It's Batty Around Here!

Talofa Family and Friends,
Looking at our August calendar we see several family members and friends who are celebrating birthdays.  So along with this blog we are sending love and Happy Birthday wishes to all the August birthdays.

This mission is much different than our first mission, but we are starting to love the work as we now have some idea of what we are supposed to be doing.  Being the first of the month Brent requests a check from the service center to pay the missionaries. He takes the check to the bank and cashes it.  (Going to the bank always involves an extended wait time.)   Each missionary receives $100/month for food, bus passes and personal expenses.  That means he brought home $2900 in twenty dollar bills.  We separated them into envelopes, labeled them and helped the Zone Leaders deliver  them to the missionaries around the island.  We were not able to contact the elders who are serving on the far east side of the island so I just prayed somehow we would be able to find them.  It was a tender mercy that I spotted the first two teaching a lesson on a porch a bit off the road and the last two finally responded to our text and we were able to meet them at their home.  Since it's an hours drive on a very curvy, dark road we were relieved we were able to complete all our deliveries.

Driving over to the east end in the early evening

Flying Fox (Internet Image)

I spotted several Flying Foxes.  They are one of several different bats that live on the island.  According to the internet, they have a wing span of 1.5 meters.   At dusk they do look  creepy.  I tried to get a picture of one but they move fast and so I had to settle for an image from the internet.  Brent was driving so he missed most of them.  He kept telling me, when he would get a glimpse, that they were birds.  He finally relinquished when he saw one, and agreed that they were the flying foxes.                                                                         

Community College Campus

                                                                           This week I finally decided I had to start my
early morning walks again.  I have been hesitant to go out because of the dogs.  After a rat encounter at the track by the police station,  I decided to try the Community College campus near to our home.  Because of other early morning commitments I only made it 3/5 days last week but it felt so good to walk again.  My dear friends Heather and Wendy were sorely missed as  walking companions, but I still enjoyed being out in the early morning, just before the sun rises.  It's a great time to ponder about things I've read or lessons I'm preparing. Best of all there were no dogs.

Seal of Samoa - Governor's Office

We also made a trip to the government building this week
to hopefully clear up the problem we encountered at the
Las Vegas airport on our way here.  Hawaiian Airlines was not going to let us board unless we had a letter from the Attorney General of American Samoa, or a return ticket to the states.  A quick call to Emergency Missionary Travel, who purchased us return tickets for August 16, 2019, and we were on our way.  How-ever, since we are not going to use the tickets, we were concerned about getting this important letter from the Attorney General - so important that the first few people we talked to at the AG's office didn't have any idea what we were talking about. The third person we talked to, the one over travel, finally told us not to worry about it - she wasn't even sure what to tell us about what future missionaries should do to avoid the same problem.  That's what I call a bureaucracy!

We also took the opportunity to listen to the two democratic presidential debates.  Brent and I both liked the Congress woman from Hawaii but we know very little about her and she probably doesn't have a chance.  There were also some CRAZY candidates. We are both glad to be shielded from most of the fray but will try to stay informed.

Some of the YW with some of their decorations

Friday night our Ward had an overnight camp-out at Maloata on the far side of the island.   We had no camping gear so only went for Friday afternoon and evening.  The YW did a great job on the decorations and the Elder's Quorum provided a yummy burrito dinner.  Brent got his first dip in the ocean, but because of the heavy rains last week the water was still pretty murky and he lost one of his water shoes in the mud.  He said the water still felt great.  We wanted to leave before it was too dark, as the road was really bad, so we missed the movie "Coco" and the presentation on Family History.  However, we did see several Flying Foxes and were finally able to see the stars!

Bishop Goodwin - air born

The first week we were here we had stopped in at Blue Sky Communications to get help with our cell phones.  The young man that helped us told he was interested in the church.  We took his name and gave it to the Elders and promised him we would be at his baptism.  This morning at church we were so excited to see Manny with the Elders.  He's set a baptismal date for August 24th.  We will be there!

