On Saturday April 17, 2010, we had our Namoneas District Scripture Mastery Activity for all of the Seminary Students in the Chuuk Branches and it was a huge success. We had about 70 kids there of the 100 that are registered and we feel that is very good because some of those that registered early in the year have moved away.

These are the kids gathered to enjoy the events of the day.


We met in the old Mwan Chapel and they just sat on the floor. We had an opening exercise and I conducted that. Then Sister Duncan explained in Chuukese all the different games they would be playing. We had seven games to start with. They had the ring toss, Limbo, a beanbag toss, Run to the Board, puzzles that they put together and then read to the teacher, and one we called open your books. It is like real scripture chasing. Then we had a place for the students to go and pass off the scriptures they memorized. We had 34 Scriptures passed off and that is far more than we thought we would get. All these 7 things were going on at the same time and the Students could go to any game that they wanted to participate in any time.

This is the target for the Bean Bag Toss.


After the interest waned a bit, we opened up 3 new games at the basketball court; shooting free throws, serving volleyballs and racing with ping pong balls on a spoon. We set up a square of chairs and they had to serve a volleyball into the middle of them. If they made it they could pick which book the scripture would come from. If they knew the reference they got a candy. All of the games worked that way. If they knew the scripture reference they received a reward of a little wrapped candy or cookie. If they didn’t know the reference to the Clue, the teacher would help them and then they had to repeat it back to the teacher 2 times and then they got the candy. So it was a learning experience as well.

This is the Ring Toss


After the games we had them come back to the chapel and they sat on the floor with their own branch. Then we did some practice Scripture chasing where they could help others on their team. Then we did an individual speed challenge. The first two that got the right scripture up in the air got their name written on the board for points for their Branch. We were so impressed with what they could do. Sapuk branch took top speed and Mwan came in Second. But it was a lot of fun and they really enjoyed it.

This is Run to the Board and write the Reference.


We then handed out certificates for the Exceptional students. The teachers in each Branch suggested names for students that had at least 80% attendance, participated well in class, tried to learn the Scripture Mastery Scriptures, and read in the book of Mormon. We gave each of them a hard cover Triple Combination book of scripture which the District President had written them personal statement in the front of the book. We gave each a certificate that had their name on it as a "Chon Sukkun mi Fakkun Angangoch". Translated it says, "A Very Hard Working Student." and then our family had sent things we could give out as gifts, so they could each pick a gift they would like to have. It was like Christmas. They loved it.

This is the Limbo event.


We handed out certificates for the fastest individual and Branch in the Scripture Chase and the one that had memorized and passed off the most Scripture Mastery Scriptures.

This is the Students passing off memorized Scriptures.


The District President, President Tarsi Wainis, talked to the Students for a half hour about the good Seminary would do for them. We fed them lunch and a bottle of water. Everyone was very satisfied. We passed out the end of the animal crackers with the meal.

Here the students had to put a puzzle together and read the scripture that was on it.


We got some little kids, 6 to 8 years old, that were just hanging around to help us clean up the candy wrappers and we gave them some candy for a reward.

It was a wonderful time and I will bet that years from now they will still be talking about the Great Scipture Mastery Activity they had in 2010.

Here they served the Volley ball into a ring of chairs to earn treats.


We think this is the biggest event we will put on while we are on Chuuk. We think Graduation will be a cake walk compared to putting all this together. We are just thrilled that it is over and the kids loved it so much. Now it is encouraging Students to finish the year with good attendance and helping them learn all they can about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are wonderful young people and we love working with them and their teachers.

Sister Duncan with some of the children on Uman Island.


Seminary Class marking the scriptures in their "Puken Mormon"


Sister Duncan conducting a Scripture Mastery Activity with Scriptures held on the board with magnets.

