We're back from our trip to Malekula. As I mentioned before, Greg and I were called as Assistant Area Auditors. Our trip to Malekula was to do training and the financial audits for the church on the islands. I'm going to go into a little bit of detail on our accommodations in Malekula because it's quite comical.
On July 4th we tried to book where Pres. and Sister Granger was staying. We were told it was full, so we booked at a place called Lokatoro Lodge. The night before we flew out, which was Friday the 15th of July, a woman called from the booking agency telling us that Lokatoto Lodge was full, but there was space available at the Malekula Holiday Vilas. We were pretty leary, but booked it. The rest of the story is coming.
When we got to the airport on Saturday morning we checked in. They didn't ask for any ID, nor did they check for guns, knives or liquid amounts. As a matter of fact, you could bring whatever you wanted as long as there was room and it didn't exceed the weight limits for the plane. They did weight us and our luggage. When we got on the 20 seat plane, my phone rang. I couldn't hear very well because the plane was getting ready to take off (no aviation rules around here) a voice said something like, "tell driver take you to Edna's." What did that mean? I guess we would find out when we got there.
President Vanu, the District President, met us at the plane. He is such a nice man. He asked us where we were staying. I told him about the message about "Edna," he said, "oh yes, I know where to take you." He took us to these bungalows, and there was Edna to meet us. She was a really nice lady. The place we stayed was nice too. A little more rustic than we were used to, but it was clean. The funnier part about all this is that Edna works for the tourist bureau and is able to"steer" people to her villas. Both of the places we were trying to book were available after all. We caught word of this through the grapevine. I guess there can be competition everywhere, even on the islands.
President Vanu, the District President, met us at the plane. He is such a nice man. He asked us where we were staying. I told him about the message about "Edna," he said, "oh yes, I know where to take you." He took us to these bungalows, and there was Edna to meet us. She was a really nice lady. The place we stayed was nice too. A little more rustic than we were used to, but it was clean. The funnier part about all this is that Edna works for the tourist bureau and is able to"steer" people to her villas. Both of the places we were trying to book were available after all. We caught word of this through the grapevine. I guess there can be competition everywhere, even on the islands.
After we checked into our little bungalow, President Vanu took us to the District Office to meet five of the seven branch presidents and clerks who had traveled from their different villages around the island. They all gathered into a small office where Greg was able to do some training and perform the audits of their records. During the training and audits he felt strongly that they were doing the best they could for the situation they are in, and were keeping pretty good records. They don't have internet which makes things difficult, so their record keeping is all on paper.
I sat outside while the work was going on and visited with these men. Although there was a language barrier, we could understand each other well enough. This one sweet, humble, president asked me how many children we had. I told him that we were unable to have children. He was so sweet as he told me how sorry he was, but that we would have them one day. I was touched at the love and concern he had for us. It brought tears to my eyes as that subject always does.
Soon President and Sister Granger showed up, they had been to another part of the island to some baptisms. While the Grangers were there, they gathered the presidents together and talked to them about how important it is for them to continue to be self reliant and to learn what is being taught to them by the missionaries, because one day we will all be gone, but they will still be there and they need to learn how to operate in the church themselves. I'm sure it was an exhausting day for them. They were there from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. All but two of the audits took place that day, the other two presidents weren't able to make it so those were go be done on Monday before we left to come back to Port Vila. After the audits, we all (including me) piled in the back of a pickup truck and headed down the bumpy road. We got dropped off at the place where Pres and Sis Granger were staying and had dinner with them that night. They stay in a bungalow on a beautiful beach. That's where we hope to stay the next time we go because we will be there in December time frame, during the HOT, HOT summer. The breeze from the ocean will help to make it more bearable to be there. The owner of the resort also fixes your meals. Dinner that night was sooo good. We had yam puffs, which are deep fried pieces of yam, curry chicken, beef strips, cucumber salad, and rice. For dessert we had slices of fresh pineapple. DELISH! Rona is a wonderful cook. After dinner, Pres Vanu sent a driver to take us back to our bungalow. It is so dark at night, no street lights here. We just bumped along down the dark road with jungle on both sides. It's amazing to be here. What an adventure!
