JANUARY---2017 BEGINS!

The Perfect Way to End One Year and Begin the Next

Fireworks in Nouméa on New Year's Day night.  Even in summer it is pitch black by eight.  It was so fun to watch these over the bay only steps from our apartment.  We could walk home and not be tangled in all the traffic.

On the last day of 2016 Madeleine was baptized.  She lives in Nouméa but is from Lifou. After attending the LDS church for the first time on December 18th, while visiting relatives in Lifou, she decided she wanted to be baptized.  The Stake Patriarch, who met her at church, called Elder Glade who then called the sisters who live near her.  In the meantime she sought out a relative in Nouméa who is a member.  Madeleine mentioned her desire to be baptized that Monday and her relative called the office elders.  When they came into the office later in the day we asked them how a teaching appointment went that they had told us about before. They said it fell through.  We said we were sorry.  They assured us it was okay because they had been called to come teach a woman that morning and the first thing she said was that she wanted to be baptized.  When their previous appointment fell through they went back and taught her again in the afternoon.  After that the sisters taught her.  She was overjoyed to have found the church and wanted to be baptized immediately. The office elders talked her into waiting until New Year's Eve.  I have never been to a baptism where the spirit was stronger and she hasn't stopped smiling since.  

The new year began with Madeleine's confirmation at sacrament meeting.  She invited family and friends who weren't members to come.   Two short weeks after finding the church she believed to be true, she was a member.

MORE BAPTISMS

A father and son were ready to be baptized on the Loyalty Island of Ouvea.  Two elders were flown there to help with the baptisms.  

EN BROUSSE  (A trip up North)

Last weekend we had a  few errands to do north of Nouméa.  We went to church on Sunday at the branch in Bourail.  It was a good Sunday with a total of 18 members in attendance. This man has recently returned to church and has committed to spend 4 hour a week with the missionaries introducing them to people who have quit coming to church and others who may be interested.  He is a former branch president.  We then drove an hour and forty minutes east to attend the annex in Poro.  It used to have quite a few members attending. Now it is usually a family and one sister.  The family didn't come.  The elders and Elder Glade and I met with Françoise.  She was one of the first members in this area, has been a member a long time, sacrificed to be able to do her temple work in New Zealand.  She has seen the church grow and then almost everyone move or fall away.  She told us over and over again that she was so touched we would all come.  We brought such a powerful spirit. It reminded her that the Lord was mindful of her. She continues to try to help the church grow in the Poro area.

The church is beginning to grow in the north and in the Loyalty Islands.  It is such a blessing to us to see missionaries continue to work hard and members remain faithful even when times are discouraging.  It is a greater blessing to see people accept the peace and joy the gospel can bring into their lives and have a desire to share those blessings with others.

We had a long drive home.  We decided to keep going south even though the roads were not as good as going the long way around to the north again.  The whole drive back to the main road was through the mountains in the rain.  The scenery was varied and mostly gorgeous--ocean, green valleys, lush vegetation, rivers, cliffs, waterfalls, bamboo forests.  It was tempting to take lots of photos, but we needed to get back to civilization before dark. We stopped for a couple and took others from the car window.

We drove past vast nickel mines where huge green mountains were slashed with red scars.  Fortunately there is some reforestation going on. We also counted eight burned cars.  Sometimes Kanaks steal and burn cars to protest the French. Sometimes people seem to steal and burn cars just because.  That and graffiti are terrible problems here.


 

THE TRAIN

A mission has sometimes been compared to a train which continues to travel forward.  As it goes some people get off and others get on.  These are the missionaries who left the New Caledonian train in January..

and these four hopped on.  Sad to have missionaries leave, but exciting to have the new ones come.

BLESSINGS

Two more blessings that January brought:  our oldest granddaughter began serving her mission and the three of us have the blessing of serving at the same time,

and the Flamboyant Trees are blooming everywhere in New Caledonia.  Some look like they have been planted and others are blooming all over the hillsides. 

It's hard to believe that January has passed so quickly.  The hottest days of summer are supposedly over.  We are looking forward to a this new year when we can continue enjoying the blessing, for this brief period in our lives, of serving the Lord as full-time missionaries.  

There is still some room  on this blog and I couldn't resist the temptation to post another picture (of the hundreds I've taken) of a New Caledonian sunset.