Thanksgiving in Tarawa

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Tarawa.  It was a chance for us to meet our Mission President, President and Sister Shaw.  Although they only live about 400 miles away in Majuro, Marshall Islands, it is extremely difficult for them to come to Tarawa in the Kiribati Islands.  They have to leave Majuro and stay nights in Honolulu and Fiji, then on to Tarawa, which can only be accomplished twice a week. We are grateful that they made the trip down to Tarawa for Thanksgiving.  They arrived just this morning.

We had Turkey and all the trimmings.  The Shaws had the Turkeys and Ham sent from Majuro a few months ago.  And Sister Christensen's family sent the rest of the trimmings.  There is no way these could be purchased in Tarawa, the closest thing would be chicken parts and ham in a can.  It was very hot in the room, but we have had trade winds the last few days so the air at least is moving.  I was surprised at the little amount of food the Missionaries ate.  You always hear that they have bottomless stomachs, but we had 2 turkeys and we had 1 left.  I believe the local missionaries didn't know what to think about eating a turkey, and there was a bunch of stuffing left also.

We were able to use the Moroni High School Cafeteria.  

Elders in the chow line

Elders Aderl, Mills, Green and Anderson

Elders Bradshaw, Gittens, Norman, and Banks

Sister Ogborn, (our next door Neighbor) Elders Bush and Flynn, Elder Ogborn, and Elder Eneri.  Elder Eneri is from Kiribati.  His parents just live up the road a spell.  

Sister's Rebeta, (local Kiribati), Gardner, Barlow and Valo, (from Papa New Guinea)

Elders Sauaki, Tuihalangingie (yes, that is his last name) and Finau

Elders Tiree, Utimawa, and Tutu

Elder and Sister Ronnencamp (here for a week for the High School) and Elder and Sister Thorne (he teaches High School and she teaches Institute)

Our Mission President and his wife

This week was a busy week.  We attended the Moroni High School Seminary Graduation, Institute Graduation, and High School Graduation.  All were memorable experiences, especially the singing.   Kiribati people are blessed with wonderful voices.  

The Seminary Graduation was held in one of the Stake Centers, and all the male students were dressed in White Shirts and ties and the girls were wearing white dresses.  It was a cool sight to see them all come in.  

Moroni High School was dedicated by L. Tom Perry on August 9, 1996.  They are celebrating their 25 anniversary this year.  This year over 500 students attended from ages 12-19.  They are afforded the opportunity to come here for 7 years, with the 6th year being their formal graduation and the 7th year, taking some college credit courses.  This year 75 students graduated.  

 We were one the front row of the chapel where the High School graduation was held.  They marched in to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  We were fed songs that sounded like they had practiced for years.  The last song, Light the Fire, was so inspiring.  It was a treat, speaking of treats, we now have had the pleasure of partaking of a meal Kiribati style.  Everyone brings something.  They are delivered hours before the meal, in these colored bowls with tin foil and the name of the dish on the top.  

 We had roast pig, lobster, rice, sausage, chicken, fish, beef dishes, hard boiled eggs (apparently a must at every dinner), potato, salads.  

 Here is Shelley with her meal.  Notice the pink slice in the foreground.  I picked it cause it said "ham", but it wasn't the ham from home.  They roast the pigs over a fire, not in the ground as in Hawaii.  

 After the feast, there was a program, above is the warm-up group.  They sang a bunch of  American karaoke, including a few ABBA songs.  They love American music.  There is a little bit of Polynesia music, but I think their influence is a mix of Asian and American.   

After the warm-up, all the students entered and were dressed in matching (about 20 kinds) of dresses and the guys in nice shirts.  They looked like they were going to a dance.  Each girl was escorted by her male partner.  

 The first act of the night (which started at 430pm and lasted until 1130pm) was the teachers and support staff dancing hula (fast)  I don't believe you would see that in Utah....

Next the teachers got all the students and danced about 4 songs.  Not something you would see in Utah either...

Next was a chain,  with the rest of the evening, a dance for this and a dance for that, with some dances with their parents.  There seemed to be no shy students when it came to dancing.  They love it!

