The Sheppards in Micronesia

Coming Home!

2011-08-18T17:34:00.000+10:00

To all our good friends and family,

We have just received official notification that our work here is almost done. We will be leaving the Islands of Yap at 2:30 in the morning on September 7th *(yes.. only 3 weeks from now!). We will be flying Yap > Guam > Osaka > Seattle > Vancouver > Nanaimo. I have to say, that I am terribly disappointed that Paris isn't included in our itinerary.

If all the flights connect properly and are on time, we "should" be home at 5:50PM on September 7th. It will be a full 40 hours after our initial departure, yet because of the International dateline thing, we will arrive only 16 hours after we leave. Needless to say, I doubt we will be ready for a big party on the night we arrive.

These final weeks will be an emotional time for us. As much as we are anxious to be home, we will be leaving behind huge pieces of our hearts and souls. Because the only two flights to and from Yap each week are in the middle of the night, we never get to see our little island from the air during daylight hours. So we will be saying goodbye to a few tiny lights in the darkness as we leave them behind, probably forever.

We've felt the entire spectrum of emotion at various times here. Though we've felt unappreciated, rejected, untalented, ignored, underutilized, fearful, depressed, anxious, frustrated, confused, uncharitable, and angry at times, our assignment has been an experience we will treasure forever. Though it has been a constant battle to feel like we might have made a difference here, we, ourselves, have grown a lot! We have helped here and there. We have done what we do best, and that is to find success in seeing minor changes in the lives of individuals. We hope and pray that we will have helped a few come closer to their potential. Our weaknesses have become evident, but at the same time the experience has allowed us to discover our strengths and to put life in proper perspective.

I am certain that we will experience some culture shock as we try to integrate back into the speed, noise, lights, and pace of western civilization. I know we will have a new appreciation for so many of the things we used to take for granted.

Our best to you all. We look forward to seeing you soon. Get ready for a zillion slideshows of life in Yap!

Love,

Leigh & Winona.

Time Flies

2011-05-31T19:01:00.000+10:00

I am amazed... two months have gone by since my last series of posts... and even harder to believe is that we have less than 4 months left before we are sent home! It seems incredible that our time here is running out so quickly. Seminary and Institute are over, and so we will be spending the next few months updating membership records, visiting people, documenting what we have been doing... and preparing things for our replacement.

We will soon be making note of our "last this" and "last that". We've just had our last District Conference, our last Mother's Day, about to have our last Father's Day, Winona's last birthday, our last Couple's Conference. We've said goodbye to our Mission President and his wife, who are heading home at the end of June.

Our connection to the Internet has actually gotten slower over the months. As the Telecom keeps adding new subscribers, it simply increases the bottleneck, and we get slower and slower. As a result, posting pictures on the blog has become increasingly difficult. It takes forever to do anything. Compounding the problem, it now thinks I am attaching to the internet through Thailand, and lots of things, including the login screen are in Thai characters.

So.. .I have about reached the limits of my patience for today, so I will post one picture and call it quits for now, but I will try to post a bit every day or two for the next few days, and catch up on things. They will be in no particular order... as that would just make the chaos look like it had some order to it.. but I promise that the context of the posting will at least explain what you are seeing.

So... today's photo... almost randomly chosen because I'm impatient and crabby...

Not satisfied with destroying buildings and furniture, this is what termites in this area do to scriptures, and hymnbooks. Something tells me termites won't be going to heaven!

To our followers on Facebook!

2011-03-19T23:59:00.000+10:00

I have discovered that most of our visitors are actually reading our blog entries on Winona's Facebook site, because we have linked the blog to her site... as a result, your comments are not actually showing up on the blog... only on HER facebook!! Also, your visits are not being counted as visits to the blog, and I REALLY want to see your dot on my Map. We'd like to invite you all, to actually visit the blog at:

http://thesheppardsinmicronesia.blogspot.com

and please, leave a comment there.

Bugs in the Flour

2011-03-19T18:11:00.003+10:00

Winona took this picture while I was baking cinnamon buns. She thinks I am a little eccentric when it comes to cooking... so she took this picture as proof for our posterity. Hey, when a recipe calls for me to divide a 12" inch roll of dough into 2" pieces, I take it very literally!

She also thought it was rather ironic that I would use a measuring tape to get things "just right", when I often make fun of how my dad used to measure wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, door frame to window, to make sure that when he hung a picture it was exactly the right height, perfectly centered with the objects in the room and placed in the exact spot so as to not throw the earth off its axis. Well, she was sure that he would be proud of me... his legacy lives on... it's hereditary!

I use the cinnamon buns as bribes to get students to class on time. Those who arrive early, get warm cinnamon buns before class.

Students who arrive late eat at the end of the class if there happens to be any left over. It worked very well... except that when I stopped making cinnamon buns, students stopped coming on time...

I also use the cinnamon buns as an object lesson to explain the creation. I show them the bag of flour, the cinnamon, the sugar, eggs, butter, salt and yeast. The finished product looks nothing like the material it is made of. The students all agree that I am indeed the "creator" of the buns even though I didn't create them from nothing. I "created" the buns with the raw ingredients and formed them into a magnificent finished product. The parallels with the Creation of heaven and earth become very self-evident for them... God is indeed our Creator but he did not create the heavens and the earth from nothing.


My creation - with a small 'c'

Someone tries to throw me off by asking about the dinosaurs! Inspiration hits me -- not doctrinally verifiable, but a plausible explanation. I mention the bugs I found in the flour as I was preparing the dough...(not really, but it had the desired effect!)

Everyone stops eating and looks suspiciously at the bun they were enjoying.

"Has anyone ever seen a live dinosaur?"

"Nope, all we have is bones, and fossils."

"So all we have is the skeletal remains of what used to be dinosaurs..."

"Right"

"Are you going to see any live bugs in your buns?"

"I hope not" is the general response as the chewing stops.

"So all we have is the skeletal remains of what used to be bugs in the flour..." ???

The lights begin to go on... (but they're still looking suspiciously at the bun in their hand)

Is it possible that dinosaurs were just "bugs in the flour" that was used to form the earth?

I can't teach that, but I DO like baking cinnamon buns!

Tropical Skies

2011-03-19T11:56:00.000+10:00

Yap Canoe Festival

Canoe Festival

Gagil

Hollywood?

Gagil

Mangroves cover the shore

Manhouse

Guam - Sheraton Laguna Resort - view from our room

Guam

Mandatory Sunset Photo

Boathouse Construction

2011-03-18T05:03:00.000+10:00

These two boathouses are being built between the main road and the lagoon. It is fascinating to watch the progress. This represents pretty typical Yapese architecture. Most homes, have a resting place that is constructed in a pretty similar fashion. They are built completely from local materials, tied or woven together to form a solid shelter from the sun and the rain.

Click for full-size image

Peanut Butter Sandwiches

2011-03-18T04:29:00.001+10:00

We are so grateful to have been able to stay in touch with our kids via the internet. We really enjoy "chatting" and find we have much more in depth conversations with our kids via chat than we do during the occasional opportunity we get to "phone home".

Don't get me wrong, we love the opportunity to talk, and have even been able to use Skype on occasion to view each other.. We really look forward to those opportunities... but, my favorite is still chatting. We get the chance to talk for hours sometimes, making jokes, updating each other on news and happenings in our lives, and just enjoying the opportunity to visit. Plus, we talk about things we would never talk about otherwise. We solve world problems, exchange recipes, send links to cool websites, and fill our chats with lots of emoticons.

Even this blog gives me in particular, the chance to keep a personal journal in a very public way... more public than I had anticipated actually. We are getting visitors and readers and comments from all over the world. I am amazed actually, and want to welcome you all. I am excited to see new dots show up on the Maploco app at the bottom of the blog and even recognize who some of the dots represent. I have a pretty good idea who it is that is checking us out from Africa, and from Pakistan, and from the Marshall Islands, and from Victoria BC, and Calgary, and from our hometown, and Montreal and Iceland. I recognize the visits from our daughter in Virginia, and our son in Washington State. I see hits from many of our fellow senior missionaries serving in other parts of the world, some of our former students from Taiwan, Beijing, Korea, and Japan. I know who you are and want to thank all of you for your visits.

There are hundreds of visitors from other areas of the world that I am fascinated by. From Moscow, and Germany, and Italy, and New Guinea. The South American visitors have me baffled, and France, and Saudi Arabia, and Burundi. Its all very exciting, and suddenly I realize that I have a responsibility to make your visits worthwhile. I guess this is what happens when your blog gets to the first page on Google. (if you happen to have searched for "Yap Days"). Please... leave a comment, introduce yourself, say hi!

Winona and I have now been here for 16 months. We have become accustomed to the ebb and flow of life on the Islands of Yap. The food items on our shelves come from two main sources. The first is from the local stores who are totally dependent upon deliveries from supply ships. Our shelves are generally well stocked with items so that we have eggs, and butter, and milk, and rice, and flour to make it through until the next supply ship comes in. We have learned actually, that when something runs out in one store, it runs out in ALL stores. If EMI is out of butter, generally so is YCA, and Pic 'n Save, and Ace's Mart... and we would simply have to adapt to not using butter for awhile.. except that we have learned what to stock up on.

In many ways, shopping here reminds us of shopping in Costco. If you see something you want, you buy it, because you may never see it again!

Our second source of items on our shelves is from "Care Packages" from our kids!! We LOVE our care packages... full of stuff we just can't get here. Nuts, and candies, and chocolate (although, it all melts by the time it gets to us!) and Adams Crunchy style Peanut Butter!! Oh, we can get peanut butter here... Skippy, and Best Yet, and Springfield, and Smuckers, and Goobers... but, I am sorry... nothing compares with Adam's Crunchy Style. (Even "Adams Smooth" isn't what it used to be since Smuckers bought them!)

We have survived without eggs for weeks, without milk, or butter, or flour... but now we have begun to suffer our worst drought... our peanut butter is gone... We got out the rubber spatula, used our fingers, whatever we could think of to get the last bits out of the jar, but alas.. the above is our last and final peanut butter sandwich.

