In April of 2013 our son, Caleb, opened his mission call to serve a two year mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called to serve in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission. When he read where he was going most of us said, “Where’s that?” However, there were a few people that were somewhat familiar with it. Landon had heard of it from serving in Australia, where a lot of the missionaries that served in his mission were from various islands in the South Pacific, including Vanuatu. Zach had heard of it because he had a friend that had served in the Fiji Suva Mission years ago at which time Vanuatu was a part of that mission and his friend had spent his whole mission serving in Vanuatu. (Apparently, less than a year before Caleb received his call, Vanuatu was moved out of the Fiji Suva Mission and was made its own mission.) Our neighbor informed us that there was a recent episode of House Hunters International about a family that was relocating from Brisbane, Australia to Vanuatu and there were several people who remembered that the 9th Season of Survivor was filmed in Vanuatu.

Other than that, the rest of us had never heard of it. So, of course we started looking up information online about Vanuatu. Here is a little bit of what we found in our search: Vanuatu is an island nation in the Oceanic South Pacific. It is located east of the northeast coast of Australia and west of Fiji.  Included in Caleb’s mission boundaries are the Solomon Islands which are northwest of Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the southwest. Vanuatu is part of Melanesia.

Caleb has served in the main city of Port Vila on the island of Efate, several areas on the island of Tanna and several areas on the island of Malakula.  On some of the islands, including the island of Tanna, are active volcanos which Caleb felt erupt on a regular basis.

Caleb was called to be English speaking but was informed that he would be learning a native language, Bislama, once he got to Vanuatu. It is an interesting “pidgin” English language and Caleb speaks it fluently and has also picked up some other island dialects as well. The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ,  has been translated into Bislama.

For this year’s ornament I wanted to represent the Vanuatu flag in the design because I really like the description of what the colors and emblems on the flag symbolize: The black represents the Melanesian people that make up the majority of Vanuatu’s population. The red represents the country’s unity through blood. Green represents the land and its agriculture. The yellow Y-shape represents the light of the gospel going through the pattern of the islands in the South Pacific (approximately 83% of the people profess Christianity). The yellow emblem in the black is a boar’s tusk – the symbol of prosperity worn as a pendant on the islands – along with two leaves of the local namele fern. The leaves are supposed to be a token of peace and their 39 fronds represent the 39 members of the Parliament of Vanuatu.

Brough Family Update 2014

Merry Christmas! We enjoy the cards, photos and letters we receive from you this time of year. Here is a recap of what has gone on in our family this past year:

Don and Nancy started out this year having the opportunity to serve as ushers during the open house for the new Gilbert Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   This was such a great opportunity to invite those not of our faith to see the inside of one of our beautiful temples. In addition to a weekly shift as ushers we went through the tour several times with different friends and neighbors. It was dedicated in March and it is such a blessing to have this beautiful temple in our own town in which to worship.

Jordan and Casey were blessed with the birth of baby Lindy Nicole on April 10^th! She is such a beautiful and sweet little girl and has truly healed our hearts since the loss of Elliot last year. Jordan changed jobs and is now working at Go Daddy and really enjoys it.  He is a huge ASU fan and has season football tickets and loves going to the games even when it is over 100 degrees outside.  Casey continues to cut hair several days a week at Blossom Salon and Boutique in Mesa, has a jewelry business called “A Little Bit of Princess” (www.alittlebitofprincess.com) and is the sweetest mom to little Lindy. They recently bought their first home about eight miles from us and have been busy getting settled in and seem to like their new ward.

Zach and Tara welcomed little Piper Amanda to their family on March 7^th! She is a little brunette beauty. Porter turned two in February and continues to delight us all.  Zach continues to work as an engineer at Burns and McDonnell. He has traveled quite a bit on business to California and had a trip recently to Wisconsin as well. He just ran the Gilbert Days 5K in November and is training for a half marathon in February. Tara is busy being the mom of two and does such a great job. She has a business making videos called “Shorts for Life” (www.shortsforlife.wordpress.com) and also teaches voice lessons in her home. Zach is serving with the Young Men of their ward and Tara is an Activity Day leader.

Landon and Ashlin were married in the new Gilbert Temple on May 16^th and we are so grateful to have another beautiful daughter in law join our family!  It was so nice to have lots of extended family in town for the wedding and while here they were also able to attend the baby blessings of Piper and Lindy. Landon is finishing up his classes at Chandler Gilbert Community College and will begin classes at Arizona State University in January. He is majoring in applied biological sciences (pre-veterinary medicine). He also works full time at Pay Pal. He has been working out with a trainer and is planning on doing a mini triathlon in the new year. Ashlin is working at Zerorez, where Jordan used to work. They are busy newlyweds and the proud parents of two kitties (our grandkitties?), Maple and Ruben. They’ve enjoyed serving as ward missionaries in their ward.

