby and Elder Liu's house and we went on splits and I went with Elder Willoughby and we taught an investigator Toni about the Plan of Salvation.  I tried to do it in Pijin as best I could and I did pretty well if I say so myself.  One thing that's interesting about the Solomon Islands is the people learn English in school, and they write in English, but they speak Pin Pijin.  When we teach there we use English Book of Mormons and Pamphlets. As in Vanuatu, you either learn French or English in School, sometimes both, and people speak bislama.  They don't even learn bislama in school.  Everyone in Vanuatu somehow teaches themselves how to read bislama, it's cool.

 Me and Elder Willoughby walked up to a place called Greenvalley and there were some beautiful views and we also walked down to a member's house named papa Nixon Louniu, we talked
with him awhile and I saw that he had a guitar and I started playing it and gave it to him and to my surprise he started playing songs by Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Def Leppard, and all these hard rock
bands.  I don't know where he learned how to rock out but he knew how to play pretty well, if he had an electric guitar you would've been surprised!  We visited a couple other members as well before going back to the house at night.

The people in Honiara aren't as bush as Vanuatu, many people have jobs and live in somewhat a city life, mostly everyone has power in their house but they still don't have too much, and they all know each other and are lovable people as well.  Man I wish you could be here to see these places and meet these people.


Monday morning we hitched a ride in a bus into town to go to Zone Conference.  There's lots of people in Honiara, there was some traffic there too, we actually arrived 10 minutes late because of traffic.  We met in the Honiara Branch for our Zone Conference and it went on until 1pm and we had good ham sandwiches with mustard for lunch and later on we went shopping in town.  We had a bus take us to the Central Main Market and I bought a few cool necklaces and bracelets they make with
shells and stuff there.  It's pretty cool.  I also had to at least get a T-Shirt and hat as well.

We went home and changed and played Volleyball with members and non-members at Whiteriver Branch and then went to a Family Home Evening with papa Nixon's family.  We shared a short message about prayer and ate rice, Kumala, and Chicken with them.  We origionally planned on eating Dog but they didn't find one to kill and eat so we had to substitute chicken, but that's all right.
(I was looking forward for at least tasting dog once:).

Tuesday morning we went to the Honiara Branch for MLC meeting with the Sampsons and the Zone Leaders and it went on for about 2 and a half hours, a very good meeting. Afterwards Elder Sampson brought us down the street to the newly completed District Church Building and it was Beautiful! It will be the new Honiara Chapel and have 2 branches worshipping there in the future.  So here in the Solomon Islands there's 4 branches, 3 in Honiara, and 1 in the province Malaita.  We have 6 Elders in Honiara and 2 missionary couples, and 4 Elders in Malaita.  There's over 600 members of the church in the Solomon Islands and the church is growing fast!

Well we saw the new church and then Elder and Sister Sampson took us to the airport.  On the way they took us to a place where old crashed WWII planes and canons were.  It was pretty cool!  We got to the airport and flew all the way back to Port Vila.  We got off the plane and it ws alot cooler.  I loved the Solomons, except for the heat.  I should be going back there in July.  After we arrived in Port Vila 3 missionaries got set apart and they stayed at our house for the night.  One was Samson Nipikou, President Nipikou's son in Saet Siwi, he will go to P.N.G., and another one named Elder Din, from Ambae , who will be serving in Vanuatu, and another named Elder Ishmael Taleo,
he's serving in Adlade, Australia.
  
This morning we checked in the 3 elders to fly to the New Zealand MTC and they flew and we went to Zone Training, afterwards we went to the mission office to put some baptism records through the system and we ended up staying most of the day because 2 missionaries, Sister Tagini, and Elder Lapenmal unexpectedly arrived back from the MTC.  So we gave them an Orientation and then had a tiny bit of time to teach Elorine about baptism and confirmation, and we dropped off the Elder
and Sister with some missionary companionships.  Then we had time to do a little shopping and just found time to email.   And tomorrow me and one of the Zone Leader's Elder Hubbert will be flying to Tanna to go on an Exchange with Elder Ross and Elder Ngatehau, we're very excited, they've been teaching like crazy there!

Well everything is......hmm.......splendid!  I am so happy to be doing what i'm doing and serving the Lord Jesus Christ.  I love seeing how the gospel applies to all of us in this world regardless of who we are, where we're from, and what we're like.  The church is True, that's all there is to it!!! Mi lavem yufala evriwan!!!!!

Love,

Elda Beynon


Me and the members at the white river branch

Me in Green Valley

Honiara Branch

Solomon Islands Zone

Honiara Solomon Islands

Honiara Solomon Islands

Family Home Evening at the Nixon's

View from the Chapel

The New Honiara Chapel

Beautiful!

WWII Aircrafts
Teaching the kids