A great weekend!

This is our past weekend.
Friday, we left about 12 and drove to the boat dock. I took some more pictures of the building site.
We left for Uman about 1:15 PM. The ocean was about 3 foot swells so Herman Walter ran slower. We were loaded heavy anyway; with Elder Mitton’s luggage, food for both sets of Elders, 4 Elders, Sue and I and the two that take care of the boat. We carried their groceries to their apartment and that is a long walk; about half a mile. The plastic bags really cut into our hands. One of the bags I was carrying spit out the bottom from the weight of the cans. I had to put them in other bags I was carrying and hope they would hold the added weight. Sue’s finger next to her pinky was numb for the rest of the day. Sue suggested that I take some pictures of Elder Mitton and Tuaitanu and we would send them to his mom. Sue did the Apartment Check and we went back to the boat.
We took Elders Wood and South to Tonoas and helped carry all their things as well: about ¾ of a mile. I got a heavy box and cans of Butane this time so I carried it on my head. I had a bag in the other hand, but along the way some kids came and carried my bag. I took Sue’s bag and another kid carried that later. Sue was carrying a case of Top Ramem. This time she got a fairly light load. We did the apt check. They said that the batteries that hold the solar electricity will sometimes run out in the middle of the night and they would like us to get them a couple more batteries. Just like I could go down town and buy a couple. We put it on the list for Mission President, President Dowdle to consider. None of the Elders have a hot water heater. They just get water off the room piped to holding tanks and then piped back into the house and they shower in what ever temp the water is. On hot sweaty days if they have lots of water they may shower twice. Then Sister Duncan and I walked back to the dock.
It was a fairly short ride back from Tonoas and we missed going through any of the rain storms. We saw them all around us, but were never ‘in’ one.
We came home and washed our hands well because we had shaken hands with many people.
Saturday, we gathered our things and got ready for another day at sea.
We delivered some papers to President Wainis about the New Church Building. Then we left about 10 on the big boat for Romanum. Again we helped carry supplies to the apartment. It was not as long a walk maybe only a hundred yards and I made Sue carry less. I made two trips. We had Elder Sears’ luggage because he has just been transferred there. We did an inspection of their apartment and took some pictures of the newly completed meeting house there. We loaded up and went to Paata. This was our first time to go to Paata.
President Sam Roby and his family were just coming home from Weno when we arrived. So he took his family in and then came back and got us. They have a long tunnel through the Mangrove trees to get to the chapel. I took pictures. The tide was out and with 6 of us in the boat we drug bottom a lot and they had a very hard time getting us up to the little boat dock. The teenage boy, Erlast Este (Es-tee) was really sweating to pole us in. Sometimes the pole would go 2 or 3 feet down in to the mud before he hit something solid. President Roby took off his flip flop and put a leg over the side and pushed in the mud to help. It also took some weight out of the boat. Then we walked up a very steep trail to his house. The ladies welcomed us warmly. But we couldn’t understand them.
President Roby went to find Takson (Tack-son) Pwach (sounds just like you would sound it out) who had been taught by the Elders and was committed to stop smoking. Elder Sears interviewed him and he said he had stopped some time ago. So we stayed to have his baptism.
Sam Roby’s mother went in the house and came out with a fancy embroidered skirt for Sister Duncan. She put it on over her other skirt. Later I wished I had taken a picture of Sue with Sister Roby.
The Elders suggested that we go down to the Church to wait for Sam to come and get us. It was about 1:30 and we had not had any lunch yet. The cold cereal we had eaten that morning was running out. So Sue got out an apple and we shared it while I took some pictures of the Chapel.
They took us on Sam’s little boat to the little island and we picked up President Walter and Kerfin Dein (Dain). The Ladies were already there cooking chicken over an open fire, burning palm leaves for fuel. That is how most of the cooking is done here. Takson Pwach climbed a coconut tree and cut down palm leaves and coconuts. I took movies of him doing it. Then they cut one open and gave it to me so I took it to Sister Duncan and got a movie of her drinking it. Then they spread the palm branches out on the ground and we sat on them instead of on the ground. We sang some hymns in Chuukese and President Roby called on President Herman Walter to give the Opening Prayer. Elder Sears gave a good talk on Baptism from the Book of Mormon. He speaks and reads Chuukese well. Then Elder Vankoman walked with Takson Pwach out into the ocean. President Roby and President Walter went out also as witnesses. They had to go out maybe 50 to 60 yards to get deep enough water. But the water was a perfectly clear blue and the different colors of the coral underneath were breathtakingly beautiful. There were rain squalls in the back ground and a cool breeze blowing. The Baptism went perfectly. I think that is the first baptism I have seen done in the ocean. I just glowed inside and I am sure others there did the same. What a spiritual experience that was for me. With the beautiful setting, and the spirit saying this man could be a branch president someday, I was touched very deeply in my heart. We are truly in the Islands of the Sea.
