Service/runway/our friend

Elder reireita with his fine door that he made for a widow and her three children. He's handy and he likes to do things for others. He has so many good qualities. He used a piece of exterior siding left over from our new home and put it on a frame. Now Ten can lock her front door and also lock the inside door that opens to an area where other people are.
I couldn't get much altitude but this is a picture of the runway that we've been talking about. When I took my spin from one end of the runway to the other I wanted to rotate and do a fly around but the van didn't cooperate.
This is a patch job on the side of the runway. All in all this runway looks pretty good for being almost 60 years old.
This is the 8 years old daughter of our Relief Society president. She has figured out that we're not all that bad and has now let us be her proxy grandparents.

August 30,2008

August 30, 2008

We started to hear rumors last Friday evening that Air Pacific was cancelling service to Christmas Island immediately. We have heard this from time to time since we arrived here and didn’t pay much attention. By this morning it was confirmed that they were not renewing their contract with the Republic of Kiribati and that no more Air Pacific airplanes would stop here.
We had spent time with some people from Rotary International on Saturday who were here to charter the first Rotary club in the Republic of Kiribati. (They used our cultural hall for the meeting.)
We heard today that Air Pacific agreed to make one more stop here with an empty airplane to evacuate the twenty one imatongs (Rotarians or any others who want to leave Kiritimati Island.)
There has been political posturing between Air Pacific and the government since we arrived here. The government signed a contract last September with the airline that basically said if you will stop here we will reimburse you for every time you stop. Of course like many of these small countries in the pacific their intentions are probably good but when it comes to really paying their bill they don’t quite get around to it.
The government owes the airline over a million dollars that they probably will never see. The airline is also concerned with the condition of the runway. It was built in the early 1950’s and although it was only used extensively for about ten years it’s still an old runway. For all of you pilots out there the airline flies a Boeing 737 in here. The engines are under wing and fairly close to the runway. The runway is not maintained adequately and they are concerned about debris being pulled into their engines. I talked to the pilot of the air freighter recently and he said that he didn’t really like to fly here much. Part of that I’m sure is that they have to unload everything by hand and the pilots don’t like to wait. He flies an old Boeing 727 with engines mounted in the tail area of the airplane so is not concerned about pulling debris into the engines.
The government thinks the airline is being very mean to them as they wait for Australia or New Zealand to solve their problem for them.
I actually went out to the runway yesterday and went to the end. I found my way onto an apron and was able to get the church van on the actual runway. I took a run from one end to the other and felt much better. The runway is nearly 60 years old but I thought it looked remarkably good all things considered. I would have no problem landing on it in any airplane I knew how to fly. I suggested that we gather several hundred of the locals with their local brooms and sweep the entire length of the runway. We’ll see how that works out.
I was amazed when we first got here and I saw the workers patching holes in the highway. They dig out a hole and then put some coral in and stick a chunk of old asphalt into the hole. It stands about five or six inches above the surface of the road. When the sun comes out and warms the asphalt it softens and the vehicles running over it gets it somewhat level with the road again. Surprisingly, it seems to work fairly well.
All of this pertinent information led us to the next question. HOW THE FLIP DO WE GET OUT OF HERE IN AN EMERGENCY? We had lots of questions. The Mission President sent us an email on Friday evening, stating that the runway could handle a smaller airplane that the Church would send a planefrom Hawaii in an emergency. We have been assured that the church is aware of the conditions out here and would not leave us stranded. We have adequate food and have practiced food storage principles since we have been here. We have encouraged the missionaries to do the same.

