We awoke to beautiful blue skies and billowy white fluffy clouds. “Another beautiful day in PNG” greeted us every morning by Elder Tarawhiti. And it was. It only rained one evening (monsoon down pour) during our entire stay. As we drove through the streets we were impressed with the masses of people walking everywhere, selling everything along the streets with their little make shift tables of wares or spread out on tarps on the ground.
The people have their little stands up and down the streets and lit up at night. The markets were open fields or spaces covered with colourful umbrella’s to reduce the glare of the hot sun. Because of security reasons we only ventured into one very open market and that was just to walk through to get a better feel for the markets and what they sold.
We didn’t buy any souvenirs or postcards but were given some gifts by the Tarawhitis and others.
On Saturday we attended a 50th anniversary celebration of the parents of one of the ladies that works at the Church Service Center. There were 11 daughters and 1 son and most of them plus the father have joined the church but the mother hasn’t yet. They went back to the United Church where they were first married and renewed their wedding vows. But just like 50 years ago the Priest married them and then in the end divorced them by saying “until death do you part”. How sad to not have the Gospel and Temple sealing in their lives so that the marriage vows are for “all time and eternity” not just this life. How beautiful is the Lord’s plan of Salvation and Happiness.
Sunday we went to church which was a unique experience as the chapels are composed of a roof and columns and end walls to support the roof but no side walls. It allows the air to flow and with the addition of fans there was a slight breeze that ran through the heat & humidity. The other buildings in the compound were regular block buildings where classes were held. That afternoon we joined our neighbors for Sunday dinner and had so much food that they invited a couple of non-member friends to join us.
We awoke to beautiful blue skies and billowy white fluffy clouds. “Another beautiful day in PNG” greeted us every morning by Elder Tarawhiti. And it was. It only rained one evening (monsoon down pour) during our entire stay. As we drove through the streets we were impressed with the masses of people walking everywhere, selling everything along the streets with their little make shift tables of wares or spread out on tarps on the ground.
The people have their little stands up and down the streets and lit up at night. The markets were open fields or spaces covered with colourful umbrella’s to reduce the glare of the hot sun. Because of security reasons we only ventured into one very open market and that was just to walk through to get a better feel for the markets and what they sold.
We didn’t buy any souvenirs or postcards but were given some gifts by the Tarawhitis and others.
On Saturday we attended a 50th anniversary celebration of the parents of one of the ladies that works at the Church Service Center. There were 11 daughters and 1 son and most of them plus the father have joined the church but the mother hasn’t yet. They went back to the United Church where they were first married and renewed their wedding vows. But just like 50 years ago the Priest married them and then in the end divorced them by saying “until death do you part”. How sad to not have the Gospel and Temple sealing in their lives so that the marriage vows are for “all time and eternity” not just this life. How beautiful is the Lord’s plan of Salvation and Happiness.
Sunday we went to church which was a unique experience as the chapels are composed of a roof and columns and end walls to support the roof but no side walls. It allows the air to flow and with the addition of fans there was a slight breeze that ran through the heat & humidity. The other buildings in the compound were regular block buildings where classes were held. That afternoon we joined our neighbors for Sunday dinner and had so much food that they invited a couple of non-member friends to join us.
1 comment:
You are both looking wonderful, and what an adventure!! Will you be in PNG long? The living quarters look good and tropical. Is that a chapel or a Temple you're standing next to? It looks pretty nice!
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