The Call

The family all knew where we would be going, but when the call came we decided to make a big production out of opening it and to let the grandchildren share the excitement.  We went to Brian's house in Springville, spread out the map of the world on the table and everyone pretended to guess where we were going by putting a penny on a spot on the map. Kristen was there and Kevin skyped in.

 

Surprise!!  It's Jordan!!

Preparing to Go

It took us almost all summer to fill out the paperwork and get everything ready to submit our application.  We were surprised that it took so long, but doctors and dentists appointments, forms, and everything else takes time.  First thing we did was have our picture taken.

OUR MISSION TO JORDAN

April Interview in Salt Lake City at the Church Administration Building

For the past three years we've been Church Service missionaries, serving as specialists for the measles immunization initiative.   It's been a wonderful experience that we've enjoyed very much but the Church hasn't had an assignment for us for nearly a year.  We went to Salt Lake and asked some of our friends in the humanitarian department if there was anything else we could do.   it wasn't long after our visit before we received a phone call asking us if we would be interested in interviewing for a humanitarian mission in Jordan. Of course, we said yes.  We wrote up our "resume" and made an appointment for the interview with Elder Bruce Porter and Elder Bruce Carlson of the Quorum of the Seventy in the Church Administration Building.

The interview went well and we went back down to the underground parking lot where we saw Elder Holland  and then President Monson pass by.  How cool is that?

Then we waited.....and waited.  We knew there were several other couples being interviewed for the same calling, and after nearly three months we figured that we hadn't got the job.  But to our surprise the phone call came and we were called to come back to Salt Lake for another meeting with Elders Porter and Carlson.  They offered us the calling and we accepted.

VANUATU

We're off to Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific to do the measles/rubella immunization campaign.  A very long flight is ahead of us, but we are ready for it.  Kyle dropped us off at the airport.

We left Utah on Tuesday and arrived in Vanuatu on Thursday morning.  It was a good flight, with stops in Los Angeles and Fiji.  It's verrrry hot and humid in Vanuatu.  Elder Tolley is happy to know that sandals are allowed for the missionary dress (no socks, too)!  Now if he could lose the tie, he would be completely happy, but that isn't going to happen.  We have a studio apartment with a small kitchen--everything in one room.

This is our back yard.  We love it--no weeding, no fertilizing, no mowing! 

This is the view from our front door.  We have a gorgeous view from the front and the back of our bungalo.  The compound has 10 units and missionaries couples stay in three of the units.

Our landlady is from Ireland and her husband is an Australian.  They have a dog named Cleo.   We really like them.  Last night they invited all the missionary couples to a barbeque dinner at the pool.

 
We're working with Elder and Sister Hinton, the Humanitarian missionary couple for Vanuatu.  Check out the view from their apartment!  They have been a big help to us in the measles campaign.

Elder and Sister Hinton took us up north to the village of Paunganisu, where there's a small branch of the church.  This is where they meet.  There are some benches set up under the nearby trees for Relief Society and Primary meetings.  We hope the missionaries in this area are Eagle Scouts, because the living conditions are quite primitive, and they probably use all their merit badge skills! The people here are just wonderful.  For district conference about 50 miles away, they hired three pickups and everybody rode in the back of the trucks to Port Vila.

 

These three little pikininis helped us with the measles jingle which will be played on the national radio starting next week.  We rewarded them with an ice cream cone at the local market. 

 

 



 We donated 40 megaphones to the Ministry of Health for use in the Vanuatu measles immunization campaign.  The Indonesian man on the left is called Jack.  I call him Jack Sparrow.  Next to Jack is Katimal Kaun, the member Church Coordinator and also an official in the Ministry of Health.  Others are officials in the MOH.

 

 

20 little Pinkinins were selected to be the first to be immunized at the national launch ceremony last week.  The Church provided t-shirts for the chidren.

 

 



Everybody cried when they got the shot.  Elder Tolley was there to hand out suckers and give comfort to the little ones.

Here's Elder Tolley with the National Minister of Health.

Some of the volunteers received training at the church.  Now we're ready to roll!

Welcome Home

The flight home from the Solomon Islands was a killer.  We flew from Honiara to Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, to Los Angeles and then to SLC.  At each stop we had to collect all our baggage and then re-check in and go through security.  Not fun!  We enjoyed our assignment in the Solomon Islands, but were very happy to be back in the United States.  It looks like we were missed.

Ready Assessment

This morning six Church volunteers went out into the neighborhoods of Honiara to take a survey of children vaccinated in the measles campaign.  They looked sharp!  Check out those vests!

We're so proud of them.  They will be going out all week.

No laws here against riding in the back of a truck.

The national minister of health stopped by for an update.



Winding up the Campaign

The measles campaign is in the final wrapping up stages here in the Honiara area.  The megaphones we donated were a big hit.  The Ministry of Health wants five more and we agreed to get them ready to go out to the Western Province.  We will also supply volunteers for the rapid assessment next week.

Our friend Jay at the KKmart store really likes us.  We keep going back to buy more megaphones.  He sold us a total of 35 megaphones and a gazillion batteries.    

 

The training of our church volunteers took place at the Honiara chapel on Saturday.

They're all trained and ready to go!