Crazy Past Couple of Weeks

Sorry I didn't get to email for a little while. There was a part that
broke on Butaritari, so the internet and phones were down. A lot has
happened since my last email, so I'll try to play some catchup.

We got our first baptism this past week! She was a 20 year old girl
name Bwakoua. She's awesome and has a really strong testimony. She's
even already read the Book of Mormon! I had the opportunity of
baptizing her in the ocean. I had to wait for a break from the waves
to put her under the water. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures
since Elder Osborne used his camera. I'll try to send them when I get
them from E. Osborne.

Elder Osborne and I also had a crazy adventure trying to get to
Tarawa. We found out at one point that there was no more gas for
airplanes left on the island, and that the last flight was going to be
this past Sunday. With no phone cards left on the island, we had to
find someone who actually had a phone card left and call the zone
leaders. They basically told us to do anything we could to get off the
island. Luckily, we were able to beg to get on the Sunday flight to
Tarawa.

When we got to Tarawa, we also found out about transfers. Elder
Osborne would be serving in Tarawa, and I would be returning to
Butaritari with a Kiribati companion, Elder Bataua. For the next week
or so, Elder Bataua and I are staying with the zone leaders in Tarawa
going on splits with them.

Thank you for all your support! I tangiringkami! Merry Christmas!

Elder Schoeny

 A shelf that I made for our hut

 We caught a baby chicken that hung around our house and tied it to a

post, hoping to raise it. Unfortunately it died after refusing to eat

because of larger chicken bullying it and stealing its food

 A picture of Elder Osborne and I before we parted ways in Tarawa

 An old ship that we went to explore with some Kiribati kids. I tried

getting a picture without private parts showing, but ultimately

failed. Most Kiribati kids just prefer not wearing clothes 

(A minor fix was applied to the picture before publishing on the web.)

Birthday Celebration and Dinner on Yacht

I’m having to rewrite this email a second time because of the poor
internet connection. If I ever miss a week for emails, it’s probably
because the rain was messing with the internet connection.

So my birthday celebration was a lot of fun. Elder Osborne had been
telling a bunch of members that my birthday was coming up, so a bunch
of members threw a party for me after Family Home Evening. Several of
the young women danced in front of me to a popular song, which
probably sounds kinda bad, but it’s the culture so I went along with
it. They even made me a birthday cake with actual frosting.

Speaking of dancing, something interesting has happened to me. If you
remember, I mentioned there was dancing at the botaki about the war
last Saturday. As part of that, women are given the opportunity to go
up to a guy and dance with them. Only old women do it because they’re
the only ones not shy about it. I ended up getting asked by one and
had to dance in front of everyone. After that, gossip got around and
now apparently half the island thinks I’m a really good dancer. I
should say that by American standards, I’m absolutely horrible, but
apparently not to the Kiribati people. Random people tell me that
they’ve heard I’m a good dancer. Hopefully this doesn’t lead into
anything haha.

We also had a really fun time eating dinner on a yacht with an
Australian couple. It was weird eating white people food with forks
and knives and having cold drinks. I doubt many elders can say they
ate on a yacht.

The work has also been going great. We’ve gotten several new
investigators. One of them actually found us on the street and asked
if we could start teaching him the next day at a certain time.
Throughout the day, every time he saw us, he would remind us about our
appointment with him the next day. He has seemed really interested so
far.

Thank you for all your prayers and support! I tangiringkami!

Elder Schoeny

- Our dinner with the Australian couple

 Me with my flower crown thingy that I got to wear during my birthday botaki

Our thanksgiving chicken that an investigator family cooked for us

for our dinner with them 

 Our dinner with the Australian couple

The yacht we ate dinner on

Upcoming Surprise Visit

First off, thank you for the birthday wishes! I'm still not
outstanding at the language, but I've heard hints of something going
on tonight during Family Home Evening that is likely related to my
birthday. I'll let you know next week how my birthday turned out.

So a few days ago we found out that apparently both of us had tickets
to fly to Tarawa in about two weeks, which was really strange and
unusual, so we made a phone call to find out what it was about. It
turns out a member of the Seventy is flying out, so our mission
president payed to fly all the Kiribati missionaries to Tarawa, even
from Kiritimati. Sounds like it's a pretty big deal. I'll let you know
how that turns out. We'll be staying in Tarawa for a week or two
before heading back to Butaritari.

