Futbol

Port Vila Week 19

Halo Famle Blong Mi,

Well all I can say is that we've been BUSY BUSY BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!  Lot's of things happened within the last week. Tuesday last week we had an orientation in the morning for two new missionaries Elder Leong and Sister Lainos. We gave them the orientation and then we had lunch at "Seaview Takeaway" and had some burgers and we got our office work done.  We visited Donovan and taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then we had a Famle Haos Naet with Sele's Family and we taught the family about enduring to the end.  Then we packed up before we went to New Caledonia.

Wednesday we checked in the airport at 4:30am to fly to New Caledonia and we arrived at 8am and it was beautiful!!! We flew to "Tontouta"  and there was a line of big mountains to the north and it
was gorgeous!!!  The air was nice and cool and not too humid.  Elder Kelly and Elder Teriihaunui, the Zone Leaders and the other zone leaders were there to greet us and they drove us a half an hour
southeast to the main city of Noumea.  The roads were big too and I felt like I was home honestly.  There was a lot of land and many big buildings, it was really developed honestly. Oh and we passed a Mcdonalds as well!  Everything was written in french though.  The main language there is french and not many people know english.  I wish I knew good friends.  I just learned the basics.

We arrived and checked the Grangers in their hotel and we stopped by Rivier Sale'e to the stake center and it was really nice.  The elders and sisters were there waiting to interview with president granger.  there's many elders and sisters from Tahiti, Samoa, and the United States.  And I've heard there's 3 different kinds of people there mainly.  There's the natives, called "Kanaks" which are native to the country, there's the French who were born in New Caledonia, and there ancestors come from France, and there's the French who move from Europe all the way to New Caledonia.  There are many other people from different countries there but those are the main 3 from the country.
There's 47 missionaries serving in New Caledonia now.  While President was interviewing we followed Elder Kelly and we ran some Errands with them and saw some of the church buildings with them and we picked up other missionaries so they could be interviewed.  We played some basketball with the Elders for awhile and the interviews went on until dark.

The ZL's dropped everyone off and we went with them and a few others to McDonalds for dinner.  I got a Boss Burger Meal and a McFlurry and the restaurant was busy but I got my food within 90
seconds no kidding!!!  We drove to an area called Triano where there's a big cross monument and President Thomas S. Monson apparently came there to dedicate the ground for the preaching of the gospel. It was alot of fun.  We stayed with Elder Kelly and Elder Teriihaunui for the night.

Thursday morning was our big missionary meeting and we all met at the stake center and we had a headset with channels that let us link to hearing someone translating what they're saying in french to
english.  So most of the testimonies were borne in french.  A few in english too.  I met many other missionaries and I found out i have a few connections with some of them.  One of the Elders was named George Lasike from New Zealand, and if I'm not mistaken, he said his brother is Paul Lasike who plays on the Arizona Cardinals Football Team! Weird huh?  I also met a Sister named Maggie Gunn who apparently is a cousin to the Eastman family.  I think Sister Easman is her aunt if
I'm not mistaken. Chance, you need to talk to Cayden Eastman and let him know I met his cousin in New Caledonia, what a coincidence!!!

Oh and just another side note for ya, did I tell you that I found out I'm related to Sister Stoddard, the Education Specialist here?  We got talking one day and I told her that I had some ancestors who were
in Parowan and Beaver and she said she did too.  She said that she had some ancestors in Parowan named Jesse N. Smith!!!  And I told her that they're part of our family too.  It brought back memories of when we went to the tour of their house.  I have many connections here for some reason.  Oh and I also met an Elder in New Caledonia named Elder Sage Stubbs.  He's from Denver Colorado but said that he went to BYU and met my cousin Jordan Smith, and she told him to look out for me! Crazy huh?


