And here is proof that the dogs really do use the crosswalks... Wish the humans were as smart!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Chapter 32 - We found K-Mart...
And here is proof that the dogs really do use the crosswalks... Wish the humans were as smart!
Chapter 32 - Family Home Evening with a General Authority
12/17/12 – Tonight we were invited to
have Family Home Evening with Elder Haleck, one of the Seventies, and his wife
Peggy. What a wonderful opportunity to
be taught by him. They made us feel so
comfortable in their home.
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| They also invited the members and investigators from the Philippines that we have had the privilege of working with since we got here. Henry and Judith were baptized a couple of weeks after we arrived. Then he invited Richard and Myra to come to church with them. Myra was already a member, but Richard was not. He accepted the Gospel with open arms, and from there is has just mushroomed. There were about 25 in attendance. If things keep going, it won’t be too long before we will have a Philippine Branch! It is so awesome to hear them bear their testimonies and see the change they have made in their lives. The three that were baptized last week were all chain smokers and spent their weekends drinking. We witnessed a miracle as they gave up their previous lifestyle and got themselves ready for baptism. Sister Haleck served Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner. Our friends from the Philippines were not sure about the food. But after they tasted it they seemed to enjoy it. Many of them joined us on Thanksgiving, and they were not sure about our Thanksgiving food either… |
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| After dinner entertainment... |
The evening was so special. We hated to see it end. Another great blessing for us! Heavenly Father must really love us to bless
us with the opportunities and experiences we are having. Except for health reasons, there really isn't a
good reason not to serve a senior mission…
Dear friends, follow the prophet and prepare to serve!
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| Blessed to be with special friends this Christmas Season |
Chapter 31 - Coconut Point Young Adult Activity
11/10/12 – What a great day! We got engaged 45 years ago tonight. We can’t believe it has been that long. Five more years and it will be our 50th. Seems like just yesterday that we were
planning Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary… Time goes by so fast.
We celebrated by attending a YSA (Young
Single Adult) activity in one of the wards.
We went out to an area of the island called Coconut Point. It was right on the ocean. We were in a grove of coconut trees. It had two fales in the grove and right in
the middle they built a huge bonfire! It
was 85 degrees – the fire was not needed for warmth – only atmosphere… We played a couple of games, roasted hot dogs
and even made s-mores. We were asked to share our testimonies on the importance
of ‘gathering’. And surprise, surprise –
it rained on us! Almost like being at Girl’s Camp. It made me think of the beautiful Young Women
in our ward at home, and made me realize how much I miss them!
Chapter 30 - Week-end on the Island of Aunu'u
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| Island of Aunu'u from the boat... |
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| Seminary Class |
11/16/12 – We had a great experience Friday
and Saturday. We went to Aunu’u, the
island about a mile off the East coast of Tutuila. They have a school on the island, but the
high school students attend school on the main island. Because they have to catch the boat so early
each morning for school, they hold seminary in the evening. So we attended their seminary on Friday
evening,
than went to a ward volleyball activity. The power went out in the middle of the
activity, but no worries, they just moved onto other activities that they could
do in the dark. No one complained… All the power on the island comes from a
generator, and it is not unusual for them to loose power several times a
day. It is just part of life for them,
so no one stresses about it. We stayed
with the Lotoa Family – we met their daughter in the MTC. She is serving her mission in Salt Lake City
at Temple Square. They are an amazing
family – 16 children. They went to the
temple as a family just before she left for her mission. They are such a great strength to the branch
and to the village. We slept in the
girl’s room. There was no furniture –
only a mattress on the floor and a cabinet in one corner. There was a small air conditioning unit in
the window and they brought in the fan from the dining area just before we went
to bed. They did everything that was
possible to make sure we were comfortable.
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| Eating with the family (tradition is that the father of the home eats with the guests and the family eats after) |
We were treated like royalty. Their oldest daughter did most of the cooking, and she was an amazing cook. They have a drink here called Cocoa Samoa and it can be quite bitter, but hers was SO GOOD!!!
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| Singing and relaxing together - until midnight... What a great memory... (the family does this almost every night with neighbors) |
After the ward activity we went back
to their house all sat outside with the family and branch presidency and sang
songs accompanied by a guitar and 2 ukuleles.
It was so relaxing, - we could have sat there all night. On Saturday morning they all got up at 6:00
and went to the church to finish the game they started the night before.
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| Men fishing off shore... |
Later we watched them fish off the shore with
big nets.