We were also able to attend a huge botaki, or party, this past
Saturday. Every year, the people of Butaritari put together a huge
party to thank America for what they did in WWII. Apparently, Japan
had taken over Butaritari and was having all the men dig pits and then
shooting them in the hole. The Japanese' plan was to essentially have
the next generation be half Japanese. At one point, one Japanese
person who loved the Kiribati people found out the Americans were
coming, so he told the Kiribati men to dig slower. America then came
the next day and was able to defeat the Japanese.
We originally didn't plan on being able to attend, since we were going
to Kuma for the day, but the gear shifter of the motorcycle we were
renting broke off. It would have been pointless doing work in the area
since everyone would be at the botaki, so when we were invited to
stay, we agreed.
It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of food and dancing, and the
elementary school kids performed a fun little skit about the war. The
school kids also sang the Star Spangled Banner, which was really cool
to hear. Even better, we got to see actual white people, two older
couples visiting from Australia. One of them even invited us to dinner
tomorrow on their yacht. Funny enough, Elder Osborne and I were the
only Americans in attendance.

The work has been going great! We have a family scheduled for baptism
this Saturday, so that's really exciting. We've also realized we could
probably expand our investigator pool, so we've started working on
tracting more.

Thank you and I tangiringkami!

Elder Schoeny

 Two Kiribati sea birds. What's great about this picture is not only

how majestic the bird on the left looks, but also the awesome face the

bird on the right is making.

 A view of the beach on a windy, overcast day.

  The awesome Sorry! board E. Osborne and I made. The Kiribati people

have their own really fun version of Sorry! that uses playing cards.

 Flags hanging up at the huge botaki memorial thanking the US.

I finally ate one!

To start off, I can officially say I’ve eaten dog. Not too bad, but
don’t expect me to eat it again when I return home. I still have yet
to eat cat. I still have to say probably the best thing I’ve eaten so
far is sea turtle, but don’t spread that around, since it’s probably
illegal everywhere except Kiribati.

I also have to say another reason as to just how unique this mission
is. Normally missionaries aren’t allowed to ride motorcycles at all,
only mission-approved cars. Because parts of Butaritari extend out to
the point where it takes unreasonably long to bike there, our mission
president allows us to rent a motorcycle in order to get there. I’m
pretty sure we’re the only mission where missionaries can ride
motorcycles, which is pretty awesome. I attached a few pictures as
well.

It’s also been interesting how much the Kiribati people talk about the
election in America. The people here get their news by radio. Since
we’re white, they’re always asking us if we’ve heard anything. They’ve
been pretty interested in this election, mostly because there was a
woman running. It’s a surprise to them because here women have next to
no rights. We were also asked how a man who has never worked for the
government could become president.

On a more spiritual note, it’s been humbling for me seeing these
people with next to nothing and yet so happy. It’s also been
interesting to see, despite how different the people and the culture
are, that the gospel of Jesus Christ still rings true, and the Spirit
works in people just the same. It’s going to be a great two years!

I tangiringkami!

Elder Schoeny

 Me after my first motorcycle ride (pre-haircut)

 One of the passages we take to get all the way to Kuma, a far away

village that would normally be close to a two hour bike ride

Us riding the motorcycle we rented. Chinese engineering at its best!

Huge Church Attendance

Not much happened this week since I was sick pretty much all week. Pretty
bad headache with nausea but no throwing up luckily. My companion says he
thinks he had the same thing at the beginning of his mission. I rested at
our house while Elder Osborne went on splits with someone else. I'm
completely recovered now, though.

I was able to attend church yesterday which was an incredible experience.
Every Fast Sunday the missionaries rent a bus (basically a pickup truck
that everyone piles into), and pickup all the members on the island to
attend church together. We had 70 people attend church yesterday, the
most there's ever been here in Butaritari.

