Thursday 3-16-06 – With my Wednesday Bible study with Alice behind me I started working on my Sunday school lesson for the kids. I am teaching on Hannah and Samuel this week. Forming some brilliant idea of how to teach my lesson is sometimes challenging. I have to read the story in English so I can get my ideas of how to teach it. Once I do that I then read it in Bislama so I can work on my translation. Then, I have to take it a step further by taking the story from the Bislama Bible and simplifying it enough that my average group of 7 year olds can understand it. Sometimes it is time consuming and sometimes it is easy. For whatever reason, I am having trouble simplifying it this time. Its not as though the birth of Samuel is a difficult story – its just that I am finding it hard to figure out all the right words in Bislama. I’ll keep at it though and hopefully by Sunday I will be ready with all the right Bislama words!

Friday 3-17-06 - Antony took us all out to lunch today since it is our last opportunity to go out together before everyone leaves. Tonight we are having a big barbeque party shindig. Shawnda, Kaela and I went to town this morning to get some going away gifts for Antony and Jeanette and Todd and Jeana. We just wanted to give them a little thank you for taking the time to come here and be with us and help us in our work. It has been such an encouragement and fun time having them here!

Today is INCREDIBLY hot and for some dumb reason we decided to walk home after lunch at Jill’s Café. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I thought I was going to die! It was roasty toasty just walking around town and then we decide to trek up the hill that takes us home. What were we thinking? It took a good 30 minutes for me to cool down once I got home and drank so much cold water I felt like my eyeballs were swimming in it!

Our little barbeque was quite yummy. We had grilled chicken, lamb and sausages, mashed potatoes, guacamole and salsa. After dinner we chatted for a while then played a dice game then chatted some more and laughed a lot. What a fun group. These last 3 weeks have flown by! They all leave tomorrow at 7am. I said my goodbyes tonight since I will stay home with Kaela instead of going to the airport. Fine by me…the crew is leaving the house at 5am. Aaron set his alarm for 4:30. I’ll pass on that. And since our guests are so very accommodating they weren’t keen on getting up at 4:30 any more than I was so they urged me to go ahead and sleep in. Okay…if you insist!

Saturday 3-18-06 – The group left for the airport at 5am this morning. I was not alive, alert, awake or enthusiastic. I half-woke up at 6:15 and Aaron was lying beside me so I knew they got off okay. And I am now sure that they had a good trip back to Aukland because Jeanette sent us pictures of her and Antony and Todd and Jeana in Aukland. Not just any pictures – but pictures of about 6 Dunkin Donut’s boxes including one showing the large, yummy, chocolate iced donuts and a McDonald’s sign. They are so mean to us!

Sunday 3-19-06 – Today was rainy. Off and on all day. In fact it rained so much this morning that Shawnda and I had to go to our “alternative” places for our Bible classes. Usually my class meets under one tree and her’s under another. However, this morning it was raining and the only available building was being used. So, my class met on the covered walkway outside the room for History Maker’s Church. It was quite loud. This isn’t my favorite spot for class because not only are we getting crowded, I can hardly hear the soft spoken kids when they are answering questions. It was a regular busy Sunday for us – more so for Aaron. After worship he drove the Etas group back home, came home, ate a very, very quick lunch while reviewing his Bible study and headed out to his afternoon study with Charlie’s family. He got home about 4:30pm and then we had a nice, relaxing rest of the day. We even squeezed in some fun game playing with the Brandell’s and played Rummikub after Kaela went to bed.

Monday 3-20-06 – I did laundry today. I have a lot of it on the horizon. So, today was day 1 – washing the whites and lights. Flexon came over this morning to fix the windows on our car. Aaron and Eric left not long after he came to go to Etas to help put up a new shelter. For weeks now we have been gathering wood, bamboo and all the supplies needed to put a new shelter up at Pbles’ house. This one will be bigger than the one they currently have and it will serve as a place of worship in the future for the Christians at Etas. It was an exciting day for them to be building a place of their own to worship!

Shawnda and I finally made it to the grocery store around lunch time, but since Flexon was still working on the car, we took a bus there and a taxi home. Getting a taxi isn’t a bad deal for us. It is 200vatu for the both of us and it takes us directly home (and all of our groceries). For a bus it would cost us each 100vatu and we would be at the mercy of the schedule of the driver and how many other people are in the bus also.

