Ronald (who was baptized in December) was married to Margaret on the 3rd. We missed the ceremony but arrived in time to help them celebrate. It was pretty fun. They are a sharp couple and will be a great blessing for White River Branch. On Saturday, Ronald then baptized Margaret! What a great occasion. Her parents are going to , be baptized on Saturday April 1. Both Ronald and Margaret are very involved with the activities. Ronald helped with New Beginnings decorations and they came that evening. Here is their story: They meet in 2011, and lived together for a year or so. Then Ronald went back to his village on Rennell Island. They met again last year, then Ronald joined the church and Margaret came with him and decided to join also. But they needed to get married first because they were living together. We didn't know this when Ronald was baptized. Ronald's name has been presented to be the branch clerk. And now that everything is legal, hopefully it will happen soon.
I left out how Ronald was introduced to the church. The missionaries were teaching Ronald until they were transferred. Ronald felt the spirit during the discussions. But then no missionaries came back. Later he saw the missionaries with George Oto a 17 year old member, who was his neighbor. Soon Ronald was asking George questions about the church and George (who doesn't remember any of the questions or answers) was able to answer everything Ronald asked. In November, Ronald came to our English class and talked with Lynn about his feelings, knowing that the church is true and wanting to be baptized.
Margaret & Ronald with her family
Margaret & Ronald
District Food Fest and Dancing
Each branch was assigned an island group in the Pacific that they needed to research and find out about the food and dances for that area. Yeah right...no one has internet over here. Thank goodness Sis. Tui does know how to research and helped White River with their recipes and the dance was just a simple one that the women did—even me! The event was scheduled to start at 2 p.m so White River and Burns Creek people were there ready to go but no Honiara! They didn't start coming until 3:30. What? Did the time get changed? It finally got started by 4, with everyone lining up and taking just a taste of food, not whole big servings like the people are used to here. Then the branches did their dances. It was a fun to see the different cultures dances but it went so long. A lot of people had to leave to get a transport. It was fun to get together as a district...just would have been nice if it could have started on time.
District Relief Society program
To celebrate the birthday of relief society, there was a whole week of activities planned...service, rescue, branch program and a district program/video Saturday with a lunch, with a musical fireside Sunday. Saturday morning, 9 a.m, the sisters were to gather to watch a video, 17 Miracles, and talk about being pioneers in their branches. By 9, there were maybe 5 women there. After some technical difficulties, the program started at 9:30. Sister Kwanafia spoke for a few minutes because she has been a member for 20 years and then they started the video. After, they wanted to serve lunch but realized that the word hadn't been given that everyone needed to provide their own plates. So we waited and waited and finally plates arrived. And of course, there are no utensils—all finger eating. We had rice, chicken wings, bananas or taro. The sisters are so thoughtful because they served me (it was a hugh plateful that I knew I wouldn't be able to eat). I ate just a little bit and then gave my food to Ronald. And I went home and had a sandwich.
Sunday the women met at the chapel for a musical fireside, where each branch was given hymns to learn and sing. Sister Fuimaono and Sister Mary read a script and when promoted each branch sang their hymn. Afterward, there was birthday cake—no plates or forks—hands only.
Funeral for Brother Juju
Brother Gideon Juju had fallen down and hurt his head about a month ago. And he hadn't been too well ever since then. He passed away on Friday, March 3. He was a great person and had worked part time as security here at the compound. Last fall, he had joined the church. His funeral was Monday, March 6 and was the first LDS funeral to be held here. After the services, we walked to the cemetery where the grave had been dug and bricks placed with a cement stucco. They lowered the casket into the ground and immediately worked on putting the cement on top.
Indiana Jones Ride
The roads are so bad. Every time we leave, I think I am on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. The potholes are everywhere and not just little ones but big ones that you have to go over very slowly. Lynn has become pretty good at dodging them. It is almost like a dance to watch the vehicles try to go around the holes. We are just waiting for the time when two vehicles both decide to swerve inside the lanes to avoid potholes and they hit each other. Some of the back roads are ideal motocross courses—small hills and muddy.
