Week 48 in Tarawa

We had a number of events happen this week besides our usual teaching activities.  This week was Counseling Week at Moroni High School.  The theme was Embark from D&C 4:2.  The theme was introduced on Monday with a logo contest.  Students were challenged to create their own artwork to portray the theme.  The winning entries were given prizes.  Sorry, but we don't have pictures of this.  Guess who were the judges!!

Tuesday's theme was Heart.  Students created valentine-like paper hearts with messages which were posted all over campus.  Heart shaped cakes were made by the baking classes so each student could have a piece of cake during homeroom.

Surprisingly, many boys were involved in the baking and decorating as well as in the clean up afterward. 


Wednesday's theme was Might.  The assembly was about the might of counseling, with prizes for the best logo's given out by us. We saw many disappointed faces in the audience when Sister Sumner announced that only on-time entries were considered for prizes.  Sorry, no pictures here, either.

Thursday's theme was Mind.  Members of the faculty acted out various careers which the students had to guess--like playing charades.  Correct guessers won small food prizes.

Friday's theme was Strength.  Arm wrestling competitions were held for each grade and for girls as well as boys.  We didn't know when we suggested it that arm wrestling is actually a very popular sport in Kiribati.



At our Leadership Meeting Thursday afternoon, Lita, our principal, asked us if we could fill in for her at the University of the South Pacific (USP) open house the next day, Friday, August. 14th.  We were planning on preparing for our next class, but were excited to be able to go to this activity instead.  At Bairiki Square there were talks and dancing.  Later we drove to the new, huge, USP facility being built in Teaoraereke.

This is the USP President addressing the audience.

The dancers performed beautifully.

And, once again, we were garlanded by the dancers.  It has only been a few years since we had even heard the term "selfie", but here we are, doing it to ourselves just like teenagers.

When we were invited to get in line for the USP building tour, we were asked if we had our own transportation.  To make a long story short, we ended up busing 8 other people back and forth in the van we were driving.  Here's the group that came with us posing in front of the building.  Those in white are Marine Training Center (MTC) students and faculty.

The exterior of the building, we were surprised to find out, is painted, white pine wood slatting.  The wood has been treated so it doesn't taste good to termites.  We'll see about that.

The bottom floor is designed to be open to the outside. There is a wheelchair ramp zigzagging all the way up to the second floor.  Here's part of our group trying out the wheelchair.

Much to our surprise, the wheelchair appears to have been donated by the church.

This room is designated to become the library.  We were told the pink sheetrock is a special grade that resists the heat and humidity of the Kiribati climate.

This view from the north end of the 1st floor is looking toward the northeast.  The main road and the lagoon are visible, along with water storage tanks and a satellite dish for internet.

This is looking south from the north end of the 2nd floor.  It is designed to feel like the inside of a Maneaba.  All the structural steel has been hot dipped galvanized to resist the corrosive effects of high humidity and salt air.  We were told the design life of the structure is 80 years.

I don't think Sister Sumner has worn a hard hat since she tore down the old Wasatch Elementary School.










On Saturday morning, while I was attending the priesthood session of stake conference, Sisters Sumner, Weir, and Alldredge went to the Eco farm to buy eggs for the Zone Conference lunch on Wednesday, August 19th.

This shows the cleaning and sorting building on the right, with the chicken pens further back on the left.  This is not what you usually picture an egg farm looking like, with palm trees swaying in the background.

What would an egg farm be without chickens!

Here's Sister Alldredge supervising the egg cleaners and sorters.  We had ordered 9 dozen eggs, and they were working on filling a 20 dozen egg order that same morning.  That'll keep those hens busy!
We were surprised to learn that the eggs are not washed, but are only lightly sanded off with sandpaper.  In other words, they could still have chicken poop traces on the eggs.  We wash them carefully at home before cracking them open.

Finally, as I mentioned above, this weekend was our stake conference.  This is a picture of our principal, Lita, speaking in the general session on Sunday (this) morning.  I was asked to speak on the subject of ward councils at the adult session Saturday evening.  I hope I was able to make what could have been a dry, boring talk interesting.  Janet says I did well, but I happen to know she is very biased.
Time seems to fly by faster and faster.  We finished EDU 312 this past week, except for grading the final exams. This coming week the students have mid year exams.  It's hard to think of a new school year starting back home already.