We got an email from one of the missionaries in Majuro. He reported that two of the men we met with in Sister Patten’s 12 step program were doing well. Both had joined the church and he said one by the name of Boat had stood up in Sacrament Meeting and thanked us (especially Sister P.) for helping him. The other man was named Elber, I am sure we talked about him in one of our Majuro blogs. He is an attorney in Majuro. His wife was going to school at BYU Hawaii and taking the missionary lessons. She wanted him to take the lessons also. He was having problems drinking socially, etc. He came to the 12 step class and we went with the missionaries to teach him each week for some time. He has joined the church and is the second counselor in the elders quorum of the delup branch. Elder Nielsen told us that Elber he is “on fire” and is doing great. Wow, does that make it all seem worthwhile or what?
On the elder’s service day our Kiribati elder made a new door for widow lady with three children. She can now lock her front door and lock the other door so no one can disturb them as they sleep. She was happy and Elder Reireita was very pleased himself. When we were at the ladies (Ten’s) home putting on the door, I commented on her children. She has twin girls 12 years old. She would like them to go to Moroni High School. Her littlest is 8 and just baptized a couple of months ago. We brought the girls and their Mother back to the church and had them pick some flip/flops (thank you Dana) and gave them some tooth paste and a brush. Elder Patten said in a kidding way “Ten, Sister Patten and I will just have to take your beautiful daughter (8 year old) home with us when we leave and let her be our little girl,” Later that evening one of the missionaries told us he overheard Ten telling her daughter that the nice couple from America was going to take her home with them and put her in school in America. She really is a beautiful little girl but I have to be careful what I say because the people are willing here to give up their children if someone can give them an opportunity. There are so many beautiful children here and many of them come up and hug us when they see us, sometimes we think “wouldn’t it be nice to give that beautiful child a chance at life.” The missionaries seem to think that Ten really took us seriously so we will have to explain that at some point.
Yesterday Sister Patten showed the Relief Society how to make cookies and tortillas. The RS President’s daughter was here. We’ve become quite smitten with her she is so cute but I guarantee that I will keep my “big mouth” shut from here on out.
We have fun with our missionaries, a lot of the evenings, when they are through with their missionary work, will knock at our door, sit on the floor and just talk. It’s like having four sons all over again. I think that having four missionaries here is really going to make things happen. We also have our branch missionaries, who are being trained so well by our missionaries and they are willing to go out and bring in the sheep. Two of them just left our home a few minutes ago and told us of all the people they are contacting and several of those people came to church today. Elder Patten is processing 3 applicants at the present time and as soon as the mail service happens again (a plane that can carry the mail), they will be sent onto Pres. Bleak and on to Salt Lake. We know they will be good missionaries due to the excellent training they are receiving now.
I think we mentioned before about visiting a young woman in the hospital who was very ill – some kind of “doctor” got hold of her I think she was having her baby ( we have heard many stories but are not sure what is true), anyway when we asked her if there was anything we could bring her, she said “snacks” so we went to the store and bought her some, I am so glad that we visited her that day. She died on Thursday afternoon and so we had another funeral. She was at the hospital the same time Kikitiea’s baby was there. Her parents are KPC but the missionaries are teaching them – the young woman was LDS and wanted her family to go to church with her when she got well. She left a two year old beautiful little girl.

We really love our little house and would be happy to stay on Kiritimati (Christmas) Island until we come home. We are comfortable, we know and love the people and think that all of us as missionaries can do some good here with the Lord’s help. We love you all and miss you, keep the cards and letters coming.