We had a closing song in Chuukese and I realized that President Roby was calling on me to give the Closing Prayer, when he asked me to bless the food also. My heart raced and I felt panic. I had not even considered him calling on me. I tried to calm myself and I stood to pray. I prayed in Chuukese. After I settled down some, it went much better. And I did remember to bless the food. The District Clerk, Herman Walter said again that we were the first Couple to learn their language.
The ladies brought Sue and I each a large plate of food and we said no thank you to one of them and shared a plate. We had no eating utensils as they never use them so we ate with our fingers. We ate Taro, Tapioca, cooked banana, rice and a chicken leg. Our meat was cooked very well. I took more pictures. It was getting late so we left about 4.
We stopped and dropped the Elders off at Romanum then headed home. A heavy rain storm came across and we could not see any land marks in front of us. For a while District Clerk, Herman Walter navigated by the island behind us, but it soon disappeared also. He slowed the boat down so he would not run into something or coral reefs near another island. When it cleared enough to see we were headed toward an island that we needed to go around. So he had to make almost a full left turn. It was about 5:10 when we arrived at the mooring place for the big boat. Then we had to load our things in the little boat and Kerfin poled us to the dock. Sister Duncan commented that he would do well in Venice as a Gondolier. It wasn’t raining and we walked to the truck. It was then 5:35 PM. Just after we got inside the truck it started raining and rained most of the way home. We washed up very well and then had supper. I offered to do all the clean up while Sue relaxed. She took me up on it and got her shower to get the salt spray off. I then got mine and that warm water with lots of soap felt sooooo good.
Sunday, we attended Church in Mwan, Sue helped a lady enter her family in new.familysearch.org and I conducted an YSA broadcast. I even used my Chuukese to call for the Opening Prayer. The sad part was that only 8 kids showed up and they were all too young, 14 to 17. We didn’t have one 18 and older show. So I sent in a report of 0 attending. I will let your Mom tell you about her helping the lady.
From mom: The church is still fairly young here. Often, no one is sure just how something should be done. Today a man showed dad his ordination certificate. It said he was ordained a priest in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Um…don’t think so! When I tried to register the sister on new.familysearch, it required a phone number or email address…she doesn’t have either. Finally the District president said we could use the District office phone number so we could get her registered. In helping her enter her information I found out that her husband decided to use his father’s FIRST name as his last name. Nothing was ever done to make it legal. Also, people take in other people’s children and raise them. Sometimes the child takes the new family’s name, or an auntie’s name, or they just create a new name for themselves. And they rarely know important dates, like birthdates, death dates, wedding dates. But it isn’t because they are stupid or anything. These truly are wonderful people, and they are trying very hard to live the gospel, but in their culture, data like that simply is not important. Until they want to go to the temple and receive their endowment and do work for their dead. THEN they need the info, and it is hard to get. I am really enjoying working with this sister. She is so sweet. If I were to move here, I think she and I would become best of friends. Tho she is younger than many of our children. Her oldest daughter is 15.
I really enjoyed the ride home on the boat yesterday. I am no longer the least bit uptight or concerned when we travel on the ocean. Yesterday I just enjoyed and soak up the sea, the sights, the smells, the wonder of it all. At the branch party, I really enjoyed watching the people. As the baptism meeting began, a storm moved in and the wind really blew hard. It got COLD! Well, not the ‘cold’ that we have in Wyoming, but it sure didn’t feel the least bit WARM!! The wind blew so hard I was afraid a coconut would fall and bonk someone on the head…people die of that!
At Sam Roby’s house, I was able to talk to his mother a bit in Chuukese, and she seemed very surprised that I could speak her language. I really like the skahtoe she gave me. We will get a pic of it and post it. And today I loved helping the sweet sister in Mwan with her family history. The more I associate with these Chuukese people, the more I like them. I’m so glad God called us to serve here.