Okay well after the meeting we had a good lunch that some members prepared and after all the interviews were done we went with President to the "Magenta" chapel and it's also next to the small office they have in New Caledonia.  We showed him the office and then joined in a meeting with some auxiliary leaders.  I couldn't understand much of what they said though, I really wish I knew french, It makes me want to learn more languages now.  The Country is pretty modernized but
when you get to the north or the outer islands it's pretty bush.  We have some missionaries out there as well.

Friday morning we checked into the airport at 6:45am and we flew back to Port Vila, man was New Caledonia beautiful.  We returned and went straight to the office and got some work done there and then we went to Nambatu and saw Edmas and we taught her about Baptism and Confirmation and helped her remember of her baptismal covenants.  We also went to Seaside to the futbol field where kids were playing and doing some activities for "Children's Day".  We talked with some
members and people there and then that afternoon we saw Moses and Norman and we taught them about obeying and honoring laws.
      
Saturday we witnessed some baptisms in Port Vila 1st Ward and then saw Madlene and taught her about enduring to the end.  Then we went to Beverly Hills and taught a couple of new investigators named Lindsay and Paul.  They were part of the big group of people we taught last week.  We taught them more about the Book of Mormon and committed them to pray about it. Then we saw Sele and taught him about callings in the church and then we all played Soccer with the boys there. Most of them are from Ambrym and they are really starting to like us missionaries.

Sunday morning we went to church, and went to 'kaikai sakramen" and then we flew to Honiara again to the Solomon Islands.  We arrived and Elder and Sister Sampson dropped us off at the Burns Creek Branch with Elder Liu and Elder Jhonny and we went on splits for the day.  I followed Elder Liu and we taught many investigators and less actives. we kept busy the whole day! We taught a few part member families about prophets and a mama about Service.  We also taught a papa about the
word of wisdom and then a boy named Pita about the restoration.  I also started catching on pretty well with the pidgeon.  I can understand it really well now.
      
Monday morning we all met at the new district center in Talise and had our missionary meeting there.  We got there on a couple buses and the meeting was really good and afterwards had lots of sandwiches, bananas, popo, and pineapples for lunch.  Then President interviewed with everyone and we went back to Burns Creek in the afternoon and played Futbol with some boys there.  The people there are alot like the people in Vanuatu.  Very open, humble, and they like you for who you are regardless where you're from and what you look like.
      
Tuesday morning me and Elder Dakunimata went on a bus to Talise to Elder and Sister Sampson's house and we went with them and picked up the Grangers and showed President the White River Chapel and we had lunch at the Sampsons before they brought us to the airport.  At the airport was an Elder who just finished his mission in PNG named Elder Jackson Nipikou.  He's President Nipikou's son in Saet Siwi, and his other son Samson Nipikou who was just set apart as a missionary last
month is already serving in PNG.  It was great to see Jackson Nipikou. When I first served in Saet Siwi they told me all about him. We all flew back to Port Vila and on the plane they showed the movie "The Flash" and I had to watch it. I thought it was cool but it was reallly short though.  Do they plan on making another sequel to it?  I remember seeing the weird ending.  Well at least I can say I've seen "The Flash"!
   
Today we had district meeting and Jackson Nipikou was released as a missionary.  We had our office meeting today as well and got stuck planning out our trip for tanna at the end of this week and we got
lots of office work done.  We have alot to plan for with president for the end of this transfer and it's gonna be a crazy couple weeks.  And then my good old friend Sam Matua returned from Fiji where they worked on getting him a Visa and President Granger set him apart as a missionary and he will serve here until his Visa comes so he can go to the phillipines.

Well we've been keeping busy with all the work with the mission tour and it was fun to go to the other countries.  You know we all live in this world, we're all different, we come from different
countries, we have different traditions and customs, but the gospel is for EVERYONE, Every Nation, Kindred, and People.  It's so amazing to see the blessings of the gospel in the lives of so many different people in different places.  I love you all and hope all is well.

Love,

Elder Beynon

Chapel in New Calendonia

My Friends

Pita and his family

"V" for Victory D&C 104:82

Futbol on Solomon Islands

WWII Tunnel on Solomon Islands

MCDONALDS!!!