Elder Osborne told me about it later since I couldn't understand, but
someone got up and bore his testimony. He said how when he was born,
he was deformed and the doctor said he would only live until he was
10, but he's 36 now. He said he thought the reason he's still alive
today is because the Lord wanted him to see all these people and the
church. We had no idea, but this guy hasn't even been baptized yet,
and he attends church every week. The Lord really does prepare people.

Instead of leaving you with a rather short email, I'll finish off with
some things about the Kiribati culture. One thing they do here is for
meals, they always have the guests eat first. After we finish, the
father eats, followed by the mother and children.

The children also love 'imatang' or white people. They yell it out as
we bike by. In America, we say 'bang' for a gun, but in Kiribati they
say 'dice'. The kids love 'dicing' back and forth as we bike by. They
also like to stand in the road to give us a high-five as we speed past
them.

Thank you! I tangiringkami!

Elder Schoeny

 It's really hard to tell, but we have a cheshire cat moon

 out here in Kiribati

 A picture of our desk after we cleaned it

Our sleeping situation with our mosquito nets

Butaritari Going Great!

Mauri!

We’ve had a fairly busy week with several teaching appointments a day.
Finding houses for the first time can be fun because there are no
addresses, so usually a parent will send off their child to show us
where to go. The kid will sometimes even hop a ride on one of our
bikes. We have a few investigators who are pretty close being ready
for baptism, so that’s pretty exciting!

I’ve also learned a new Kiribati card game called Taroka that everyone
loves playing here. It’s pretty similar to Uno. I’ll have to teach you
all sometime. A Kiribati person also said I looked like Harry Potter,
which is a first for me. The people actually see quite a few movies
around here. Most everyone has a cheap smartphone for watching movies
and playing games. What happens is someone pirates a copy, and then it
spreads through the whole island. Right now Zootopia is pretty
popular.

In case you were wondering, the toilet in the picture in my last email
isn’t actually used for anything. Our actual toilet is stone with a
hole going into the ground. We use a bucket of water to flush it out.
We also don’t get to sleep in hammocks but on the hard ground. It’s
not too bad once you get used to it. I’m sure a mattress will feel
like heaven after this.

Not much else to say other than I’m doing great and I really enjoy
having the opportunity to serve the Lord and His children.

I tangiringkami! Thank you for all your support and prayers!

Elder Schoeny

- My first time building a house of cards while at a member’s house
- My watch tan is coming along great!

 A beautiful Kiribati sunset

 My watch tan is coming along great!

 I built a fire to heat up water for cup noodles. We have a stove

now, so it’ll be easier making dinner when we have to

My first time building a house of cards while at a member’s house

First Week in Butaritari!

Mauri!

Sorry about last week. We were in the middle of doing emails when we were
asked to leave. It turned out we were there after hours, and that we had
been borrowing personal computers. That shouldn't happen anymore.

So about two weeks ago, on our flight from LA to Fiji, someone had a stroke
2.5 hours in, so the plane turned around. Our flight was rescheduled to
that evening, but it also meant we missed our flight to Tarawa. We got to
stay in Fiji for a few days in a hotel until our flight to Tarawa. There
wasn't much do to other than studying. A member who was helping us out also
gave us a tour of Fiji.

When we finally got to Tarawa on Monday (we were originally supposed to get
there the Friday before) we had our missionary orientation and found out
where our first areas would be. My flight to Butaritari wasn't until Sunday
morning, so I went on splits with the district leaders.

I met my companion Elder Osborne the Friday before we flew out. He's really
awesome and knows how to work hard. We get along really well and he's said
he loves hearing my past experiences from home and about how awesome you
all are.

I feel like I've been adjusting to the culture fairly quickly. A popular
drink they give us is karewe, which is the sap from a coconut tree.
Apparently most elders can't get it down the first week or so drinking it,
but I've been able to drink with just a slight urge to gag. It's gotten
easier the more I drink it.

There's also a lot of wild dogs, but they're usually pretty timid around
humans. Kiribati people hate them though. They basically see dogs like
pigs, but a lot more obnoxious and with less meat.

For our home situation, we have a two-level hut, the top level for sleeping
and the bottom for eating and studying. We have a separate bathroom with a
stone toilet and bucket shower. Everything is built out of sticks. We have
two bikes for transportation and we bike to another members house to fill
our bucket with clean drinking rainwater. We have a solar panel to charge
lights and anything USB.