My purpose as a missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.   Even though we are not out actively proselyting, there are opportunities to share the gospel every day.  I try every week to share a little of what I know to be true in this blog.  I hope my own kids are sharing this blog with my grand kids so they will be reminded that I believe in Jesus Christ and His Restored Gospel. Events of this week make plain again that there is no peace on earth, the only peace that can be found is inner peace that comes with a knowledge that Christ can heal any wound or sorrow, carry us through our darkest hours and promise eternal life through obedience to laws and ordinances of His Restored Gospel.  Please open your doors and hearts to the missionaries - they have an amazing message for you and your family.  Have a great week!  Remember - there are still many good and beautiful things in the world!  Alofa Lava, Patty 

It's Raining it's Pouring, and Pouring and.......Pouring

Talofa Family and Friends,

Well, one word sums up our week - RAIN!  Every day since Monday we have had periods of torrential rain - sometimes lasting for hours.  In our back yard there is a drainage channel that up until this week was dry.  Now it is a raging river.  Waterfalls have appeared, streets have turned into rivers, lakes have appeared in low lying areas and there has been almost a constant flash flood warning.  Houses have been devastated with mud slides and others have been flooded.  Another consequence of all this water is that toads are appearing everywhere.  Apparently in the 1950's the Cane Toad was brought over from Hawaii to help control mosquitoes and the pests that eat Taro.  (Apparently that pre-dated the commercial that warned about fooling around with Mother Nature.)  Not only are they disgusting when you almost step on them in the driveway , they are also highly toxic.  They secrete a milky substance from glands on their shoulders that can kill a dog and make humans sick.

Samoan Tie factory back in business

Because of the weather we have spent much of the week in the house.  Brent took the opportunity to pull out  the sewing machine to make his famous ties.  I have had a few skirts made, so he is using the left-over material for his ties.  He thinks it's a great idea for us to match- his ties with my skirts.  There is beautiful Samoan patterned material here for sell in many shops.  The patterns are different here than in Western Samoa. There is a Filipino family in Mapusaga Fou that will sew up a skirt for $10, so it's hard to resist buying materal when you see something you like.

Another consequence of the weather is more sick missionaries.  We've had one elder stay at the mission home for a day and a night with a strep throat and two sisters with sore throats.  I expect more with more rain.  Luckily, Sister Tele Hill, a nurse practitioner, is back on the island and is always willing to make house calls.

Also this week we met Sister Foster, a Samoan Sister missionary from New Zealand.  Her job is to take care of the fleet of cars/trucks/vans in the mission.  She flew over Wednesday to inspect the cars on the island.  Because of the rain she was not able to complete everything she needed to do before returning to Apia on Thursday.  She will be back next month.  She is a pretty amazing lady.  She joined the church 3 years ago and is a power house when it comes to taking care of her responsibilities. 

House damaged in last cyclone - 2017

I've been wanting to get a picture of this house which is about a block from where we live.  If you look closely you can see that the front and back are in tact but the whole middle of the house is missing.  You can also see the remaining foundations of another home that was totally destroyed.  Driving around the island we often see numbers spray painted on homes.  These are FEMA markings from the cyclone in 2017.  As the FEMA people went from door to door they marked the houses after they were checked.

Example of one of many floral arrangements
at the baptism  - When I mentioned how
beautiful they were they insisted we take one
home.  

East Zone Leaders - Elders Bailey and Smith
These guys are awesome missionaries!

 We had made plans to go on an excursion with Ropeti Lesa and his wife yesterday, but plans were cancelled due to the weather.  However, the day was not wasted as we attended two baptismal meetings - one in the morning in Leone and the other in the evening at Aua.  Elder Smith baptized a young woman who had waited 7 years to get baptized.  She was living with her boyfriend but they were not married.  Saturday morning they got married and that evening she was baptized.

Elders Teisina, Faletau, Jensen and Wilkey

The baptism in Leone was pretty amazing.  Elder Teisina baptized a grandmother who only had one leg.  Getting her in and out of the font was a challenge for the three men who tenderly lifted her in and out. I admire the courage it took for her to be baptized.  She was baptized the same day as her 8 yr. old grandson.  Her husband was already a member.  So, what's really neat about both baptisms is that two families were put together who are now planning on attending the temple.  We believe families can be together forever if they are sealed in a temple.

The best thing that happened this week is that we got a new internet provider that boosted our internet speed to about 10 x's faster than we had before.  That's been a tender mercy as Brent and I were always frustrated when we were trying to get our work done. 

Forever friends!  Love these two!

 Don't know how I forgot to mention the visit from the Avei's last week.  A week ago last Tuesday I was surprised to answer a knock at the door and find Brother and Sister Avei.  They had served as auditors in Apia when we were there.  They were on there way to visit family in Upolu and since they missed Brent, they promised to stop on their way back home.  Will look forward to seeing them again.

I have loved studying the New Testament this year.  The past couple of weeks I've been studying the Book of Acts.  I wish I could be as bold as Paul in declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here he is in Athens:

 ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are ^atoo superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your ^adevotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE ^bUNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ^cignorantly worship, him ^ddeclare I unto you.

