What do you do all day?

Ethan and others have repeatedly asked "What do you do all day on your mission, Oma?"
      WelI, our calling is Member Leadership Support Missionaries. So we do things to help support the Branch President and the members, 
Here are some of the things we do each day. It is always different.
     We arise around 6 AM to go on our walk on the playa. We walk for about an hour depending on who we run in to and the errands we do on the way home. Yesterday we stopped off at the Elder's place to deliver an inner tube for Elder Chub's flat bike tire.   Then we come home and either do the laundry on Tuesdays or Mondays depending on the landlady. and usually on that day we work in the yard to earn our laundry time.
    On Tuesday evenings we have a meeting with the branch mission leader and the missionaries. We discuss ways to help less active members.
     Thursdays we sometimes go to the Zone and District Meeting on Skype when they invite us, because it is all in Spanish and the Elders can't translate for us and participate both very easily.
    Earlier this week we met Magali, another Dutch speaking person we met when we were shopping. She was at the hospital waiting for her doctors  appointment so she said we could tell her about the gospel while she waited.
     In the mornings we read the Book of Mormon. I just finished again, so both Elder VV and I are now I reading it in Spanish and English simultaneously. We study our Sunday School lesson, study Spanish, we write emails, we clean the apartment. The windows are always open and if we are lucky there is a breeze so there is always a fine thin layer of dust on everything.  
     Some mornings we fix our car's flat tire or get a new battery after being stranded. Yesterday I made cupcakes so I could take a treat to Genesis, one of the members of the rama for her birthday. Also some thank you cupcakes to Tropical Car Care, the garage that worked on our leaking oil pan for 8 hours, and then finally gave up and said it couldn't be fixed and so they did not charge us. So we wrote them a note and took cupcakes.
      One day, Lidia, who is a Dutch speaking investigator, called and said she wanted to see us. We had high hopes. When we got there she wanted us to take her to the bank because she is diabetic and on crutches and can't drive or walk very good because of the wound on her foot. 
     Right after that we were on our way to a meeting to help plan fund raising for the youth conference in Curacao in July. btw - one of the things they are going to do is sell iguana bergers at a market in Rincon. So, Saturday is the iguana hunt. Elder VV is so excited!
     Everyday is different. Last week we went to lunch at Marta's house. She is a faithful woman who can't get baptized because she isn't married to the man she has lived with the past 26 years and has 2 grown children with. It is her birthday on Sunday so she wanted to celebrate, by cooking for us all day? Yes, she did. (Some of the cupcakes are for her also). She fed us a traditional Dominican dinner. Rice, potatoes, chicken, fried plantains, salad, and a yummy fruit drink(watermelon and something else). She doesn't speak any English so we have to depend on the Elders to translate.
     We wait in lines to pay the water and gas bills for the Elders or to find out questions for them. ie - What does it take to get married on the island?
      We also go to the store frequently for ingredients for the cookies, cupcakes, and dinners we make for the Elders.
     Well, we are going down to the iglesia in a little while to see what's happening at activity night and Saturday is movie night at the church.
     We feel very blessed to be serving here on the island of Bonaire in a nice apartment, with safe water, with the dollar as our currency, with kind and friendly people, and to never have the worry of getting cold. We love you all and are so blessed by your love and support.
Bye for now, Elder and Sis VV

A Postal Miracle? Or a Cruel Joke?

When we were at the MTC in Provo, I forgot to  get a missionary name badge in Dutch, like Sister VV did.  I learned to covet that magnetic badge of hers...it could be attached on any article of clothing, no pocket required!!.  I want a magnetic badge...... AND in Dutch, not my English badge that needs a pocket to hang on!

There's been a lot to figure out, since we arrived on this pretty isolated island!  It took me until February 24th to figure out HOW to contact the Provo MTC from here and order 2 badges for me......both in Dutch, and 1 has to be magnetic!  Wow! That will be soooooooo cool! Sister VV and I will match badge-wise and I can wear ANY shirt AND my Missionary badge as we take our exercise walk along the harbor every morning!

Weeks have come and weeks have gone. No mail.

I decided to email Provo to verify they really sent them......."yes..on February 25th.......but we can't trace because you didn't ask for DHL".  What's DHL?!

Early on April 1st, after our daily walk along the Playa, we had a 7:30am appointment to get the car serviced. We delivered the car and a mechanic drove us back to the apartment. It was still early, so I decided to trim a couple of bushes. I put the  clippings in the garbage can, which sits in a tidy gated cage, right by the mailbox.

I've often wondered why they have mailboxes here, we've  never seen a mailman or a mail vehicle anywhere on the island since we arrived on January 22nd! 

Anyway, being near the mailbox, I decided to peek through the slot of the locked container. I saw mail! Real mail! With my skinny , brown little fingers I was able to pull out a couple of pieces through the slot.

 One was a brown envelope with my name on it! 

Since it was April Fools, I wondered if this was some cruel trick from the Elders or our landlord since I'd talked often about the day my badges might arrive.

I went into the house and in the presence of Sister VV, carefully opened the envelope with as much ceremony as when we opened our Mission Call letter. 

My Badges!!  And one is magnetic!

Truly a miracle, letters from Utah can really come right to our home on Bonaire! 

-Elder VV

The Atonement

A few weeks ago we had a wonderful opportunity. Unexpectedly at about 4pm we were invited to the 5pm re-baptism of a member of our branch. It was a small group just the family and close friends and as missionaries, we were included.  There was a scramble to find a white tie (Elder VV had that), and white pants but soon we were on our way as part of a little caravan to the beach. It was about 5:30pm so the sun was starting to set. It was a beautiful evening, the breeze was perfect. Songs were sung, and prayers said and I couldn't seem to stop crying at the gift we had of being part of this scene. A  father came back, repented and was forgiven.

Two of the children in his family are in our Sunday School class. We had been learning about the Atonement for the month of March. As I embraced the 16 year old daughter I was able to tell her that this was the miracle of the atonement that we had been talking about in SS class happening right here.

It was so touching and such a sweet tender mercy from the Lord to be able to be there. Repentance and forgiveness through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

After Wonderful Conference

We had a wonderful time at our small chapel listening to all the sessions LIVE!  English in the office and Spanish in the larger room, where our Branch President, had Sister VV and I and Elders Chub and Atkinson tape tin foil on all the windows to darken the room. It took almost a whole box and 1/2 a roll of masking tape.  Only a handful of members joined the 4 of us missionaries on Saturday,  but a pretty good group for the Sunday morning session. We watched it LIVE,  so 2 hours later, Bonaire time.

After the afternoon session, it was 6pm.  After removing all the foil from the windows and removing the sticky tape from the foil, so that Jessica, one of our members, could take it home and re-use it..........  we took the Elders to our apartment for another wonderful Sunday dinner prepared by Sister VV!

Since it was Easter, Sister VV had made some clever Bunny containers to hold some treats she'd prepared for the Elders!

A perfect end to a wonderful weekend! 

We love the Gospel.......we're blessed to be Here!

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