November 11/07

It is now Sunday, November 11 and I am publishing this with no pictures this time as we have such a hassle due to how many downloads we can do here. I wrote part of this earlier in the week and will just add to it at the bottom.

It is now Tuesday morning, Nov. 6, Chelsea’s happy 23rd birthday and a nice sunny day in Pesega, Samoa. We had Paul Cox as a house guest this weekend due to the first meeting of the Ah Mu Academy where the new board of directors was announced and presented and the initial preregistration took place at the school. There has been a lot of controversy about this school due to some misinformation re costs to attend, etc. The questions were put to rest for those who were there and the meeting was a real success, netting all copies of the forms being filled out for 117 students right then and there. Since that time, the board has been inundated with requests for registration forms and it looks like the school will be filling up nicely. There is still a little unrest from one sector of the population, which is unfortunate, but the individual responsible for that will find he is being left behind and the school will flourish without him. This school is a gift from former missionaries, mainly, and is a real blessing in this area.

We went to Savaii on Saturday afternoon with Paul and Gau Gau Tavana, the two members of the Ah Mu Foundation besides Roy and Dan Betham, a local man. It was a rather quick trip but Paul had business in Falealupo and we were able to meet with his samoan family over there and have a nice supper. We stayed at the Vaisala Hotel overnight and caught the ferry back the next morning.

This week will be fun – Rachel Perkins arrives tonight. I finished my last day with the kids at school yesterday so I presented them with a lolly (candy), Canadian pencil and a sticker. I have been going only Monday, Wed. and Friday as Alicia Price goes the other two days. This week begins their testing and so there won’t be any more normal days for me to go for. I hope to still see some of the kids around before we go – they are such a delight to associate with.

Before Paul Cox came, we had a young lady from Australia of Laotian descent stay with us. We had met her previously as she was engaged to a young man from here. The engagement was broken off and she was just staying in a hotel for a week, waiting for her flight back. We invited her to stay here – a much safer, nicer environment than a little hole-in-the-wall hotel. It was fun to get to know her and a couple of the young people in our group took her under wing and were over here a lot visiting and taking her out places. It seems so quiet when no one is staying with us now.

We have only 5 weeks left – I just hope I can get enough beach time so I am sick of it and will not miss it – not likely to happen, eh? We do look forward to returning home and being cooler.

Rachel has been here since Tuesday night and we have done Robert Louis Stevenson's Grave and then Vavau beach where we took Amu'ia's wife, daughter and her husband and family and the Wagstaff's brought their vehicle so we could all fit in. Rachel and I (Kathy) went to Virgin Cove for a night and stayed in a beach front fale for one night - a little piece of heaven on earth.

Tonight we had the YSA come over for FHE and they plan to come every Sunday evening until we leave. They are such a great group and we love having them come over. Len Satele came over one night to learn how to make cinnamon buns and is so fun to have around.

I am in the Samoan Mormon choir that meets each Sunday evening (we have the YSA come before and I slip out and leave Roy to finish up with them). We have a concert on Dec. 2. The outfit we have to wear is a pulatasi of turquoise polyester linen (very hot) and will have the ugliest painting on it. I am dragging my feet getting it done as I really don't want to pay to have this thing painted as I will probably throw it away after. If I don't get it done in time, maybe I can wear it without any painting on it. We shall see. Yes, I am murmuring!

Well, this will be it as the clock ticks towards bedtime. I will see what we can do about pictures next time - although Roy is a little busier right now so we may just get my writings and musings.

October 31, 2007

Well, here we are back in Samoa after a very enjoyable 2 weeks touring the South Island of New Zealand. After the cool (cold) and rain of our first week, Samoa seems very hot. August was a very cool month by Samoan standards and we got very spoiled. It has turned warmer and warmer but we really didn't notice it until we returned from New Zealand or the land of the long white cloud. It is now very hot here.

We took the time to tour for 2 weeks with the Smarts who were on the way home from their mission here in Samoa. We flew to Auckland and then directly on to ChristChurch (hereafter called Ch.Ch.) on the South Island. We left here Tuesday night but arrived in New Zealand on Thursday morning as we lost a day at the International Date Line.

