The primary children singing at the Stake Music Festival. They were wonderful!
Below -- the primary children being led by a 10 year old boy Latise!

Elder Pulsipher's point of view:

We have reached that part of the mission where there are simply too many good-byes! We did not come here to be honored, we came to serve. It seems that everybody wants to have a good-bye event. Last week, we had a “pot-luck” event from the school and the Service Center employees. There are four couples going home by the end of August so they help a party for all of us. It is called a “botaake”. We were well fed, honored and had a great time. Tradition calls for honored guests to be called upon to dance with the locals. The teacher who motioned for me to dance was Tireekwa (Step pa). She is an absolute NUT when it comes to dancing. She had me in dance positions that I didn’t know this old body to contort into! We had a lot of fun. They also honored us with lava lavas and shell necklaces. All in all, we had a great evening – the food from pot-luck even agreed with our systems! This morning, Monday, at faculty meeting, we thanked everyone and gave them a set of DVDs titled Church History that we purchased from the Church distribution Center. They contain about 30 movies about Church History. We used them when teaching Institute and decided that the teachers/staff would enjoy them. A card with our picture was attached as follows:

(Sorry the picture will not copy here)

As we are leaving beautiful Kiribati, we express our thanks and love to you. Our mission here has been filled with experiences that we will remember forever.
President Hinckley once met an old friend that he knew from when he was a missionary in England. They embraced and talked. As they parted, President Hinckley said, “I will see you again, if not in this life, then in the next life.” That is our message to you.

This is the work of the Lord. He will bless the lives of everyone who follows Him. God bless you always.
Love,
Elder and Sister Pulsipher (Jerry and Marlene)

Sister Pulsipher's point of view:

Sorry this letter is a day late. We had the Ogbornes for dinner after church yesterday and visited for a long time. When they left we were tired. If that excuse doesn’t work I’ll think of another one!

I’m really getting tired of saying ‘good-bye’! It seems like every time we turn around we are invited to another good-bye activity. It doesn’t help that three couples are leaving within ten days of each other. This morning we said good-bye to the faculty as we attended our last faculty meeting. Next Monday we do not plan on getting cleaned up for a 7:45 meeting because we will be scrubbing the flat!

Saturday was a fun day. The Stake Primary had a Stake Music Festival. Each ward must perform a compulsory song and then some fun songs. The compulsory song was “As I Listen with My Heart” – the song that was written for the Primary Program in the Fall. The song has three verses and the children needed to learn all three. The Music Festival is a great way to make sure all the wards/branches know at least this song from the program! Our small primary did a wonderful job! Of course I’m just a little prejudice. I have been the music leader for most of the last year. (We did have a young girl that had that calling for a couple months until she went to school in Hawaii.) For our fun song, we sang a melody of songs – “Sing, Sing, Sing”, “Do as I’m Doing” and “The Wise Man”. I’m still learning how they do it in Kiribati. We had a 10 year old boy as their leader. He clapped once and had the children stand, clapped again and they followed him to the performing area. He led the song. He then clapped and led them back to the place. I think they had a great time!

Time for us in Kiribati is very! short. We leave in 8 days. We have so much to complete! I just hope we do not have any more ‘good-byes’

We love you all! Stay close to the Lord! Have a great week.

Elder and Sister Pulsipher, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Jerry & Marlene

Scripture or Thought

The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
Light and truth forsake that evil one.
D & C 182:36-37

Our Granddaughter, Amanda, painted this picture with q-tips. It now hang in the Salt Lake City Library until 2 August. Way to go Amanda!


Elder & Sister Steed and Elder & Sister Pulsipher at the 'Well-done' ward party!


Sister Pulsipher with 8 of the primary children. They are showing off the 'June' baskets they made!


Our ITEP Book of Mormon Class!


This shows some of the pictures Titeebwa (step-a) drew for her Book of Mormon project. They were drawn on cardboard with magic markers. I didn't know you could shade things with magic markers!

Ataruru showing her project and relating a Kia-kia to the love of our Savior. She a a wonderful teacher!


Below is a picture of Teaka. His project was to create a "Book of Mormon for Dummies" He teaches computers so he is use to books for dummies! Notice the picture of a baby with a pacifier on the cover. In Kiribai pacifiers are called dummies!



