The Highlights

Just when I think things can't get any crazier, life accepts my challenge. I'll start with last Sunday. We were all excited for our expected visitors. The Guam-Micronesia Mission is now under the North American Division instead of the Asia Pacific Division. Because of the change delegates from the NAD were going through the islands to see how things were going. We were lucky to have the group of leaders come to Yap. The NAD President and the VPs in several areas, including education, came with Pastor Jose Rojas. It was really exciting to have visitors! Until now I didn't realize how nice it is to see new people when you are on a little island with the same people for months, even though they are great people :). We had a potluck for them and lots of meetings. They were really helpful and encouraging. The communications director came and interviewed all of us student missionaries. My favorite part was on Monday; Pastor Jose Rojas spoke for the high school chapel. He was here a couple years ago, and the students just love him. He is a really good speaker. I have never seen all the students so focused on anything in my entire time here. They were more focused listening to him then they are watching movies! It was really cool to see them so interested and attentive to a sermon. The NAD stayed until Tuesday night. We found out that day that Pam had to leave. She has been sick again for the last couple weeks and, not surprisingly, the hospital has no idea what the problem is. After all she went through and all the problems she had last time the NAD said she needed better medical help. So once again we all loaded up in the van and headed to the airport after midnight. The whole thing felt like dejavu. We pretended she would be back, that she was just going to Guam to get better and then she would be back; but I knew it wouldn't work that way. Yesterday we found out that she is going all the way back to Canada for good, again. We've prayed so much and she has worked so hard it is really hard to understand why this keeps happening to her. Through it all I've seen her grow stronger though and I know that even though it doesn't make sense, God has a purpose for her and for those of us still here.

The rest of the week sailed by and I was so thankful to finally make it to Sabbath. It was one of those weeks I think I would have lost it if it wasn't for Sabbath! We went to church as usual, lead Sabbath school, piano, and all the usual. Afterwards was potluck! I love Yap potlucks; partially because I get a break from cooking; but mostly because the food is amazing. It's a mix of Filipino and local food and whatever American dish we bring. I have become known as "the cookie girl". I brought peanut butter cookies a few times and they were a HUGE hit. After potluck we took a nap at the church and then headed for a hike with church family. At the end of the hike we loaded into the back of a flatbed truck and headed into a village to have sundown worship by the water. When we got there George, a church member, climbed a coconut tree with nothing but his machete and knocked down coconuts for us to drink. We sat and drank our coconuts and watched the kids skip rocks on the water before our sundown worship. On the drive back I sat in the back of the truck and just stared at the clear sky full of stars. I couldn't think of a better ending to a crazy week.

Sunday the craziness started all over again! It was the day of the Junior Senior Banquet. We had to plan quickly and then head into town to set up. JSB was run a lot different than I am used to, but we went along with it. It was fun to see the students get all dressed up. As the senior homeroom I had to act as one of the judges. I now know that I really do not like being a judge; it's just too hard of a decision to make about my own students! The students performed songs they prepared, Mr. Alex and I sang "the Prayer" together and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner at one of the nicest hotels in Yap. It went pretty well, and I saw the students smiling even though they tried to pretend it was boring :).

This week is just as busy. I had a sophomore girl collapse in tears in front of me from a rumor someone passed about her on Monday and spend half of the class outside with her. I had 3 students in my classroom for an hour after school for tutoring and Sabrina and I were up until midnight preparing progress reports for the students. I've stopped waiting for things to slow down! Life here is crazy, and I love it. I don't love all the things that happen but God hasn't let us down yet and I know he won't. No matter what is thrown our way He gets us through. I apologize for any sentences that don't make sense or cluttered thought in this blog, but I am in a hurry and I must get back to work. Only one school day left and then we have a four day weekend for the biggest holiday on the island; the "Yap Days" celebration! Thank you for your prayers and support, I hope all is well at home. :)

