Church and branch party (part 7)

Sunday was a wonderful day (except for the part where I had to speak in church). We attended 2 branch meetings, and one unit meeting. A branch is a group that's not big enough to be a ward, and a unit is a group that's not big enough to be a branch.

The people were so kind to us. We felt like royalty, with all the Mauri's and handshakes. The children are the sweetest - they are unspoiled, and pure. The first branch is the Christmas branch, it is the biggest. They meet in a building with benches. I wish I could explain their music. They don't have a piano, so they all sing in acapella. One person will sing the first couple of notes to get everyone on pitch, then they all sing in parts. The sound is what I imagine the choirs of heavenly angels to sound like. And they aren't shy to sing. I think they could probably be heard all over the island. I'm grateful I had the priviledge to get to hear such beautiful music.

The children were especially interested in us ematongs (white people). They wanted to shake hands or be held. We just loved them.

This is where Christmas branch has their Sunday school, primary, young mens, young mens etc., in these huts.

This is the picture of the Christmas branch church house. It is the chapel, and the cultural hall, with a sidewalk connecting the two. Behind these buildings is where the sisters/elders live, and where the sunday school huts are.

This is me with my parents in front of the Poland church. My mom and I are wearing the shirts that the women all wear.

Elders Anderl and Alberts in front of the sacrament table. They used a cooler with a white cloth. The man on the right is the only priesthood holder in this small branch of 6 people. He is an Elder. If you look to the right of him, you can see a netting. Inside this netting, there was a woman and her newborn sleeping. This church building has become church/home for this family. I guess when there was a big flood last year, and the missionaries couldn't get to this part of the island for several months - the members just dissolved and started going elsewhere for church, because there wasn't any leadership to keep it together. Only 6 or so remain.

Ira speaking at the Poland unit. Elder Alberts interpretting. This is a better picture of where the family moved in.

This is Elder and Sister Moser in front of the Banana Branch building. It also serves as a school classroom.

Ira in front of the Banana Branch building.

This is home sweet home for the Elders.

Christmas Branch party at the beach. They had it scheduled for the week after we would be gone. But when they heard we were coming, they rescheduled it so we could be there. I'm so grateful they did, because it was a wonderful experience to be part of this branch family.

Ira and I drinking coconut juice.

(gotta love that expression!)

The branch gathered together for a program of singing, skits, and dances.

Ira and I tried making rope out of the coconut fibers. These two ladies were really good at it. Us on the other hand...needed practice! They made it look so easy - but I just couldn't get those fibers to twist the way they were supposed to.

Grandpa eating fried bread fruit. It was really good, it was a similar taste to french fries made from sweet potatoes.

I've never seen so many fish in one place. And they were all ready to be cooked and eaten. As we would tell people that we don't have much fish in Idaho/Utah, and we eat beef, they would say, "No fish?...I couldn't do that." I'm thinking..."No beef?...are you kidding me?"

They cooked the fish on a piece of tin right over the fire. For a girl who doesn't love fish, this wasn't too bad. (If I could get past the fish's eyes staring at me :) ).

Ira has a stomach of steel, he can eat everything and anything without it bothering him a bit. I have never seen more rice in my life then the rice that was at this party!



We explored the ocean for sealife. This boy came to show me the sea cucumber he found.

Lavinta worked hard for this clam.

When she got it open, this is the beauty inside. I (Nicky) was told I had to eat some, so I did. Me...who doesn't love seafood, especially slimy seafood - swallowed a piece of it. Why?...just so I could say to all of you that I ate it!



Me and my daddy. He's making the sign that the kids like to make when they are having their picture taken. My dad...always a kid at heart!

This next picture, I posted just so you could fully appreciate the one that follows. This picture was taken a couple years ago while my dad was farming his corn field.

This was taken while dad (Elder Moser) is farming the ocean...some things never change! He would help the kids dig up the clams with the shovel.

This vine stuff grows all over the bushes. I don't know who was disguised beneath it - but it was pretty funny.

Notice how Elder Moser is holding this guys hands - again...some things never change. He's known on Christmas Island for his hand wrestling, just as he is at home. The kids like to give him knuckles, then they shake their hands and say, "Ow".

For part of the program, these young men did the "hakka". It was really fun to watch them. I think they were actually doing a mockery version of it, because they all kept laughing. But me know knowing the right way from the wrong way - thought it was pretty great to see them do it.

These kids liked playing games with Ira. He played baseball with them with a stick and coconut shells. And he played this game where they held onto his arms, and he'd lift them up and down until they couldn't hold on anymore.

The following two pictures are of the people going home in the transports. They crowd into these things, and away they go.

Christmas on Christmas Island (Part 6)

Ira and I got to be Santa Clause to mom and dad. We brought a few gifts from home, but since they haven't opened them - I can't reveal the secrets!

The next two pictures are of Sister and Elder Moser listenening to a tape of talking from Tysons family, some friends, and a play-by-play of Tysons State Championship football game he coached (and won!). These expressions, along with laughter, were frozen on their faces as they listened to the tape. I think that news from home is the best gift they could get.

They were sent a letter or two to be opened when we got there, and a Christmas "tree".

The extent of Christmas decorations. But when you add this with some Christmas music, then close your eyes and pretend it's cold and snowy outside - it feels like the season.

Grandma, Mom, Mrs. Clause, Sister Moser

Thanksgiving on Christmas Island (Part V)

We were able to bring a turkey with us from Hawaii to Christmas Island. We got it from the grocery store early the morning we were flying out, so that it would be frozen solid. We packed a couple steaks and roasts and of course...an eggnog around the frozen turkey. I think the turkey was a real treat to the missionaries we brought it to (except the sisters who are from the islands - I don't think they thought too much of our Thanksgiving dinner :) ). But mom's homemade rolls were a real treat to us. YuuuuuuMMMMmmmmyyyyyy!!!

