The USS Pearl Harbor Visits Majuro/ July 4th

The USS Pearl Harbor came to Majuro for July 4th

The USS Pearl Harbor docked in the lagoon.  It is a US Navy ship and is part of what is called the Pacific Partnership.  There was a crew of about 300 Navy and other military personnel and several hundred volunteer medical, dental, and other type of volunteers.  The ship travels to several Pacific or Asian Countries every year and do medical treatments, surgeries, screening clinics, dental clinics, and other fun great things.  In addition they offer games for the kids, give away a lot of things to the people, and do a service project for the community.

We got to take a tour of the ship.  It was really neat.  We rode over to the ship in a barge type boat that comes out of the end of the ship.  The ship actually sinks the back half and fills with water and then the smaller boat can actually float out.  It is used to bring equipment to shore

Elder and Sister Barlow, , Sister Wayas and me waiting for the boat

Sister Barlow and I

Lander getting ready to dock with ship

Closer

Just about to dock

These are similar to  flares to distract a missle

The ship was equipped with guns and anti
missle equipment. 

At the top of the ship

Showing us how the ship is navigated

Stairway decorated for the 4th of July

Looking up to the top of the ship

The ship was decorated for the 4th of July.  There was a special party that night for the big shots on the island like the President of the country etc.  Our mission president and Elder and Sister Woods got to attend

Looking down from the top

Elder and Sister Barlow

The ship had a lot of areas to store things...big tractors, trucks and equipment needed for their projects and barrels and bales of supplies.  These are the bales of clothing sent over by the church.  The Ship had already visited Tonga, Samoa and was headed for the Solomon Islands and Kiribati

The bales of clothing

Our guide on the ship

The Elders and Sisters were asked to help with the translation at the medical clinics.  They had screenings for blood sugar, blood pressure, dental, body mass index and more.  There were also surgeries and procedures that were being done at the hospital.  The church sent over big bales of clothing, shoes, and bedding, hospital supplies, school kits, and sanitation kits that were given out to people in need.

Elder Swain doing interpretations at the medical clinic

Crowds waiting in line

Elder Morrisey and Sister Tago

Crowds waiting to be seen at medical clinics

Elder Parkinson helps with vision screening interpretations

Elder Fesolai helping with translation

Elder Morrisey helping with a dental screening

People selecting 1 item of clothing

It was a fun and interesting 4th of July for all of us.  The people here are very grateful for the services of the US and for the donations from the church.

kids waiting for games