Zone P-day Activity

June 23, 2009 Tuesday Today has been a great day. We began with our usual study time. Then breakfast and we read the family site on the internet. Then language study. Then we got into our playclothes and went to Sapuk with the rest of the missionaries in this zone (all of this island, plus the 3 sets that serve on the outer islands). We all hiked up to the Japanese lighthouse. It was a great hike. We really enjoyed ourselves. The lighthouse was built years ago by the Japanese, but now it is deserted and partially ruined. It is a tourist attraction here on Chuuk. We have been wanting to go.
Anyway, one of the elders (an island elder from Tonga or Fiji or somewhere like that) brought along his ukelele. They got to playing and singing. It was lovely. We took lots of pics and even a movie of the boys singing. You might try googling "Chuuk Japanese Lighthouse" and see what you find. Then Chuck and I left early, since we had to teach in Mwan at 2 today. We got almost all the way down before the elders caught up with us. We drove home, grabbed a very quick bite, and very fast showers, and took off for Mwan.
In Mwan we taught the Temple Preparation class Lesson 4. The spirit was really obvious. A man was there who did not plan to be there. He had been working on the building (works for the FM group) and, for some strange reason, he walked in and sat down. He has very good English, so he translated for us. Now, it is very difficult to feel the spirit when teaching through a translator. But it wasn't difficult today! He got all choked up and couldn't speak. Then the others, realizing what was happening, got all choked up. So we asked them all if they had any feelings they wanted to tell about. Bro Joseph spoke first....a powerful testimony. Then his wife, then Branch President Matisima, then another sister that was there and then Sister Walter. There was much of wiping tears away. Wow! Really powerful. I think there are some very special people in that group. Some have been preparing for many, many years to get to the temple. It is soooo expensive for them. Plus they need passports, and plane tickets, and arrangements made a year in advance. We are hoping to go to the temple with them in August.
Then we drove back home, had a very quick bite to eat and Chuck left to go back to Mwan. Pres. Matisima had invited him to a 'men only' get together to celebrate Father's Day. Cookies and punch and visiting. So that is where he went. I am here, waiting for the elders to come and get baptismal clothing. Plus we have an email from Elder Wood's mother that contains pictures of her first grandchild (and Elder Wood's first nephew). So we will let him read the email and see the pics while he is here. He serves on Tonoas, and there isn't any type of internet there.
Last night we watched 9 of the videos that go with the Seminary Book of Mormon lessons. We are trying to select a few to translate into Chuukese, since so many of our teachers and most of the students do not have enough English understanding to get anything out of those movies. We are certain we want to translate the one about "Spiritual Crocodiles". Do you remember that one? Good, isn't it?
This coming Saturday I will be teaching at the Mechitiw branch RS activity Day. They want me to teach them how to make apple butter, using their Chuukese apples. I have NO idea how it will turn out, as I have never made it with Chuukese apples. We shall see.
You know, standing in the middle of the green lush jungle today, we could hear the elders still singing up at the lighthouse, we could hear the birds singing, and it was hushed and quiet. We really are blessed to be serving in an island paradise. Sure, the power goes out, there is garbage all over, the roads are worse than horrible, the shopping is very limited, but it IS STILL an island paradise. And the people here deserve to have the truth of God just as much as any other people in the world. Notice how often in the Book of Mormon they refer to the people on the "isles of the sea". God is very aware of these groups that are scattered from the House of Israel. And He has sent us here to serve them. I'm sure glad He did!

