on getting older ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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. :-)