Tom and Debbie's Mission Blog: Learning in the Pacific Islands surrounded with Birthdays, and a quiet holiday season.

Debbie and I have birthdays exactly 7 weeks apart. It turns out that was the exact time period that we were teaching our institute class in the Pacific Area. This has been a major part of our lives over the past few months and we have learned so much from this experience. We have learned each week in the lesson preparation process and from our students. We have continued to learn as we spend one-on-one time with dear friends, grandchildren, listening to our prophet, and reading books. As our holiday season was impacted by Debbie having influenza A, we also learned again about the true meaning of Christmas.

Pacific Time Zones and Debbie's Christmas

From my journal on Wednesday, January 28, 2026:

This morning we received a phone call from Amy. She told us that Owen’s school is celebrating the 100th day of school this year. To celebrate, they suggested that the students come to school dressed like a 100 year old person. Owen, a six year old, made the comment, I can’t dress up like a 100 yr. old person because I don’t have a missionary badge. When Owen thinks of his “old” grandparents, he automatically thinks of us with our missionary badges on. He thinks that is what old people do. We were touched by his identification of us as missionaries while we are old. Hopefully our missionary service is being noted by grandchildren more than we are aware. This experience was the hand of the Lord in our lives today.

Teaching in the Pacific:

Let me start with our Church Service mission. In our first year teaching institute classes to Pathway students, we received assignments each term (every 8 weeks) to teach specific institute classes. In December we were told that we could come on-line and choose the class we wanted to teach. We were also told that they needed instructors to teach at unconventional times to meet the needs around the world. We chose to teach at midnight, as we have become night owls in our daily habits. So we signed up to teach a class to the Pacific Area at our midnight, between Wednesday and Thursday. That was scheduled to begin the midnight of Debbie's birthday, January 7 (January 8 at 12:00 am).

This has introduced us to a new experience which has included us learning about different cultures, including challenges in dating and marriage practice. Our class members came from 7 different countries in five different time zones that are vastly different from our own. In the Pacific, our class started at 3:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, or 8:00 pm on Thursday. It took us a few weeks to figure out all the time zones and even longer to learn from our wonderful students.

Our course was "The Eternal Family A", based on The Family: A Proclamation to the World. We had not taught this course before and much of the class material could be considered controversial to the standards of the world. As we have struggled to choose how to conduct each lesson, the Lord has taught us more than we can share with others. Every time that we try to prepare a lesson plan for these lessons without beginning with a prayer, we are stuck. When we humble ourselves and seek guidance, we receive divine assistance. We have learned so much more about the doctrine of families and how important it is to our Heavenly Father's plan.

As I am writing this entry, we just finished the term with 13 of the original 15 class members passing the class. The two others dropped out early in the term. It has been a challenge for many of our class members, with so many competing priorities in their lives. We are grateful that they have persevered. We have also learned about their culture from comments that we read in the discussion boards or in the reflection assignments. The following are a few fun comments that have opened our eyes a little wider:

One thing I do know is if we Fijians did not accept Christianity, we would still be practicing cannibalism. . .
I remember my grandfather telling me stories as a kid of how they used to secretly take cooked bananas to the missionaries to feed them (Fiji). . .
As told by my grandfather, his forefathers are very huge and gigantic men that inherited very big land masses from the mountains to the valleys (Papua New Guinea) . . .
To me one of those greatest story I was told ever growing up by my grandparents is how hard they worked to started a little Branch in my grandpa's village (Tonga) . . .
It breaks our hearts to be betrayed by people we trust. But in the midst of a 20-day fasting when the incident happened, the Holy Spirit touched my heart to forgive and look past shortcomings. . . This last week I went out spearfishing and I discover that in the deeper part of the ocean, there are places that look as beautiful as night lights (Marshall Islands).

In spite of the differences in cultures, time zones, and curriculum, we experienced the same amazing relationships that we have had previously with our other students. They are also dedicated to learning and faithful in their beliefs. It wasn't until this last week that we fully identified who was single or married or who was a member of The Church or Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or a friend of the Church. We seem to learn these facts as we review their assignments and their comments in class. One particular student had some dating questions and stayed after our last gathering to talk to us a little more.

