Two new "Firsts" this week: ROOT BEER and BANANA SPLITS! We went shopping after the missionary zone conference, and following a tip from the mission president's wife, we went to an obscure little store behind Mary's Hotel and Restaurant called Slim Price. Lo and behold, they had 24 cans of Mug Root Beer. I bought all they had for a dollar a can, but then shared some with the other couples, leaving me with 17 cans of root beer. As of today I still have 15 cans left. I have marked on my calendar the 15 days over the next few months when I can once again savor my favorite flavor and make root beer floats. Life is good!
As for the banana splits, Sister Sumner made a wonderful strawberry topping (we actually had already bought some frozen strawberries), used some Neapolitan ice cream and REAL Hershey's chocolate syrup that we brought from New Zealand, added some sliced local bananas, and VOILA! When you've gone 9 months or more without such treats, they taste extra, extra specially good.
The zone conference was a special treat because all the senior couple sisters made lasagna. Boy was that a treat. We listened to 9 missionaries bear their finally testimonies before leaving for home. One of the missionaries going home is Elder Lowe. He was the one we mentioned in an earlier blog who was "accidently" sent to an outer island that had never had missionaries before. They met a man who had been praying for them to come who provided them with a place to stay. Over the next few months, they baptized enough members to start a branch, so they built a small open Maneaba style chapel. He didn't know he was being transferred until the airplane showed up. He didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to many of those he baptized. He said he was angry at first, but that the spirit leaves when we are angry. He has accepted the change as the Lord's will for him, and will finish the last few weeks of his mission on Tarawa. What an inspiration to us and all the other missionaries.
Yesterday, Saturday, May 30th, was the Tarawa East Stake dance festival competition. Every ward and branch has been preparing for this event for weeks. This picture shows some sisters preparing the garlands their ward's dancers will wear.
This is a picture of the opening dance which is used to transfer garlands to the judges and guests of honor. You'll have to imagine the swaying hips because the videos are just too big to download.
We are ALWAYS asked to be judges at these affairs as if we really knew anything about them. At least this time we were given a rubric in advance and one native judge who could translate the announcements and program for us so we knew which ward or branch we were judging. Actually, we've done this often enough that we are almost starting to feel comfortable doing it.
The dancing began around 6 p.m. as the sun was setting and continued until about ten minutes after 11 p.m. The competition was in two parts: first they had to show the type of dance of an assigned south pacific island. After a wonderful dinner, part 2 consisted of each ward or branch doing their own interpretation of a traditional mat dance. The dancers were truly amazing. Their precision and enthusiasm made it a pleasure for us to watch.
Here you can see the mats that cover them as they are seated in front of us. You would think that the dance movements would be greatly limited by their lack of mobility, but the movement of their heads, arms, hands, and bodies made for a wonderful presentation. These mat dances also included amazing singing, chanting, and vigorous body slapping, which had to have hurt!
We hope to take some pictures this coming week to show our normal daily routine. We don't actually spend all of our time at conferences and cultural events, but our blogs may make it seem that way.
The zone conference was a special treat because all the senior couple sisters made lasagna. Boy was that a treat. We listened to 9 missionaries bear their finally testimonies before leaving for home. One of the missionaries going home is Elder Lowe. He was the one we mentioned in an earlier blog who was "accidently" sent to an outer island that had never had missionaries before. They met a man who had been praying for them to come who provided them with a place to stay. Over the next few months, they baptized enough members to start a branch, so they built a small open Maneaba style chapel. He didn't know he was being transferred until the airplane showed up. He didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to many of those he baptized. He said he was angry at first, but that the spirit leaves when we are angry. He has accepted the change as the Lord's will for him, and will finish the last few weeks of his mission on Tarawa. What an inspiration to us and all the other missionaries.
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