Week 47 in Tarawa

We debated about whether or not to post a blog this week because we only took a few pictures and because it has been a very ordinary week.  I suppose the highlight of our week, after 5 months of waiting, was being able to buy hamburger (they call it "mince meat" here) at a store called MOEL's in Betio.  Other than that, we prepared and taught lessons, worked in the TALL lab, and helped missionaries with petty cash requests.

In the TALL lab, we usually give English proficiency tests, help returned missionaries with BYU Hawaii applications, and help students learn English, but this week we also helped Tiotomaia, one of our high councilors, learn how to use a computer.  He has been called as a Stake Auditor, but had never used a computer before.  Elder Sumner had to teach him such basic things as how to use a mouse.

Since the Bogh's returned home 4 weeks ago, we thought now would be a good time to put our frozen food in their nearly empty freezer so we could defrost ours.  Check out this nice clean freezer!
















On the way home from Betio, we stopped at one of the little road side stands and bought some cherry tomatoes and hot peppers to use in making salsa.  We learned the hard way to use rubber gloves to protect our hands when cleaning and dicing hot peppers.

Our final "unusual" activity of the week was helping get house 7, the Bogh's former abode, ready for a visit from our mission auditors, Elder and Sister Baber.  House 7 has a little office addition that has clothes lines for hanging drying laundry.  It rained a lot Saturday, so we made use of the indoor lines to dry the freshly washed bed sheets.





Once the sheets dried, we had to make the bed, of course.  Over the years we've gotten pretty good at making beds together!

Our week hasn't been very exciting, but it has been very fulfilling.  Now that we've been here 11 months, we are getting to know students and missionaries, as well as teachers.  We love being able to bless their lives in so many small ways.

Week 46 in Tarawa

Tongoi is one of the Moroni High School Seminary teachers.  He also serves as one of our mission president, President Weir's, counselors.  We have been looking for ideas for Christmas gifts for the young missionaries, and thought that maybe a tie with a Kiribati flag would make a nice gift.  He graciously allowed us to take his picture.

Last Wednesday evening our Young Men and Young Women met together for a lesson on dating.  This seemed strange to us because dating is not a Kiribati custom.  During the lesson we wondered what we would say if called upon to speak.  Sure enough, at the end of the lesson we were asked to talk about our own dating and courtship.  We got lots of smiles and giggles as we described our experiences.  We were both dating others before we got serious about each other.  It was sweet to tell them how we fell in love and decided to get married.  It was special to tell them how much we still love each other.

Friday evening was a ward fishing activity.  We met in the Maneaba where Bishop Banimone gave out sticks, fish hooks, fishing line, and bait for each person to make their own fishing pole.  We knew that they planned to go out after dark into the water right behind our apartment where the sewer line empties into the ocean, so we politely declined to go out with them.  Earlier that evening we were invited by Sister Alldredge to have dinner together at her apartment.  Just as we were finishing eating, the zone leaders came knocking at her door to introduce Elder Afatasi, who had just arrived from an outer island.  It just so happened that they had not yet had dinner, so we invited them in and watched them finish off most of the rest of the leftovers.  They then insisted on feeding us spiritually and proceeded to teach us a wonderful lesson from the book of Omni about the power of the Savior's atonement.  We count these experiences with the young elders and sisters as a very special and spiritual part of our mission.  We can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost they carry with them as worthy and ordained representatives of Jesus Christ.

 

 

One Saturday we were invited by Taani and Lailani Lasike and their family to a barbeque on the beach at Taiwan Park just east of Betio.  Despite some early rain, we had a wonderful time getting to know them better.  They are from New Zealand, and do not speak Kiribati.  Taani is here on assignment from his company to work on building construction.  They will be returning to New Zealand this coming December.  He really knows his way around a barbeque grill, and the food he and his wife, Lailani, prepared for us was delicious. Sister Sumner's baguette of French bread was a big hit, too.  There was none left over to take home.  :-(

This picture shows Lailani, Sister Alldredge, and half of Sister Sumner (over on the left) as we ate in the light rain.












After a wonderful meal, I got out a cheap Frisbee I had bought last week and, for the first time since coming here, we played Frisbee.  The kids didn't mind jumping into the ocean to retrieve some errant throws.  In fact, they spent quite a bit of the afternoon playing in the gentle surf on the sandy beach.