After finalizing all of the arrangements for the hire of a camper van, we settled down in a Holiday Park in Ch.Ch. We went downtown and visited the scenic sights and parks in the rain. Sister Smart was already regretting the decision to be in NZ because of the rain, etc. Ch.Ch. was beautiful! Old buildings in excellent repair, parks, and just a good feel.

The next morning we had to take care a of some emergent repairs on the camper van and then headed south to Oamaru. It is a seaside town with an abundance of old buildings, parks and penguins. We visited their habitat but they don't return home until dusk so we passed up the opportunity to pay $20 each to sit in the cold and wait for the show. We visited with our friend Heather Vance from Balzac, AB, who is serving her mission in the NZ South Mission. She is stationed in Oamaru and showed us around. We took her out to dinner and then parked our van in front of her house for the night. In the morning Kathy enjoyed a nice long walk on the beach with Heather where she spent her time with her head down discovering beautiful paua shells. They treated us to breakfast and then we were on our way to Dunedin. It was still raining and chilly!

On the way, we stopped and spent time at the Moeraki boulders. They are large (up to 2 meters) round rocks formed in the soil along the beach and as they weather, and water erodes the beach, they are released and roll onto the beach where they appear as big balls. Dunedin is a nice city. Since it was Sunday, we anticipated Sacrament Meeting. After contacting the church, we found that they were meeting to listen to the conference talks from the week before that they did not have the opportunity to participate in. As we had already attended all sessions of conference we decided to travel on.

At this point we headed into the interior to the resort town of Te Anau. It is on a beautiful lake which is the second largest in NZ. We by-passed the southern most city of Invercargill in the essence of time. The trip took about five hours and moved from the coastal region on the east to the mountains near the west coast. We stayed there 2 nights to facilitate a trip to Milford Sound on Monday morning. Milford Sound is actually a fjord on the west coast but is only accessible by sea or a small road from Te Anau. We took a guided tour from our Holiday Park and after a 1 1/2 hr. very informative drive, we arrived at Milford Sound. At that point we boarded a boat which took us on an guided tour through the sound or fjord into the open sea and back. It rained! I'm sure the scenery could have been much more impressive with sunshine but there is a silver lining to the many clouds that day. With all the rain, there were many more waterfalls and the low lying clouds added a mystical sense to the trip. But, it was cold! On the way back, we were taken on a bit of a tour with a short walk to another waterfall. Our site in the Holiday Park at Te Anau was delightful with a great view of the lake from our back windows.

During Monday night, after our trip to Milford, Kathy and I were rudely awoken at O dark thirty, as Debra Kinder would say, to a violent shaking of our camper van. The Smarts slept right through it. In the morning we discovered that there had been an 6.9 earthquake 60 km west of Milford and 24 km down. Rocks slides had covered parts of the road stopping all traffic. One lane was cleared to allow cars out of the area and then shut down for a few days. Had we been one day later we would not have seen Milford Sound.

Tuesday we travelled through Queenstown and on to Wanaka, two more resort towns on lakes in the mountains. Ho hum! No, they were very nice. Still raining.

The whole west coast is made up of mountains that they call the Southern Alps. They are about as high as the rockies at home but start at sea level not a few thousand feet - very beautiful and impressive. On Wednesday we drove through them to the west coast and travelled north to the small community of Franz Joseph in Glacier Country. More rain!

The west coast is extremely inhospitable and beautiful. The mountains come right down to the Tasman Sea. One of the brochures we read called it the "Tempestuous Tasmanian Sea". How accurate! Some of the wildest waves I have ever seen pound relentlessly on the shore and the rocks. 

As we headed north on Thursday, we viewed the wild shoreline. At Ship Creek we stopped for a stretch and found a stunning windblown beach where the waves are so vicious they whipped up huge piles of foam that blew across the beach. It had stopped raining!

Further on we stopped at Punakaiki or sometimes called Pancake Rocks. Only a picture could describe what we saw there and then very poorly. The trails were developed exceptionally well to display some of the most beautiful rock formations with rock bridges over arches and blow holes. I am always fascinated by the power of the seas. We continued north until we came to the town of Westport. We found a suitable Holiday Park just a few minutes out of town at Carter's Beach and near a Seal Colony.

The next morning (Friday) we continued on to the Seal Colony and after observing for a few minutes we headed inland and north to the port town of Nelson. The company we rented our van from was near Nelson and so we took care of some business and then moved on to a Park for the night near the beach.