August 24, 2008

Hi kids and friends – Elder Patten is putting the pictures on the blog and I am writing trying to get caught up. Yes, the kit house is finished and it is cute. Cute meaning although it is small we have painted it, put linoleum down, curtains up and made it look as comfortable as possible. Everything is new and clean. There are even good screens on the windows so the bugs can’t get in – it just feels so good and we are enjoying it. We appreciate so much the contractors who worked so hard for us and made the changes that we asked for to make the house liveable for senior missionaries. We took pictures and will put them on the blog for you to see.
Our second set of missionaries arrived last Wednesday and they are wonderful, it’s so nice to see the four of them planning and laughing and studying and excited to make Christmas Island their place. They are going out in full force and believe me the island knows they are here. Elder Tupou believes in teaching the whole family or at least having the family sit in while they teach the children and it is working. We have several families ready to be baptized next time around. The missionaries also won’t baptize unless they feel the children or person is really ready. It is easy to baptize here in Christmas but sometimes the commitment is not what it should be and so we don’t see them again after a few weeks. With four missionaries out they can also spend time with those who have stopped coming and bring them back. There is a lot of hustle around here and we love hearing them sing together and get prepared for the day.
There are so many wonderful people on the island that have become our friends and we love them. Our new Elders Quorum Presidency are always looking out for those who need help. They are in the process of rebuilding a house that is falling down, cleaning a well (ours needs it bad), making a door for a single sister, fishing together with nets so they can get a lot of fish and help a brother who needs money for his children in Moroni High School in Tarawa. That’s what it is all about and they quietly do it. Many mornings we hear someone calling outside our door. “Pres. Patten, can we borrow . . . . . . . we need to help . . . . . . . “ and of course they can.
Kikitea and Maria, our sweet friends lost their baby last week. The baby was Down syndrome and had leukemia. There is not good medical help on this island and they are certainly not able to deal with leukemia. Kikitea came to us just an hour after the baby’s passing and told us. We put our arms around him and he started to cry. This is a big and I mean big policeman who has been inactive for a while – you will remember his story in past blogs. We felt so sorry for him but the thought came to my mind. “How grateful we are that he came back into activity four months ago”. He told us that he understands where the baby is and that he will see the baby again. They are preparing to go to the temple. Maria has discovered that she is pregnant, “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” The baby looked peaceful for the first time since we have been here. One of our contractors was able to make a little coffin with left over plywood from our house and they put a little pillow and blanket in it and closed it with a beautiful lei on top. Kikitea walked away when they started to put dirt in the grave, it was too hard for him and it was hard for me to watch. Maria’s mother, a catholic lady has taken care of the baby since birth and it was hard for her. I saw her off by herself crying and went over to her and put my arms around her and explained our beliefs about death and where the baby is and she took my hands and thanked me. Maybe we will have a chance to teach her now. We went to the dinner after the funeral and the room was lined with his “brother policemen”. The burial was sad but when it is over the people get together and celebrate the friendship with each other. Women had been cooking all day and the floor was lined with so much food that it seems it would take weeks to eat it all. We love that family and will never forget them.
We worked so hard painting and fixing along with the contractors that we went to bed each night exhausted but grateful. For about 3 weeks that took a lot of our time but we are back in the swing of things now. Monday evening is FHE with members and non members or less actives. We meet in the cultural hall and give a lesson and refreshments. We enjoy that evening. Tuesday is English class, Thursday we visit less actives with Pres and Sister Henry, Friday is mutual and after volley ball, we have movies for the kids and popcorn. It seems that Saturday is always filled with either a baptism, an enrichment activity or branch activity and Sunday after our Branch meetings we go to Banana for their Branch meeting. In between there is always so much to do.
We are working on the membership records trying to weed out those who have moved, died or are less active so that we know just what we have to work with. That is a big job and I am sure each couple has worked on the records, they just pile up and we want to stay on top of it. We have pushed for a new Branch Clerk, a financial Clerk, and Membership Clerk and are training them so they can keep up on the records. Betereti is the new financial clerk and today he was passing out tithing slips and told us “this is fun, I like this calling”. He will do a good job. Arebonto. Second counselor in Branch Pres. Is a lot of help with knowing the people and where they are, so he is working on some of the records with us. We love Arebonto, he worked on our kit house with us, everyday he was here and we appreciated his help. His daughter Lisa is a sweet RM and we are very close to her as well. His wife is not a member yet but maybe some day.
The Rotary Club came to town, they have been here before but this time they started a charter on Christmas Island and many of the members of our Branch are members of the Rotary now. They had a big meeting in our cultural hall yesterday and we did a lot of the food. I made a huge tray of raisin, oatmeal bars and for some reason everyone really loved them. Father John from New Zealand, a Catholic Priest was there and kept eating them. That evening we went to a big dinner with the Rotary and he was there so I made him some raisin, oatmeal cookies. He left before I was able to give them to him so I asked someone else so see that he gets them. I am hoping we will see him before he leaves and get a chance to talk about our beliefs. He is a nice man I can tell, just in the wrong church. The Rotary has done a lot of good on this island with the school and we were told last night that they have also enlisted the church in Salt Lake for help and received it with hygiene kits, dictionaries and now toilets on the school grounds. The Church is everywhere helping and helping and so much good is done that no one knows about.
Well, I guess that’s it for now, I am sure you have had enough but we write and write because it is our journal of our mission and someday we will read and read and remember. Speaking of remembering, just remember that we love you and pray for you each day. What a wonderful experience a mission is and how grateful we are for it.