As we shared some of our experiences and discussed how she could find a potential companion, we asked her how far she lived from a temple. She proceeded to tell us that there were two temples close to her. We sensed that she was referring to meetinghouses. As we asked further, we found that she was not a member of our Church. Much of our discussion had assumed that she was. This changed the course of our discussion with her, but endeared her to us even more. Even with our weakness and mistakes, we felt an immense amount of love from this student and the other members of the class. It seems that in one-on-one discussions we learn more about others and our love for them grows.

Next week we will begin teaching Part B of this course to a group of students in Brazil. Another adventure with more opportunities to learn and to love.

Learning from our Prophet:

When President Dallin H. Oaks gave his first public address at a BYU devotional earlier this month, we were asked as institute teachers to invite our students to watch or read his talk and then for us to discuss this in our next gathering. Being obedient to our assignment and with the joy of listening to our prophet we listened intently. We felt the Spirit strongly witness to us that he is a prophet of God with a message to give to the members of the Church and to the world now. Our students came prepared, even those who are not members of our Church. This was a glorious experience that has blessed us beyond measure. The following are some of the words of his talk that we have shared with others and which touched us so much:

Excerpt from President Oaks Devotional Talk

Upon President Nelson’s death, I experienced another meaning of the mantle. To observers it symbolizes a transfer of priesthood authority. To the person who receives that authority, it is very different and very real. Within a few months after learning of our President’s death, I felt the heaviness of responsibility settle upon me along with important impressions of what I was required to do now.

I feel to emphasize the warning President Russell M. Nelson issued us that “in coming days it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, comforting, and constant influences of the Holy Ghost. One of the many reasons you will need the constant influence of the Holy Ghost is that you live in a season where the adversary has become so effective at disguising truth that if you don’t have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived.

Many obstacles lie ahead. The distractions will be many. Even active members may sometimes have concerns about some historical, doctrinal, or social issues connected with the Church. I want to help all of our members overcome present or future doubts. Whatever those doubts, the way to overcome them is to get closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Again and again, He has taught us that He is the Way. I share four impressions that will draw us closer to our Savior.

1. Strengthen Our Faith in Him - Focus on 1st Article of Faith - daily prayer, scripture study, temple attendance

2. Increase Our Humility - Look to the needs of others and humility follows. . . Never let your secular learnings limit your horizons

3. Seek Help from Others - Discuss your concerns with faithful well-informed friends and always take those concerns to the Lord . . . Seek friends and associates who are striving to serve the Lord

4. Be Patient - “Overcoming doubt — resolving conflicts between the evolving understanding of science and the sometimes incomplete teachings of religion can be a lengthy process, like building faith or acquiring humility . . . Wait upon the Lord, trust in His timing. . . While we wait, keep busy with service

Learning from Others:

In our retirement years we have learned that some of our greatest joys come as we minister to others. Debbie asks just about every day in her prayers to know who to minister to. She often receives answers that lead us to special experiences. I stand in awe at the experiences that I have by being with Debbie while she ministers to others. For example, one day she was prompted to call someone who we had not had much contact with. This person ended up telling us her life story for more than an hour. We were fascinated and edified and she seemed to be strengthened, just by the opportunity to have someone listen to her life story and her current challenges. We both saw this as the hand of the Lord in our lives that day.

We also try to remember birthdays of family members and ward members. We have added to that list some of our special friends from our past. A few that we were blessed to spend time in included Carol Russon, who we used to "home teach" before she moved out of the ward. Another was our dear friend Marianne, who we met in Germany and who lives in the house built by my great grandfather.

Visiting with Carol Russin on her birthday in Provo

Our dear friend, Marianne in Germany, Messenger call on her birthday

Last week we went to a surprise birthday party for my cousin who just turned 70 years old. She has been divorced for many years and has raised an amazing family on her own. Her posterity was all there. We are so proud of her. However, whenever we visit or talk to her, we are the ones who come away edified.

Chris surrounded by her amazing posterity as she celebrated her 70th birthday

In each of these cases and many more, we feel pure love from those we visit. We are learning by experience that pure joy comes as we are in the presence of these amazing individuals who have lived such magnificent lives. They teach us what matters most and express unbelievable love to us.

