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
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Our first week here
Outside our front door
Elder Biamyawi from Fiji doing the Haka
Cookout with the Elders
we made it to majuro11/1/07
11/1/07
We arrived in Majuro at about 10a.m. and were met at the airport by President and Sister Beckstrand the lst counselor of the MIMM. Another senior missionary couple, the Randalls met us also. We didn’t have any trouble getting our bags through customs at Hawaii or Majuro. We gave the bag porter $10 at the Honolulu airport and he efficiently took care of all six pieces of luggage and then in Majuro the only problem was that it took time to get the bags from the plane to the baggage area.President and Sister Beckstrand then took us on a tour of the island and we then met at the Randalls apartment for dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn and a desert.The Randalls took us to buy a few groceries and then dropped us off at our apartment. $750 a month for rent. There had never b een a senior couple living there before so as you can imagine it wasn’t exactly the Taj Mahal. Elder P. Hi Kids, This is Mom, We arrived as Elder Patten said - the apartment needed a lot of help and I was expecting something a little better, but we didn’t whine, just started cleaning and made it more like a home than the young Elders apartmen t.
11/2/07
A little bit of studying and a lot of cleaning and scrubbing this morning. The Randalls picked us up this morning for district meeting. I didn’t know those meetings lasted three hours but it was a good meeting and we were impressed at the quality and competence of the young elders and sisters. They all know the language very well and for the first half hour conducted a language training session. President Bleak really wants all missionaries to learn the language. We met an elder Aiano? Who is the nephew our samoan driver back in mesa. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting more cleaning supplies, etc. A few more groceries and our drivers licenses which it doesn’t sound like we’ll be using as it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting a car. Lots of taxi’s so it will be mostly shank’s pony and taxi’s for the time being. It looks like it won’t be all fish and rice. You can get pretty much anything that you want here to eat. Chicken is from Tyson’s and it really isn’t all that expensive. Hamburger $3.59 a pound. I saw Kirkland peanut butter in the two pack for about $5.50. I think it’s about that at home. Yams, broccoli, onions, etc. more but not outrageous. Last nite we went to a young adult social. Volleyball, ping pong, and the board game aggravation. The young people were having a wonderful time. We thought of the youth at home and wondered if they would enjoy that kind of an activity. Ha. There were some young children that noticed something going on at the church and decided to stop in also. One little girl about six was very interested in Lois’s lip stick. Popcorn and water were served.
11/3/07
Today was pday. The Randalls, Beckstrands and the mission nurse Sister Fedderson picked us up and we drove out to visit the Roses who are serving at the end of the island in Laura. We went to the beach and then to the Roses apartment for lunch. It is quite beautiful on that end of the atol. We are back home for another few minutes then Elder Randall and I have appointments with the two branch presidents that we will be working with. We are sort of feeling our way. Still a little overwhelmed. We will meet with President Bleak when he returns from zone conference in Kiribati next Thursday. Hopefully he will give us some more direction. Our two branches have almost 500 members each. The estimate of 1000 members in the marshall islands was not at all accurate. The Marshalleese people are good and kind people. Happy and friendly. The weather here is very comparable to south florida. We have found it to our liking. I’m so grateful that I lost the weight though. I noticed a couple of the senior missionaries that are a little heavier were sweating and really not enjoying it all that much. ElderJP Its Mom again, I miss you all very much and hold in my heart all the times we have been together. I keep thinking about our last party at Danas and I am so grateful for each of you and all the goodness you bring into our lives. We pray for you each day and I know the Lord will bless you and keep you safe while we are gone. The tears come into my eyes as I think if you and its hard to look at your pictures and not cry. Please tell us.about what you are doing and what each child is doing. Please hug and kiss the kids for us. I just got back from shopping with Sister Randall and Elder Patten had meetings with the Branch Presidents. We ran into the missionaries and they told us that they found an apartment that is really nice – so maybe the president will let us move. We’ll see. This is a third world country but the people are so nice and the children are so beautiful. We went to the end of the island today where there is a sandy beach and it looked just like Hawaii or Cancun, it was beautiful. That end of the Island is lush and green and the water is about 80 degrees and so clear. We have so much to do because as of Monday we will be watchers over two branches – one branch pres. Speaks English and other doesn’t - good luck Elder Patten.
Sunday 11/4 We spent 6 hours in church going to both branches. We are now the guardians over them and some of the organizations need a lot of help, others are doing fairly well. Its hard when we don’t speak the language but somehow that will come. The young elders and sisters are just great and we love them all ready. Yesterday was fast Sunday so we were hungry when we got home so we age spaghetti and went to bed very early.
We arrived in Majuro at about 10a.m. and were met at the airport by President and Sister Beckstrand the lst counselor of the MIMM. Another senior missionary couple, the Randalls met us also. We didn’t have any trouble getting our bags through customs at Hawaii or Majuro. We gave the bag porter $10 at the Honolulu airport and he efficiently took care of all six pieces of luggage and then in Majuro the only problem was that it took time to get the bags from the plane to the baggage area.President and Sister Beckstrand then took us on a tour of the island and we then met at the Randalls apartment for dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn and a desert.The Randalls took us to buy a few groceries and then dropped us off at our apartment. $750 a month for rent. There had never b een a senior couple living there before so as you can imagine it wasn’t exactly the Taj Mahal. Elder P. Hi Kids, This is Mom, We arrived as Elder Patten said - the apartment needed a lot of help and I was expecting something a little better, but we didn’t whine, just started cleaning and made it more like a home than the young Elders apartmen t.
