The Tower of Babel

 

The gift of tongues would come in handy here in Bonaire 

 

 

                 I just finished Ether in the Book of Mormon.  I feel like I can identify with Jared and
                       his brother better now. We really can't complain though, we can always find
                      someone who speaks English and Elder VV loves to speak Dutch and gets lots 
         of chances. So, even though we can't speak Espanol or Papiamentu we are doing pretty good.

 Bonaire is a "green" island and is very aware of environmental issues like protecting and keeping the coral reefs safe, saving the turtles, etc. The water is desalinated from the sea and is safe to drink right from the tap!

Here on the island of Bonaire the official language is Dutch spoken by 8.8%. All the government information, street signs, official documents, etc. are in Dutch.

Papiamentu is the language on the street. It is the universal language spoken by 74.7% of the population,  Papiamentu is a language that is mainly spoken on the ABC (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) islands. The slaves made the language up so their masters would not know what they were saying. It is a combination of Spanish, Dutch, African, Portuguese and Creole.

Dutch is taught in the schools as well as English. English is the first language of 2.8% of the population, and Spanish is the first language of 11.8%.

When our friends Margot and Steve Kimball were called to serve in the Frankfurt Temple Mission, I asked Margot what were some of the things she missed the most. She said one of the things was........ not understanding what people were saying. Yikers! I was worried!!! Both she and her husband speak German!

It certainly is a challenge to not speak the most popular language. Only parts of the Book of Mormon have been translated into Papiamentu and it is not taught in the MTC. They say if you speak Espanol, though, you can figure it out after a while. That is what they say anyway.



As MLS (Member Leadership Support) missionaries our job is to support the members and leadership like the Branch President.  President Albus asked us to train the members who are largely new to the church. I called and made an appointment to meet with the Relief Society President, Nurjia Charino, who has only been a member for 1 1/2 years. She is a native Bonairean so she speaks the 4 languages, but mainly Papiamentu, Dutch and just a little English.

I am never quite sure how much she understands because she smiles a lot and nods her head. Elder VV and I went to meet with her because she was to teach the 4th Sunday Relief Society lesson on a Conference talk and hadn't had much experience doing more than just reading the talk. So there we were...... I was speaking English, Elder VV was translating into Dutch, as she was reading the talk in Papiamentu on their computer screen and her husband was there helping her understand the concept of the lesson, tithing. It was like the United Nations.  What an experience! Then we met a few times more and on the Sunday when she gave the lesson....she read the talk!!! in Papiamentu.  I must not have made it clear that she could just tell the stories in her own words! anyway, she is a sweet woman. We will try again.

In church, the meetings are conducted in Papiamentu. There are translating headphones for me and Elder VV and any other visitors.  One of the members -  a cute young woman named Genesis just 16 years old and really great at speaking English is our translator. Elder Atkinson is from Guyana and can speak English so sometimes he translates also.

      Elder VV and I teach the youth the Sunday School lessons. We have 4 young men and 1 young woman. They are a very sharp group and smart. They like to have the class taught in English because they learn it in school. We have a good time with them. They branch is a very diverse group with people from Bonaire, The Dominican Republic, Colombia, Holland, America (West Valley), and St. Martin.
It is hard to complain about having to learn a new language when practically everyone here speaks 4 languages!

 

Think about our children - Dutch

 
 

English and Papiamentu

 



Interesting combination - underwear and home center

Watch out! dremples (speed bumps)





"All who find themselves in the Netherlands in the similar circumstances will be treated the same" (no discrimination)





You don't see these very often

Divers paint rocks yellow to identify good diving spots for visitors


 

Not really 1,000 steps down to the shore - only 68



Donkey crossing

 
                            Well as they say in -
                              
                                       English - Bye for now!

    Spanish - Adios!

     Dutch - Tot de volgende keer!

     Papiamento - Ayo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banos in Bonaire

Years ago when my mother was serving her mission in NYC she told Aunt Laurie's friend, "I know where the best restrooms in New York are". she told that to Laurie and said ," she probably meant the best restaurants."  Laurie said, no she meant restrooms. I am my mother's daughter.

I have hit the mother lode! I have found 4 public restrooms!! in Bonaire. There is one in Vanden Tweel's -  the grocery store, one in the government office building, one in a blood lab and the fanciest one in a new shopping area but it is only open briefly during the day. What a relief!

-Sister VV

Our New Elder

Last week was transfer day. We sent Elder Packer off to the D.R. and Elder Atkinson came in later that day from the D.R. to join Elder Chub and us. He has been on the mission for a year. He is from Guyana which is an English speaking country, that used to be under British rule. It is in South America next to Surinam on the coast of the Caribbean. He speaks very good Espanol and he is enthusiastic and a go-getter. The Elders came to dinner Sunday as usual and in the conversation he said that someone was "pissed off". Elder VV and I cringed! and later that evening Elder VV mentioned that "pissed" is not usually a word we say and it is kind offensive and he probably shouldn't say it any more.  Elder Atkinson was surprised and said that one of  his American companions in the D.R. told him that when someone is upset that is what you say. He accepted the correction with a good attitude.

-Sister VV

Elder Chub

We were so blessed to have Elder Chub with us on Tuesday! We had to adopt him as our little boy while he was waiting for his new companion who got in at10:30pm. So we were with him for 16 hours.

He doesn't speak English, but he helped us figure out why the tablet wouldn't work! It was the magnets in the cover that we bought to protect it!!! So don't let magnets get by your electronics.

Then he helped us figure out google translate!!! A miracle! A plain and simple miracle.

Then he printed out a paper on the computer we couldn't figure out how to do.

Then he transferred our data from the phone memory to the SIM card just before the phone died and we had to buy a new one.

What a smart little hijo! We love Elder Chub!

-Sister VV

Touring the Island

Today Elder Packer was transferred back to the DR, so Elder Chub doesn't have a companero . So he had to hang out with us till 10 pm when his new companion flys in tonight. We had a wonderful day! First, we went on our walk after we dropped off Elder Packer, and we were a sight.  2 men in white shirts and me in my pants leading the way. Then there were 3 seats that didn't get sold on Bonaire Vista Tours so the Albus's invited us to go! President Albus is a tour guide for groups who come on the cruise ships. He takes them on a 3 1/2 hour tour of the island.. It was so interesting and a lot of the places we have been to and seen are now even more interesting now that we know some history,trivia and extra facts. President Albus is a very intelligent and charming and funny. The gave us a souvenir picture, and drinks. The tour was great and he didn't charge us!

-Sister VV

Haven't we seen you before?

As we talked to a couple on our walk today, we found out  they were from Wisconsin. We chatted for a few minutes about the walk- a -thon going on there around us, and then they said,"we play a little game where we name the people we see as we walk along the playa each morning. The first time we saw you two we thought, they look like preachers we'll call them Jim and Tammy Faye"... hummm and I didn't even have my makeup on!

-Sister VV

Missionary Moment

It has been raining a lot the last few days. So we took the opportunity of soft dirt ( it's usually like concrete) to fill some chuck holes that we drop into each morning as we drive to the playa. So there we were Elder VV in his white shirt and tie, shovel in hand.  Sister VV in skirt with rocks in hand, standing on the corner waiting for traffic to go by. As we stood there a guy on a motor scooter slowed down, paused, and said in English! "Are you guys running for office? Cause you 've got my vote!", then he drove off. Later that day and night it rained and rained and when we looked the dirt in our holes was gone but the rocks were still there!