Gulfstream G-19/Castaways

This is the Gulfstream G-19 that came yesterday from Hawaii. We wanted a little action so we went out and took a look. It was a very nice looking airplane with two RollsRoyce engines. It will take four and a half hours to fly to Hawaii but you would ride in comfort. As we were leaving the airport the postmistress and relief society president said that she heard over radio Kiribati before she came to the airport that Taiwan had given the government $3,000,000 and that Air Pacific would resume flights shortly. If that is true then I guess the runway may not have been the problem. The government not paying their bill is more likely. Oh well, it's something to talk about.
We are still here. Alive, well and still liking it. It appears that I will have to go to Fanning Island to do some training so the area office can get quarterly reports, tithing reports, etc. from the branch that was organized on Fanning and then through a series of circumstances it has been very difficult to give them the support that they need. It appears that the second counselor in the branch presidency on Fanning has decided that the Word of Wisdom doesn't apply to him and that his smoking and making and selling the local alcoholic beverage is just fine. We will have to have a little talk about that. 20 plus hours in a converted WWll landing craft up there and then half again that long coming back against the current. Sister Patten has declined my invitation for an ocean voyage so I will take a set of missionaries and the first counselor in the Christmas branch presidency. The first counselor from Fanning came last week to get parts for his truck. (one of eight vehicles on Fanning island) His name is Maiaa and is an amazing man. 60 years old and looks like Charles Atlas. We had a nice visit about Fanning's needs. One good thing is that I can bring back some island bananas which we love. Maiaa brought us a couple of fresh fish this morning. Sister Patten was so excited she sent me right outside to clean and prepare them for lunch. (NOT) Maiaa says that I'll have to eat fish, fish, fish, and then more fish when I get up there. Also breadfruit, papaya and bananas. The island bananas are the little ones and are so good.

Well, the house smells a little fishy, not too bad. Actually he had just caught the fish and so they were very fresh. I really am not a fish eater, at least not the fish here but Elder Patten enjoys them and so he gets to eat them. We wrote a long dissertation last weekend for the blog and copied and cut and then lost it somewhere. So we will just tell you what is new and hope we remember all the important news. If the Pres. gives the okay, Elder Patten will go to Fanning Island with the people he mentioned above. I am not looking forward to having him gone for at least 10 days (if the boat goes and comes on some kind is schedule) because there will be no communication. No email, of course, no telephone so I will just have to pray that he gets there safely and gets back before too long. I will be okay, two of our missionaries will be here and there are plenty of people around. The young single adults come over often and visit with us. I enjoy being with them, especially Lisa who is a RM. She went to California San Bernardino mission, she speaks English well and is Americanized. She told me she didn't want to come home from her mission. She is coming over tomorrow and we are going to teach her how to bake bread. She is trying to get into BYU Hawaii for winter semester and so we hope to see her again while we are all in Hawaii, if that is the part of Hawaii we are in. You all would love her a lot and feel right at home with her. The nights will be long but there is no fear on this island of crime. The missionaries are within 15 feet of our home, I will just try to stay busy and will probably do a lot of writing to all of you. How do you like our little kitchen? Pretty cute huh! We had written all about the culture here in the blog that we lost. It is so different from what we are used to. They carry the traditions of their Fathers down and down through the generations. Some are so unnecessary and cause problems. We have tried to teach them about the Lord's culture and some get it and some get half of it but hang on to what they have been taught and then get all mixed up. Our sister RM that came home a few months ago has made some bad choices. We were with her in Marjuro and so hoped that when she got home to Kiritimati Island she would be a strong influence with the young people here. Her Mother is strong Catholic and has complete control over our little sister's life. We have spent time with her warning her of how Satan will work on her a step at a time until he gets her away from the church. She looked like she was listening but then little by little she did as her Mother wanted her to do. First she was moved to her Uncles home ( a catholic missionary) which is in London and away from where we live. She used to be able to walk to our house and see us. Then her Mother saw that she got a job at the St.Francis high school teaching ( know that she has only had a high school education and at Moroni high school of course.) Now that put her in a position to attend mass and participate in all the catholic rituals again. Next we heard that she was engaged to a catholic teacher who is 12 years older that she is. Needless to say, we don't see her at church much any more. We have talked to many Mormon women on the island who married Catholic men and are not allowed to attend church anymore, "If I come to church, there will be problems in our home." Part of the culture here is that the weaker people simply can't or won't stand up to their parents and say "I am a member of the LDS church now and that is the church I will go to" They are afraid of what people will say about them and that their family will disown them. Until the people learn to let go of the old traditions and culture of the people here, many may join the church but not remain in it. Our little sister missionary's mother is strong in the catholic church and carries a lot of power. She was more than happy to let the church educate her daughter and send her on a mission so she would be trained enough to be of help in the catholic church. Elder Patten has a strong belief that while he is here and has the authority, he will not send children to Moroni H.S. who do not come from LDS families or from families who won't support them in their beliefs. Pres. Bleak is behind him 100% and so even if some of the kids don't score as high as others on the entrance exam., all things must be considered and the ones who will have a chance to remain strong and build the kingdom here on Christmas Island will have the opportunity to be educated at Moroni. You may remember that we had a reunion of Moroni Graduates a few months ago and out of all of the people that came, only about 10 or 15 were still active in the church, including returned missionaries. When we get home we will tell you of all the traditions that we have learned about. We have respect for their ways but some of them really get in our way.
Monday evening, we went with the missionaries to the home of some investigators, a great family that will soon be baptised. He called us because he said that "bad things are happening in his home" he felt that Satan was trying to scare him and keep him from joining the church. There is a lot of black magic live and well on this island. We blessed his home and bore our testimony to him and as soon as we can get them married they will be baptised. He teaches at the elementary school here and speaks English well. He will be a great asset to the Branch. There is a lot of anti-Mormon literature and movies on the island that the KPC and Catholic church are showing to their youth and we get some hateful looks from some of the people. They have said that we are the "evil church". We think the adversary is working really hard here because we now have 4 missionaries out in full force and our sister branch missionaries are out there too working hard. Another thing we are doing here is to make sure that we don't send out missionaries that are not trained from Kiritimati Island. Every Thursday evening our missionaries meet with them and train them from the Preach My Gospel manual. They are working two by two through out the island and people have noticed them and have mentioned that "there is something different about those girls." They call them "super" girls.
All in all its all good. As our New Zealand and Australian missionaries would say "no worries". Elder Patten and I go with Pres. Henry and Sister Henry each week to visit less actives and invite them to church. We pick them up on Sundays in the van because many live too far to walk. We have had good success with them and pray that they will come long enough to remain active. There is a little grandma who is probably not too much older than I am but looks very old. She has a go-tee on her chin and Elder Patten says its her badge of honor. She is all bent over but will come with us to church and partake of the Sacrament. We have been told that when an imatong (white person) comes to visit them, it is an honor and so we need to visit as many as we can and get them back to church.
Our missionaries are so faithful and dedicated and work hard for the Lord and will have success because they carry the spirit with them. They have decided they need to "work out" so they made bar-bells by pouring cement into a bucket with a pvc pipe in the center of it and then hooking it onto another pipe. They are really proud of themselves and it works for them, that is until one end of the barbell falls on their foot and we have to charter a plane to remove them from the island. Elder Patten tells me occasionally that he knows right where a rusty nail is that he can step on anytime he wants to leave.
Well, we love you all and will write more later. Take care and say your prayers.

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.