Creativity Week

Most schools refer to it as"spirit week", here they call it Creativity Week.  Since I am the SA adviser it was my job to organize and lead the event.  Spirit week, if you aren't familiar with it, gives a chance for the kids to dress up and have fun.  Each day has a theme.  The SA officers decided on crazy hair day, twin day, career day, character day, and class color day.  It was so fun to see the kids dress up, and they LOVED not having to wear their uniforms.  From colored hair, to scientists, to little red riding hood we saw it all.  We dressed up too, we even  painted our hair for crazy hair day!  A good thought, but very unpleasant to get out! On Wednesday I spent three hours making Belgian Waffles for the geography class.  We just finished studying Europe and they had never tried waffles before, much less Belgian waffles. They loved it!  They were all gone in a matter of minutes even though I made over 40!  It made the 20 minutes of trying to make egg whites peak by hand worth it.  The best part of the week was Friday.  Friday was one of those days this year I will never forget, it might even be my favorite day in Yap :).  We only had two hours of classes and then I was in charge of games for all grades(k-12).  It was extremely chaotic!  I didn't think it was going to work for a while, but slowly everything started to come together.  We paired the youngest students with the oldest students to make teams.  They were so cute!  My seniors did a great job of being role models, the 1st graders kept calling them "mom" and "dad" and hung out with them in the senior classroom during lunch.  We played relay races, three legged balloon game, and staff vs. student soccer!  I thought I was going to lose my voice trying to organize them!  But despite the high schoolers complaints and grumblings I saw them smiling and laughing and I know they had fun :).   The end of the day was the best.  It was REALLY hot, one of those days where it doesn't matter what you do or where you go you can't escape it.  So, I convinced a few of my seniors and the elementary students to help me start a water fight!  We were out of balloons so we collected water bottles and buckets.  Once it started it caught like fire!  In a few short minutes I was soaked to the bone, clothes and hair dripping; it didn't matter that we couldn't possibly get any wetter, the kids still thought it was hilarious to get the teachers!  At any given second I was surrounded by elementary students dumping their water bottles on me and yelling "we got Ms. Rychelle!!" :).  We finally got the high school to get involved too, I got the elementary to help me dump water on them.  That is when it got really crazy.  Sabrina and I had one 11th grader who kept getting us!  He was so sneaky! We kept trying to get him back but he ran way faster then us!  He even found ice water to dump on us, that was quite shocking. After school was out some third graders waited outside my room saying "Ms. Rychelle please come outside we have a flower for you" of course they just dumped water on me, but they did give me a flower later. At the end of the day when we sent them home for the weekend we were soaked to the bone and extremely sunburned but it was worth it.  With every water bottle that was dumped on my head I could see the love from the students in the big smiles on their faces.  It was one of those days that makes the hard ones worth it.  No matter how frustrated I become with them some days, I love my students and I love the memories I am making with them.  The longer I'm here the closer I get to them, and the closer I get to the date on my return flight.  That is a day I'm not looking forward too, for now I will try to dwell on the time I still have here.  I will save every card I get from the elementary saying "Ms. Rychelle I love you" and remember every conversation I have with the high schoolers because this is a year I never want to forget. 

Acceleration

This year seems to be accelerating at a ridiculous rate.  The days and weeks are flying by faster and faster; how is it already February?!  Time isn’t the only thing accelerating though, life in general is.  Each day is becoming busier and busier.  There are more things to organize, more things to grade, more things to plan, more jobs to cover, and more work to finish.  We are short staffed again!  Andrea and Sophie will be in a Hawaii for a month while Andrea recovers from the surgery she had to have on her fractured ankle.  We’ve really only had 8 hours of the entire school year that we had the full staff present and healthy, so we are getting used to it.  That means I have extra PE classes to teach, senior health, and some office work.  This is the hardest work I have ever done, and I have never loved anything so much in my entire life. This week I painted in the senior classroom, graded, planned, baked for the students, cooked dinners, lead staff worship, continued planning graduation, planned and organized spirit week, had several staff meetings, spoke at vespers, and the list goes on and on.  There is so much to do!  Next week will be spirit week for all grades; promises to be fun and crazy.  Friday will be an all day game day for all grades.  Then that same weekend a group of leaders from the North American Division Adventist Conference will be coming to see and assess our school.  I’ve always heard that island time is slow, which for the most part is true.  The culture is laid back, it’s common for events to start over 2 hours after they are scheduled and no one arrives on time.  At Yap SDA School however, time moves with acceleration.  I want to suck every minute dry before they are all gone.  Here are a few ways I tried to do that this week…

-          I talked with my seniors who returned from their suspension for Tuesday worship, I talked about how our choices affect us and everyone around us, how everyone makes mistakes, and how God still loves us and wants to give us a fresh start.  I know most didn’t pay attention, but several of my students were glued to what I was saying.