This morning Tiotomaia came by for some help with his assigned high council talk.  While his English is not too bad, there are still many English words and expressions that need explaining in a typical general conference talk.  He is a humble man who carries the spirit of the Lord with him.  I feel blessed to be able to help him with his calling.  Last week we gave him a solar powered lamp to use in his bouia because they have no electricity.  Even those who have electricity know that they can't rely on it because it goes off so frequently.  We in the U.S. don't know how blessed we are with material things.  On second thought, maybe our material things are a curse that keeps us from being truly happy and close to the Lord as so many here are.

Week 45 in Tarawa

This has been a very normal (translation: uneventful) week for us on Tarawa.  Our time has been filled with preparations for teaching, baking treats for our classes, and teaching.  However, on Saturday we did something very out of ordinary for us, at least.  We walked about a third of the length of the island from the chapel in Bikenibeu to the Moroni High School chapel.  Here I am all decked out to begin the Pioneer day trek with the Tarawa East Stake.  Notice the typical pioneer hat, T-shirt, cut-offs, and tennis shoes!  ;-)

A few of the members tried to dress up as pioneers, which we found very sweet and amusing.

After being organized into companies, we set out on the trek.  Some parts of the trek were along the main road as seen here.  Notice the newly paved section of road with nice sidewalks on either side.  Only those who have been here in the past will appreciated the change from the pot-hole filled mostly dirt road that was here before.

Our first stop was at an elementary school which represented Winter Quarters. Here a church member explained the significance of this stop on the pioneers' journey west.  The physical condition of this school would leave most Americans shaking their heads and wondering how children could be educated in such primitive conditions.  There are no desks or chairs, no air conditioning or even fans, and only the most rudimentary lighting.  The louvered windows let in all the bugs and noise as well as the cooling ocean breeze.

Here our company is approaching our second stop, Fort Laramie.  We were able to rest in a nice, cool Maneaba right on the ocean.  Near the front of our group you can see two ematangs (white people).  On the left is Sister Weir, our mission mother, and on the right is Sister Alldredge, our mission nurse.

Here we are resting in the Maneaba mentioned above.  You can just barely see the ocean behind us.

 

Sister Alldredge saw some children practicing handstands, which seems to be one of the most popular games the kids play.  When she went over to take their picture, they all had to show off for her, of course.  We were surprised at how good they were at walking on their hands.  Overall, this experience was a very sobering one for us.  We walked past previously unseen parts of the island that can only be characterized as abject poverty.  Until you've seen this for yourself, you simply cannot appreciate how materially blessed we are.  Many of the members made this trek barefoot, and didn't feel that it was a hardship.  I bought a solar-powered light for Tiotomaia, one of our stake high-councilors, because they have no electricity and only candles for light at night for their 5 month old daughter, Gloria Richard.  He was so very grateful.  As we sing on Sundays, "Though hard to you this journey may appear", think of these people who, as poor as they are, are happy living the gospel to the best of their abilities.  Truly, "grace shall be as our days".

All our love, Elder and Sister Sumner.

Week 44 in Tarawa

This past week has been very unusual for us because of the week long Kiribati Independence Celebration (no school) and because Elder and Sister Bogh completed their mission and left for home last Monday, July 13th.  We already miss their companionship as our next door neighbors, and Moroni High School will miss their contributions to the growth and success of the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) program.  After dropping them off at the airport, we returned home and caught up a bit on our lesson preparation.  We helped our school counselor, Mary, begin washing the 400 pieces of track team laundry, and helped clean out some of the things in the Bogh's fridge and freezer.  We had a family home evening with Sister Alldredge and watched the church video based on a 1977 talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer titled "The Mediator", which explains wonderfully how both justice and mercy can be fully served by the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Before taking the Bogh's to the airport, we and Sister Alldredge went for a walk along the coral reef.  While the footing is trickier, it's much quieter away from the traffic on the main road.  We went back onto the road, however, after being warned of a pack of dogs ahead of where we were walking.

 



Tuesday we drove out to the ECO farm to get fresh eggs.  The last dozen eggs we bought at the store were half spoiled.  While out at that end of the island, we decided to explore an area of the island called Tamoa.  It is near the Temaiku chapel at the eastern end of the island not far from the airport.  The area is very primitive but very beautiful.

We stopped at the Temaiku chapel and had a wonderful ocean-side picnic.  The Maneaba kept us dry during the pouring rain storm that suddenly came up.

On Wednesday we went into Bairiki to watch the boat races and our basketball team.  Because there was no wind, the boat races were cancelled.  Our basketball team lost by one point to the eventual champions.