11/2/07
A little bit of studying and a lot of cleaning and scrubbing this morning. The Randalls picked us up this morning for district meeting. I didn’t know those meetings lasted three hours but it was a good meeting and we were impressed at the quality and competence of the young elders and sisters. They all know the language very well and for the first half hour conducted a language training session. President Bleak really wants all missionaries to learn the language. We met an elder Aiano? Who is the nephew our samoan driver back in mesa. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting more cleaning supplies, etc. A few more groceries and our drivers licenses which it doesn’t sound like we’ll be using as it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting a car. Lots of taxi’s so it will be mostly shank’s pony and taxi’s for the time being. It looks like it won’t be all fish and rice. You can get pretty much anything that you want here to eat. Chicken is from Tyson’s and it really isn’t all that expensive. Hamburger $3.59 a pound. I saw Kirkland peanut butter in the two pack for about $5.50. I think it’s about that at home. Yams, broccoli, onions, etc. more but not outrageous. Last nite we went to a young adult social. Volleyball, ping pong, and the board game aggravation. The young people were having a wonderful time. We thought of the youth at home and wondered if they would enjoy that kind of an activity. Ha. There were some young children that noticed something going on at the church and decided to stop in also. One little girl about six was very interested in Lois’s lip stick. Popcorn and water were served.
11/3/07
Today was pday. The Randalls, Beckstrands and the mission nurse Sister Fedderson picked us up and we drove out to visit the Roses who are serving at the end of the island in Laura. We went to the beach and then to the Roses apartment for lunch. It is quite beautiful on that end of the atol. We are back home for another few minutes then Elder Randall and I have appointments with the two branch presidents that we will be working with. We are sort of feeling our way. Still a little overwhelmed. We will meet with President Bleak when he returns from zone conference in Kiribati next Thursday. Hopefully he will give us some more direction. Our two branches have almost 500 members each. The estimate of 1000 members in the marshall islands was not at all accurate. The Marshalleese people are good and kind people. Happy and friendly. The weather here is very comparable to south florida. We have found it to our liking. I’m so grateful that I lost the weight though. I noticed a couple of the senior missionaries that are a little heavier were sweating and really not enjoying it all that much. ElderJP Its Mom again, I miss you all very much and hold in my heart all the times we have been together. I keep thinking about our last party at Danas and I am so grateful for each of you and all the goodness you bring into our lives. We pray for you each day and I know the Lord will bless you and keep you safe while we are gone. The tears come into my eyes as I think if you and its hard to look at your pictures and not cry. Please tell us.about what you are doing and what each child is doing. Please hug and kiss the kids for us. I just got back from shopping with Sister Randall and Elder Patten had meetings with the Branch Presidents. We ran into the missionaries and they told us that they found an apartment that is really nice – so maybe the president will let us move. We’ll see. This is a third world country but the people are so nice and the children are so beautiful. We went to the end of the island today where there is a sandy beach and it looked just like Hawaii or Cancun, it was beautiful. That end of the Island is lush and green and the water is about 80 degrees and so clear. We have so much to do because as of Monday we will be watchers over two branches – one branch pres. Speaks English and other doesn’t - good luck Elder Patten.
Sunday 11/4 We spent 6 hours in church going to both branches. We are now the guardians over them and some of the organizations need a lot of help, others are doing fairly well. Its hard when we don’t speak the language but somehow that will come. The young elders and sisters are just great and we love them all ready. Yesterday was fast Sunday so we were hungry when we got home so we age spaghetti and went to bed very early.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
district and trainer at the mtc.
From left to right our trainer, hawaii, south africa, korea and Marshall Islands (The greatest mission in the world)winegars and pattens
This experience starts at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. Sister Patten and I arrived on October 22, 2007 and left the MTC on October 28, 2007. We went from morning until evening and fell into bed at nite.While there we met Elder Gary and Sister Sharon Winegar who were going to the same mission as we were but were assigned to the Gilbert Islands as CES missionaries. Elder Winegar was going to teach the teachers and help them to get accredited. They will live on the campus of Moroni high school in Tarawa. We enjoyed meeting them and hope to see them again at some time on our mission.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
And away we go
Hey there.....Thanks to Steve's efforts and help I think we are ready to start our journal and now that we've done this much he will help us download a picture or two soon.
This will be an easy way for us to post info about what we are doing and then anyone can check it out and leave a message at their convenience.
We will condense November, 2007 and try to write a little bit each day or two from now on.
I have been keeping my digital camera on my belt at all times so we'll be able to send some pictures also.
We love you all and want you to check back soon to keep up with our wonderful experiences.
Elder/Sister Patten
This will be an easy way for us to post info about what we are doing and then anyone can check it out and leave a message at their convenience.
We will condense November, 2007 and try to write a little bit each day or two from now on.
I have been keeping my digital camera on my belt at all times so we'll be able to send some pictures also.
We love you all and want you to check back soon to keep up with our wonderful experiences.
Elder/Sister Patten
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)