Tuesday 3-21-06 – I have been feeling the makings of a cold coming on for the last few days and today it is confirmed. How delightful. Another cold with a cough. I am ready for this off and on rainy season to be over. Also, to add to the fun I woke up this morning and couldn’t open my eyes. They were matted shut and my fears were confirmed when I looked in the mirror. Yep – I have pink eye. Despite my ailments I still had laundry staring at me this morning so I concentrated on getting half of my dark clothes washed and hung to dry. Then, Shawnda thankfully went to town with Kaela and I. She even took Kaela to the market with her so I could go talk to someone at the pharmacy about some medicine. Fortunately for me all I had to do was go tell one of the workers at the pharmacy what is wrong with me and she gave some medicine. Cough syrup for my cold and some eye drops for my pink eye (actually called Red Eye in Vanuatu). I will soon be on the road to recovery!

Wednesday 3-22-06 – Laundry again. Sometimes I feel like it is always laundry day! Oh well – at least I have a washer and don’t have to do it all by hand! Our guest room kept staring at me and begging to be cleaned so I washed the bed sheets and cleaned it all up. I swept the entire floor and even re-arranged the furniture. Only to put it all back in about the same places as it was originally. There just aren’t many options. I was tired of the décor in there so I rummaged around and tried to give it a new look which I am very happy with! Sometimes all you need is to freshen up a room with some different décor and things are looking better! Since I am still battling with my cough and working to get rid of my pink eye, Kaela and I stayed home from Etas tonight. I told Aaron to tell Alice that if she comes to town this week to come by the house and we will study, so we will see on that one.

Potty training update: All systems go! (No pun intended). Kaela is doing great with her potty training and I am happy to say (happier than you could ever imagine) that I haven’t had to wash a cloth diaper for 3 weeks! She tells us when she has to go and rarely does she have an accident. We are so happy about that!

Thursday 3-23-06 – Aaron’s study at Etas went really well last night. He came home and told me that we were going leave at 7:30 this morning to pick up Alice and her little 3 year old girl, Kowiah (I’m not too sure on that spelling – it is pronounced Ko-wee-ah). Anyway, Kowiah has some very bad boils all over her little head and needs to go to the doctor. Boils are very common here in Vanuatu – for some reason – and her boils were actually so bad on her head and face that I wouldn’t have recognized her from the swelling. She looked like a completely different child. So, Aaron volunteered to come get them in the morning and take them to the hospital and then I can study with Alice afterwards. We got to Etas about 8am and on the road saw Sam’s sister and her little baby, Richard (we like to call him Little Richard), and also some other women. We told them that we would go pick up Alice and Kowiah and then come back and get them and take them into town with us. Alice and Tom both ended up coming with us as well as Kowiah and another girl Marta. When we got to the hospital we dropped them off and Alice will come back up to our house (we live very close by) to study.

As it turned out Alice, Kowiah and Marta, Sam’s sister, Little Richard, 2 other women and another small baby ended up coming to study with me. And that was just fine. We studied the examples of worship in the church of the New Testament. Sam’s sister had some very good questions on instrumental music, women leading worship and tithing. Aaron and I are hopeful that one day she and her husband will want to study with us. They both have come to one or two studies and always ask good questions and act interested. They agree that our teachings are coming straight and clear from the Bible, but I don’t think they feel they really “need” to study. Maybe, one day under the influence of Sam and Leimawa they will come to obey the truth.

Tonight the fellowship is scheduled to be at our house so I am busy cooking and sweeping and getting everything ready for that. Our plan is to sing and then to show everyone pictures of the work at the church ground since many of the Christians were unable to be there to see it in progress.

Friday 3-24-06 – This morning Shawnda and I had errands to run. Eric and Aaron had sermons to record for the radio program so she, Kaela and I just made a morning of our shopping. We went to Tebakor shopping center to look for some “grown-up” panties for Kaela and also some plastic cups. Then, we were in search of sour cream because tonight is fajita night. However, that was not to be. I am in search of a solid colored khaki or black skirt that is the perfect length and perfect weight fabric and perfect style. Shouldn’t be too hard to find! Actually, I did find a black one that I loved only they didn’t have it in my size but the shop owner told me that if I came back in the afternoon they would have it. Unfortunately when we made trip back to town they didn’t have any smaller sizes left in solid colors. How sad. I guess I will have to keep looking.

