Snail Mail from Onatoa

Dear Family,

First things first...

HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY MOM!!!

(And yes, I was the first one to wish you a Happy Mother's Day in the world)

Anyway, I thought I'd write a letter to update you all on what's going on here in Onatoa. Today is our second p-day here. We have been here for nine days now. Honestly, it's not too bad. It's pretty hot; way hotter than Tarawa. There is one working freezer here on Onatoa, so we buy ice (little juice-like packets) whenever he has them. There are a few stores here, but they all have the same cargo. We have canned baked beans or canned spaghetti every morning for breakfast. Sometimes we have time to cook rice too. Today (since it is p-day) we mixed flour, sugar, and water together and made pancakes! It was a little difficult because they don't have oil here, so they stick pretty well. We cook on a little kerosene stove. Mom, I am going to be a beast at cooking rice and pancakes when I get back. Really useful, huh?

Anyway, our house is nice. It is one of the few brick houses on the island, which is nice, except for one thing: rats. Not fun. It's alright though because there is a buia behind the house. We sleep there with mosquito nets. It is about 10 feet away from the beach. We get our water from a well for showering, cooking, and laundry. We do have a toilet, which is a big game changer. Long story short, this "outer island" isn't quite as outer-islandy as Kainaba was. We did check- no internet right now. Hopefully it gets up before you get this letter!

The work here is...hard. The island has been open for about a year and a half but the church is still so small. There are a ton of people who have rejected us. Church on Sunday is very tiring. We have church in Tamao (our village) at 10:00. We give the talks, I teach Sunday school, then we teach Priesthood/Relief Society. Then we bike down to the south island (about an hour away) and do church for two seperate families. We just do sacrament meeting. Then we bike another hour and a half down to our last village to do sacrament meeting for the three members down there. We get a couple lessons in, then start the two and a half hour bike ride back home at 6:30. It's pretty long, especially since the chains fall off every time I hit a big bump. When we get home we sleep very well!

Whitewashing (when two Missionaries come into an area new to both of them) is frustrating. When we jumped off that little tiny Air Kiribati plane (12 seater propeller plane) we had no clue where to go. We got someone to show us where our house is and went there first. We have asked for directions probably 200 times this week. The store, our house, the church, our village- we had no idea where they were. I have felt very foolish more times than one out here, especially since my Kiribati isn't yet fluent. It's ok though- we are doing just fine!

My companion is Elder Sheffield from Lyndon, Utah. He has been working in the Marshalls for about 8 months. He is a really, really nice guy. We get along well. And for only a couple of weeks in Kiribati, his language is doing pretty well! Trainign is hard because you have to do most of the talking, but it isn't bad with him.

I really miss you all! I can't wait to see you all again. Keep up the scripture study, prayers, and church. PLEASE! It is so important!

I mang tang irian kami ni kabane,

Kaleb

ps-If you happen to be sending another package soon...

-new sunglasses (mine have 1 arm right now)

-big o' bucket of nutella 9we have a 10 lb. bucket of crackers with nothing to go on them)

-those cookie mixes are amazing

-more protein stuffs

-a couple deodorant sticks (I'm out...2 1/2 hour bike rides are...yeah...)

-more vitamins

-more pictures!!!

-a headlamp (nothing fancy)