Transfers -- Staying on Tarawa

Howdy!

Fun fact:  Temaiku (the area that I work in) is the old word for shark.  Fun, right?  

Easter was good.  It is a normal day in Kiribati... The only thing they actually celebrate here is their independence day in July.  

Our Easter dinner was cabbage, rice, fish, and (drum roll please) oreos (kind of like an asian knock off brand... :) )   It was great.  We ate with a recent convert, Teitiaki, and her family - a mix of less actives and non members.  It was great.  Very fun!  I enjoyed it. :)

The best part of the meal was that the cabbage and oreos that were put into the same bowl -- they call cabbage the kabalance, meaning to make balance, as in it is a healthy food. It was just funny because the bowl was definitely kabalanced by the oreos .  A little bit of unhealthy mixed with a little bit of healthy.  It was a good balance... :)

Elder Miller has been transferred to be the West Zone Leader.  I am happy for him.  Transfers started early because six missionaries from the Marshall Island's side of the mission transferred over to us. There is a lot of work here and because in the summer a lot of elders will be leaving and not that many will be coming in, so we need more elders.  Anyway, I will be working with one of the elders for a week before he transfers out to Onotoa, an outer island, and my new companion, Elder Graham, comes in from Onotoa.  It will be great.  The elder I will work with this week is Elder Mahanga.  He is from Australia and family is from Tonga.  It is great.  I am excited to work with him.  It will be a great experience.  He is learning the language extremely quickly -- the gift of tongues is real.

This past week we had a great baptism.  There were seven baptized.  Uekam, Steve, Maete, Titu, Tioan, Maritaake, and Teemam.  They are all great!  All of them, except for Maritaake and Teemam were young children that the branch had not baptized when they were eight. ...  So we helped them there.  It is great because it has lead to reactivating their families.  I am very excited to see that one of the families is now preparing for the temple because their daughter, Maete, is so excited about the gospel.  It is amazing!  I love the people here!

I am so happy for the gospel.  I am coming to realize how important it is to choose to be happy and to follow the Lord and His teachings every single day.  I am so happy that I get to see the joy and peace that come into people's lives when they have the gospel.  The gospel is real and true.  I love it.  I am trying to know it.  I hope and pray that I can always live it.

I love you all!  If you ever feel down, know that you can pray for help, but also know that I am praying for you all!

Love you!

Press forward!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

             Front row: Uekam, Tiuan, Maete, Steve, Titu

                  Back row: Me, Timeon, Maritaake, Teemam, Elder Miller

Forest

Swamp view from our house

These are called doughnuts...  They are cheap and therefore purchased frequently.
Also,  I named this place Krispy Kreme, it is our local doughnut creating shop.

Spaghetti head -- a very confused puppy

Sunrise

Elder Miller and I right before a rainstorm

Kiribati cinnamon rolls on a stick, that is how the members gave them to us... :)
Anyone who has watched iCarly should appreciate this (tacos on a stick... etc.)

Cabbage and oreos -- kabalanced :)  I must have every meal.

An old military tank

Beach with tank in background

Sunset with tank