Tsunami -- Outer Islands and Atolls in Micronesia

2011-03-18T03:04:00.000+10:00

I have had several requests for further updates on the outer islands of Yap, and the atolls in Micronesia that would easily have been completely swept away in the wake of the tsunami from the earthquake in Japan had they been in the direct path of the larger swells.

I have been in touch with several people from the outer islands of Yap, and have confirmed with them that the outer islands experienced what simply amounted to a "high tide". Same with Majuro and the hundreds of other islands in this area of the Pacific. I have had no reports of damage or injuries from any of the Micronesian Islands, including Guam.

I also received a report from associates in Japan, and have included excerpts here:

Thank you very much for your encouragements.

People in Tokyo area are fine. All the S&I employees and their family were not impacted by the earthquake and the tsunami. Trains system in Tokyo started to move today almost as usual but TV news keeps reporting about missing people in the stricken area and nuclear plant.

Talking about Tohoku area, which is almost identical to the area covered by Sendai Mission, I hope things won’t get worse any more. So many people were killed by Tsunami and many more are still missing. More than 10,000 people were killed or missing. Groups of people are still isolated from the other areas because road were destroyed by the disaster. People are suffering from the shortage of water, food, kerosene, electricity, gasoline, medicines, and even the way to communicate with other area under the snowy countryside environment. Cell phone doesn’t work at all since the facilities are also damaged. Addition to that the trouble at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima seems getting worse.

However, the Church members are helping each other in such stricken areas. Some of them reported that they have been blessed by the benefit of the food storages. PBAO has sent out people to the stricken area to organize the volunteers.

I think things are OK for now at least in other than Sendai Mission. We keep our eyes on the situation of the nuclear plant and praying for people in the stricken area.

We too are praying for the people affected by this disaster. Our hearts go out to all of you. The bits of information we get have us greatly concerned as we see photographs, satellite images, and news clippings of the devastation, and begin to realize the impact this will have on the entire world. When I see photos of entire cities flattened and debris strewn for miles and miles, I am actually amazed that there weren't hundreds of thousands of people killed by this. We stand in awe at the resiliance of the Japanese people!

March 11, 2011 - Tsunami Warning

2011-03-12T20:20:00.002+10:00

At about 6:15PM local time, I got an email from our mission office that a Tsunami warning had been issued for the entire Pacific Basin, due to a massive M8.9 earthquake in Japan. As you can see from some of the previous pictures I have posted, many of the buildings, and villages in Yap are near the water.

We immediately called the younger Missionaries and learned that they were watching news of the earthquake and its resulting tsunami on TV at the Telecom office. We suggested they continue to do that for awhile, as it was not expected to hit the area for at least another hour, so they could keep us updated.

I called the Branch Presidents, and anyone we knew who lived in low-lying areas, and then hopped into the truck to check on a few people we couldn't reach by phone. I stopped a few times to warn a few people who were walking or jogging around the lagoon and probably hadn't heard of the impending danger.

As I checked on local stores, most knew about the tsunami warning, but seemed unconcerned. Actually, as I approached some of the people that I had come to warn, I was given polite smiles, and heard a few chuckles as I departed. The locals obviously had a sixth sense about this, because sure enough, as has happened twice before since we've been here... nothing...

Not complaining... definitely the better outcome. It was a non-event for this little island. On the other hand, the outer islands of Yap which range as far as 800 miles away, are much smaller, much flatter, much more susceptible to being swept over by a large Tsunami. I haven't heard any news of them, but am sure I would have if they had been hit.

So for my friends back home -- we are fine, unaffected actually. Life goes on as normal. As for the bits of news feeds we have seen of the destruction in Japan, our hearts go out to them, and to the families back home affected by the destruction. We know there is still danger with the nuclear reactors, and pray that they are able to be contained and a third disaster avoided.

Yapese Architecture

2010-12-26T16:57:00.001+10:00

Women's House

Men's House

Men's and Women's House :-)

Signs of the Times!

2010-09-14T05:11:00.002+10:00

Yap doesn't have a professional sign painter. I am still trying to figure out if stores don't have signs because there is no graphic artist in Yap... or if there is no graphic artist in Yap because there are no signs! If there is a sign advertising a store, it is hand painted, and often with nothing more elaborate than a felt pen.

The only neon sign on the Island is one hanging in the window of EMI (local grocery/wholesale outlet) that says "CLOSE" in brightly lit red neon. As we pass it each night after closing time, I amuse myself by considering the sign's true meaning... is it a command that tells the staff to close, and close fast.. because, after all, its the only lit sign in Yap, and it's red!

Or, it could mean that I am getting close to something special enough to warrant a lit sign...but as I drive on and look back across the lagoon, I can still see its eery red image and it still says CLOSE... even tho' I am clearly by now, FAR from whatever it was I was once close to.

Stores and offices are immensely difficult to recognize, as most do not have signs, and they look just like any other house. It is assumed that you know it's a store, or if you don't, you'll ask someone "is that a store?" ...simple! Who needs a sign?

Streets aren't named either, presumably for the same reason... although it puts us back into the same conundrum... are the streets not named because they don't have signs, or are there no signs for the streets because they are not named? Again, the thought is.. if you really want to find someone, you'll simply head in the general direction, and ask "Where does Gubung live?" Everyone knows, and they'll point you in the general direction, and then you ask again as you get closer... here is where that neon sign might come in handy!

Then I found this!!! It's a rare sign to advise people that they should slow down. It reads "Please slow down your car cause our road is not real good". It was an understatement... and probably unnecessary since you couldn't possibly go fast on this road.

RATS!! I just noticed that this is going to publish under Winona's account! I have become totally technologically challenged since I quit the industry. I have no idea how to twitter... Facebook confuses me completely.. I don't twit, or tweet, or face, or wiki. I leave that to Winona entirely! Googling and blogging is about where I am at in the evolution of the personal computer. The blog is a nice way to share my journal, but the "editor" frustrates me no end. So, rather than try to fight it, I am just going to accept the fact that this post will say it is coming from Winona... I have the same dilemma with Google Talk (chat) ... my kids have gotten used to the fact that when it says "Winona says:" it is likely me... especially if it shows her as being online at 3am Yap time! Winona is NEVER on any time after 11pm or anytime prior to 7am. ... if it says she is.. its me! Same with this post... this post cannot be blamed on Winona.

Hmmm .. even more confusing.. the preview publishes as Winona... but the final copy came out as me! I am definitely showing signs of serious aging! (PS .. note the amount of grey showing up in my hair. Arrgh! Another sign of the times! )

Being Bogged-down by Blog Bugs

2010-08-24T06:26:00.002+10:00

First I want to apologize for the month-and-a-half long gap since my last post! (can I blame writer's block?). I really wanted to rectify the situation today, but as I began working on the blog, I hit a few bugs in the process.. I won't bore you with the details except to say that as I tried to fix it, things went from bad to worse. I ended up getting a "bX-rg6px" error message, which is really helpful!!

I thought, "bummer!, I've lost my blog!!"

... you will notice that I ended up with a changed background. Its not really the background I wanted, but at least the blog works, even if somewhat more difficult to read. I figured I'd better leave well enough alone for now. But with all the techno-troubles today I have run out of time to add any new posts... except this one... :-)

I'll try again another day.

Addendum: it's now another day, and the background has been changed to something I actually like, (using a different background provider ... is that what they are called?) Unfortunately not all of the background picture actually shows up on the screen... the prettiest portion is somewhere down below my available screen real-estate. Those of you with higher resolution monitors than mine may get a better picture than I can on my laptop.

I have also added a slideshow gizmo (gadget actually!) which we can update very readily using Picasa. We will be adding photos to the slide show in random fashion from time to time, but will provide captions that will hopefully make up for some of the "randomness". It will provide us an opportunity to give you lots of pictures of our mission experience thus far, without filling the blog with hundreds of photos to sift through.

How to husk a coconut with a screwdriver.

2010-07-06T07:03:00.001+10:00

These pictures were taken some time ago, but offer a glimpse into a talent I have yet to grasp. Getting to the coconut inside is a seemingly impossible task to us North Americans. Usually the islanders husk the coconuts on a sharp stick or pole firmly anchored into the ground. With those, I've seen them husk as many as five in 60 seconds but they have an inherent risk of being impaled through the chest with just one slip.

We often get the missionaries to husk one for us using a machete, which also works well but has the inherent risk of losing a hand or a foot... depending on which you use to hold the coconut in place while you chop it to pieces with the machete.

In this series of photographs, Alfred Nam demonstrates how to do it with a screwdriver... it takes longer, and more muscle power but it shows that it can be done. It has the inherent risk of breaking into buckets of sweat as you wrestle with these things.

Beginning to see results

This is the part where I break into a sweat.

That's a lot of husk for a little nut (I think he did a second one while I wasn't looking!)

Ok..now we still need to get to the actual coconut

ah... the machete comes in here!

Perfect!

Scripture Chase II

2010-06-11T22:24:00.007+10:00

The Scripture Chase was divided into two parts. Part 1 was a written team test. A perfect score would have given them 25 points. They had exactly 10 minutes to complete the test.

So... rather than all of the students trying to remember all 25 scriptures, they decided that each one would concentrate on memorizing the references, clues, and content of only 5 scriptures, each one with a differenct set of 5. As the clues were given, they would recognize that the clue was for one of their 5, and they would lead the others to the correct scripture. The strategy worked well, but it had one flaw... because each one hadn't learned all 25 scriptures, there was some dispute about which scripture fit which clue, and so they ended up with the same scripture being used for two different clues

Seminary Class 24

Missionaries 25

Round 1 to the Missionaries

It was fun just to see the teamwork

Round 2 was the 'basketball' round:

While one team deciphered clues and hunted down the scripture, the other team shot baskets. We initially had the Missionaries shooting from the 3 point line, while the seminary students could shoot from anywhere... (hey, the missionaries are a lot taller!! and they are guys! It seemed only fair). The handicap was a little too much, ... I forgot, white men can't shoot... so we quickly let them shoot from the foul line.

As soon as the team hunting down scriptures had all found their scriptures, the scoring of baskets stopped. Even a ball that was in the air when the bell sounded was out of play at that point. So, if you weren't so good at Scripture Chase, but could shoot baskets you still had a fighting chance to win.

