Happy White Sunday

Talofa Lava Family and Friends,
      This weekend the islands and New Zealand are celebrating "White Sunday" or Children's Day.  Monday is a National Holiday where families meet together.  Since there is a day to honor Mothers and Fathers they have added a day to celebrate childhood and the wonder children bring to our lives.  It is mostly a Protestant holiday where everyone dresses in white, children are fed first at meals (they generally have to wait until the adults are finished and then they get to eat what's left) and often the kids are given a small gift.  Elder Edwards, another senior missionary, left for church early this morning and stopped at a few Protestant churches to snap photos. He was nice enough to share them with me.  Almost all of the kids in our church this morning were dressed in new white clothes.  The Primary presented a beautiful program of short talks and music.  The kids not only sang every song with gusto but also signed the words.  It was a wonderful meeting with such a sweet spirit that it brought tears to my eyes.

Patty, Brent with Brother & Sister Mickelson

     Another treat this week was a visit from one of our Apia missionaries, Andrew Mikkelsen.  He was visiting from Southern Oregon with his beautiful wife (Ashlea), sister and brother-in-law(Anna and Michael) and their 12 yr. old son, James.  We loved showing them the island and getting acquainted.  James favorite part was the "Bat Tree".  Elder Mikkelsen was an AP in the office with us for several months.  He was an awesome missionary!  It's wonderful to see our old missionaries again - They all hold a special place in our hearts. After leaving American Samoa they were headed to Upolu, Savaii and then New Zealand.  What a grand adventure!  We were grateful they took the time to spend with us.  Safe travels!
      The day before the Mikkelsen's arrived we got an email from President Ho Ching telling us he would be here the next day.  They came over to interview all the missionaries on the island, including us.  Their visit overlapped a bit with the Mikkelsens  but it wasn't too big of a problem.  We enjoyed visiting with the Ho Chings and the APs that are traveling with them.  Elders Nelson and Tolman are staying with us until they return on Monday. 

Pres & Sister Ho Ching with the Ellsworths

Mission presidents are called for a 3 year period and it is a 24/7 calling.  President and Sister Ho Ching have a great love for the missionaries and missionary work.  The scripture they chose to represent the service of all missionaries here is D&C 12:8,

"And no one can assist in this work except he shall be ^ahumble and full of ^blove, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be ^centrusted to his care. "

This pretty much sums up what kind of people they are. It is a pleasure to work with them! I was a little concerned when I found out that they were coming because I wasn't sure how they'd feel about our little dog.  I was relieved when Sister Ho Ching loved her.  Having a dog is one thing, but having puppies is something on an entirely new level.  We are trying to find someone who could "Fix" her.  If we get desperate there is always YouTube. (Just Kidding)
   
      Saturday morning we had an Institute In-service meeting with Matthew Ellis, the CES Regional director.  The instruction focused on always centering every lesson we teach on the Savior.  The meeting gave me a lot to think about and I am excited to try some of the things I learned.  Teaching Institute has blessed our lives. We love the students.

Elder and Sister Patch

     One last wonderful thing that happened this week was the arrival of a new senior couple, Greg and Janene Patch from North Salt Lake. He is a radiologist and will be working at the LBJ Hospital.  She is an LPN and is hoping to be able to help at the clinics.  It will be so nice to have another senior couple here.  On our last mission the Senior Missionaries became forever friends, and we have missed those associations here.  Now we have an orthopedic, a radiologist, an LPN and a friend who is a physical therapist.  You'd think between all of them they could figure out how to fix our dog. (With a little help from YouTube). Stay tuned.
     Tomorrow we finish our Emergency Preparedness class with the East Zone. After seeing the destruction from the Typhoon in Japan, I am feeling relieved that we will be prepared if faced with a similar storm here.  We went through a Category 2 Cyclone in Apia and even that was very scary.
     Fall is my favorite time of year.  Even though we are going into summer here in the Southern Hemisphere, I still had to make an apple crisp.  We are expecting the missionaries soon so will go and get it warmed up.  We even splurged and bought vanilla ice cream.  Even though we are having a wonderful time here we still terribly miss our family and friends at home.  It really is true - there's no place like home.  Have a wonderful week and don't forget to count your blessings.
Alofa Atu - Patty (Nana)

White Sunday at Methodist Church

Anna, Michael, James, Andrew and Ashlea