NEW WHEELS ON THE ISLAND

Two brand new 2011Toyota Yaris cars arrived on Kosrae.  They  will replace the Corollas that are now driven by us and one of the     sets of missionaries.  Both cars were past the mileage that the Church sets as a standard for when to trade out the cars used by missionaries.  Because of all the humidity and salt air here on Kosrae, cars don't last as long as they do in other areas of the world.  We will now be involved in the process of trying to sell both of the older cars.                                                                          

                                         

                                                                       

It is always an adventure to retrieve anything that has been shipped in as we found out when he had to pick up two bikes a few months ago for one of the other sets of missionaries. First you have to get all of the paper work from the shipping agent and then go to the customs office and pay the custom taxes which are 4%.  After that you go to the finance office to pay any additional charges to the government.  Once that is done you take the paper work to the harbor where the dock is located and pay any dock fees. 

Both cars were put in the same container and so there was a dock fee, along with a container fee and also a 20 day storage fee because the shipping agent did not inform us that the cars had arrived and so they had been stored at the boat dock.  After we paid all those fees we went to find someone who could get the cars for us but found out that we had to pay an additional fee for unpacking the container and taking the cars out.  Finally all of that was done and we were able to get the cars.We brought along a member, Kaston Albert, to help us get the cars back to our house as we would have three cars to drive home, our original car and the two new ones.  It was great to have him along as he could talk to them in their own language in case we had any problems.

The Elders had a great time checking out their new car.  It was almost as good as Christmas.  These are great little cars.  They do not have all of the conveniences that we were used to and not any bells and whistles so to speak.  No power windows, no keyless entry, no power seats, no outside temperature reading, but it is great on gas mileage at 35mpg and it smells new and drives smooth and comfortable.  Even though it is smaller than the Corolla that we have been driving, it will work just fine for us here on Kosrae.

The other great advantage that we have with this car is that when we went to register it we only had to pay $10.  They charge you by the type of car you drive and not how new it is.  A sedan is only $10.  We wish that those prices were available at home.  Elder Wright is now ready to start driving his new car.

                                                                                                                                                                         

Changing of the Guard and Baptisms

We have had a change in the Branch leadership here on Kosrae.  A couple of weeks ago both of the branch presidents were released and new ones called.  Each of these men had served about 9 years as a Branch President.  These were good men and they have worked long and hard.  This is a difficult position as there are many challenges facing them in the islands, like few active priesthood holders, no phones to get easy communication with members, and lack of transportation(not many have cars).

Two new men, Sasaki George and Ben Alokoa were called as the Branch Presidents.  These men were serving as counselors in to previous presidencies.  President George has been a member less than two years and is well liked and respected by the members of his branch.  President Alokoa is a very humble and well like person also.  Both of these men hold down full-time jobs, one as an attorney and the other as a landscaper and groundskeeper for one of the resorts on the island.  We look forward to working with both of them.

Our first baptisms for this year!  It has been quite some time since we have had any baptisms here. On August 5th  we had two convert baptisms and 3 child of record baptisms.  It was a great day for the members on Kosrae.  We thought that the baptism was going to held in the ocean but we ran out of daylight hours because of the starting time.  The church has a baptismal font in the building which is very lovely.  It had been filled with water from the city, but it came in somewhat dirty and we weren't sure if we wanted to use it.  The baptism went off as scheduled and we used the font anyway and it turned out wonderful.  This will add two new members to the Lelu Branch and three new members to the Utwe Branch.  It is great to see the kingdom grow.