We celebrated Elder Coombs 81st birthday. We had
a party at their apartment with pizza, salad, and homemade lemon
cheesecake. We played games that I have
never played, but they reminded me of games from my youth, where money was
absent and friendships were strong.
We played
one particular game, where we were each given a piece of blank computer paper
and a pencil. We were given assignments,
to draw a picture that starts with a chosen letter.
How do we know the letter? One
participant drew a number from a basket.
The number tells us the letter - number 8 would be H. You get the drill.
The number
14 was drawn, which of course would be the letter "N." Each
participant had to draw a small picture that started with the letter
"N." (Some pictures you had to
draw with your non-dominate hand or with your eyes closed, etc.) If any other
person drew the same picture as another participant, those pictures were
disqualified. You only received a point,
if you were the only one who drew the picture and it started with the correct
letter.
One by
one, people said what they drew for the letter "n": nut,
nail, necklace, etc. When it was Sister
Doig's turn she said, "I drew "knickers." Laughter was produced as another person said,
"Knickers starts with a "K."
Sister Doig had a puzzled look on her face, and said "K-nickers." Then it was Elder Doig's turn. He announced, " first I drew a picture
of a knot in a piece of wood, but then I thought that it might start with a
"K.," so I changed my picture to a "knot" in a rope. We all laughed again as he was told that
that "knot" started with a "k," too. Laughter just kept going. I know that you had to be there to get the
real humor.
Then
Sister Doig said, "I bet it kind of scares you that we are teaching
English to the Marshallese." Another
round of laughter rippled through the room.
It was a
delightful evening.
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| Elder & Sister Coombs Two of our favorite people. |
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| Elder Coombs with the support of Sister Coombs & Colin, blowing out candles on two lemon cheesecakes. |
Previous
to this event, we went to take some pictures of Tanner's staff who were having a
celebration party for Brianna Peterson, who has been working as an intern for
him for two months. She served her
mission among the Marshallese people in Seattle Washington and has a great love
for the Marshallese people.
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| Brianna's going away party! |
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| Brianna with all her going-away crowns and Elder Preston |
The next day, we went to the airport to say good-bye to Brianna Peterson. Now, she has just been accepted into the nursing program at the "U" and says that she wants to return after she becomes a RN. We'll see. She loved being here, made many friends, and was an outstanding example of being a good person.
We had an
enjoyable FHE at the Winchester home on Monday.
The lesson
was good and the conversation was enjoyable.
Plus, we got to start our celebration for Elder Coombs 81st
birthday. Why did I enjoy the
lesson? The theme was integrity - A
topic that never ages and is so valuable, particularly in a world where it is
not popular. I remember learning about
John Francis Bacon years ago in a history class. I can't say that I relished everything about
his life, but I still recognize the good.
His quotes
remain a part of the good!
Wednesday,
July 26th, in between meetings, we took Elder McFall to the Airport, to send
him to Ebeye. After we checked him in,
we took him to the airport cafe for a last Majuro meal for awhile. I told him to pick anything on the menu. They have breakfast, hamburgers, sandwiches,
meals -- all the normal foods. What did
he pick? Sushi and a bottle of water! I thought that he picked it, because it cost
less. No - it was the same or a little
more for two sushi packages. What kind
of fish you ask? A rectangular block of
rice topped with spam. That was his
choice. He enjoyed it and life is good.
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| Elder Preston & Elder McFall |
HURRAY!
We were
finally able to finish planting the last of the seedlings in President
Zedikiah's keyhole garden. It is evident
that the timeline of growth is not what we have been told. Hopefully the vegetables will produce, so
that we can return to build a second garden surrounded by community members in
hopes that they will desire to do the same.
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| Sis vegetable plants ready for success |
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| Beautiful pictures captured by Elder Preston as we walked. |
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| Typical outer island home. |
As we were
rounding the last island and were walking along the shoreline, we noticed a
young boy paddling a long wooden surfboard with a young girl perched on the
back end. Craig took some pictures. Since the water sparkled in hues of dark
blue, light blue and different colors of turquoise and the sun was bright and
beautiful, the children looked picturesque.
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| Cement locks across the ocean. |
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| Cement with children on surfboard. |
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| Darling children |
Then we heard, "Hello" from the shore. There was a lady calling to us, so we replied and then a man appeared by her side.
We asked questions about the large containers out in the ocean and
asked if they were the fish farms. They
explained that the fish were started in Laura and then transferred to this area
when they were bigger. The next thing we
knew is that we were invited to their deck to have fresh coconut milk from
coconuts picked after we arrived by a local boy.
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| One of the Fish Farms |
We sat
with them on their deck that had a spectacular view of the ocean and
other islands. Her name was Mio and her father owns most of the island where
she lives. He owns the DAR store,
apartment buildings, and many other businesses in Majuro. Mio and her husband/companion are leaving to
go to Ebeye for two years to oversee construction for her father, who owns a lot there, too. Mio's oldest sister is in charge of United
Airlines in Majuro and her middle sister manages the DAR store, restaurant, and
the apartments. They also treated us to pandanas, which we found out the real
way to get the fruit. As Mio's husband
watched us struggle with the fruit, he kindly said this is the way you eat
it. So much easier. He probably thought that we were a little
short on brain cells.
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| Friend, Mio, Sister Preston View from their deck. |
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| Leaving with my coconut milk. |
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| Elder Preston with coconut and please note the hat. |
As we left
they gave us two more coconuts and showed us the easiest way to exit the island
to head back to our destination. I feel as though we have two more good
friends.
Two of our
young missionaries live in one of the DAR apartments. Craig mentioned some needs for it, and Mio
immediately told us to talk to her sister, Marian, for she would get things
done.
We are grateful for good people who continue to bless our lives. Tanner and Kristen, owners of the Wellness Center and leaders of the CLP, share their three beautiful children with us, since we are so far away from our own dear grandchildren.
Most of all we are grateful for you. Thank you for making our lives so good through your support, prayers and love.
Forever we love you,
E/S Preston
