Elder and Sister Martin Micronesia and India Missions: Goodbye President and Sister Mecham

We were very fortunate to have spent time with the Mechams. We love them and will miss them. They are amazing missionaries, and example to all.

One of my favorite statements that President Mecham said was, "I really don't want to go. They are throwing me out of the mission!"

We loved the competitive nature of the Mechams. During our Senior Family Home Evening games they would usually slaughter us all. Anything scripture related, or Guam history related, they were knowledgeable and amazing.

Another memory we like were President Mecham's hand gestures activities. He would have everyone stand up and then we would all hold our arms above our heads and make the shape of an "O", then a "Y", then an "M". At the same time we would all repeat the words, "Open", "Your", "Mouth".

President Mecham's Dynamic Teaching Style

One day he came in and said that they were bringing over a container cube soon and were going to pick up most of their belongings. It happened six weeks before his "three year term" ended, and they would be living out of a suitcase. President Mecham's style was unforgettable. He would tell it like it is, going "full blast" with missionary work until the day he flew out, and no doubt beyond.

A picture of President Mecham and his fire for missionary work, was on the desks of some of the missionaries. Below are two examples of Sister Missionary's study desks.

The work schedule a mission president and wife keeps in the Micronesia Guam Mission is incredible. There is a law here that after you have lived in Guam 30 days you must get a Guam Driver's License. Well, in three years they were never on the island of Guam 30 days straight, constantly traveling to one of the many islands in the mission. Subsequently, President Mecham said he never had to change his license, like Sister Martin and I had to do.

Short story...Getting a license of Guam was a story I've told that most have a hard time believing. Sister Martin and I arrived at the large building of Taxation or something like that. After finding out what line to get in and then waiting in it, we finally talked to an agent. They were very nice and quite efficient to start with.

Then came the fun part... paying for your license. You then get in another line to pay. When we were finally helped, the cashier explained that is costs more to use your debit or credit card than cash. So, of course I chose the "cash" method. They give you your receipt and then tell you to go back to another line and put your receipt into a box. A nice man called our names several minutes later and gave us our licenses. I asked for our receipt but he said he couldn't give it to me. I didn't believe he was serious so I told him I needed a receipt to keep track of all of my purchases, especially cash ones that have no bank transaction records. Then came the punchline...He said he could make a photo copy of the receipt for me but that it would cost $1.00. I reluctantly agreed, but then he said we would have to get back in the long cashier line to pay the one dollar, and bring him the receipt. Then he would be happy to give us a copy of our receipt. We did so, and a little while later we had a copy of our receipt.

Elder Martin "smiling" in front of the Driver's License building

Yes...We really bought and paid for a receipt, in order to obtain our receipt---I probably could have been upset in a situation like that but I was all the time trying not to laugh. Unbelievable is all I have left to say about that. Sister Martin took my picture out front (of me smiling), perhaps because we had so much fun there. We were literally laughing and smiling ear to ear on the way out.

Back to the Mechams. We enjoyed going to a couple of different farewells in honor of the Mechams. President and Sister Mecham continued to testify with boldness, the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and how they truly loved everyone and would miss them. They love missionary work. We'll never forget the powerful, beautiful, yet simple testimonies they shared that touched our hearts.

Pictures of the farewell parties / feasts.