On Saturday, we had the Ward Christmas Party.  Our Ward is the only English speaking ward on the Island, and it is mostly made up of students, with a few families.  Every student is assigned a family for Family Home Evening, and we have 8 Students, Tonga, Teakin, Tauaa, Tipeni, Pineta, Tabureka, Teako, Abetai, Buangi.  The only one I can remember is Tab, short for Tabureka. We were also told last week that we had to plan a skit for the party.  We just met the students last week, so Shelley and I decided to have them sing Grandma Got Run-over by a Reindeer.    

 Here are some students practicing the song with keyboard

 Senior Couples, Sister Thorne, Elder Bonnemort, Brother and Sister Ronnencamp, Elder and Sister Ogborn.  I point them out because we were the only people there at 6pm, the start time of the party.  At 730pm, we were still the only attendees.  

 At around 735pm, the food began to arrive....

 And....by 830pm, the party began.  This is Kiribati time we are told, but I didn't believe that it would be 2 1/2 hours late!  

 Shelley with her "group" singing.  The students had asked if they could do a hula dance in addition to the song.  It was a struggle to get through the reindeer song, but Shelley made it happen.  (it was apparent they would rather be dancing)

 Here are the students doing their hula (fast not Hawaiian style)

For the next 2 hours each family came up and did a skit.  The program ended at 1145pm.  It was a long night, but all the families and kids had a great time.   

Chapels of Tarawa

I thought that I would give you an idea on just what the chapels here look like.  On just this tiny strip of land, there are six Chapels, two that also serve as Stake Centers.  They are all the same color, and same building design, and really stand out in the communities.  

 This is our Chapel and also the Stake Center, and is used by Moroni High School.  It is very hot for Sacrament Meeting, even with the ceiling fans going.  They have a small keyboard, as there is no way a piano would survive this climate.  Would be out of tune in a New York minute.   

 This Chapel is out on the "point",  Just behind it is the ocean.  The Elders live in a little small one room house on the land.  In the foreground is the basketball court that also doubles as a parking lot on Sunday.  It is down a dirt road, right next door to the prison, so I'm sure some of the Spirit crosses over to the prison. 

 This is a way cool Chapel..literally.  It has no sides.  We went to visit the Elders who live next door.  We had to drive over a new bridge, (which used to be a road that was only passable during low tide), and down a dirt  road that was full of pot holes the size of Texas.  Then just around the corner was this beautiful Chapel.  It was unbelievable that something so beautiful was just plopped there.      

 This is the Chapel on the "west end" in the village of Betio, said as Baso.    When "ti" are together, they make an "s" sound.  That is about as much of the language as I have figured out.  We went to our first Baptism here.  The font is located in the courtyard.  We had to wait for about 2 hours for all the people to show.  Things move a bit slower in Kiribati.  There is that "ti" again.  You pronounce it kir (like ear) i (like short i) ba (same sound as a sheep makes) then add the s for the ti. KIRIBAHS.    Or for short, pronounced kee-ree-bass.

This is the Stake Center.  It has a big Chapel on the back and a rather unique cultural hall.  They built a Manuaba like the one below.  The one below is right next door to our Flat.  These are built on stilts or pillars and the wind comes under and cools the inside.  Interesting, but you have to 'duck' under to get in, there are no doors.  The distance from floor to ceiling/wall is about 39 inches.  There must be hundreds of these on the island from modern built like this or those with a thatched roof.  Sister Bonnemort taught a lesson to the whole Ward last Sunday on Cleanliness and her voice carried through the whole place.  Think of it as the Mormon Tabernacle of Kiribati.....

We love the people of Tarawa.  It has been a short three weeks, but we have made many friends.  The Kiribati people seem shy, but they have big smiles and huge hearts.  The missionaries say that they always have plenty of offers for dinner each night and they never go without a good meal.  We love the Lord, but we miss our family and friends.  