Bwereia showing her project!

Ioram showing his Book of Mormon!

Elder Pulsipher's point of view:

The following is excerpts from an article we will submit to our Area supervisors, the Ronnenkamps:

ITEP teachers who completed their course of study of the Book of Mormon were instructed to use a piece of cardboard – 9”X12” – to come up with a project representing something they have learned from the Book of Mormon. Some asked for several pieces of the cardboard and went to work.

When the projects were presented to the classmates, several very original ideas were presented. The overwhelming messages delivered dealt with Gospel principles even more than with the project itself. The principles learned and loved by the students were expressed through tears of joy for the knowledge acquired in the class. Love and appreciation for the Savior and for the Book of Mormon radiated in their eyes, in heart-felt gratitude, and in the obviously sincere spiritual growth of the students (teachers at Moroni High School, Tarawa, Kiribati).

Autaruru used a kia kia (traditional open-sided Kiribati house) as her object lesson. She referred to the openness of the kia kia as representing the Savior welcoming everybody who would enter to hear his word. Then she talked about the need to sometimes cover the sides with woven mats to protect the family from the elements. She used pieces of cardboard to cover the side openings, each labeled with gospel principles of repentance, baptism, faith and trust, and testimony. These represented the mats that would be used to keep the family safe. “If we let loose of one of these, we will be vulnerable to any problem,” she said. Through tears of gratitude, she bore a tender testimony of the need for us to use the Book of Mormon and the teachings of the Savior to keep sin and the temptations of the world out of our homes and our lives.

Another student, Titeebwa, who has been a member of the Church for less than one year, drew and painted beautiful picture cards showing the story of Nephi and his brothers returning to Jerusalem for the sacred records. She bore testimony of the need for us to always have the sacred scriptures to read and study them.

Ioram made a sample of the plates that Moroni used to keep the records, hid with the intent of saving future people and then delivered them to Joseph Smith who translated the records to begin the Restoration of the Gospel. On the sheets of his plates he put important gospel principles that we must learn and obey.
Silhouettes depicting Lehi’s Vision of the Tree of Life were cut into the cardboard to tell this sacred story that we all love so much. Bwereia told how important it is for us to hold to the iron rod and follow Christ.

Teaka, a computer teacher, told of his recent baptism. He felt that he knew little of the gospel and it was taking him forever to learn. After taking Book of Mormon 121, he began to understand and was baptized in February. For his project in Book of Mormon 122, he used a popular computer training manual and internet pictures as an example to write and illustrate a “Book of Mormon for Dummies” that explains his own understanding of gospel principles.
After two full semesters of studying the Book of Mormon, the students (teachers) testified of the true principles taught during the class that helped them to improve their understanding of gospel principles; strengthened their testimonies; and helped them to learn more about the blessings of being part of the restored gospel.

Was the class and project successful? YES! Lives have been changed, temple ordinances have been accomplished, a baptism was made possible, an older couple were sealed for time and eternity, and testimonies of the Savior and of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon – including the senior couple – were strengthened.

We love the people of Kiribati!

Sister Pulsipher's point of view:

Last February I had a brainstorm! I had Dennilynne go shopping for me and buy Easter things. I asked her to buy plastic eggs, Easter candy, egg dye, Easter grass, construction paper and brads. My idea was that we would have a great Primary Easter activity, have the children make their own baskets, dye Easter eggs and have an Easter egg hunt –just like at home. Most of the children here have never dyed eggs, had USA candy, had an Easter egg hunt or made their own baskets. Dennilynne was a sweetheart and did the shopping for me. Unfortunately there was way too much for a Priority shipping box so it was placed in a regular box. When they took it to the post office the first part of March they were told it would be much cheaper to send it by ship and that it would arrive by the end of March. Easter was not until the end of April so all was well. Unfortunately, the postal officer was not very accurate on arrival time. The box didn’t make it to the Marshall Islands until May 23. They sent it to us on the flight the next Thursday. It then disappeared! No one knew where it was. The missionaries did a search of customs and found it on the 1st of June. We were so excited. On Friday 17 June, we had a wonderful Primary activity. We made our own “June Baskets”, filled them with grass and then filled the basket with cookies, lollies, and plastic eggs filled with candy. We then practiced for the upcoming Music Festival. A great time was had by all. Thank you Mike and Dennilynne for making this such a fun day!

