Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année Grand-mère! - The Weekly Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! (The grandma part comes from "Jingle Bells" in French. :) ) 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with the other missionaries here in New Caledonia. Christmas Eve we played games and sports and ate Hawiian Haystacks and then Christmas Day we watched the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional, sang lots of songs together, and had a secret Santa gift exchange. It was a great time getting to be with my mission family and spend time with them.

I also got to Skype with the family, and my girlfriend (she's waited 13 months, she earned it). It was amazing getting to see them and just talk with everyone again. They are seriously the best. 

We also had the oppourtunity with the quartet to go and sing at the "maison de Pere Noel" and then at Place des Cocotiers, two big attractions during Christmastime. There were groups of missionaries there for the 4 days leading up to Christmas, and we got lots of great exposure and the chance to talk with many people, and above all else, we #littheworld. 

The only bad part about the holidays is that a lot of the people we've been working with have left for the holidays. But that's ok, we just keep trying to find people, and we've been catching up on the bureau work we've gotten behind on because of the holidays. 

I hope everyone's Christmas was merry and that this next year will be amazing for you. I would encourage you all to turn to your Heavenly Father in prayer and ask him what your resolutions should be for this year, and He'll let you know, and provide the way to accomplish those goals.

Love you all!
Elder Miner

Destiny at the Tjibaou Cultural Center

Singing at the "maison de Pere Noel" in Anse Vata. 

Christmas Eve Party

Pere Noel des Isles!

Christmas Present!

#Eclairezlemonde - The Weekly Email

Hello everyone, 

Here I am in sunny New Caledonia and Christmas is coming soon! It's sunny and bright with a goregous ocean, but it's Christmas-time here. 

The Christmas spirit is here in good measure. Our quartet's concerts were cancelled, but we'll be singing in the Place des Cocotiers, a cool spot downtown in the middle of Noumea, looking to spread a little Christmas cheer. 

I have a story of a miracle we had this past week. We were on our way to a residence to see if we could go sing there for Christmas, and as we were going there, we received a telephone call from a member who lives there, she told us that "Elders, I have someone here for who needs to be taught." We looked at each other and headed over. We met someone who had gone to church in Lifou, one of the Loyalty Islands, and had talked with a member there. She then came to the main island and got in contact with this member in our sector. When we got there, she told us her story and then announced that she had started reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to be baptized right away. We taught her 3 lessons over the past two days, but then handed her off to the sisters over the area where she actually lives. This was our Christmas miracle. 

I testify that Christ lives. Christmas is the season to remember His birth. He was born to save us from our sins and to help us all return to live with our Heavenly Father. I am grateful for His miraculous birth, His life, and His Atonement.

Merry Christmas to all.

Elder Miner

I've been dreaming of a White (Sand) Christmas - The Weekly Email

As fun as Christmas is in tropical paradise, I do find myself missing snow ever so slightly. Just a teeny tiny bit though, and only for Christmas. Otherwise, the weather here has been particularly gorgeous recently. 

My son arrived on Friday as well! ("Son" is the mission term for a missionary you train, so I'm his father, and so on. Genealogy is very important after all.) He's the first missionary to be "born" in the bureau here in New Caledonia. Life here is pretty crazy, but he's catching on pretty well and learning about all his fun duties. His French is pretty darn good too for someone who just came from the MTC. He's a good missionary, and I hope I can help him to grow and learn and become better. 

In recent news, we had zone conference over the past couple days, and it's been really good. President Granger is truly inspired to lead this mission. His love for each of his missionaries is astounding.

Our investigator Tony is really progressing well. He has such a desire to change, but 40 years of habits is a lot to break. Pray for him please. The mission is also super close to our goal to baptize 1000 people in 2016, we're about 50 short by the last count. So stinking close, and I think we will see miracles as we offer up the fruits of our missionary efforts to our Father in Heaven as our Christmas gift to Him. 

Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noel everyone!

Elder Miner

LETCHI SEASON! Letchi is soooo good...

My son, Elder Kennedy!

Our shower is being re-done...

The Zone and the Mission, respectively.

The New Caledonia mission region.

Tsunami warnings after magnitude-7.8 earthquake strikes near Solomon Islands

A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck near the Pacific's Solomon Islands, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to warn that tsunami waves were possible in several South Pacific islands.

The quake was centered about 120 miles southeast of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The epicenter was relatively deep at 30 miles below the surface.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Deeper quakes generally cause less damage on the ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned that tsunami waves were possible in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and in Kosrae, in the Federated States of Micronesia.

*The mission home reported that all missionaries in the Solomon Island are safe.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, Whitewashes in every sector.... - The Weekly Email

So, this transfer has been an absolute doozy. Out of 18 sectors here in New Caledonia, 8 got whitewashed, and only two stayed the same. Wowch. The entire Magenta District except me got changed as well. We'll have 7 new missionaries here. And my new companion will be... Elder Kennedy, a brand new missionary! That's right everyone, Elder Miner is about to be a dad! (Mission slang for trainer, your trainees are your sons). 

With the transfers things are crazy here getting new apartments and everything else ready to go for everyone. Not much has changed with regards to missionary work, other than it getting harder as people leave for the holidays. I'll have more news next week as I start training and we make one final push before Christmas. 

Love you all, Joyeux Noel. 

Finally burned my year-mark shirt. (Don't worry Mom, it was stained beyond wearability)

First picture with the new camera, thanks Mom and Dad!

Family Home Evening with the Parau's! They live in an area that just got added to our sector, so we were there along with the missionaries of the sector where they used to live. And we brought an investigator, the guy sitting next to me.