Zone Conference
We knew that Pres. & Sister Granger were arriving Wednesday, March for zone conference on Thursday. We didn't hear anything from them that night but had learned from the missionaries that zone conference was going to be on Friday. We found out that one of the AP's didn't have the correct paper work and was arrested. Pres. Granger was told that he would be in a room by himself. But when they went to visit him to give him some food and clothes, they found out he was in the prison, with a criminal! Sister Granger immediately knew that they needed to get him out of there and back to Vanuatu ASAP. They spent Wednesday evening and Thursday morning trying to figure out what to do. They arranged a travel plan that would get him back to Vanuatu but with several stops. It was crazy. When Pres. & Sister Granger went to pick him up, he was pretty relieved and gave Pres. Granger a big hug. He did teach several prisoners and had an opportunity to do a devotional the night he was there. The elder was put on a plane, given a phone and told to call at every stop to make sure he makes it back okay. What an experience he will have to tell.
Zone conference was a good spiritual lift, even though it was a short time. Saturday, the Granger's attended the baptism and then left from there. A short visit but full of interesting stuff.
great big cheer
Sign
meat lovers sign...place we buy our meat.
What the?????? Whole bug of what???
Hospital Computer Hand-off
We were finally able to get the computer hand-off worked out. We originally had 13 computers for the hospital but we found out that we needed to pay tax on them. So we ended up with 11 computers to give to the hospital. We were able to have our hand-off ceremony, where the CEO and Nelson, the administrator were able to say a few words along with Pres. Sauseru and Elder Sanders. It is such a great feeling to know that in a small way we were able to help the country.
New Beginnings
The district had planned to have a district wide New Beginnings program. But Pres. Granger said that there had been too many district programs in a month, so each branch was to have their own. I was so happy when I learned that White River was doing their's this month. It was to start at 4 p.m, Saturday afternoon. We arrived but there weren't many girls there and Sister Tui wasn't there, even though the room was decorated. So we waited and finally Sister Tui arrived, then the girls started coming. By 5 the program started. The girls did a great job. It was very touching to see them get emotional during the program. The songs were great. And the girls were given their pendants. This is the first time they have even received pendants. Pretty special.
Our Wake up call
We think there was a dog was in heat in the neighborhood. We heard dogs barking and growling during the day and night. This video is actually just part of the dogs barking. The squeaking is our door..which .I couldn't keep still.
Tui's
This is the Tui family from Fiji. Sister Tui has been a member for many years. Bro. Tui a couple of years ago. Their daughter, Mary Ann, is 7, same age as our Brookie. We really enjoy visitng with them. They invited us to dinner...lobster. Now I really have decided that getting the meat out of the lobster is more work than it is worth...besides spilling my drink when I was trying to crack open the thing, I just don't enjoy digging for little morsels. Give me a big fat steak any day! Their house isn't a typical one. It felt so good to walk into their home...and feel a little normal.
baptisms, classes--English, piano, typing
School Visits
St John's library entrance
St John's library...not many have libraries
Joyce & I
St John's bell
Bishop Epalle school
Marana Kindy
Marara Kindy outside
Marara CHS
Marara CHS class
Marara prep class
White River CHS...Jeron & Lynn
Four Square School
Mandella School
Mandella...
Florence Young
stsudents at Florence Young
We went to several schools to pay student fees. Most of the schools have a campus that includes kindy, primary, and high school. These are pictures of some of the schools. The students are so helpful when we ask where to go and need directions. The little children love to see us. At the Four Square School, the kids wanted to hold our hands and cling to us because they were so happy to see us. What a treat it is. The funny thing about the schools...we have to pay one check for the high school, one check for the primary, and one check for kindy. We couldn't find the Bishop Epalle school so we asked someone on the street. He offered to show us where it was and climbed in the truck. Later, I thought, we are so trusting...a complete beetle-nut chewing stranger in our truck. Thank goodness he was very nice and didn't think about it taking up his time or being out of his way.