Saturday 3-25-06 – Last night for team night we rented a movie at the local video store. When Antony came he brought us a DVD player from New Zealand that is multi-zone so we can play movies from here on it. That was a fun treat for us! Our regular selection of movies is getting a little old since we have seen them all several times.

Today is our women’s devotional day and we are scheduled to go to Rose-Hanna’s house. She asked us all to fast from Friday evening until lunch time on Saturday and spend that time in prayer. Then we all met at her house for lunch and a devotional at 11:30am. It was a great time to get together and we also worked out a plan for meeting together in April. Our new plan of meeting on Saturdays is so far working fairly well so we are going to try it again next month. When, Shawnda, Kaela and I got home the boys left to go to the villages for the night. Akisa is coming to stay with us, however, she can’t make it until 8 or 9pm.

After Kaela got up from her nap, we went to the movie store to rent a couple movies for the weekend. It is about like Blockbuster, as far as the price goes. Kind of expensive at 500vt. for one movie rental (old and new releases both). However, if you figure in what our entertainment expenditures are currently – at $0 a month – 500vt. doesn’t seem that bad. It felt kind of like being back home walking into the air conditioned, organized, movie store! The selection isn’t as vast – but it is really not too bad since everything these days is “new” to us!

Sunday 3-26-06 – With all the boys out at the villages, Shem on Ambrym island and Gomon out of town as well this morning, there weren’t many men left to lead worship. As it turned out Steven and Flexon were the only ones there to lead worship. There were a few new Christians there, however, they don’t yet feel comfortable taking leadership roles so it was left up to Steven and Flexon. Steven has been battling sickness for months now and it is very difficult for him to do much. However, he did lead the singing (with great difficulty) and gave the sermon, that he had to sit down to give. I felt so bad for him because it was obvious that he wasn’t feeling well at all! I was so proud of Flexon though! He taught Bible class this morning for Mike and then also was the chairman (announcement giver), prayer leader, and in charge of communion and giving. He has grown so much in is ability to lead and it is so neat to see that growth in him!

Monday 3-27-06 – Today was laundry day and grocery day and having a heat stroke day. March is about to drive me mad it is so HOT AND HUMID ALL THE TIME! But, I am dealing with it just fine. No problem. Our team met at Jill’s café at lunch time we could give reports on our weekend. The guys talked about their trips to Eton, Epau and Poanangisu villages and Shawnda and I told about our weekend here in town. Afterwards, Shawnda and I got started on our grocery shopping. It was a late start, but sometimes that just happens. We only made it to Bon Marche Downtown (the downtown supermarket) and to Centerpoint supermarket (a different store) to get our meat before Kaela was ready to go home for her nap. That worked out fine since we had to go home and put our meat away anyway. After I got her down for her nap, Shawnda and I left to go to Nambatu supermarket and then to the butcher and the open market. Sometimes our grocery shopping takes a painfully long time. I guess some days are just like that! I did get a few minutes this afternoon to relax (about 15) before Kaela got up from her nap. I did manage to get an article typed up for the website and half of a BCC graded and that is about it for today!

Tuesday 3-28-06 – I got lucky this morning because Kaela slept in until 8:00. That was great because it gave me a good amount of time this morning to get my Bible study with Alice finalized and ready to go for tomorrow. I worked on it off and on all day. Today was kind of a quite day around here which is always nice change from Monday.

Wednesday 3-29-06 – Preaching in the Park was scheduled for today and for the first time in the last few months it wasn’t raining. So, we still had it and got one or two contacts from it. There didn’t seem to be as many people there this time as there was in past months. That’s the thing about doing this during lunchtime in the park. You never really know how many people you will have come. We must have had a lot of people walking through because we handed out all 200 tracts about “What is Christ’s Church?”

Tonight is Etas night. Thankfully, Aaron and I had about 2 hrs. downtime after Preaching in the Park and before we had to leave. I didn’t plan to, but I ended up taking a nap for an hour. It’s amazing how much the heat and sun takes out of me during our 2+ hours at the park! I try to stay in the shade with Kaela, but it is still very hot!

Thursday 3-30-06 – Our Bible study at Etas went good last night. Aaron had a good crowd of men for his study and my study with Alice went well. She and I did our last study on the Church and next week we will study how we are put into Christ’s church. I am looking forward to it because she has been very receptive so far! We ended up getting home later than usual because Aaron drove some of the Etas men out to the bush where they are cutting grass. I guess they have been working there all week clearing the land and just stay the night. Sam told us that they don’t have a house for them to stay in so they just lay a shirt down on the ground and sleep there. Wow. That wouldn’t be my ideal sleeping arrangements after a long day of hard work in the sun. But, they don’t complain – it is just a part of their life.

