June 3, 2014, I Had a Few Real Cherry Tomatoes This Week

Greetings,

I hope you had a good birthday, mom.  It sounds like you guys ate some yummy food on your birthday.

I had a few real cherry tomatoes this week.  I about died because they were so amazing.  The district president works at the hospital and there's a bit of land there where they have a garden, so he got the tomatoes from there.  I also ate some grapes too!  Sister Tafili and I were at the grocery store and an old Taiwanese man bought sister tafili $20 worth of fruit (a few oranges, green apples, and a tiny box of grapes).  The grapes were so delicious.  Sis. Tafili blushed and all the workers saw and laughed.  The funniest part is that the man tried speaking to us in broken Marshallese and we did not understand him very well.  I wonder how long he's been here.  A fair number of people never learn Marshallese when they come here.

Kamina and Mickey got baptized on Saturday.  It was a really nice baptism and they were so happy and excited.  The best part was getting to see their daughter, Baby, share her testimony and experience.  We were happy to teach her parents because she's wanted them to get baptized for such a long time. 

Last night Branch 2 had a branch wide FHE as a going away party for me and Elder Finau (an elder that's heading back to Majuro too).  They had a few speakers and we shared a little, and then of course there was dancing and food.  I've realized it's not a Marshallese party unless there's dancing and food.  We've got another FHE planned for tonight and the district is also doing a iakwe-iakwe.  Hopefully we have enough to get everything done! 

I leave tomorrow on the noon ferry to kwajalein.  The Samoan elder I'm going with has to wait at the checkpoint until they bus him over to the airport but I can get on the base earlier if I want to.  I think a member might meet me at the checkpoint and show me around for a bit.  I don't think my flight is until 6 pm but my bags have to be checked by 4:30. 

I'll be working in Jenrok, which is the second to the last area on the east side of the island.  From west to east the areas are: Laura, Ajeltake, Long Island, Delap, Uliga, Jenrok, and Rita.  I haven't worked on the east side yet so I'm excited to explore there.  I'll be finishing up the training for a kiribati sister that came 6 weeks ago.  Her name is Sister Boutu, pronounced like "bosu" because "t"s in kiribati sound like "s."  Supposedly she doesn't know english, so it should be fun.  I've heard that Jenrok is a really good area so I'm excited. 

I'm trying to think about what else we've done this week.  We've eaten a lot of our meals with members since I'm leaving, which has been awesome.  I'm mostly packed and the CES couple that was here for the weekend took back a lot of my books to majuro because they had an empty suitcase going back so I don't have to worry about the weight of my suitcases. 

I'm sad to leave Ebeye but things are good.  Sorry I don't have much else to say this week.  I miss and love you all.

Sister Ellen Butler