Seeing God’s Hand in Pohnpei

We wrapped up our week in Pohnpei and returned home safely on Friday evening. While it was wonderful to experience a different culture, meet new friends, and spend time with the Area Presidency, we were definitely ready to be home!

Our visits with Elder Teh and several government officials took place on Monday and Tuesday. Meetings with education leaders and representatives from the U.S. Embassy helped strengthen relationships that may enable future humanitarian donations. These visits really made us grateful for what we have!

One need we learned about is Pohnpei’s desire to establish a diagnostic center—ideally with an MRI machine. Right now, anyone needing an MRI must fly to Guam, and since most people can’t afford the trip, many conditions simply go undiagnosed. The Church could potentially donate a machine, but currently no one on the island is trained to operate or repair it, which means it wouldn’t be a wise use of resources. During our meeting with the Embassy, we discovered a program that provides exactly that kind of training. A promising partnership may be forming!

We also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know several senior missionary couples serving in Pohnpei and Kosrae. Their living conditions are quite different from ours, but their love for the Lord and the people they serve shines through. I truly admire their positive attitudes.

To better understand Palau, here’s a short history refresher:
Japan seized Palau from Germany during World War I and developed the islands, making Koror an administrative center. In World War II, Palau saw intense fighting between Japanese and Allied forces. After the war, the U.S. administered Palau as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Palau later voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia and instead became fully independent in 1994. They entered into a Compact of Free Association with the United States, which provides financial aid and defense support in exchange for U.S. defense authority. This compact has allowed Palau to be more progressive than some neighboring islands such as Pohnpei.  Here are a few pictures of the neighborhoods.

These little neighborhood "stores" were everywhere.  

While we were in Pohnpei, Elder and Sister Kim also visited on the second of their three mission tour stops. We had recently seen them in Mongolia, so it was fun to reconnect! We had our last zone conference in Mongolia and our first one in this mission with the Kims! 

I came down with a cold during the trip, so we didn’t do much sightseeing—but we did make time to visit a line of old Japanese tanks that have been sitting in the exact same spot since the Japanese left. A very cool piece of history!

We flew back home on Friday.  The airport was small (our checked bags screening entailed a security officer opening it and looking through it), but it still managed to have a gift shop… and even a frog to welcome me into the ladies’ restroom!

We’re grateful for the chance we had to experience the island culture of Pohnpei. It was an eye-opening trip that made us once again appreciate the blessings of our beautiful Palau and of course our homeland.