The Pacific Post

 Week 41 Visiting Vanuatu With Elder Bednar 25 May 2025 Meet the "Happiest People on Earth", the people of Vanuatu. I don't know who ran that poll but I would have to agree with them. They are kind, loving, trusting, friendly, and faithful. We made instant friend as we worked along side them this week. Yesterday we were asked why they are so happy. I don't know but, I think it's because they are basically untouched or uninfluenced by the world. They have so little but they don't know any other way of living. They don't have fast food chains, big department stores, and little internet access. They buy everything from Ma & Pa shops. They are very modest in their "island dress" even though it was the hottest place I have ever been. (I've been in 122 in Mesa but this humidity made it feel hotter.)  We were on assignment with Elder Bednar's visit to the Islands. He stopped at Vanuatu for 3 days and we stayed an extra day visiting and train...

 Week 40 Halfway 18 May 2025 It is true, we are halfway. This last week we hit our halfway point of the mission. Nine months has come and gone and another nine months is ahead of us. If the next nine months has as many wonderful, adventurous, and growing experiences as the first nine months then it should be exciting.    This is a very typical public affairs lunch. The individual next to Launette is Elana and she is the national relationship manager for UNICEF in New Zealand. We have developed a wonderful relationship with the entire UNICEF team. The Church partners with UNICEF on a number of humanitarian project in the Pacific. She is a wonderful person with a great heart and really wants to help children in need.  FYI, the two young people on the left are the two interns from BYU that just arrived. This is a typical national communication council meeting. The people at this table sit on the National Communication Council for New Zealand. There are media specialists...

 Week 39 BYU Soccer Visits NZ as Goodwill Ambassadors 11 May 2025    It's going to be a challenge describing the last 2 weeks, hosting the BYU women's soccer team in New Zealand. This event will certainly be a highlight of our mission. It was inspiring, uplifting, spiritual, fun, and eternal friendships were formed.  It has taken months of planning and coordinating to get all of the logistics, reservations, meals, devotionals, government meetings, and travel arrangements worked out. We must recognized the Lord and the tender mercies we experienced on the tour. It was almost a perfect experience of sharing love and goodwill. A traditional "lolly lei" welcome at the airport 6:00am Monday morning. No rest for the weary, after checking into the hotel, they ferried to Devonport and hiked up Mt. Victoria for a bird's eye view of Auckland. The second stop on this tour as "Goodwill Ambassadors" was the Refugee Replacement Center.  This is where the government he...