Dalton returned home from his mission in the Australia Adelaide Mission in March and then a week later Don and Nancy flew back with him for his post mission trip. It was so great to be able to see the areas that he served in and meet the people that meant so much to him on his mission. We got to see the Adelaide area, Alice Springs (with a day trip to Uluru) and Darwin. On the way to Adelaide we stayed in Sydney for a day so Dalton could see some of Landon’s mission and it just so happened that when we were there we were able to go to the season opening game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the LA Dodgers at the Sydney Cricket Field.  Dalton is working full time at Pay Pal and attends Chandler Gilbert Community College. He enjoys the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward and stake he belongs to and serves in the elders quorum.

Caleb loves serving in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission. After serving on the islands of Tanna and Malekula for most of the year he is back in the main city of Port Vila. He was able to wear sandals (even flip flops sometimes) when he was in the outer islands but now that he is back in the “big city” he has to wear his dress shoes again. We also had to send him some new white shirts because his were all yellow from having to wash them by hand. He loves the people of Vanuatu so much and loves sharing the gospel message with them and has been fortunate to see them accept it. We have really noticed through his emails a big change in Caleb. We miss him so much but are so grateful he is having this wonderful experience. We are still looking forward to June 30, 2015 for his return, though!!

Don continues to work for Wells Fargo Bank of which we are so grateful. He has traveled quite a bit this year for work and Nancy got to go with him on several of his trips to San Francisco. On one of his trips to Charlotte, NC he also visited a facility in Columbia, SC and was able to visit our niece, Katie. He’s also traveled to Birmingham, AL and Boise, ID. Don has always loved to read but this year he has started reading a lot of books electronically. He also enjoys going to Diamondback games even though they didn’t do so great this year. He is enjoying serving in the High Priest Group in our ward. We are so grateful for Don and the great husband, dad and papa he is!

Nancy loves volunteering in the baptistry of the Gilbert Temple on Tuesdays, traveling with Don on business (and also pleasure) trips and stays busy with her calling in the Relief Society (women’s auxiliary).  She made some baby quilts for the new granddaughters and has discovered that she really enjoys piecing quilts. Lately she has been busy making ornaments to represent Caleb’s mission.   In September she went on a quick trip with a dear friend to St. George, UT to see the plays at Tuacahn as well as a “girls” trip to Chicago with some of her sisters in law and nieces. She (Nana) has been watching Lindy on Mondays for a few months to “pay it forward” for Don’s mom watching Jordan when he was a baby!

As mentioned earlier we were blessed to have extended family here for the wedding weekend in May as well as some family that came in March for Dalton’s return home from his mission. We were also so happy to have a visit from Don’s sister in September for a few days.

Don and Nancy also went to visit Nancy’s dad in June while Don worked at a bank facility in Salt Lake City for a week. He turned 86 in September and then a few weeks later had open heart surgery in October.   Nancy is grateful that she was able to visit him for a few days in November.  It makes her sad that he lives so far away but she is grateful that she got to spend some time talking to him when there and expressing her love and gratitude to him for the loving way in which he and her mom raised her and her brothers. She is blessed to have had parents who loved each other and made sure that we kids knew they loved us. And that they made it possible for us to learn about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

In October Don and Nancy went on a trip to visit Nancy’s brother and nephew in the Pittsburgh area as well as some of Nancy’s and Don’s family in Ohio. While back east they also went to Niagara Falls and visited the LDS church historic sights in the Palmyra, NY area. It was such a blessing to feel the spirit as we sat in the Sacred Grove where the simple ernest prayer of a young farm boy was answered and the restoration of the gospel began.

When we returned from that trip we were able to attend the open house and dedication of yet another beautiful temple in Phoenix. We are so blessed to have so many temples in our midst!

Don’s parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in November at a Thanksgiving gathering in St. George, UT.   Most everyone was able to make it and it was great being together to honor this wonderful couple.  One of Don’s sisters and niece asked Tara to put together a video which we surprised them with at the gathering.  She did an awesome job!

We are so grateful for all of you and wish you all a “Hapi Krismas” and all the best in the coming year!

The Brough Family (brough7@q.com)

Giving Tree 2014

While our third son, Landon, was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Australia Sydney North Mission, our fourth son, Dalton (who is currently serving his mission in the Australia Adelaide Mission) and I came across this cute and cheesy Australian Christmas song.  We both got a kick out of it (especially the part where the artist, Rolf Harris, says, “Mummy, where’s my mummy?  They’ve taken her away.”).  As per my tradition of making Christmas ornaments that represent the country where our boys have served I knew when Dalton received his mission call that his ornament would be a white boomer.  As I was trying to figure out how to share this song with the recipients of my ornaments, my eldest son, Jordan, came to my rescue and set up this blog for me.  I hope you will enjoy listening to “Six White Boomers” by Rolf Harris.

Brough Family Update 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!   We love receiving your cards, photos and updates this time of year.  Here is what has been going on with our family this past year:

Jordan and Casey :  Sweet baby Elliot Robert was born on March 7^th and after being given a name and a blessing by his father,  peacefully passed away.  This was a very tender time for our family and we want to thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.  They truly helped to sustain us all.  On a happier note…Casey is pregnant again with a healthy baby GIRL!  She is due in April.  Jordan graduated from ASU in Public Relations in May and is working at Zerorez Arizona as their digital marketing coordinator.  Casey continues to work at Blossom Salon and Boutique and at her parent’s home décor store, Rodworks.  She has been extra busy lately because they just opened a second store in north Phoenix.  They still live in our stake so it is nice to have them nearby.

