Last Sunday evening a group of 5 elders came by to see if I had heard the BYU - UCLA football score. I said I hadn't but would look it up. When I went to the KSL.com game center, there was about 1 minute left in the game, with BYU on the UCLA 42 yard line trailing by 1 point. Of course they had to stay to see if another Hail Mary pass or even a field goal would save the day. Alas, it was not to be. I'm glad they didn't come by today, or they would have been really disappointed with the BYU - Michigan score.
Sisters Sumner and Alldredge decided to help out the family that was baptized a week ago by giving them some clothing. I think it was just an excuse to go shopping. In any case, they found some nice things which they will give them soon, along with some practical things like rice and laundry detergent.
The TALL lab is getting really busy again with the October 1st deadline for BYUH applications for Spring Semester 2016 looming. This is where we spend our Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m.
We did a little shopping on Wednesday, and found some fresh vegetables at Moel's in Betio. We didn't realize until we got to the checkout counter that this lovely head of cauliflower would cost $31.50. With the $18.50 head of broccoli we also purchased, we spent $50 AUD (about $37 U.S.) for two pieces of fresh, but rare, vegetables. It shows how desperate we are for fresh veggies, and how expensive food is here.
On Friday, our mission president called a meeting for all the missionaries on Tarawa. We didn't have to go, but wanted to be there to hear him and Sister Weir share their messages. We were really glad we went. President Weir spoke about Christ's appearance to the Nephites. Christ, after testifying of Himself and having the 2500 people come forward and touch his hands and feet, repeatedly spoke of baptism and its importance. It was good to remember the real reason we are serving here as missionaries: bringing souls unto Christ. This picture shows how some of the missionaries arrived to our meeting. In the U.S., we'd have a heart attack seeing them riding in the back of a pickup truck. The elders kindly let the sisters ride inside, but truth be told, the sisters would just as soon have ridden in the back, too.
Saturday morning we went with a group of teachers and students on a "clean-a-thon". We picked up trash along the main road for about a mile on either side of Moroni High School's campus. We discovered some new muscles afterward that we hadn't used in a while. This activity is part of Teacher's Week, and provides a way for teachers to give service to the community. It also helps clean up the island for the coming visit of the Prince of Monaco.
We stayed on the road, but the students went down to clean the beaches. All in all, we filled about 30 bags like the ones Sister Sumner is holding in the previous picture.
Saturday afternoon we attended a baptism held right before the Stake Music Festival. There were several members of a family and some single converts. What a beautiful sight to see their bright and happy faces as they entered the baptismal font. Elder Sumner was asked to play the piano, which made us late for our next event.
We had just been here a week last year when the Stake Song Festival was held, so this is our second time to attend this event. This is one of the truly great events they have here. The whole family is involved and there were more people participating than sometimes attend church on Sunday. The music is beautiful. They sang one hymn in English, then one in Kiribati. Then they sang a fun, non-religious song which really spotlighted their love of music and hamming it up. Every night for the past week, as we walked across campus, we could hear them practicing in the chapel, the choir room, the baking room and sometimes even the basketball court.
It was perfect evening for the event. The clouds were pink and fluffy with no sign of the torrential rains we had experienced all week. There was a cool breeze blowing and you can see the full moon in the picture (not to be confused with the lights on the court).
We were asked to be judges (big surprise!). This year we had time to prepare a rubric. This time, also, we knew the two other judges, one is a teacher at the school, and the other has judged other events with us. It's hard to judge, every ward sings their hearts out but some have access to more professional help. Moroni was the unanimous winner. They sang a beautiful hymn called "Keiake" (a Kiribati translation of an old hymn called "Weary Not") and an adaptation of "Country Roads" which they called "Ocean Waves." They were really well performed.
This is one of the wards performing. Notice the children in the front left.
One last picture, we loved the red and white costumes of this group.
In church today, we finally got a new bishop. Our former bishop, Bishop Banemone, was called as a counselor in the stake presidency several months ago. Our new bishop is Popeieta who is a math teacher at Moroni High School. He was first counselor to Bishop Banemone. Our new first counselor is the old second counselor, Teaka, who is our school's IT manager. Our new second counselor is Katokita who works at the I-Mart in Bikenibeu.
I was asked to teach today's "Teachings for our Times" priesthood lesson. It was deeply moving to once again study Elder Holland's talk from last October's General Conference, "Are We Not All Beggars". Poverty surrounds us on Tarawa, and we sometimes wonder if we should be doing more to help. As Elder Holland taught in his talk, we follow the Savior's counsel to "do what we can." We also fast on the first Sunday of each month and contribute a generous fast offering which goes specifically to help the poor and needy. We feel the spirit prompt us from time to time to offer help to certain people here as well as to our own family members. We look forward in our retirement to giving away our material things and to blessing the lives of our children, grand children, and great grand children with material, spiritual, and emotional support. That will be our next mission before we go on another full-time church mission.
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