Today is Saturday, March 20. Things have slowed down just a bit for us. We had 4 dvd’s to show to 3 different branches last month. This month we have only 1 dvd to show to 2 different branches. But, we have some company coming from Guam!
Elder and Sister Clarke are coming to visit the islands. We will take them out to Uman and Tonoas islands so they can see the churches there and the apartments that the Elders live in. The Clarkes are a new couple and we are anxious to meet them.
Chuuk is in it’s dry season, and it IS dry! All the puddles in the roads have dried up. All the water tanks are empty, and the local folk are frantically looking for water where ever they can find it! The vegetation is turning brown, too. Very different from the Chuuk we have seen over the past 12 months!
But it has rained off and on over the past 3 days, so the drought is not so bad now.
We have now been in Chuuk for one year. It has gone by very quickly.
Freddie Nicerio, our supervisor, will be coming in April to meet with our Seminary teachers. We are looking forward to that.
Then we have the District Scripture Mastery Activity on April 17. We are REALLY looking forward to THAT! We have put a lot of work into it, and it should be a lot of fun for the kids!
May should bring the Open House for the new Mwan Chapel and then the Seminary/Institute Graduation on May 29.

I love the boat ride to the outer islands when the water is like glass. It is such a thrill to ride with the wind in your face and enjoy the sights and sound. The two outboard motors are running full out and they just throb together. I love the ride to the islands when the ocean is rough because it is like a carnival ride with tummy ticklers and adrenalin pumping moments. But mostly I love going to the outer islands because the native appreciate us so much and seem to love to have us there. It is extremely rewarding.

I love the way Sister Duncan can cook so well with what she can buy on our Island and make it taste so good. She is very concerned about us having a balanced diet and so we are eating healthy and are doing well.

I dislike the way Sister Duncan reacts to the flea bites. She has had as many as 20 on one leg and they itch so badly. It has been a real challenge for her. But she has been a real trooper about it. We will be needing more itch erasers soon though. On Sunday, the Branch President started the meeting with 13 little kids under the age of 8, a teenage boy and 4 Missionaries counting us, AND #3, Yes, 3 DOGS walking around in the room. They stop and scratch a lot so you know they have fleas, and they just scratch them off so they crawl around looking for their next victim. I have sprayed everything including our truck a lot trying to control them. Sometimes I make headway and she may go days with out bites, but they come back with a vengeance.

I miss my Kids and Grandkids. I would not have believed that it would bother me as much as it does. When we are not using the computer, I have it popping up pictures of you all randomly so that I see you when you were young and also the most recent pictures we have just down loaded off the sites. It is wonderful when you post new pictures so we can see how the kids are growing and what they are doing. I save many of them to the screen saver. What a blessing my family is to me.

I love the time I have had to study in the book of Mormon; both the Chuukese one and the English one. I have had lots of time to really learn. I have read it entirely from cover to cover 3 times and am in Alma on the 4th time through now. I have translated many, many verses from the Chuukese one so I would learn the words and understand how they put their sentence together. A mission forces you to study and learn the principles that bring true happiness into your lives. I have learned a lot.

Now because this is talking about things that are important to me, I want to say how important it is for everyone to be obedient to the gospel principles. Pray every day and love the Lord with all you heart. Please attend you meetings and put in the effort to feel the spirit while you are there. He wants only the best for you and will inspire you with what you need to do to truly enjoy the life He has given you. Follow his plan and he will guide you in the decisions you make here on earth and for the life to come and we, together, will be able to live with Him for all eternity.

The first picture is of most of us in a Class room setting and the Second one is of the group after lunch.

I will give a brief write-up of our training and stay in Guam. We left Saturday afternoon from Chuuk and flew to Guam. Many of the Senior Couples were on the same flight. We checked in to the Hilton Hotel and went out to eat a late supper together. Then we bought some things to eat in the hotel in the morning before church.

Sunday Morning we attended the Barrigada Branch. It was wonderful and we understood it all because it was all in English. It was so refreshing. We had a lunch provided by the Mission at the mission office. We went back to the hotel and had some free time to talk to family or work on our talks or what ever. Then we had a nice dinner together with all the Senior Couples and a Senior Sister that is the mission nurse. We ate at the Mission Home and it was a very nice meal. We stayed and visited till late.