Saturday we passed back over to the north-east coast to Blenheim and then back to Picton where the ferries travel to Wellington on the North Island. We spent the night there and Sunday morning we parked the van at a long term parking facility near the train station and ferry terminal and we parted ways with the Smarts. They took a ferry to the North Island to continue their tour for a few more days but we took a train back to Ch.Ch. It was a 5 hour train ride down the east coast and through the Canterbury plains. We checked into a hotel in Ch.Ch. for 2 nights in preparation for our flights back to Auckland and Samoa. Monday was a beautiful spring day in Ch.Ch. and a total contrast to our first day there just a week and a half before. We walked all over and explored the parks and downtown shopping. It was a nice wrap-up of the journey.

The South Island is beautiful. We enjoyed the trip even in the rain. Ch.Ch. really impressed us a clean, historic and pleasant city. It is well preserved and very British but we were surprised by and enjoyed the ethnic diversity with people from all over the orient, India and Europe.

Early Tuesday morning (4:15 AM) we arose to head to the airport for our flight to Auckland at 7:00 AM. We had a layover of over 20 hours in Auckland so we secured a small hotel room nearby and rested. In the evening we were able to connect with Bonnie (Nielson) Naera and her husband Patrick. We spent a couple of enjoyable hours with them and their children and then returned to our hotel for another early rise on Wednesday (3:15 AM) to catch our flight to Samoa. We arrived at 9:45 AM Tuesday morning.

After taking care a of a little business and relaxing at home for a few minutes, we rushed off to the temple where we had previously committed to perform as ordinance workers for a special invitation only session of the temple for Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife and President Condie of the Seventy and Area President of the Pacific Islands. A good end to our 2 weeks.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

We have just finished General Conference weekend where we sat through four sessions, plus Roy went to the priesthood session. These all took place at the Stake Center as the BYU TV channel we have in our home was broadcasting in the Palauan language - hmmm, there is something wrong here! We saw the afternoon session live and a rebroadcast of the morning sessions after that. I love conference.

It has been a long lonely week - Ian and Sharleen and Neko left last Monday night after spending two wonderful weeks with us. I (Kathy)had the privilege of being up in the early mornings with Neko to let her parents sleep. Neko just didn't seem to like the time change 100% but considering how far she had come, how warm it is, how many different places we had her sleep, etc., she was an angel.


Their visit began with a nap and then off to Sauniatu for a swim in the waterfall. Neko became a regular beach bum - most places she could go without a diaper so we played lots in the water naked - well, she was! It poured with rain while in the rock pool and waterfall but it was so delightful.


Day two had us at Tafatafa beach - ah, imagine having a mile of white sand beach to yourself. Ian and Shar were able to do some snorkeling there. This is a favorite of ours.


Friday morning was a trek to Robert Louis Stevenson's grave on top of Mount Vaea. The native Samoan people loved him so much they took his body up there "under the wide and starry sky, dig my grave and let me lie". A tour through the house, back home and then a play time at Papase'ea (sliding rock). Alicia Price babysat Neko while we did our shift at the temple and Ian and Shar were patrons. Neko was a hit with everybody and especially Alicia.

Gender change (Roy now).

Saturday, after a trip to the craft market, we took a short trip down the east shore to Piula. It is a fresh water pool fed by a cave below the Methodist Church. A rock wall creates a pool before entering the ocean so you can go back and forth if you wish. When John and Mereda were here many long years ago, he wouldn't go in it because it was too cold. Actually, it is refreshingly cool. The outside pool is probably about 30 feet long and about 15 feet wide. At high tide is is just about 6 feet deep. the pool continues into the cave for another 30 or 40 feet at the same depth. Near the inner end there is an underwater entrance to a second cave. The channel is probably about 2 meters long and big enough to swim through. Ian, Shar and I all went through. Ian and Shar returned through the hole and I walked back through the other entrance to the pool. I didn't like the scrapes on my back from the rocks. We spent the whole afternoon there. There is cliff above the entrance and many people were jumping from it at varying heights up to about 20 or 25 feet probably. Ian and Shar took their turns as well.


When we returned home, while showering I discovered that my wedding ring had slipped off and was gone. We were heart broken as our rings are very unique and would be difficult to replace.


Ian was determined to buy an "ie faitaga" or dress lavalava to wear to church that first Sunday.

