POHNPEI, Micronesia — Since they were at least partly responsible for a spurt of growth in the Uh Branch in a small village on this island of Micronesia, Walkner and Iosepa Joseph felt it was only fitting that they help provide a place for members to meet.
Prior to Brother and Sister Joseph joining the Church in 2004, when they were 72 years old, a handful of members met at their daughter's home which, for some, was an hour's walk into the jungle.
Just before their baptism, the Josephs built a nahs — a traditional-style meeting place similar to a bowery — where they lived and where the branch could hold meetings. The Church contributed money to improve the nahs, including $2,000 for an outhouse over a septic tank so a flush toilet could be installed, stated Micronesia Guam Mission President Phillip G. Pulsipher in an e-mail. That fulfilled a dream of Brother Joseph's to have a flush toilet.
The expanded and improved meeting place was needed as more than 20 members of the extended Joseph family joined the Church.
At the time the nahs was built, the Josephs lived without electricity at the end of a dirt road. Lanterns were used in the nahs when Church lessons were taught at night. Later, the road was paved and electricity made available, improvements which also contributed to the growth of the branch.
Early in 2005, President Pulsipher said, plans were made by the Church to construct a starter building on property donated by the Joseph family near the nahs. The meetinghouse would have a chapel that could seat 50, a branch president's office and a classroom.
The new building was dedicated in July 2005, with more than 60 people attending. Brother and Sister Joseph were not able to attend due to illness. Within a month, Sister Joseph died on a Friday. Brother Joseph died the following Tuesday.
The new chapel is as a monument to that wonderful little couple who embraced the gospel, President Pulsipher said. The meetinghouse has caused others to develop an interest in the gospel. The branch continues to flourish, he added, and provided the choir at the Pohnpei Caroline Islands District Conference in November. They were a beautiful sight, he said, with the women all in white dresses and the men in white shirts. Their singing was inspirational. They didn't just sing a gospel hymn; they sang a special arrangement with all the parts.
It is a wonderful success story on the beautiful island of Pohnpei, President Pulsipher concluded.