Couples Conference in Guam

 On January 17, 2015 all the senior missionaries from all the islands flew to Guam for a conference.  One of the sister missionaries is an expert in tole painting.  Here we (as in Lenda) is painting the Micronesia Guam Mission logo on a small black book.  I'm trying to appear busy.

 The Micronesia Guam Mission logo has a representation of something significant for each of the island groups.  Pohnpei is the brown rock by the palm tree.  This is the most visible landmark on our island and is called Sokehes Rock.  It is a "red zone" for the missionaries because it's too dangerous to climb.  When flying into Pohnpei it stands out on the right side of the aircraft.

 This is the Hurst couple giving their presentation on family history.  They serve in Guam but travel to the outer islands to train consultants.  All of us had the opportunity to present our island missions.

This is our Mission President Zarback.  He entertained us during a break in the conference to play his banjo and sing a ballad.

Tapofofo Jungle Cruise

While in Guam for the senior couples conference in January 2015 we were treated to a Jungle Cruise up the Tapofofo River.  The above picture is of a boat like ours being boarded by a Japanese tour group.

 This photo is of the Tapofofo River.  It is quite narrow with jungle vegetation all along the bank.

 A  monitor lizard sunning himself along the river.

This is a shelter that would have been used by the native Chamorro people.  The rock foundations are called lattes and hold the structure off the ground.

Dreams v. Reality

A sister missionary on one of the islands drew these pictures to show the realities of serving a mission on a tropical island.  As you can see the vision of serving and the reality is somewhat different.

New Senior Couple

The Furstenau's in the middle of the photo arrived last Friday.  We have had quite the good time orienting them and they have worked hard getting their apartment set up.  We were invited to attend Family Home Evening with the group at Wone.  They have been enjoying the new experiences open to them on Pohnpei.

Children at the Hospital

I was called to give a priesthood blessing to a child at the hospital on Sunday night January 4, 2015.  When we got there we went to the bedside of the little boy in the top photo.  He was and is a very sick child.  He is experiencing stomach pains and sleeps a lot.  His mother is staying at his side.  He was asleep when we got there and sweat was running down his neck.  I also administered to the little girl in the wheelchair.  Last night she appeared very similar to the little boy except she had a IV bottle.  She looks much better today and was happy to see us and have her picture taken.  Lenda brought snicker doodle cookies to the families.  The baby in the lower picture was in the bed next to the girl in the wheelchair so I took her picture as well.  Medical facilities here are not good.  It is apparent that they do not have the medical supplies and equipment of most up to date hospitals.  But they do their best with what they have.  Blessing and seeing these children last night and again today was a spiritual experience for both of us.  As I blessed these two children I could feel the absolute love of the Savior for them.

Zone Conference and Birthday

The zone leaders and sister leaders were scheduled to fly to Guam for their zone leader conference but the flight was canceled due to a storm passing through making it impossible for the plane to land in Pohnpei.  So the missionaries skyped Guam from our apartment and held a partial conference.  It also happened to be the birthday of Sister Finau so Lenda made a birthday cake for her and she received some small gifts.  In the photo from left to right are  Elder Johnson of Georgetown, Idaho, Elder Tapua of Fiji, Sister Pahulu of Tonga, Sister Finau of Tonga, Elder Becraft of Utah and Elder Leeworthy of Australia.  Their conference call started at 2 pm and the last missionary left at 8 pm.  Of course Lenda served them dinner along with birthday cake and brownies.  We have grown to love and enjoy the missionaries as they seem to always be coming and going from our apartment for a variety of reasons.  Elder Tapau will be going home this month and he will be missed greatly.  He will be attending BYU Hawaii soon.  We have no doubt but that these missionaries will return home and become solid leaders and members of the church and society.

Flowers of Pohnpei

The flowers, trees and plants of Pohnpei are beautiful and grow in abundance along the roadside.  On our way home from church on the south end of the island we stopped to take pictures of some the flowers and plants.  The two on the bottom are varieties of hibiscus commonly seen in Hawaii.  I don't know the names of the other plants.  I added the bottom photo of a ginger plant.