After spending a quiet Sunday, early Monday morning we headed to the far reaches of the southeastern end of the island to spend the night in a beach fale on the island of Namu'a. On the way we passed Piula and so we dropped in to see if we could find the ring. Ian took a little headlamp to see underwater as I was sure that I lost it inside the cave in the small tunnel between caves. The tide was low so the water was only about 4 feet deep. It was so clear that everything was visible on the bottom but at the cave entrance a lot of dirt had been dropped from the jumpers so everything would be covered with a layer of silt. As we entered the cave, I lost all visibility in the dark. As we swam to the back my expectations plummeted. Near the tunnel entrance, Ian swam a little to the right instead of left to the tunnel, reached down and pulled up my ring. He had found it in less that 5 minutes. We quickly hiked up the hill and were on our way. Wasn't it just one week before that I lost my keys in the ocean at Vavau and then swam right to them with goggles and retrieved them? Speak of "tender mercies!"

We continued on to Namu'a and settled into our fale for a very relaxing stay. Graham and Jacqui can attest to how special Namu'a is. Sorry, Brooke, we didn't know about it when you were here. Mom and I played with Neko and Ian and Shar were able to swim, paddle in the paopao (outrigger canoe) and snorkel some more. After lunch on Tuesday we headed home.

Just before heading out on Monday, I received news that we had run into a snag with ones of the schools that will be moving into our building and one of the other board members was flying in to resolve the issue. That meant that I had a meeting Tuesday evening.

Wednesday was another trip to the market, Sliding Rock again and then a wonderful evening at Sinalei for their FiaFia. Sister Smart babysit Neko (sorry to Alicia who wanted to babysit her again) as no one under 12 is allowed into the resort. The buffet meal was very nice and the show lived up to it's reputation - great. The fire dancers are mostly young girls and it culminates with a pyramid with a small girl about 4 years old on top.

Thurs. morning we had planned to go to Savaii but we couldn't get a reservation on a ferry. As it turned out I needed to stay behind for some emergent meetings so Kathy, Ian and Shar hopped in the truck to see if they could get on the 10:00 AM ferry as a standby vehicle. They missed the first boat and the noon boat but were number 3 standby for the 2:00 PM sailing. They decided that it was too late to accomplish there goals so they went to the back of the island to a special place called "Virgin Cove." Again, Graham and Jacqui had spent a "honeymoon" night there. Ian and Shar were chaperoned by Kathy and Neko.


They returned at about noon Thursday and we all went out to Vavau to spend the night in fale there (fale is both singular and plural). Vavau is very nice! The fale are rustic but enclosed and self contained. I think that was one of the best nights I have spent at the beach. The evening was beautiful and the bed was very comfortable. We played rook on the deck until bedtime.


Saturday afternoon we returned to Pesega to get ready to visit the Amuia Nonu family in Letogo. For those of you who have not been there, he was the bishop in my last area on my mission and we have remained friends over the years. He is my Samoan father. For Jacqui and Graham's information, he is recovering very well and can stand now. He is in very good spirits. We went out and ate with the family, exchanged a few gifts and visited and then returned home. They are a very special family. They have nothing and are very happy.


Sunday was a quiet day at home again and then Monday, our last day with Neko, we got up and went to the breakfast buffet at Aggie Grey's hotel before tripping off to an adventure down to Fagaloa Bay and Uafato. The road down there is meant for a 4 wheel drive but we manage in our rental truck. The bay is beautiful and guess what? Ian forgot his suit and Roy wasn't swimming due to his back so we skipped the swimming. We watched a wood carver making a bowl and ordered a try for Graham to be picked up at the market on Saturday. It was a magnificent place to take pictures and enjoy real Samoa. On the way home we stopped at Sauniatu again. I had spent much of the week with my back acting up again so I had a sleep on a towel while Ian and Shar went below to the falls for another dip and then joined Neko and Kathy in the stream for a paddle. Ian used a lavalava as a swimsuit. Neko is quite the beach bum. I do believe she even got a bit of a tan even though we tried to keep her protected.


Unfortunately all good things come to an end and Neko boarded the plane that night. Oh yeah, Ian and Shar went with her. They were surprised just before leaving when our neighbors came across and brought them all leis made of plumeria to say goodbye. We fell in love with Neko while she was with us and can hardly wait to see both her and Benson when we return home.