Our 44th Wedding Anniversary

The picture had some power lines in it and I sent it to Connie McIntosh and she took the lines out and sent it back. That is sunrise in Chuuk.

Our Anniversary day began slowly and ended nicely. We began with our usual Book of Mormon study. Ate the usual cold cereal with our boxed 'shelf milk' (mine was Silk) and then dug into our work. We worked on Seminary and Institute lists, rolls, and registration cards. I did a load of whites and hung them out back to dry and then worked on the paperwork some more. Elder Duncan drove down to Telecom to meet Branch President Sam Roby (who is also the seminary teacher on his island) to work on his paperwork with him.
We had some leftovers for lunch and did more paperwork and got ready to go out. Drove to the Post Office to mail a letter to Guam, and get our mail. We had decided to get our own post office box (since about 30 different families use Box 861 along with all the local missionaries and us), but the post office doesn't have any more boxes. Oh well, you can't buy what they don't have!
We drove down to the dock and caught the Mwan missionaries who were getting ready to get on the boat to Tonoas and Uman for missionary exchanges. We worked out some things with them, and then drove down to the Mwan chapel to visit with the District President. Had a good mtg with him. Then we drove back into town and shopped a bit. Then drove to High Tide restaurant for our anniversary dinner and they were closed for another hour. So we drove to Andersen Field and watched the kids play and race. We stayed in the truck and worked on language. Eventually the kids came over to the truck and started talking to us. So we rolled the windows down and had them help us with the language. It was a lot of fun.
At 6 pm we drove back to High Tide and got there just as they opened. We went in and ordered (we were the only customers there). I had sweet and sour pork with garlic rice and Elder Duncan had pulled pork Chuukese delight. As we ate, other customers came in. Island power went off and the backup light came on. After about 10 minutes island power resumed, but only for a few minutes. While we ate, island power went off 4 times. Here, that is very normal and totally accepted.
The 'salad' served with our meal was in a bowl that was as big around as the circle Elder Duncan makes with his middle finger and thumb. Seriously, that was the size of it. The salad was about 2 1/2 bites. Fresh salad makings are VERY hard to find here....even for the restaurants. The meal Elder Duncan wanted was not available tonight, that is also very common.
But we enjoyed our special day. Got a lot of good work done and still found time to 'celebrate' a bit. Now it's late and we are going to bed. Nite nite.
ps This is the rainy season and it didn't rain today! But it sure was hot.