bedroom/kitchen

There will be a small gas range underneath the microwave. The range came last Wednesday but of course no one thought we were serious about needing a gas flex hose to connect the propane to the stove. We called Honolulu and told them exactly what we needed so hopefully it will arrive on the Wednesday plane. We are trying to buy a small portable propane stove for the new missionaries kia kia. They have the stoves and the propane tank but can't quite understand why we don't want to shell out the money for the stove and the propane when they don't have a flex hose to make the whole thing work. This is the island way so we just order the flex hose and tell them when it comes in we will be glad to pick it up.

I think you know what this is - the shower is nice and large and it all feels good.

Laundry room
Computer room
Kitchen
Kit house. The outside trim will be painted blue to match the church and other house. We had to order from Honolulu as the paint they sent didn't come close to matching. You have to realize when you look at the house that all of this area is contained within about 320 square feet.

funeral

Funeral for the baby of Kikitea and Maria that Sister Patten wrote about in the blog. The big man bringing out the casket and singing at the gravesite is Kikitea. He's a policeman here on Christmas Island. If we don't have any other success while we are here getting him back to church was worth the mission. We really clicked with this family and he could easily be the new branch president out here. When we first met him he told us that he smoked three or four cigarettes a day. Sister Patten asked him if he had served a mission. He had and then she asked him to tell us about it. "Did you bear your testimony to the people?" " Did you tell them that the church was true?" "yes" "How did that make you feel?" "Good" "Do you want to feel that way again?" "yes" He committed to work on his cigarettes and a bit later I called him to be in the elders quorum. "I still smoke one cigarette a day." "I'm calling you to be in the elders quorum so stop." "O.k., he said, I can do that." and he's been fine since. He's such a strength in the quorum and in the branch. This is the reason that we're writing about our experiences. It's mostly for us you know. When we quit going on missions we can sit in our rocking chairs and read about our wonderful missionary experiences.

kit house almost finished/YSA

The kit house is almost finished.
A picture of the YSA party. The young man is Koata. He's 33 years old. He told me he wanted to bless and or pass the sacrament. His records showed him as no priesthood so we had to find out if he'd ever been given the Aaronic priesthood. We found that no one had ever got around to do that after 13 years of being in the church. He's been active but somehow fell through the cracks. A couple of weeks ago we confirmed the Aaronic priesthood on him and ordained him a priest. Last Sunday he passed the sacrament for the first time and today he blessed the sacrament. The records are in such a sorry state. I know that all senior missionaries think they will fix the records but then other challenges arise and the records get left behind. Now that the kit house is finished we are setting aside the next month or so to try and weed out the move outs etc. from our branch records. Accurate membership records and accurate sacrament meeting attendance makes for accurate budget requests. I asked the branch president a while back if he knew how the Church figured the budget for Christmas Island branch. He said "Oh New Zealand just told us to deposit the donations each week and then go ahead and spend the money in the checking account." They are particular about keeping receipts and the branch checkbook up to date but are not at all knowledgeable or concerned about how they spend the money. I did a quick financial check for the first five months of the year a while back and showed them that they had spent a good portion of their budget the first five months of the year. I told them maybe they ought to cut back on corned beef at $36 a big tin whenever they get together. On the other hand we see such improvement and good things happening in the primary, young women, young men, elders quorum, relief society and ysa. Many areas of improvement and good things happening.

The YSA party was a great success. Somehow they had heard about a barbeque and thought they might like to try one. We did our best to accomodate them. We wanted to grill hamburgers but of course that wasn't feasable. Instead we fried chicken, made potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw and topped it off with Christmas Island crazy cake and ice cream. They slicked every dish clean. Today one of the women came up to Sister Patten and said "I made a crazy cake and forgot how much flour, etc. that I put in and it didn't work." My husband said "You don't know how to make Christmas Island crazy cake like Sister Patten."