Elder & Sister Ogborn arrived on Kiribati Thursday morning. They are a new missionary couple working with humanitarian services (clean water). Saturday night the ward had a welcome to Kiribati and a good-bye - we’ll miss you dinner. They welcomed the Ogborn’s and said good-bye to the Davises, the Steeds, the Correys (they don’t leave for 2 months), and the Pulsiphers! After two weeks on the island, the Ogborns will almost be the senior couple and they don’t know where to shop yet! They’ll have to learn fast!

I guess my body is trying to get ready for the cold in New Zealand. I developed a huge cold on Friday. (I know cold weather does not cause a cold) I have been very miserable for the last three days. Hopefully I will begin to feel better SOON! If it takes the full 10 days to get better, at least I’ll feel good when we leave. We just hope Jerry does not get it from me!

Everyone, go to the SL Library and see Amanda’s picture (or check Becky’s facebook). It will hang in the library until about the 2nd of August. We have to see it when we get home!

We love you all! Stay close to the Lord! Have a great week.

Elder and Sister Pulsipher, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Jerry & Marlene

Scripture or Thought

“What we see in the pioneers and what we see now among the blessed Saints the world over is faith in God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in the Prophet Joseph Smith, faith in the reality of this work and the truthfulness of its message.”
-Liahona, July 2011, p.27

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Birthday
Becky!

This is our huge crab! Jerry discovered him this morning at 5:45 A.M. in the toilet bowl. I guess we always need to turn on the light before we sit down!

This is one of the channel where the ocean meets the lagoon. The bridge on the left is one of the favorite spots the youth have in Tarawa. They jump off the bridge and swim in the channel. The bridge also connects Bouta with the other atolls. On the right of the picture you can see the road that the people used to drive on. It is underwater more than half of the time.


This is the 'Quarantine' building. We brought our goods here to receive customs clearance to ship them to the USA.


Kiribati version of a chili dog! Jerry said it was good -- hot dog, baked beans, cabbage, & tomato sauce. I ate mine as a hot dog!


Moroni Ward family! The top picture shows them on their best behavior. The bottom picture shows them like they usually act! :)

Elder Pulsipher's point of view:

Sometimes I wonder what on earth I am going to do when I get home and the adventures of a mission are behind me! This morning I was determined not to get up any earlier that I absolutely had to – it is Sunday. By about 6:00 AM the bathroom was screaming at me so I got out of bed determined to make it quick and hit the pillow again. Not wanting to fully awaken, I decided not to turn on the light. I turned it on anyway. I looked down at the fixture – around here the room is called the toilet. Inside the bowl was a HUGE crab larger than my open hand. We had heard that this could happen and have on one other occasion had a small crab in the bowl; but this thing was huge. I knew no one would believe me, so I opened the door and called to Marlene to come see it. I also grabbed the camera. She refused to see it so I took a picture and showed her. Then I flushed the toilet – it took twice to get rid of the thing. The picture is certainly worth a thousand + words! Our toilets flush into a septic tank and the fluids go out into the ocean. The crabs sometimes crawl through the pipes and into the toilet bowls. OH, THE ADVENTURES OF A MISSION in Paradise!

Let’s see, in Africa we had tarantulas in the shower; In India we had rats in the alleys – among other things; and now in Kiribati we not only have rats that people actually befriend believing that if they are one’s friends, they will not cause damage; BUT we have big crabs in the toilet bowl.

When we visited Nepal, we went to a nice restaurant. I went to the restroom and noticed two doors each with a sign on it. One read “FOR THOSE WHO SIT” while the other one read “FOR THOSE WHO STAND”. Today’s experience certainly shows an advantage for standing. Needless-to-say, both of us will more than likely forego the possibility of waking up too much in the middle of the night as we TURN ON THE BATHROOM LIGHT FIRST!

This week, while observing a teacher, it began to rain really hard. It was fun to watch the reaction of the students who for the most part were engaged in the lesson. A few of them simply and hardly without notice, got out of their seats and closed the windows that were allowing the rain to come into the room. I am sure it happens all of the time and was just natural. Just for the record, “rainy season” is still very much in force.

