-

 Week 47

107 Baptisms, 34 Ordinations, 40 New Missionaries and 1 New Stake

6 July 2025

The pictures below happened a couple of weeks ago in Papua New Guinea which is in the Pacific Area. We would like to tell you that we covered this event but it was done by another missionary. It is so amazing we had to mention it. The Church growth rate in PNG is amazingly high.  In fact, it is very difficult to support and maintain the growth of the Church because of the challenges it creates. The same weekend the new stake was created, they had 107 baptisms,  40 prospective missionaries completed mission papers,  and 37 brethren received the Priesthood. The new Stake doesn't have a building to meet in. Most chapels in PNG meet in "bush chapels".  

To form a baptismal font, they built a dam across the river so they could perform the baptisms.  









This is my hard-working, fun-loving, fast-accomplishing, slow-to-anger, never-tiring companion, Elder Shaw (Kelly: I feel so badly that she sees this view when she turns around.) 


Oliver the Musical came to our town and so we decided to go see it with K.C. and Judy. Fun night out.   



This is what the 4th of July looks like for missionaries in New Zealand.  Our zone got together to enjoy some great food,  listen to a patriotic devotional,  a US military service song sing-along, and play some games.  It is very easy to have a good time with great people. 

We had a few of the Area Employees comment about how grateful they are for America. It was so respectful and kind.   

Lesson learned this week. NZ has the highest UV rate of any country in the world and thus skin cancer is common. I got cut open this week and stitched back up.  Apparently you can still get skin cancer when on your mission. When I returned to the office the next day with a huge bandage on the side of my head, I just told everyone Launette threw a dish at me.  


Linger longer today. Can you tell what I brought??? The only green thing on the table!




It's 9:30 Sunday evening and we just got home from a YSA/Institute devotional with Elder Mark Palmer who is one of the 7 presidents of the 70. (He is on the left, Elder Meurs is on the right) We were there with Tetoki, our videographer. After the devotional we were able to video interview them. I kind of like to do this. Only because I'm a critic. I have so much admiration for these men that interview very well. Elder Palmer was one of the most natural communicator I've visited with, so warm, comfortable, and interesting.  My questions:
1. What has impressed you about the young adults this weekend?( it was a YSA conference) (warm up question)
2. How does institute bless the lives of young adults today?
3. Can you remember any specific doctrine or principle you learned at seminary or institute? (he named one for both and the teacher's name)



All is good with mission life. We continue to learn new things and help wherever we can.  We love you and miss you.

Elder and Sister Shaw








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
Week 1  The MTC Will Not Be Forgotten   You have been called to serve in the Pacific Area as communication specialist!  2 months ago we spent a week in SLC training to be communication specialist. We came away from that experience feeling like the church is in great hands! We were very impressed with our mentors (Lyle and Cricket Parry) and all of the communication employees that work at the church headquarters in interfaith relations, public relations, hosting, photography, church newsroom, and publications. What did I miss? It was a privilege to be set apart for our missions by Pres Walker. Our blessings were beautiful. They gave us spiritual confidence to begin this adventure. Off to the first day of the MTC.   Just like all of our grandkids who went back to school this week. Thank you to Judy and KC for letting us stay at their very comfortable home. It was perfect! What we have found out is when we tell everyone we are going to New Zealand many of them say,...
Read more
-
Image
Making Kiwi Land Our Home Week 2 We made it and it feels so surreal! We have (I have) been anticipating a mission for 40 years and I'm finally here. After a grueling flight of 13 hours, we arrived at 6am with these wonderful people as the welcoming crew. On the left are Ben and Pam Tanner. They are our partners in crime in the communication department. They work beside us and the sharing of their information has been our salvation! They are wonderful and already we can tell life will be fun, fast paced, and informative with them as our mentors. The couple on the right are Judy and KC Shaw, Kelly's brother and sister-in-law. We have been in close contact with them for a couple of months learning everything to bring in preparation for our mission. Just by coincidence, we have been called to the same mission location but with very different assignments. They work with the missionaries and the Pathway Program. They are amazing! We are so grateful for their help showing us the ropes...
Read more

Office Life is Getting Easier

-
Image
Office Life is Getting Easier Week 3 Well, it is week 3 and the office routine is getting easier. We still eat our lunch at our desks to catch up and cram everything we can in a day. I hope we can relax a little more in the coming weeks.  In all honesty, we are still trying to figure out how we can be most effective bringing others to Christ. We are trying to lift where we were planted, but it will just take awhile.  This is our office and it's kind of fun to wheel backwards to say hello to each other anytime I would like. I think Kelly gets tired of all of my computer questions. Yesterday I reminded him what he felt like when he first purchased a Mac. I have never worked on a PC so it's a double learning curve for me. We have both been working on our first publications this week. They usually give missionaries a month to do so but we are eager and they have time to teach us now. I wrote an article on the New Zealand's national family history month. Kelly is writing an arti...
Read more