March Madness

March Madness in the world of sports definitely marks the basketball playoffs that always seem so exciting even for those who have not followed the wins and losses of teams during the regular season.  As an educator it had an added meaning.  It was not unusual for parents of students to finally take note that their child was not doing as well as possible and "now it was the teacher or the school's responsibility to hurriedly fix a problem that had been repeatedly voiced by the teachers since September Back to School Night.

For the two of us, it is our own March Madness as we try to finalize major projects, open new ones, and try to encourage a faster speed of those that are slowly moving forward, so Elder and Sister Skibbe, our replacements from Australia via Germany, will have a foundation of success as soon as they arrive. We are so excited to meet them.  We thought that we would have a week overlap, but we only have 2 days.  There will be a lot of introductions and training in that short time.

In our very busy week, my life changed rapidly after receiving a phone call on Thursday night from President Larkin in Tarawa, Kiribati. He very nicely asked me if I would be a companion to a young sister missionary the next evening flying to her home in Sydney, Australia.  Of course, I willingly accepted the assignment knowing that it would be an enormous responsibility to make sure that she arrived safely to her parents after only being here three weeks.

Sister Seager had a lot of work to do to get me plane tickets and a visa to get into Australia.  She was on the computer until after midnight and back on before five in the morning.  I packed, prayed, and headed to the airport.  One never knows how a person who was going to respond to me, a person whom she had only talked for a few minutes at the recent in-take and now I would be her companion to exit her mission 15 months early.  I just let her talk most of the way to Honolulu.  The counsel that I did give, I feel was very much given to me by a higher source.  We arrived in Honolulu before 3:00AM and I called for a shuttle to the Best Western Hotel.  After getting in the room, I asked her if she wanted to call her parents.  She was very anxious, but it went well. It was pleasing to me that the words that I shared with her gave strength to her dear father, who was struggling with her returning home early.

After two hours of sleep we were off to the airport to get on our Qantas flight to Sydney, which took another 101/2 hours.  It was a looooong trip.  I read, watched a couple of the appropriate airplane movies, and listened to my new young companion whenever she needed to be heard.  It went well.

Her excitement continued to build the closer we were to her home.  She was so excited when she saw her family.  They showed great love for their daughter and were a little hesitant in knowing what to do with me.  They really thought that I was going with them to see the Stake President. I was only the escort and the information was to come from their Stake President and President Larkin. 

I hugged many of them and made a special effort to speak with her father, whom I could see was struggling the most.  He is a good man and a good father. From personal experience, I know how much a father loves his children.

I traveled almost 15,000 miles in three days.  It was a lot of miles in a short period.  I experienced two Saturdays and two Sundays.  That is what happens when one passes the international dateline twice.  I would not recommend traveling Hawaiian Airlines again.  Qantas is the best of the three flights that I had.

I am so grateful that everything went well and there were no unexpected events.

The day that I returned home from my 15,000 mile sprint, we attended a piano concert that evening performed by Roman Rudnytsky.  We listened to two hours of the most beautiful classical piano music for free. We were sad that more people did not take advantage of this great opportunity.

There is one piano on the island that gets tuned at least every two years by a man from Ebeye.  A proper piano chair could not be found, so a dining room chair with two added pillows was used.

Roman Rudnytsky with his Marshallese
presenter.

Not quite a proper piano bench/chair.

Roman Rudnytsky is an American concert pianist, whose performances have taken him to 100 countries throughout the world.  He was born in New York into a prominent Ukrainian musical family.  He began the study of piano at the age of four and gave his first full recital at age seven.  He is a graduate of the famous Juilliard School in New York and also did additional studies at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland and experienced master classes in Austria (the "Mozarteum") and Italy.

Elder Preston had the great idea to do a picture book of the different pre-schools and after school programs that Elder and Sister Doig have started throughout Majuro.  We will present it to them before they leave for home.  (Shhhhh - it is a secret.)