View from the plane

Me and the Williams Family

Port Vila Week 18

Halo Famle Blo Mi,

Last week on Wednesday morning we were able to check in all 5 of the missionaries into the airport and they flew to the MTC.  Then we packed up and checked in the airport at 9:30am to fly with the
Grangers to Santo for the next missionary meeting.  When we got our luggage from the airport we were ready to load our luggage in the trucks when suddenly a foreigner from another church started yelling at us and mission president saying that we teach the doctrine of hell, and that we're confusing the people.  He said many doctrinal things and we said things back as well.  He was very angry and wouldn't listen to us or shake our hands. We just said "Bye, Good day To You Sir", and then left.  Even though that happened, we didn't care, it was just someone from another country who really doesn't like our church. 

You would never get that from the people here.  Some might not believe in our beliefs but they will never yell at you and say bad things about the church like that guy did, I love the people here in
Vanuatu!  Well Everyone from Gaua, Ambae, and Malekula were in Luganville for the missionary meeting.  We arrived and many of the missionaries interviewed with President Granger and I saw a few good ol' friends.  I saw Elder Joe, who I haven't seen since last year when we served together in Lowni!  He will be finishing in August.  During the afternoon we exchanged with Elder Pearce and Elder Killpack and I went to the area with Elder Pearce and we went to the village "Rata" and visited a less-active papa named William and we shared a scripture with his family and we invited them all to come to church.  Then we went back home and planned for the next day.

Thursday morning we had our missionary meeting and many great last testimonies were shared and we had a good lunch at the Santo Hotel again.  Then everyone had their interviews and we socialized
with all the missionaries until the afternoon and then some member teenage boys all came and played futbol and we played with them while we waited for President to finish his interviews with the zone leaders and District President.

Friday morning we ran back and forth from the airport to check in all the Elders to go back to Ambae, and then that afternoon went to the airport 4 seperate times to check in everyone from the Malekula
Zone so they could fly back to Malekula. After everybody left we went to the "Natangora Cafe" for some lunch and we all bought burgers which were very tasty.  I've eaten there once before, last year in January when I transferred to Gaua, I had french toast and Ice Cream.  We ate good burgers for lunch and we checked in the airport with the grangers at 3:30pm and we were supposed to fly at 5:30pm but there was a big delay and the plane didn't come until 7:30pm and then we flew to Port
Vila.  After arriving we drove to the mission office with a return missionary named "Elder Harry" who served in Australia.  President released him before we went home that night, we didn't get all done until about 11pm.

Saturday morning we brought Elder Harry to the airport so he could fly back to Malekula, He's from Tisman Unit, Lowni Branch.  I met his father and family back when I served there.  He flew back to
Malekula and we went home and we planned and tried to think we would do for the day, we prayed and felt like we should go to Beverly Hills and we prayed for the lord to place people in our path to teach. We drove up there and decided to park the truck by the futbol field there and we saw about 10 papas and boys sitting in the shade and we decided to sit down with them and talk with them.  We talked with them and then asked them if they've seen missionaries before and they said yes but they've never talked to them before.

We found out they were members of many other churches and then we started teaching them a
little about our purpose and I told them how I worked before I came and saved money to come and we asked them if they had any questions for us and one brought up Joseph Smith, he had seen a video about him many years back but didn't know much about the story, and we asked them, do you want to hear the story about Joseph Smith?  And they all said YES! and they were all interested.  So we taught them about the time of Jesus Christ, the apostasy, and about joseph smith and the restoration and Book of Mormon. 

We got done and asked them if they had any questions and there were none but some of them said "thanks for sharing that, I've always been curious about that and your beliefs and it was good to learn what your church really believes."  Then we asked them if we could come back sometime and they all said "yeah come anytime, our house is over there and we got many of their phone numbers.  None of them were against what we taught and all seemed very open to the gospel if we come back.  We hope to teach them and their families in the future.

