Some canoed for four days from villages along the fly to Daru, an island close to the Papua New Guinea mainland. Others came from Daru itself. Many had never seen a large town. Only a couple had ever been to the city of Port Moresby. Certainly none had seen a western city the size of Sydney. They were united in one thing and that was to visit a house of the Lord, a Mormon temple, to participate in the special eternal ordinances that take place there.
The group of forty Church members from the various remote villages flew from Daru to Port Morseby and on to Sydney in late October to visit the Sydney temple. You can imagine their reaction to the sights and sounds when they finally landed in Australia. But nothing could quite have prepared them for the spiritual feast that they participated in during their week-long visit to the Sydney temple.
Elder Dirk Smibert, an Area Seventy responsible for Papua New Guinea, made arrangements for the flights from the island for all of the families and the sleeping accommodation at temple housing in Carlingford. Local Relief Societies, the Church's women's organisation, supplied warm clothing for the PNG members and familiar Island cooking for their meals.
"We were glad to have such delicious taro root, tapioca and raw fish fixed for us by Australian-based Pacific islanders," commented Brother Tete, one of the 40-strong group. "Our food was delicious and very much appreciated."
For most of the Saints (a word referring to regular members of the Church and derived from the full name of the Church) this was their first time out of the country. Some of the villagers had not seen modern plumbing, nappies, nor the plentitude of clothes and food. As the bus from the airport entered the underground tunnel, the Saints were told that they were now under Sydney Harbour. Elder Smibert said the bus was filled with an audible gasp.
After the families were first 'sealed' (or joined together in eternal relationships), the Saints gathered outside the front of the temple to have their photos taken with Elder and Sister Smibert. They also had their individual family photos taken and given to them by the Smiberts as a memory of their special day.
"We are very blessed to have saints from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands coming to the Sydney Temple over the next few months to receive their saving ordinances", said Elder Smibert. According to President Tokalolo, the Church's district president in Vanuatu, twelve families will attend the temple in Suva, Fiji.
Whilst all over the world small temples are being built closer and closer to the members, not all faithful Mormons have easy access to them. If temples cannot be built close to all of the people, modern transport is used to take those in far-flung places to the closest temple.
Temples are special buildings, regarded literally as the House of the Lord, where Church members participate in ceremonies which unite families together forever. Mormons believe that husbands and wives can be married for time and eternity in the House of the Lord. Likewise their children are 'sealed' to them for eternity. Subject to their faithfulness in this life, these families will go on forever.
There are just five temples in Australia in each of the mainland state capitals. They are entirely different in purpose from the 180 chapels or churches around Australia where Mormons hold their regular Sunday worship services and weekday activities for youth, children and families.