Life is dull now so to help pass the time we are accompanying a senior couple, who have become our friends and have finished there mission, on a trip around the South Island of New Zealand for 2 weeks. We leave this Tuesday night. We are renting a motor home in Christchurch to tour in. Hopefully we will be able to connect at Internet Cafes to keep up the communication.

I keep forgetting that I am here on business and that this is supposed to be a sacrifice!

This has been a busy week - mainly due to school resuming for the Church College. I (Kathy) have been working with two remedial classes of English as a volunteer and will do so in any spare time I have that we don't have company. We have a senior missionary couple in charge of the classes and they have set out a predetermined course for us to follow and have tested the students to place them into similar grade level groups. My third period class includes two students, one of whom has been absent all week. Faaolataga (student's name) is such a delight to work with and it is nice for me to work with someone who actually can read and follow written instructions. My past classes were the lowest level achievers and I believe they had learning disabilities as well as poor english skills. Well, Faaolataga was so cute one day as he left class, he pulled out a $2 tala bill and handed it to me - "for your lunch"! I declined and told him to use it himself but he assured me he had more for his lunch. I still declined and told him to spend it himself for something. I was really touched that he would do such a kind thing.
Roy has been busy with meetings trying to get things going for a sign in front of the school, etc. He can enlarge on that in his Amu Academy blog.

Our weekly excursion to the beach began with us inviting the young adults to come with us. We didn't know until it was time to go who would show up so the Wagstaff's were waiting to go with us or hop in with the other senior missionaries who decided to go to the same beach. We did indeed have two young men come - Ezra is a recently returned missionary from the Sydney South Mission, and Luke is a young man who recently came here from New Zealand to be with his family who are stationed here while he prepares for his mission. They were delighted to ride in the box of the truck for the over-an-hour trip to the beach. Luke was excited as he had never ridden that way before, it being illegal in New Zealand like it is in North America. The Wagstaff's kept us company in the air conditioned comfort of the cab.
Vavau is one of our favorite beaches and we enjoyed snorkeling, swimming, the boys played football with some drunk Samoans and we played with the other members of the ward that had come. At one point I asked Roy for the keys to the truck that he keeps in a velcro pocket of his swim suit. You guessed it - they were gone. We have done this for 3 months and have had no problem but they were really and truly missing from his pocket. We were ill as it is a good hour back to the rental agency to get another key. Roy pulled his snorkel mask down and proceeded to look around where we had just been in the water. I had walked up toward the truck and by the time I got there, I heard a shout from the sea and saw some waving hands and the keys had been found! The fact that they had a lime green fob to be easily seen and three keys so they were heavy enough to sink rather than be taken with the waves was helpful. The fact that the sand hadn't covered them was a miracle of it's own as the sand under the waves in that little bay is constantly shifting. We were truly looked after yesterday!

On the trip home. we hit a speed bump that Roy failed to slow for - I don't think it was marked very well, as most are painted with big yellow stripes. Well, the boys in the back were air borne! They must have lifted a couple of feet and Ezra came down on a plastic bag with Sister Wagstaff's sea shells in and scraped his leg. We felt dreadful but I think they secretly enjoyed the thrill.

