I am trying to put in some of my journal entries for the past couple of weeks. I really shouldn't let so much time pass between postings but time does keep marching along on this mission.
We finished painting the outside walls of AhMu Academy today. We did
the remaining two outside walls and all the metal posts. Only two zones were brought in and we had a brush or roller
for each one and we were finished by noon – then lunch from Afalua. I was so pleased with how they worked
and we sure have some awesome missionaries. Roy and I left about 10:45 (we began at 8:00 am) to go to
Sose Hunt’s funeral. Elder
Erickson came to relieve us and it was so nice to know they were in good hands.
Sose died of cancer. We certainly loved that
little lady and will miss her. We
took over some trays of panipopo (coconut buns) and a card I had made, the day before the funeral. The Sua’s (Sose's daughter) were not home but we left the
things with Angel and Pioneer. For the funeral, they had a family meeting at 8:30 in the am,
followed by a lunch and then the funeral. We went only for the funeral part and then Roy went back to the
school. I walked down the road
with the other mourners to their home where they had some tents set up outside
and the cement vault in the front yard was under one of the tents. The pall bearers are exactly that –
they carry the coffin from the cultural hall to the chapel and then from there
to their home. They don’t have the
wonderful gurneys we have in our country. I would imagine that if it was a large individual, they would have had
to put the coffin in the back of a truck. It was nice to join with the choir and
sing at the graveside with the other ward members. I wasn’t able to get one of the sheets but I had practiced
it on Tuesday night so I was able to follow along somewhat. After the prayer, they put her casket
in the cement vault – painted white
inside and draped with white lace and then put a plywood lid on – to be
finished later with a cement top, I am sure. There was a bit of fa’a Samoa when a man started into a speech
and another man came up with something that he gave the family at various
intervals – it looked like either money or small pieces of paper or
something. I was standing by Renae
Moreli (Bishop's wife) and she didn’t know what it was. When they started to bring the food out, I left and walked down the road
to the traffic light. They had
just eaten less than 2 hours before and were at it again. Food is very important in the Samoan
society – for every occasion, for every non occasion and sometimes just
because! Sister Utai and her
children stopped and picked me up and gave me a ride to AhMu – I was already a
puddle of butter by that time but it was nice to have a little reprieve. It was
a very hot day and I was absolutely soaking wet from having been working with
the missionaries. I had an apron
on and when I took it off to attend the funeral, my dress was soaked. After we came home I had a difficult
time untying the knot in the back of the dress it was so wet.
I invited Sister Fatu Tumanuvao (who we give a ride home
from the temple each week) to come in and choose some books for her
grandchildren to read. It is nice
to have a few families that do that and exchange the books each week. Her son came back last week with the children to exchange books and are they ever sweet kids.
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| some of the Vaitoloa gang who come for reading |
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| When I travel in the car I keep books handy and this was one group in Savaii that we had an impromptu reading session with |
What a wonderful evening we had a couple of weeks ago. Roy brought Ulanita, So’oga, Johnson & Felicity (Amuia's daughter & children) over to make
cookies. I surprised them and
made spaghetti and we had supper too. They had a blast making the cookies – snickerdoodles & gaggies. It was the first time they have ever made
cookies. After, we checked out a
whole lot of books for them to look at and I read Hop on Pop to them
– the twins are so fun to work with.
It was such a good reading session and Felicity surprised me and was
very good at picking up the words.
So’oga was a real cook – he loves doing anything to help. We were talking about foods and
Ulanita said she didn’t like mushrooms. Oh-oh, they were in the spaghetti sauce. I didn’t say anything until after we had finished eating and
she expressed that she liked the spaghetti. When I told her there were mushrooms in it, she pulled a
face but didn’t say it was awful. It is just the thought of the mushroom that disturbs her. I sent home a lot of books, traded with
the ones they brought back. I asked
Ulanita if the kids turn off the tv to read and she said yes. That makes all the things I have done
for them worthwhile. Anyway, we
had a great night.
