Blessings and Recipes

Mauri!

Hope everyone had a great week! Everything's going great here in
Nikunau. School is just starting back up for the kids here after a two
week break, so that means we will be teaching Taekan te Aro (religion
class) again. That also means I'll have less time to email because we
have it on Mondays.

One cool thing that happened was we had the opportunity to give the
father of a member family a blessing due to some intense pain he was
having. We just checked up with him recently, and he told us he hasn't
been having any pain since. It's an interesting contrast to America,
where we have access to vast amounts of medicine and trained doctors
who can give us what we need. Kiribati, especially outer islands,
don't have that luxury. Many times a blessing is the only hope they
have.

Work has been going well. We're trying to get more of our
investigators to attend church. There are so many blessings that come
from attending church regularly, and we want to help them understand
that and experience it for themselves.

Also thought I would share a few Kiribati recipes for you all to try:

Milk ball candies. Take a bowl of powdered milk and pour sweetened
condensed milk into it until it becomes a dough. Then just roll it
into little balls and eat. You can also mix in some drink mix as well
for more flavor.

Sweet milk. A popular drink. Take a small pitcher of room-temperature
water, pour sweetened condensed milk into it and mix until water
becomes milk-colored. Then add 3-5 large spoonfuls of sugar and mix.
(Kiribati people like their drinks sweet)

Lightly-flavored juice. Also very popular, but not as much in Nikunau
just because cargo is limited. Take a small pitcher of
room-temperature water, dump 5-6 large spoonfuls of sugar and mix.
Then add a couple tablesoons of your favorite cordial and mix.

Rice. Pretty self explanatory. We have it all the time.

Can't really think of any other simple recipes right now. I'll let you
know if I find any other good ones.

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

Elder Schoeny

Sorry again I didn't send pictures last week. The first two are from last week.

Pictures

 Playing volleyball at the picnic before the baptismal service

 Taakie and I before her baptism

Me with a coconut crab which was apparently still alive when I was holding it

Nikunau's Growing Stronger

Mauri everyone!

We had a great week this past week. President Tune, first counselor in
the mission presidency, came for some mission business. He spent time
getting to know the members as part of the process for setting up a
branch or two in Nikunau. He'll be sending the application in for
branches on Nikunau. Sunday was also pretty cool. We had 3 men
ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood, 3 members ordained to the
Aaronic priesthood (one a youth). It's amazing to see how much the
church is growing here in Nikunau after just two years of the island
being opened. I can't to see Nikunau with branches as well. (Which
will also be nice because it will mean I will be relieved of my duties
as branch president). We also reached a new church attendance record
of 72!

This week was a little slow work-wise, since we had a lot of branch
stuff to take care of with Pres. Tune coming, and also because a lot
of our investigators ended up being busy.

We also got a baptism this past Saturday! Taakie started being taught
by Elder Baker and Elder Morphonios, so I wasn't with her for the
majority of her lessons. It was still a great experience, though. We
held a picnic for her with all the members. It was a lot of fun.

On this mission I've learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses.
It's amazing to see, though, that as long as I have faith and I do my
best, the Lord will always make up for what I can't do myself. Since
I've delved into a new world of church leadership, it's especially
helpful to know that He has a tremendous love for us and refuses to
leave our side.

I love you all! Kam beti n rabwa ibukin ami ibuobuoki! (Thank you all
so much for all your help)

Elder Schoeny

(Sorry, I forgot my camera before coming to internet. Here's some
Kiribati music instead. It's by a group that makes music in honor of
the LDS Church-owned Moroni High School.)

Back in Nikunau

Mauri mauri!

I've made it back to Nikunau safe and sound with my new companion.
Elder Jubeck is from Florida. He's got a nice southern accent and
knows how to work hard. We get along great, and I look forward to our
future time here together in Nikunau.

Not too much has happened so far, but there should be a lot more to
talk about in the coming weeks. We did get one new investigator that
stopped us on the street asking for lessons. He really wants to
change, so hopefully all goes well with him.

Also, the day before leaving to Nikunau, I had dinner with a Fijian
family who had us eat at an actual dinner table with actual forks and
knives. The food was really good. I attached a picture of my plate.

I also have a picture of me with an axe. Elder Jubeck and I helped
with 'oroben', or chopping the ben (ripe coconuts) in half to sun dry.
This is how most Kiribati people make their money. 1kg of the white
stuff in the middle is $2. Fun fact for you all.

Sorry I didn't have much to share. I tangiringkami! Thank you all for
your love and support!

Elder Schoeny

Pictures

 Our dinner with the Fijian family. The glassware in the top right

corner is raw fish

 Elder Jubeck and I (we're on bicycles if you can't tell)

Me after we finished a batch of ben