Adventure is my middle name

i had a wonderful experience the other week.  T and I were invited to a one day conference with reps from NGOs, entrepreneurs, business owners and a couple of churches and other interested parties.  the focus was on post disaster resilience in pacific nations.  It was instigated by a research group from Massey university and this is their 4th annual one. We gave a short presentation on behalf of the humanitarian missionaries who were off-island (a common term here) and also about our work in family services.  these are the things the church has done that we know of: allowing access to the chapels as emergency shelter emergency container with chainsaws, generators, hand tools, wheel barrows, portable saw mill etc plowing of fields  collection and storage of root crops (the kape came from people on another island!) supply of water tanks (9) and water tower (1) 400 tarps supplied (free) and then plastic sheeting when they were all gone the yellow vest...

Hi! I have had a great week.  The Holy Ghost gave me another piece of my puzzle. But i'm not ready to share yet.  But I love how he gives me a little piece at a time.  its awesome. I gained a testimony of writing as a tool to communicate with the holy ghost while doing the 12 steps, and I started a new way of studying the book of mormon in October, ( https://mormonlifehacker.com/ the-scripture-study-habit- that-changed-my-life-part-1- the-method/ )  but it has evolved since I got here.  I have known the power of journalling and writing for some time.  It is a very therapeutic activity.  and then when I did the 12 steps the importance of journalling was again highlighted.  not in the kind of what-did-you-do-today journalling, but in the writing-what-is-in-your-heart kind.   From the 12 steps:  Writing is a powerful tool... it will give you time to reflect, it will help you focus your thinking, it will help you see a...

I know, I know, snorkeling shouldn't be the highlight of my mission.  But it's just so awesome!  I saw anemones and a whole bunch of yellow and black angel fish and an interesting black and white fish and groups of 10+ all of one kind.  The Zs gave me their snorkel and mask before they went home to Canada, and it's a good one!  And this time I tried using flippers from the shared snorkel gear and it was awesome!  I went out far.  Did I mention last time we went out someone said "Sister Evans! Are you half fish?".  I was flattered.   So I took some photos last week of the reef.  Pretty much around the entire island there is a stretch of maybe 50m (i'm bad at estimating distance) of fairly shallow  water, then outside of that is what they call the reef - where the rocky reef rises to the surface of the water, or almost to the surface.  that is where the waves break and, apparently beyond that it gets deep fast.  im a bi...

ANZAC day was a lovely experience with some curious american missionaries who asked lots of good questions, many of which i knew nothing about!  haha.  and the other people we went with were Australian, but I don't hold that against them.   For the uninitiated this is the day of remembrance for people who died fighting in wars.  it began after world war I where NZ and Australian soldiers fought together in Turkey.  there were around 90 Tongans present fighting with us and many from the other islands as well.  that is why ANZAC day is celebrated here as well. We accidentally sat with the VIPs and it wasn't until the end when the sun was up that I saw that we had red carpet under us and we were sitting on red velvet chairs with King Tupou 6th insignia on them!   we just arrived and they led us to a chair - no question about who we were or anything.   It was hosted by the NZ High Commission this year and the pakeha w...