Matangare, super ship to Tarawa

This is our friend Maiaa and his son from Fanning Island. He used to live on Christmas Island. He sent his son to school here on Christmas but the young man wasn't being to serious so Maiaa came and got him and took him home. Maiaa is a fisherman and he brought us the finest fresh tuna that we have ever eaten. It was so good raw with a little soya sauce and vinegar that I could hardly bear to cook it.
This is Belle. Her father worked on Christmas Island and retired here. The family is now moving back to the fathers outer island in Tarawa. Belle has been so faithful since we have been here. The island where she is moving has no Church. The KPC (Kiribati Protestant Church) made an agreement with the island's old men to not allow any other churches so she will probably never be able to go to our church again. She doesn't have the ability or capability to leave the island and will probably spend the rest of her life there.
This is the Matangare, the super ship to Tarawa. We watched about 200 board her. Find somewhere to sit wherever you can, no restrooms, the ship cooks rice and the people bring dried fish for the fifteen day trip back to Tarawa. They were going to Fanning to pick up more people and then on to Tarawa.
This is MweMwe who helped build our house here. He has been waiting for two months for our solar water heater on the roof to come. It came on the Matangare and he installed it and is now taking the boat home to Tarawa and his family.
The solar water heater is wonderful. Water so hot you can't leave your hand under the faucet.

baptisms and boils

This is a picture of one of our new missionaries, Elder Anderson from Austrailia on the left and Elder Rererieta
from Kiribati on the right. Elder Anderson is about funny as, as he would say and we really get a kick out of him. If you can notice his baptismal lava lava. He is so proud of his lava lava that he struts around on baptismal day and makes sure he has so come up front and confer with me before the service starts so he can walk back down the isle to show off his fine lava lava. Elder Rererieta on the right tested positive for hepatitis B we think. The medical people here on Christmas couldn't agree if he had A or B. Hepatitis is common in the Pacific. Of course Elder Anderson brushed his teeth with Elder Rererieta's tooth brush a couple of weeks before we found out as a joke.
We have all had vaccinations before we came so we don't anticipate any problems. We don't know what the final disposition for him will be.
A big problem out here is boils. Sister Patten and I have not experienced them as of yet but this is one on the back of Elder Tupou's neck. He had six of them under one arm pit and two on his neck. He was a miserable elder for about ten days.

Fanning transport, telephone work, Apsaloma marriage

Well the Fanning ship is getting ready to take it's run. It seemed like a good time to do a little checking and we didn't like what we found. The old tub doesn't have an operating bilge pump, no fire extinguishers, and the life rafts have big holes in them. I am somewhat adventurous but after thinking about it I decided that two of the missionaries mothers probably wanted to see their sons again. One of the members who was going with us couldn't see the problems, "that boat goes up there quite often" We really live in two different worlds. We actually found an imatong who owns a beautiful sail boat and is going up in two weeks. It sleeps 10 and is certified to U.S. Coast Guard specifications. We will have to stay for two weeks but it is more our style.
Our telephone, internet line kept kicking off so tskl ,the phone line provider came and fixed our line the other day. They spliced the end and I said "Don't you think you should cover the end?" He said it was the dry season and it wasn't going to rain for awhile. We finally agreed to enclose the wires. I went in the house and forgot about it. Later I took a look and he had taken a cookie wrapper and enclosed the bare wires. We still had trouble so they finally came back and installed a new line. The Internet doesn't kick off and have to be restarted all the time now.

This is Apsaloma and his wife. They were married by President Henry in the top picture. Talk about a golden couple. He was baptised first, given the Aaronic priesthood and then baptised his wife the next week. He was called last week as the Sunday School President. I'm trying to get the prior Sunday School President to teach him what to do. When we first came out here we didn't think much training had been done. We then realized that the training had been done but when someone was released from a calling they didn't teach the new person what to do. That and the fact that the attention span out here is just a little weak.

