Roy left after sacrament to go to Savaii on Sunday the 22 of April.  I stayed home that time as it was FHE and we should be here once in awhile as we are Senior Zone Leaders.  We had a quartet arranged consisting of  Elder Preece (who 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 theme for the evening, although the evening changed because  Elder Zwick was here (from the 70) and they presented the lesson. What a pleasure to have them with us. 

This turtle was swimming in the Rock Pool at Lucia's

She bore a powerful testimony about sharing the gospel and the influence her handicapped son has on everyone, including a couple he presented a Book of Mormon to in Thailand while he was able to serve a one week mission with his brother while his parents were on assignment in another part of Asia.  The couple actually joined the church and said they would never have accepted the book from anyone else but this young man had said to them  “I can’t read, but my parents read this book to me and I know it is true”.   One statement she made and I can’t remember who she was quoting was an answer to the question “What makes people happy?   “Happiness is when body and mind are stretched to limits to accomplish something worthwhile, voluntarily”.    Does that describe a mission?  Does that describe raising a family?  Does that describe a lot of the things we undertake in life?  The Lord will expand our capacities if we will just allow him to.

Elder Zwick was talking about the missionary statistics of senior couples and they now have applications from 80 couples per week that pass through the missionary department.  He emphasized that rescue is as important as the actual conversion. One of his main responsibilities is the missionary department of the church.

Tuesday morning we had a devotional at the Service Center with Brother Paul Coward who has worked as the DTA (?) out of Australia or NZ – I can’t remember where he was serving.  He will be replaced and he will go on to another assignment.  He was also involved somehow this week with the Mission President’s Conference held here in Samoa. 

Part of the choir at the Mission President's Conference

Elder Ormsby - doing missionary work as soon as the choir was finished while the rest were having photos taken!

We (office couple, nurse couple, housing couple and Sister Tuivaiti and us) were asked to join two zones of junior missionaries to sing our mission song at the Mission President’s Conference.  We practiced at the Navu chapel and then went to Aggie Grey’s to sing.  We were able to visit a tiny bit with some of the presidents, including Elder & Sister Smiberg (John & Mereda’s current mission pres) & Dr. & Sister Burton – the South Pacific Area Dr. who we took around Savaii in December. 

The next day we had arranged with the Roth’s (dentist & hygienist) to bring Johnson, Felicity and Nance in to have their teeth checked and worked on.  They had never been to a dentist before except that Felicity had a bit of a filling on the front of one tooth that someone had come to the school and done.  They had extractions, cleanings and fluoride treatments and will return for more work in a couple of weeks.  Nance has advanced gum disease and was given instructions on the use of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and will come back later.  The twin’s older brother Lennie came in with them to check out the dentist and kind of shadow a bit to see if it is something he would like to go into as he is going to be going to Pago shortly.  Well, the Roth’s were impressed with him (his English is excellent as he went to Colorado on a mission) and he came in to volunteer at the dental office this past week and will help for a few months before he leaves.

We did a reading at our ward last Saturday am (all agreed this was the best time) and only one other parent showed up besides us.  It is frustrating but just the way things are here.  We also stopped by to see the twins and to exchange books with them on Saturday.  They did fairly well post-dental and are willing to go again, even though they had needles in their mouth.  This is such a major thing for them to have their teeth fixed.  Most people just carry on until their teeth rot out (like Nance) and it is sad.  We hope this can make a difference in the lives of at least a few people.

We had a nice weekend with a bit of visiting with friends (Partridge, Gertsch, Roth).

I was reading Nathan Innis’s blog this weekend and was so surprised at his entry stating that he was going to talk about what he had learned the past week.  I had been focusing on the same article in the Liahona (Ensign) and that was Elder Bednar’s talk about the Atonement, given at a BYU Devotional given in 2001.  The most inspiring part is realizing that the Atonement is meant to strengthen and empower, not just redeem and cleanse.  This is a powerful article.

OK – Thursday, April 26 at 5:56 pm, Brooke and Aric met little Sylas Alexander Wutzke.  He was born c-section after over 24 hours labor.  I was able to skype with Brooke before she went in and then the long wait began.  Thank goodness for cell phones as we were able to text back and forth and I was able to call over skype to her cell phone.  He was 9 lb 13 oz and 22 inches long.  As we were driving to the wharf on Sunday we were able to use the modem and call Brooke over the computer and meet little Sylas in person. What a sweet baby!  He looks a little more Harker than Naomi did but we will wait and see.  His eyes were closed so we look forward to see an awake look sometime.  Sylas shares Benson’s birthday – who turned 5 on Thursday. It was very hard for me to not hop on a plane and go help Brooke.  Her Relief Society has already arranged some meals so that is good. we sure love this cutie.

Yes, he is a boy - see the blue blanket, although the dominant color is pink in this photo. 

The trip to Savaii was fairly nice.  I went with Roy to each of the sessions and did some indexing and also searching the records for death dates.  It was a couple of very long days but nice to be with him.  We spent some time talking with Lucia, the owner of Lucia’s Lagoon Chalets where we stay – very nice woman.  They certainly have staffing difficulties and the ones they do have are overworked.  They begin about 7:00 in the morning and go until after the last dinner customer at night – sometimes up to 10:00 and if they are lucky, a break during the day.  This goes on for 7 days per week.  Sometimes Tui (a very likeable young man) just doesn’t come in but can you blame him for just wanting a rest?

We like to ride outside up top to get the breeze and view

It is phone bill time again – over 900 pages this time (700 last time).  Why don’t they learn to obey the rules?  Obedience is the first law of heaven and some have not learned that yet!   

We just had a meeting this am with the FHE District Leaders (for the Senior Couples) and it was so good to get everyone's input for organization and activities.  We really appreciate all the wonderful people we have here.  More are coming (The Fifes will be temple missionaries) and we will have an exchange of a few couples with about 3 going home before June is finished.  We are so blessed to have so much strength here.