To the most amazing Palau and back to beautiful Guam and Typhoon Dolphin!

We had a wonderful trip to Palau where we met some incredible members and saw some of the most beautiful spots on Earth:  Rock Islands, Jellyfish Lake, Giant Clams, Milky Way and WWII wrecks, including a downed Japanese Zero still sitting in the lagoon.  Unfortunately we weren't able to get photos of all of these - Jellyfish Lake (underwater swarming jelly fish with no sting) and the most amazing - giant clams the size of a small bathtub.  This is a must see place!

Palau traditional pig roast and entertainment at the market in Koror.

Family History Consultant extraordinaire, Clint Freese, and patron in the Koror Branch.

Great hosts and wonderful company, Elder and Sister Proffit showed us a terrific time in Palau.

Young Single Adult group - Institute class at Palau Community College.  We enjoyed hearing their stories about their grandmas.

 

Rock Islands tour - on way to Jelly Fish Lake.  We were able to arrange to go on one of  Rebluud Kesolei's boats with three other couples:  Elder/Sister Proffit (Larry & Pat) the senior missionary couple on Palau; Evan Robbins (Sister Robbins had left to return to SLC for birth of a grandchild) - he is an attorney working in the office of the Palau Attorney General; and Herm and Sister Olsen from Logan who are in Palau on a seven-week legal mission (through the Church) to teach the local attorneys how to conduct jury trials.

 

Sunken ship - snorkeling spot in the Rock Islands

 

Among the Rock Islands

 

Wonderful soft coral snorkeling through this natural arch.

Jellyfish Lake - amazing gentle creatures!

Us, Evan Robbins, Elder/Sister Proffit (left front) and Brother/Sister Olsen taking a lunch break between Jellyfish Lake and the giant clams.

Some of these clams were 3-4 feet across.

 

Jeanette at the "Milky Way" a protected cove in the Rock Islands with incredibly soft white mud that is reputed to have beautifying effects.  She looked five years younger after a dip and facial mask.  While in Palau we were also able to meet with officials at the National Archives, Supreme Court and Bureau of Lands and Surveys to identify records of genealogical value and discuss the possibility of having FamilySearch digitize them.  

BACK IN GUAM

Micronesian, mostly Chuukese, group learning about family history in preparation for the Micronesian Fair where FamilySearch will have a booth.  This was scheduled for last weekend but was postponed due to Typhoon Dolphin.

Wonderful walk in the lagoon, along the reef at very low tide - Tagachang Beach on Pacific Coast of Guam

Tagachang Beach lagoon looking north.

Typhoon Dolphin arrived on Friday May 15th but fortunately we didn't take a direct hit.  We had winds on the north part of the island approaching 100 mph but near our apartment probably only about 60.  There was significant damage around the island but we were burrowed into our apartment with the typhoon shutters closed.  We did loose electricity for around 12 hours and water has been on and off - mostly off for nearly 24 hours.  We filled the bathtub and all available containers before the storm and after the water went out filled containers from the rain runoff from the apartment roof.

Two great weeks in Guam

Every Thursday is the Mangilao Night Market next door to the Santa Teresita Catholic Church, not far from our apartment.  For the last couple of weeks Agnes and Tosie Tosie have had a booth selling Pearl Shakes and lumpia or fruit salad to earn money for the temple trip in July.

Suzanna Sam has been helping out too (always with a big smile).  We love going to the market.  You can buy anything from a lemon tree to chicken empanadas prepared by the local Imam to used clothes.

On one of our recent trips we found ripe papaya, soursop and mountain apples (also taro and breadfruit).

Saturday, April 18.  We hiked with the Young Women of the Barrigada Stake down to Sella Bay, site of the ancient Chamorro village of Sidya, the remains of a Spanish beehive oven and a two-arch Spanish stone bridge.  We enjoyed snorkeling in the bay with its ledges, tubes and underwater canyons.

Wednesday, April 22.  We left the office early for an evening beach walk.  Heading down to Tanguisson we found the tide way out and the reef flats exposed.  A few people were out collecting shellfish to make Kelaguen.  Grant picked up this trocha who came out to say hello.  

We enjoyed yet another beautiful Guam sunset.

Thursday, April 23.  Sister Julie Fee brought in her Barrigada Seminary Class to the FHC do some Family History.  The youth are preparing names to take on the temple trip in July.

Friday, April 24.  The Talisay Ward "Temple Night" brought out Sam Bailey, first counselor in the bishopric, Relief Society President Lisa Garcia and her two darling girls and long time Guam residents Buzz and Jeanette Passeur.  The very capable Mike Monson, a ward family history consultant, conducted the evening.

Saturday, April 25.  With the help of Elder and Sister Thomas, Military Relations Missionaries, we were able to get onto the Naval Base for a hike down the Spanish Steps (by rope and ladder) on Orote Point--the westernmost tip of the U.S.  We were rewarded at the bottom of our climb by a lovely beach and excellent snorkeling.

Sunday, April 26.  We stopped by the Barrigada Ward family history class and found these faithful members hard at work:  Sister Walters, Dorthy Siren, Sister Masau, Sister Philemon, Suzanna Sam, Agnes Tosie, Tami Burton, Brother Nauta and Dale West.

Happy Easter!

