Mother's Day 2014

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, especially to Ferral Jones, our mom, who continues to bless our lives as we serve in Palau.  We love you!  Thanks to our children too who so lovingly send cards, letters, and packages to celebrate mothers.  We love you!  Our branch family and missionaries prepared greetings, cards, and messages to make this day special.  One sister in the branch didn’t get a chance to talk to us at the chapel, so she called after church to give her Mother’s Day wishes.  We love you!

A Palauan mother preparing tapioca

 Not only did this week include a holiday, but a visit from our faithful and fun President and Sister Mecham, our mission leaders.  We held zone conference Saturday, the last for Elder Fullmer.  He leaves Palau on May 21^st, and we’re missing him already!  He bore a sweet, simple, and strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.  He and Elder Dopp presented training for all of us followed by counsel from President and Sister Mecham.  We love them so much, and are grateful for their support and instruction that ALWAYS lifts and sustains us.

Celebrating birthdays of Sister Purcell, Elder Dopp, & Elder Carter

Elder Dopp & Elder Fullmer

Elder Murdoch & Elder Malais

President Mecham

Elder Fullmer--last testimony

Palau Zone

Sister Ale & Sister Bevans

Elders Carter, Murdoch, & Malais

Sister Mecham

Sister Purcell & Sister Talakai

Sister Ale & Sister Bevans

Elders Dopp, Fullmer, & Murdoch in a role-play

Palau Zone May 2014

Zone Conference was followed by the baptism of Hesila Kuroda, wife of Silmai Mad who was baptized just a few weeks ago.  How sweet to see a newly ordained husband baptize his wife and see the joy in both their faces!  We feel blessed to participate in ordinances and get to know new members of the church.

Silmai & Hesila

After all the Saturday meetings, we were able to spend extra time with the Mechams as we went to dinner and visited a couple of sites in Palau.  They will complete their three-year mission the end of next month, so we are grateful for the extra moments we can share now.  They will visit us one more time on June 9^th as they make a whirlwind final tour of all the mission islands.

President & Sister Mecham--our dear friends!

We spent part of our preparation day at the local aquarium.  It sits on a small peninsula with a beautiful view of some of the rock islands.  Since most of the exhibits are outside, the setting made it even more spectacular, plus the variety of fish and other wild life helped us appreciate even more the beauty of our mission area.

Sister Carter enjoying the breeze

Elder Carter looking for fish

Elder Carter

Sister Carter standing on the peninsula

Besides all of our regular missionary labors during the week, we also attended an additional zone conference on Thursday afternoon.  Elder Fullmer and Elder Dopp reported all they had learned at the leadership meetings held in Guam, supported by Sister Purcell who also went to Guam.  They reviewed how the Savior taught and encouraged us to follow his perfect example.

Elder Fullmer & other missionaries in Guam

Elder Fullmer sharing his testimony in Guam

This past Monday was a national holiday, Senior Citizen Day.  We think Palau may be the only country to celebrate this holiday, and it’s a very big deal here.  Many government and civic leaders had ads in the newspaper, the community college painted a sign, radio announcements reminded everyone of the day, plus several area events focused on the contributions of seniors.  We have a hard time remembering that we’re senior citizens, but on this day it seemed okay because everyone ramped up respect and honor.  We like it!

Who's a senior?!

Sunday morning Sister Carter received a call from the Primary president that she would be unable to make it to church since she had been at the hospital with her grandson all night.  Sister Carter prepared a lesson, sharing time, and already had singing time ready.  She invited Sister Mecham to join her, and together they made sure the Primary children had an opportunity to learn more about the scriptures and what they could do to be happy with their families.

After all the church meetings on Sunday, the ten younger missionaries and President and Sister Mecham came over to our apartment for a dinner of build-your-own burritos.  Based on leftovers, it was a big success.  We’re grateful for the time we spend with our missionaries, and they’re grateful for food and company.  It’s a good mix!

Carters & Mechams

Caught ya, Sister Bevans

Dinner with the zone

Our beautiful sisters

President Mecham with Sister Mecham working

This is a rare time in our lives to serve the Lord and the people of Palau.  We could not do it without the support of our family at home and hope you know how much we love you!