Youth Conference

Sept. 4-7 (Yes, I'm still catching up.) We had a twin stake youth conference held on campus. It involved about 200-250 kids from Tarawa and the outer islands. Since this last week was the off week for students between terms it was an ideal venue for a youth conference. All the young girls stayed in the dorms and the young men stayed in various class rooms. It began on Wednesday and lasted until Saturday about noonish.  Each morning began at 5am with aerobic exercises on the basketball court right outside our front door and the dancing and games didn't end till 10:30pm.We were asked again to help with table manners and how to use a knife and fork. We set up enough school desks and chairs to create place settings for 90 Laurels and Priests. Well, over 100 showed up. The kitchen staff ran out of plates and had to use tin foil for plates. Plus, they actually did run out of food.  The loud music became so exhausting for us we visited the other couples at the far east end of the campus just to have a break from the noise. 

5:00 AM Aerobics

Coconut husking relay

Coconut shredding relay

Classrooms turned into sleeping rooms for the boys

Our never ending music supply

Rats!!!

A couple of weeks ago Elder Edwards came over and asked if he could borrow a mouse trap.  All we had is the one Rich has caught crabs with so we gave that to him. He said they have large (maybe a rat) droppings on their bathroom counter and in their shower when they get up in the morning.  Their bathroom windows will not shut all the way and they have a hole in their screen. Then while Sister Edwards was taking a shower she noticed a chunk from their bar of soap had been eaten with teeth marks to show for it.  She then realized that a mouse (rat) was eating their soap.  The Bishop saw our small mouse trap and said that will never do and gave them a rat cage which they loaded with cheese.  Within a few hours, they had at least an 8 inch rat with a tail longer than that. SICK!!!  The Bishop gave them a bucket to drown him and over the sea wall he went. I’d definitely make sure the window and screen were repaired. Within a few days they had caught four rats and sent them to the sea.

 

 

 

Every morning the next week, Mary, our counselor, whose office is next to ours, would open her door to a mess.  Rat droppings everywhere, they had eaten her plant, knocked things off her desk, and scratched the new door terribly trying to escape. We thought they might be coming in from the small hole in the ceiling where a pipe goes through. Last night Rich went over to the office around 9:00 and shined a flashlight through the window.  He could see two rats.  Again the next morning there was another mess.  He thought maybe they were still in there and just can’t get out.  A few hours later Lita saw one sitting on the ledge near the ceiling and tried to coax it down with a broom. All of a sudden it was chaos with three women shut in that small office trying to catch the two rats running all over.  They succeeded!! Yeah!  It added to our excitement for the day and the rat population is now down by two more.

  

Good Bye - Hello

Elder and Sister Rasmussen, Elder and Sister Osboren

Elder and Sister Osborne arrived in May and were in Kiribati for three months.  Their calling was with the Technical, Vocational, Education Program at Moroni High School.  Elder Osborne was the director of Davis Area Technical College for many years and Sister Osborne was a Home Ec and Special Ed teacher.  They spent their time cleaning and preparing the TVET programs for the new curriculum which will begin January 2014. They completed their 23 month mission on Aug. 1, 2013.

Elder and Sister Edwards arrived on Aug. 8.  Brother Edwards is a retired Seminary & Institute Area Director.  Their calling is to work with all of the seminary teachers in the secondary schools in the Pacific.  They will be with us till Oct. 24 and then will travel to Tonga.

 

Elder and Sister Robison are a newly wed couple of one year from Idaho. 

They will be working with member/leader support.

 

We are excited to have these new couples to add to the talent and priesthood strength here in Kiribati.

Pioneer Day



Pioneer Day Trek
 

Grand March

The Tarawa East Stake celebrated by having a pioneer trek on our one and only road.  The youth and many others met at the Bikenibeu chapel about five miles from here.  They were put with 20-30 in each group to walk to Moroni High School with stops along the way.  At each stop the participants had to say an article of faith and then they were given a challenge, such as someone has been hurt and will need to be carried.  We left here around 7:30 and walked a mile or so to meet the first group and then turned around and walked back to the school with them.  It was great fun.  When we arrived at the school the students from Moroni High School led by the senior missionaries performed a grand march.  Then the students performed a square dance and the Virginia reel.  Breakfast consisting of crackers and corn beef hash was served. Everyone seemed to enjoy the activity remembering the pioneers and their sacrifices for us.




