Our mission tour to Tarawa

We just returned from a fabulous trip to Kiribati.  Tarawa is part of our mission, but it is 2500 miles away from Majuro in the Marshall Islands.  We traveled first to Hawaii then transfered to Fiji and then went on to Tarawa.
While we waited for the plane in Majuro we got to sit and visit with Elder Wakolo, a general authority. Elder Wakolo had been in Majuro that week and it was great to have the time to talk to him. And, while we were waiting,a  man came up to us and introduced himself when he saw our name tags.  It was  Seremia Johannas the new branch president in Ebeye.  He has helped me a lot with the Ebeye visas and I was always impressed with his willingness to go the extra mile.  He was so happy to meet us and let me know who he was!
 We were up all night, so the day in Hawaii was spent sleeping. I did get some good pictures from our hotel window of Hawaii at night. 

The next day, we headed for Fiji-that flight is sooo long!  We first flew to Christmas Island which took 4 hours and then had to stay on the plane for an hour there.  I would have loved to get off and look around  since Christmas is part of our mission too, but everyone had to stay on the plane for the hour that we were there.  We did get a good view from the plane as the pilot circled the island.  Then we headed on to fiji; by the time we arrived, we had been in the plane 9 brutal hours.  We spent part of the night in a hotel but had to be to the airport by 3:00 a.m.  to fly to Tarawa. 

Half of our missionaries are in Tarawa.  I know their names because I work with their documents and flights, but I hadn't see most of them in person before.  It was so fun to meet the Seniors and young missionaries there. This is Elder and Sister Bonnemort who picked us up at the airport.  She is the nurse and he is the office worker there.  I have worked a lot with him and it was so great to meet them.  They took good care of us while we were there.

This is Otomie from the Service Center.  She is the travel agent for the Marshallese missionaries and I have worked with her for the Marshallese visas.  I was able to hand carry the visa for Edward Peterson to Otomie and then I was able to travel to the Australian Embassy myself and actually lodge his visa.

This is the apartment that we stayed in on the Moroni campus.
 Moroni campus is a church boarding school that was very impressive; it's like a mini BYU.  

I have a lot of pictures  from Tarawa, so this will be continued soon.