Baking
So I have NOT done any baking yet and I'm not sure why except that the oven is gas and the temperature is Celsius!!!  And then I had to find some simple recipes that didn't include sour cream or cool whip or cheese.  I couldn't believe how much I used those ingredients.  But I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and do some baking.  So I was able to bake Swedish meatballs and then I made banana bread.  It only took us 20 minutes to figure out how to light the oven.  But after that, it was great and tasted sooo good.  I just need to remember to bake in the morning before it gets too hot.

19 Jul
Today we had lunch with the Elders and I ordered a burger!!!!! Yea.  It tasted soooo good.  Elder Sanders ordered a fish (red snapper) burger and it tasted good too.  So now we know one other place we can enjoy eating at.  The restaurant is owned by an Australian.  It sits right by the ocean's edge and was so pleasant to feel the breeze and hear the ocean.

YUM

white thing is war relic

20 Jul
Elder and Sister Sampson had a little going away party for the security and grounds crew and us.  They had banana bread and ice cream.  Nesta had made the beautiful lei's for us.  It was fun to enjoy being with them.  The lei's smelled soooo good.

Princesses

Notice the amazing work 

I  spent the morning in our flat while Consita took her English test.  It took her 2 1/2 hours!!! Before she started I told her that for her to go to BYUH, she needed to have 1 yr. of USP foundation courses.  I think that was a little hard for her even though she said it was ok.  I advised her to quickly sign up for classes, hoping that this would help.  I'm not sure if it is too late.  Consita did really great on her test, scoring 63 and 68, and needing only 53.  I hope she will get her USP classes done and go to BYUH.

21 Jul

One of the students schools was having a cultural night, where each province would share a dance from their area.  We were so excited to go and see some of the local dances and costumes of the islands.  But first we had to present a short training for the District Branch Presidents meeting.  Then we went to the celebration.  It was so fascinating to see the costumes and watch the dances, which were all similar but had their own variations.  The first group did the pan pipes.  The student, Clement, who goes to this school (Don Bosco) didn't perform until the next to last number.  So it was a long time sitting but it was so fun to see him and see how excited he was that we were there.  He even found us as we were leaving to thank us for coming.  A little background on Clement, his mother ostracized him when he went on his mission.  So now he has no family but is going to school, which he walks to (2 1/2 miles away) and he is the clerk in the White River Branch.  So you really want to support anything he is doing.  I was so excited to see him, I didn't get a good picture of him in his costume.  There was an accordion group from Germany that performed that night.  I have never seen or heard an accordion band before.

pan pipes on left

pan pipes

tribal dress

tribal dress 3

Accordion group

tribal dress 2

22 Jul

We went to the Tank Museum today.  We picked up a member of the Burns Creek Branch presidency, Simon Peter and his wife, Ethel, because they are related to the people who run the museum.  Simon Peter used to be a minister for the Jehovah Witnesses before he became a member.  He was asked by some area authority to move to Burns Creek and help them.  This was 1998.  He showed us his "temporary home" and many of his grannies.  What a faithful member he is.

Simon Peter (hat on) and family

Simon Peter & Ethel

Simon Peter's home..see the water tank

inside the amtrak

one of many Amtraks

more Amtraks

Elder Sanders' fishing buddies

bush knife that everyone has

The tank museum was at Tetere Beach.  It has many American troop transports that were just left there after the war.  This beach was called Red Beach because of the blood shed that occurred there.   I remember right, the Japanese had 10,000 men on one side, and 6,000 men on the other side, and we Americans had 6,000 men in the middle.  There was a place where 3,000 Japanese are buried in a mass grave.

Today the beach is beautiful, black not white sand (yes is was sand not coral) and the breeze blowing was nice.  I could have spent more time there.  We both had to finally put our feet in the ocean.  It was a great temperature.  Elder Sanders asked about fishing and they let him know that they will be happy to have him go with them soon.  The fishing is done in a canoe with a net...interesting.  Simon Peter said he had a friend with a boat and motor that he could line up, hopefully.

Tetere Beach

Tetere Beach

23 Jul
We had one baptism today.

We went to see where an unfinished water tank is located and what needs to be done to finish the work so the people can make use of the tank.  Water is such a precious commodity here and with the rainy season coming soon, the tank needs to get on the foundation so it can be used.  I have no idea how the tank got down to its location but we are going to get the branch to help us finish the project.

one more row of  blocks & wiring &cement

water tank

We took Leonard and Joyce Kuse to the wharf so they could send something to a relative on another island.  It was pretty interesting to see all of the ships and see the ocean.  The waves were coming over the dock and the ships were rocking quite a bit.

While there, I saw this young man...notice his hairdo and his teeth...that is from the betel nut.

check out the hair

check out the red teeth