Monday morning we started our training meetings. The first day was on Missionary work and what we could do to help the Missionaries and District Presidencies on our Islands. We gave our 45 minute presentation and it ran way over. They had so many questions that we didn’t even get through all the material that we had prepared. It was a great experience.

Other Couples made their presentations and again there was a lot of discussion. We all want to learn all we can and take it back to our Islands. President Dowdle conducted a Round Table discussion about what we need to have taught on our islands and it was great. Then he turned it around and asked each couple to pick some of the things he had written down and expand on them and send it back to him by e-mail and he will combine them. We were late getting out of the meeting because things ran over.

In the evening we attended a Couples Family Home Evening put on by Elder and Sister Zaugg. It was a power point presentation of pictures they took of the rebuilding of the Thailand. They had been called on a Humanitarian Mission right after the tsunami. It was very interesting. It ran for an hour and a half.

Tuesday we had Seminary and Institute training and made another presentation. All of them were very good. We learned much about the differences in how things are handled from Island to Island. Again we had lots of question of all the presenters. In the end we had a testimony meeting and that ran overtime also. But it was so faith promoting and encouraging that we were all very happy to stay and feel the spirit of the Lord.

We all went out to dinner together again and the Mission President, President Dowdle and his wife came with us. It was so good to have adult English conversations together.

Wednesday morning we gathered at the Guam Service Center and purchased the things we needed for our Islands. Then we all went out bowling and that was a lot of fun. We shopped in the afternoon all over Guam for the things we needed.

Thursday was also a shopping and Doctors appointments day. I don’t think that any of us got all the stuff we had on our lists. There is just so much to do and not enough time to get it all done.

Today, Friday we had to be at the airport at 6:30 am and we flew home. So it was a very busy, but exceptionally rewarding Couple’s Conference. We do these about every 6 months. So now we will work for 6 months trying to implement all the things we learned that could help our Island and establish the Church here.

Stuffing stocking for the Elders. We got to play Santa AGAIN!

Half of the Stockings hung for them to see when they came in.

Second half of the stockings

Elders sorting through stockings

Happy Elder Tuaitanu and Elder Mitton

Elder Kuss with his stocking
How wonderful it has been to spend the Holiday Season in Chuuk, involved in the Lord’s work. Hearing the old, familiar Christmas songs in Chuukese was great.
With no children living with us and no grandchildren close by, it seemed we would not have the opportunity to play “Santa” this year. But our ten children in the States sent Christmas stockings and lots and lots of goodies and gifts to stuff them with so each Elder in Chuuk could receive a “Surprise Stocking”. We had so much fun going through all the gifts and treats our children sent and then dividing them up into the stockings.
Christmas morning at 8:25 am, the Missionaries arrived. They thought they were coming over just for a nice Christmas breakfast. But we had 10 filled stockings hanging, with their names on them. We were ready to get their reactions recorded with cameras. It was so much fun to watch their faces as they looked at the stockings, and then realized that THEIR names were on them! In about 30 seconds flat they went from 10 missionaries, to 10 happy kids. They dug through their stockings, big grins on their faces. Lots of laughs and comparing and “Wow! Look at this!” all around. Also we heard, “Yes! I NEEDED socks!” and “Hey! I got a new tie!” We heard one Elder ask another, “What did you get?” And the answer: “Just about everything I wanted.”
So, we did get to play Santa, and we really appreciate our children helping us do that. The Elders enjoyed their Christmas breakfast and then dutifully wrote thank-yous to their benefactors.
These Elders work so very hard and deal daily with disappointments and discouragement and exhaustion, it was so nice to see them, just for a few minutes, be happy and carefree and giddy with joy. It made our Holiday just wonderful.
So, now it is New Year’s Eve. We have been warned that things get pretty crazy here on New Year’s Eve, so we will stay in our apt and stay away from the wild and crazy celebrations. It is fun to see these people enjoy the Holidays. The Chuukese are a very happy people. They laugh a lot. They are friendly. We are enjoying being in Chuuk.

