My Heart is Full

Talofa Family and Friends,
     I am happy to report that I survived the Dreaded Jungle Gumboo that pretty much laid me flat in bed for a week.  I'm pretty sure it was the kind of flu people die from as it is as sick as I have ever been.  Slowly I've been regaining my strength and am finally feeling almost back to normal.  Brent was a dear to take care of me.  Thank you for all the kind thoughts and get well wishes!
     This past weekend we have loved every minute of the Church of Jesus Christ General Conference held in SLC.  We were able to get all of the sessions at home over the computer.  Even though the 10 am session started here at 5 am, we were well rewarded for getting up.  It's been two days of spiritual feasting!  How blessed we are to have a living prophet and  such amazing church leaders!  I am so excited that our Sister Missionaries will now get to act as witnesses at the baptisms of the people they've taught. With the new youth program we will all need to step up and help take some of the load off of our bishops who already work so hard.

Whitney Laulu on splits with missionaries

          Even though Samoans are spread all over the world, somehow they all know each other.  A couple of weeks ago Whitney Laulu was on splits with a couple of our missionaries.  He is from Las Vegas, went to Liberty HS and attended the Tropical Breeze Ward.  He knows all of my old seminary students.  He sends his love to his old ward.  His family moved here last year to take care of a grandparent and right now he is preparing to go on a mission.
        Well, my workshop for disasters turned out to be more for small businesses and dealt mostly with insurance issues, but this past week Brent and I met with a man from the community outreach of Homeland Security.  He was very informative, gave us pamphlets to pass out, and tomorrow we visit the West Zone district meetings to start our emergency preparedness training.  I've put together a powerpoint on cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis that I hope will get the message out in a short period of time.  If nothing else they will enjoy the brownies I made for them.  Just from my informal survey of missionaries it was obvious this was needed as when asked they did not know what a cyclone or tsunami was.  Yesterday we purchased a case of water for each companionship in the West Zone which by now has been delivered to each apartment.  Next week we'll complete the East Zone.  It's a start.

Pacific Golden Plover

     This week I was excited to see my first Golden Plover.  This is the little bird that flies non-stop over 1,500 miles from the islands to Alaska to breed in the summer, and then flies back to the exact location in the islands to winter.  Some even go as far as New Zealand!  We are just starting our "Summer" here so will expect to see more.
     Much to Brent's dismay we have a little black dog that seems to have adopted us.  She is always on our back porch, and even when we put her out of the gate at night, in the morning she's back on the porch.  Our friends who lived here had the same dilemma that did not have a happy ending, so I am not going to start buying dog food.  She is still going to have to fend for herself but I'm not so hard-hearted that I don't give her a little something here and there.  The elders named her "Jude" so they can call "Hey- Jude" but I just call her Little Lady.

"Little Lady"

     It was a pleasure this week to have Sister Hiatt from Mesa, AZ stay with us after she sprained her ankle.  Her cute companion, Sister Leiatua, joined another set of sisters for the day.  Elder Leiatua, a brother, served in Apia during our first mission.  Love them both!  Here in Samoa the people often use "Fofo" or healing through deep muscle massage.  After Sister Hiatt told me about her experience with fofo I think I'll pass.  She said the lady started by stamping on her hurt foot, and then had other women hold her down while she "Massaged the bad blood out."  Sister Hiatt said it was excruciating!  I'm glad she survived!

Sisters Leiataua and Hiatt

     Last week in preparing one of my Institute lessons I came across a 2008 General Conference talk by Elder Jeffrey Holland, "My Words...Never Cease."  It addresses one of the reasons some people refuse to accept that we are Christian - our assertion that God continues to speak to us today.  The fact is that there were Christians long before the New Testament was compiled, so having the Bible does not make one a Christian.  "One Protestant scholar wrote, '...If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today in the church about matters that are of significant concern?" Ralph Waldo Emerson, addressing the Harvard Divinity School, pled that they teach "that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake."  We love the Bible! It is the first book in our Canon of Scripture.  Brent and I are in the process of studying the New Testament right now, along with the rest of the Church.  The Book of Mormon only exists to be another witness of the truth.  It's hard for me to understand why people would be upset that there is additional evidence of the Savior.  For the past two days I've listened to a prophet of God, some of His Apostles, and other leaders give counsel, encouragement and most importantly testify of the Divinity of Our Savior Jesus Christ - I consider their words inspired scripture.  In no way does that demean the Bible.  What a great blessing it is to know that the heavens are opened, and God is still giving us the words we need to hear today.  My heart is full!

Love and Best Wishes for a wonderful week!
Alofa atu - Patty