 I just love how receptive the people are to the gospel, the lord has really prepared the hearts of the people here to hear the gospel.  We then walked around Beverly Hills and received some referrals from families and then walked back to the futbol field and we played futbol with the people before going to Nambatri to teach Maria.  We taught Maria and Penaline about Prayer and the importance
of praying at all times and we taught Moses and Norman how to donate tithes and offerings.  We had bread and tea with them for dinner.

Sunday we went to church and after church went to Donovan's House but he was gone so we taught Elorine about obedience.  The Basil family fed us rice, chicken soup, and salad for lunch and we ate with them before going to the mission office to meet with President Granger about the arrivals of a few missionaries.  We met with him and then went to Beverly Hills and taught Sele about Missionary Work and we asked him to invite a friend to come to church and I hope he does. Then at 6pm we had dinner at the Mission Home with the Grangers.  We had burgers and talked with them about the mission and they taught us alot about australia.  They're a lot like my family.  They love the
outdoors and love camping and stuff.  Perfectly fit for Vanuatu.  We made plans to go back to Tanna next month so President Granger can meet the District President there and the missionaries.

Today we got laundry done in the morning and our shopping and we had our office meeting. Afterwards we tried our best to get a Visa for Elder Dakunimata to go to New Caledonia but there were a lot of other documents we needed.  We started applying for one last week but it
didn't work out.  So Elder Dakunimata won't be going to New Caledonia, President wants Elder Esplin, from Orderville, Utah to go with me.

I heard they have a Mcdonalds there and we hope to eat there.  A new sister arrived named Sister Lainos and we dropped her off in Etas so she could stay with the 2 sisters there and then we took them to the mission home and met up with Elder Mastin, Kiapen, and a new Elder named Elder Leong and we all had dinner with the Grangers.  Sister Granger made mexican food!  She bought some tortillas, made refried beans, rice, corn, ground beef, and we all had tacos and burritos for dinner and it was so dang good!  Best Mexican food I've had in Vanuatu.  We dropped off the Sisters and just found time now to email.

Everything is going well here and it's fun to have the Grangers here and they're adjusting just fine to the culture here. They're learning bislama pretty fast too! Ale Mi lavem Yufala Bigwan!!!

Love,

Elder Beynon
 

Me, Elder Joe, Elder Saika,, Elder Benry (Tanna Squad)

The Malekula Zone

Our Football Team in Santo

One last picture with Pres and Sister Brewer

Week 16 on Port Vila

Dear Family Blong Mi we Mi Lavem Tumas,

Things are just great here in Vanuatu, we had a good famle haos night with the Toungian famle and Tuesday we were able to see Madlene in the morning and teach her about Tithing and then we went to the mission office so 3 missionaries could get set apart, one was Elda Willie Dan Kiapen, one of my friends from Saet Siwi and they got Set apart and then me and Elder Dakunimata met with Elder Adolf Johanssen of the Seventy and made plans for President and Sister Granger's arrival on Wednesday. 

That afternoon we had 2 of the missionaries follow us and teach us and we went to Nambatri and we taught Maria and Penaline about Baptism and Confirmation and the importance of the ordinance. We will be baptizing them this Saturday! We also saw Moses and Norman about the Ten Commandments and we taught them 10 signs they can do to remember them and they loved it! I might have to show you when I come home, here we teach and use so many examples in our teaching because it's always more effective if we make visual example and it makes the lesson a lot more fun and the people understand the principles a lot better.

Wednesday morning we went to the airport at 5am so the 3 newly set apart missionaries could fly to the New Zealand MTC.  But Elder Kiapen's Visa was already expired so he couldn't go so he will serve here in Pango with Elder Mastin until his new Visa comes.  We washed the truck and picked up President and Sister Brewer and took them to the Mission Office so they could get a few last things done.  We updated baptism records and we stayed until the Brewers were ready to go. 