Today, Lissie came by with baby Wayne and her sister-in-law, Lexa. Wayne had to go to the hospital to get his shots and to get weighed so they came by here on their way home. They stayed for almost 2 hours. Ure came by too. She was planning on being in town so I invited her to come over too and “storian” (talk). I was hoping that Lissie would come while she was here so that we could all fellowship together. And it worked out great! Ure came over about 11am and then Lissie came about 12:30. Ure helped Shawnda and I work on our bilims. They are the woven bags that we started making in….oh, JULY! I have been neglecting mine for a while and so had Shawnda. Ure is so laid-back she wasn’t at all offended that we hadn’t been working on them because she has told us before about all her un-finished projects! We all had a great time! Sometimes it is just nice to get together with the ladies and not have a set agenda – just talk and enjoy each other’s company. It is times like this that help us to grow and encourage each other. A great day!

Tonight was Steven and Rose-Hanna’s night for the fellowship. They chose for us to meet at a park on the outskirts of town at 5:30pm. It turned out to be a great change for a fellowship. The men played soccer (kind of) – kicking the ball around to each other. And we women and kids all walked down the trail to the end. We talked and joked with each other and basically had a good time together! Along the way there are several calisthenics activities that you can do (which I did not attempt). The kids thought it was fun to try them and so did Shawnda until she tried to leap frog over a post and totally biffed it – falling sideways off the log rather than jumping over it. Being the good friend that I am – I laughed her. That’s because I know her well enough that she would die laughing if it was me that fell! What are friends for? (She was fine – not hurt or anything, just in case you are wondering – I wouldn’t have laughed if she was hurt).

Friday 3-31-06 – March is finally over. Yippee! Not to be a complainer, but this has been the longest, hottest month of my life. I seriously wondered if it would ever end! You just can’t imagine unless you are here. I am looking forward to hopefully some cooling down in April and some nicer temperatures in May! Team night tonight – stir fry for dinner and Monster’s Inc. for entertainment! (That’s the abbrieviated version). Good news! We have a package at a post office! However, when Shawnda and I went to pick it up at 4:35 the post office worker guy said they closed early for a meeting. (They do that in Vanuatu – close early without notice). He told us to come back tomorrow and pick it up and they close at 12:00 on Saturdays. So, that is the plan.

Saturday 4-1-06 – This morning Aaron, Kaela and I were up bright and early. Aaron headed out to Etas to help the men build some benches to sit on. Shawnda, Kaela and I were off to our ladies fellowship activity which was cleaning up and clearing the church ground. Ure wants to do that once a month. And this is her week so that was the plan. We picked up Fiona on the way and ended up having a fairly good turnout with 6 of us ladies there. It sure was hot by 9:00 when we quit, though! After we worked, we had a prayer, ate some snacks and talked for about an hour.

When we came home, Shawnda and I showered and Kaela napped and then we headed back into town at 11am. What a rotten trip to town. Rotten might be a bit of an exaggeration. Disappointing is probably a better word. Disappointing for kind of dumb reasons – but none the less that is how I felt. First I dropped Shawnda off at Carla’s Boutique to exchange a skirt then I went to the Pheonix clothing store to try on a skirt. It was one I tried on yesterday afternoon and really like but wasn’t sure if I had enough shirts to match it. I desperately need a lightweight Khaki skirt. Anyway, I decided to think about it and come back today. I get there and it was gone. The salesgirl told me that someone bought it this morning. Too bad for me. Then I head over to the Post Office at 11:39 (I remember looking at my watch). It was closed. The metal curtain was down and all. And wouldn’t you just know that the sign on the front said they close at 11:30 on Saturdays? Don’t ask me why the worker guy told me yesterday that they close at 12:00! Shawnda and I both heard him say 12. I guess I will learn never believe what the worker says despite the fact that he has been working there forever! Don’t worry – I’m not bitter or anything! I will just have to wait until Monday. It is really HARD to wait for packages when you know they are at the Post Office! It will just have to be the highlight of my next week!

Sunday 4-2-06 – Sunday means a busy day for our mission team. Especially when there is a fellowship meal with loads of dishes like there was today. Despite the dishes we had a nice time and were glad to have several visitors here this morning.