-          After school one day we grabbed some water guns and attacked Pamela in her classroom then we went for all the students still waiting for ridesJ.

-          I spent Friday lunch time sitting on the floor teaching and learning some guitar with two of my senior girls.

-          I asked one of the junior girls who looked upset what was wrong and listened for 30 minutes as she told me.

So even though these next few weeks are going to be crazy and busy and really hard, I’m looking forward to every minute.  As I was walking to my classroom Friday morning there was a beautiful rainbow hovering over the school.  I was immediately reminded of God’s promise and of one of my favorite quotes, “Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear”.  God has brought me this far, I know he will continue to carry me through. 

Choices

To Do:
Graduation- Book the community center, create program, invite government officials, make announcements, pay for gowns, help the Juniors with decorations and set up.
Creativity Week:  Create guide lines and rules, set date, advertise with SA, create activity plan, send home letters.
Fundraising- Help the seniors complete fundraising, complete the senior gift.
Church- weekly youth Sabbath school, pianist, children story (once a month), vespers service, etc...
Paint senior and junior classroom,  send parents weekly update of missing work, try to make a yearbook....
The list goes on and on, there are so many things I want to do before my time here is up!  I can't believe I only have 4 short months left.  I want to suck every moment dry, do everything I can possibly do!  It seems like too much sometimes, but I know if I rely on God amazing things can happen.  I learned a long time ago, in high school, if you pile more on your plate then it seems possible to eat you just have to start one small bite at a time.  I intend to drain every last moment out of these last few months here! 
This week was interesting.. on Monday the task of confronting students about Friday came. We started with the three students I knew for sure had been drunk.  Two by two the principal talked with them.  Until finally he called me in to talk.  It turned out 7 of my students were involved and drinking on Friday!  I was devastated.  One of my best students was the one who brought the vodka to school.  My trust in them was severely hurt, it just kills me to see how they don't think their actions matter or effect anyone but them.  I am proud of a few of them though, who were very honest in their written report and owned up to what they did.  They were suspended for the rest of the week leaving the seniors with a class of 8.  I've talked with those that weren't suspended, commended them for staying strong and encouraged them to stay strong.  I have thought a lot about what to say to the rest of my students when they come back.  I want to help them realize the choices they make now have a HUGE impact on their life later.  That the choices they make don't only affect them but their parents, friends, and even teachers.  I really want to help them realize that everyone makes mistakes, the important things is what you do after you make a mistake.  Do you learn from it or keep repeating it?  I really hope at least a few of them will be able to see that they have the possibility for a wonderful future, they just need to stay focused. I'm not good with finding the right words, so I am giving this one up to God.  I'm praying for wisdom for the words to say, I want more then anything for them to see that God will take them no matter what choices they have made and is always willing to save them. 
The week had a fun ending!  The last period of school Friday was supposed to be health and work experience, but we ended up just letting them go out to play some sports.  I ended up in a game of Hawaiian football with the freshmen, one of my senior guys, and a few sophomores.  I warned them I was terrible at football!  They wanted me to play anyways :).  Turns out Hawaiian football has very different rules then I am used to, but it was fun.  At the end they threw the ball to me just to see if I could catch it, and I did! Shocked them almost as much as it shocked me!  We are heading to the airport yet again tonight to take Sophie and Andrea.  Andrea needs to have surgery on her broken ankle in Hawaii and Sophie is going to assist her.  Your prayers would be appreciated for a smooth surgery and recovery, hopefully they will be returning in a little less then two weeks.  The principal pointed out that this entire year we have only had one 8 hour period of having all the staff healthy and here.  The rest of the year has been a constant struggle, but God is getting us through.  I'm sure the devil will keep pushing us down the rest of the year, but he won't succeed :).