Breakfast: Crackers with corn beef hash

 

Square Dancing                              

 

Dai Nippon Primary School

Sister Youngberg greeting the children

On Wed. July 24 we were able to go with the Youngbergs (Humanitarian missionaries) to the Dai Nippon Primary School to watch an organization from the USS Pearl Harbor present school kits and hygiene kits to the students.  They travel throughout the Pacific and try to get to each country every couple of years.  After the few times we have spent putting together infant and hygiene kits it was a joy to be on the other end and seeing the faces of children who would receive them.  Later that evening the school hosted a cultural night for about thirty members of the ship’s crew.  There was dancing, singing, and of course lots of food.  

Grade 6 Dancing for the guests

Dancing with some of the troups

???, Bitiera, Maii, Turian, Leilani getting garlands ready for the guests

Sister Youngberg, Sister Bush, Sister Rasmussen, Sister Osborne,
Sister Weir (New mission president's wife), Sister Cassita

USS Pearl Harbor

Waiting in line

The island has been blessed to have the USS Pearl Harbor Humanitarian ship here this past week.  It anchored about a mile off shore and is using a transport to bring the sailors in each day.  They set up a medical clinic in Bariki to teach the people and provide a few services and goods. There were vets who provided information about diseases animals can get and carry, and they treated their dogs and pigs for worms and provided neutering services. There was also an ophthalmologist to check eyes as needed.  They gave out sunglasses to all and reading glasses to those older than 45 years.  They also had instruction on diet, diabetes, exercise, and washing their hands before preparing food and checked their blood pressure.  We were blessed to be able to hand out hygiene kits from LDS Charities to all of those who came through.  Although we were only there for one morning, the clinic lasted for four days with a constant line and many were turned away.  We enjoyed visiting with the officers and enlisted personnel who were there to help.  They were so pleased that the people wanted to learn how to better their lives.  The experience they’ve had in other islands is that the people just want the freebies but weren’t interested in learning.  One female soldier said she had never been to a place so hot and poor.   It was the spiritual uplift we needed for the week.  My heart was touched to see all of the good that was taking place.

Sister Tune translating

Helping a blind man
 

A drive back to Betio for more hygiene kits.

A






Sister Cassita and Elder Rasmussen passing out
hygiene kits

Sunglasses for all.

Relief Society Stake Activity

June 23, 2013,
We have received our first transfer.  The only thing that has changed is that we have been assigned to attend a different ward, Eita 2^nd.  It is also held here on campus and meets at 12:00.  I really liked out 8:00 meetings however they made the afternoons very long. The new meeting time will break up the day some but it will be much warmer that time of day.  Today after our three hour block we went to their Sacrament meeting just to introduce ourselves.  Of course the meeting is all in Kiribati which will be a challenge.  Hopefully we can sit by the missionaries or return missionaries to translate for us.  It must be time for more growth as we are starting to settle in and get the hang of our calling.  Just never enough time to get it all done.  We started the new class this week, Reading in the Content Area.  I think it went well.  Yesterday we had a Stake Relief Society activity where they had the Senior Sisters speak for a few minutes and then we broke into four workshop groups.  Sister Talitaina, the senior sister from Somoa spoke about Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social health.  She had the sisters exercising in place till we were all out of breath. 

She is very bold and is taking the direction to “Go to the rescue” seriously.  When her and Sister Ucunibarvi (from Fiji) went to visit one family, the dad was asleep.  She poked him and told him he needed to get up and get back to church, and he did.  These two sisters have only been here a month and they have several families returning to church. Not only are they bold but they are older (our age) and they are islanders, so the saints are responded.  The sisters also brought clothing they didn't want any more and it was spread out on the floor for other sisters to take.  It was all gone within minutes. 




We were asked to teach one of the rotations, on indexing.  The saints have never heard of it here.  For those that speak English and could get access to a computer and the internet it would be a great way to participate in Family History.  We had to use a translator in each group which was also a new experience.  I really couldn’t quite figure out why they wanted us to teach something that they have so little resources to do but when we went to the Eita 2^nd ward today, two families came up to us and asked us if we could help them really learn how.  One couple will be going to the Fiji temple next month and they want to take some of their own family names with them.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  Maybe this is one reason for our transfer.  We’ll have to find someone who can help us with the language though.