The Seminary Students were the clear winner of round 1 of the basketball portion... so we had them play round2 with the same rules as the missionaries... all shots from behind the foul line. The missionaries sqeaked by with a 1 point lead for round 2 of the basketball shootout.

Overall, however, the students ended up with more overall points... giving the missionaries a good workout! (playing basketball in white shirt and tie in 90 degree weather in the hot afternoon sun is a clear disadvantage.) and leaving the Seminary Class delighted with a great comback!

The ability to shoot pays off!

The Proud Graduates

Scripture Chase

2010-06-11T07:14:00.002+10:00

Every year, the Seminary students are taught 25 "Scripture Mastery" scriptures. By knowing and understanding these scriptures, and knowing where to find them, the students are then able to draw upon those scriptures as they prepare lessons, or talks later in life. Many of these scriptures have deep personal meaning to the students as the principles taught begin to shape their lives.

At the end of the school year, we held a "Scripture Chase" with the full-time missionaries. In the demonstration match held with two of the missionaries vs. the seminary class, it became obvious that the missionaries were formidable opponents! The missionaries were given brand-new, unmarked scriptures... the students had marked their scriptures, crumpled their pages, color coded the edges of the pages, along with a few "cheat sheets", I'm sure... but were soundly defeated by the missionaries...

The students worked hard over the next few weeks to be in better shape for the live competition... (the theme song from Rocky has suddenly entered my head...)!

They also got together to work on a few strategies... mostly legal.. to give them an edge in the competition....

PLUS...

For the live event, we threw in a few twists to make it a little more competitive

Sister Sheppard explaining the rules...

Missionaries vs. Seminary Class

The most intense we'd seen them all year!

The missionaries seem more relaxed, don't you think?

....

Don't miss the exciting conclusion in my next post!!

....

Rocky II theme Music ...

Tranquility

2010-06-10T21:02:00.000+10:00

Preparation for Canoe Races.... 156 days left!

Grade 8 Graduation

2010-06-10T19:49:00.000+10:00

At last we have DSL! We can upload pictures without worring about the cost or the amount of time it takes!

local warriors.

Bamboo Dance

hundreds of congratulatory leis

Our Little Island

2010-06-10T19:28:00.000+10:00

Sometimes, words are not enough!

Mother Hen in the jungle

2010-06-10T17:35:00.004+10:00

Anna Faltinag and I went to visit some of the branch members one Sunday and found ourselves adopted by four baby chickens. The place we stopped, unfortunately, had no one at home but the family's chickens greeted us as friends. We left a note to say we had been by and started to walk up the jungle path to the road where we had left the car. We had only made it a few yards before we realized that the baby chicks that had been running around our feet were now in hot pursuit! Anna realized they were expecting to be fed and from their vantage point we looked like the feeders! Anna made efforts to trick them into thinking the food was here or there by scratching the dirt and gathering them all into a circle, while she tried to step out and walk away. They would have none of that and quickly gathered at her feet again. We laughed and laughed as we made several more unsuccessful attempts to escape from the brood.

Anna finally succeeded when she found a coconut husk that still had bits of coconut left inside, and put it on the ground. The chicks immediately began pecking at it so Anna quickly ran up the path and got far enough away, fast enough, that the chicks stayed pecking and didn't notice she'd gone. Just another day in Yap.

Full Moon + Land Crabs = RoadKill

2010-05-28T00:42:00.000+10:00

Full Moon tonight, and things get weird in Yap... I wrote about crabbing during a full moon a few months ago, but this month was just down-right Outer Limits weird. Even though the moon was hidden behind clouds tonight, somehow all the land crabs on Yap know that tonight is the night to go night-crawling. As we drive with high beams lighting the roadway ahead we can see creatures from TRON scurrying in front of us. We are driving slowly, so we swerve to try and avoid them, but they obviously have no idea that cars have 4 wheels and so they end up scurrying right under my back tires, and the resulting crunch is quite disturbing. As the night gets darker, the throng gets thicker and in some areas of the road they are so thick that we have little choice but to drive right over them. Roadkill is everywhere, as we are obviously not the first ones to travel the road tonight. Local citizens are all over the sides of the road scooping crabs into plastic bags. Winona is wearing flip-flops, so she is too afraid to get out and try to catch a few of these things... (she forgets that most of the locals are barefoot!!) ... as for me?? ... well, these things are just plain creepy and don't really taste all that good, so we decide that we are quite happy with the imitation Crab that is in our freezer. I am still not sure what the attraction of a full moon is to the crabs, nor how they tell, but someone should get the word out to them that its not safe out there!

Ramblings... (part deux)

2010-05-20T07:02:00.012+10:00

As you can tell from the last posting, we are settling in here. Winona is being extremely easy on me by loving what she is doing here. We are given lots of freedom to get involved in almost any sort of charitable work we want to and so we sort of stumbled into the ASL class at the high school one day. When we arrived in Yap, one of the first things we checked out was the local library. Yap actually had one, not all the smaller islands have libraries, so we were excited. However, we found the library to be poorly stocked and many of the books are old and musty smelling but we applied for a library card and Winona checked out a few books just so she could have an excuse to go back. The library consists of four or five shelves that are three levels high and some magazine racks...that's it. We also looked to find new books in the local stores but none of the stores carry books at all! We began to realize why even though most people speak pretty good English, few can read very well. Even sadder, they don't read Yapese either, because there are so few Yapese books in the world! Our church is one of the few organizations that is working hard to make all of its material available in all of the Micronesian languages.. Yapese, Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Palauan, and Kosraean. (there is little use for these languages elsewhere in the world, and so most people (including ourselves) are amazed at the amount of money the church spends in translation efforts.

You'll appreciate the process they go through to make this happen. I am assisting with getting the Yapese translation team setup to work effectively in Yap. The translators consist of 5 high school and college aged kids who are good enough in English and Yapese written skills to be able to translate, plus one middle-aged lady who is a professional teacher, and approves and/or corrects the work of the young translators before it goes for final proofreading and publication. Telephone and Internet access are a problem here, so part of my job is trying to make the computer system work as efficiently as possible, and to make sure that other capable people are being trained in the procedures involved in translation so that we always have a supply of translators available. Remember, we are training locals to translate from English into Yapese... not the other way around! No one else is doing that! It feels good to be able to help even though I don't speak the language! We recently had General Conference (a series of about 6 hours of speeches) being broadcast from Salt Lake City that needed to be translated into Yapese live, during the broadcast! Speeches were prepared ahead of time in English by the presenters, and a transcript sent via Internet to the office in Guam and then to our team. They get the transcript in Microsoft Word and it has all kinds of special embedded codes in the documents that are used later in the process. The translators get to choose which job they want and get paid almost $10US per page .. the "page" is actually only about a half page because each page is split in two, half being the original English text. If the girls are good at their jobs, they can easily produce 2 pages per hour.. easily one of the best paying jobs in Yap! (College teachers with Masters degrees get paid $18,000 per year! .. that's another story!) If they could type like professional typists.. they'd be able to hit 4 pages per hour.

This is a poster that I made of the translation team in Yap. The girl in the top right and the woman in the middle do the bulk of the translation. The girl in the bottom left is a return missionary, and does some work as well. The others are "in training".

Once they finish the translation, it gets sent back to the translation office in Guam and gets sent out for correction and initial approval by anyone of a dozen or so former missionaries or Yapese natives living elsewhere. (They have to switch back and forth between native Yapese who speak English as a second language, and native English speakers who speak Yapese as a second language to ensure that the nuances of each language have been accounted for). From there it goes to a proofreader and then finally back to Salt Lake City where they have a team of interpreters who will read the final text synchronized with the live English presenter. The embedded codes are used at this point so that during the live presentations the speakers see English on the teleprompter, and the interpreters will get a synchronized version in Yapese (or whatever other language may be being interpreted).. all at the same time. Written text is handled pretty much the same way, except audio interpreters are not needed...the material goes to a publisher instead. Finally, the broadcast is sent back to Yap via DVD.. the differences in Time Zone make Satellite live broadcasts rather useless. By the time it gets to this point, thousands of dollars have been spent just to get the Yapese translation completed accurately and on time... and then 15 or 20 of the locals get to view the "broadcast"! This is clearly an investment meant to preserve the language for the future generations. I am absolutely amazed at the translation efforts that go on when you consider that there are only about 6500 people IN THE WORLD who speak Yapese! The young missionaries that are sent here become totally comfortable with the language in less than 6 months and always impress the locals when they are able to converse with them so well. Us old missionaries??? .. not so much!

Below are a few photos of a resident of the village of Gargey using her loom to weave a lava lava. (wrap-around) She is from the island of Woleai (one of the outer islands) and now living with her family in Yap. She is sitting on the concrete floor of her home. Note how she uses her toes to assist with getting the loom ready. They do the same thing when making flower laies and baskets. Using toes and feet is just as good as having 4 hands.

The strap across her back is attached to the board on her lap so she can use her legs to provide tension on the loom as she weaves. When she gets tired of weaving, she rolls up the thread with the boards, sticks and tubes used for the separations onto the part of the frame near her feet. The pegs sticking up on the frame keep the boards and material in place while she rests.

You can see part of the Lava Lava she is wearing (black with orange stripes) underneath the sheet she has put over her legs for modesty as she works. It is easy to recognize the outer islanders because they almost always wear these lava lavas and you will never see a Yapese person wearing them. They all learn to weave their own. They are all of a similar pattern, but vary in color and width of the stripes. They are all knee length and are really very attractive. You'll rarely see them in anything else, although a few have broken from tradition and will wear other styles of clothing. Most wear T-shirts of a matching or complementary color.. or are topless. Being bare-breasted is not considered immodest, but they are very careful to cover their thighs. You will never see any of the Outer Islanders, or the Yapese women, in shorts or mini-skirts.