It is amazing how fast the weeks are zipping past. It looks like we will write about three more times from Tarawa and maybe once from New Zealand. Then it is homeward bound! :)

Sister Pulsipher's point of view:

I was too tired to get up to see the crab besides I didn’t want to see it in my mind every time I went into the room. After seeing the picture I wish I had viewed it in person. I could say “Next time I’ll look” but I hope there is no next time.

Last Monday we had an American picnic for Family Home Evening. One of the girls brought a cabbage salad and we furnished hot dogs, buns (with ketchup, mayo, and mustard), baked beans, UFO’s (a funky spicy, fun food like Cheetos), punch and brownies. It was a different meal for them. There was no fish and no rice! We had the dinner in the Maneaba (pavilion) next to our house. While we were eating, the wind began to blow and I thought it was cool almost cold. Jerry thought it felt good! Then the rain began. It was like someone opened the fire hose! It came down in torrents. The problem was that the wind was blowing so the rain fell horizontal not vertical. The Maneaba was wet half way across the covered space. It stopped just short of our table so we all stayed dry. What a fun way to end Family Home Evening!

Friday we took six Priority Mail boxes to the ‘Quarantine’ office on Tarawa. This is the place that looks at all plant and animal products that are to be sent out of the country. They had to look at anything we had that was made of shells, wood, plant products (weavings made of leaves), and document that they were safe to be shipped out of the country. They gave us a list of everything we had for customs purposes. We then attached this list to the boxes to be mailed. The ‘Assistant to the President’ was here this weekend. He will take the boxes with him to the Marshall Islands on the small plane tomorrow, take them to the US Post Office and mail them to Lindsay! This should save us many dollars when it comes to paying overweight luggage charges on our way home.

We are trying very hard not to get ‘trunky’ but I don’t think it is working. They keep having parties to say good-bye to all the families that our leaving. We have 3 missionary couples and a family of 6 from New Zealand that will be leaving in the next 3 weeks and two new missionary couples that will be arriving in the same time block.

We love each of you and are so proud of you! :)

Stay close to the Lord! Have a great week.

Elder and Sister Pulsipher, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Jerry & Marlene

Scripture or Thought

“I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf.” - President Thomas S. Monson

Institute is finished for another Semester!


Our institute students during our final class. We enjoyed line dancing, refreshments, and a good time!

Parent Teacher Conferences and 'Open Day' at Moroni High School. This is a really big deal and only happens once a year!


A van of YSA on the way to Betio for a 'Break-the-fast' pot luck dinner.


The 'break-the-fast' gives opportunity for good food and good company!


Caleb, Bishop's son, have a drink for Elder Pulsipher's liter water bottle. He kept returning again and again. Either he was thirsty or just liked the attention!

Elder Pulsipher's point of view:

Friday was OPEN DAY and Parent Teacher Conferences. The rooms were decorated, the campus was cleaned and all looks nice. We had tons of parents on campus which resulted in long waiting lines to see teachers. It reminded me of all those years that we waited in lines at Westlake and Granger High. Mostly Marlene waited as I was doing other things. Lita made sure that one parent came to see me. The form 7 students are not really involved with the school except tutoring and Institute. Anyway the parents don’t attend conferences as the grading, etc. is all handled through the Institute program. I think she just thought at least one parent should visit with me. That is the caliber of person Lita is – very aware of everyone around her. The school even had entertainment for part of the time.

Moroni School is using a new grading, tracking system this year. The secretaries, administrators, and one teacher spent all night Wednesday and Thursday trying to get the grade cards ready. A man in New Zealand is the one responsible for the “bloody” system and had to take control of the school’s computers in order to clean up whatever glitch showed up. By about 9:00 AM Friday, they were ready to print the grade reports that the teachers used beginning at 1:30 PM. Close!!! The leaders in Auckland are already wondering if this system will be in effect another year. The former plan was cumbersome and way outdated, but at least it worked. This one is supposed to eventually save time.