tattoos and construction crew

This tattooed hand is on one of our proposed missionary girls, Tannang. I couldn't get it on with the pictures of the prospective missionaries. It says love on the fingers and homemade writing on the hand. Very crudely done and very unattractive. We are trying to teach the younger kids not to write on themselves with ball point pens but they love to do it. The Tattooing is all very home made and primitive here. The church rejected a prospective elder because of his many tattoos since we have been here.
Our construction crew for the kit house. Standing from left to right is Arebonto, who is in our branch presidency and took it upon himself to oversee the project. He wanted to learn how to build a house so he could do the same at his motel. Next to him is Maemae one of the carpenters from Tarawa and a local electrician from Christmas Island. We got a kick out of the electrician because he would come and make the carpenters do his work and then leave again. He always seemed to show up at lunch time. On the end standing is Laquisse another of the carpenters from Tarawa. I don't know who the kid was that is kneeling. He was related to the electrician somehow. He was supposed to be a painter but Sister Patten wound up going over most of his work.
Another picture of the real crew. Arebonto, Laquisse and Maemae on the day that Laquisse went home. Maemae has had to stay awaiting the solar heating unit so he can install it. It didn't arrive again last Wednesday.

August 7,2008

August 7, 2008

It’s raining here on Christmas Island. We’re into the dry season but every so often we get a wonderful cloudburst and it feels and smells so good.
The kit house is looking good. The contractors will be leaving us next Wednesday and we anticipate being finished with the house by the weekend or Monday by the latest. The first of this week we could see that they were slowing down and realized that they were thinking that they were almost finished and were ready to go fishing and take a little break. We had been telling them about several things that needed to be finished but they weren’t listening. The insulation in the ceiling for example. For several weeks we had mentioned that the ceiling insulation hadn’t been installed. Finally we were down to a crawl space hole above the front porch as the only access into the attic. The company that manufactured the house didn’t send any outside paint so the workers told us that we could have someone paint for us after they were gone if we wanted it painted. Not…..We had extra exterior paint left from the building of the chapel here and knew we could use that. Night before last we knew we had to get them moving if they were going to finish before they left. We made a list of everything to finish and had a little meeting the next morning. We assured them that if they worked hard they could be finished by Saturday or for sure by Monday. The church was paying for their lodging and meals etc. and they needed to finish everything on the house.
We called the area facilities manager and he was in agreement. If you’ve ever dealt with the church on the temporal side one thing you learn is that when they have a contract with someone, they expect them to perform.
Sister P. has actually kept them on their toes with a combination of cajoling and chocolate cake with ice cream. $24.50 for 2.5 gallon ice cream. They like Sister P. and have this thing about all scattering when they see her coming toward the house. They think that’s pretty funny but they have been very accommodating and helpful when we have asked them about anything.
This thing about communication is really interesting. We had heard that the lead carpenter’s wife and father in law were members of the Church. The husband is Catholic. Of course my missionary wife couldn’t wait until she could ask him about that. “Yes, he said they are members and she goes to church.” Sister P. then told him she had a gift that she wanted to share with him and would he listen to the missionaries before he went home? What could he say, right? The next day our second counselor in the Branch Presidency told us that Laquisse was confused. His father in law is in the bishopric but his wife is a catholic and he couldn’t understand why she would be going to sacrament meeting in the Mormon Church. We all got a laugh out of that. I took Laquisse to the airport and before he left he told me to tell Sister Patten that he would listen to the missionaries when he returned home. Sister Patten hits a home run again.
It was Elder Tupou’s birthday this week. We had been able to get some Costco hamburger when the air freighter came in and we invited the elders over for hamburgers. Elder Tupou is from Australia and has been a McDonald’s employee but Elder Reireita from Kiribati had only heard about hamburgers in the land of the big PX. His companion had told him about Big Gulps and he couldn’t believe it. Anyway, we made hamburgers with all the fixens. We showed him about onions, relish, catsup and mustard. He had a great time loading his hamburger up and we noticed that he even put potato salad on it. Yes, we had potato salad and cole slaw too. He ate that hamburger and said “in Kiribati to much rice and fish”
Our additional set of elders will arrive on the 20th. It will be good for the resident elders to have someone else to talk to besides the two old “ grandma and grandpa imatongs” here.
We have finally all agreed that we need a new branch clerk. We haven’t seen him for several months and when visited he has every excuse in the books. We have organized and filed the membership record changes that hadn’t been filed for a long time. We will now teach the membership clerk how to file the incoming changes and show him that there is more to his job than counting the people at sacrament meeting.
The next challenge will be to try and move the records out of the branch for those who have moved away.
The branch presidency and other leaders really don’t like to be told what to do. They don’t want a “to do” list. They want a suggestion and the time to figure out how and why things are done the way they are and then make a decision. It has taken us a while to gain their trust. We try to gently lead and counsel them. In the past few weeks they have really come to open up to us and trust us. You know that is happening when they want to be with you and show up and want to talk or want to take you fishing.
We love this island and these people. We have great disappointment at times when we see some young people and their families take all that the Church will give them and then return to their old ways when they return from church schooling and missions. It is causing great concern in the Church as to who to send out and some kids won’t have that opportunity because of the actions of others before them.
Members and non members alike want their kids to be accepted at the Church school in Tarawa. I will be more inclined to send a less qualified child who has the support of their member parents instead of a child whose non member parents just want the Church to educate them and will say anything to get them a spot in Moroni High School. These decisions will be made after lots of prayers.