At around 2pm, they checked into the airport, an hour early actually and they said a quick goodbye and decided to go through customs and go, it was hard to see them go but it is all in the lord's plan and he knows what he's doing.  Just like it says in 1 Corinthians 1: 5-6, there are differences in administrations and diversities of operations but it is the same God which Worketh in All.  They went and then President and Sister Granger arrived and were very happy to be in
Vanuatu. 

They're both from Adelaide, Australia and their daughter will be coming this week to stay with them the 3 years as well.   Well we picked them up and I drove the Grangers to the mission home where
Elder Johanssen and John Bennion gave a tour of the home and we let them get settled for awhile and that night at 6pm we wen to "Le Lagoon" with them, the Stake President Basil, and other members from the Fiji Service Center who came to prepare things for the Grangers arrival.  We all went to a buffet and had good dinner and a stringband came and played for everybody at the buffet and we had a great time! Afterwards we had the Grangers get settled so they could have a good rest after all that flying.


Thursday morning at 11:30am we brought the Grangers to the mission office so they could meet our Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and Couples etc.  We all went to a restaurant called Chills
Cafe and we bought 4 supersize pizzas and had lunch together and let the Grangers have the chance to get to know the Elders and Sisters here.  Then we got some office work done while the Grangers had some other meetings with the Fiji Service Center.   Then we took it easy that afternoon because I got a sore throat and we needed a little rest from everthing that's been going on.


Friday morning we picked up President and Sister Granger and we took them on a tour so they could see all the branches and wards in Port Vila.  We started out by driving out to see Mele Branch, it was
raining a little bit but it was a good day.  Then we stopped by Blacksands building where 2 wards will be attending in the next few weeks and they took a look inside.  Then we went all the way to Etas
Ward so they could see the building there.  After we took a detour drive to Erakor Branch.  They loved driving around and seeing the island, this is a really beautiful place!  They saw the Branch and
then we went to Nambatu where there will be 3 wards created in the
next few weeks.

Afterwards me and Elder Dakunimata had a good meeting with President Granger about the mission and we familiarized him with some of the missionaries and answered questions he had.  Then that
afternoon we dropped them off home and taught Matilyn about the Baptism interview questions and then Penaline and Maria about Prophets. They're all ready to be baptized now!

Saturday we attended a baptism for the Elders in Pango and Sister in Ohlen and President and Sister Granger came and Madlene, Maria, and Penaline all came to witness the baptisms as well!  The program finished at around 2pm and then Madlene, Maria, and Penaline were all interviewed to be baptized!  That afternoon we taught Avock and reviewed some of the commandments with him and then taught Moses and Norman about Service and they had us eat with them for dinner.  We had
rice, tuna, and pumpkin.
   
Sunday morning we went to Church and President and Sister Granger attended church with us in Port Vila 2nd ward and we had a good fast and testimony meeting and I sat with President to see how he was doing while listening to the lessons in the classes.  He said he's catching on and was able to find out a few definitions in the language. They'll catch along just fine!

Avock and Bella were also interviewed for baptism and so this upcoming Saturday we'll have 5 investigators baptized!  After Church we ate Lunch with Moses and Norman's family and we taught them with their parents about the importance of families and then Maria about the Priesthood.  We then visited Sele and taught him and Mimo about the 10 Commandments.

All is great here and I love President and Sister Granger. They've just come to a new country, new culture, and they will do just fine.  They are very loving and I'm excited to see the blessings that
will come while they're here and while we're with them. Mi lavem yufala evriwan!!!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Lunch with the Missionaries and The Grangers Our New Mission Pres

Teaching Maria and her family

Week 15 on Port Vila

Dear Family Blo Mi,

Since you last heard from mi we ended up having a famle haos naetwith Moses and Norman's family and Maria's family.  We all watched themovie of the Restoration and they loved it!  It was their first time to see a church movie and it helped them learn more about the life of Prophet Joseph Smith.  Their mother was very interested as well.  We are waiting to reel in the mama and the papa and hopefully in the future the rest of the family will be baptized.

