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

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

Family Hous Naet with Hungai  Family

Week 13 on Port Vila

Dia Famle Blong Mi, Sorry you haven't heard from me awhile, we've been SO busy with transfers!!! Since you last heard me , Tuesday last week we had our transfer meeting and made plans to get all missionaries in place and some ready to train before President Granger arrives next month.  We came to the conclusion that Elder Dakunimata, from Fiji, will be my new companion. This next transfer will last 8 weeks instead of 6.  We had our meeting and taught Edmas about Temples and she was very interested in the topic, there's so much more we can learn from the Restored Gospel!  We also saw Moses and Norman and taught them about Obedience and how it's so important in our lives.  Then we also saw Sele and we taught him about Enduring to the End.  We ate dinner at president Tiasanmal's house as well, his wife is a good cook! Wednesday morning went to the airport and checked in with President and Sister Brewer and we flew to Santo for Zone Conference once again.  We arrived around lunch time and Elder Killpack and Elder Pearce picked us up and took us to the Luganville chapel. Missionaries were just finishing cleaning it up and we exchanged.  Me and Elder Pearce dropped off Elder Smiler and Elder Killpack in their area (called "Tanavoli) and they taught there while went back to the chapel to help translate some interviews for prospective missionaries. We also talked with Elders and Missionaries and that afternoon we drove to Tanavoli as well with a prospective missionary from Gaua named Larry Mol.  He followed us and we drove to a member family's house and taught them about priesthood keys and how it can be used in the home. Thursday morning we all woke up and Zone Conference started at 9am and  we held the conference and just before it finished 6 Elders from Ambae arrived, their flight changed and got postponed to the day of the conference.  We ate good food at the Santo Hotel again and then waited for all the interviews to get done and we exchanged again and we visited the Hungai Family in Tanavoli.  They fed us rice, fish, bread, and Tuna for dinner and we shared a message about the blessings of families who are sealed and how there's nothing that can separate us as families.                  Friday morning we had MLC meeting and it was a cool meeting, we discussed lots of things we need to prepare for when President Granger comes.  Afterwards we went with other elders into town and we just walked around, looked at stores and ate at a restaurant called the "Altar".  I had a good cheeseburger for lunch there and there was a tame parot there and I put my finger right by it and it climbed on and I put it on my shoulder and it wouldn't come off.  I had it there for a while but when I was ready to take it off it would run to the other shoulder and get mad and peck around, but I finally managed to get it off, it was a pretty funny, stubborn bird.  That afternoon we went to the airport and we arrived in Port mila at about 8:30pm. Saturday we studied and went to the mission office and had a few meeting with mission president about changes in the transfers and ended up staying until the afternoon and then all the missionaries finishing the next week went to dinner with President Brewer.  So Elder Smiler went with others and a new missionary exchanged with me and we drove to the airport to pick up an arriving missionary who will be transferring.  Then after the others had dinner me and Elder Smiler went to the mission office and we called all the Zone Leaders to let them know who's all transferring and we did that for the rest of the night. Sunday we went to church to Sacrament Meeting and the Branch Presidency and District Presidency bore their testimonies for the last time before Port Vila District becomes a Stake.  Many of the testimonies were powerful and everybody was touched that it would be our last time meeting as a branch and this week we will meet as a ward!  After church we taught Elorine about the importance of Scripture Study and we taught Moses and Norman the same thing.  That night we taught Maria and their family about the Plan of Salvation and she and her kids are really progressing!  The all came to church too. At the end of the Day we picked up Elder Dakunimata so he could stay with me and we could plan together and start working together. Monday morning at 5:30am, we checked in Elder Oli in the Airport so he could transfer to Santo and then afterwards we had to go get a few additional plane tickets for other missionaries.  Then we took Moses Namak, a prospective missionary from Tanna, and went with him to buy a suit and a few things for his mission.  At 1pm we had our usual Office Meeting and afterwards we went straight to the airport to checkin Elder Braden Passey and Moses Namak to Fly to the U.S.A. Elder Passey is from St. George, Utah, and finished serving and he was flying back home while Moses Namak would be flying to the MTC.  So if any of you hear about a returned missionary in St. George from the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission, it's Elder Passey.  Then we went to the District President Basil's house and we had a family house night with their family and a last dinnner with Elder Smiler.  They're all from the "Banks Islands" Merelava, Motalava, Gaua, Vanualava etc... and they're a great family. Tuesday morning Elder Smiler exchanged with Elder Ormond while me and Elder Dakunimata went to the airport at 8am to checkin Sister Boehula to transfer to Malekula.  Afterwards we had propane tanks for the missionaries to refill and we did that and washed the truck and then went to the airport with President to meet Elder Din and Elder Taleo arrive from the MTC,  they were only there a couple weeks and just came back.  We brought them to the mission office and gave them an orientation of the mission and then ate burgers and fries for lunch at seaview and dropped them off in their areas and then we drove all the way to Etas to pick up Sister Lekupe to take her to the airport so she could fly home back to P.N.G.  We checked her in at 6pm and she flew at 8pm and also President Tiasanmal's son Elder Tiasanmal returned from his mission.  They invited us over for dinner and me, Elder Dakunimata, Elder Smiler, and Elder Ormond came for Elder Tiasanmal's homecoming dinner with the family and we ate some good food there: sausage, potato salad, steak, rice, it was all good! This morning we woke up at 4:30am and checked in Elder Smiler, and Elder Ormond at the airport so they could fly back home to New Zealand.  They flew at 7am and we went home for breakfast and went back to the airport and checked in Elder Tupou so he could transfer to Ambae.  He flew at around 11am and then we had lunch and went to the office for a couple hours to record baptisms on our computer and meet with President Brewer.  We got done at 3pm and then we saw Avock and Rose and taught them about Enduring to the End and afterwards saw little Avock and taught him about obedience and we commited him to be baptized next month and he's very excited!  Then we also saw Maria and her family and we taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized as well.  After teaching her we had planned on going to the airport to pick up Elder Esplin, he was supposed to arrive so he could transfer to his new area but we got a call saying he will arrive tomorrow, so we decided to take this time to email right now. I'm excited for the end of this week, President Pearson and Johanssen of the Area Seventy will be coming this weekend for the creation of the Stake and Saturday afternoon there will be a big cultural activity at Blacksands Branch where members from each branch will do a Custom Dance and it's gonna be cool!!!   Then Sunday morning we we all meet at Le Lagoon once again! We are keeping busy and are working hard.  Many blessings are being poured out and the church is growing fast!!!  I can't wait for this weekend. Mi lavem yufala evriwan mo evri samting i gud nomo lo ples ia. Love, Elda Beynon

People (3) Marcus Beynon

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

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

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