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| Johnson, So'oga & Felicity making snickerdoodles |
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| Ulanita and kids having spaghetti |
We have been staying at Lucia’s in Savaii – Sunday through Wed. so Roy can
work with the South Stake. I have gone one time and filled my time with searching the dead for the Service Center
and I have started indexing for Family Search. It is nice to have something I can do and that modem he has
from the church makes it so I can do something worthwhile while I am there with
him. I won’t come the weeks we
have FHE because I can take care of our duties there. It was so nice to have dinner with the Gouldings at Siufaga
the last time we were both there – the food took FOREVER but was good. Roy is coming home on the ferry today as I stayed behind this week for FHE, etc.
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| Random shot of Roy on PD sitting in Amuia's wheel chair in their fale |
One time at Lucia's, I came back in the afternoon and went out to look at some of the other
apartments to see if the upstairs ones had new air cons (the one on the main floor is great but there were so many bugs that crawl in on the main floor). The room we liked on the second floor doesn’t have a good
air con so we want to try another room. We may as well have the best we can get for the money. As I went out, I grabbed some keys, but alas, it was the car key, not
the room key. Would you believe
they don’t have any master or extra keys? The maids only use the same key they give to us. They had to get a fellow from just
across the road to come and he assured me he had opened the doors before but it
took him 3 trips to get the right equipment. He used a chisel to pry back the door stop and used a knife
to stick in and release the lock. A hammer knocked the stop back in place after!
For FHE this week, Elder & Sister Zwick of the Seventy presented the lesson. It is such a privilege as Senior Missionaries to occasionally have such nice guests. We had a quartet arranged to sing before we knew the program was going to be done by the Zwick's so we sang anyway. Elder Preece used to sing
in the Tab Choir (bass), I am tenor, Sister Roth (dentist’s wife) is alto, and
Sister Partridge is the soprano. We did Christ of the Islands again as most people haven’t heard it
and it fit in with the original theme for the evening. It was fine and we baked cinnamon rolls for treat (yes, and carrots and cukes for those who don't like/can't have sweets).
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| me peeking through the window at Sili at some Elders (Malaga is an AP who was on a split) |
Saturday we went to the RLS pool (apond and waterfall at the base of the trail to his grave) for a cool down about 2:00 with the
Gertsch’s & Roth’s. We played
Rook with the Roth’s that night too and it was fun to have someone to relax
with.
The Service Center had a devotional on Tuesday and it was Brother Paul Coward from NZ and it was his last time as his assignment is being changed. They presented him with a to'oto'o (staff), kava bowl and fu'e (fly switch) (symbols of the Samoan culture) and it was a nice time. The part they liked the best and that I always marvel at is the wonderful singing of the hymns. At the end we sang Tofa my Feleni - just wonderful.
Last night I went to Young Women's and helped them make a Mother's Day Card. I knew I was going to do it sometimes but just found out the day before that it would be the next day. I made up kits for each of the girls and leaders and we had a great time. I borrowed the Roth's car so I didn't have to walk in the heat for 25 minutes.
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| Mother's day card - purse |
The Mission Presidents' Conference for the South Pacific is here in Samoa this time and began yesterday. Friday, Roy & I spent quite a bit of time helping Sister Leota fix up 30 carved kava bowls they had purchased from a new supplier that will be the gift for the presidents. He had shown her a wonderful example of his work, but unfortunately, he had skimped on the kinds of wood and the workmanship was really shoddy. We spent hours sanding the inside and oiling them, Sister Leota re-etched all the wording on the bowls and sprayed them with a finish on the outside to make them look at bit better. I think she won't be using that carver again!
Roy is continuing to have bits of success in his training. He is marvelous at overcoming the challenges he faces and just hopes they will continue recording, transferring, sorting out, etc. the memberships when he leaves each stake. Occasionally he will receive a call from one of the prior units he has worked with asking additional questions and that makes it all worth while.