The better half October 11,2008

October 11, 2008

Hi kids and friends, Elder Patten wrote on the blog a few days ago but I have some time to sit and write to you now. It is Saturday, no baptisms are scheduled for today but the youth are here weaving mats for the class rooms and playing table tennis. The YW are working on their New Beginnings which will be presented on the 9th of November. They don’t seem to think they have done one before and are excited to put it together. All auxiliaries are trained but function on the level that they can, its not like the Wasatch Front and Olympus 1st Ward. But they are trying. On Friday evening they meet together under the moneaba sing and have prayer and announcements and then play volleyball on the sand in back of the church. The girls are breaking off from that each Friday and want to do things separate from the boys once in a while and that is good. Some projects like scripture holders, it takes ¼ of a yard of material and it works just fine out here. The primary sacrament meeting program needs to get going, I will have to spend some time teaching the songs they should be singing because they sing the same songs each Sunday and are not learning what they need to sing for the program. They will get it though and it will be fine.
Our solar panel water heater finally came and was installed the same day the Pres. said we were be transferred. Go figure! I can’t believe how nice it is to take a shower with hot water, I never want to get out. It also helps with the dishes as well, I don’t have to heat water anymore. It is so nice and I am so grateful for hot water. It’s strange how I never even thought of that when I was home and now it is like heaven.
I met with the YS adult girls last Sunday and spoke to them about what it means to be a LDS Kiribati woman. What are they options. It is not like there are a lot of priesthood men on the island to marry. Ten years from now it will be much better. We talked about being faithful even if they will never get to a temple in this life, it can be done after earth life. Marriage is a problem but I urged them to choose wisely and see if the future man will listen to the missionary lessons and join the church. That being best option. There are many men here who want to marry but also want to tell his future wife what church she will go to. I warned them about that and about the “traditions of their fathers” here that are wrong. It is only the Lords culture that they need to adhere to. I think they are starting to get it. We also eased into our little sister’s pregnancy and how we should handle that, love her and not listen to any gossip. Let her repent and support her.
We have not heard any more about the transfer and probably will not hear until Pres. Bleak gets back into Majuro. He is famous for changing his mind and either way we will do what we do. We would be happy to stay here and finish our mission. We know the routine and it is rolling along but if a change is made then so be it.
The time is coming to choose students for attending Moroni HS in Tarawa. We have been getting a lot of girls of other faiths wanting to attend our English class, or come to church or listen to the missionaries. They are urged to do so by their non member families who only want them to join the church so that they can go to Moroni which is the best school around. Then when they have gotten their education and come home the parents will not allow them to go to the LDS church anymore. They only wanted the education for their children. That will change from now on. Elder Patten will see that the LDS children get first choice even if they are not the smartest. This is confirmed by Pres. Bleak and it will give the LDS youth a change to get their education and a firm testimony by the time their graduate. We have talked to people who are graduates of Moroni but don’t come to church anymore. They say yes, we know it is true but my family says I have to be KPC or Catholic or whatever and they do it because of the culture. I hope we are here when the testing begins and we have a change to see that many of the wonderful young people we love will have the change to go to Moroni.
Last week we were able to watch conference at a members home who has satellite and it was a wonderful experience. I looked around the room with some of the faithful members sitting on the floor, taking notes and feeling the spirit. There we were looking at the conference in a humble home, feeling like Salt Lake was close to us yet so far away. As I watched I though of all of you watching what I was watching only at a different time of day. The spirit was strong and I am so grateful for the speakers and the guidance and direction we received. It is a wonderful thing to go on a mission, sometimes hard but in the scheme of things the hard times will be remembered with fondness and the people will never be forgotten. Even with our desire to see you all again be where people really understand what we say, it will be hard to leave all of this. It is something that goes straight to your heart and stays there. It is so gratifying to see people return to church and be happy to do so. Our prayer is that they will stay even after we are gone. Another couple will come and they will be wonderful and will love and help the people and so life moves on.
The economy seems to be in trouble at home and Obama seems pretty scary to me, I hope the Lord will have his land on this election and the right thing will happen. As we read in the Book of Mormon this morning. People only change when they have hardships, in the good times they think they are self sufficient and don’t need the Lord. I pray that America will be humble and prayerful enough to vote right in spite of the media, and those who only want power, money and control. I guess it is the same old story.
We have trouble with our little computer, the on/off button is ready to die and it doesn’t look like we are going to Hawaii anytime soon. If we get transferred then we will probably get a new one and Ryan said he would help us. Until then we are limping along and have the church computer. Both computers have trouble staying on the internet but that is the story of Christmas Island internet service.
We had a wonderful family get baptized last week, and I believe they will stay active. I think they will make him Sunday school president this week. He has a short wave radio and will be able to get a message to me from Fanning when John is there and so that helps. Going to Fanning will be a “trip” for him and he is brave to do it. I think I will pass on that one – he is better at eating whatever is offered than I am and sleeping on whatever there is to sleep on. The trip over in the boat will be interesting as well – but he will do it and try to get Fanning organized.
Well, there you have it for the week. We pray for all of you each day and love you dearly. Until next time be safe and say your prayers. Love from us.

