We had our mid-term field trip for our English classes. Transportation was by two trucks. The first was a smaller truck with boards across the bed for the students to sit on.
The second truck was a full size dump truck with no seating at all. Everyone just squished in the back. In addition we had about 20 people ride their own motorcycles. We always hold our breath that no one gets hurt. This is the usual and customary transportation in this country. Our teaching assistant had an old car that luckily Cheryl and I got to ride in.
This is the place where we had our activity. It is a large Catholic School. One of our students was a former student here. The place had a large Athletic Field, an outdoor Gathering area, a soccer field, dorms and classrooms. We were able to meet in the outdoor meeting area which fortunately had many trees and was well shaded.
This is us when we first arrived. We were rested. We did not leave that way.
This is Janu who is are teaching assistant. He organized the activity. It's great to have a Timorese who knows the culture do the organization.
Groups are organized according to class level. They met together to introduce each other.
After the introduction each class gave a 30-minute presentation. All in English. It included questions and answers.
This was our group picture before leaving.
This is Myra. She teaches the two advanced classes with us. She is the only reason why we can teach the advanced class. Because Cheryl and I are native speakers we know proper grammar, but we don't necessarily know all of the rules of grammar. She knows them all and she speaks the native language. She makes the class credible. We teach 2 advanced classes that each meet twice a week. She makes about a 1/2 hour trip each way to volunteer her time.
After 5 hours all the students piled into the trucks and we went back to the church. It was tiring. Cheryl and I are not used to being in the heat for that long. In total we had about a hundred and ten attend. This is about one half of our total enrolled. Many could not come because school is still in session on Saturday.
So this is amazing. The size of the number of students you teach and the number that attended your event! Everyone looks so happy and excited! You and Cheryl are amazing. Steve (Bishop) says with this success you need to stay another couple of years (ha,ha). We are all missing you but always so impressed with the work you are doing. We would not be surprised to see the Church formally recognized in the short near future! How can they look at the fruits of your labors with those who also have served and continue to serve, and not be impressed? We have been talking about the fruits of labors lately as a couple. The Book of Mormon is the strong example of the fruits of labors. Because of it the church has grown phenomenally. We were so excited for conference and to hear again the number of temples being announced. The church is growing to cover the earth... so keep it up! Can you see a temple there some day? It could happen! Hutchings
ReplyDeleteAs excited as we would be to have young missionaries here the Indonesian mission is even more excited. All of the missionaries in the mission want to come here and be the first ones. They've even had a mission fast for this area to be opened. The church is very anxious to bring the gospel here, but young countries sometimes are challenging to work with. It should happen soon though. Cheryl and I hope that it happens before we leave. It would be a great experience.
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