First Week in Kosrae!

In anticipation of the Book of Mormon celebration in Kosrae, we had Sepe Charley, a member of the Barrigada Ward, translate the script that Elder Hurst, the Hardys  and President Zarbock have been working so hard on.  

Sepe spent two entire days in our office and time at home completing the translation.

The day before we left, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at the mission home with the the Zarbocks and the Guam missionaries, thankful that we were spared the full impact of Typhoon Dolphin.  

More great missionaries from the Guam Zone.

We left Monday morning for Kosrae.  That evening we joined President Zarbock and the Kosrae Zone missionaries for dinner.  We are excited to be assigned to Kosrae to help the members here plan and present a celebration of the Book of Mormon which has just been translated into their language.  This beautiful island is 43 square miles in size and has a population of about 6,650 people which is about what it was before European and American whalers arrived ca. 1824.  When American Board Missionaries arrived and established the Congregationalist Church on the island in 1852 the population was in a freefall.  By 1880 disease had reduced the number of Kosraeans to under 200.  The demographic crisis plus the success of the missionaries undermined the chiefly cast system and destroyed the indigenous culture. This is the smallest island in the mission and the most remote.  There are now six (soon to be only four) elders serving in two branches here.

Gas is distributed like this all over the island.  Needless to say, it is expensive, like everything else that has to be brought here by boat.  Luckily, we don't have far to drive.

Kosrae is a "high" Micronesian island.  The rugged interior is uninhabited and covered with dense jungle.  This is the famous "Sleeping Lady" of Kosrae, as seen from the Lelu dock.  Her head is on the right

This little boy is about 4 or 5 and lives with his parents and two brothers across the street from our house.  We see the boys pass by our front door nearly every day on their way to the ocean.  Noticing him collecting something out on the reef at low tide one day, we stopped him to see what it was.  He had a bucket of sea cucumbers.  Some people eat them and others use them for fertilizer. 

The children here find interesting things to play with.  This little guy has a collection of hermit crabs, some in the blue box to the right and others scattered on the steps below him.  

We have enjoyed getting to know the six missionaries on the island.  The zone leaders, Elders Gibb (above) and Blackwell (below), live just down the street from us.  We found them one morning while on our walk, working out on the beach.

Elder Blackwell leaves next week to return to Alberta, Canada.  He will be missed!

We hold district meetings at our house on Thursdays which include a meal.  Its a challenge to figure out what to fix with what is available.  The selection at the little ACE grocery store depends on how recently the last boat arrived and the local produce is limited to what happens to be on hand the day you stop by the stands.

These large land crabs are everywhere at night.  We found this fellow on our doorstep one evening. They are supposed to be pretty good to eat too.

The chapel in Lelu will be the site of our celebration.  It is one of the nicest buildings on the island but like everything else here, requires a tremendous amount of upkeep.  Some minor repairs and renovations are underway which we hope will be completed by July 25.