Mission work has been going well. My companion and I whitewashed the area,
so were both new to the island. This past week we generally went around
finding members' homes and previous investigators.

This past Sunday we had about 40 attend sacrament meeting which is
apparently pretty good for an outer island. There are a few families that
live farther out, so we bike over to them with the sacrament and bless it
for them. There is no branch yet in Butaritari, only a unit. They do have a
unit leader though, so were not running everything for church.

I have also gained a new appreciation for washing machines. I hand washed
my own clothes for the first time today, and I'll be doing that every week
while in Butaritari.

Thanks for all your support. I tangiringkami!

Elder Schoeny

 Outside view of where we live in Butaritari

 Elder Osborne riding his bike between appointments

 Elder Osborne carrying his package from the airport

 Our ride to our mission home in Butaritari

 

I'm in Butaritari

I've run out of time to write this Monday; so I'll just leave with a
quick I tangirinkami (I love you all!)

Sorry I couldn't get more to you this week. But we at least have email
on this outer island.

Thank you for all your support!

Elder Schoeny

Here is a little from the email Jared sent to us:

Thanks for the updates! Commas don't work so I'll be using semi-colons instead.

No; we didn't get to go to the temple. It was a four hour bus ride and
would have been extremely expensive. In Tarawa I just went on splits
with the district leaders; so I was able to get my first real taste of
the people in Kiribati. Very happy people and love to laugh. I stayed
in the district leaders' apartment.

Butaritari is nice. A lot less people than in Tarawa; which is
actually kind of nice. We have bicycles we use to get places. I'm
living in basically a two-level hut; with a separate room for the
bathroom. The only real warning I got from other missionaries about
Butaritari is that the teenage girls are really flirty because we're
white.

We attended church in Butaritari. We were a little late for the first
service; but I was able to take the sacrament later when performing a
church service for a family that was the only one in that area.

We whitewashed Butaritari; so for now we're mainly going off the area
book for now and getting to know the area.

Thank you! Love you!

Elder Schoeny

Quick Email Update

Many of you may have heard, but my flight to Fiji got delayed, so I just finally arrived in Kiribati today. I'm so happy to be out here!

I found out today that my first zone will be in Butaritari, an outer island! Everyone says my companion, Elder Osborne, will be awesome!

I have a new address for mail and packages to be sent to:

LDS Mission

P.O. Box 400

Moroni High School

Bikenibeu, Tarawa

Republic of Kiribati

Central Pacific

I tangiringkami! Wish me luck! I'll try to upload pictures as soon as I can.

Elder Schoeny

The Final Countdown

(Thanks Mom for the subject title idea.)

I'm on my last week at the MTC and I'm so excited! The next time I email you I'll be in Kiribati! It's weird thinking that I'll be about a day ahead of you all. Depending on whether I get assigned to an outer island, it might be a while before I can email again.

We're supposed to do the majority of our packing today, so I'll try to be quick with the time I have.

We had an in-field devotional yesterday which I though was really good and interesting. For those who might have done this before in the MTC, they've changed it recently to make it a lot more engaging and less boring. It was for all the missionaries leaving this The elder who joined us this past week said it was his third time doing it, so he wasn't excited at all. We learned a lot about planning and making goals, our expectations, as well as working with the members in our missions. 

At one point, my companion and I were asked very last minute to participate in a play as part of the in-field orientation. It was obviously part of the plan to ask two helpless missionaries last minute to act for the play. We only had a few lines, so it was very easy, despite only having like five minutes to prepare. They had me play the part of a very dry and monotone elders quorum president.

We had Stephen B. Allen speak for the Sunday devotional, and he was really funny and casual with it, mainly discussing distractions from our pre-mission life. The Tuesday devotional was Gregory A. Schwitzer of the Seventy, talking about teaching others commandments and what they mean.

Not much else to say other than I'm really excited to head out to Kiribati! Thank you for all your love and support!

I ataia bwa te Ekeretia koaua. I ataia bwa a maiu Tamara are i Karawa ao Iesu Kristo. I atai bwa a tangirira ngaiia. I ataia bwa rinanon te Tamnei ao Raoiroi, ti kona ni karekea te korakora ao ti kona n namakin te rau.

