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