Saturday, April 11, 2015

Weeks 29 and 30 in Tarawa

These past 2 weeks have been filled with thoughts of Easter and General Conference.  On Wednesday, April 1st, Miiran's choir classes presented the Easter assembly.  Once again, the program was excellent and touching.  You can see the new chapel piano on the left which I helped assemble just last week.  It is such a nice addition, but everyone worries about how long it will last in this hot, humid, salt air climate.  The school Easter break went from Good Friday, the 3rd, through Tuesday, April 7th.  The 7th was National Health Day. We were hoping to go on an adventure, but it rained the whole time.  We got a lot of work done in the office!
On Easter Sunday, April 5th, we had a combination Easter dinner and farewell dinner for Elder and Sister Wall who are leaving April 13th.  We had saved a large chunk of real bone-in ham just for this occasion, a rare treat in Kiribati.












This is our Easter  and farewell banquet table.  The senior couples get together about once a month, and it's always a special treat.  We have much in common as senior missionary couples, and it is wonderful to bask in the glow of the spirit.  One of the sad parts about the Wall's departure is that so far there is no replacement coming.  We will miss them, but President Weir, seated on the couch in the far right corner will miss them most of all.  The Wall's did so much to help the young Elders and Sisters on Tarawa. 












Seated around the table, starting on the left are Elder and Sister Bogh, the TVET couple, Sister Alldredge, the mission nurse on Tarawa, Sister and Elder Wall, President and Sister Weir, Sister and Elder Waldron, and Sister Sumner.  After our dinner, President Weir invited us to each share our testimonies.  It was a sacred and sweet experience as we witnessed to each other our love for Jesus Christ, our gratitude for His atonement, and the truthfulness of the restored Gospel.












It's been a few months since we posted another sunset picture from our back yard, so we thought it was about time to share another one.  We are amazed every day by the beauty of our location.  We sit at our dinner table three times a day watching and hearing the pounding surf.  We will certainly miss these things when we leave.
 Thursday evening, April 9th, the Service Center employees and the Moroni High School teachers and administrators planned a farewell for the Wall's.  As the guests of honor, they were the recipients of woven wreaths, dancing and singing.  The variety of the potluck dinner afterwards was amazing.  There were tears as they said their final goodbye's to the group.
I only took one picture of the group getting ready to sing and dance.  I took videos, but decided against trying to post any of them.

We were able to listen live to only 2 sessions of General Conference because of the 18 hour time difference, but yesterday and today we were able to watch all 6 sessions.  We feel the spirit as we listen.  The counsel we've received is truly from God, and we will do our best to follow His will in our lives.  We have much to be grateful for but much to improve upon, as well.

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