A week of illness and injury, but good stuff too!
 |
| Sisters at Sunday dinner |
 |
| Elders feeling good after dinner |
Monday, preparation day, is always rushed, but our entire zone took a couple of hours to play baseball at the Meyuns field. A few neighbor boys joined with us, which made covering our positions a lot easier. They must have had a good time because they asked if we could come back the next day too!
 |
| Raphia explaining her project |
 |
| Rayda, our MC |
 |
| Karla, YW President |
Our Young Women are preparing for the YW in Excellence
program that will be held in December this year and are completing projects to
present to the entire branch. Raphia
Ngiraked decided to arrange a fashion show of modest clothing. She and YW leaders decorated the church with
a “red carpet” edged with local flowers for all the models to walk, pose, and
stand for pictures. Sergio, our DJ,
played music as each model came forward showing off sleepwear, school uniforms,
casual wear, prom dresses, sports togs, and included specialty outfits for
maternity and missionary wear. The girls
had their hair done and applied make-up to make the show more
authentic. Rayda, a member of the
presidency, was our clever MC, and slipped in several quotes by church leaders
about modesty and taking care of our bodies, while the appreciative audience
applauded each model as she carefully and gracefully walked the length of the
red carpet.
 |
| Shannel, Scarla, Raphia |
 |
| Sister Masiasomua |
 |
| Bridgette |
 |
| Jose & Justin waiting for the show to start |
 |
| Raphia |
 |
| Sister Ale & Sister Masiasomua |
 |
| Maria, Malley, Bridgette, Scarla |
 |
| Malley |
 |
| Scarla |
 |
| Maria |
 |
| Scarla |
 |
| Shannel & Scarla |
 |
| Shannel |
 |
| Shannel |
 |
| Raphia |
 |
| Scarla & Shannel |
 |
| Raphia |
Since Kaytano Edeyaoch begins his mission on November 28th in Johannesburg, South Africa, we had a going away party to celebrate his choices that brought him to this point. A bunch of branch members devoured his cake, signed his card, and wished him well. The second--and tougher--part of the story is that his passport has not yet arrived, so he will be late reporting. He was supposed to fly to Guam tonight then on to South Africa early Tuesday morning. We hope to hear something more definite tomorrow, but the latest word is that he will report on December 28th instead. He and his entire family are filled with faith and patiently wait to hear what they need to do next.
 |
| Kaytano and his cake |
 |
| Some members at the party |
 |
| All eyes on Kaytano |
Kuniwo Mikel was baptized Saturday night by President
Kesolei and united another family in the gospel. His wife and daughter are already members
along with several extended family, so his baptism brought joy to each of them
and the entire branch. Their twin
two-year-old sons added lots of interest to the otherwise solemn occasion. Kuniwo was confirmed on Sunday by President
Kesolei, who was suffering from a cold and a tough case of laryngitis. We had to strain to hear the beautiful
blessing he pronounced upon Kuniwo and his entire family.
 |
| Kuniwo's happy family |
 |
| Sisters Masi & Purcell, Pres. Kesolei, Kuniwo |
 |
| Kuniwo and family |
President Kesolei was in good company this week with Elder
Malais and Sister Ale who both suffered from a cold and cough, but not one of
them slowed down. They continued
teaching and fulfilling assignments even though it might have felt better to
stay home in bed.
Elder Dopp conducted an inspiring district meeting on
Thursday then went home for a quick lunch.
As he opened a can, the lid made a deep cut to the side of his middle
finger. He called us to his apartment to
take a look, and all four of us thought he needed stitches. He had to wait a couple of hours to meet the
American doctor at Camp Katuu, but he bravely endured the cleansing, freezing,
and stitching necessary to get him back together and back to work.
 |
| Ready for stitches |
 |
| Brave Elder Dopp |
 |
| Cleaning the wound |
 |
| Must have stitches |
 |
| Cleaning & freezing |
 |
Elder Dopp & Elder Murdoch
Feeling better and ready to go back to missionary work |
Elder Carter also visited Dr. Taylor at Camp Katuu a couple
of times this week as he had another
staph infection and a boil that grew to baseball size that the AL and NL would
have been proud of. After a couple of
days of feeling puny (near death, according to him), he revisited the doctor
and had the boil lanced and drained.
Sister Carter has become an expert at changing dressings and will continue
for the next few days until the boil is completely drained and the doctor
returns from his trip to Japan.
 |
| Elder Carter waiting at the hospital for a test |
At the end of this week, all of the missionaries are feeling
much better and the work is going forward at a rapid pace. We have several investigators attending
meetings, learning doctrine during discussions, and inviting their family and
friends to listen as well.
Our Primary children presented Sacrament Meeting today and brought such a sweet spirit to the meeting with their heartfelt talks and dedicated singing. Some children sang solos while Sister Norgrant and Sister Ale accompanied on the piano. One of our Primary girls, Kali Kesolie, played the piano too. All three are Sister Carter's students and she was as proud of them as their own mothers would be. During Primary, Sister Carter distributed CTR rings her mother (Ferral Jones) had mailed to her, including two for our Spanish speaking girls. The children radiated excitement and pleasure while sporting their new jewelry for all to see.
 |
| Sporting their CTR rings |
 |
| In the chapel |
 |
| Holding onto their rings |
We are always grateful for our family and friends who so
generously support us through cards, emails, letters, packages, and heartfelt
prayers, but this week our gratitude is as wide and deep as the ocean that
surrounds our isles. We are grateful for
your righteous choices and desires to do good and pray that each one of you and
all our blog readers will have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded and
enveloped by the love of our Savior and feel more deeply and completely the
blessings of His Atonement. We
gratefully and humbly serve Him.