The moms and children sit on the floor in
one of the nicer homes, which belongs to one of our
favorite ladies in the Uliga Ward.

Children have learned to find their names and post them
in the proper place.  This is a big event for these little ones.

No one can imagine the work and organization that the Doigs have provided to promote a love for learning in a country where so many cannot read or write and if they do it is seldom above a 4-7 grade level.  The long term goal has always been, teaching the mothers of the children/students to run the program in each of the seven areas.  Here are just a couple of the many pictures that were taken.

 We attended our last NCD Coalition Meeting for this mission.  Dr. Aitaoto and Dr. Trinidad ran the show and they are no nonsense types who want to see actions and results.  Most of our groups presented very well, except for one, a typical Marshallese, who speaks in circles without any specifics.  Dr. Aitasto called her on it every time.  We thought that she would have learned from our last meeting six months ago with these doctors, but her learning curve just didn't bend. The tradition of talking a lot and doing little with few facts to so prevelant here.

Dr. Aitaoto is sitting - first person on left.
Dr. Trinidad is taking the picture.

Dr. Aitaoto is Marshallese, but she has been in Arkansas for over 25 years and now is transferring to Utah where she will be over the programs at the U and BYU.  She is knowledgeable and has a great work ethic.  It is delightful to see her in action. We hope to connect with her in Utah when we return. 

Elder Preston has wanted to check out the Canoe Museum for months. Since we were trying to meet with Frank, who is one of our landlords and works over the Special Ed. department here, and he was not in his office, we headed for the Canoe Museum which is next door. When we entered the office, we were told that most of the wooden projects had been sold, but they do let people enter the Museum to look around.

Elder Preston & Sealend in the museum.

Note the feet carving on the base.

Hands holding the table top.

Sister Preston & Sealend by the handmade
Marshallese canoes.

Sealend Laiden was sitting the next computer and he was happy to take us through the Museum.  We found out some great information:

1. It is not really a museum. It is a school for young people who are school dropouts.  The students come in April through the fall.  They learn English, math, science, life skills, and carving skills.

2.  We read about the history of canoe making in the Museum/School.  In early days on the atolls entire villages/Wetos were united in canoe building.  Men and women made canoes.  It was a woman who made the first sail from Pandanus trees.

3. Sealend then asked if we had ever been to Ailinglaplap.  We said, "No, but we do have two elders there."  He said that the house where church is held is in the house of his parents.  We thoroughly enjoyed this young man.

4.  Sealend came from the outer island to go to high school at Marshall Islands HS.  Then he graduated from CMI.  For the last two years he has worked as a counselor at the school/museum that we were visiting.

5.  We are excited to contact the missionaries on Ailinglaplap and make an even stronger connection with them and this young man. 

During one of calls home, Andrew asked the question, "What toys do the children have there?" It was difficult to answer, because we seldom see the children with toys.  They play with sticks, plastic bottles, string/rope when and if available.  They make baseball mitts out of cardboard, use sticks for bats, and taped old balls or handmade balls for the baseball.  Those who play in the water try to float on any piece of wood or (?) that they find.  The few that do have bikes, scooters, and/or skates seem to not have them very long.  They are stolen, rusted, have flat tires, etc.  Repairs are usually never made.  Once an item is not working it is thrown on the ground never to be used again.  When wheelchairs are found or stolen they are used for laundry carts, grocery carts, moving carts, and/or for children to give each other rides. 

3 Boys floating on a piece of wood.

They are not close to shore.

Two little boys found the base to an office chair.
Watch the following videos taken in the parking lot
by the Delap Chapel.

We are so blessed to know that many items in our lives can be repaired.  Not just physical/worldly items, but our own spiritual, mental, emotional, and/or physical areas of distress.  We are so grateful for the atonement and the blessings that can be ours.

We have received many blessings while serving in the Marshall Islands.  As always the best part of serving is meeting and learning to love new and different people as we move forward together.

Of course no one will ever take the place of our families and friends at home.  

Please remember how much we love you.

Elder & Sister Preston