Anyway, back to the library thing... Winona is having a wonderful time at the High School . She learned some ASL a few years ago from a deaf couple in Nanaimo. She never got good enough to be able to keep up with a normal conversation, but she could communicate well enough with a deaf person if they signed slowly for her. When the deaf couple moved back to Baltimore, a few years ago we thought we would never see them again and that the likelihood of her ever being able to use her ASL was pretty slim. Fortunately, we were able to find them while we travelled through Baltimore last summer and the spark was rekindled. She wants to add her own blog entry so she will tell you all about her ASL adventures in our next post.

As for me, I'm becoming well known for my cooking! Can I now claim to be internationally renowned? Let's just put it this way... there is a reason that you'll never find Yapese cuisine in the US or Canada. Bland, bland, and more bland. The favorite succulent dish is Turkey Tail. (That's what my mom used to call "The Pope's Nose"... although that sounds like it is likely a totally non-politically correct name for it! I'm not sure which Pope it was that inspired the name, I am sure that he wouldn't be hard to recognize if a portrait was available...) Lets just say, that one of us had to learn to take the locally available materials and turn them into something that actually had some flavor to it...We have been to few of the local restaurants, (which are actually very reasonably priced!) but soon learned that every restaurant in town has exactly the same menu... stir fried fish, pork, or chicken; curried fish, pork or chicken; sizzling fish, pork or chicken, fish, pork or chicken in coconut sauce (which is pretty good actually) or Ramen noodles and egg, OR the worst hamburgers you've ever eaten!..Winona was busy with ASL, Yapese, and Woleaian, so I jumped into the kitchen for survival!

I (along with Winona as sous-chef) have a continual supply of Sushi rice, sushi vinegar, wasabi and Nori, crab and tuna on hand for serving up Sushi in a flash. We make our own pickled ginger, and are two of the few on the Island that can use chopsticks. I've adapted a few recipes from a cooking class I took a couple of years ago, including Salad Wraps (which are tricky with the short supply of fresh veggies here!) with homemade Thai peanut sauce. I've made the usual Stir Fry but have learned to make Lemon Chicken and the best Coconut Shrimp I've ever eaten... (using my own fresh grated coconut). Oh, and coconuts are lying on the ground everywhere, so when you want one, you just pick one up, shake it to make sure it still has juice in it, and use a machete to remove the husk (or in our case we use a friend with a machete to remove the husk!).. Because coconut is free, I try to use it in a lot of recipes. I've tried coconut syrup on French Toast and coconut. I was using coconut milk smoothies, Virgin Chi-Chi's and coconut, banana and chocolate milkshakes on a regular basis (until the blender broke...) Out of desperation when we had nothing but onions in our house I made French Onion soup from scratch... it was phenomenal - as good as any we've had even at the Keg... so we have that every few days as well.

We had the Mission President and his wife over for dinner on their last visit to the Island. They liked it! and have appointed me to be the head chef for the Couple Conference coming up in Guam in July. It means we'll have to go over a few days early in order to get everything properly "prep'd" for the event :-)

In spite of the low wages here, groceries are ridiculously expensive, and expiry dates mean nothing. A quart of whipping cream is $8.50! So, I make my own French Dressing, Creamy Italian Dressing, Coleslaw dressing, and Thousand Island. I also make large batches of a stir-fry sauce that everyone raves about. I invented it on Christmas day when I did a stir fry and needed a sauce. I started with Soy Sauce, Sugar and Vinegar and then added anything else I could find that was either hot (Sambal Oelek, garlic, ginger), tangy (lime juice), or sweet (pineapple juice)... heated it up, added corn starch and suddenly everyone was wanting the recipe... It is great on Sushi as well.

Lately I've gotten into baking bread, (imported bread is $4.50 a loaf and is frozen) local bread is the same price but is "fresh"... but the the bread is very dense, has no stretch to it, and tastes like no bread I've ever eaten before. We were lucky enough to have a great Bread Machine in the apartment, so I started by making loaves of regular white bread and whole wheat bread. The flour is suspiciously old by the time it gets here, and the yeast is also of questionable quality, the only milk we can buy is in tetra-paks with a one year shelf-life, so I was concerned about that too... but the bread turned out great, so I was encouraged. I now make about 4 loaves a week. I've made French Bread and baguettes, Italian Bread, the most awesome cinnamon buns (look up clone of a Cinnabon on Google), and then I had a dream one night about how to make hamburger and hot dog buns! (I can't believe I told you that!.. who dreams about things to bake?). Believe it or not, I do actually do some work too... but without TV, movie theatres, motorcycles, or many other distractions, I tend to be able to spend a few minutes in the kitchen (or dreaming about hamburger buns!) without interferring too much with other responsibilities.

We do have one concern and that is that we don't have a bathroom scale...

Coconut Shrimp -- made with fresh coconut! Hmmm!

Ramblings...

2010-05-20T06:41:00.004+10:00

Stone Money Bank... Still used as part of the "dowry" described below

Gosh, it is hard to believe that it was a year ago that we left our house behind and headed for the open road... and we have now been living on an Island in the middle of the South Pacific for six months of that! We can't believe how time has flown by, I apologize for not updating the blog for so long. I could blame it on being busy, having poor internet connections, etc.. but the reality is that time has just slipped away!

We are truly loving it here! We have become very comfortable with the customs, and the lifestyle; Surprisingly, we don't really miss the motorcycle. There are lots of places on the Island where a motorcycle would be fun to have, but the heat, the humidity, the rain and the salty air turns anything made of metal.. especially chrome... into a pile of rust in a matter of months... and besides... the island is only 15 miles long... 27 by road .. and worse yet, the speed limit is 15mph in the villages, with a top speed of 25mph on the open road! What good would a motorcycle that can travel 120mph do? I can tell you, I miss 75mph much more than I miss my motorcycle. So, to get from one end of the island to the other is about an hour and a half trip because of the twists and turns in the road and the 25mph max speed!

We've been here long enough now that we have become recognized in the community. Winona is helping with the ASL (American Sign Language) class at the High School three days a week and it constantly amazes me that she can communicate so well with these deaf kids. Education is not looked upon as being particularly important here, so there are many kids in their late teens and twenties who are still attending high school. People wave at us whereever we go, but that is so common, that we don't know if it is because we know them, or if they are just being friendly. We wave back enthusiastically, and then look at each other to ask,"do we know that person?"... and now we have the same problem as we walk around the High School and College campuses!

Though there are some aspects of the lifestyle here that are attractive, there is a general complacency about life in general that can be frustrating. The general philosophy is that there is no sense in planning because something could come up that will interrupt the plan! So it is tough to get people to make appointments ... because they might not be able to keep the appointment! A refusal to commit because they might not be able to keep the commitment. No sense in planning, because they might not be here tomorrow! .

Marriages are interesting... no dating. If a boy takes an interest in a girl, it is kept secret. Parents do not know about the 'relationships' that develop, nor do they want to. At some point the boy will approach the girls parents with a shell, and dowry of some nature and negotiate for the daughter. If the girls parents accept the shell, they are "married". If at any time the husband decides he doesn't want the responsibilities of his family any longer, he can take his wife back to her parents, get his shell back and the "marriage" is over. Women don't have that luxury, nor do they have much say in what transpires. (Not much need for divorce lawyers down here!) Kids are raised by cousins, uncles, grandparents, whoever is handy. The church rightfully insists on proof of a legally binding marriage before a couple, or either one of the couple, can join. The lack of contractual obligation to each other causes a lot of heartache in families. Legal marriages are available, but an expensive wedding is "expected" as part of the celebration, so many cannot afford that. The Church provides free weddings, which makes it a much more attractive and affordable option.

Not surprisingly, everyone knows everyone. There are no street names or addresses. This truly is jungle living although in most cases, homes do have electricity and some have telephones. Suprisingly, cell phones are horrendously expensive, but are extremely popular. When you want to tell someone where you live you just give the name of the person next door, and there will be a nod of recognition. Taxis, Police, Ambulances, utility companies, repairmen, couriers, all find you by knowing who you live beside, or who your landlord is. It is truly amazing. We had to help the young missionaries get the utility bill for their water redirected to a new apartment the other day. After nearly two weeks of trying to get in touch with the Greater Tamil Water Commission to make arrangements, they told us that we had to come out to their office where they would talk to us about the switch. We drove to the North end of the Island (that 1 and 1/2 hour trip I mentioned earlier!) where after checking with a few locals for direction, (when we ask for directions, we get a familiar nod of the chin in the general direction of where we need to head) and we ended up next to a house at the end of a long and winding dirt road. There are no signs indicating that this is an office, but as we approached the house to knock, the door opened and the fellow confirmed that this was indeed the Greater Tamil Water Commission. We didn't have to tell him who we were or what we wanted.. he recognized us. It truly felt like we were the only people to ever arrange a switch.. He knew the house that was being vacated, and was familiar with the house they were moving into, so he just confirmed the name of the landlord at the new premises and said "OK, we'll look after that!"

We had to ask ourselves.... "so we travelled all the way out there, because??...". There was no papers to fill out, no signatures... very strange. But, someone showed up the next day to read the meter and we assume that money will now come out of the correct account.

Last night, the internet went down... and I was unable to check my stocks. It was 4am, but since I was up anyway, and the NYSE closes at 6am Yap time, I thought I should head down to the FSMTC (Telecommunications office) and see if I could get internet access there. (they are "open" 24 hours). The door was open and the lights were on, so I walked in the office but no one was around. I was about to sit down and start using one of the two computers they have there for public use, when a very sleepy lady in her late 50's rose from beneath one of the desks where she had been sleeping. I apologized for waking her up, and informed her that the internet wasn't working. She shrugged and said that the technical person would be in at 8am. I left and I am pretty certain that she curled up and went back to sleep. Sure enough however, at 8am, the internet came back, and I was back online!

Food is another issue.. but I think I'll make that a future blog entry. We really are having a great time. This is a place where we truly feel we can do some good! We have met so many wonderful people. It is good to be here. Several topics I have brought up here will make good blog entries of their own.. I'll work on it!

Yap Days

2010-03-04T08:52:00.004+10:00

Every year on the first Monday and Tuesday in March, Yap celebrates its culture with a colorful and very sensory display of BBQ, costume, dance, music, crafts, and culture. All the costumes, the ropes, the booths, even the restrooms are made or fashioned from local plants. Even the dyes used to color the costumes are produced from the flowers and plants.