After the basketball game, we walked through some of the exhibits in the Bairiki maneaba.  This picture shows a native armor suit made entirely of coconut pod fibers.  That had to be pretty scratchy to wear.

Another display showed necklaces made from various kinds of teeth including this one made of human eye teeth.

Kiribati Independence Week wouldn't be complete without going to Disneyland!  Somehow I don't think Disney Inc. licensed these rides, however.  Don't tell anyone, OK?

On Thursday we decided to finally fulfill our desire to hike out to the island we call Gilligan's Island.  The locals call it Scout Island because that's where the scouts used to go camping. At low tide we were able to walk out without getting our feet wet.

One of the local member girls wanted to go along with us because her friends were drinking alcohol.  Her English was good enough to explain lots of the things we saw.

We told her we were very proud of her for keeping her standards.  We even gave her a ride home so she wouldn't have to be teased and tempted by her friends after our hike.  This picture was taken after the three women decided to wade out to where the breakers were crashing on the outer reef.  They all got wet up to there knees.

You can see the three ladies out getting wet by the thundering surf.

While out on the reef they had the chance to talk with this family of fishermen.  They showed off some of their catch for the camera.  This is how many of the islander feed their families.  It is NOT just for sport.  They depend on their catch for food.  If they catch more than they can eat, they can sell some fish to help them buy rice and other foods to eat.

On Saturday we had the joy of witnessing Elder Openshaw baptize a new member of the church at the Bairiki chapel.  The 9 year old boy was taught by Sisters Rourou and Su'a  on his left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 43 in Tarawa

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.

 

Week 42 in Tarawa

As we contemplated the message we wanted to send with our blog this week, our hearts were filled with many thoughts and concerns.  This has been a sobering and challenging week.

We shared in the happiness of Betty and her family at their safe arrival and move into their beautiful new home.  We pray that they will quickly learn to know and love the people of Klamath Falls.

We have read the news and comments on the Supreme Court ruling on marriage.  We have been troubled by the harsh and sometimes hateful things that are being said.  We have pondered what message we should share about our feelings.

We have been sobered and worried as we learned of Stetson’s accident and Shelby’s serious illness.

We mourned the loss of President Packer but rejoiced in the thought of the glorious reunions he must be having in heaven.

We witnessed the glowing face of a young woman who was baptized last night and the joy on the faces of the sister missionaries who taught her.

In all, we have had a week of many contrasting feelings. A scripture we read in Sunday School today seems to sum up our thoughts:
 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”    John 16:33 

Only when we put our full faith in Christ, and focus on living as he lived can we have peace.  We need to remember that the Lord knows the end from the beginning. The winds and waves still blow but the Savior is in control and will always direct us for good.  As it says in D&C 14:7, “if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”

With that in mind, we want it known that we support the Prophet and the Proclamation on the Family.  We are aware that not all agree with us, but that does not in any way affect our love and respect for them. This is part of God’s plan:  that we learn to love and respect all people whether we agree or not.

We believe that the Lord allows tribulation in the form of disease, accidents, and evil because that is part of the mortal experience that teaches us love, patience, and humility.  Life is like a 3 act play, said Boyd K. Packer.  Act 1 was our life before we came to Earth.  Act 2 is life on Earth, and act 3 is life after death.  We come into act 2 as actors on the stage not knowing what happened in act 1.  Part of our test is to come here without remembering our Father in Heaven or knowing what will happen in act 3.  Only in act 3 can we live “happily ever after”.  Because of this plan, we cannot understand everything that happens around us.  That, too, is part of the test of our faith.

Ultimately, we believe that how we live it is far more important than what we believe.  We see goodness, kindness, and charity in all of our family members.  We believe our love for you has grown even as we are apart from you while serving a mission in Kiribati.  We are grateful for your love for us, and look forward to being together again next year.

Love,

Elder and Sister Sumner
(aka dad and mom or grandpa and grandma)

On Tuesday, June 30 we started our ITEP class EDU 312, Effective Pedagogy, with 5 students.

On Wednesday, July 1st, I had fun showing students the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.

Here's a photo taken with my cell phone through the telescope eyepiece of the conjunction.  Jupiter is in the middle, Venus is below and to the right of Jupiter.

My youngest observer!

 On Friday we had a pep rally for our track team which will compete next week in an island wide competition.  Here the parents are garlanding their athlete sons and daughters.

Saturday we drove out to the Eco Farm near the airport to buy eggs.  This is half of the eggs this fellow just delivered on the back of his scooter!  We didn't see any broken ones.