Sometimes I am plagued with a bad attitude and today was such a day. This being April it is my month to “spel” (take a break) from teaching kids Bible class. And not only that, but I was really looking forward to attending the adult class for the first time in a year. However, my replacement for Bible class helper didn’t show up and I had to help Akisa since there was no one else to take my place by the time we started class. I really was fighting having a rotten attitude about that. The fact that you can’t always rely on people really gets to me sometimes – especially when I was so looking forward to finally sitting in an adult class without Kaela pulling my attention and it just didn’t happen this week! This was my one chance for the month since the Christians from Etas start meeting together next week and Aaron and I will be there for the rest of the month with them. And then May starts my teaching the kids class again. I guess I will just have to wait a few more months. I think I am feeling a little emotional today because that thought makes me want to cry in frustration. A few hours later and I guess I am still fighting that rotten attitude!

The good news is that after our fellowship meal Ure dried all the dishes and Rose-Hanna stayed and swept my living room (where the kids had been) and kitchen and did general clean-up. I know that seems like such a little thing, but after this morning I was emotionally and physically beat and it meant so much to have my friends pitch in and help with the clean up! Sometimes the cleaning up part of fellowship Sunday is a bit overwhelming, although a small price to pay for the time that we get to spend with the members of the congregation. I really, really appreciated them. It is good to have friends like them here.

Tuesday 4-4-06 – We went on our picnic lunch today! It was a great time and nice day for it with a good breeze to keep us cool in the shade. Kaela thought it was quite a treat since she got to eat a chocolate chip cookie, swing on a swing, play with her daddy and wade in the lagoon. Most of all she had fun picking up rocks from that sand while she was wading and throwing them to make a big splash. By the end of her playing in the water she was soaked from head to toe, but as happy as could be!

I spent my afternoon getting my Bible studies together for Alice tomorrow night. We will do our first study on baptism and I want to be ready to answer any questions that she might have.

Aaron went back out to Etas again tonight (he went last night, as well) to study with Timothy about baptism. Timothy is interested in baptism, asking questions and all so Aaron is spending some time studying that with him.

Thursday 4-5-06 – Last night our study at Etas went great! We left here about 3pm. Eric and Shawnda weren’t home from their holiday yet so Mike stayed with Kaela. We first went out to the bush to where some of the men are working. We picked up Timothy and his family and then drove to a fresh water pond because he decided last night that he was ready to be baptized, but wanted to talk to his wife first (she does not study with us). We were so excited! Another new convert for the Church in Etas! Afterwards, we dropped Timothy and family off at their house and Aaron dropped me off at Alice’s house so I could study with her.

My study went great! Alice told me straight out (there’s no beating around the bush here) that she needed to be baptized because if she died tonight she would go to hell. Wow. That is quite an admission for her to make. However, she knows that before that can happen she has to make sure about her decision: talk with her husband (especially about the kava bar that they own), think and pray about it some more. She knows it is a big decision and a very important one and I respect her for wanting to take a small amount of time to be certain. The biggest obstacle at this point will be with her husband. While I believe he will allow her to do what she wants I am wondering if he is fighting God. He was very diligent about studying with Aaron in the past few weeks. However, once Aaron started studying baptism and repentance, Tom left and has not come back. We aren’t sure if it is just coincidental or if he knows that becoming a Christian would mean giving up his kava bar and seeking other means of income. Aaron plans to try to talk with him on Saturday. In the mean time I am looking forward to studying with Alice again next Wednesday!

Today, Lissie came by. She had to take baby Wayne to the hospital because he has the “flu” (the word for any kind of a cold in Vanuatu). She dropped him off with me, went to go get his medicine and came back. They are spending the week at Eton village (where both her and Kalman are from). It hasn’t rained lately and at Eton they use rainwater for everything. However, their stores of rainwater are low that people have to walk to the river to bathe, wash clothes and dishes and all. When Lissie came back she asked if she could shower at our house and wait for the transport back to Eton to come pick her up after lunch. I told her that would be fine so, she stayed until about 1pm.

Today my big project has been defrosting my fridge. Unloading it all onto my kitchen counters (all the things that aren’t must-chill things) and into Eric and Shawnda’s fridge and freezer. Aaron hauled it out into the yard and I waited and waited and waited to for it to defrost. It took forever today! I think I waited to long this time between de-frostings and that is why it is taking forever. I waited so long that chunks of ice kept falling out when I would open the freezer door. No more putting it off – today was the day. And now it is time to go load it back up again!

