November 19th
we flew to Apia to attend the temple with Richard & Myra and Henry and
Judith and their son Vince. It was so
awesome to be part of their special day.
 |
Henry Whuillas, Ali Pili, Judith Whullas, Patriarch Pili, Barbara Autele,
Myra and Richard Arcillia |
Being in the temple in and of itself is such a great experience, but
being their to see families united for eternity is a like the icing on the
cake! The missionary that baptized them
was able to attend as well – making it even more special!
The same week-end we spent
a day with Budgett’s, Spencer’s and
Gertsch’s at the beach and enjoyed being together for the last time before they
all leave to go home. When they leave we will be the ‘senior’,
senior couple in the mission. Other than
President and Sister Leota, we will have been here longer than any other senior
couple. We have said goodbye to 12 other
couples, but we were in the MTC with
 |
| Budgett's Bidding Farewell to Samoa |
the Budgett’s and Spencer’s so there is a
special connection. The Gertsch’s have
been here almost 2 years and they were institute teachers in Upolu, so we
formed a special bond with them. They
have become very special friends…
We also went to a dinner
show with the senior couples in the mission.
It was a great show. The fire
dancing was amazing. It was good to meet
the new couples that have arrived since July – the last time we were at mission
headquarters.
We had such a great
Thanksgiving Week-end. We were invited
for dinner at Patriarch Pili’s. There
were over 30 people there. Most were the
Filipino members that have been baptized in
 |
| Thanksgiving Day |
the last year. Some of them had never had turkey
before. It was fun to see their reaction
to our traditional Thanksgiving menu. Of
course we had Filipino food as well.
They are not too big on desserts, but my pies (Lemon Meringue, Banana
Crème, and Chocolate) didn’t last very long.
They seemed to enjoy them more than pumpkin pie – but with that many
people, it didn’t take long for all the food to be devoured…
On Friday night we
attended an island wide Youth Roadshow.
It was held at the football stadium and there were about 3,000
there. It was quite A HAPPENING!!!!! It was like the
 |
| Island Wide Roadshow (5 stakes) |
celebrations they have when a
new temple is dedicated. Even as long as
we have been here, we never cease to be amazed at the musical talent the island
people are blessed with. Even the
teen-age boys join in with enthusiasm – they don’t have to be coaxed or bribed
into participating.
Saturday morning we
attended a Samoan Day celebration at the Mesepa 1st Ward. Again we were able to witness beautiful
dances, Samoan games, and traditional Umu cooking. The Relief Society was in charge and divided
the families into three groups. Each
group was responsible
 |
| Samoan Days - Makeke Ward |
to present a traditional dance and skit. They all had a moral and each group had a
special ‘princess’ seemed to pull the theme of their message together. Each group had a different color and the
princess wore a dress in the color of the group – the cool thing was the
dresses had to be made out of plants and flowers of their color. The games were competition games between the
groups. One of the games they played was
a race to see who could peel Samoan bananas the fastest. The type of banana they peeled is very large
and the skins are tough – so they use a knife to cut them off. After the bananas were peeled they were baked
 |
| Cooking in the Umu |
in the Umu as part of the meal we all enjoyed.
This activity started at 5:00 AM and went until about noon. It rained off and on all morning, but that
didn’t stop the activities. They just
played and entertained in the rain…
That afternoon we were
invited to a traditional Samoan wedding reception. The bride and groom and been married several
days earlier in the temple. The bride
had 10 bridesmaids and the groom had the same number of groomsmen. They started out with several dances –
signifying different things. One was
done by the wedding attendants, another by the members of bride’s family,
another by the groom’s family, one by the teachers at the school where the
bride works, another by leaders of the ward/stake that had influenced them as
they were growing up, and of course the last dance with the bride and her
dad.
They had a wedding cake that was 15
different cakes on a heart- shaped rack.
After the bride and groom cut the cake the attendants served it to
everyone present – that was after they served dinner to all in attendance.
It was quite
the celebration and an honor for us to be invited.
After the wedding we attended
a baptism – the first one for one our newest missionaries. Baptisms are always special, but when it is a
‘first’ one it is even more special.
In between everything, we
went to the post office to pick up mail.
The entire van was filled with boxes.
After we separated it and boxed up the packages/boxes to be sent by
small plane to the mission office the total weight was over 500 pounds. Christmas mail for over 200 missionaries can
be a challenge!
Today, Monday 12/2/13, we
flew back to Apia for a four day Seminary/Institute seminar. We are looking forward to being taught by the
CES directors from New Zealand.
Before we left we picked a
bunch of bananas from one of our banana trees. One of the delights of being here is enjoying the fruit that grows so
plentifully. We should have another
pineapple ready to pick in the next couple of weeks.
When we were in Apia on July we ordered this beautiful hand carved nativity from a wood carver. The FALE that houses the figures is about 18” tall. The challenge will be to pack it securely so it will not be damaged when we send it home.
 |
| Fire Dancer in Dinner/Show |
 |
| Dinner/show with Senior Missionaries |
We are looking forward to
spending one more Christmas on this beautiful island, although we will miss
being with our family. The things we
have been able to experience on our mission will be forever etched in our
hearts. WE ARE SO LUCKY!!!
 |
| The show was incredible... |