Watch your step!!!
Koloale CHS
Joyce & I...
The $5000 Booklets—Priceless?????
We had placed an order for more
self-reliance booklets in February. Total cost from church distribution $40.
In March, Renee had ordered some new
self-reliance booklets for us to look at.
The first week of March, we received notification that
the February order was being air freighted.
The second week of March, we received notification that
the March order was being air freighted.
What does that mean? We had only
received packages from the church through DHL.
April 12 Salt Lake asked for confirmation that
we had received the packages.
We hadn't received any packages.
We had NO idea what to do.
And now the fun began.
Wednesday April 12
The 4 confirmation papers that we had received showed that Pacific Air was the carrier and Tradeco was the consignee. We called Tradeco. They couldn't help
us and told us to call Pacific Air.
We call Pacific Air. They asked about
the airway bill, the number on that, whatever that is. We looked
through our paperwork and found the bill and were able to give them
the number. They found the packages—they were at the airport,
needing customs clearance. And told us they couldn't help us and to
call Tradeco.
We call Tradeco again. They write down the
airway bill number and will call us back. No call back.
Thursday, April 13
We call Tradeco again. They write down
the airway bill number and will call us back. An hour later, we get
the call. YEA!!! Our packages are at the airport cargo area.
We drive to the airport—cargo is
after the main terminal. We go to the window. They find the
packages BUT they haven't cleared customs. We ask—how and where do
we get that taken care of? DHL. Okay, we can do that. We know where DHL is in town. By the way,
the packages have been here since February and March. There is a
storage fee. We explain about never being notified so they were very
kind and said they wouldn't charge us storage.
Checking at imports.
We go to DHL and talk to Judy, the
manager. Yes, they can help us. It will cost $4200 SBD!!! What a lot of
money for customs clearance. We okay it. She gives us papers to
have Pres. Sauseru fill out. Nothing can be done until the papers
are filled out and tomorrow is Good Friday, so they won't be open and
next Monday is a national holiday. So it will be Tuesday at the
earliest.
Tuesday April 18
We find Pres. Sauseru's office and get
his signature and stamp for the packages and take them to DHL. They
will call us when the papers are processed.
Pres. Sauseru's spacious office.
Wednesday April 19
DHL calls us that they have our customs
clearance papers finished. We head into town. We actually paid $4600 SBD for the paper work
and head out to the airport. We go to the import window and pay another
$163 SBD and are sent to the customs office.
paying airport fees
When we find the door, it is bolted.
We're told they are at the airport unloading a plane and will be an
hour or more.
What? No one there.
We go home for lunch and head back to
the airport. The cargo door is open and we see a guy with a vest on
that says CUSTOMS. Finally.
Yea, the customs guy is IN
He takes our paperwork and searches for
the packages. He finally finds them—14 of them to be exact!
hunting for packages
packages found
loading the truck
They get loaded into the truck while
Lynn goes to sign for having received them. The entries are hard to
find. It took 15 minutes—they were listed under Tradeco. We
finally sign and head for home.
hunting for final clearance
7 days + countless hours + 3 trips to the airport + 2 trips to DHL + 1 trip to Pres. Sauseru's office + 3 phone calls to Tradeco + 1 phone call to Pacific Air + 2 checks = packages claimed!!! Success.
We experienced a tropical storm on
February 6. It was windy with continual downpour of rain
nearly all night. We were so grateful to be snug in our little flat.
At 1:30 a.m., we received a phone call from Pres. Lausao saying that
at least 3 families homes had been flooded and the families were at the church
building. We called Elder Fuimaono at 6 a.m. to let him know what
was going on and he called Pres.Sauseru. We all went out to White
River to check everything out. The only food I had was some water
and bananas that we took with us. After delivering the food at the
church, we went to the homes that were affected—Edna's and
BweBwe's. The water had gone down by the time we got there but you
could see where the water had been. We then took time to check out
other member's homes. And then we headed over to the Burns Creek
area. There were quite a few member's houses affected because Burn's
Creek was a huge river. We found Wendy's house surrounded by water
with a flooded bottom level. There were others...Pres. Koke's
house...We then needed to get across the Lunga River bridge to check
out the other side of Burns Creek branch. To do that, traffic was
backed up because of the flooded creek (that runs parallel to the river) had turned into a running river going
across the road and they were only letting on vehicle at a time
through. It was finally our turn—we were both a little nervous.