Saturday 4-8-06 – This morning Kaela stayed at the house and hung out with Aaron while I went to our Women’s Saturday devotional. I don’t know what to call it now that the plan for it has changed from Tuesdays and we do something different. Anyway. Ure came over about 8:30am and then she, Shawnda and I left in the truck to go pick everyone up. The plan was for us all to go to Etas to encourage Leimawa and Ruth, the only two Christian women at that congregation. So, after we left the house we went a picked up Rose-Hanna, then Fiona, and finally to get some of the girls at the farm: Winnie, Mabel and Reima. We had a great time at Etas – singing together, Shawnda led an opening prayer and Leimawa gave the closing prayer, and then we ate some snacks that we all brought along. Ruth boiled some potatoes in coconut milk and they were the BEST things ever! Yum! It was a great time at Etas for the women to fellowship together. Ruth and Leimawa hope to come into town next weekend for our next Women’s devotional and fellowship at Fiona’s house.

When we first got to Etas I asked Ruth if Alice (that I study with) was planning on coming. Last I had talked with Alice she was very excited about us coming. Ruth told me that her husband had gotten drunk the night before and hit her. Before moving to Vanuatu I knew that violence against women was a common problem here. I just wasn’t expecting to encounter it with the woman i am studying with. I can’t quit thinking about it because it makes me so sad for her, and frustrated and mad at her husband. I am praying to God for strength to know how deal with this. I asked Leimawa if I should go see her. I wanted to talk with her, but I didn’t want to make more trouble for her with her husband. She told me that it would be best if I just let it be for today and waited until tomorrow to go see her. While I really wanted to go see her I also know that this isn’t my culture and if Leimawa thinks it best to wait – then I have to wait. I hope to see her tomorrow at worship.

When I got home, Aaron was finishing up some work and then getting ready to leave to go back out to Etas. He and some of the men there were going to go fishing to get some fish for the potluck meal tomorrow after worship at Etas. I don’t plan on seeing him again until midnight or 1am.

While he was gone Kaela, Shawnda and I went to Akisa’s netball (similar to basketball) game and then home to take an afternoon nap.

Sunday 4-9-06 – Well, Aaron didn’t make it home until 12:45am. He was exhausted and stinky from his fishing excursion. They were able to spear several fish – which they did at night, close to the reef, where the waves were coming in. I don’t really like thinking of the danger involved in fishing – so I try not to think about it too much. He is with local men that have been spearing fish since they were teenagers so I know he is in good hands. You won’t find me out there fishing at night near a coral reef! He did bring home a huge poulet fish (about 4lbs.) and a good sized lobster.

The first ever worship at Etas went great. We had the 5 Christians in attendance, Aaron, Kaela and I, several visitors and lots of kids. It went really well for being their first worship to conduct on their own. Afterwards, we had lunch together. I took tortilla soup (without the tortillas or the cheese). We also had fish cooked in ramen noodles (for the kids), pan fried fish with what they call Tanna sauce that was a kind of gravy for the fish, rice and manioc boiled in coconut milk. The food was great and I was stuffed by the time we left. It was a very good day, over all.

I did ask about Alice again when Leimawa came down for worship. She said that she hadn’t seen or talked to her, but it would be good if I went and asked her if she was planning to come down to worship and to try and talk with her. I don’t know why her husband hit her – what set him off other than the kava drinking – although I wonder if it might be that she may have told him that them having a kava bar for a living isn’t right in the eyes of God. Only time will tell the truth on that one. I headed up to her house, which isn’t far away. But, when I got there some men at the kava bar told me that she had left. I knew that I didn’t pass her on the road so I wasn’t sure what the deal was so I went back down to Pbles’ house. Sam then told me that she had gone down to the garden to cut kava. I imagine her husband sent her to go get more kava instead of letting her go to worship. I will just have to wait until Wednesday to find out what is going on with them.

