This past week has been very different but very busy. We cancelled both of our classes because of the many school activities which involved most of the teachers as well as us. On Tuesday, July 7th, the 1st annual Moroni Star talent competition was held. Guess who got to be judges!! Of the over 50 students who tried out, 12 made the final cut. We were tasked with choosing the best one. Some were not so good, but most were very good.
Here are nine of the finalists. The girl holding the trophy was the winner. There was near unanimous agreement among the 5 judges that she was the best. We actually enjoyed seeing and hearing their performances. The weather was perfect. The ocean breeze helped mitigate the heat and humidity of the afternoon.
Another reason for the busy week was a visit by the outgoing Pacific Area School Supervisor, Bruce Yerman. He was accompanied by his replacement, Mike Carthew, and a representative from Salt Lake, Matthew Pope. We had a breakfast Wednesday morning for them and for Elder and Sister Bogh, who are leaving for home on Monday, July 13th. From left to right in this picture are Bruce Yerman, Tipo Solomone, one of our vice principals, Sister Bogh, and Elder Bogh. The breakfast was prepared entirely by students of the baking and cooking classes.
That evening, a dinner with dancing and singing entertainment was held for Bruce and the Bogh's. As usual, the guests of honor are seated front and center. From left to right are Matthew Pope, Elder Bogh, Sister Bogh, Bruce Yerman, and Michael Carthew.
The faculty and service center people put on a wonderful show. This is the opening dance which culminates in the presentation of garlands which can be seen being worn by the guests of honor in the above picture. For the second time in as many days, I was asked to accompany one of the musical numbers at the last second. I ended up singing the second part of "A Child's Prayer" while playing the guitar in a different key than the song is written in. I was challenged but I think it came off OK. At least everyone was too polite to say otherwise. Yesterday, after the assembly had already started, I was asked to accompany a song I didn't know, which I had to sight read in front of the entire assembly. I hope my mistakes weren't too noticeable.
After the dance numbers, some of the performers invited the guests of honor to come out on the dance floor to dance with them. The man in the foreground is the director of the Service Center, Iotua Tune. He is an amazing man who knows everyone and everything on the island. He's also a very entertaining dancer.
Another reason the week was so busy was the island wide Interschool Track and Field Competition. Our track team has been training hard for the past 2 months. The meet started Wednesday at noon, and continued until late Friday evening. We sat in shaded tents for most of the competition. This picture, taken from the grandstand, shows the opening ceremonies. While the program was wonderful, the teams all stood out in the hot sun for over two hours, and then had to run in the 3K and 5K races. We felt really badly for the kids. Our team was wearing warm-up pants and jackets on top of their new uniforms! It was HOT!!
This picture was taken from the tent we were sitting in for most of the days. You can see the grandstand across the track from us. The track is sand and gravel, but many of the runners still run barefoot. We noticed that some of the distance runners had their feet and toes taped, but some still had blisters. We missed the morning events because I had to take Bruce, Matthew, and Mike to the airport Thursday morning.
Looking off to the right from where we sat you can see the crowds lining the track to cheer on their teams. We had a guy with a bullhorn as our cheerleader. We felt guilty arriving because others would always stand up and offer us their chairs. We tried to refuse, but they wouldn't listen.
This picture shows the track team arriving back on the Moroni High School campus. They were packed like sardines onto the bed of a truck. We would consider this unacceptable in the U.S., but they were all just glad for a ride. We still haven't heard the results of the meet, but will include them in our next blog.
The final activity of this past week was a wonderful opportunity to attend the baptisms of a father and his 3 children. The mother was already a member, and it was obvious from their glowing faces how happy they all were. We were grateful for the chance to share in their joy. I thought of the song I often accompanied Becca on at family baptisms that has the phrase "and angels rejoice." That was the feeling we had despite not understanding a word of Kiribati during the baptism. One of the missionaries did translate their testimonies for Mom. I missed out because I was sitting at the piano. We feel like we are constantly witnessing miracles around us.