Tuesday morning we had some work to do in the Office and we had an office meeting and that afternoon we went to Nambatri visited Avock and we taught him about the Restoration again and then we saw Moses and Norman and taught them about missionary work and then their sister
Penaline about the Restoration as well.  We also taught Maria about Tithing and she knew that it was true.  She said that many other churches did it differently and she felt that the way our church does
it is the way it should be done. That night we had time to shop so we went to the big main store called the "Au Bon Marche" to get our groceries.

Wednesday morning we washed our Toyota Hi-Lux and taught Madlene about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and comitted her to be baptized.  We hope to baptize 5 investigators next Saturday if they're ready: Avock, Penaline, Madlene, Bella, and Maria.  We also visited Avock and Rose
and they were glad to see us and we taught them about Temples and they're excited to go.  We also saw Sele and we read in the book of mormon with him to help him be more familiar with it.

Thursday morning we studied and visited a referral named Ilene who was interested in hearing the Gospel.  She's Catholic and she wanted to learn more about the church and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and Restoration and at the end we asked her if she had any questions and she had none.  She just knew it was all true!   We then went to the office because some members from Fiji came to do an Audit with us at the mission office.  They checked our vehicles and records at the office so we can prepare for President Granger's arrival.  We stayed about the whole day, oh and they bought us some pizza that really hit the spot!  It was the best pizza i've had in Vanuatu!

That night we read in 1 Nephi with Moses and Norman so they could start reading on their own and they just love having us over.  Then we went to the airport where we picked up Elder Child and his companion Elder Oten.  Elder Child had lots of open sores on his legs and hands that weren't healing so mission president had him come so he could have a doctor look at them and let him recover before he goes back this week. To think of it, I got lots of sores on my legs while I was Gaua last year, they took forever to heal but with help of the oils and Penacilin I got better.

Friday was our day to do our weekly planning and we taught Edmas a small message about obedience before we went to pick up Willie Dan, a friend from Saet Siwi who will be flying to the MTC on Wednesday and go serve in Guam.  Then we went and taught Maria about The Word of Wisdom and Penaline about the Word of Wisdom as well before going back to the airport to pick up 3 prospectives from Malekula who will be serving this week.  We then taught Bella about Prophets and we stayed
at President Tiasanmal's for the night.

Saturday we did our studies and we visited a member papa named Mahit Lui and we shared a scripture in Alma relating to Prayer.  Then we taught Madlene about Chastity and played with the kids and we did some magic at Sea Side.  All of our other appointments we visited cancelled.  So we went to see the Vanva Family and we talked with them, played with their kids and shared a scripture before we went home.

Yesterday at church we met as a branch because we're still waiting for the Stake Presidency to appoint Bishops and new Branch Presidents.  So here in Efate there will be 6 wards and 3 branches.
We will have 3 wards meet at the Nambatu chapel. Well After Church we taught Moses and Norman about "Loa Blong Livim Kakae" (Fasting) because Fast Sunday is coming up and then we visited Elorine and taught her about it as well.  We then went to the airport to pick up President and Sister Brewer, arriving from Malekula, just after a District Conference.  We picked them up and brought them to the mission office. (their vehicle is being serviced).  And then we ate at President Tiasanmal's and taught Bella about Chastity before we went to Nambatri and taught Maria and their family about the Sabbath and then Penaline about Chastity.  We were able to get a lot of teaching done last week.

There's a lot of work to be done.  President and Sister Brewer will be flying home on Wednesday and President Granger will be arriving.  Tomorrow we hope to meet with President Johanssen to plan
out the arrival of our new mission president!  It will be a good change for the mission, the lord knows what he's doing, and it's his work and it will continue to grow and move forward.  I'm so grateful
to be a part of this work!  Mi lavem yufala evriwan.

Love,

Elder Beynon