24 God that ^amade the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, ^bdwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is ^aworshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and ^bbreath, and all things;

26 And hath ^amade of ^bone ^cblood ^dall ^enations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath ^fdetermined the ^gtimes before ^happointed, and the ⁱbounds of their habitation;

27 That they should ^aseek the Lord, ^bif haply they might ^cfeel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we ^alive, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his ^boffspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the ^aoffspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto ^bgold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s ^cdevice.

30 And the times of this ^aignorance God ^bwinked at; but now ^ccommandeth all men every where to ^drepent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will ^ajudge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ^bordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath ^craised him from the dead. 

I testify that I know also that we are the literal offspring of God - we are His children.  It is no accident that you and I are alive at this time and at each of our places.  Again, here is the promise that all men will be resurrected.  I hope each of you take time out of every day to contemplate things of the Spirit.  If you have questions - pray and ask God.  If you ask with real intent I know he will answer you.  He has promised us that.  Have a wonderful week!

Alofa atu - Patty

How did we manage BG (before Google)???

Talofa Family and Friends,
This has been a week of adventure as we attempted to find all of our missionary houses on the island.  It was a lot easier since the Zone Leaders helped us tag the houses on google satellite images.  As we inspected the houses for cleanliness we were pleasantly surprised to find beds made, clothes put away, dishes done, bathrooms cleaned and floors swept.  Remember - we are talking about 18 - 21 yr old young adults who live in pretty humble circumstances with few modern conveniences including no hot water.  Some of them do their wash with a plastic 5 gallon pail and a toilet plunger.  As we were driving, we occasionally came on our missionaries walking to their next appointment.  It doesn't matter whether the intense sun is beating on them  or they're being pelted with buckets of rain, these kids are out there everyday - usually walking miles a day - because they love the Lord and believe that their message will bring happiness to the people they are teaching and also save their souls.  It doesn't take much to fall in love with these young people and have a desire to help them in any way that we can.

Island on right is a protected sanctuary for sea bird
nests - like the Red Footed Booby

   While driving to the missionary houses we took took advantage of the time we had to explore some of the side roads.  We discovered beautiful villages with amazing landscapes, kids playing cricket, a graveyard for Korean fisherman, and some sandy beaches.  Our favorite sign was on a very rough road.  We were probably going 5 mph.  The sign said, "Reduce Speed Ahead."  On the east side, after inspecting the house at Aua, a left turn took us on a beautiful drive across the mountains to the other side of the island.  It is the only road that goes over there.  There were some beautiful views on top of the mountain.  We remembered another day, three years ago, when we traveled the same road with the Schaefermeyers and Callahans. 

Korean Fishermen Graves

View across Pago Harbor - North Korean ship is lined
up with Mt. Peak.

I can't imagine living so far from everything - We currently do not have missionaries there, but when we got to the villages there was an LDS Chapel - so there must be members there. Driving back over the mountain we had a great view of the Pago Pago harbor.  If you look closely you can see the North Korean tanker that was seized by Indoneisa in April 2018 and brought to Pago Pago in May 2019. Apparently it was carrying supplies that violated international sanctions against North Korea.  People here are not too happy about harboring a North Korean ship.
       We also took the opportunity while in Pago to stop at the open air market.  While it's not near as big as the one in Apia, we did manage to find Pankiki (Samoan Pancakes), oka (raw marlin or tuna and onions in coconut cream) for me. and fai'ai (cooked tuna, onions
and coconut cream) for Brent.  YUM!
     We didn't have any sick missionaries this week, but we did have the two sister missionaries from Apia with us for three days.  Zone Conference went well and then there was a youth conference for all the youth on the entire island so President and Sister Ho Ching were here until Wednesday. 
     The picture of Brent and I is near what locals call the Turtle and Shark cliff.  The story goes that a long time ago, during famine on the island, no one would give food to this grandmother and her little granddaughter.  Instead of starving, they held hands and jumped off the cliff here into the ocean.  The girl turned into

Sisters Pulsipher and Fe'a

Brent and Patty at the Turtle Shark Cliffs

a turtle and the Grandmother - a shark.  There's a song the villagers sing that still today brings a turtle and shark to this area.  The man that took our picture told us he has seen them.

Brent and I are taking Samoan language lessons twice a week on line with a BYU tutor who actually was a missionary when we were in Apia. "Ou te 'u 'una 'ia oe e fa'aali lou alofa i lau fanau."  Translates as "I urge you to express your love to you children."  I also know how to say "E pua'i e 'ia le apu."  Translates as "I barfed the apple."  I hope you are impressed :) 

In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah speaks of a time in the latter-days when there will be a marvelous work and a wonder.  He was referring to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 29: 14 "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a ^amarvellous ^bwork among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the ^cwisdom of their wise men shall ^dperish, and the ^eunderstanding of their ^fprudent men shall be hid. 18.  And in that ^aday shall the deaf hear the words of the ^bbook, and the ^ceyes of the blind shall see out of ^dobscurity. Take a few minutes to read and ponder this chapter of scripture and ask God for yourself what Isaiah was referring to.  Alofa alu to you all until next week.  Patty

      

Carved and painted tree in a beautifully landscaped yard in
the village of Leone.