Spear throwing -- perfect trajectory!

Olympics - Yap Style

2010-03-01T09:09:00.005+10:00

Well, its Monday morning in Yap, (Sunday afternoon in Vancouver) and the excitement in Vancouver is being felt half way across the world to this little island in the Pacific... at least it has reached into our apartment. Outside, things are pretty normal... most Yapese haven't a clue what the Olympic games are, let alone where they are, or that the medal count is now ended. Life goes on as normal, oblivious to the tension I was feeling as I tried to follow the game on super slow speed internet... no video, no TV... just updates as the seconds ticked by! I have to admit, it was every bit as exciting to follow vicariously in my mind, as it would have been sitting in front of a high definition big screen TV.

I couldn't help but imagine my now American kids trying to keep their Canadian loyalties somewhat subdued as their fully American spouses and their families were screaming when the USA scored a tying goal in the last few seconds of the third period....

I imagined the excitement going on in the homes of my friends in Nanaimo, as they slouched, sat, stood and screamed as the tension grew to unbearable levels...

... then came the decisive goal in Overtime... I was there (in my mind) and very proud of what my home has accomplished in the last 17 days! Good job, Canada

It's amazing how close we felt to these games being hosted so close to our former home, in spite of the fact that we were unable to watch a single event, nor find anyone in Yap who really cared what was happening! We cared, and we loved it! It was as good as being there in person!

on getting older ...

2010-02-16T12:52:00.005+10:00

A few days ago, I left 60 behind forever! I have to say that 60 has been a good year... not as good as 26 but as far as years go, this has been a great one. May I take a few moments to highlight the highlights. :-)

It all began with a bunch of friends and family showing up for my 60th b'day party, with all the mandatory rude gifts to remind me that I was no longer in my 20's. Janaya had contacted a bunch of my friends and put together a book, with photos from my past, and memoirs and well wishes from many of them. A few days ago, I re-read that book from front to back and re-lived many cherished moments... including the overwhelming feelings I had when I first received the book itself almost a year ago. Thanks to everyone who took the time to say a few words and special thanks to Janaya for the huge amount of work it took to coordinate it all.

A year ago, our house had been up for sale for 4 months without a bite, but finally, in May, after 10 garage sales, countless trips to the recycle, restore, storage unit, and the dump, we completed the sale of our home and nearly everything we have ever owned. We handed our keys to the new owners and drove out of the driveway with barely a glance back. We loved our home, but it was now time for a new chapter in our life story. We were headed into unknown territory. The "adventure" potential invigorated me... Winona? Well not so much...

For the first time in our lives, we were "homeless". I'm sure Winona was worried about what life on the street living in a cardboard box would be like, but gratefully our friends and family pulled through. We had "booked" enough timeshare time with gaps being filled-in by friends who kindly opened their homes to us, that we were all set... at least for the next few weeks and at least as far east as Salt Lake City.

(oh, yeah.. .this was supposed to be just the highlights... I'll try to keep this short...!)

OK. The highlights...

Since June 2nd, 2010:

Nanaimo, BC - John & Susan Russell
West Vancouver BC - Jon & Mary Elton
Vancouver, WA - Richard & Kathy Krikava (visited with David, Shamaine, & **Hayden**)
Orem, UT - John & Linda Livingston
Salt Lake City, UT - Lived across the street from Temple Square and the Tabernacle Choir for a week!
Vail, Colorado.
Lunch in Leadville CO. Highest point ever in our car.. nearly 11,000 feet

drove across Kansas to:
Branson, Missouri - our first ever experience at 105 degree F temperatures and 87% humidity! (except in a Sauna!)
JUN 27 - arrived at Janaya's house in Springfield Virginia.

Thank heaven for our GPS that navigated us across the USA and through Washington DC turnpikes and to our daughter's front door with our marriage intact!

JUL 4 - Independence Day celebrations in Washington DC... how cool is that!
Baltimore, MD
NEW YORK CITY - The Big Apple - guided through New York's rail and subway system by an "angel" who carried a guitar and worked for Microsoft. World Trade Center/Ground Zero. Fell in love with Central Park, Supper on Times Square, Statton Island Ferry, Times Square again.. this time at night, Broadway, got back to Hotel at 2AM
Cape Cod
Martha's Vineyard

JUL 17 - Winona's Birthday - Received our Mission Call to Micronesia, leaving in November

Plymouth Plantation - Lobster Dinner at Isaac's, Plymouth Rock, Mayflower
Boston, MA
Stowe, Vermont - von Trapp family chateau (Yes, "the Sound of Music" von Trapps!)
Montreal, QC (Corinne & Kurt's Cottage, actually)
Montreal - renewed our Passports (picked them up two hours later!)
Quebec City. Loved Quebec City. No need to take Winona to France now! Suddenly like being "beamed" into Europe. (Discovered the value of Priceline - "Name Your Own Price!")
B&B in Fredericton NB... Winona's first area on her first mission. Ran out of gas across the street from a gas station that refused to help us. Bought a gas can and enough gas to get us to the next station! (oh yeah, "highlights!")
Cardigan, Prince Edward Island - Fred & Mary deVries... best Lobster dinner ever! Got to operate an excavator! Ripped a tree out by its roots! (I meant to do that!)
Philip River, NS. Near Amherst Nova Scotia - Janice and Dean Tolley.
Visited Halifax, Tatamagooch, New Glasgow, and Stellarton

began our return west:

St Johns, NB
Freeport, Maine
Back to Boston, MA
Hartford, Connecticut
Baltimore,MD
Washington, DC - to the top of the Washington Monument.
Springfield, VA
Williamsburg, VA
Massanuttan Resort, Harrisonburg, VA (3 weeks -- longest time in one place since we became homeless :-)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dayton, Ohio
Nauvoo, Illinois
North Platte
Snowbird, UT
Benton City, WA (David & Shamaine had moved here since we began this trek)
OCT 8th... back in Nanaimo (Parksville actually) at Pacific Shores
OCT 31 ... Orem, Utah (John & Linda, Drew & Joanne Cahoon, Randy & Nancy Miller)
NOV 2nd - Mission Training Center, Provo, Utah
Hawaii
Guam
Yap

And I became truly "amazed" this year as we became intimately involved with the workings of our GPS. Not only did take us directly to our destinations, it told us where to find the nearest buffet restaurants (oooh ... bad idea on an extended car trip), the nearest gas stations, rest stops etc, as well as keeping us out of high traffic areas, toll roads, and toll bridges, it also told us where to find the nearest LDS Churches, gave us contact numbers and called them for us so we could get meeting times. As we travelled across the continent, we read (actually the GPS read to us)... the following audiobooks: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Huckleberry Finn", "Amish Grace", "Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent", "Confessions of an Economic Hitman", "Catch Me if You Can". I have NEVER before read 6 books in one year in my life. This was a new record for me... 25,000 kilometers and 6 books in 5 months.

I kept saying to Winona how much my Dad would have LOVED a GPS! I loved it... and the technology never ceased to amaze me.

So essentially, I've travelled more, and read more this year than ever before.

George Carlin's views on aging:

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life! You BECOME 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling.

What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40, Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50, and your dreams are gone... But! wait!! ! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50, and MAKE IT to 60... You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

After that, it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's, and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch, you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 90".

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
- courtesy of Jon' Gems (Jon Elton)

Suddenly, I'm 61 and feeling young again!
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

A Week in Guam

2010-02-01T04:30:00.011+10:00

View from our room at the Hilton Hotel in Guam

Missions weren't like this when I was 19!

We were in Guam Jan 17th -23rd for couples conference. What a great experience with all the other couples. We loved it! But, we actually experienced a little culture shock going back to Guam, because the pace of life is much more hurried, the drivers are not as courteous as they are in Yap, and many of the skirts in Guam are ridiculously short. I hadn't realized how modestly the girls here in Yap actually dress until we were in Guam and saw so many that were obviously trying to draw attention to themselves... something you just don't experience in Yap. Inspite of the few who dress "traditionally", they certainly don't do it to draw attention to themselves, and no one wears skirts with hemlines above the knees and no one wears short shorts.

While in Guam we ate like kings. We thought we were in heaven until Winona made the mistake of weighing herself and she had gained 5 lbs in just the first few days. Personally, I couldn't bring myself to climb onto the scale... It was obviously defective, and I was too busy trying to decide which restaurant to try next. Actually, we settled on Ruby Tuesday most often, because the prices were good, and they had a great salad bar. Favorite dessert of the week had to be the one pictured below at the Jamaica Grill... Most everyone else in the group had an entree that included a small plate of fruit for dessert. However mine didn't... so as the waitress listed the available desserts for me, a "roasted banana" sounded like an innocent enough treat. However, as the dessert made its way toward my table, I noticed that people stopped talking and turned to see this monster pass them by. Cameras were flashing, and an audible buzz filled the restaurant. People were obviously anxious to discover who had had the nerve to order this thing! I had no idea it would feed a family... but hey! What could I do? I am so glad they snapped this picture quickly, because it looks to me like Winona was ready to dive in head first!

Roasted Banana

Hey, it sounded healthy!

We can tell that we are beginning to adjust to the humidity and heat, but have to admit that the hot showers, and cool breezes in Guam felt awfully good. However, Yap is feeling like home. We do use the air conditioning, but have raised the temperature for them to only kick in above 25 degrees Celsius. Yesterday, we tried going all day without the A/C, and were successful until we got back in the evening and couldn't bring ourselves to climb into a damp bed. Some things are worth paying extra for... so the A/C came on so we could get a comfortable sleep.

The people here are so pleasant, everyone waves, everyone is willing to talk with us, tho' no one is willing to say much. The members are beginning to laugh at my jokes, and the branch president (President Bamlul) makes an easy target for me to abuse in all my talks... :-). He and his wife were over last night for a visit, and as customary in Yapese homes, they sat on the tile floor in our living room as we visited for a couple of hours. Smoothies are new to them, so I made them a chocolate banana and coconut smoothie, which was a big hit. I love making smoothies here, because the coconut milk makes them nice and thick.. without the need for ice cream.