May update

Well, time for another update. It is early evening, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Chuck has another migraine, so he is laying down.
Last Friday we went out with Merien Sisra to do some missionary ‘finding’. We stopped at the first place. No one was home. We drove to the next place. We were stopping to see Emmy, but Merien saw into the home next to Emmy’s and said “I know that man!” So we knocked on their door. Les Idol and his family were there. They had just flown in that morning (it was about 11:20 am at the time). They had been gone since last October.
This is a family that Elder and Sister Warner had been teaching before the Idols left. So, we visited for a short time and set up a time to return to teach them. They seemed very pleasant and eager to have us return. We all sat on the floor, as is customary here.
We left there and went next door to visit Emmy. Her husband is standing in the way of her being taught and being baptized. She seems to be afraid of him. He drinks a lot and uses drugs. She said we should come back on Sunday (her husband’s day off) so we could speak with him. We said we would and left. Drove to LeiSide store where Merien went in alone to see if the girl still worked there. She had just flown out to Guam that morning.
We drove to the next place. Couldn’t find a place to park the truck, so we pulled in behind another vehicle, and Elder Duncan stayed with the truck so he could move it when the driver of the other vehicle returned and wanted to get out. Merien and I walked up a hill to a house.
The woman invited us in to her home. This time there was a bit of furniture. The woman sat on a bed and I was given a chair. Merien sat on the floor. We visited a bit. The woman’s 3 sons were baptized some time ago, but all are inactive now. She agreed to ask her husband if we could come and talk to the family. We gave her our phone number and she said she would call.
Then we walked back down to the truck and drove on. At Merien’s suggestion, we pulled into a driveway behind a parked car. We parked the truck and got out to climb up the hill. Elder Duncan noticed something moving in the back of the parked car. He went and looked in. It was a HUGE live sea turtle, upside down. Two of its flippers were tied together. The turtle entirely filled the back of that station wagon.
We went up to the house on top of the hill but had no success there. Then we drove back to Mechitiw and dropped Merien off. It was a good and productive outing.
That night we taught Institute in Mechitiw. We did some scripture chasing and the kids enjoyed it.
Saturday I woke up feeling okay, but had diarrhea. As the diarrhea continued, I started feeling pretty lousy. Didn’t do much. Didn’t eat much. Saturday night I didn’t sleep well, as I was up using the bathroom a couple of times.
Sunday I did not feel well. We went to church and Elder Duncan and I sang with the two fulltime missionaries. We sang “Abide with me” and it went pretty well.
Emmy called to say her husband was in another village with family and he was drunk, so no need for us to come today. After that we went home and then drove to Mwan where we taught the last Marriage and Family Relations class and had a nice social afterwards. Drove home. I was so glad to be home. I had asked Heavenly Father to please stop the diarrhea until 5 pm, since we had to attend church and we had to teach that class. He did. The diarrhea returned at 5:17 pm. He sure is taking good care of me!
Monday Elder and Sister Zaugg flew in from Guam to teach the local priesthood leaders about Family History work. So we drove to Mwan to help them and attend their training. Island power was out, so the generator had to be started. It was noisy and made it hard to hear. They wanted to show a video, but the room was so light, you couldn’t see it. And so noisy you couldn’t hear it. That is just the way things are here. But they solved most of the problems and had the mtg. 4 Branch presidents and the Dist. President attended. And us. I was still feeling very weak and didn’t dare eat, as I didn’t want things inside me to get busy again.
When the mtg ended, we offered to take the Zauggs and their supervisor, Keiji, around to see the island. They accepted and we took off. Drove clear to Sapuk. Stopped at our apt to show them where we lived and let them use the bathroom. Then we drove back to Mwan to get their rental car. Then we all drove down to Blue Lagoon and had dinner there together. I ate a full meal and hoped it would settle in my tummy okay. We got home pretty late and tired. Then we got a phone call from one of the missionaries. The District Mtg was scheduled to be at our place Tuesday morning, and then we would be feeding the 8 elders lunch. The missionary told me that the off-island elders were in now and would like to join us tomorrow. I said we could do that.
So, Tuesday morning we started early. Our kitchen is small, and we were cooking for 14 big, strapping, starving elders. They arrived. We had a good District Meeting and then had a very good lunch. They ate and ate and ate. Those guys can really make food disappear in a hurry. But we had cooked up LOTS of food, so they got all they wanted. They left and we cleaned up. Whew!
Then we drove to Mechitiw to pick up Merien to go teach the Idols. Had a good mtg with them, and taught them the first lesson. They seemed interested and receptive, him more than her. We set an appt to return on Friday and teach them again. We also promised to drop by tomorrow with a Chuukese Book of Mormon. Then we stopped to see Angelise and Taifani and we met Steven and his family. It was evening now and the skeeters got a good meal from my ankles! But we got three more teaching appts set up.
Merien had one more contact she wanted to make, so she and I hiked up to a house looking for the woman she knew. (Elder Duncan was suffering with a migraine, so we left him in the truck.) Never found her, so we returned to the truck, dropped Merien off and came home.
So, we will be teaching the Idols lesson two and Taifani, Angelis and Steven the first later this week. Merien is very excited to take us out finding, but we really can’t spend as much time at it as she would like, as we have a lot of S&I work to do. S&I is our first and most important assignment. IF we have some free time after the S&I work is taken care of, we are to do missionary work. It is hard to know how to balance it.
Today we took the Book of Mormon to the Idols, went to the Post Office and received a package from Jon and Anna! Yippeee! Drove home. Worked on language and emails. Elder Duncan got another migraine and laid down for a while. Now it is dark, and it is suppertime. So I will close and go make supper.