Monday 4-10-06 – Shopping day. I spent them morning catching up on all the housework I didn’t manage to get done last week. By lunch time (that came way too quickly) I was beat from the heat. However, I got Kaela and I in the shower then went and made lunch for the three of us. After lunch Kaela was ready for a nap so Shawnda and I set out for our grocery shopping. Rainbow Gardens for vegetables, to the open market for some fruit, then on to Nambatu Supermarket for the rest of the goods. We made a quick trip home to drop off our cold items and then headed out again to Centerpoint supermarket for chicken breasts (which they didn’t have). I had to re-plan my menu for the night because of that – instead of chicken we are going to have steak k-bobs. On Saturday I bought some chili peppers at the market so tonight I will have Aaron clean them out so I can stuff them with cream cheese and then we can grill them. Yumminess! This afternoon I worked on my laundry that didn’t get dry (so I had to hang it inside) and got caught up on my BCC work. I have copies to make so I can send out more courses, so I will work on that tomorrow.

Tuesday 4-11-06 – This morning Shawnda, Kaela, Mike and I went house hunting for Mike. His lease is up next month and he is in the precarious position of needing to find a smaller place that is more budget friendly. Idealy, a two bedroom house or apartment would be great for him, however, there just aren’t any available in the city! (At least not any with electricity or your own bathroom, shower, and kitchen facilities). We went and looked at two apartments this morning in his price range. One was a spacious studio apartment that is right in town and very nice! It is a great location and everything has been upgraded inside, however, it is a studio – not much room for storage and moving around. The other one was an also very nice one bedroom apartment. The location wasn’t as nice (about a 10-15 minute walk to town and farther to our house), but it had more space and a beautiful lagoon view. I’m not sure what he will do. It is so hard to find decent housing in a good price range in this city.

Afterwards, Shawnda, Kaela and I spent the afternoon in town shopping for some birthday and Mother’s Day presents for our families back home. It was very hot in the sun and town was crowded with all the people from a cruise ship. Not the greatest day for shopping, however, we found what we were looking for!

I made copies for BCCs. I can barely keep up with my copies for Lesson 1. We get so many inquiries and people interested courses that it keeps me hopping! Shawnda, thankfully, helps me with them when she has the time. Not a bad problem to have though, and I enjoy doing the BCC work!

Wednesday 4-12-06 – I must have an infected cut somewhere because today I have had the classic signs: achy all over, huge headache and all. Wonderful. I wanted to do nothing but sleep, however, Kaela had other ideas. So, I plugged on through until her naptime and then went to sleep.

Tonight Aaron and I went to Etas for our Bible study. I hadn’t talked with Alice since last Wednesday and I was quite curious to talk with her about her problems with Tom and what she was thinking in regards to her baptism. When I went to see her we talked for quite a while. Basically, she told me that she wanted to wait. We sat in silence a while, and talked a little bit, then sat some more. Alice isn’t usually much of a talker so it is hard to figure out what she is thinking. And for whatever reason she wasn’t willing to tell me why she wanted to wait. She beat around the bush for a while and then just said she would “stap fastaem (stop first taem)”. Which basically means she doesn’t want to make a decision right now. I really tried to encourage her to tell me what she was thinking – if she doesn’t talk to me I can’t help her. Then, I just left it open. I invited her to continue worshipping with us and told her to talk to me if she has a question about something. In the mean time I will be waiting and praying.

After we talked about I that I asked her about her husband beating her on Friday night or Saturday when he was drunk on kava. I was somewhat relieved to hear that his beating her wasn’t connected to our Bible study. However, it made me cringe when she told me that the last time he beat her that she couldn’t walk for 2 weeks. I can’t imagine being in a marriage like that. I told her that if Sam was willing I would have him and Aaron talk with Tom about the beatings. Maybe they could be of some help in this matter.

Thursday 4-13-06 – I worked on getting the house cleaned up a little bit today. However, I am still feeling weak. I now am thinking I have some kind of a small virus because I haven’t been able to find an infected cut or anything anywhere on my body. I must have just picked up one of the local sicknesses – everyone says it is the time for sickness now since the weather is changing so much.

Friday 4-14-06 – I guess I shared my sickness with Aaron. Now he is feeling rotten. However, I am feeling much better and I got heaps of work done on my Bible class stuff. I think I will be teaching next month so I worked on my lessons for then and I also got all the kid’s memory work together for the next few weeks! It was a lot of work, but it feels good to have so much done! This morning we woke up to a huge thunderstorm and it felt so great! The wind was blowing and it was raining and everything was so nice and cool in the house all morning. This is the first morning in months that Aaron and I didn’t have to use a fan to eat our breakfast! Tonight is team night. I think the plan is to watch The Mask of Zorro. A great movie! Should be fun!