We woke up Sunday morning to this scratchy little meow. We opened the door and in walked a little kitty. He was very friendly, we let him hang out with us while we stayed there. He had a little brother that came around too. Cats and dogs run wild on the islands. They were brought to the islands by the first European sailors that came many years ago. It's so sad because there are so many of them. You can hear the dogs barking and fighting during the night. They run the streets looking for food. It breaks my heart to see them struggle and try to survive. Very few are pets to anyone. There are shops around town that will have a cat sleeping on the counter by the register, so I think they have a home. We are cat lovers so it's hard to watch.
Remember when I was feeling sorry for the missionaries that don't have hot water? Well, WE DIDN'T EITHER!! We did have a bathroom though, with a cold water shower, toilet and sink. We also had a little kitchen, living room and bedroom. When we first walked into the bedroom, there on the wall was this HUGE spider. This thing was probably 3 inches in diameter with it's leg span. How creepy is that?!! It looked like a giant black widow. Greg just scooped it up in a container and threw it outside. We were told they were bug eating spiders and not poisonous. That's great, but he wasn't staying with us!! The kitchen had a propane stove so when we showered, we warmed water up, soaped up in the shower and rinsed with cold water. It wasn't too bad.
One thing special about the church is that it's the same where ever you go. As we sat and waited, we visited with the members as they came. Greg brought his ipad because it has the scriptures and hymn book. He opened the ipad up to "angry birds." He was showing the kids, who probably have not seen anything like this, how to play the game. It was so fun to see them get excited as they watched this amazing computer game.
When we got started, they asked Greg to help pass the sacrament. One elder blessed it, and Greg passed it. They also asked him to bless a baby boy that was named Spencer. Of course the meetings were all in bislama, but you could still feel the spirit that was there. "Papa God" loves all of this children. The hymns are in English so we could at least sing. They use the same hymn book we do. When it came time to separate for class, I went outside with the Primary. We brought chairs outside and placed them in a circle. The teacher talked about different bible stories and had the kids tell what they knew about them, and then sang primary songs. Because of the language barrier, it was hard to teach them anything new, so we sang what they were familiar with. They loved; Once there was a Snowman, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock. With my squeeky, untrained voice, I sang them other primary songs that I knew. It was great. I would sing slow and they would try to sing along. What a wonderful day. It was so nice to be with our brothers and sisters in the South Pacific.
After church we went back to our bungalow, the Grangers told us to bring a little food in case we couldn't get to a restaurant, or got stuck at the airport. So for lunch we had sliced apples, crackers and peanut butter, with oreo cookies for dessert. Edna made arrangements with a restaurant down the street for our dinner since it was Sunday and things aren't open. At 5:00 we hopped in Edna's truck and went to the restaurant. When we walked in, no one was there. Edna called the owner on the phone, she had forgotten we were coming. She was so sweet, she made us dinner that night. We paid her well for her efforts. She was a good host.
Monday morning we went back to the district office so that Greg could train and audit the last two branches. Three young elder missionaries live across the street from the district office, so I went over to visit with them. One elder is from Highland, Utah, another from Idaho and the other was from South Africa. They have been to the Port Vila mission office before so I recognized them. We had a nice visit. After the audits, President Vanu took us to the airport. We had to check in two hours before the flight because if it comes early, they just leave. The airport is a riot because it was burned down over a land dispute. So, it's just a shell of a building. It's basically a cement foundation and walls. There's a little tin shed next to it where they check you in for the flight. As we sat waiting for our plane for about 2 1/2 hours, two young ladies who were working for the Peace Corp. came and sat next us. Their names were Mercedes, she was from Montana and Liz, who was from New York. They were there on Malekula helping the people. Liz was getting ready to help open up a little library there. Mercedes was going to Port Vila to meet her parents for a little vacation. I pulled out some crackers and apples, and Mercedes pulled out some cheese. We put it together and had lunch. The girls were telling us about their work there. I asked them if I could join them for the day when we come back in six months. They loved the idea, so we exchanged phone numbers. While Greg's doing the audits, I'll see what's going on with the people and see if I can help. When we boarded the plane, we took off down this half grass, half asphalt runway. A little while later we landed on a grass runway on the other side of the island to pick up a few more passengers. What an adventure.
When we got back to Port Vila we took Mercedes to a little apartment that the Peace Corp kids stay at. She is a darling girl. She isn't a member, but she said she's talked with the missionaries. We'll keep an eye on her.
May God bless you all. Love, Elda and Sista Robison
No comments:
Post a Comment