For five days, from 7-11 August, 2024, the Area Presidency of the Pacific region of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints toured Papua New Guinea to counsel with local leaders and members.
The leaders also reviewed initiatives for additional meetinghouses, visited new BYU-Pathway learning centres, met with children and teachers at local “Mum’s’ Pre-schools,” considered future Church growth, and attended worship services and devotionals with local members.
The Church’s Pacific Area Focus of "Strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ one by one," was a feature of the discussions. Members were encouraged to invite all to sacrament meetings and to prepare for the opening of the Port Moresby Temple, which is currently under construction.
Papua New Guinea youth were counseled to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, to get an education and employment, and to raise strong families in the gospel.
Members of the Pacific Area Presidency—Elder Peter F. Meurs, Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, and Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi—were accompanied by Douglas J. Martin, Pacific Area Director for Temporal Affairs; and Elder Brent J. Hillier, Pacific Area Presidency Executive Secretary.
Other Pacific Area temporal affairs staff with expertise in architecture, construction, technology and finance also traveled with the group.
During their trip, Elders Meurs, Wakolo, and Jaggi traveled to remote areas in the country to observe how Church meetinghouses were being adapted to meet the needs of surging congregations in distant parts of the country. The leaders were delighted to see the pilot development of meetinghouses that will provide facilities for worship on Sunday and become online learning and work centres during the week.
In a nation where only 13% of the people have access to electricity, the Church is developing plans to create rural meetinghouses using solar panels and batteries for electricity, satellite internet connections, sound and video systems for online meetings and computers for online learning and potential work.
The Area Presidency acknowledged the hard work of the staff members in developing practical low-cost solutions for these buildings. Elder Meurs says plans are developing to build up to twenty such houses of worship for the cost of a single conventional block meetinghouse.
While in Papua New Guinea’s capital city of Port Moresby, the Area Presidency also visited the temple construction site.
“It is an incredible blessing to have a house of the Lord being built in Papua New Guinea,” Elder Meurs taught.
“We have about two years to prepare for the temple. I would say let’s work and make sure everyone possible has a temple recommend before the temple opens.”
Learn more about temples here.
The Area Presidency also met with lay congregational leaders in Port Moresby and Madang. In each session, Church members were encouraged to be more effective ministers to their fellow Latter-day Saints and to their neighbours and friends who are not members of the Church.
On Friday, 8 August, a devotional was held in Port Moresby for the general Church membership in the region. Despite the late afternoon start time, the chapel was filled, with overflow crowds listening to the sermons over speakers mounted outside.
During the devotional, the Area Presidency bore witness of the atonement of Jesus Christ and the importance of staying safely on the covenant path.
The visit concluded on Sunday, 11 August, as the three leaders split up to speak to different congregations before leaving the country.
In their sermons, they reminded Church members of the joy that comes from living within the covenants made at baptism and while receiving the sacrament, and, for many, the additional blessings that will be available once the Port Moresby temple is completed.
Before leaving, Elder Meurs said, “Whenever we come to Papua New Guinea we feel a beautiful spirit among the members of the Church. We feel an incredible commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church, we feel of the love members have for Church leaders. They love the Prophet. "
He added, "So, we just leave here filled with joy. This is a place where there is huge potential for many people to become members of the Church of Jesus Christ. And we can’t help but think forward twenty or thirty years and maybe there will be a million members in Papua New Guinea.”