Hiking the jungle mountains to visit a Seminary teacher in Wichap on Weno Island. The two Missionaries were leading us to his place because there are no addresses to homes.

It was a lovely day for a hike, although we got caught in a short rain storm, but the family invited us in their home to help us stay dry.

From Chuuk in the Pacific Islands, Rananim! (means “Good day” or “Hello”) We are still having new adventures nearly everyday. From eating new foods to going to the outer islands, each day brings something new.
The work of the Lord is going well. We have been very busy trying to get ready for Seminary and Institute Graduation on June 13. Pouring over class rolls, trying to determine who will qualify for certificates of completion and who will get diplomas. Since we just arrived mid-March, this is a huge undertaking and we have put scores of hours into it so far.
We are teaching an Institute class every Friday evening. We enjoy the opportunity to work with the young people. All the students in our class are seminary age, but their seminary class went defunct for a couple of months while their teacher went to Guam for some surgery. So attending our weekly class helps them catch up a bit. Only one student can understand and speak English well. So he, (M-Four is his name) translates for the rest of the class. We wouldn’t be able to teach without his help.
The language learning is on hold for a while since we are working fulltime on the rolls and records. But we are anxious to get back to it. We still try to pray in Chuukese (we know God can understand us in any language…even very poor attempts at Chuukese).
We still plan to continue learning it so we can speak it and teach classes in Chuukese eventually.
We still teach the Marriage and Family Relations class…on Wed evenings in Mechitiw (the Branch we belong to) and Sunday afternoons in Mwan. We always have translators there to help us. We only have 3 more lessons to teach of the 16 in the course.
We think we might be asked to teach Temple Preparation after that, but no one has asked us yet.
Our District Conference is May 9-10, and Elder Duncan has been asked to teach the counselors in the Branch Presidencies and Sister Duncan has been asked to teach the Branch YW Presidencies. Our District has grown so much that we will be renting a gymnasium for the Sunday Meeting of Conference. The Chuuk District is leading the mission in baptisms so far this year.
Our trips over the water to the outer islands have been learning experiences for us. There is no electricity on the outer islands. There used to be, but isn’t now. No vehicles either. No actual ‘stores’. The people live off the land. Very quiet, charming, lovely.
We have been surprised by how rough the ride is on the ocean. So far, we have not traveled on a calm day. The seas have been mildly rough to quite rough. The first trip, the swells were 8-10 feet on the return trip; quite a ride in a 26 foot open outboard motorboat. We were pretty well worn out by the time we got back. We were wind-whipped and covered with salt-spray and really needed a shower. But in calmer seas it is exhilarating to speed across the turquoise green water, with lovely green islands in all directions.
We are learning a lot here. It is more than just helping the Seminary and Institute program. We are truly building and helping the Church to grow here. They all want to learn how to do things like the Lord has set it up and so they are eager to be taught. The Church has only been on the Chuuk islands for 30 years; so almost everyone is a convert. There are very few second generation leaders. The Youth are learning how it should be done and in 10 years many of them will be leaders in the Church. The Lord is preparing them so they will be ready. Seminary and Institute began in the fall of 2003 so we are ending the 6th year that they have had Seminary and Institute here. It is very hard to supervise here because only 3 of the 8 seminary teachers have a phone. Four of them live off island so we have to schedule a boat ride to go and talk to them. It costs $54.00 in the little boat and almost $96.00 in the big boat to go to Paata Island; so you don’t just run over and talk to them for a few minutes.

Elder and Sister Duncan at Blue Lagoon on the south tip of the island. We had a zone conference there.