Speaking of scrapes, Faafetai is the sister of the home ec teacher who lives across the street and down a house. She came over on Monday night with a dreadful looking foot. She had been playing basketball on Friday and had fallen on the asphalt, causing a wound about 2x2" and her foot was so swollen we wondered if it was broken. Sister Smart and I took care of her that night by washing it with salt water and applying some antibacterial spray and have her elevate it with ice. I went over after FHE to see and just thought to take a ziploc bag with ice cubes to put on it. They had water boiling - when I asked for water they indicated the boiling water. No, I just needed tap water to mix with the salt to cleanse it. Well, as it came out, they don't have any ice cube trays and were just using cool water. We limped though the night with what we had and the next day we took her to the nurse for the missionaries to consult whether she needed x-rays, etc. We both felt it probably wasn't broken as she could walk on it and there was no bruising - only swelling. I went down to Maria's Pharmacy and asked for some antibiotic to ward off cellulitis and other infections. We put her on a 7 days course of keflex and started her treatments right away. We had her stay home from school and elevate it all day. I washed it with salt water and sprayed it several times in the day. By the end of the day, it was forming nice scabs and we decided to keep bandages off so it could dry. She had been putting antibiotic ointment on it and vick vapor rub on the swelling! It had been ooziing since Friday so we thought it best to let it dry. Anyway, we sent her home and I checked with her in the morning. It was horrible again and it came out she had showered twice and scrubbed it with soap, taking all the scabs off and it was oozing again! Well, a bandage with ointment covered by an elastic ankle support set her for going to school (she wouldn't take another day off) and by the end of the day, all the dead skin, etc. came off with the bandage. I kept her for a few hours while it dried after we cleaned it and she had been healing ever since. (a lot of that has to do with following strict instructions to not wash it or get it wet). It was good to monitor her pain and tolerance to activity with the 1-10 scale and it was so cute - she would go by my house and call in "It is a 1" and then later "It is 0". Faafetai is such a cute girl and I enjoyed getting to know her. Why didn't we take her to the Dr. you might ask. I have my personal reasons for distrusting the Samoan Dr. and my experience seeing the results of any local visits makes me realize that my experience in the Dr. offices at home qualifies me for more common sense than I see the Dr. use. Sister Jensen was a great resource. When Elder Argyle had his heart attack here a month or so ago, it took hours to finally find any nitro (even at the private hospital the ex patriots use) and had to go out to the airport (45 minute drive) to get a defib. machine to use. When I took Chris, a neighbor boy, with his mom to the Dr. to sew up a good 1 inch cut in his leg, the Dr. put in 2 stitches and I watched occasionally over the next 3 weeks how the sore gaped and healed very slowly. I almost felt I could have done a better job, having only watched the Dr. stitch at home.

Monday was the beginning of the Teuila Festival - an annual event that was scaled down this year due to the efforts in the South Pacific Games. The only thing we did was attend the fautasi (long boat) races Monday morning. We went down to Apia Harbor with the Smarts and saw a few of the boats as they came racing past the point. We then went down by the Apia Yacht club to watch them bring the boats out of the water. These boats are powered by about 45 people and there is a drummer beating time for the rowing. Graham and Jacqui heard and saw one practicing when we were staying on the island of Namua. It was nice to see the group of participants kneeling in prayer all together at one point, as they were getting ready to pull it out and store it in the long boat shed.


We will try to write in the next two weeks but I don't know how much time we will have. We are so excited to have Ian, Sharleen and Neko come on Wednesday morning!

September 7, 2007

It is Friday evening and we have finished our shift at the temple, had a bite to eat at Seafood Gourmet and are anticipating a beach day tomorrow. It has been a long two weeks - we did 8:00-2:00 shifts at the Squash venue for the South Pacific Games from Monday to Thursday each week. This is a very small venue, selling about 50 tickets during our shift. The Samoan people scheduled to take over on Thursday and Friday never turned up for their shifts so they lost revenue there. Sister Wagstaff and I decided we would come in Friday of this week (today) in case they didn't show again but after yesterday, we made an executive decision with the ticket manager that we were done - we only sold 6 tickets in 6 hours yesterday!

The basketball games have been fun to watch - occasionally we would go back in the evening and watch Samoa play. There is even a boy from Lethbridge on the team.
Each evening at the government building in Apia by the harbour, there has been entertainment in honor of the games. We spent some time down there last night sitting on the grass and listening with the crowd. We went the night before with the Smarts but got there too late and just walked the sea wall. I love the walks, Roy tolerates them but likes the company. I actually have started to walk in the mornings around the compound and the track. It feels so good to get some exercise and especially in the cool of the morning.

This week has been quite rainy and windy so it has been nicely cool at times - glad it is now and not when any of the kids were here - the beach just isn't the same when it is rainy. (it is still hot, just not as hot as it could be). We went to Return to Paradise Beach last Saturday and took the Wagstaffs with us - they are the missionaries who arrived about a month ago and are in charge of training the Temple engineers to properly take care of the building. They are a cute couple in their sixties and are certified divers. They didn't bring their equipment with them so we just snorkel with them. I (Kathy) am glad that they are avid beach bums like I am and want to go each week.

We anticipate Ian, Sharleen and Neko's visit in 1 1/2 weeks - yes, we are really excited.

