Old Nikes - New Nikes

 Talofa Lava Family and Friends,
     It's been a pretty stressful week.  The Hannemanns have been in the office taking care of missionaries who have a hard time following mission rules.  By far, the majority of our missionaries are amazing, but unfortunately the few bad ones can cause a lot of drama and damage to the missionary work.  President Hannemann brings them into the mission home for "Spiritual Bootcamp" which is about much fun as it sounds.  After every effort to help, there are still some who get sent home, which is always sad.

Gorgeous Full Moon

     I bought new walking shoes right before leaving Las Vegas.  Brent has epoxy glued them back together for me 3 times, but when my toe started poking out the top he finally insisted I get new shoes.  There were not a lot of color choices in my size (1 to be exact) so now I am the proud owner of new ugly walking shoes for a mere $260 WST ($103 USA).
     Thursday Robert and Laura Foley arrived from Vernal, Utah.  They know my cousin, Clay  (Small world).  I spent the better part of Thursday and Friday getting them oriented, getting drivers licenses, shopping, showing them around and Friday we took them to dinner at the Swashbucklers.  Our table was right next to the ocean, and just as we were leaving I saw a small orange sliver on the horizon.  We waited for a few minutes and were treated to a spectacular moon rising - the bright, orange, full moon put on quite a show.  As we pulled into our driveway the moon was just by the temple.  I know it is the same moon that everyone else sees, but somehow, here in Samoa, it is just more beautiful.  The next morning on my walk, I was treated again to the same moon setting in the west.
 

The tie-making wizard

     Last week I half kidded that Brent was taking orders for ties.  I think Island Fever has hit him bad, because all he talks about now is different kinds of polyester, patterns, pins....he has more orders here than he has time to fill. Last week he spent as much time with Afalua's sewing machine as he did with his office computer.  Hey kids - guess what you are all getting for Christmas!
     Yesterday, after our weekly shopping and house cleaning, we took the Foleys up to Saniatu to check out the house where they will be living. We then joined several other Senior couples at the Piula Cave Pools.  These pools are right next to the ocean, so you have your choice of warm salt water or cool fresh water.  We chose the fresh water, as it was hot outside.  The cave goes quite a ways back and then there is a tunnel to a smaller pool.  Brent
was the only senior who dared swim through the underwater tunnel.  I was relieved when he

Senior Missionaries enjoying the Piula Cave Pools

re-emerged.  We were told that there are large eels that live in the pools, and if you take food into the water you can feed them. That was just a bit more of an adventure than what I wanted. There were enough people in the pool, that the eels stayed out of sight.   We have such a good time with the other senior missionaries on these outings.  Next week we have a big adventure planned - so stay tuned.
      My scripture for the week comes from my reading in  D&C 82:10 - " I the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
I know that probably some people look at keeping the commandments of God as restrictive, but I see them as a way to receive blessings and to avoid the problems people get into when they don't follow the rules.  I am eternally grateful for the guidelines the Lord gives us to protect us and to help us find joy in living while we are on earth, and what we need to do to get back to live with him in heaven.  If you want to know more about what the Lord has revealed to us about finding true happiness, go to mormon.org, or look on youtube for "Man's Search for Happiness."   I send my love from this beautiful country of Samoa.  Oute Alofa Mo Outou Uma Lave, Patty