Another week in Pohnpei

March 4, 2009 Wed.
I am taking a break from the studying and lesson preparation to type an update. We finally have the house pretty well fixed up and tight enough to keep most bugs, rats, and lizards out. We have screens and also have grating on two windows to keep the rats from chewing through the screens.
Actually we haven’t had a lizard or a cockroach, or a centipede in the house in over a week! We do have the little geckos from time to time, but they don’t bother us much. I just hate cleaning up their droppings on the table or counter or on the wall. Yuck! But they are sort of cute little creatures.
One of the landlord’s dogs had a litter of pups. All but one died. But we are having fun watching the little guy grow up. He is really cute. But all the dogs here have lots of fleas, so we keep our distance.
Last Sunday one of the landlord’s hogs got loose. The dogs chased it up the hill. We called the landlord to tell him and he brought a guy out to help him and they got the hog penned again. But the next morning he got out again. He is a large hog, about 2 yrs old. He came walking onto our veranda and tried to eat Chuck’s shoe that he had left out there. Dumb pig!
We have been busy with Seminary and Institute classes. We have had fun helping them learn how to dig into the scriptures and find principles and teachings. Chuck has used local visual aids, taken directly from the jungle around our house, to teach the concept of the Gentiles being GRAFTED into the House of Israel. We have been told that grafting is done here with the lemon trees, so it wasn’t a new concept for some of them. We are also teaching Temple Preparation classes at Kitti, Sapwalap, Uh, and Nett. In Nett, very few understand English, so teaching always requires a translator. That makes it hard to teach, and makes the lessons very long. Plus, we have no way of knowing if our teaching are understood.
We are on the District Speaking schedule now, so we speak in a different Branch on the 4th Sunday of each month.
So far, I am REALLY enjoying all the studying and lesson preparation. Plus the language study. It is so nice to be able to spend hours and hours everyday studying, the gospel, the scriptures, the language.
The temperatures do not vary much here. When we get up it is usually about 81 degrees. During the day it might get up to 88-89 degrees. When we go to bed, it is usually around 82-83 degrees. The rain is wonderful. We both love it. Sometimes it rains 8-12 times in one day. Other times we can go 3 days with no rain. Sometimes it just rains, and sometimes it is a storm, wind and all. Some rains are light and soft, but often the rain comes down with great velocity! Like we are under a waterfall! It is just amazing to us that so much rain can fall in such a short time. It drains away very quickly. Two days ago I (Sue) was driving home from Kolonia and the rain was coming down so hard that my windshield wipers just could not keep up with it, even on their fastest speed. I simply could not see anything. So I drove VERY slowly. Of course, here on the island, everyone drives very slowly. The road is narrow and windy, and there are people (LOTS of people) and dogs and chickens and sometimes pigs on the road all the time. In some places the road is only wide enough for one vehicle to get through.
We leave the windows open at home all the time. So we can hear the jungle noises. I love hearing the birds. There are no snakes here. And no predators. So we feel very safe, even when we went out exploring in the jungle.
The people here are wonderful. Very loving and kind and patient. And they are a happy people. The children are well-loved and well cared for. They all seem healthy and happy. Of course, just as in the states, there is poverty. But the jungle provides so many good things to eat that even the poorer folks can eat well.