This week in Tarawa

These are pictures of the chapel that is located on the Moroni High School Campus (the students wear uniforms). It is a 100 foot walk to church.  How fortunate we are to be 6,000 miles from Utah and be that close to a chapel.  We have attended church there for two weeks.  This week was fast meeting.  This was the last fast meeting for the students as they are going on Summer Break until sometime in February, so the campus will be very quiet.  There was a steady stream of students bear their testimony, and they all begin with "good morning brothers and sisters", then the audience replies, "good morning".  It is amazing how these students did not know English until they arrived at the school and to hear them bear testimony in English was so neat.  The Spirit does make it to the little island of Tarawa.  There also is an older woman who is on the campus everyday reading her scriptures, and one may have a tendency to believe she is not all there upstairs.  But she bore her testimony and you can tell has a strong conviction in her belief of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a great knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. The singing is another experience one would have to hear.  They really don't need a piano, but Brother Tune is the pianist (small organ) and the voices, sounds and tempos that come from the audience is thrilling.  I must add though that the Elder's Quorum is as disorganized as at home.  There really aren't very many Elders, just a few and a bunch of Priests who are going to be headed for missions.  Sister Thorne, who is serving with her husband who is teaching High School teaches Gospel Doctrine.  She gave an amazing lesson on Perfecting the Saints.  It was so refreshing to listen to her as she "stepped down" the lesson for these students/members.  We all could use some humble pie and not try and show how much we know, but teach as you would to a child.  

The first Monday of the month all the Missionaries gather on P-Day at our houses to play basketball and visit.  We are in charge of making a treat.  Shelley said she would make oatmeal cookies, which seems to be an easy task.  What you see is her measuring Tarawa's shortening, which comes from China/Japan and is made from Coconut and Palm oils.  It was a funny thing, because she thought she had bought a cake mix because it had a cake picture on the bag.  But low and behold it was this bag of coconut and palm oil.  It added quite the unique flavor to the cookies, but you know the missionaries will eat anything, no complaints there.  

We are getting to know each missionary, they seem to be so strong and grown-up.  Not the best communicators, but what 19-20 year old is?  She has also seen her first few patients.  One missionary had this gross sore on his ankle that he had for about 3 weeks and still is pussy after a round of medicine.  Shelley sent a picture to the Area Medical Authority who said "it is what it is" in this part of the world, and it will take time to heal.  Such goes the role of the nurse, a new challenge around every corner.    

This is a picture of the basketball court at night.  Friday night the school had a dance contest and  with LOUD music for 3 hours.  It was fun to watch the kids dance and act out.  Quite the talent here, even the boys performed in sync.  They played a bunch of american music with an island beat/flair.  It is something that I wouldn't believe we would see in America, just a bunch of student/parents having a blast, laughing smiling and clapping.  I can't imagine a ward dinner at home having this much fun.  

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support.  We are not starving, we have food and we are safe and cool.  We have learned how to cook and save every bit of leftovers, even made yogurt.  We have fresh local bananas, and can buy fresh fruit.  We do miss the convenience foods, and there is no fast food, but we are learning to cook with local food, and it is quite fun to see just what you can make and eat.  

Shopping in Tarawa

We thought we would share with you the shopping experience in Tarawa.  There are no Wal-Marts, no Costcos, no Sinclair, no Chevron, just ma and pa shops.  The big grocery store is located about 45 minutes on a road that has 4,000 potholes per kilometer, so we try and make that trip once a week.  That store is so hot, that Sister Bonnemort is not able to look at every item without a least a liter of water to drink. Different items come on each shipload, so if you see it, you buy it, cause it won't be there tomorrow.  We have been very creative with our menu choices.  Everything is used and nothing wasted.  When is the last time you saved 1/4 of a carrot?  Tonight for example, we had hamburger (yes, we found that once), and mixed in some Chinese cabbage, and poured it over rice.  Picky eaters look elsewhere.  

The streets have no sidewalks and there is a constant stream of people walking that you have to avoid.  The oncoming cars (oh did I mention you drive on the left like in England with the steering wheel on the right) come so close, that you swear your mirror is gone.  Yesterday, our mirror hit a lady walking.  Luckily, they are collapsing mirrors, so there was no injury.  

Little shop just up the road.  Note the fresh bread on the counter

 If you want smoked fish, no problem, it is freshly smoked on the roadside

 This is our gas station, 1.19 per liter or about 4.80 per gallon.  They pump your gas for you!

 Another shop for shopping

 Another shop

 the local police station

 This is a market where they sell fresh fish caught today right out of their coolers

 Clothing store, haven't seen a men's suit since we left home

Our bank.  You must take a number, sit, sit, sit, and hope they call your number.  Took us one week and three trips to open an account, but we now have Australian Money!  Bye bye American economy