Mele Kalikimaka! - The Weekly Email

Hello one and all! Merry Christmas from the beautiful island of New Caledonia here in the South Pacific! I know that mele kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day, but it's also the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway, so I think it counts. 

We have been super busy today, between the last district activity for a departing sister and our quartet rehearsal, so this is about all I have time to send off. Just want to let you all know that I'm doing great here. There's always work here to do, whether I'm helping other missionaries or teaching people. We have a lot of investigators in progress, including now a boy named Adolf who is the son of an investigator who was taught by the Magenta sisters and will be getting baptized this weekend. He's super shy but very smart and progressing well. 

I hope everyone at home is doing well. It's raining a lot here, but it's nice because then it's not hot, thank goodness. Transfers will be announced this weekend as well, so I'll let you know how that works out next week. Love you all!

Elder Miner

Thanksgiving Dinner!

We got to destroy an old hard drive (Church's orders). :)

District activity to go see an old abandoned boat and last district activity for Sister Caress

Brace yourselves, a new ward has been created - the weekly email

Hello one and all. Yes, that is the biggest news here in New Caledonia. This past weekend we had a special Stake Conference and a new ward was created! The Dumbea ward was broken off from the Riviere Sallee ward, and the Riviere Sallee ward took in part of the Mont Dore ward, specifically Yahoue. The Church is starting to grow here in New Caledonia, which is great to see, because the Church grows exponentially. Good signs for us as missionaries. :) I'm excited to see the Church continue to grow and mature, since it's still pretty young here. 

This past week has been pretty busy, I've been on two exchanges, one with the Zone Leaders and the other with Elder Darche, an Elder from Quebec who has been here all of 5 weeks who's in my district. They were both great experiences with lots of miracles. For example, with the zone leader, Elder Ursenbach, one of our investigators started asking about baptism. Lessons with him are usually just question-answer sessions because he's studied with the missionaries a lot before in Tahiti, and now he just likes to discuss. The Spirit was so powerful as we discussed and engaged him to fervently pray about baptism. We've also begun teaching the son of an investigator who will be getting baptized on the 3rd of December. His name is Adolf, and I think that he will accept the gospel and probably be baptized before the end of the year. He's kind of shy, but super intelligent. 

Hope you all continue to enjoy this special holiday season, Thanksgiving is tomorrow (for me that is) and Christmas is right around the corner. Benefit from this time with your families and friends.

Love,

Elder Miner

Meetings, DMP's, and the Return of the Rain - The Weekly Email

This has been a doozy of a week, for many reasons, a few of which I will mention now. First off, we finally have a new DMP! DMP is the slang term that the missionaries use in English, because in French a "ward mission leader" is "le Dirigeant de la Mission de la Paroisse" or "DMP" for short. The ward mission leader is basically the bridge between full-time missionaries and the rest of the ward, and he's vital for planning baptisms, being a friend to investigators, and just generally helping the missionaries. Our old DMP was basically inactive, so this will be a good change for the ward. 
The plans for the quartet are also starting to move forward. We've made some progress in getting some concerts in the chapels here in Noumea, and we're still trying to work on getting some performances in public areas. I feel like it'd be a lot easier in America, but oh well, we'll work with what we've got. 

And finally, it's raining today. A bit of a bummer since we'd planned to do a district activity of barbecuing and frisbee, but now we'll just be hanging at the chapel. It's been great though because it has been stinking hot recently. It's not as hot as it gets back home, it's just humid. 

In missionary news, our investigator Tony has made some HUGE progress. He's starting to give up alcohol, and he came to church! HE CAME TO CHURCH! That's like, a really big deal. I think sometimes we who are members of the Church don't realize how big of a change that is to go to church on Sunday since we've done that our whole lives, but for an investigator, that's a big deal. I'm really excited for Tony.

We also have a new investigator named Filipo also. I'm really starting to like Wallisians, they have a great culture and are so friendly. Makes me want to visit Wallis some today. 

Love you all back home, see you in less than a year.

Elder Miner

Also from the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission Facebook page:  

Cyclone season has started today, 1st November and will end 30th April 2017. In the Southwest Pacific most cyclones, especially intense ones, occur January, February or March.
In our next round of Zone Conference Training throughout the Mission we will be reviewing Emergency preparation and response information with all of the Missionaries.

Calm in New Caledonia after clashes

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Reports from New Caledonia say calm has returned to the stretch of road blocked for three days by armed unrest but that one vehicle was stoned overnight.

Negotiations involving traditional and local leaders as well as the French state allowed for the clean-up of the road between Noumea and Mont-Dore which was blocked by armed youths whose gunshots injured five policemen on Sunday.

An estimated 50 stolen cars were set alight by young men to block the road near St Louis after police shot dead a 23-year-old prison escapee William Decoire early on Saturday.

he authorities say police acted in self-defence but a tribal leader from St Louis, Roch Wamytan, said the victim's family is poised to lodge a formal complaint to establish the facts.

He told the local daily newspaper that none of the young people was armed when their stolen vehicle was stopped by police.

William Decoire had 19 convictions and was on the run since June last year.

The only person arrested over the incident so far is one of the passengers of the stolen car.

The clashes cut off road links to the southernmost part of the mainland, leading to broad supply shortages.

This from the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission facebook page:

There has been an incidence of civil unrest in New Caledonia over the last few days. It appears to be under control now.
All of our Missionaries are safe. 
A few Sister Missionaries were hosted by a wonderful member Sister after they were stranded in Mont Dore south of Noumea on the wrong side of the road blockade whilst attending a Ward activity and could not return to their house for several days. Eventually it was arranged for them to be transported back past the blockade via a Naval Vessel which was being used for that purpose.

One Year Older and Wiser Too... - The Weekly Email

So, Friday will officialy mark one year on a mission! It's positively flown by, and I'm so grateful for the experiences I've had and the people I've met. I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to grow closer to the Savior by serving Him and by proclaiming and bearing his name.

I must say, Halloween here is nothing like in the States. Very few decorations, hardly any trick-or-treaters, it's just not that big of a deal here. I was kind of sad about that though since I have lots of great Halloween memories from back home. It's always been one of my favorite holidays.

This week has flown by as well, I can hardly believe it's P-day already. This past week we were able to work a lot with Beatrice. She's still returning to activity, and her daughter Rebecca was baptized not too long ago. She's facing a lot of opposition from her parents and family against the church, and she doesn't know where to go. We've been doing our best to help her and encouraging her to pray and to listen for the answer. Our investigators Fred and Phrasé have also been making huge progress and I'm very excited for them. We had a great discussion on faith last Saturday. Finally we have a new investigator named Jonathan. He's in his 20's and lives alone, and really loves studying and learning about God. He could go far. 

We also had our first rehearsal for the quartet last p-day, and it went really well. I'm optomistic for this group, and I'm looking forward to the Christmas season to start performing. 

I love you all, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Elections for those of you still in America!

Elder Miner