September 29th

What a day!! It all started off with me jogging. At 6:50 AM I was rounding a corner of the Pesega School complex and I hear this loud noise like a jet plane was going to land on my head. I looked up and could see nothing and then the ground started to move. The signs were swaying back and forth and I had to stop running because I thought I would fall down. It lasted about 3 minutes. After it stopped I ran home to find Paul at the computer checking to see how bad it was.
Paul said that when the earthquake hit, he was walking down the hall and hanging on to both sides trying to save the pictures. So gratefully we only lost a few pictures, a clock and some water storage bottles fell off the shelve. There was very little damage around Apia except Angel Moroni did drop his horn and his thumb and the stake center behind us, had a crooked steeple, which has now been removed.

I got into the tub and was washing my hair when Paul came running in and said we had to go because there was a tsunami warning. The sirens were going off so I jumped out of the tub and put my tennie runners on, just in case I had to run. We grabbed some water and granola bars and then picked up the couple from across the street, who didn’t have a car and took off for the hills. When we were about 5 minutes out, Paul said “Shoot I forgot to get some Coke Zero.”
It was an amazing thing to see so many people heading for the hills. Whole families were walking with back packs clogging the streets.
We decided to go to our friend Sua’s home up the hill. He lives in American Samoa but is building a home here. He had been trying since the earthquake to get a hold of his family but unable to.
We stayed there for an hour and then decided to go back to our home. We called the Squires and I felt bad that we hadn’t checked on them before we left. They don’t have a car so they had started to walk up the hill when some other members saw them and put them in the back of their truck and dropped them off at the golf course.
We stopped at the golf course on our way home to pick them up. Our phone finally started working and we saw a rather worried email from Jodi. We quickly answered it and then loaded the 6 of us in a car built for 4 and headed for home. We went back to our house and made bacon, eggs and hash browns while watching the international news.
We could get CNN which had some coverage and the local news was in Samoan, so after a while we decided to go to the other side of the island to see the damage for ourselves. We had heard that a tsunami had hit and that some people been washed away but we weren’t sure where or how bad it was.
We took the first cross island road to the other side of the island and when we came down the mountain and turned on the beach road we could immediately see where the wave had hit the town of Poutasi. It was very interesting what was gone and what was still standing. All the cute Samoan Fale’s were gone and some of the homes were damaged and you could see standing water. This was now about six hours after the wave had hit.

As we continued eastward you could see a little more damage here and there. We wanted to see if Tafatafa was seriously damaged. It is a beautiful long beach with little fale’s all along the beach front. What we could see of it was that the fale’s were gone but the homes weren’t too bad. Some members live right behind the beach fale’s and their home was still intact so we asked them how they were doing and they gave us thumbs up sign.

We continued on our trek east and the next place we wanted to see was Vavau. Unfortunately it was chained off so we couldn’t go down that road. That was one of favorite places; the people there have always been so nice to us and hoped it’s not totally destroyed. Just down the road we came to what had been our favorite restaurant, called the Sea Breeze. As we drove down the steep road we could see that it was totally gone. It had been in a beautiful cove with little islands in the bay. The restaurant had great food and we had hoped to take anyone who came here to visit to this little paradise.

The top picture is the before and the bottom picture is the after. Notice that the whole resturant is totally gone on the right.

The rest of the trip was difficult because the road was now so cluttered that the traffic was down to one lane, bumper to bumper with devastation on both sides of the road. The road was washed out or undercut in several places causing us to drive through the actual villages to continue on. At this point we kind of wished that we had not come because we felt like we were intruding on their grief and could do nothing for them. It was hard to see these poor people sitting on what was left of the foundations of their homes or sitting in the trees staring into space.

There was so much debris in the water that it looked like someone had dynamited a city and threw it in the ocean. The water was all brown close to the shore because of all the dirt and debris and the land that had bordered the road was simply gone. There were huge boulders and coral head scattered from the beach inland to the base of the mountain with many on top of people’s homes. There were cars in the trees, in the ocean and smashed on top of the people’s homes.

We had been to this side of the island so many times but now we couldn’t tell where we had been. We thought we were at one of our favorite places but when we got there we weren’t sure if it was the right place. We knew we were close because of the little island in front but since all the homes were gone we just couldn’t tell where we had been. There was no trace of a little pink house that we used to park in front of. We kept wondering if the family from this home made it out with their five little children.
As we turned up the east end of the island going north at Lalomanu you could see that it was the worst of the worst. There was nothing left. There were boats in trees, cars smashed everywhere and the road was mostly gone.

We found the brand new stake center and at first we thought that it had survived. But as we got closer we could see that all the windows were gone and part of the roof was collapsed or missing. It was obvious the building is a total loss.

Our drive had taken us three hours to get to this point, a distance that should have taken us 45 minute. And what was amazing was as soon as we rounded the next corner there was no damage at all.