Two men held the ends of the
nets and the kids spread out between them, walking towards the net chasing the
fish into the nets. It was really
something to see. In the afternoon we
attended a baptism. It was a great
ending to our little get away…
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| When we arrived, some of the local children greeted us. They swim life fish... |
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| Aunu'u Harbor |
Chapter 29 - Transfers
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| Saying Goodbye to Sister Paepae & Elder Lavetala (Savai'i, Samoa), and Sister Amituana'i (Australia) From Left... Sister Paepae, Elder Lavetala, Elder Liston, Elder Uri, Sister Amituana'i, Elder and Sister Jordan |
MISSIONARY TRANSFERS If there is a
downfall to this mission, for us it is when missionaries get transferred. It is so hard to say good-by. They are like family, and when we put them on
the plane to go to another island, we know there is a good possibility we will never
see them again. I am not ashamed to say
that many tears are shed… Transfers come every six weeks and we do not look
forward to them…
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
Chapter 28 - Meetinghouses
MEETINGHOUSES
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| Two story building - chapel and cultural hall are upstairs Parking lot has 10 parking stalls |
This post is written for the benefit of
my Facilities Management friends and former comrades, who, by the way I
miss… In former posts I have mentioned
some of the challenges and differences the FM groups face on this island. If I mention them here, than so be it… I hope you enjoy this... Susan
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| Open air corridors |
· Corridors
- There are 16 buildings (2 more in planning). Most of them have no halls as we
know them. All the rooms open into
beautiful landscaped courtyards.
· Chapels
– Most have ceramic tile floors and if they have pews they are not attached to
the floor. No work orders to secure
pews…
·
Floors - The floors are mostly ceramic
tile. Some of the chapels have carpet
and some of the cultural halls have terrazzo flooring – but not many. No wood floors to screen and re-coat…
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| One of the chapels |
·
HVAC - There are no boilers, furnaces or
water heaters to worry about. Only a few
of the chapels and cultural halls have A/C.
Most have ceiling fans – as many as 24 depending on the size of the
rooms. I only know of two chapels that
have air conditioning. If the building
has a Relief Society room it usually has air conditioning. Some of the bishop offices and stake offices
have A/C as well. They are the wall hung
Mitsubishi type units. Speaking of
bishop offices, we were in one the other day that was a classroom with a
banquet table in it. No A/C, file
cabinet, credenza, carpet, drapes or any of the other amenities that are
usually found in a bishop office. Actually, he uses a classroom - he has no office. So if he has to conduct ward business he is at the mercy of the auxilliary schedule.
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| Baptismal font Stairs on the left lead up to the stake offices |
·
Pianos/Organs – Not all of the buildings
have pianos in the chapel. Most have
piano/organ units, but some have only keyboards. There are no pianos in the Relief Society
rooms. Most Primary rooms have
keyboards.
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| Baptismal font (most are outdoors) |
·
Hymn books - They don’t leave their hymn
books in the hymn book racks. The
Aaronic Priesthood boys bring them into the chapel before the meetings start
and gather them up after Sacrament meeting.
These Saints really love to sing.
It is so inspiring to hear them – adults as well as children. In fact many don’t bring scriptures to
church, but most bring their hymnbooks.
·
Baptismal Fonts – Most are located
outside in the courtyard. They have
roofs over them – much like the fales.
Some are ground level – so you climb up and down stairs to get into
them! Because there are no water heaters
the font can be filled in a relatively short time. The temperature of the water is not too bad – kind of lukewarm.
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| You can't really see, but there is lots of rust on these fountains... |
·
Drinking Fountains –
Some buildings don’t
have drinking fountains. If they do it
has only been within the past year that water filters have been installed on
them so the water is safe to drink – since a new FM manager was hired. Most everyone here buys filtered water
because the water is so bad. We attended
church at a building that does not have a drinking fountain and drinking the
sacrament water was a whole new experience.
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| Notice the rust on the RS chairs... The padding is about 1/4 inch thick... |
·
Relief Society Rooms – Very few
meetinghouses have designated Relief Society Rooms. If they have one, they usually have drapes,
but no pianos or carpeting. This is a
picture of the Relief Society room where we teach institute. Notice the chairs – and then appreciate what
we have. We are so spoiled…
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| Relief Society Room (notice the drapes) No piano... |
·
Landscaping/Sprinkling – There are no
irrigation systems to worry about – no repairs, stuck valves, lines to blow out
or brown grass…. They use coconut shells
instead of bark in the shrub/flower beds.
·
Parking lots – The parking lots are
concrete – the newer ones are stamped to look like brick pavers. To mark the parking stalls, they cut out the
sections and put in different colored concrete – even the handicap stall
emblems are done that way. You never
have to re-stripe… The parking lots are
small – most have about 15 to 20 stalls.
Most people either walk to church or ride the bus. The stake center lots are a little larger.
·
Mold & Mildew – The biggest challenge
they face is the mold and mildew problem.
It is everywhere. A lot of the
time is spent fighting this issue. Also,
mechanical and electrical units need more maintenance because of it. HVAC units and electrical units need to be
replaced every couple of years due to this problem. Another problem they fight is the deterioration
of the rock walls around the meetinghouses.
The seawater erodes them and they have to be repaired constantly. One building located right on the ocean (about 20 yards from the beach), has a stone and rod iron wall around it. The rod iron has to be repainted about every three months at at cost of $4,000 each time it is painted. I told the FM I would get rid of the fence...
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| Sorry this is sideways. That is a WonDoor in good condition... |
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