Thursday, March 24
Today, Eta came and helped me harvest about half of the umalau close to the house.  Eileen and her daughter Naris asked if they could come cut some of the vines to plant in their gardens.  Eta and I weeded the ubikola (cassava), dug the holes to plant the new umalau, and dug up two huge bowls of umalau.  I sent some home with her early and asked her to come back late in the afternoon to plant the new vines.  Around 5 p.m., she returned, and the two of us cut the ends of the umalau vines and shoved them into the newly dug mounds.  It still amazes me that they grow so well!

Saturday, March 26
Last night, a group from Louna in the East Russells came to present a drama of the history of the Lavukal.  They also presented custom dancing and singing.  For supper, each family in the village sent some food to provide for the group, and we sent a bowl of umalau motued with rumit (thick coconut cream).  Sarah, Benjamin, and Olivia asked if they could go.  So, Katherine and I stayed home while the others went about 9 p.m.  Aaron brought the kids home around 11 p.m. and went back to enjoy the rest of the show.  He finally came home around 1:30 a.m. because he couldn't stay awake any longer, and the show ended about the time he crawled in bed! 

Sunday, March 27
The new District Priest came to Marulaon today. He led communion and initiated some church discipline, then after church he held a program about tithing.  Our kids were thankful that the service only lasted three hours.  They have certainly adjusted to the length of the services here!  After the service, the "big men" gathered to eat breakfast with the priest, so we sent lelenga (cassava pudding) made with our own ubikola with Aaron as our contribution to the breakfast.  We also sent some lelenga to Grace who lives on the point and to Daisy since they both said they were too tired yesterday to make lelenga! 

After the breakfast, the community held a meeting to discuss many things, one of them being the selection of Marulaon's nomination for a Bible translator.  Each of the communities was supposed to nominate someone from their community and bring it before the Translation Committee last February.  This didn't happen, so Aaron held another meeting a couple of weeks ago, and it still didn't happen.  Now, Aaron is traveling to each of the village and explaining the process in person and asking each community to send in the name of their nominee.  He went to Baison last week, and this week, he will travel over to the East Russells to speak with several villages.  He is enjoying building relationships with lots of people, but finding the petrol, canoe, engine, and driver is a headache!  Marulaon has nominated Janet, Chief Leonard's wife, to be a translator.  She is a busy mother of five, but she is full of energy and knowledge about her language.  Aaron finally got home about 3:30, ready to rest for a while.  However, Ezekiel dropped by and the two of them discussed the upcoming trip to the East Russells.  God continues to grace my husband with stamina!