This picture is of a 2 branch gathering for convert baptism in each branch. This happened on Saturday which was our Hump Day or the day that is the half way mark in our mission. What a wonderful way to celebrate our Hump Day.

Today, Sunday, was the first day of the second half of our mission here in the Micronesia Guam mission, serving in Chuuk. So we hit the ground running this morning. We left early to drive the 5 miles to the Wichap Branch, it is about 5 miles from here and takes almost an hour to drive it. But this morning there wasn't as much traffic so we drove it in about 50 minutes. We did some Seminary work before Church started and got 3 more students registered for Seminary. We were able to pick up Mark Kunuseni's Attendance Roll as he was not able to attend our inservice meeting so we didn't have it when we had to send the reports in. Now we will send his report to Guam.

Sacrament Meeting started pretty much on time. There were only 4 adults, 1 teenage boy and one about 10 and a couple of little kids plus the two full time Elders, Ulmer and Cherrington, and Sister Duncan and I. So you can see the missionaries really filled the ranks. Mark Kunuseni was the only speaker in Sacrament Meeting and spoke for 45 minutes all in Chuukese.

We showed part of the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference as the Sunday School lesson. They can not watch the DVDs because they have no electricity in the Chapel. So we used the Laptop and the internal battery to play it. They do have General Conference with a Chuukese translation dubbed over the speakers, and it thrilled me that the good people in Wichap voted right along with the others to sustain the Prophet and other leaders.

We left after Sunday School because we had to show a Seminary DVD in the Mechitiw Branch. We had to drive the hour back to our apartment and then 10 minutes on past our apartment to Mechitiw. We stopped at the apartment to pick up the DVD and charge the battery some in my computer. They were just finishing up with the Priesthood and Relief Society meetings when we arrived. We began setting up for a Seminary Class. They are using Home Study Seminary classes and only meet once a week because of the long distances the kids have to walk late at night and the Teacher is attending college every day during the week. They have no electircity in the Church either so they can't see by the time Merien Sisra, the teacher, gets home from School, so they just meet once a week.

That was a real success and we enjoyed visiting after the class. We learned more Chuukese words and corrected some of the things we were saying wrong. We helped fold up all the chairs and lock up the building after Seminary.

Then we came home and ate lunch about 2 PM. We read the site and now I will post about our day. We really feel like we put in a good day so far for the first day of the last half of our mission.

The photo is of people eating lunch at District Conference.

