Second week

11/04/07

Hi KIDS, We are keeping a journal by writing to you, so if you get tired to reading our e-mails, its okay. Actually today is Wednesday 11/7 but we will try to catch up on the past 3 days. We have been with the Randalls since we got here because the Pre. Is out of town so they have been orienting us and taking us wherever they go. We really like them and appreciate all their help. Tuesday we went to the Elders home for a open house(they moved into a new apartment). They grilled hamburgers and we had potatoe salad and it was really good. There were Elders and sisters there and one Elder from Fuji sang for us – he had a beautiful voice – he also danced for us and his pants nearly split open. We then watched the Elders play frisby and provided water for their p-day. You can imagine how sweaty and hot they were. The heat has not bothered us yet. We seem to be able to handle it. We have two air conditioners in this sad little apartment and it helps a lot. We may be moving closer to our branches and we hope that will happen but the Pres. Will meet us tomorrow and we will probably find out a lot of things. Elder P and I will be teaching an English class tomorrow night and I might be involved in the 12 step program if the Pres. Says so. This morning the elders met with us for a Marshallese language training. Elder P is pretty excited about learning the language and I am really wondering if I can do it but will try. Ryan, Brad. Carrie we have not gotten our internet up yet so those of you that are getting our e-mails, please read them to the rest of the kids. We hope all is well with you, we love you and miss you – this is a different world but a good one. Mom/Lois
Hey there……I just returned from a meeting with the delap branch president. He’s a nice young man and served a mission in guam. Sis p and I had decided that we wanted to talk to him about his primary which is a disaster. We try to be so careful about not telling them what to do as they are somewhat touchy sometimes. I talked to him and found out about his family, etc. told him how reverent and spiritual sacrament meeting was and then asked him how sister patten and I could serve him and his branch. He said “elder patten we need help in our auxillaries. Bless his heart, I didn’t need to tell him anything that he didn’t know already. The marshaleese people are very humble and gentle. I stopped into the home of the district executive secretary yesterday. No furniture, a couple of mats on the floor. A daughter in law’s little baby on the mat with the mother fanning him. Another little child about two years old eating rice from a bowl with his hand as there were no utinsels. No kitchen no running water and of course no bathroom. It was clean and neat though. We can buy fresh yellow fin tuna in the store and it is really good. Lois has been able to not have fish even once since we’ve been here and I’ve fried some and made my own sashimi or poki as they call it here. We will talk to president bleak tomorrow and I think we might just have an opportunity to split with the young elders and sisters and proselyte during the day and fellowship and provide shadow leadership in the evening. If you had told me that’s what we might be doing over here I may have had second thoughts but we actually are feeling the spirit of missionary work and are ready to do that if that’s what we are called to do. We love the young elders and sisters. We want to learn the language. The elders say we can do it and with the lord’s help we are really going to try. The past week has flown by. We are tired every nite. We are trying to use our time wisely and it already seems quite reasonable to be busy from morning until late in the evening. I almost forgot to tell you how the children flock to sister p. they literally surround her when we show up at any activity at the church. Wanting to touch her and all wanting to talk to her. These people have stolen our hearts. Last nite at the church a little girl named Maggie about six years old (we think she lives by the church but don’t know who she might belong to) brought her two little brothers to meet us. One was about 3 and the other about 18 months. The three year old had a small tube pushed into a makeshift handle of a pistol. He was as proud as he could be of his gun. None of them have much so it doesn’t seem to take much to entertain them. They are having some kind of a ralley across the road from us tonite and when the cars go by they honk and honk and honk. Hope they don’t rally to late.
Bar loe yuk, jenaj kiki (see you later, we will sleep) Elder/Sister Patten