We are having a lot of fun. We have figured out which stores carry what, at the best price... when the ships come in, and which cashiers smile at us, and which don't. We have made a project of trying to get a smile out of every cashier, and that helps make shopping a lot of fun.

Saturday night was a full moon... I know, it happens every month, and it happens all over the world!.. but in Yap, when the full moon comes out, so do the land crabs! We had heard about this event, but hadn't yet participated... nor were we sure quite what to expect. All we knew was... "free crab!" We had heard you needed a stick, a flashlight and a sack... I figured the stick was to whack the crabs as they tried to chop your toes off, the sack was for gathering up body parts that got nipped off in any ensuing battles, and the flashlight was so you could find fingers and toes in the dark. This sounded way more fun than simply dropping a crab trap in the ocean and waiting for an hour or two, so off we went into the moonlight ready for a new adventure.

We had heard that at certain times of the year, the crabs come out in such numbers that you can literally drive down the road in the dark and scoop them into a bucket as you drive. Well, we drove for miles and are disappointed to report that this is not the time of the year for that... However, we finally ended up outside the Elder's apartment in Thol near the North end of the Island. We got there just in time to see them and some of the locals coming back from their crabbing adventure with a couple of buckets of crabs. They proudly showed us their catch, and we got totally grossed out as the locals showed us how to prep them for cooking. I know we have a few vegetarian readers on our blog, so I'll leave out the graphic details, but lets just say that tossing a live crab into a bucket of boiling water seems much more humaine than what goes on down here.

Once in a while a crab would escape from their grasp as the "cooks" were trying to rip their legs off (oops.. sorry, did I say that?) and would cause a mad scramble as the loose crab would scurry around our feet. Nothing slow moving about these guys, and they do have nasty pincers...

We were lamenting the fact that we had essentially missed the party and were going to be heading home without having captured any crabs of our own.. or even seeing someone else do it... However, the moon was shining brightly and I decided to get a look at the moonlight sparkling across the ocean. It was a very romantic thought...

As I walked toward the shore from the place where everyone had gathered, I suddenly sensed the rapid movement of spider like creatures the size of a 'roasted banana' dessert plate scurrying across my path. I hollered, "I've got one!"... which was I lie. I wasn't anywhere near actually "getting" one! I had no idea what to do except to take frequent inventory of how many fingers were still on my hand.

Luckily, a 12 year old boy name "TJ" heard me holler, and came to my rescue ...er... he came to help me capture one! TJ was amazing, within seconds, he had cornered one for me, and we headed back to the gathering place to proudly show our capture. We then headed back the same direction and captured two more. By now, we had the interest of another 12 year old, who had developed his own hunting style and was apparently an expert at capturing "Mangrove" crabs... which truly will chop your fingers off. It was a sight to behold. TJ felt we were waisting our time running back and forth to the cooler, so he decided to go get the cooler and bring it to where the crabs were. Minutes later he showed up carrying our full sized Coleman cooler on his back, and began ripping legs off our captured crabs and tossing them into our cooler. I offered to help carry the cooler as we continued our hunt, but he insisted on carrying the cooler on his own... So here we have this little 12 year old boy (not much more than 3' tall and certainly not any more than 60 lbs) carrying a cooler that is almost as big as he is, and is easily large enough to carry 50 crabs ... running through the jungle lit only by the moonlight, barefoot, tossing crab parts into a cooler that he is carrying on his head sometimes, and on his back others... and Winona and I following along with our flashlights feeling quite safe with these two twelve-year olds there to 'protect' us.

We got home that night quite satisfied that we had had an adventure that few others would ever experience... and we do look forward to that time of year when you literally can't drive down the road during a full moon without running over herds of these things! We stayed up until 1:00am cooking our catch. Tonight, we are making sushi... with real crabmeat...

More Pics

2010-01-16T07:31:00.009+10:00

Well, here it is mid-January and I still don't have all the Christmas pictures posted. So .. in no particular order... (I can never figure out what order the blogspot editor is going to post these things, but if it seems like these pictures are in the wrong order, just turn you screen upside down and look at them in a mirror... once you stand on your head, everything should look just fine... )

So here they are.. with sporatic comments here and there.

Man House

on the way to the Man House.

Christmas Dinner
(on Boxing Day - Christmas Day in North America)

Turtle, Fish and Coconut Milk

Getting ready for the Christmas Pageant
I love the halo!
...and I still can't figure out how the wings were attached.

Shepherds getting ready to watch their flocks!
(while the Sheppards were getting ready to watch the show...)

The audience waited partiently...

(as long as the suckers lasted)

Sister Pikula and some of the kids

(no snow to play in)

A Yapese Christmas

2010-01-08T09:12:00.005+10:00

You may have noticed that we haven't posted to our blog in awhile. Well, I can't blame it on "last minute Christmas shopping", or the "crush" at the mall, or the traffic, or lack of parking, or decorating the tree, or the heavy snowfall, or any of the many customary christmas activities that can add to the stress of the season. Nope... not much of any of that going on this year... this is probably the least stressful Christmas we've ever had. Island living is beginning to grow on us. All I can say is that we have so much to write about that it seems a little overwhelming trying to describe it all. It has been a very different Christmas:

Conspicuously absent this year:
a tree
decorations
lights
wrapped presents
turkey
Christmas Cards (a few arrived in January)
snow
cold
Santa Claus (he's talked about, and sung about, but we didn't see him)
shopping at the mall
traffic
stress
panic
Boxing Day sales

Showing up this year for the first time in our lives:
Spaghetti as the traditional Christmas dinner
Turtle
Year-end raffles
Boxing Day at the beach
Boxing Day dip in the Ocean (not tough in the tropics)
Christmas Bazzars held in the stores!

and showing up as usual:
Christmas Carolers (us!)
Well wishes from everyone.
Christmas Pageants and Nativity scenes by the kids... (we'll post some pictures later)
A wonderful Christmas Spirit

I will start with a few pictures. I don't have a lot of time to write comments about each of them this morning, so I will post the pictures and add comments as time and inspiration allow. Check back every day or two, and I will try to add more detail, and perhaps more pictures to this post as I am able.

Its amazing what a turtle shell will do to make you look thinner!

BTW, it tasted like chicken!

Can't imagine a more tranquil place to have Christmas dinner.

This little girl (Abby) was trying to convince me to sit down in the water.

Yapese Lessons

2009-12-23T14:02:00.002+10:00

We've now taught our final Seminary class for this semester, and had one of our best classes yet. We have noticed that though they all speak English quite well, they always pray in Yapese or one of the outer Island dialects. If they pray in Yapese, the outer Islanders can't understand, and if they pray in an outer island language, the Yapese can't understand... and then there is us.. we can't understand either one! We asked the students if they wanted to learn to pray in English and they were eager to learn, so we have scheduled that for the new year and agreed that if they learned to pray in English, we'd learn to pray in Yapese! (little did I know what we were getting ourselves into!)

So this morning a couple of the younger missionaries came over to help us learn how to pray in Yapese. First, I wrote out a very simple prayer that might be appropriate to use when we begin Seminary class and I had them translate what I had written into Yapese. FYI, there are 45 letters in the Yapese alphabet, and 16 are vowels. The letter 'd' is pronounced as a hard "th" sound (as in 'mother') unless there are two d's in the word -- in which case the first occurance of d is pronounced like our d. (so 'gadad' is pronounced ga-dath... remember to make the 'th' hard... (like mother)... not soft (like moth)

The letter combination of 'ng' (which occurs a lot) is pronounced like the ng in 'song'. So now we get a word like 'danga' (which is pronounced 'th(hard) ong ah'). Danga means "no"

The translation is written out below. The bold line is Yapese. Yapese sentence structure is quite different from what we are used to, so the line in italics is a direct translation of the Yapese phrase... and the third line of each phrase (if there is a substantial difference from the direct translation) is the original phrase as I wrote it in English. I find the direct translation back to English to be very interesting.

Chitamangmaed nu tharmiy
Our Father in heaven

Kamagar romaed ko gubin e pitowath kom pii' ngomaed
Thanks that is ours for all blessings you (past tense) give to us
We thank thee for the many blessings we enjoy

Wenig ngom ni ngam towathnograed pistudent rog
Please to you that you will bless them, students that are mine.
We ask thee for thy blessings upon our Seminary Students.

Gomad ba yog e pit'ney
We presently say these things
We say these things

Udaken e fithingan Yesus Kristus, Amen
Through the name that is His, Jesus Christ, Amen
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

We are having a great time here. Adjusting rapidly to the heat and the culture. This is going to be a very different but very good Christmas. We will not be cooking turkey this year, but we are gathering with a couple of other families at one of the beaches and will be eating turtle! (I know! I know!... and it is just gross the methods used to kill the turtle too... but it is a traditional Yap feast... and probably the only time in our lives we'll actually be able to try it)

Merry Christmas to you all!

Headline News from Yap

2009-12-17T18:45:00.000+10:00

Banana Fright

Dec 17, 2009 (YAP) A local missionary couple was frightened by a massive SMOOOOSh sound outside their apartment windows late last night. Arming themselves with a fly swatter and nail clippers (the only weapons of any consequence that they have in their possession) they proceeded gingerly onto their back porch to investigate, only to find that they had been blessed with a load of fresh bananas delivered right onto their doorstep courtesy of mother nature. The couple seems to have recovered from the incident quickly as their apartment is now filled with the aroma of fresh made banana bread! Elder Sheppard has refused comment as he continues to digest the evidence.

Sunday in Thol

2009-12-16T19:29:00.000+10:00

With it being so very hot here, and humid as well, we find it difficult to believe that Christmas even happens here...but lights are up around the island and some of the stores (close to 50 of them ...which is another story) have Christmas decorations and gift items to purchase. One store even has a Christmas greeting banner painted on the outside wall ...the full length of the building. What they are going to do with it after the New Year will be interesting to see...maybe they will paint over it again and do a Valentine's or Easter theme...it is an interesting place.