We headed home and as we got closer to Apia we saw people that looked like they were in a panic. They had back packs on and were all in a hurry. Cars were passing us and honking at us and we couldn’t figure out what was going on. We were about out of gas and hadn’t eaten since breakfast so we were trying to find a place to eat. When we tried to go toward the beach in Apia the police stopped us and said that there was another tsunami warning and told us to head for higher ground.
These poor people didn’t need this at all. As it turned out it was a false alarm and we were able to go home after an hour or so.
When we got home we made some dinner and watched the news. They didn’t seem to do a very good job with the national news but we were able to get a local channel and see what was going on.
It was a very long day for us and an even longer night. Things kept going through my mind all night. “What if it had happened on this side of the island?” What if it happened in the night?” What if we had been out snorkeling? It was a very long night.
There are several stories that we heard that night from another senior couple. Their mission is to take care of all the missionaries’ fale’s. So the president asked them to take a van out to the Elders. They had grabbed tons of water and took off for the other side.
They were down by the stake center that had been destroyed and were asked to go up to the encampment up the hill and hand out water. They returned just a few minutes later and the area that had once been crowded with tons of people was completely empty. They looked around and saw some people running down the road. They drove to them and were told that another tsunami was on its way. The fifteen people jumped in the van and they took off. Poor Sister Eves kept a steady eye on the ocean for the wave to hit them. But thanks goodness it was a false alarm and nothing came.

I just can’t imagine after seeing all the devastation that had just happened to these poor people, to see them running and to be worried that it was going to come again and that you might be swept out to sea with them. Poor Sister Eves was still shaking hours after they got home.
There is a story about the two missionaries who barely got out of their fale and saw the wave coming right at them. They took off running and up to high ground came upon three little children so they picked them up under their arms and just kept running. When they saw the wave was about to hit them and knew that they would not make it they decided to climb a tree. They got the children in the tree and climbed as fast as they could. The first wave hit and they were praying that the tree would hold and that they were high enough. The second one hit and it came further up the tree and they continued to pray. When the third wave hit it came up to their feet and then subsided. They had made it, the tree had held and their prayers were answered.
Another story was that an Elder got a call to get out of his fale and jumped into his van just as the wave hit him. It took his van inland totally destroying it and he walked away.
Two other Elders were in their fale (home) and it was hit by the wave and taken inland totally destroying it and they walked out of it ok.
The mission president has asked all the Missionaries to write about their experiences and submit them to him. He asked them to do it soon so that they wouldn’t forget how things happened to them. It will be interesting to read the accounts of all of them.
By the evening of the earthquake and tsunami, the Church had already loaded three big trucks with food, water and tents and had them on the way to a rescue site. The call went out at 9pm for our stake to bring clothing to the stake center. By 8am the next morning, there was enough clothing, sheets and blankets to fill about 300 large garbage bags and it took three large trucks to haul it all across the island. Later that day another stake had a similar amount and that plus two more trucks of food went out. Most of the islanders were still in shock and the church had already responded with tons of food and clothing. It was an amazing thing to behold and be part of. The rest of the week was meeting after meeting trying to coordinate with Salt Lake on the needs of the people. There is a lot of work and coordinating that has to be done to able to receive outside help.
We have also been trying to get Media releases done, stories written and we have been inundated with 1000 emails. One guy from the U.S. wanted me to find his family and see if they were ok. They lived in Apia so I just told him that Apia wasn’t damaged and so I thought his family would be fine.

Oct 2 2009
Today we went with a small group of members to the other side of the island to help feed the workers and those that were still there trying to find their loves ones. Some of the sisters from our ward made chicken soup and they put them all together into two big coolers. We also had hot dogs, bread, cookies and water. We would drive along until we saw workmen or other people and wave them to the cars. They would come and we would give them a hand full of food. They have been given some food like rice and other subsistence food but it’s hard for them to prepare things living in the hills. So they would come running to the trucks and they were so thankful.

Paul could see some ladies sitting in a fale off in the distance and wondered if they couldn’t make it to the truck so he delivered food to them. One cute lady said “I love you” and she wanted to give him a kiss to thank him. So he puckered up for a big Samoan kiss. I just wished that I could have caught it with the camera.
We couldn’t believe how much work they have done since Tuesday just three days ago. Most of the roads were passable now. They were working on the power lines and the telephone company was there trying to restore communication. People were still there with sticks looking for the missing and picking up belongings. I am so amazed at some of the people picking up wood and stacking it in piles to use to rebuild their homes.

October 6, 2009
Last night a whole group of our ward members assembled hygiene kits. It was a great assembly line of men women and children, packing shampoo, combs, elastics, deodorant, pads and hand wipes. I was just looking around at how the saints just rally around and jump in with both feet and do service. What a great opportunity it is for us to be here so that we serve. We were able to make about 500 kits from the material we had.
We delivered the kits to the Red Cross today and they were so grateful and appreciative. The director came over to us; hugged and kissed u

s expressed her appreciation for the “gifts for the women”. She said these were sorely needed.