On the first Sunday most months, we have a ward “break the fast”. We go to someone’s house with potluck and have an enjoyable evening. Tonight we went to Betio – about a 30 minute drive. We make this drive at least once per week – most weeks. There are speed bumps all along the main road in Kiribati. Well, this afternoon I was driving along and hit one of them unexpectedly. Unfortunately, we had passengers in the car and a bowl of a hot rice and vegetable dish Marlene had made up. When we hit the bump, the bowl was airborne and so were a couple of the passengers. The good news is that we salvaged the food and no one was hurt too bad. I think Tuani has a headache but he insisted he was OK. By tomorrow morning we will know if the food others brought is good to us! Tonight, I can honestly say it certainly tasted good.

Four weeks from Tuesday we are homeward bound. Our list of things to do before leaving is getting longer!!!! God bless everyone!

Sister Pulsipher's point of view:

Primary was unique today. We don’t have a music leader yet so I volunteered to do that until they called one. The way things have been going around here, that will probably be the week after I leave and they realize they need a councilor and a music leader. The primary president had the sharing-time lesson and I had music so I thought we were covered. The Best Laid Plans ? ? ? No one showed up for sharing time. No president, no 2nd councilor, no teachers, just children and the secretary. Roneta. (18 years old). I was so grateful Roneta was there! She helped with crowd control and even helped me with a round during singing. The Sharing time lesson was not well prepared but they received it and music was lots of fun – from my stand point! I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t gone to Church either!

I’ve mentioned the way they sing here. The conductor or someone in the congregation gives the pitch and they start singing. We are making a lot of headway! The other day Jerry was the one that pitched the song! Not bad for someone who wouldn’t even sing (solo) a few years ago!

Elder & Sister Davis are the traveling missionary couple working with ‘counseling’. They will be spending 3 months at each of the high schools in the Pacific. This week they discovered that their visa for Samoa is for 1 September. In order to meet that date, they have to leave here three weeks early. Instead of leaving the week after us, they will now be going two weeks before. They are trying to get things put together and eat their food storage!
Speaking of food, we are trying to eat the things in our cupboards. The cupboards are looking very bare! Just enough in them for 4 weeks!

By the way, the dental repair kit works on crowns for about 8 day. I guess I’ll try superglue tomorrow!

We love each of you and are so proud of you! :)

Stay close to the Lord! Have a great week.

Elder and Sister Pulsipher, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Jerry & Marlene

Scripture or Thought

“They shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved."
- Gospel Principles

Happy Birthday
Kelly

This is a beautiful dancer! She is as sweet inside as she is beautiful outside.


The members of the Moroni Ward and ready to perform during the Stake Dance Festival.

Lita, Sister & Bishop Brecktefeld, Caleb, and Tongoi Eneri, a teacher, at the May Missionary Club Devotional – 6:00 A.M.!

Sister Pulsipher sitting in a kia-kia next to the temporary chapel in Temaiku


Some of the young ladies practicing for the Stake Dance Festival. This picture also shows the inside of the Temaiku building.


This is a view of the Temaiku Chapel. The branch constructed it out of mostly used material. They hope that they will soon qualify for an official branch building.


These are some of the members of our Family Home Evening group relaxing after planting the family garden and cleaning up the yard.


Family members view the Chinese Cabbage that they planted!

Elder Pulsipher's point of view:

While I am writing, Marlene is actually taking a nap! She is learning to do that. I do think it has something to do with the fact that she is tired from all the work she has done here.

Last week our bishop announced that it was time for the ward families to plant another garden. Our choices of vegetables to plant consisted of Chinese Cabbage. We got our Family Home Evening family together on Saturday and planted about 2 dozen seedlings. They promised to help water them, so we will see. I like the cabbage- a form of what we call leaf lettuce at home. The last garden produced cabbage for about four months, most of which went to the dorm cafeteria. As with most things around here lately, we will have a “last” family home evening a week from tomorrow. They are held on the first Monday each month and we will be in New Zealand at that time in July. We are fixing dinner for the five of them. They did not think it was fair for us to provide all of the food, so together they will bring a salad. Now that should be interesting!