Ministering to and learning from Grandchildren:

We have several grandchildren who do not live with our children for multiple of reasons. It makes our access to them limited. We started a few years ago to try to have a holiday luncheon with them soon after Christmas. This year, the only one that came was our granddaughter, Naliyah, who came with her boy friend. The lack of others ended up being a blessing as we were able to talk about personal things in her life and in the past of some of her cousins. What appeared to be a missed opportunity to see more of them ended up being a blessing.

Later in the month we were able to celebrate the 12th birthday of Ariana, our granddaughter that we never see otherwise. We are thankful that her mother allows us to visit and continue having a relationship with her.

Ariana, turning 12 with a bashful smile

A week later, we were able to celebrate the 18th birthday of our granddaughter, Cherish. She is now in a group home after being diagnosed with the same disease that took the life of her mother. She is doing very well and was very pleasant in our visit. This was the first time that we had seen her in over 6 months.

Cherish,turning 18, at the Paradise Buffet

We made a Christmas visit with Caide in a care center facility, who also suffers from the same disease as his mother. The picture he is holding was also given to Cherish, who absolutely loved seeing a photo of her with her siblings, even if it was 8 years ago.

Caide during a Christmas visit

Our granddaughter, Tiare, lives with her Dad but wants to learn to bake. We gave her some baking utensils at Christmas and she baked her first set of cookies with guidance from her grandma over the phone. We learned that she needed a mixer to simplify the process. That was her birthday present as she turned 12.

Tiare with her new mixer to facilitate her baking experience

One of our grandchildren, Elder Joshua Digerness, is on a mission in Zimbabwe. He is far from home, but we are able to hear from him each week by email. His emails uplift us and teach us every Monday morning. His attitude about his mission is very positive and he seems to learn from his challenges in a very uplifting way. An example from one of his summaries of his weekly email is representative of each week. This came after detailed stories of his week:

“I wouldn't expect the ingredients of Jele, "toilet paper", sadza, indigestion, mud, and a Cook to work well together at all for a first week of the transfer, but with the special ingredient of Jesus I got to have an incredible week full of adventure, miracles, and overcoming obstacles. Each challenge became a story to tell. Every obstacle has brought me closer to Christ. As I have turned to my Father in prayer, my burden was made light and my week made incredible. It seems Elder John D. Amos of the Seventy was right, Jesus Christ truly is the key ingredient to the "Good News Recipe" of life. God loves you and I do too! As you turn to Him for help in your struggle He will ease your burden! I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen”

In this week's email, he started with the following:

"I need to apologize because I totally forgot the most amazing part of last week!!!

6 baptisms! 2 of them being friends who I taught with Elder Atwood who ended up in the Sisters' area for this last transfer. I got to baptize all 6 of them, including the very first friend I met in Zimbabwe! Things came full circle from the start of being in Rusape and that was such a miracle! That first friend had trouble remembering things and coming to church, but with faith and hope that she could succeed and all of our efforts combined with the magical touch of the Sisters, she was able to enter the waters of baptism! I couldn't have asked for a better way to leave Rusape!"

Elder Digerness with the six baptisms that he was able to perform in his last week in Rusape, Zimbabwe.

Learning from books:

I love books, but have been very poor in reading them because other priorities always seem to take precedence. That is not true for Debbie, who is an avid reader all of the time. Just over a year ago, my mission president passed away. He was an amazing man, beloved by all of us missionaries. He had written a book and given it to me a few years ago. In fact, Debbie had read it but I had not. After his funeral, I repented of my bad habit and have tried to dedicate a few minutes after lunch each day to read from a book. Now, a year later, I have finished six books. I know that isn't much for many, but for me it has been monumental. More importantly, I have learned many eternal principles that are important to me, have enhanced my Come Follow Me study, and have fortified my testimony of our prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks. Two of these I have read with Debbie after dinner, so her incentive really helps a lot. I hope to keep and improve on this habit.