August 26,2007

Oh my, what a busy few days we have had since Graham and Jacqui left us last Monday night/Tuesday morning. Their plane took off about 1:00 am Tuesday and we watched it rise into the sky while we sat in the truck just past the airport.

The Eldares, a group of missionaries who served here 42 years ago returned for a reunion and have been entertaining all week, culminating with a missionary fireside tonight. They are recording tomorrow and will leave on the weekly Monday night flight to the USA. We have attended a couple of their events this week and have really enjoyed their spirit and fun personalities. One of them, Randy Broadhead is from Raymond and it has been nice to acquaint ourselves with him. These are the fellows who wrote the songs "Masi Samoa" and "Koko Samoa" which have played on the radio in Samoa for decades. As well this week, was a performance at the LDS Church High School by a group of young people, a polynesian review that is really well done. They have put it on for 4 nights already and will do it for another 4 nights this week. There is a lot of time and talent that has gone into it and the energy of those young people is amazing.






















Along with this we went to Sauniatu with the Smarts for the young kids sports day that included traditional samoan games and competitions like coconut husking, weaving, fire starting, etc. It rained but those kids just kept going and had a grand time.

Now, to the thing that has kept us busy and will keep us busy for the next two weeks - the South Pacific Games. We are aiding the missionaries with their responsibilities in ticket sales, etc. for the actual activities. We have attended meeting, been issued with uniforms - these are unbelievable - hot polyester golf style shirts in turquoise, lime green and yellow all in the one shirt with navy shorts for the men (the women are wearing navy or black skirts in keeping with the missionary dress code). The best part is the hat - yellow to match the shirt and would you believe, we even have a cord that comes under our chin if we wish, or it can hang down our back by the cord while we are inside. It is almost a smokey-the-bear style. I know, when you see them you will all be jealous and want us to bring one home for you!

We attended the opening ceremonies last night at Apia Park. We had paid $20 Samoan Tala for each seat and were a little unhappy that they wanted us to take tickets. It ended up that we didn't take tickets and were able to sit in our seats. The program was really quite good - a thousand young people alone made up a human samoan flag as they were dressed in appropriate colors and let off helium balloons. There were traditional dancers, hundreds, fire dancers (and this included the little girl from Sinalei and they did the pyramid with her at the top). The music for the program was done by some soloists and a choir and it was something to make Samoa proud. The only thing that was a little out of place was at the end of the marching in of all the countries' teams, some Samoan came in dressed like Jesus, dragging a cross. We really don't know what it was about but to me it seemed like it was taking the name of our Savior in vain to do such a showy, public display. Anyway, it was a very long program and by the time the speeches were done, we were happy to leave, only to find the buses taking all the teams back to their housing were behind the van we came in. We waited for a long time and I (Kathy) decided to check things out a bit and found some portable potties - these were very clean, probably because no one knew where they were, and we were all very relieved, yes, the pun is intended!

Besides all this, Roy and I did our regular shift at the temple on Friday, gave talks in church today, Roy gave the Sunday school lesson, we had dinner at the Macbeths and attended the fireside tonight. After, we gave a ride home to a fellow who is in our sunday school class. I won't say a young man as he is 37 but is really needy, emotionally. He wanted to come to our home so we visited for an hour or so and then Roy drove him home. A lot of these unattached young people really have needs to associate with each other and us, as their spiritual parents. If we can be any help to any of them, that is what we have been called to do.

August 22, 2007

Ahhh, the past two weeks have been a whirl of fun and activity. We have a few milestones of our time here and Graham and Jacqui's departure this am at 1:00 ended one of those. We swam, hiked to Robert Louis Stevenson's grave, ate, took a ferry to Savaii, slept in fales, paddled an outrigger canoe, watched fire dancing, had firesides at our home for young adults, etc. So, I will try to recap and hope you enjoy the journey with us.

Sinalei is a resort on the back of Upolu with a buffet and program (fia fia). The fire dancing is superb and includes 3 young ladies (not a traditional thing to have) and one of those is 4-5 years old. The pyramid of girls with fire knives is wonderful to watch and this is in the village of Siumu, which is, as we are told, the home of fire dancing.

