I had been talking with the FM group about some issues they were having in the Marshall Islands with a generator project that was taking a long time to finish. Then on a Thursday morning they asked me if I could fly to the Marshalls and stay for a week to help with some of these issues. The next day found Susan and I at the airport flying to Majuro. Sister Larkin the Mission President's wife was flying there also.
The Marshall islands are long and narrow. They have had a lot of influence from many different countries but most recently after WWII they were a US trust. They recieved their independence 38 years ago. They still have strong ties with the USA.
Once we arrived we went to the Mission Office and met the Senior couples that work there. They let me use the Presidents office while I was there since he was in Tarawa.
They showed us to our apartment that we were going to be staying in. The complex is right next to the office.
Here is a view from out of our back door.
They had asked me to do 2 things. First they wanted me to assess the backup generator project for the Mission Home. Second they wanted me to work with the local NTA phone company to get the office phones and the Mission Home phones working again. This is the Mission Home.
As with most of these Islands the power systems are not reliable. The power comes and goes. With all of the work going on at the Mission Home and Office the church wanted a backup generator so that the work could go on uninterupted and that food in refrigerators and freezers would not go bad. So the Area office had bought a generator with auto start capabilities but it had not been installed. They wanted me to go see what the issues were with the project. The FM workers in the Marshalls have no electrical experience and were relying on a local contractor for info. Once I met with the local contractor and reviewed the generator specs I realized that they had ordered the wrong generator. It had 110 VAC output instead of 220 VAC output. I then spent the rest of the week communicating with the generator manufacturer to see if we could do a field change of the output voltage and change the AVR settings. In the end the manufacturer decided that the best thing to do would be to return the generator and have a 220 V model sent. In the USA that would be maybe a 2 week turn around but here in the Islands that will take months. So I spent the rest of my time creating drawings of the electrical system and the site layout. Then I wrote up the project work scope and bill of materials.
On the Island of Alingalaplap the Elders have a solar panel to provide power for a couple of lights and to charge their electronis. The system has not worked for the last few months so I was asked if I could fly out with Elder Seager to see what was needed to repair it. I was not able to get on the plane because it was full. So Elder Seager took pictures of the system so that I could see what they are dealing with.
We stopped by a Japanese WWII war memorial
We walked along the beach some and then drove on to the far end of the Island.
Most of the drive the ocean was on one side and the lagoon was on the other. The Island was maybe 50 yards wide.
This is at the area called Lara. We were looking for a 1910 Typhoon monument. We couldn't find it so we just walked along the beach.
There was an old cemetery nestled among the trees.
As we were leaving there were 2 guys sitting at a table so we stopped and asked them where the monument was. Thye gave us directions and then asked us while pointing to a sign if we could read the sign. The sign said that it cost $1 per adult to use the park. We laughed at ourselves and gave them $2. The Typhoon monument was written in Japanese and was a tribute to the Emporer for helping the Island people after the typhoon hit.
This is a Pandan tree fruit. It is edible but I have not tried it yet.
Sunday we went to church. Everything was spoken in Marshlese but we had translators to help us.
Most of my time was spent right here at the desk working on the project.
Susan was hard at it too.
We were at one of the Member's home having dinner one night and these kids came by and knocked on the door. They then asked for a spinner, which is a small spinning toy that Sister Winchester had bought several of them when she was in the US recently. They were a lively group.
The apartment complex had this workout facility that I used every morning.
The sunset was amazing.
As you drive down the road in the populated areas of Majuro you can definitely see the American influence. The housing and buildings are much different than on Tarawa.
Most of the houses are very colorful in their painting and some even are interesting in their wall textures.
I stopped to take a picture of this Catholic school. When I rolled down ther window I could hear the kids singing and having a good time. It reminded me of the kids at Moroni.
Every Saturday there is a farmers market next to the Marshall College.
Elder Preston was doing a cooking demonstration at the Market.
The last Friday night there we went to dinner to the Tide Table restaurant with the Senior Couples. It was an enjoyable dinner and the food was great.
A look at the airstrip in Tarawa as we were coming in for a landing. It is in the center of the photo.
It was surprising to me how I felt like I was coming home as we returned to Tarawa. The people here have been so good to us and have become like family to us.