Well, we just checked our blog and saw it has been over a month since we posted anything. We have been very busy, but that is not the excuse I will use. Our excuse is that we each want the other to do the write up. So we wait, and wait.
I’ll first tell a bit about our District Conference. On Saturday, Sue helped teach the sisters and I attended the Priesthood Session in the 1 PM session of District Conference. The talks and training were on Fast Offerings and the role of the Branch President and Relief Society President.
After that session, we each got a pre-made plastic container with rice, a hotdog and a small chunk of chicken along with a can of soda pop that was purchased by the District. We attended the Adult Session from 4 to 6 PM. They had head phones for the English speakers and Elder Wells translated what the Chuukese were saying in their talks. It was the first time I got concepts from Chuukese speakers, (but I was getting it in English). I took one ear phone off so I could hear the Chuukese words and try to associate them together. Sister Marsine Joseph spoke on what they were doing to raise a righteous family. Most of the things she mentioned were things that Sister Duncan and she talked about while they were doing Genealogy; like FHE, Family Prayers, Scripture Study, etc.
We were invited to attend the Family Home Evening with the Elders in the evening. Elder Wells conducted and we had an opening song in English and a prayer. Then we had a scripture by Elder South about the Lord using the weak things of the world to save souls. President Dowdle spoke of Joseph Smith not telling all he knew. Some things he knew were not published; like the 110th section of the D&C, till after the Saints were in Salt Lake Valley.
Then Elder Wells had a closing hymn and prayer again in English and turned the time over to Sister Duncan and me for the Scripture Chase. We used all 4 years of Seminary Scripture Mastery. We gave out mini marshmallows, M&Ms, raisins, and small candies to those that got it in time. It was fun and I was surprised at how well they all did and how much they enjoyed it.
Next we played a game that our family has loved for years and years. We call it The Dice Game. We had asked each of the Elders to bring some kind of treat. We put them out on the floor in the middle of the circle and used 3 dice. Each die is started at the same time in a different spot around the circle. Sue set the timer for 4 minutes and every time an Elder rolled a 6 or a 1 he got to trade his treat for one he wanted that someone else had. It got very wild; just like it did at home for our kids. But here they had to get up and walk to exchange treats so there were Elders in the middle of the circle all the time. At one point I went to exchange for the Nutter Butters and before I got back to my chair Elder Ako exchanged with me. At the end it was so loud that I never heard the alarm go off. Sue had to shout that it was over. President Dowdle ended up with the Nutter Butters and did a victory dance. The Elders loved it. It was a great night and a lot of fun for the Elders as well.
We attended Sunday Session of District Conference and Elder Sorensen translated for us over the head sets; we understood what the Chuukese were saying. It was wonderful and I really appreciated it. Bill Davis, Sister Dowdle and Pres. Dowdle were the closing speakers. All of the talks were very inspiring.
We ate with them again; rice, chunk of chicken and a hot dog. We stayed and visited till 1:30 when the Youth Meeting started. Sister Dowdle talked about skiing and they have no word in Chuukese for ‘snow’ so they called it ‘ice’. The other talks to the Youth were just excellent. As more and more of these youth grasp the concepts of the Church, they will be great leaders in the future. We love these youth. Most of them are great young people, especially the ones that attend their meetings and they really want to live their lives as the Church teaches.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with 12 Elders here at the apartment with us for a great meal of Turkey and all the trimming. We baked a 23 pound bird in a roaster bag in a high sided cookie sheet this year. We had never done that before. Sister Duncan made 5 different kinds of pies so that they could all have something that really appealed to them. We had apple, banana with native bananas in it, Cherry-O-Cream Cheese, Chocolate Cream, and a Jell-O no bake Cream Cheese. The Elders had all they wanted to eat and then some.
We played some LDS games while the meal settled and before we ate pie. We played Scripture Chasing, Scattergories (using such things as names in the Old Testament, modern day prophets, women in the scriptures, etc), and Zion (like Seek), and "Name that Hymn". It was a lot of fun.
Some of our missionaries had never had pie, or turkey. So it was new for them. The most popular pies were apple, banana cream (I made that one) and choc cream. I’ll say this, “They are good eaters!” No one complained about anything. This time we made assignments for the clean up and everyone helped. They were also doing laundry down stairs in the Laundromat as well.
Something you might find interesting is that Sue reads to us right now from the book True to the Faith and Ensign with the General Conference talks in it, just before we go to bed. I am so tired by the time we go to bed I go to sleep many times. The other night was no exception; I fell asleep. But it was my turn to be the spokesman for our Couple’s Prayer. I really struggled. My mind would just go to sleep right in the middle of a sentence while I was trying to translate from English to Chuukese. When I would ‘come to’ I couldn’t even remember what I was trying to say in Chuukese. So I just switched and started new sentences. Sister Duncan was very patient with me.
Oh, we are coming up on our half way mark on the 12th of December. Time has just flown by. When we are this busy, we are always trying to get more done in a day and so the days just fly by. When I was a young missionary in Texas, we always talked about the second half of a mission went faster then the first half. It that is the case again, we better hurry because we have a lot to do before we complete this mission.