Mauri

Hey!!! Thanks for the email!!!!!
The baptism went great!!! I had the opportunity to confirm them in
sacrament meeting and it was a really good experience.
Soooo: here's some good facts and stuff about the land, the mission,
some unique aspects... here goes!: So, right now I'm on Bi,
which is an outer island. On the plane ride here, we were only allowed
to bring 15 kilograms of luggage, and a carry on, and I was STILL
underweight ;) There are many days when I spend around 5 hours
cross-legged. When I first got here, it was really hard. But you get
used to it. Yeah we basically sleep in a really tall grass hut with a
wall. Under it is a room. Climb a ladder and that's how you get up top
to sleep.
Bootaki's: It's the kiribati way of celebrating things, it's basically
a party. Everyone meets up. First you've got the maroro
(conversation). One person from each family or group will get up and
say something like (they really love to spice it up): " Good health,
to you all, to the baby who birthday it is, to the grandparents who
first were. Good health (every one answers "good health (Mauri)) we're
very grateful to be here on this, the 1st birthday of this baby, we
expect her to grow up healthy, ..." and so forth. Then you've got the
food, guests and men eat first, then women and their families. Usually
they've got spoons, Kiribati people don't usually use them for rice
and fish. After the food they pass around a bowl with soap and water.
Close it up. And then sometimes they do activities.
Yeah for a lot of people "boben" (collecting coconuts) is their main
source of income. One coconut is about 20 cents.
They've got records in the goverment buildings, but yeah, some people
don't remember their own birthdays. Usually you have go find it in the
council.
Haha, they don't have the family name here like they do in America.
Instead, you take your dad's name as your surname.
Well, thanks for all the prayers!!!!!! Just got a message that my
companion is leaving!!!! Also, we're flying out to M this
Wednesday!!! Have fun, love you!!!!! - Elder SEffker Good luck with
the talk!!!!