In sacrament meeting today, we had six speakers who were assigned. Five spoke. Only in a ward with mostly single youth and YSA would you have that many speakers. Most of them were well prepared and the meeting was very good as the Spirit of Christ was evident. Teaka, a recently baptized teacher at Moroni, was one of the speakers. He told his conversion story and only looked at the clock three times. He bore his testimony several weeks ago and stared at the clock. I think he was trying to help the clock move faster. In Sunday school class, we talked about being able to tell how a person was doing by looking into their eyes – the window to Christ. As we were discussing, I noticed that Teaka leaned over and stared into the eyes of his girl friend. They plan to marry as soon as he has been a member for one year – next February. She is a recently returned missionary. They look like they were made for each other.

This morning I finished reading The Greatest Quest by Brent and Blaine Yorgason. It is a novel about some college friends who embark on a crusade to find THE church on the earth that has the same organization and teachings of the church Christ organized on the earth. It is fascinating to read and to see the correlation with the Bible. With the advent of World War 2, the group is separated, one is killed in the war, and the other three continue to search for the true church. All come to the same conclusion. As we would all know, they find the LDS missionaries and find that the LDS Church has all of their criteria plus some they did not think of. Great reading. They ended up with 46 criteria.
Life in Kiribati is going very well. As our cupboard shelves get emptied, our nerves get more racked as we have been so terribly stingy and have been hoarders just in case the need should arise. Now we are saying that if that something arose, we would not be very well prepared. We are exercising some of that “island faith” as we realize just who is in charge of what happens.

We are communicating with our replacements, the Thornes, and are excited that they are coming. They will add a great deal to help this wonderful work move forward. God bless them in their adventure of a lifetime!

Sister Pulsipher's point of view:

There I was – just sitting on the couch eating a piece of candy and a crown fell off. This wasn’t just any crown, it was one of my front teeth. Actually it was the second tooth to the left of the center of my mouth. One of the places that shows really good when you smile. I cleaned it out and put toothpaste in it and pushed it back on. It held for about 6 hours and fell out again. I was afraid that it would fall out during the night and I might swallow it, so I removed it for the night. I called the dentist yesterday and he told me to use super-glue. Elder Steed had some ‘DENTEMP’ to re-cement crowns, so I used that. It has held for 24 hours. It just needs to hold for about 5 ½ weeks till we are in New Zealand and can see a dentist. If I’m really lucky, it will hold for 8 weeks until I have an appointment with my dentist at home! If it doesn’t hold, I guess I’ll have to try the super-glue!

Saturday was the Tarawa East Stake’s Dance Festival. This is a big event in the stake. Kind of like the All Church Dance Festivals used to be. The wards have been practicing for months. Moroni Ward has been practicing before school and in the evenings for weeks. Moroni Ward was in the middle of the program (5 of 8). They were all ready to enter and begin when the clouds opened up and it began to rain. This storm was not very big and it was very short, just enough to get us all wet. Our ward kept their places and were ready to go when the rain quit. Then the lights went out. They had an overloaded breaker and it popped three or four times during the activity. We decided that Moroni should get extra points for patiently waiting!

This is a very busy time of year in the States. Our congratulation go to our grand children and nephew for their graduation actives.

• Amanda Boekweg – Graduation from 8th grade and being a graduation speaker.
• Megan Flygare – Promotion from middle school to High School
• Andrew Pulsipher – Promotion from middle school to High School
• Tim Lee – Graduation from Strasburg High School
• Jennifer Lynn – Graduation from High School
• Josh Flygare – Graduation from Herriman High School and for being a graduation speaker.

We love each of you and are so proud of you! :)

Stay close to the Lord! Have a great week.

Elder and Sister Pulsipher, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Jerry & Marlene

Scripture or Thought

“God’s plans are very specific, just as an architect’s plans for a building are specific. In order for God to help us understand how to live (so we can return successfully to Him afterwards), He has taught the prophets down through the ages and commanded them to teach all the people of the earth. These teachings, the doctrine or gospel of salvation and eternal life, have always been consistent because God’s plans are still exactly the same. In order to keep this consistency or uniformity of God’s true gospel, His true church has been established and maintained among faithful people throughout the ages.” -- Henry L. Whiffen

Congratulations:
Amanda
Megan
Josh
Tim
Jennifer
Josh

A beautiful sunset in Paradise!


This little boy wanted to pose for us while we were looking at the sunset. Isn't he cute? He has a towel wrapped around him -- he had just come from his nightly bath in the lagoon.