Our visit to Kosrae continued and included a meeting with the Assistants to the President and the Kosrae Zone, hosted by us at the senior couple's house.  Pictured below are Elders Murdoch, Blackwell, Gibb, Fabiano, Ferguson, Conk, Amato and Johnson.

We enjoyed meeting with families on Kosrae and talking about temple and family history.  This beautiful family hopes to go to the Manila temple this year to be sealed.

    This newly baptized family is also hoping to be sealed in the temple soon.

While on Kosrae, we also helped members research and record their family history.  Records for Kosrae are included in the Pohnpei vital records and we were able to help Rory (below) and others fill in their My Family Booklets.

Permides, the lone family history consultant on Kosrae is great.  Here she is helping one of the sisters from the Lelu Branch.  We worked out in the breezeway where it was cool.  The chapel has no air conditioning but it does have a great wireless internet connection.

We enjoyed our stay in Kosrae in the little missionary house on the beach.  The sunrises were especially beautiful.

We flew to Pohnpei on Sunday, March 29 after a 24 hour delay.  Monday morning we looked out our hotel window and saw this Founding Day parade go by.  Students were celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the establishment of the College of Micronesia.

Above is the Kosraean Student Association.  They sang a Protestant hymn as they marched by.

Next came the Pohnpeian Student Association. They boy in the blue shirt is blowing on a big shell.

Above is the Pingelap/Mokil (two small atolls that are part of Pohnpei State) Student Organization float.  The queen who is riding in the back and who you cannot see is one of our family history consultants.

These are the students from Chuuk.

These students are from Yap.  The yellow on their bodies is turmeric.  The girls in this photo are wearing lavalavas, a sign that they are from the outer islands of Yap State.

After the parade the student organizations performed dances.  We especially liked this one by the Pingelap/Mokil group depicting fierce warriors defending their women against European/American whalers.

      The Chuukese students performed a stick dance--a sort of ritual mock battle with lots of yelling.

The Yapeese students also performed.

That evening we went down to Wone to attend Family Home Evening with the group members there.  Peter Hebel showed us his beautiful garden.  Here you can see his peas, corn, pineapple, watermelon and bananas.  He also had cucumbers, squash and some citrus trees.

Later that evening we enjoyed a Spirit-filled family home evening.  Peter's wife is in the center.  The Wone group (part of the Kitti Branch) is truly one big family--most of the people in the group are related!

Wednesday evening we trained the new High Councilman in charge of Family History as well as the newly called Family History Director at the Pahnasang Stake Center.  They are talented and committed and will be a great asset to the work on Pohnpei.

Later we trained some of the Family History Consultants.  We challenged them, within the next month, to each complete their own My Family Booklet and also to Find (a name of an ancestor), Take (or share that name with the temple), and Teach (someone else how to do it too).

We arrived back in Guam, safe and sound, on Thursday evening.  Saturday we had our annual Easter Picnic at Ritidian Beach, one of our very favorite places on Guam.  Sunday we celebrated Easter with our dear fellow missionaries and friends in the Barrigada Ward.

We are grateful to have been kept safe from Typhoon Maysak and to be serving in this beautiful place.

Upon the isles of the sea: Chuuk and Kosrae

We arrived in Chuuk on Wednesday, the first stop in a two week, three island trip to the Eastern Carolines.  On Thursday Grant traveled with Elder and Sister Hardy out to the island of Pata where the Hardies, with the help of Elders Paulis and Hakao, presented an Easter program to some of the members there.

   Grant also followed up with some of the members on Pata and helped others start their family history.

I spent the day with Elder and Sister Eliason who are serving a medical mission to Chuuk.  We drove out to the village of Sapuk to visit some ailing members there.

They were kind enough to share fresh coconuts with us.  From Sapuk we drove back to Moen where the Eliasons gave me a tour of the hospital.  Pretty scary.

We enjoyed dinner at the Truk Stop with both the Hardies (at the back) and the Eliasons (in the front) on Wednesday and Thursday evening.  After dinner we had a good meeting with President Wainis. On Friday we flew to Kosrae and spotted this lone poster in the baggage claim.  Texas seems like a galaxy away.

Our quarters on Kosrae are the senior couple's house, currently vacant, situated right on the beach. We also have use of the senior couple's car.

                      You can see the large tanks used to collect rain water to the left of the house.

Here is the view from the back of the house.  We enjoy walking along the beach and exploring the reef when the tide is out.

Many people farm and have gardens on Kosrae and local fruits and vegetables are abundant.  Here Sister Hadley and AJ stand in front of her beautiful garden which includes tapioca, papaya and sugarcane.  The poles she had cut and tied the sugarcane to were even sprouting leaves!

On Sunday morning we enjoyed meeting with the members of the Lelu Branch.  Permides Mongkeya, the branch family history consultant,  greeted us as the truck pulled away headed for Utwe.

Brother Paul Nena enjoyed seeing the Book of Mormon online in Kosraen.  We are told that the hard copy is currently at the press and may be ready by July.

We drove from Lelu down to the Utwe Branch where we caught the end of Sacrament meeting.  We stayed for the remaining two meetings.  I enjoyed attending Relief Society with these lovely sisters and their children.

After the block of meetings some of us went to visit a sick member at her home.  We sat with her for over a hour singing LDS and protestant hymns.  The Kosraens are beautiful part singers, a legacy of their early and continuous exposure to New England Protestantism.  We will be here on Kosrae until next Saturday when we go on to Pohnpei.