Zach, Tara and Porter:  Zach graduated from BYU in April.  We packed them up the weekend of graduation and they are now back in Arizona.  In May he started his job at Burns and McDonnell, an engineering consulting firm, and they just bought their first home not too far away from us.   They have been busy painting walls and cabinets and getting settled in.  Zach and Tara both participated in a choir called East Valley Millennial Organization.   Porter is a delight to us all.  Tara is a darling mom and Porter is definitely a mama’s boy.  He only likes us if Tara isn’t around! Oh, and by the way, Porter will soon be a big brother to a little SISTER!  Yes, Tara is due in March!

Landon:  He moved out in May with a couple of friends.   It has been a good thing for him and he has enjoyed it and the singles ward he attends.  He is still working at Pay Pal and attending Chandler Gilbert Community College.  He has one more year there and then will transfer to Arizona State University majoring in Agribusiness.  He loves playing his guitar and writing songs and on Thursday nights he sometimes performs at an open mike night at a local coffee shop.  He has been volunteering at a veterinarian’s office on Mondays and the temple on Friday nights.   He has also planted a small garden in what is left of our yard around the perimeter of the pool.

Dalton:  He is still serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Australia Adelaide Mission.  This year he has served in Darwin and several different areas in the greater Adelaide area.  He is currently in the Klemzig area of Adelaide and loves it.  He has had some great experiences and it is going to truly be bittersweet for him to finish his mission in March. But we are not going to lie…we can hardly wait!

Caleb:  This has been a whirlwind year for Caleb!  He finished his senior year and graduated in May from Mesquite High School, but not before receiving his mission call in April to the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission!   I’m sure that the majority of you are saying what we said: “Where’s that?”  Vanuatu is an island chain in the South Pacific south of the Solomon Islands, north of New Caledonia, east of Australia and west of Fiji.   It was actually part of the Fiji Suva Mission up until about 18 months ago when it became it’s own mission so that is why not very many of us have ever heard of anyone getting called to serve there. Apparently, one of the seasons of the television reality show, Survivor, was filmed there, called Vanuatu: Islands of Fire.  Yes, there are live volcanoes on some of the islands!  He reported to the Provo MTC on July 3^rd and after his two week training went to the Maryland Baltimore Mission with five other missionaries assigned to Vanuatu to wait for their visas.  Upon his arrival in Baltimore he had an appendicitis attack and had an emergency appendectomy the next night.   At this point we were feeling grateful that they had to wait for their visas because if they had gone to Vanuatu as planned he probably would have started having his attack mid flight and who knows what the medical conditions would have been like in Vanuatu!  He healed quickly from the appendectomy and loved the time he spent in Baltimore.  The visas came the end of August and they finally got to go to Vanuatu.  After serving in a pretty remote area for awhile he is now in the main city of Port Vila.  He truly loves the people and is pretty confident speaking the local language, Bislama.  We miss him terribly and of course Nancy will always worry about his living conditions (some places don’t have running water and limited electricity), but we know he is where he is supposed to be and wouldn’t want him anywhere else at this time.

Don has traveled a little bit more on business with Wells Fargo Bank this year and Nancy has had the opportunity to go with him on a few of these trips especially since they have become temporary “empty nesters”.  Nancy loves going with him when he goes to Charlotte and San Francisco.   On one of the trips to Charlotte Don also needed to visit some of the bank’s facilities in Columbia, SC, Roanoke and Richmond, VA .  So it ended up being a business “road trip” and while in Columbia we were able to see Nancy’s niece and also made a stop in Greensboro, NC to see Don’s nephew and family.  Don enjoys his calling in the High Priest Group and Nancy keeps busy serving in the Relief Society.  Nancy has loved volunteering at the Mesa Temple baptistry for over three years now.  Don and the boys enjoy going to Diamondback games during the summer.

We enjoyed a couple of trips to San Diego, once with Caleb on Memorial Day weekend so he could go to the San Diego temple with a good friend and his family and again in September with the rest of the family to go to a D-back/Padre game and the San Diego Zoo.  In the fall Don and Nancy went on a trip to Pennsylvania to visit Nancy’s brother and then to Ohio to see some church historical sites and visit relatives on both sides of our family.

We are excited about our new Gilbert Temple that will be dedicated in March.  Before the dedication there will be an open house for all to attend.  It is from January 18^th thru February 15^th and will be a great opportunity for those not of our faith to see the inside of one of our beautiful temples.  We have been assigned to be on the usher committee every Thursday night during the open house.   For information about the Gilbert Temple visit www.gilbertmormontemple.org.   Beginning on December 30^th there will be information on how to acquire free tickets for the open house.

We are so grateful for our many blessings this time of year.  We know that we have a loving Heavenly Father that hears and answers our prayers and helps to sustain us through the trials of this life.  We are blessed to have all of you in our life and want you to know that we love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!

The Brough Family                                                                                           brough7@q.com

Giving Tree 2013