Things in Samoa often happen when they happen, not always at the time prescribed. We had arranged to go to the island of Namua to spend a night in a fale. When we arrived at the departure point (a small motor boat takes you over to the island where only the host family lives and there are about 10 fale for visitors), there was no one there - no where. Thanks to our cell phone, we contacted a few different people and then the motor boat came over from the island to get us. Apparently there is a flag you raise and they come when it is raised - no, we weren't aware of it. Anyway, the trip was very nice - the snorkeling was good as the island is mostly within the reef and we actually walked around to where the surf pounded the back shores. We were able to use a paopao (outrigger canoe) and enjoyed our time there.

During the trip, we all went to Papase'ea (sliding rock), Piula Cave Pools (fresh water pool coming out of a cave and you can swim down under the back of the cave into another pool). Roy and Graham did it, but this is Kathy writing and no, I really have no desire to crawl through an underground cave holding my breath and not knowing what kind of creature could be there! We spent a glorious afternoon at Sauniatu, the village in the mountains that was dedicated to LDS people who were severed from their villages when they joined the church. It has a wonderful waterfall and pools.
Our trip to Savaii was great. The Taga Blowholes are magnificent and after more money than we should have spent, a local fellow threw some coconuts into the blowhole and it shot probably 50 feet into the air. The canopy walk at the rainforest reserve at Falealupo was nice but the kids didn't sleep up there - it is a long way down to the bathroom for a pregnant woman. This area is the last place in the world where the sun sets each day. We stayed at a village just down the road a ways and got some sunset shots. The hotel we stayed in (Vaisala) was ok and that is about it. It did have a beach to swim at and was very quiet (no dogs barking and rooster crowing like we have at home).
The second night we stayed at Stevenson's Beach Fales and it was good. There is a man eating beach there we had heard about but didn't experience until this trip. There are fresh water springs coming into the ocean in many places and they keep the sand very loose and soft (well, sort of soft). Roy was walking along about 2 feet from the water's edge and suddenly sunk to his thigh! We managed to get him out and later he went in again. Graham went in and then decided to go in with both feet to see how far down it would take him. We were standing ready to haul him out if necessary. He sunk to his belly button, about, and the water was up to his chest. Both Jacqui and I were treated to our own trip as well. The coral sand made abrasions on most of our legs and it was a little nervy, but ok. A lady had told us about it in 2005 when we were there but we could never find it. We will be tour guides to anyone who would like to experience the man (or woman) eating beach!

On our last morning before the ferry we went over to Olemoe Falls - wow. There wasn't enough rain for the big waterfall but there were a couple of smaller ones and it was so clear - a much prettier pool than Sauniatu. Our pictures don't do it justice - as I find most of our pictures don't. (then the sunset ones actually do capture the mood correctly)


Graham and Jacqui had one night alone at Virgin Cove Resort - a fale resort that is lit with kerosene lanterns, etc. They really enjoyed it and I will leave it to them to describe.

On Saturday night we had a special night with Amuia and his family. He has been quite sick with gout and he feels it is more than that now. He has called his family from America to come and pay their last respects. Well, they had invited us to come and when we got there, many family members were present. We had some gifts for them (a quilt I had made and had Graham bring), a Canadian flag, mugs, coloring books and crayons, pens, etc. Amuia's daughter Sanonu had made Graham a shirt and Jacqui a matching pulatasi, and her husband had put an elei print on them. She was really emotional about this gift she made specifically because her father wanted her to do it and she was late coming to the family because of trying to please her father. Amuia was quite ill when she got there and he didn't even recognize her. She had tears as she was telling us the story and it makes the gift more meaningful. He wanted them to wear the clothes on the plane home and they did!

We spent time at Tafa Tafa beach but Togitogiga Falls had NO WATER coming over - just a very stagnant pool. Brooke, you came at a good time! We also spent the last afternoon they were here at Vavau - not a lot of sun but a nice, beautiful beach.

Roy and I have new callings in the ward - Young Adult Spiritual Parents. We teach the Sunday Gospel Doctrine lesson and fellowship the youth. We have had two firesides at our home and are having a pool party at one of the girl's home who has a swimming pool. We had about 12-14 people, including Graham and Jacqui and they are super kids. A couple of them are visitors here for the South Pacific Games and guess where they are from? Lethbridge! We know the one boy's father and one of the girls is his cousin on the other side. I hope we can see them again when we are all in Alberta again.
I think this will be it for this blog session and I will write again tomorrow - there is so much going on right now and we need to record it all. Tofa soifua for now. Kathy