This and That

Being here in Vanuatu has been an amazing experience with nature.  It's amazing in itself being surrounded by the beautiful, South Pacific Ocean.  Last week on our "prep day" all of the couples went to this beautiful garden.  It was closed to the  public after being wiped out when Cyclone Pam hit in 2015.  The cyclone absolutely devastated the island.  They sent all the missionaries home because there was no place for them to live.  Anyway, someone in our group found out about this garden and asked if we could have a private tour.  They will do private tours if you call ahead. The owners are a couple from Australia.  I asked her if they were planning to reopen, but she said no.  They don't make enough money to make it worth it.  It's quite a climb up a steep hill, through lots of jungle, and a little hard to find, but once  we got there we really enjoyed the time spent there.

Sunday, Greg went to a ward to do an audit.  The audits here in Port Vila are the last to be done in this audit cycle.  I went with Sister Tucker to our Black Sands ward to church.  I think I've mentioned that we've been teaching a "mama's" english class after church.  We have about six sisters that show up each week.  We are teaching them how the vowels in english are pronounced, because they pronounce them differently in bislama.  After going over this, we read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with them.  We are figuring out that they know how to read, they just aren't comprehending what they've read.  So, we're going to change our stradegy and work on comprehension.  They are so excited to learn, and we love teaching them!  There is one young mama that can't read at all.  Her little daughter attends the class with her, stands behind her when its time to read and whispers in her ear the words to say when it's her turn.  It is the sweetest thing to see xoxo.  I'll attach a picture of them.  So sweet!

The other morning Greg called for me to come outside.  He had me look up, and there stretched  between two trees was a spider web along with, THE SPIDER! and his supply of flies all wound up by him.  We watched him wrapping up one of the flies.   He's about the size of the black spider on one of the previous posts I sent, only this one is green.  I really should be freaked out because I don't like spiders,  but you know, I'm having a change of heart.  As I sit plunkng out this post, it's raining, and has been all day.  I keep looking out the window at that spider.  He is still there hanging in mid air between those trees.   You would think the wind and rain, or a bird flying through his web would  have taken him down by now.  How amazing is that? 

There are so many unusual little creatures here in Vanuatu, and frankly I'm in awe.  The birds here are loud and squawky, just like you would hear in the jungle.  Every morning at sunrise, between 5:45 and 6:00 a.m., they are there at our window, SQUAWKING, "GET UP IT'S TIME TO PLAY PICKLEBALL! "  Now, that's fine if it's a pickleball day, but we don't play everyday!  They don't seem to care because it's every morning!!  That's really okay, they are so funny to listen to.   They carry on all day long too.  I get a kick out of them, Greg not so much.  Then in the evenings between 5:45 - 6:00 pm, sunset, here come the "cicadas." They're kind of like a cricket, only LOUDER.   It's like they all get together in a group and start at the same time.  I'm not kidding, they probably have a conductor that gets them started, and they are loud!  If you google cicada, there are some recordings you can listen to.  I have to wear ear plugs at night so I can get to sleep.  I love it though!

One thing here in Vanuatu that causes me great distress, are all the dogs and cats that run wild.  Early European settlers long ago brought in animals (e.g. cattle, pigs, goats, cats, chickens and dogs) for food, and pets.  The animals were not well managed as a result have become a problem.  The dogs are used to keep out the wild pigs in some areas of the island, and cats are used for keeping rats out of the villages.  They don't feed them or take care of them, so they are on their own.  Of course the people can't afford to feed them, and I understand that.  Life is difficult here.  In the evening you can hear the dogs off in the distance fighting.  They run the streets looking for food and are so skinny.  When we were in Tanna a few months ago, I saw a dog chewing on a coconut shell, he was so hungary.  I could tell he was very close to dying, he could bearly function.  I walked over to him and quietly said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to please take him soon.   When we were in Solomon last week we saw a dog that was hardly moving, you could tell he was dying, he had hardly any hair left,  I said a prayer for him too.  I'm really struggling with this.  Greg feels bad too.  When this life is over, I know everything will work out for them as well.  I have to keep telling myself that to be able to cope. 

Last night was the last class we taught on "My Plan for Returned Missionaries." It was a nine week course on learning to be self reliant, both temporally and spiritually.  We had anywhere from two to six returned missionaries attending at any given class.  The people here get distracted easily, and will decide at the last minute not to show up to things.  So knowing that, you try not to get discouraged.  We hope the things we taught will have an impact on their hard life here.  We talked about having a vision, setting goals, and all those things that it takes to be self reliant and take care of ourselves.  The government doesn't help in any way, so they work hard to take care of themselves.   Family is everything, and they take care of each other.  We feel that we made a difference, at least we hope so.  We grew to love them and pray that things will work out for them. 

In December, Port Vila will be hosting the Vanuatu 2017 Pacific Mini Games.  Twenty four nations will to be represented.  Schools will be closed  for two weeks so that the athletes will have places to stay.  There really aren't that many hotels for guests to stay in, so it will be  very interesting to see how the accomodations work out.  I understand that the hotels are getting "fulap" (full) fast.  They've built a new building for indoor sports, and new tennis courts.  They already have fields to play football (soccer) because the people enjoy playing soccer .  They will need a lot of volunteers, so we will be doing our best to help out as missionaries.  I  just hope the people will volunteer and be willing to  do what needs to be done and finish the job.

It's Friday morning, and it's raining.  The birds came by to let us know it was time to get up for pickleball.  They never take a day off!  For exercise we decided to take our umberellas and go down town to walk along the water front.  We drove past the church and saw the other couples playing pickleball in the rain.  Some of them are real diehards,  we just didn't want to get soaked!   It was so beautiful walking along the water front.  The Austrailians have been putting a lot of money into Vanuatu.  They are trying to make it more attractive for the tourists that visit.  They've done a great job.  There are walk ways along the water front, they've put grass in some areas and put swing sets in for the pikininis (children).  There are tons of beautiful resorts throughout the island.  Most of the visitors come over from New Zealand and Austrailia.  The beaches are beautiful and the snorkeling is fabulous too.  I think its a short two or three hour trip for them to come.  We watched a cruise ship coming in to dock for the day.  I'm sure the passengers were disappointed at the weather, but rain is needed desperately throughout the islands.  We've been catching a little bit of the news regarding all the devastating hurricanes.   I sure hope we don't get a cyclone while we're here!  YIKES!!!!  I'll close for now, just thought I would write about a few things that might be interesting.  We hope all is well with you at home.  We're always thinking about you all and love you "tumas (much)."  

Love, Elda and Sista Robison  XOXO