Vanuatu happenings

Did I tell you about Carlos, the Chinese young man that comes to play pickleball with us once in a while?  We're wondering where he got the name Carlos.  The last five times or so,  he has been showing up just as we're finishing.  He's trying to learn English, but he isn't quite understanding when to show up to play.  He's taking an English class from the Collette's.  Today as I tried to talk to him, I think he was trying to tell me that he slept in??  I pointed again to 6:00 on his watch, and said come Friday.  He jabbered a bunch of stuff off,  I just smiled and knodded my head.    We'll see if he makes it on Friday.  So funny.  There are alot of Chinese in Vanuatu.  They  own most of the shops and restaurants.  They're even starting to build huge housing developments.   I know I've mentioned the big Embassy they built across from our apartments.  On the island of Tanna though, they aren't allowed to own any shops.   They are doing all kinds of road work though, just as they are in Efate (the island we live on), and Santo.  Makes you wonder what's going on???  They do hire the Nivan's to work, but they also bring in contractors from China.     

Greg and I have been helping with humanitarian projects while waiting for the audit cycle to start which has been fun to do.  Greg and Elder Collette did some electrical work the other day at Sister Veronica's school.  She's the woman that runs a little orphan school.  She has about 75 little pikininis.  They put some lights in her little school.  This is the same school that I've been helping to make uniforms for the kids.  I've been making little black gathered skirts that are so cute.  Sister Roundy came over this morning to show me a pair of little shorts she made for the boys.   The kids all wear uniforms to school here in the islands, and she wanted her kids to have them too.   You see the kids walking to school looking so smart, yet they arent' getting a good education at all.  They are being taught by teachers that hardly know anything themselves.  Many of them are high school kids.  By the time anyone wants to go to BYU Hawaii, they have a lot of catching up to do before they can qualify to go.  There are classes taught by the Self Reliance missionary couple who helps them prepare to qualify to attend, but it's hard for them.  They also administer the Pathway program which is working to earn a degree online through BYU-Idaho.  They don't have the Perpetual Eduacation Fund available to them because the people weren't paying it back.  

Last week, Sister Tucker called us from the mission office to tell us that a couple was there that had served as the auditors in the mission four years ago.  We told her we would be right down to visit with them. They were the William's from Seattle.  They had been on a cruise with family earlier, which took in the island of Efate.   After the cruise, they actually flew to a few of the different islands to visit with some of the people they got to know well, while on their mission.  This particular day, they flew here to Efate from Santo.  We went to lunch and had a really nice visit.  We talked about the different experiences we were having, compared to those they had.  We could see very small increments of change.  You can't change a totally different culture in a short amount of time as we all know, but each of us need to do the best we can to move the work along.  The people are trying.  We took them to the airport after lunch.

The people are very family oriented and closely knit.  They stick up for each other and protect one another.  Sister Tucker found that out last Sunday.  With it being Mother's Day, we have been working HARD to teach the primary kids a couple of songs to sing to their mothers in sacrament meeting.  I've mentioned before that Primary can be a trial beyond belief!  The kids are restless from the beginning.  It's not in their nature to sit still and listen.  It can be hard for us white folks from American to have patience, but you have to learn to.  Anyway, the bishop called the kids to come forward to sing.  We got them all situated in a cluster ready to sing.  The bishops daughter plays the electric piano for sacrament meeting, and agreed to play those songs for the program.  So when Sister Tucker knodded her head to begin to play, Paulina motioned for her to come over.  She told her she forgot her primary song book.  Sister Tucker showed her impatience and was a little short with her.  It was all on the sly, so people didn't know what was happening which was good.  She handed her her own book to use.  I'm sure she forget her book, but you do have to  get used to them not always following through with things, or completely disregarding what you ask.  Many times they just don't understand the task.  Luckily we had posters for them to sing from.  They did a pretty good job considering they didn't know the songs very well.  After primary, the bishop called sister Tucker into his office.  His wife and daughter were also there.  He gave her a bit of a chewing out saying that she had disrespected his daughter.  She had already apologized to Paulina, and felt bad that she got short with her.  A lesson was learned that day, me included.  

The last month or so, we've been waking up with bite marks!  We checked our bed for bedbugs, but can't see any evidence of the creepy little things.  The young missionaries deal with bed bugs all the time.  They have instructions on what to do, and get them taken care of.  I've talked to the other couples and they experience the same thing.  I think they're mosquito bites, which wouldn't be such a bad thing, but we don't want to get bit by the denge carrying mosquites.   Those little critters can make you very sick.  

We got an email from Sister Davidson the other day.  She made me laugh!  She said it so good to  be back home again, but that she was freezing to death, her lips were chapped, her heals were cracking, her skin was dry and she had a cold.  That's what you get when you go from a warm, humid, climate to a cold, dry climate I guess.  Can hardly wait!  ha ha! 

Well dear family and friends, we hope all is well at home.  We love and miss you all tumas (so much).  Feel free to email us at www.anr1027slc@comcast.net and let us know what's happening.  Lukim yu (see you) later.  Lovem, Greg and Ann XO