Goings on on Christmas Island October 7, 2008

October 7, 2008

We have been so busy the last couple of weeks that we haven’t had the time to write on the blog. I better repent and catch up.
The air service from Air Pacific is still in limbo. The latest information that we have is that Australia and New Zealand are willing to kick in to help Kiribati upgrade the runway here on Christmas Island. I don’t forsee Air Pacific landing here any time in the near future. I noticed big bags of cold asphalt being unloaded from the boat from Tarawa but the people here have neither the expertise or the equipment to accomplish much. One thing that we have learned while living in the islands is that you shouldn’t get your expectations up for anything because you will most likely be disappointed.
Our meetings on Sunday have been steadily increasing over the past while. We now routinely get nearly 300 out every Sunday. I have been going out into the villages and picking up the old, infirm and the pregnant women and bringing them to church. I pick up one man in his 40’s who is in a wheel chair. He loved the Aaronic Priesthood to bring him the sacrament. I visited him and said we weren’t going to bring him the sacrament anymore. We would pick him up instead. He is so happy to be in church on Sunday. I also pick up “grandma” who is probably younger than I am. She has a wonderful go-tee and is very proud of it. I pull up to her house and yell “grandma, let’s go” while I’m opening the door of the van. She grumbles and moans and tells me how bad her knees hurt and then I tell her about my knees and she looks at me and then winks. The rules say that we probably aren’t supposed to ride people in the church van but I figure we’ve got six months left and I can’t think of any more of a remote place that they could send us.
We have been blessed with lots of less active people coming back to church. We visited a village policeman recently and invited him back to church. He said he graduated from Moroni High School and was baptized then never came to church again. He has become very faithful and asked us yesterday how he could receive the Aaronic Priesthood. We will help him.
The boat is here from Tarawa and has brought cargo for Fanning Island so it will be transferred onto the smaller boat and we may go to Fanning this week. Nothing is scheduled and it doesn’t bother anyone. From what I understand the people in Fanning are awaiting our arrival so they can request full time missionaries and petition the Church to build a school here on Christmas so their kids can go to “Mormon” school. It will be my job to break their bubble and tell them the Church is not in the school building business anymore. By the time I handle the other problems there I hope I don’t end up in a pot especially reserved to cook “white meat”
With our four missionaries and us we are stirring up the island some. The Catholics are now having special classes and letters being sent out telling their people about the “bad” Mormons. The interesting thing is that we continue to love the priests and nuns and greet them with a wave and a big smile and offer to give them a ride to town. All of the fuss just gets more people to ask questions and gives the missionaries a chance to answer their questions. We had a wonderful family join the Church recently. Golden contacts. The father was baptized two weeks ago, received the Aaronic Priesthood and baptized his wife last Saturday. He will be a leader here in a short time.
The branch is in as good a shape as we have seen it since we’ve been here. Almost fully staffed with good people. The training is geared to their abilities. We have really had to use the KISS method in our training. If we keep it simple they do great. If we don’t they get frustrated and can’t handle it.
Our little island paradise is not without it’s problems. One of our 20 year old girls ran away with a 17 year old boy a few weeks ago. Sister Patten visited with her last week and she is thinking that the honeymoon may be over and now she also has a little 17 year old boy to raise. We advised her to marry him legally or leave him and whatever she decides, to talk to the branch president and start the repentance processing, We had high hopes for her. I guess the excitement of cooking over a fire and hauling water for the rest of her life was just to compelling a call. Besides that, we think she’s probably pregnant. We of course asked if he would receive the missionaries, she didn’t know, which is one more reason why this is Kiribati marriage is not a good thing. She is giving away all that she has believed in and living in a situation that the Lord frowns on.
Another wonderful sweet YSA came to us last week and told us she is pregnant. She came from Tarawa on the ship in July and was seduced by one of the sailors who told her he was in love with her but neglected to tell her that he was already married and his wife just had a baby last month. We love this girl so much that it about broke our hearts. We were working on getting her to BYU Hawaii and out of here to a better life. She is so repentant and remorseful. Her family supports her and will help her. She is ready to do what she needs to do to come back.
A family that went to the temple in Fiji when we first came here is in disarray already.
He has found a new “wife” who is pregnant. Of course no divorce from the old one and no legal marriage with the new one. Following the last two temple trips we have had disciplinary problems fairly soon after making commitments in the temple. Maybe some of them do not fully understand the commitment they are making. There will not be any temple trips any time soon again on Christmas Island. We will have disciplinary councils when I return from Fanning.
Our friend Maiaa from Fanning Island who has been here for a couple of weeks brought us fresh loin of tuna a couple of days ago and some fresh grouper today. He is a great fisherman and has brought us the best fresh fish that I have ever tasted. I think he’s getting me ready for food on Fanning while I am there.
All in all the work is progressing and we are enjoying the experience. Sometimes we feel a little isolated and discouraged but we are able to get up the next day and go forward. Some back home tell us we are getting trunky. Our release date is April 8, 2009 and if you check it out that’s six months from tomorrow. We are committed to work hard until we get on the airplane. We will then turn our hearts and minds toward having a wonderful week in Hawaii with some or all of the kids before we return home.
I think I may have a photo or two to include and will do so tonight or tomorrow.
We love missionary work and have firm testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel.