I am writing this on Tuesday, March 12th. The weather caused havoc on the island this last week. We have not had internet service for almost a week. Once in a while it would come up but it was gone before we could get anything done. I had to copy and paste anything we wanted to put in an email and then that only worked if we could actually get to “compose”. We don’t know if the emails we sent were actually sent. It was quite a week.
We had hurricane strength winds, unbelievable rainstorms and several earthquakes. So much of the island is under water that school was cancelled from the 6th thru the 11th. Many schools had water damage and the school grounds are either flooded or they are pools of mud. School was even cancelled at Liahona and we are one of the highest spots on the island.
We have driven around to different villages and taken pictures of the flooding. We are hopeful that we can put together a project that will help elevate this suffering in the future. It was heartbreaking to see conditions so many people were living in.
Along with the rain and the flooding came the high humidity. Everything we had was wet and there was no way to get anything dry. Our towels were wet, our clothes were wet and we went to bed in wet sheets. YUCK!!! I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. But the worst was yet to come. After days and weeks of that kind of humidity, everything starts to mildew. We smelled it before we actually saw it and by then it was too late. We had to wash everything we have, including our pillows, but when we did, we couldn’t get them dry so the problem didn’t go away. We went to the fair in a downpour of rain to try to find a can of Lysol to spray things with but no such luck. Most of the people at the fair were packing up and going home when we got there at 8:45 AM. We found some spray disinfectant at the store but we don’t know how well it will work. After our experiences in Ukraine I should have thought to bring Lysol with us. Oh how I wish I had!!! We took Alan’s suit out of the closet and it was just alive with mildew. What a mess! Our luggage was also covered. I feel like I am living in a pitree dish!
We had church on Sunday, in between rain storms. We had a wonderful experience at church. A young man from the ward is going on a mission. When Sacrament Meeting was over and the closing prayer had been said, the missionary stood at the front of the chapel and the ward stood and sang “God Be With You Until We Meet Again” to him. It was so beautiful and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. The spirit was strong and this young man left on his mission knowing that his ward would support him and that they love him. I loved it!!!
We ended the week with a farewell dinner for the Jensen’s. They will leave tomorrow for home. They have been the office couple here and they did a wonderful job. They will truly be missed.
