Pacific Area Church Leaders Discuss Ways to Help People Strengthen Their Faith 

The Pacific Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met this past weekend (12-13 August) in New Zealand with leaders of the Church from across the South Pacific region.

Elder Peter F. Meurs, General Authority Seventy and Pacific Area President of the Church, presided at the meetings over the weekend.

A central focus of the weekend’s meetings was identifying ways to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ across the Pacific Area, among men, women, youth and children.

"This was our Area Council meeting with our Area Seventy and Area Organisation Advisors present," Elder Meurs noted. "The discussion focused on continuing to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and the healing and redeeming blessings that flow through Him as we participate in sacrament and temple ordinances and remember our covenants."

"We discussed the Saviour's one by one ministry and how we can emulate Him as we minister to our family and friends," he continued.

"We discussed some significant new blessings including new lower cost opportunities for senior couples to participate in missionary service and assistance for remote youth and young adults to participate in ‘For the Strength of Youth’ (FSY) and ‘Young Single Adult’ (YSA) conferences."

Elder Glenn Burgess, Area Seventy from Auckland, attended the meetings. He said discussions among the leaders were informative and inspiring.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to gather and counsel together,” he said. “Everyone brought wise and valued perspectives. This allowed for a broader consideration of ideas and thoughts, which relate directly to the members in the Pacific as a whole. Faith in and love for the Saviour was evident. I loved this time together.”

Elder Jared V. Ormsby, of Christchurch, said, “Together, we were able to discuss how to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and bless the lives of those in the Pacific. In unity, we were able to contribute to moving the work forward under the direction of our Area Presidency and their inspired vision and focus.”

Elder Iotua Tune, of Kiribati, added, “We worked to strengthen both local leaders and members, and align more with our Area Presidency, our Prophet, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.”

Sister Cheryl Vila, an Area Organisation Advisor from the Marshall Islands, said she was inspired by the topics discussed and sees many areas where the Church can have an impact on the peoples of the Pacific. In particular, she said she sees the Church’s education programs as evidence of the power of the Gospel to change lives in many ways.

“I truly believe what the scriptures say about the principles of intelligence we obtain in this life staying with us throughout the eternities,” she said. “That is true both spiritually and temporally, and the Gospel teaches us to really think about what we are being taught, and to choose to do the good we find, to choose the right.”

Sister Danielle Tuairau, from French Polynesia, said she hopes to help members, and women particularly, to gain a greater testimony of attending the temple.

“As we have discussed many times, going to the temple and receiving the knowledge that is available there is key to gaining salvation with our Heavenly Father,” she said.  “When you go to the temple, you gain His power in your life.”

“Our members need His power in their lives, and it was such a great experience to counsel about ways that we can help them see this.”

Sister Olivia Mahit, from Vanuatu, said that in today’s world there are many distractions that keep people from clearly seeing the path they need to follow to gain the blessings of the Gospel in their lives. 

She said that discussions over the weekend helped her focus on what she can do to help others strive each day to “become more like our Saviour, Jesus Christ."

Sister Mahit added, "People today have multiple responsibilities in their daily lives, and I hope they understand that they can draw strength in their lives by focusing on the Saviour, doing the little things, the basics, each day a little better.”