As for the 'store story'...there are some main stores in the town of Colonia and then there are little "corner stores" all over the island and it is important to remember that the island is only 15 miles long. Most of the stores have no signage so unless you know where they are you would not likely find them. Many of the residents of the island who live outside of town do not have cars and having the little stores in their neighborhoods is helpful. As a result every village has one! ...and now that we know what they look like we are noticing them more often. They mostly carry the same things with the occasional unique offerings...we have our favourites already and know where to go for specific things. Leigh has been doing some repairs to the furniture in the apartment ..younger missionaries lived here before we did...and one of the local hardware stores has become Leigh's favourite. There is an employee at the hardware store...a nice young fellow...who has adopted Leigh and takes care of him whenever he goes there.

Right now the stores are getting ready to clear out a lot of their stock so there are quite a few good deals. We were told that their stocks normally get pretty low between shipments (every 2-3 weeks or so) so we were encouraged to get some storage on hand and now, apparently, is the time to do that. Before Christmas the stores are well stocked in readiness for the season...with a greater variety than usual..so we are being spoiled. Once the new year comes the stocks dwindle and we could discover the shortages that we have been preparing for. So, for now we will enjoy the plenty...such as it is!

We attended the smaller Thol Branch recently and found a few faithful souls waiting for the others to arrive (13 people...including us and two young Elders)...one sweet sister was quietly reading her Yapese scriptures and one of the young boys was somewhere else in the small open air chapel singing hymns to his heart's content. I think it was the sweetest prelude music I have ever heard! It was testimony meeting and nearly everyone bore their testimony...most in the Yapese language or one of the Outer Island languages...so we could only understand the spirit of what they were saying. They have one young woman attending, Francy, who is one of our seminary students, and she takes care of the music. That means she is responsible for choosing the hymns and finding them on the portable keyboard they use for the music and everyone just starts singing when the music starts. She and I are going to be doing a class next Sunday during Sunday School time...for the whole branch...about conducting the singing...that way she will have trained people to assist her. We are both looking forward to it.

Thol Chapel

The Relief Society President was away, so Relief Society (the church's organization for women) started out very quiet as the few sisters present sat on the floor in the Relief Society room (the locals are actually quite comfortable sitting on the floor and do so in their own homes.) waiting for some instruction. The one and only counselor was present so with some encouragement she started the meeting with a song and prayer. Then she looked at me and asked me to teach. I was kind of expecting that, but still silently prayed for direction. I had with me a map of Yap and a map of my birthplace; Malcolm Island, which is about the same size as Yap. I laid both maps out on the floor and for the next few minutes we discovered we had quite a few things in common...it was delightful! Then recalling an insight recorded in my study journal from a few days before, I taught a lesson about sustaining the root structure of our spiritual trees...planted when each of us were baptized...and nourished so our branches would flourish and blossom while the fruit grows sweet. The counselor, Sister Francesca, is the oldest sister on Yap, both in age and length of membership...she joined the church in 1987. She became the stalwart example of a strong spiritual tree...firmly rooted and sustained. It was an amazing experience to listen, as the lesson progressed, to Francy translating the lesson into an Outer Island language to clarify things for her mother while Sister Martina translated into Yapese for her mother and another sister. I was thrilled to see understanding in their eyes and heads nodding in agreement. I believe the lesson was an opportunity for the Lord to recognize sweet Sister Francesca for her long term diligence and enduring faithfulness, meanwhile the rest of us had understood each other and were edified and rejoiced together.

Sister Francesca

Sister Francesca who had been driven to church has difficulty walking long distances so we gave her a ride home...actually, we only got her somewhat closer to her home, as the roadway to her home had turned to mud and water filled potholes...our car would not have made it! She hugged me and then stood in the roadway until we had turned around and then waved us off.

Fruit trees across road from Chapel

After the meetings we hung around outside for a bit, enjoying each other's company. The Branch president, President Ravino, explained a bit about the fruit bearing trees on the property and the roadway. Each tree and large plant that bears fruit on the island belongs to someone...and no one takes from trees that belong to someone else. The church property and the roadway have trees that belong to the branch...an orange tree, papaya tree, passion fruit tree, banana tree and several others I can't recall.

Volcanic Ash Road to Chapel

Sister Francesca, Elder Abubo, Elder Sorenson, Sam and fruit

The boy in the blue shirt in a previous picture climbed up the orange tree to get us a few oranges and they picked up the ripe passion fruit from the ground for us and the Elders. President Ravino also cut down a bunch of bananas that he would take to a family in need. It was a delightful day!

Myself, Francy, Sister Martina and Sam

Our Address

2009-12-14T09:00:00.000+10:00

I wanted to put this in a sidebar, but have no idea how to do that...
so... for those of you who have been asking, here is our mailing address.
(They don't have street addresses in Yap)

Elder & Sister Sheppard
PO Box 456
Colonia, Yap, FSM
96943

Now... that comes directly to Yap, but not many people (including Travel Agents :-) know where Yap is, so you may have trouble getting postage rates, etc. If you prefer, you can send mail to the following address which is the same rate as anywhere else in the USA... particularly if you are in the US, this is just like sending mail, packages, flat rate boxes, etc to any other US address. Guam will forward the mail to us at whatever address we happen to be at at the time.

Micronesia Guam Mission
PO Box 21749 GMF
Barrigada, Guam
96921

Our Students

2009-12-14T07:52:00.000+10:00

These are our terrific students! Just look at those beautiful faces! They look after Winona and I very well, and for the most part, they at least pretend to be interested in what we have to say! We currently have classes with them Mon, Wed, and Friday afternoons. Starting in January, classes will be held every weekday, and we will be holding one or two classes a week for the 18-30 year old single adults.

Clockwise from the upper left we have Leahna, Jestine, Francy, Juanita, Alvina, and Chrystle. We have a couple of boys attending but so far, they have been "unavailable" at picture taking time. They are all great students, and wonderful to work with.

Anniversary Pics

2009-12-12T03:59:00.000+10:00

Click pictures to enlarge

We were not alone!

Insurance guy?

Mother Nature's garden

Hmmm ... I wonder why they call this Blue Lagoon?

Anniversary in Paradise

2009-12-08T16:42:00.000+10:00

32 years ago today Winona and I got married on a sunny day in Cardston Alberta. It was 40 below zero! Today we are celebrating our anniversary on a Tropical Island. It is 130 degrees warmer than it was on our wedding day.

To celebrate, I booked us a room at the coolest hotel you've ever seen. We'll post some of our own pictures of it when we get a chance, but for now, take a look at their website:

http://www.pathwayshotel.com

We feel like the Swiss Family Robinson.

And just as importantly... a very Happy Birthday to Janaya who was born on our first Anniversary! Interesting thing is that this is the first time that her Birthday is starting just as our Anniversary is ending. (International Date Line thing!).

Reflections in the wee hours of the AM

2009-12-06T04:29:00.000+10:00

It's 4am Sunday morning in Yap. I get up in the wee hours for a couple of reasons... the main reason being that I am awake (duh) and I learned some time ago that I can either toss and turn for the rest of the night, or, I can get up and do something useful during my attacks of insomnia. Generally, I get tired enough to go back to sleep just about the time it is time to get up. Then I go to church... and I have no problem with insomnia anymore! (read into that whatever you like!)

Another reason I get up is because the Internet on the Island works best at this time of the morning. I think every user in Yap shares the same router... the evenings are impossibly slow.

And finally, the plane to Palau takes off from Yap at 4:00am and it is a lot of fun to listen to every dog on Yap howl at the roar overhead. The roar of the jet engines lasts for 30 seconds... the howl of the dogs carries on for 10 minutes as each dog across the island takes its cue from the neighbouring dogs. Then the roosters start to crow. (The roosters here have no sense of time).

I just finished chatting online with my kids. (Its 10AM Saturday for David in Washington State and 1:00 Saturday afternoon for Janaya in Virginia.). Janaya tells me its snowing in Virginia... I have to say, I'm having a hard time realizing that Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. It just doesn't feel like Christmas. Christmas carols don't feel the same with the air conditioning on and the noise of ceiling fans whirring overhead.

Yesterday, as we were bouncing over some gigantic potholes into some of the villages deep in the jungles of northern Yap, it was a surreal experience. The ocean in the distance was a dozen shades ranging from brilliant green to bright blue and white. The jungle had thinned, so the palms, and coconut trees, and lower vegetation looked like they had been planted by a superb gardener. The dirt road was only wide enough for one car and wound its way around the trees and vegetation, and was meant for a vehicle with much better suspension than ours. Torrential rains do amazing things to dirt roads. I turned to Winona and asked "did you ever think in your wildest imagination that we would ever be bouncing along a dirt road in the middle of a tropical jungle in the middle of a little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with nothing to worry about except getting a flat?" She had to admit that she had never really imagined that... (read into that what you like, too!)

Realize that this Island is only 15 miles long, and yet there are people who live in the villages on the north end of the Island who have never travelled to the south end. Many have never left their village. Each village has a store. There is no reason to travel to a store in another village! Good point, actually. Those that live in the South of the Island have a different Yapese accent than those that live in the North. (15 miles away). Winona and I can't hear the difference, but those who know the language well can tell what part of the Island you are from by the accent.

Well its almost time to get up, so I'm beginning to get a little sleepy. Merry Christmas to you all... (that seems so weird!) .. I think I'll go stick my head in the freezer.

Home Sweet Home

2009-12-01T10:13:00.001+10:00

This is our street, and below is our apartment and our car. The two doors are both ours... one is the front door, the other is the back but no one has told us yet which is which.

Humidity

2009-12-01T10:03:00.000+10:00

I need to make it clear that we have only been here a little over a week so we are not yet acclimatized.... but we are starting to have fun with the heat and humidity. To give you an idea...the humidity makes it such that steam forms on the outside of our apartment windows, and our car windows. We tried to drive around town a little tonight, but had to keep the windshield wipers on. No, it wasn't raining, but the steam was forming so fast on the outside of the windshield that we couldn't see unless we kept the wipers going. If we put something from the fridge onto the counter, it is quickly covered in condensation which soon forms a pool of water on and around the object... often drenching any papers, books, or cloths we may have left nearby. I get a kick out of watching steam rise from my fingertips as I drink from a bottle of water straight from the fridge. Butter is kept in the fridge but becomes spreadable in a matter of a seconds once removed from the fridge.