On the Road Again!

,

Talofa Family and Friends,

Week 3 of our mission and we finally feel like we are up and running. This week we had a young sister missionary with a respiratory infection, so her and her companion spent the week with us. We have a bedroom in our home meant to board sick missionaries. While Sister Martinez slept, I tried to find things for Sister Reid (her companion) to do. We learned last week that one of our responsibilities is to make candy leis for the mission, so I had Sister Reid help me. She is from Australia and she grew up with this tradition. Candy leis are a Polynesian tradition and Sister Ho Ching, the mission president's wife, gives them to arriving and departing missionaries and for birthdays. You buy tube netting which you stuff with candy, tying off each piece with a ribbon. Making them is not too bad if you have someone to talk to while you're working. The girls returned to their own home last night and I had just enough time to wash the sheets and get them remade in time for the Sister Teaching Leaders who arrived from Apia a couple of hours later. They will be here for a couple of days for Zone Conferences on the island. I attended Relief Society this week and had another opportunity to try my hand at arts and crafts - something I don't generally do at home. We were all given a canvas and paint, and there was an instructor who took us step by step to complete our masterpieces. It was a lot of fun, and I was able to meet more sisters in the ward.

The only hospital on the island.  It's about a 30 drive
from our house.  

Sisters Reid and Martinez

We spend a lot of time every week on the road getting supplies, delivering mail, going to the hospital, visiting missionaries, and I 'm starting to feel more comfortable going out on my own and confident I won't get lost.   There is a 25 mph speed limit on the island, with some places marked even slower.  There is one main road that is paved and goes from the West to the East end on the South side of the island, much of it along the coastline.  The ocean waves this week were amazing to watch as they crashed over in splashes of aqua blue.   Once you get off the main road the roads can be very sketchy!  There are very few roads on the North side of the island.  There are a few villages on the Northeast side where the people have to walk over the mountain on trails to get to the road.     The mission home is assigned four vehicles: a Toyota Rav. a Kia Sportage, a Toyota Tacoma truck and a 15 passenger Chevy van.  We generally only drive the Toyota Rav and the Kia, the other vehicles are here to use as needed.  This week the APs and Sister leaders from Apia will be using them.                                                     
                                                         

Elders Faletau and Larsen - Love
these young men!

This week was transfers.  We only lost one elder and gained a sister and two elders.  Two of our new missionaries are straight from the MTC.  We met them while we were there.  Elder Faletau got transferred to a new area but is still on the island.  However, we won't be seeing him every day and he'll be missed.  You can see that the people here love him as he is covered in leis.  Elder Larsen always has a smile.  He lives just a few blocks from us and is the one who checks us every night on his way up the hill to his house. 

Road to one of our missionary
houses.  I call it the "Great Lakes Region"

Brent and I are trying to learn Samoan.  We have a session with an MTC tutor twice a week for an hour and then he gives us homework.  We are pretty good at memorizing words, but when it comes to putting them together in sentences in any useful way - it gets pretty difficult. I actually dream about sentence structures and trying to figure out how this language works.  It makes my head hurt!

 

RS Painting activity - I have zero art talent
but this was fun and I met some new friends.

On a sad note, Annie called and told me a dear friend had passed away.  It was not that un-expected but it's always hard to say good-bye.  A few weeks ago on FB I saw someone asking what happens when we die?  One of the great things about the Restored Gospel is that it has answers to these hard questions.  It is comforting to know that death is like passing through a doorway to another life, where people we love and have gone before will be there to greet us.  It is like going home.  And because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone ever born on this earth will receive a resurrected body at some point in the future. 

 Mosiah 16: 7 - 11:  

 

7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no ^asting, there could have been no resurrection.

8 But there is a ^aresurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of ^bdeath is swallowed up in Christ.

9 He is the ^alight and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

10 Even this mortal shall put on ^aimmortality, and this ^bcorruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to ^cstand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—

11 If they be good, to the resurrection of ^aendless life and ^bhappiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of ^cendlessdamnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation.

I hope this note finds you well and at peace.  Brent and I are having a great time but still really miss our family!  Tofa until next week - Alofa atu, Patty