December 27th, the Sunday after Christmas, was filled with wonderful activity. I was asked to accompany a musical number by Taanari in the Bikenibeu 1st Ward. After I arrived, however, I was asked to play the music for the Sacrament Meeting which happened to include the Primary Program! While I couldn't understand what they were saying in Kiribati, I could feel the Spirit. I had wonderful flashbacks of playing for many Primary programs, including those I did as a child back in our Austin, Minnesota Branch.
Sometimes teachers have to hold and help their Primary class members, just as they do in the states. It's hard to see in the picture, but the Tarawa Lagoon is just a few feet from the windows of the Bikenibeu Chapel.
After returning to our own Moroni Ward, we had a joint Relief Society/Priesthood lesson taught by the Bishop introducing the Pacific Area vision and goals for 2016. Following the lesson we had a wonderful meal provided by the Relief Society. Sister Sumner can be seen just behind the middle girl in the front.
Even the Primary children joined our feast. Since the Moroni Ward is a student ward, we have very few children. During December and January, when school is out between school years, most of our students go home, resulting in very small classes. Sister Sumner still insists on calling the months between school years "summer vacation"!
I spent several days rehearsing "O Holy Night" with Taanari (left) and her brother Tawesa (right) for the New Years Eve program. While school was out, I borrowed one of the choir room pianos for our apartment so I could play Christmas music at home.
Here we are performing "O Holy Night" on New Years Eve. Both Taanari and Tawesa have beautiful voices that blend well. Our new principal, Banririe, who is also a member of the stake presidency, can be seen seated on the podium.
After the program in the chapel, we went out to the basketball court to see the beautiful decorations they had been putting up all afternoon in the hot sun.
While waiting for the wards to perform their numbers on the basketball court, we found ourselves swamped by children eager to shake the hands of "Imatangs" (white strangers). Sister Sumner got out her tin of mints and started passing them out, but she had to tell them, in Kiribati, "Only One". I was impressed that she had learned to say that.
Some of the missionaries from nearby areas were invited to come. Just as the local people do, they ate sitting on the ground in a circle. The locals usually have thin hand woven mats to sit on, however.
After the midnight count down, the kissing, handshaking, and Happy New Year greetings, everyone danced in the Cultural Hall. We were chased indoors by a brief rainfall which cooled the ocean breezes nicely.
New Year's Day the senior missionary couples set off on an adventure to broken bridge on the island of Abatoa, just as we did about a year ago. We and the Waldron's wanted to show our new couples, the Jenk's and the Olson's some of the more primitive and beautiful places in North Tarawa. This picture shows the sisters riding a small canoe across the gap between Buota and Abatoa islands. When the tide is low, we walk across, as we did returning, but when the tide is high, it's much more pleasant to take the boat, especially for those like Sister Sumner who are short and don't swim well.
We walked past the primary school, Mamatannana, on our way to broken bridge. What a fun name to say! The motto on the sign says "Struggle hard for a better life." It took us a minute to figure out the image on the sign, though. At first we thought it might be a Hermit Crab, but then someone realized it is a sprouting coconut! How appropriate for this island which has a large coconut plantation on it.
Here's a picture showing most of the school. Can you even imagine attending an elementary school like this? In front of the classrooms are rows of suspended 2 liter bottles filled with water with a stick attached to each bottle. The children step on the stick to tip the bottle to pour water on their hands when they wash. Our kids have no idea how nice their schools are compared to other countries in the world.
We had to stop and take a picture of this "high tech" bouilla. Notice the power pole and power line running to the solar panel on the bouilla's roof.
At last, we made it to broken bridge, where we rested and ate snacks and drank ice water in a wonderfully cooling ocean breeze. I carried 4 bottles of water in my backpack, 2 of which were frozen to keep the others cold. They were wrapped inside 2 towels to keep them from melting too fast during the hike.
Here we are in our P-day clothes, walking along a quiet beach in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I was going to crop the picture so you could see our faces better, but I really wanted you to see the background more than us. Besides, you already know what we look like. We will truly miss this corner of God's creation when we return from our mission on February 29th. We want to make the most of our last days here as we prepare to teach our final classes at Moroni High School. We have felt the Spirit of the Lord working to bless the people of this tiny island nation, and have grown to truly love them as we serve them.
As you consider your personal New Year's Goals, we would like to share the goals of the Pacific Area:
1. Honor the Sabbath Day at home and at church.
2. Increase spiritual and temporal self-reliance.
3. Hasten the work of salvation.
4. Seek the blessings of the temple.
As we have written down our goals for the coming year, we realize how important our families are to us and to our Heavenly Father. We pray this year will bring blessings and joy to each of you.
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