Last night, the bed spread was so damp that we put it in the dryer prior to going to bed. During the time it was in the dryer, the sheets started getting damp.

I sweat all the time.. It was bad enough back home... now, I am just a gushing fountain. I am certain that I drink close to 4 quarts of water a day just to replenish what I lose through my pores. If you covered me with grass seed, I'm sure I'd become the world's first living Chia Pet. I cut up one of my T-shirts into rags and carry a piece around on my shoulder wherever I go. It sounds totally gross, so I apologize, but otherwise I drip everywhere. Winona kicked me out of the room the other day, because she was trying to sweep the floor, and I was getting the floor wet! I have to position myself carefully so I don't drip on the books I am reading, the food I am cooking, the dishes I am washing, (Ok... so I don't do the dishes... but if I did...)

I made the mistake of making myself a hot Neo-Citran one night before going to bed. (For my US friends, Neo-Citran is a hot lemon flavored cold medicine only available in Canada... ha!ha! Susan... you missed one!) With a hot drink in me, I quickly discovered sweat was gushing out of the top of my head, and dripping down my face and off the end of my nose and chin. It was flowing off my eyebrows and into my eyes, so I could no longer see. It was an incredible experience... totally gross for those watching I am sure.. (and you reading), but quite fascinating for me!

Well, enough on humidity... next time we'll talk about lizards!

eMail

2009-11-27T17:38:00.000+10:00

I have been sending dozens of email messages and getting no replies. It would appear that many/most/all of our messages are showing up as SPAM... please be sure to check you junk mail folders... I will be resending some of the lost emails from a secure server to see if that makes a difference, but I suspect that my email provider simply has this part of the world flagged as a suspicious source.

US Thanksgiving in Yap

2009-11-27T05:34:00.000+10:00

Humbling experiences today. We thought we were going to be joining the younger missionaries and a member family to share a "Thanksgiving" spaghetti dinner that the missionaries were preparing. On arrival we discovered that they had already eaten their own dinners and then had each contributed the materials for creating a Spaghetti with Spam dinner, and some Corn Bread, and a few deserts for a needy family on the Island. We were each given assignments in the preparation of the meal and it was packed up in tin-foil containers to keep it hot while we travelled.

It took about an hour or so to prepare the dinner, so it was dark and well past 7:30PM when we left to deliver it. Winona & I followed the other missionaries to the southern tip of the Island where they pulled out a few flashlights and we began a trek in total blackness into the thick foliage. After about 100 feet, we came upon a family with 5 kids (the youngest of which was 6 months old) all sitting on a smooth wooden platform ... probably 16 feet square, and raised a few inches above the ground with flat rocks placed as necessary to level it. There were no walls, but a steel roof was held up by 8 poles... one at each of the four corners and another about half way between the corner poles. It looked precarious. I leaned against one of the poles for support as I watched the scene unfold and could tell that the structure was actually remarkably solid. A couple of Kerosene lamps sitting on the platform provided a dim light by which we could all see each other. In the distance and to my right and closer to the actual "house" I could see an open fire which was obviously used as the kitchen, and then a thatch-roofed hut which I presume was the sleeping area. The kids all seemed happy and well behaved. The dinner trays (wrapped in tin foil) that the missionaries had provided were placed on the platform and left for after our departure. Introductions and greetings were exchanged, and we played briefly with two brand new kittens who were trying desperately to get to the Spaghetti. The baby was awake and played happily in its mother's arms. Mother protected her baby very carefully.

Sister Pikula later confirmed that this was pretty typical living quarters for the Yapese. This family was particularly poor, but their home was typical. It was an eye opener. The Elders frequently (usually) teach in outdoor "rooms" deep in the jungles just like this one. There is nothing at the street to indicate the presence of a home. Just a narrow path winding its way into the forest. When approaching the home they let out a Hoo Hoo sound and the family either welcomes them in, or tells whoever is approaching to go away!

We returned briefly to the Zone Leaders apartment and enjoyed Elder Walpole's Apple Crisp and Ice Cream and some Root Beer. It was a great Thanksgiving! Certainly our most memorable.

Yap... we arrive at last.

2009-11-25T19:29:00.000+10:00

With signs and banners to welcome us, we arrive at Yap (well, once we get through customs!). The local church members and the missionaries already serving here wait patiently while we wait for our bags to clear customs. Once we realized that the signs and the people waiting were for us it was hard to hold back the tears.

The missionaries helped us with our bags and drove us to our apartment, which was actually in a lot better condition than we had expected. They had done an incredible job of cleaning the apartment, putting some eggs, bacon, butter, milk and a few essential items in the fridge, along with baking us some corn bread and taco soup for dinner the next day (Sunday). The apartment was spotless. The tile floor was glimmering, and the bedroom air conditioner had brought the temperature in our bedroom to an inviting cool temperature. The furniture was nicely arranged and provided very comfortable surroundings considering that this was an apartment made of concrete (as is most housing in Yap --- termites eat anything made of wood.)

It was about 9:30 at night when we arrived in Yap, so we had no idea what the area we were travelling in looked like. When we awoke in the morning, this is what we saw out our window:

We are indeed in the middle of a "Survivor" series! Sorry the picture isn't larger as it truly is magnificent foliage. In the picture are several banana trees, coconut trees, papaya and avocado... and probably lots of others. Of course, actually getting to those fruits is a different story!

Flight to Guam

2009-11-25T05:19:00.000+10:00

With our flight being delayed for two hours, we ended up arriving in Guam at about 10PM... which was 4:00 AM for our Utah adjusted biological clock! Our mind was a little fuzzy by the time we got picked up by the Mission President and his wife and a very energetic group of Senior missionaries who seemed so excited to greet us. Most of it was a blurr to us as jet lag was definitely having its effect by this point in our journey.

As we ventured outside the airport, the humidity and heat hit us. There was a pretty hefty wind blowing which helped temper the heat a bit, but this was reminiscent of our week in Branson, Missouri. My glasses quickly fogged over (much like my mind had!) and I was led by the hand to the waiting car. Luckily, we were transported to the Mission President's home and were quickly escorted to our air-conditioned bedroom. We took some gravol to help reduce the buzz in our heads and induce some much needed sl... zzzzzzz

Our Day in Paradise

2009-11-25T04:32:00.000+10:00

We got to spend 24 hours in Hawaii on our way to Guam. The weather was fantastic! We tried to make the most of it by meeting friends for dinner and then attending the evening show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The next morning we got up early and took the shot below while eating a BK breakfast croissant on the beach. We then continued on and drove completely around the island of Oahu before heading to the airport for our flight to Guam. Once at the airport, we found out that our flight had been delayed 2 hours. Rats... two more hours we could have spent site-seeing!

SLC Airport

2009-11-18T03:49:00.000+10:00

We are sitting in Salt Lake City airport waiting for our boarding announcement. Since they have a very efficient check-in and security system in SLC we got through security much quicker than we expected -- so our departure is still an hour away

We were up at 6AM in order to get our final packing done, weigh our luggage, clean our room, get some breakfast and say our goodbyes. We were accompanied by two young Sister Missionaries from Pakistan who pretty much adopted us, and by a couple from England who we just fell in love with. What a great time it has been. The English couple leave for Trinidad on Friday, and the Pakistan girls are at the Mission Training Center learning English until Jan 6. It was an emotional departure!

We will be arriving in Hawaii at 3:30 PM and will be spending 24 hours there. We have rented a car and will meet up with Patti Hartford (friend from Nanaimo) who has picked up tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center for us. We fall back three hours getting to Hawaii, (it will be 6:30 Mountain Time when we arrive), so our evening activities in Hawaii will likely keep us up well past our normal bedtime. However... it will simply ease us into our inevitable jet-lag by the time we get to Guam which is pretty much a half-day switch from our normal schedule.

I need a nap. :-)

Departures

2009-11-14T22:11:00.000+10:00

We've had a fantastic time these past two weeks. Winona and I are still here until Tuesday morning... while nearly everyone else in the picture below has already headed off to their specific assignments throughout the world. Some are simply travelling a few miles up the road, while others are on their way to Burma, Mongolia, Brazil, Poland, Russia, Dominican Republic, Guyana, South Africa, Kenya, Japan, Hawaii, Switzerland, Puerto Rico... oh, and Yap! It amazing how much of the world just this week's group of Senior Couples is covering. We've said goodbye to so many, and the chances of seeing very many of these couples again is pretty slim. This is the "hard part" of all this.

The sadness is offset somewhat by the anticipation of our own departure on Tuesday. We fly to Hawaii first. We have arranged a car rental and will meet up with Patti Hartford (a good friend living in Hawaii). She has arranged tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center on Tuesday night for us. We then fly out Wednesday afternoon, arriving in Guam on Thursday evening! (That International Date Line thing!!) So does that mean we'll be a day younger than the local residents or will we be a day older than we actually are?

We'll be able to let you know what today is going to be like before it happens! Hey cool... I just realized that Christmas this year will come a day earlier for us! Be sure and get those packages to the Post Office early!

2009-11-09T15:44:00.000+10:00

This is all of the Senior Couple Missionaries that arrived at the Missionary Training Center the same day that we did. (Nov 2, 2009). We have become great friends with many of them. There are an additional 2200 of the younger missionaries here as well, and they treat us like gold. It really has been a wonderful week

Click the photo to enlarge. We are way in the back.

Mandatory Map Photo

2009-11-09T08:28:00.000+10:00

Yap is here somewhere!

Guam or Bust

2009-11-07T13:02:00.000+10:00

Wow… our first week at the Mission Training Center (MTC) is already done! It has been a full week… in more ways than one! Full, fun and fattening! If we don’t get to Guam soon we just may bust! We have one more week of training in our special assignment with the Church Education System before we take our flight to Guam.

It has been wonderful to be here, surrounded by younger missionaries from all around the world going to places all over the world. The hallways are a buzz of many languages as the missionaries practice their new linguistic skills. Our mission is an English speaking mission, however, each of the islands has its own language and those having spent time there say many locals do not speak English very well. So we will try to tie our tongues around the local language when we get there… it should be fun.