Please enjoy this introductory video about a dear man, his beliefs and his island.
The Asia North Area includes Japan, Korea and Guam/Micronesia which is full of islands you have never heard of--Pohnpei, Yap, Kosrae, and so it was only a matter of time before we got to visit our southern neighbors…and was it ever gorgeous! The video you have just watched is of Lensper Kalio, the new stake president in Pohnpei, more on him later.
Guam which is the starting point for island hopping, reminded us of Hawaii in so many ways although we were only passing through to a real treasure--the islands of Chuuk (we visited last October). This is our view from the airplane! Our meetings were on Weno, but they drew missionaries and members from six nearby islands which looked like THIS!
The view was prettier from above as this is what we saw upon touch down, it truly looked third world. However, looks can be deceiving and we quickly learned to stop using our eyes to judge. We discovered much happiness and contentment among the people we visited although their humble circumstances might make one think otherwise. Everyone waved and had huge smiles. My Kailua friends might be interested to know we saw a young man wearing a Kailua High Athletics t-shirt walking the dirt paths! Truly there was maybe only 100 feet of concrete road and nothing as civilized after that.
Then there were views like this:
And this!
The church building is the prettiest structure on the island and the members there are so proud of it. There was a parking lot for the church, but truly, this (below) represents the "parking lot" most used by the members. Many started out an hour and a half before the conference to get to Weno from other islands in their mode of transportation. They wore everyday clothes to travel in as it was extremely wet and changed into their Sunday best once they arrived. Sister Aoyagi, the wife of the first counselor in the Area Presidency gathers white shirts and neckties from the Japanese members in her stake to distribute among the Chuuk members. Every priesthood holder had on a white shirt and tie.
Because it is still a district, Chuuk has no wards but many branches. Some of the branches are small, but one with only 30 members attending has 10 full-time missionaries out serving missions right now. Any ward other than Utah wards care to match that?! The missionaries on the other islands come in to Weno on p-day to email their mothers and to shop. Mostly, there is no or little electricity on those other islands and the water is untreated. Some even bathe in small streams.
You have to fly into Guam to get to the Micronesian islands. Sometimes when the weather is bad the airplanes abort their landings and end up flying by to return another day. The return flight to Guam from Chuuk leaves at 2:30 a.m. If the plane is able to land, a cheer goes up from those waiting at the airport knowing they won't have to wait for the next one days later.
Usually when people check in at an airport they wonder from which of the numberless gates they will board. In the islands of Micronesia, there is never any reason to wonder, see below.
Below is the landing strip for Chuuk. Short and not so sweet. When we flew from Pohnpei to Chuuk on our way back to Guam and then to Tokyo, it was windy and once the plane landed, the pilot needed to "right" the plane before applying the brakes. We were glad for seat belts and we sent a shout out to my brother-in-law, Jeff Davis who is an airplane brake engineer. There wasn't much landing strip left once we finally stopped.
Our second trip was to Saipan which is north of Guam and part of the Micronesia/Guam mission, but is in reality one of the Northern Mariana Islands. To get there, we had to fly over Tinian island and I snapped a photo of a landing strip. The Enola Gay took off from this landing strip on its mission to Hiroshima during the second world war. I have known for some time the part Japan played in WWII, but had no idea that we would visit islands where there is so much WWII history.
Our stop, Saipan. There were many Japanese troops stationed here but we discovered their families were here as well. After our mission tour, we stopped for a brief visit to these beautiful places only to discover the tragic history. We saw Marpi Point, or Suicide Cliff. Below is a link to a history channel video which will explain it. The beautiful scenery belies the grief experienced here. The reason I could not embed this video is it kept appearing at the top of the page with the President Kalio video. It is still a compelling video, please watch. Please be warned, some of it might be disturbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDUy0uzmaU4
And finally, our last stop just this past month was to Pohnpei. I was struck by the beauty, of course, but the people are even more beautiful. They are so thoughtful and so dear, it is a blessing to be with them. A stake was created, the first in Micronesia, last March. The people were so warm and loving. They performed and sang and were so grateful. Below is my husband and Elder Nash, assigned to create the new stake, wearing their salad, apparently. It gives a whole new meaning to hakulei.
As you saw in the first video, this is what it looks like in Pohnpei.
I should have taken more photos, but below is a ward building for the Ayrye members (130 strong) who come regularly and yes, they sit on the concrete floor. They asked us to take off our shoes before stepping on the church floor. What you didn't see was there were only three walls. The auxiliaries break up and meet under easy-corners tents and wherever they can, basically. Four of the seven church buildings were not as rough as this one, but the members are so grateful to have a place to worship. This handsome young man is Bishop Malarma's son.
The oldest church building is 30 some years old and the Mand branch meets there, but is immaculately kept by the branch president who lives next to it. Below that is a photo of the baptismal font and below that one is the branch president and his son, hard working and devoted members.
These are the dear senior missionaries on Pohnpei who showed us the island. They love the people and do such wonderful things there. They teach seminary at the high school during lunch, they help with education at many of the other schools and work wonders. Elder Chandler describes his wife as a "thoroughbred" who shot right out of the chutes when they landed in Pohnpei and hasn't stopped running. They represent all of our senior couples in the area who are completely indispensable.
It is such a stark contrast from everyday life in Tokyo, the largest city in the world, or Seoul, where we visit occasionally, to the beautiful and humble islands of Micronesia. We are so lucky to get to see that contrast, one is not better than the other, just different. The members in every city we go to are the sweetest, dearest people we have met.
However, the scenery is much more easy on the eye in the South Pacific and the cloud formations are such as we have never seen anywhere else. Anyone jealous yet?
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