This past week has been very different but very busy. We cancelled both of our classes because of the many school activities which involved most of the teachers as well as us. On Tuesday, July 7th, the 1st annual Moroni Star talent competition was held. Guess who got to be judges!! Of the over 50 students who tried out, 12 made the final cut. We were tasked with choosing the best one. Some were not so good, but most were very good.
Here are nine of the finalists. The girl holding the trophy was the winner. There was near unanimous agreement among the 5 judges that she was the best. We actually enjoyed seeing and hearing their performances. The weather was perfect. The ocean breeze helped mitigate the heat and humidity of the afternoon.
Another reason for the busy week was a visit by the outgoing Pacific Area School Supervisor, Bruce Yerman. He was accompanied by his replacement, Mike Carthew, and a representative from Salt Lake, Matthew Pope. We had a breakfast Wednesday morning for them and for Elder and Sister Bogh, who are leaving for home on Monday, July 13th. From left to right in this picture are Bruce Yerman, Tipo Solomone, one of our vice principals, Sister Bogh, and Elder Bogh. The breakfast was prepared entirely by students of the baking and cooking classes.
That evening, a dinner with dancing and singing entertainment was held for Bruce and the Bogh's. As usual, the guests of honor are seated front and center. From left to right are Matthew Pope, Elder Bogh, Sister Bogh, Bruce Yerman, and Michael Carthew.
The faculty and service center people put on a wonderful show. This is the opening dance which culminates in the presentation of garlands which can be seen being worn by the guests of honor in the above picture. For the second time in as many days, I was asked to accompany one of the musical numbers at the last second. I ended up singing the second part of "A Child's Prayer" while playing the guitar in a different key than the song is written in. I was challenged but I think it came off OK. At least everyone was too polite to say otherwise. Yesterday, after the assembly had already started, I was asked to accompany a song I didn't know, which I had to sight read in front of the entire assembly. I hope my mistakes weren't too noticeable.
After the dance numbers, some of the performers invited the guests of honor to come out on the dance floor to dance with them. The man in the foreground is the director of the Service Center, Iotua Tune. He is an amazing man who knows everyone and everything on the island. He's also a very entertaining dancer.
Another reason the week was so busy was the island wide Interschool Track and Field Competition. Our track team has been training hard for the past 2 months. The meet started Wednesday at noon, and continued until late Friday evening. We sat in shaded tents for most of the competition. This picture, taken from the grandstand, shows the opening ceremonies. While the program was wonderful, the teams all stood out in the hot sun for over two hours, and then had to run in the 3K and 5K races. We felt really badly for the kids. Our team was wearing warm-up pants and jackets on top of their new uniforms! It was HOT!!
This picture was taken from the tent we were sitting in for most of the days. You can see the grandstand across the track from us. The track is sand and gravel, but many of the runners still run barefoot. We noticed that some of the distance runners had their feet and toes taped, but some still had blisters. We missed the morning events because I had to take Bruce, Matthew, and Mike to the airport Thursday morning.
Looking off to the right from where we sat you can see the crowds lining the track to cheer on their teams. We had a guy with a bullhorn as our cheerleader. We felt guilty arriving because others would always stand up and offer us their chairs. We tried to refuse, but they wouldn't listen.
This picture shows the track team arriving back on the Moroni High School campus. They were packed like sardines onto the bed of a truck. We would consider this unacceptable in the U.S., but they were all just glad for a ride. We still haven't heard the results of the meet, but will include them in our next blog.
The final activity of this past week was a wonderful opportunity to attend the baptisms of a father and his 3 children. The mother was already a member, and it was obvious from their glowing faces how happy they all were. We were grateful for the chance to share in their joy. I thought of the song I often accompanied Becca on at family baptisms that has the phrase "and angels rejoice." That was the feeling we had despite not understanding a word of Kiribati during the baptism. One of the missionaries did translate their testimonies for Mom. I missed out because I was sitting at the piano. We feel like we are constantly witnessing miracles around us.
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