The faculty of Moroni High School!


Elder & Sister Davis with us Sunday night for dinner!



This is a new family of piglets. We saw them as we were walking up the road. The little ones were running and jumping around like a group of puppies. Notice the runt standing by the mother pig.

Elder Pulsipher's point of view:

Well, here it is 22 May and the world is still in tact! I suppose that being here where life if somewhat behind the rest of the world, we would still have a few more years before the end hit here. That is a blessing of serving in small remote places.

One of our Institute students, Abaki, who is now at the Provo MTC wrote this week with an amusing story about himself. He was doing his laundry with his companion at the MTC. Never having seen washers and dryers, he loaded a dryer with his dirty clothes to wash them. Fortunately, his comp helped him out on that one. After all, that is companions are for! He will be a great missionary in the Philippians.
Life here is about the same – study, prepare lesson, teach, study, prepare lessons, and teach. Yesterday, we didn’t have much to do and sat around wondering what we should do. Just can’t be satisfied! I hate to admit it, but I think there are a couple of trunky missionaries living in this house. This week we did manage to get hotel and a tour reservation for New Zealand. It is a good thing we did as the temple patron housing in NZ is filled. They referred our request to a nearby Bed and Breakfast – the owner of which send an e-mail asking if we wanted to stay there. We enjoy bed and breakfast places so we accepted. Now we are all set for our stay in NZ.

We are enjoying having the Davis’ here with us. They are serving here for 3 months working with the counselor. They are good company as we have many of the same ideas and interests.

I am enjoying teaching the New Testament in Gospel Doctrine. The subject is great. I have just finished reading McConkie’s Mortal Messiah series which has helped bring a new dimension to my knowledge of Christ. One thing this mission has done for me personally is to fulfill a desire to study the scriptures in more detail. Now if my mind will just retain what I have studied!

Sister Pulsipher's point of view:

Last week I was upset that my computer would not turn on. Monday morning we checked out a car and took it to Pinto’s. I had already taken the battery out a couple of times, replaced it and it still didn’t work. We walked into Pinto’s and were met by one of his workers. He took out the battery, put it back in, pushed the on button and the computer started! The only difference was that when I did that I had the electrical power on. I can’t see where that would make any difference but....! While we were at Pinto’s I bought an external drive and downloaded all my documents and pictures. If my computer won’t start again, at least I have my documents and pictures saved!

Computer 1. Freezer 0.

Wednesday morning I opened the freezer to get something for dinner. The rolls were not completely frozen. After feeling the other food I decided the freezer had a problem. The service center called the repair people and they came right out. I emptied the freezer (all over our bedroom floor) so they could check it out. One look and he told me it must go to the shop. Two guys picked it up, put it in the back of the truck and drove off. I hope we see it again SOON. We really need a freezer here! I took most of our stuff to our neighbors (Elder & Sister Corry) and the rest to Elder & Sister Davis. Then I looked at the mess. The hamburger and chicken had begun the thaw (they still were partially frozen so they could be refrozen). The thawing process had put a fair amount of red (bloody) water on the floor under the freezer and drops of it all the way to the door. I spent the next hour cleaning my floor. Clorox and soap do a good job of cleaning it up! This freezer is just over a year old. It was bought for us after we arrived! We lasted longer than it did!

You never know what you will do next when on a mission!

This week was term break. The students were not on campus. The teachers had two days of in-service. Jerry & I (mostly Jerry) had about an hour of the in-service Tuesday. I felt good about how it went. When Jerry teaches, it always goes well!

Six weeks from Tuesday, we will be leaving Kiribati for New Zealand. We have a lot to do in six weeks. We love the people we work with and the great people they are. It will be hard to leave knowing we may never see them again in this life. Maybe they will come to Utah!

Have a great week. We love you!

Elder and Sister Pulsipher, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Jerry & Marlene

Scripture or Thought

“The passage of time has not altered the capacity of the Redeemer to change men’s lives. As he said to the dead Lazarus, so he says to you and me: ‘…come forth.’ Come forth from the despair of doubt. Come forth from the sorrow of sin. Come forth from the death of disbelief. Come forth to a newness of life. Come forth” - President Thomas S. Monson