These are the six books that I have read in the past year

Learning the true meaning of Christmas:

This past year, our Christmas season seemed to be organized in phases:

· Phase 1 – Purchasing presents, decorating the house and wrapping presents

· Phase 2 – Finishing up our Institute class which completed on December 11

· Phase 3 – Christmas parties intermingled with grandchildren performances

· Phase 4 – A scheduled medical phase, colonoscopy for Tom and annual wellness visits

· Phase 5 – Visiting families one on one, decorating Christmas cookies with grandchildren

· Phase 6 – Christmas Programs - Forgotten Carols concert and Church Sacrament Meeting

· Phase 7 – Christmas Eve and Christmas Day gatherings with family members

Somewhere in between Phase 3 and Phase 5, we got stuck in the medical phase. Debbie contracted influenza A and everything came to a halt. Christmas cookie decorating and family visits were impacted or cancelled. We made a visit to the emergency room and tried multiple medicinal solutions. Finally, we went to Phase 7 on Christmas Eve, with Debbie using a mask as she began her recovery.

Dinner with Beckie and her family Christmas Eve

One thing that we learned is that Christmas doesn’t need all of the planned activities to be meaningful. We enjoyed our nightly Christmas Devotional, including "Mom’s Favorite Christmas Stories" and stories of the nativity. We survived with limited involvement in anything else for that last week before Christmas. We still understood and celebrated the reason for the season, that baby born in Bethlehem and His divine mission.

Nativities, Christmas Stories and Advent Candles were the basis of our daily Christmas Devotionals

By the new year, Debbie was getting stronger and was able to enjoy her 73^rd birthday without complications. That midnight we had our first institute class of the new term with the Pacific Islands (on Zoom). We are back in action, but have learned that as we get older, that medical phase takes more time and energy than before.

Celebrating her 73rd birthday in style

No one around as we watched Wicked II in the theater to celebrate Debbie's birthday

Keeping on the topic of the medical phase, Debbie had another EKG on her heart in January. Her refraction number dropped quite a bit, which was concerning. She is feeling well, but the cardiologists ordered a stress test that she just completed last week. We are still awaiting to see if they want to alter her medication or treatment. Hopefully all will go well. We are also learning from our medical conditions.

Debbie receiving another Electrocardiogram

Temple visits with family:

In the past month we have been able to get back to the temple with our family members. We had a double sealing session with Debbie and her siblings and siblings-in-law. These always bring the spirit of family history and temple work strongly into our lives. We didn't complete all the sealings that we brought to perform, but one of the group always takes the incomplete sealings and makes sure they are completed in the coming months.

With the start of a new year, we have two more grandchildren ready to go to the temple. This year it is our grandson, Dawson, and our granddaughter, Addie. We have been blessed to do two temple trips, one with grandchildren in the Salt Lake Valley and another with those in the Logan area. Addie is about to take the long trip to Bismarck, North Dakota to have her first temple visit. Baptisms are the start of the temple work for our ancestors and the sealings are the culmination. The sweet spirit and joy that we have with our grandchildren, not only teaches us, but helps each of us to move along the covenant path.

Dawson with us and his family when he was ordained a deacon on the first Sunday of the year

Our Salt Lake Valley crew on February 6 at the Jordan River Temple

Our Cache Valley crew, including our return missionary at Utah State

Traditional dinner with Oma and Opa after the baptisms

Grandchildren Performances:

These photos are from grandchildren performances that we were able to attend during the Christmas season and now in February. We always enjoy seeing our grandchildren develop their talents:

Piano recital in Hyrum,

Emily introducing her song . . .

and playing it beautifully

Ellie, introducing her piano recital number

Concert Choirs:

McKenzie singing a duet and playing the guitar in her High School concert

Jacob in the middle of his Concert Choir

Jacob with his Oma after the concert

Dance and Band concerts:

Evelyn with her dance recital, front and slightly left

Evelyn with her Oma after the recital

Kaleb putting his trumpet down the baritone next to him at the end of his concert

Kaleb with his Opa after his band concert

Jasper as an alien in his middle school drama skit

Jasper introducing himself in the skit (middle)

Christmas Activities:

Although our time was cut short due to illness, we were able to attend some family Christmas Parties and started one of the Christmas cookie activities in Hyrum:

Extended Family Christmas Party: