We're not in Kansas anymore!

Talofa Family and Friends,

Tutuila flowers - Samoan national flower

     Love and greetings from the beautiful island of Tutuila, American Samoa.  We are discovering that there are going to be many things that are different from our first mission in Apia, Western Samoa.  In Apia we were surrounded on all sides by people we knew, and we lived in a fenced compound with guards.  I always felt safe. In the early mornings I could walk around Pesega without worrying about dogs. This time we are in a house by ourselves.  It does have a gate but during the day, when it is open, people wander into the yard.  I don't mind, except this week a young couple, trying to hide from their families, took up residence in our carport.  They started asking for money, and ringing the doorbell and  running.  The Zone Leaders had to talk to them and tell them they could not be on the property.  The young elders that just live up the road from us stop by every night for a safety check and to make sure the gate is shut and our doors are all locked.  Walking in the neighborhood is out of the question for me.  There are dogs that run wild every where and dog bites are not uncommon.

We live in the village of Mesepa.  Most of the land on the island is divided up into villages.  Each village has its own chief and unique customs.  Our village has "Sa" every night at 5:50 PM.  A large bell is rung about five minutes before signaling to everyone to get home for family prayer.  The bell is rung again at the start of prayer time and again at the end. All roads in the village are closed during this time.

Elder Bailey's Birthday Package from home

Every weekend flower stands start appearing on the sides of the roads.  Every church has beautiful flowers in their chapels.  The Edwards bought one arrangement last week and brought it over for us when they had to go off island for a couple of week.  Except for the bugs that crawl out of it we have enjoyed it at home.

This past week was our first entire solo week with some steep learning curves.  Monday is mail day.  That means we pick up mail and packages from the Post Office in Pago Pago, bring them home, sort, record and repack in large boxes to mail to Apia.  Since families in the states can use flat rate boxes it is much cheaper and faster to send boxes to their missionaries though American Samoa.   Once the packages are re-boxed in large boxes they are taken to the airport here and sent as cargo to Apia.  With almost 200 missionaries (Young and Seniors) receiving mail in the mission you can imagine what a huge job this is!

Crazy house!  Elders live on the 3rd floor.

Our next adventure was sick missionaries.  Within a couple of hours we got two calls about young elders with fevers, body/head aches/ and sore throats.  After consulting with Sister Ho Ching in Apia, we delivered medicine, soup and juice   Elder Ili, one of the sick elders, lives in this huge house built by an ex-NFL player.  The family lets the missionaries live on the 3rd floor for free.  A couple of times up and down on those concrete, uneven stairs and I was relieved when he started to feel better!

Elders Faletau and Larsen helping
 with our bananas.

Wednesday is P-day (Preparation) for the young elders.  Elders Faletau and Larsen came by and helped us harvest the bananas in our yard.  We quickly discovered that getting rid of bananas is like zucchini in Utah.  You almost have to just leave them on doorsteps and run.  Everyone it seems has enough bananas.  I guess I see some serious banana bread making in my near future.  The elders also worked for a couple of hours cleaning up the banana trees that had been damaged in the wind last week.  They worked dang hard!

Thursday - the 4th of July was a bust.  Not a single thing going on!  No flags, no parades, no fireworks...We drove out to the far east part of the island to deliver supplies to the missionaries and do some apartment checks.

Brent's project

Saturday is our P-day.  Those of you who know Brent know that if he gets his mind set on something wild horses can't deter him.  He decided he wanted to redo all the electronics in the office and reorganize the desk.  That was fine, except he pulled out all the wires in the back of the desk, which disconnected our internet and phones, and then he couldn't figure out how to get them back on.  Many hours later, a new router and lost of frustration and everything was again working.  I have to admit it is much better than it was.   

In Apia our Saturday afternoons were generally spent at the beach.  This time our Saturdays will be spent attending baptisms.  Yesterday we attended a baptism in Mapusaga for a family of four, the mother and three children.  It was held in a large room and still there was standing room only.  It was amazing to see how many ward members came out to support this family.                                                                                                                                           
I have to admit that I've been a little lonely this past week.  It's hard to move to a new place where you don't really know anyone.  I'm so grateful that we have the technology available to us to video chat with our kids and grand kids.  We also have a Vonage phone that allows us to call to the states for a minimal cost.  I'm sure things will get better as we meet people. One family in the ward had us over for dinner and we met many nice people at church today.  I'm looking forward to Tuesday's Relief Society activity where I'm sure I'll meet other sisters.

I've been thinking about a talk we heard at the MTC.  If we want to become like our Savior Jesus Christ then we need to understand his character.  He was always reaching out to others; He didn't dwell on his own problems.  It's easy to feel sorry for myself but I know that service is the key to beating the blues. As we understand more of our responsibilities and get more involved life will get easier.  Love to all of you.  Alofa atu!  Patty