We could feel the water lugging down the truck but we did make it.
We checked out the other side of the branch—they were fine and then
waited in line to cross the flooded road again. We could tell the
water level had gone down even though it was still 2 feet deep but it
didn't seem as bad as the first time.
flooded road
member house in Burns Creek
member house
Wendy's house
Wheelchairs
The ship container with 300 wheelchairs (donated by the church) had been sitting on
the dock for weeks waiting to clear customs and for the government. Elsie, who is in charge of the wheelchairs and over the rehab clinic and doing a 2 week training class for several people from other islands, was finally able to get the container delivered to the hospital area. At the end of the training, we were
invited to the closing ceremony and Lynn was able to help present the
certificates. And then we had a hand-off ceremony in front of the
container the next week. We arranged to help unload the container
that Saturday, which turned out to be a bad day to get helpers there.
It was Honiara's branch conference leadership meeting. So we had 5
young men show up and help us unload almost all of the wheelchairs.
It took about two hours.
Visitors
We had several visitors this month. Sulu from Fiji ,over vehicles and new
accounts, Honare, our FM guy, from Vanuatu, and Howard, FM over the
Pacific, from Fiji. It was pretty interesting to see them work
together and seperately on their pwm areas. We took Sulu where she needed to go. She worked on setting up vendors and inspecting the vehicles. She helped us at the computer company where we are approved to buy 11computers for the hospital. It was great to have her help.
Just before they came, David Lakisa was
here. It is always fun to have him and enjoy dinner with him, even though he doesn't require
much from us.
New Welfare Project
We were able to get our welfare
project, buying computers for the hospital approved. We will be
purchasing 11 desktops and 2 laptops. It is pretty exciting to think
that we will have a part in helping the hospital with that.
School Visits
It is the middle of the 1st
term so we are starting to pay school fees. We have been to St.
John's, Mbua Vale, Perch, Eden, Burns Creek, HIPS, Honiara High,
Lunga, Vura, Norman Palmer...just to name a few. We have had a BIG
problem with names. The parents put one name on the P-13
application, a different name at the school, and the church records
have a different name. What a mess!!! These people just don't
understand how hard the record keeping is. They use a tribal name, a
family name (which could be a mother or father's name) or whatever...I did
get some fun pictures...I really liked the picture of the “wonder
horse” at St. John's prep. Amazing.
Maclean Sauseru
Maclean left for BYUH this month. He
will really be missed. The Fuimaono's talked to him about having a
fireside so he could talk one last time. He had invitations printed
and was ready to go when Fuimaono's changed everything and made it a
missionary/plan of salvation/going away party for him. It was maybe
a good idea but way too long and detailed to be much of a missionary
time. So the
presentation went for 3 hours and then there was YW dancing—10!!!
A lot of people had to get a transport so left early. If it wouldn't
have been for seeing Maclean, we probably would have left too. We
went to see him off at the airport. That was fun to see how excited
he was to get on with his life.
Self-Reliance Classes finish
We had our Success in Schools, My
Foundation, and Job Search classes finish this month. Each branch
was able to have several people receive certificates. It is always
fun to see how excited these people get over a certificate.
And the usual...
We keep having our English/piano
classes. It has been a great way to get acquainted with the members.
And the baptisms just keep coming...
One of the sisters in English class was
baptized this month. That was pretty special for Sister Sanders. I'm having BIG issues with this site. When I click to add caption, it deletes my whole text. When I click remove, it deletes my whole text. What a mess. Most of the pictures are self explanatory, I hope. My favorite picture is the "wonder horse" that I saw at a school. Pretty interesting.