missionary girls and FHE

Here are our next missionary girls whose papers are all ready to go to the mission president. The top girl is Bwaati (Boss). She is a strong girl whose father is deceased and her mother lives in Tarawa. She lives here with her brother and sister in law. Brother encourages her to come to church and sister in law goes to the seventh day adventist church and gives her somewhat of a hard time about the church. Bwaati hold her own and will not compromise. Something that is quite unusual here as the culture tells these kids to do what their parents and elders tell them to do until the parents die. She speaks English and will most likely go to an English speaking mission.
This is Kaoa. Her parents are not members of the church but are being taught by the elders as we speak. Some of her brothers and sisters are members. Both Bwaati and Kaoa are branch missionaries and have been for some time. We require all prospective missionaries to serve as branch missionaries so they will be better prepared for missionary service. She speaks English and will also probably be called to an English speaking mission.
We have FHE in the cultural hall on Monday evenings. We invite an active family and a less active family and have had some good response. At this particular evening it was my job to tell the children about mama bear. As I began it soon became apparent that the kids had no clue what a bear was. I know, I know big problem and you should have seen me playing charades with them trying to describe a bear. You think that is funny? How would you describe a bear to someone who has no clue. Sister Patten saved the day and then went on to give a wonderful lesson about families. Sister Patten has such great love for these people. They really trust us and know that we love and respect them. Now that we have the new kit house we bring them in and we sit on the floor all over the place and they seem to like to be in our home.
This is Tannang. She is also wanting to serve a mission. She speaks English quite well but has not been a branch missionary for very long and has tattoos on her hand so we are hoping for the best. She will probably not be sent to an English speaking mission and we don't have any need at the present time for any more Kiribati sisters in the Marshall Island Majuro Mission. The last sister missionary sent from Christmas was prepared and her papers submitted before we got here. She has struggled greatly from the time that she went to the MTC and frankly I would not have sent her on a mission if I'd been here. We are having problems with the Kiribati sisters who are called to the MIMM. We have taught and hopefully impressed on these three girls that a mission is "hard work". No naps during the long day and have gone over and over what will be expected of them. Unfortunately many prospective missionaries here in the Pacific think of a mission as a great 24 or 18 month vacation with a stipend thrown in to boot. We will see how things work out
for Tannang. One of our favorite Kiribati missionaries came home a while ago. We had known her in Majuro and loved her to pieces. President Bleak interviewed her before she came home and I did when she arrived home and she came for about three weeks before she quit coming. She went to work at the catholic high school as a teacher and they conveniently keep her busy on Sunday and make sure that she is also busy during the week. Dealing with first generation members even if they have attended and lived at Moroni High School since they were twelve years old and then served a mission is a challange to say the least. I'm sure Heavenly Father takes that into consideration.

Christmas Island church on the right and cultural hall on the left.
These are our 5,000 gallon rainwater containers filled from the rain collected on the roof of the chapel. When we first came here we were told to not share water with anyone because it was for the missionaries. We let any member take some and figure if the Lord wants us to have water he'll send the rain. They are filled to overflowing right now.