I know that this Church is true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. I know that they love us. I know that through the Holy Ghost, we can receive strength and we can feel peace.

Kam rabwa! I tangiringkami ngai! Thank you all! I love you all!

Elder Schoeny

A picture of our entire district, including the new elder, in front of the temple

 Our new Kiribati sign drawn by one of the elders in my district

MTC Week 5

This week was probably the fast week so far. We get so absorbed in the work and our studies that time just seems to fly by!

We had a new Elder, Elder Dales, join our district this week. He was in a Kiribati district before us, but because of a double hernia and surgery. He served as a missionary in the Provo mission until he was well enough to go to Kiribati. We're now the 2nd largest Kiribati district this year with 13 missionaries, the 1st being 14. The previous district only had 6.

No Apostles from the Quorum of the Twelve this week for devotionals, but they were still pretty good. On Sunday we had President Mehr, a district president of the MTC, who spoke about the healing power of the Atonement. On Tuesday we had L. Whitney Clayton in the Presidency of the Seventy talk about the truthfulness of the church, and how it either is true, or it isn't - there's no middle ground.

I do have some news about singing in General Conference. They're having the missionaries sing in the Saturday Afternoon session. I wasn't selected to sing, but four others in my district were, which is pretty cool. There is still a small chance I could get in, though. If a missionary misses even one practice, they aren't allowed to sing anymore and an alternate takes his/her place. Practice this morning was at 7:15am, so I feel like they might be trying to weed out anyone that isn't as committed to singing. Here's hoping I'm one of the alternates.

We also had our first Skype TRC yesterday. It was an awesome experience. We got to Skype call a real member from Kiribati and teach her a 30-minute lesson. We had a really hard time understanding her, though, considering this was our first time hearing the language from a native. She also had trouble understanding us at times, but it was awesome nonetheless.

Kam rabwa! I tangiringkami ngai! Thank you all! I love you all!

Elder Schoeny

 I drew a picture on the whiteboard of Baymax saying 

'Does it hurt when I touch it?' in Kiribati

 Some elders in my district printed out some pictures of Brother Farley, one of my teachers, and put several memes of him throughout the room. He's a very outdoorsy guy. Brother Farley laughed so hard he had to walk out of the room.

A picture of the Provo Temple from the back, which looks a lot better than the front

MTC Week 4

Mauri!

The MTC is still going great! We kind of do the same thing every week, so not a whole lot to report.

This past Sunday for our devotional, we had M. Russell Ballard speak about committing ourselves to being representatives of Jesus Christ. We also had Quentin L. Cook speak for the Tuesday devotional about our calling to teach the gospel, as well as remembering to love our companions, the people, our mission presidents, and the Lord. I'm only halfway through the MTC and we've already had three apostles speak in devotionals. Everyone says most missionaries only get to hear from three apostles during their entire MTC stay, so we might get lucky!

Still no word on singing in General Conference. I feel like they'd try to keep that quiet so they don't have the entire MTC trying to get in it. They did give the choir a survey though, which I think is a pretty good sign they might have us sing.

The language is still coming along well. The pronunciation is at least really easy, because unlike English where one letter can have multiple different sounds, the letters in Kiribati always make the same sound. We've been improving with each practice lesson with our pretend investigators. I can so far at least bear my testimony and pray in Kiribati from memory.

We also had an incredible experience together as a district. One of the Elders had surgery some time before coming out. He was told that if it didn't heal properly, he would have to go home, which would have been really sad. He had a doctor's appointment a few days ago to find out whether he would have to go home, so we fasted and prayed for him as a district. He knew the Lord had a plan for him, and whatever that plan was, he would continue to trust the Lord. Our prayers were answered, and he was told with certainty that he would be able to stay on his mission. Our district really grew in unity because of that. I know Heavenly Father is watching over us, no matter the significance.

Kam rabwa! I tangiringkami ngai! Thank you all! I love you all!

Elder Schoeny

picture of the missionary field

picture of the volleyball court

me wearing an awesome T-Shirt Oma and Opa sent me