This is Ira carving the Turkey in Elder and Sister Mosers kitchen.Ready for the big feast. We had our dinner in the church cultural hall.

After dinner, the Elders had us all sit in a circle with 5 coconuts each. They had spent quite a bit of time that day breaking open the coconut shells so we could have these. We went around the circle and shared with each other five things we were thankful for, and then put our coconut in a basket.

(I know the Sisters names, but I don't know how they are spelled. So I will write them the way they are pronounced, knowing the spellings are completely WRONG!).

Sister Kamouse, Sister Rotess, Elder Anderl, Elder Alberts

Our basket of blessings.

While we were sharing our things we were thankful for, this guest came into the cultural hall. What a surprise for Ira and I, who aren't quite used to life on the islands yet. A crab walking into the church??? So Elder Alberts caught him with his foot. He (the crab), is lucky we had already had dinner!

Christmas Island (Part IIII)

This post is my observation of Christmas Island. In some of the things I write, I may be off a little in how I understood it, but I think I understood most of it. Their is so much poverty on these islands - yet they seem to be such a happy people. Life works at a much, MUCH slower pace than I'm used to. It is a joke amongst the people that everything runs on Kiribati time - which means...really late (if your lucky). Some things don't even happen at all! Life consists of the basics of staying alive - no thought for all the extras that we think are needs. There was even a Botaki (party) that was supposed to start at 7:00 one night, and go until 9:00. We waited for about an hour, then decided to go home. The next day we found out it didn't even start until I think 10 PM. As I was saying...KIRIBATI TIME!

This is the cemetery. They just find an empty spot and start digging. Remember that the island is all coral (rock-like). So I think it would be quite a task to dig a hole that big??? Then they mark the spot with rocks around the area, or sticks and flags. Some even built small shelters above the site. People have to be buried within 24 hours, because they don't have access to embalming like we do.

Below are a few pictures of the typical homes on Kiribati. Some are made from coconut tree leaves for roofs and the wood for poles to hold the roof up. Others are made from tin. Some have tarps as walls. There are a few which are made from cinder block. Some have one shelter which serves as the kitchen, another shelter which serves as a sitting area, and another one which serves as the sleeping area. Most homes are found clumped together in villages. I think most of them cook on a fire, not ovens and stoves.

This is how they collect "Tauti ". It is their form of sugar and of alcohol. When it is new, it is a sweetener, or a sweet drink. They cook it down to make a thick syrup that tastes much like mollasses. When they let it ferment for a few days, it becomes alcohol. They get the sap from the coconut tree. It comes from the tree, and you can see they have a leaf that is set up between the stick coming out to the bottle, so that the liquid can collect in the bottle. I don't really know how it works, but that's the best way I understood it.

Elder Anderl (I think...I kept confusing his name, so forgive me if I got it wrong AGAIN!). I also can't remember what these things are called that he's eating - but they are very popular. They grow in clumps on a plant that kind of looks like a pineapple on the outside. But you break apart pieces and eat the piece. They are really, really stringy, and people refer to them as a toothbrush. I'd say more like floss, the way those strings get stuck in your teeth! I had it fresh, and also cooked in sweet and condenced milk and tauti juice. You often see people eating these.

Ira

My mom holding the main plant. This is the inside of the plant. The white part in the middle is just the stem part that they are all attached to.

This is the outside of the plant. OK, maybe not pineapple - maybe broccolli??? Each of those green clumps is a seperate piece.

Fishing is one of the few ways they make money on the islands.

Fish drying in the sun.

The following picture is Kopra - coconut drying in the sun is one of the few ways they can earn money. They ship the coconut out to other countries. It is a lot of work, for not a lot of money. Other ways some people earn money is to work for the government as school teachers, bankers, post office, police, airport etc. But compared to the population, there aren't many of those jobs available.

Nicky in front of the grocery store. There was actually more options there than I thought. Mom tells me that they have started stocking a lot more things than they used to. She said that after they have special ordered a few items, then next time they go to the store, they have stocked that item. So I think Elder and Sister Moser are trend setters at the grocery store! Now...if they would only carry beef and eggnog!!!

They keep things stocked in these train cars (that's what I call them, cuz they carry those big containers on the trains or the boats. From what I could tell, it looked like prices were about 4-5x higher than in the states. OUCH!!

My parents in front of their house. This is where Ira and I stayed while we visited. It was like putting a puzzle together every night to fit a couple of mattresses on the empty floor space in the kitchen - Aaahhh...good times!!

The people get their drinking water either from wells dug in the ground, or they have these pontoons (I think that's what their called??). The rain water comes off the roof, and drains into these. This is my dad filling up a bucket of water, which he then brings in the house and pumps through a filter to make it suitable for drinking.

I'm so bad with names, so I can't remember this guys name. But he was helping with the tropical fish that some dive for and bring up to sell as pets throughout the world. The night before the plane comes, they take these fish and put them in bags with oxygen to sustain them until they get to Hawaii. Each of those little containers have fish in them.

(FYI: he has the bag in his mouth, cuz he's trying to show me the fish)

Our last night on the island, we went to a restaurant that's at a hotel. My parents just recently discovered they could eat there. I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't eat - but they say it was good. Anyways, it is a hotel for the fishermen who come to the island. So the last night before the plane comes, they do a show with the native dance. I loved watching them, and am amazed at how they can move their hips like that!

The following two pictures are of the sunRISE at the Lagoon. It is about a 5 minute walk to the Lagoon from my parents house.

The following pictures are of a sunSET at the ocean, it is also about a 5 minute walk from my parents house.