We were cutting palm trees to make some timbers to build Daiken a new home. Yonei was the only one qualified to use the chain saw and he was barefooted which gave me a little concern. We ordered a chainsaw from the church building facilities when we first got here. Almost five months later I saw on at the island store and bought it. It saved hours the first time we used it.

a little stir crazy

I was fixing rice the other day for dinner. As I stood there rinsing and filling the pan with water then picking the little black bugs out of the rice water I suddenly stopped and said to myself, "self, you have been out here way to long because you don't even think this is unusual."
After a while you just kind of go with the flow. Go ahead and use the well water, it's quicker and I'm sure if we use it for cooking it probably gets hot enough to kill all of the bacteria and bugs. The rain water really doesn't need to be run through the purifier because I haven't seen any little wiggelies in it for awhile. Besides that they are only mosquito larvae. We've gotten so we just eat what's put in front of us and try not to think of how we know it's been prepared.
We are having a YSA get together tonite here at the church. We expect 35 and will have a barbaque per their request. As close as we can get to that will be fried chicken (thighs) we have come to enjoy thighs cause that's all they bring in. Potato salad, baked beans, chocolate cake and we splurged with 2.5 gallons of neopolitan ice cream for $24.50. We rounded up some good boot scooten music and we are going to dance.
On fridays we have started a movie after mutual volleyball. The first week we had ten kids, the second week we had about 20 and last nite we had over 30. We let them play some music and then at 7pm start the show. We love these kids. They don't really have much to look forward to so a little popcorn and candy seems to go a long ways to get next to them. We have even taught them how to put the wrappers into the garbage and put away the chairs.
We have been cooking most of the day except I took an hours break and went fishing for octypus with the branch president. We got four while I was with him and then I came back to kitchen duty. I told Lois that all this cooking was a pretty hard job and she just looked at me with that eye roll that she does so well.
The kit house is looking great. Sister Patten has painted and overseen the painting. (One painter kept re painting the trim that she had finished another color. We will look for linoleum on Monday as the ship from Tarawa has come. You would think they could unload at the dock but nooooooooo the dock wasn't built for most ships so they anchor in the bay and run the cargo in by skiff. We should be ready for some curtains to be put up next week.
Today the workers asked me how I wanted the front door to swing. I told them we wanted the front door to swing into the house and we wanted a screen door on the outside of the front door.
"We can't do that because the screen door has to be on the inside of Kiribati houses. " After further discussion that was leading nowhere I told them to do it how they wanted. The second counselor in the branch presidency was there and said " President Patten, you have to remember that you are not in America."I said thanks Arebonto, I would never have realized that if you hadn't reminded me.
We have come to not have any great expectations when it comes to time, etc. The elders quorum went out to move a man's house a few feet from where it was. That was tuesday and when we were assigned we were told it would be a 10 minute job for ten men. When we arrived it was a frame house with corragated tin all over it and would be a three day job for 50 men.
Was anyone upset? no, they all just laughed, I bought them a strawberry soda and they made arrangements to go back today. We told the owner to take the tin off before today and we would be back. I stopped by last nite and he hadn't done anything. I then went to the elders quorum president and reported that nothing had been done. He said "oh that's alright, we will go and help him take off the tin in the morning." They are just such laid back wonderful people.
I really don't think to many people die of heart attacks over here in the pacific. Diabetes mostly.
Life is good. Lots of things are happening in the mission. We get two new additional elders on the 20th of August. The president told us that lots of things are happening in the mission and reminded us that he had promised Sister Patten that he would only leave us out here at the maximum of nine months. We told him we loved it here and didn't want to be moved anywhere but who knows. At least a new couple would have a great home to live in. I think that is what missions are all about.
We love and miss you all. April, 2009 will be here before we know it.
We found that one of the contractors from Tarawa is married to a Mormon. His father in law is in the bishopric of a Tarawa ward. Sister Patten was all over that. She asked him if he'd ever taken the lessons and he said "yes for FHE" She has him set up with the missionaries to teach him the lessons before they return home on the 13th of August.
The YSA dinner and dance was well attended and a good time was had by all. I cried as I dished up $24.50 worth on neopolitan ice cream. We took some pictures and will post a few asap.