Tonight the big airplane from Salt Lake arrives with something like 60 tons of everything imaginable for the aid of those in need. Paul spotted 100 cases of pork and beans on the list and is already wondering what he can trade for some of them. I can’t wait to have some beans in our little home. What a treat. There will be two media people on the plane from Salt Lake that hope to film stories for the Church. We’ve been asked to escort them around the island for a few days and help them in any way we can. That should be fun and interesting.

Busy as little Bee's

Last couple of weeks in August.

It seems that we have been on a dead run the last couple of weeks. We have three projects going and they have required a lot of time and effort on our part.
One of our projects was to get things ready for an Area Presidency visit to Tonga to meet the Prime Minister. The church is donating some money to the country to help with the tragedy of the ferry sinking.
Its always amazing to us the assignments we are given. They wanted a letter of condolence from the Area Presidency to the Prime Minister. They also wanted talking points that they could use in their conversation with the Prime minister, and a biography on the Prime Minister so they would know who they were meeting. They always want to make sure there are no political things said or done that could cause people to think the church supports one party over another and that our donation is not a way to garner favors from the Government. All this we are trying to do from Samoa for the Area Presidency in New Zealand for the Prime Minister in Tonga. We contacted our public affairs people and the area authority in Tonga and ask which topics to talk about and which ones to avoid. Then we had to send a sheet for approval to our director who then takes them to the Area Presidency.
It’s a little intimidating writing letters for another person to present to a Prime Minister but we heard that it all went well!!

Just a new waterfall we found
Our next project is the visit of Sister Allred from the General Relief Society Presidency to Samoa, both here and the other island of Savaii. We were asked to set up a luncheon with two of the top female ministers here. We had to pick the women, send bios on them to the Area Presidency and then ask for their approval. We did the whole process and then found out that they weren’t going to be in town so we had to start over again. We have finally arranged a luncheon with two ladies who are the CEO of those same departments. One is over Health and the other is over Women’s Social Services.

It was just going to be a small intimate group of women with a local Authority and his wife. We wanted it to be casual so that the women could feel free to talk about issues with the women of Samoa. It jumped up to 14 people to the intimate luncheon, nine men and the five women. So we asked them if whe could pare it down a bit so we wouldn’t be overwhelming with male leaders who might overshadow Sister Allred and the two government leaders, so they eliminated Paul and I plus one other sister from the single adult leadership. So then it was down to 11 but the ratio of men to women was even worse. We asked our director from Australia for his help and eventually got the final list down to just 7 people, four women three men. We hope that works better for Sister Allred, Whew!!!

Sister Allred and me. I just loved her

Our third project was a request to get information about a group of 50 from Seattle called The Samoan American Pacific Organization they are being hosted in Salt Lake. No one knows anything about them. We have had to make calls to Seattle, Salt Lake, Australia and New Zealand but came up with nothing. Sometimes we wonder why we are given these assignments but we try anyway. It seemed more appropriate for the public Affairs people in Seattle to check this out but it’s in our lap so we did the best we could. After many days of searching the internet, numerous phone calls etc we finally found a small amount of info telling us that they were from American and Western Samoa originally, most are not members of the Church but they are making this trip to Utah to find out more about our church and the humanitarian services it provides. We produced an information sheet that the hosting people can use to tell them all the good things that the Church is doing in Samoa over the past two years so they will go back home duly impressed.

The "Bronze Samoan God" did have some time to get some snokeling in.

We had to speak in Church a couple of Sunday’s ago and as we were on our way to church we saw a bad car accident just one block from our chapel. The car had hit a power pole and there was one fatality. When we arrived at church the power was out. Our Church starts at 7:30 AM and it was a bit dark inside the chapel. We didn’t have any fans, organ or microphone working so it was going to be a challenge to read our notes or to even be heard. I thought about doing the talk in Braille but they couldn’t see me either.
Our chorister gave us a pitch and we started singing. The youth gave their talks and after the rest song, it was my turn to speak. As I started to walk up to the stand the lights came on and I was able to give my talk just as planned. I told them that it was a sign that we were suppose to speak this day, I should have said “let there be light” but the timing was off just a few seconds. Our talks went well and we were given lots of complements. They were probably just being kind.

Paul was so excited to get hash browns from Jodi that he dumped them on the floor.

September 1st
It is the Teuila Celebration this week and events are going on everywhere. Teuila means adorner of the red hibiscus flower. Each evening you can attend cultural performances. The first night was a choral performance of all of the churches here and our church was amazing. There were over 300 members all in white: the men with pink and fuchsia ties and the women with pink and fuchsia scarves hanging on their shoulders. They sang a Samoan gospel song, a lovely melody of songs and a resound rendition of “I believe in Christ”. It was amazing, the tabernacle choir has never sounded better and it was by far the most impressive choir of the evening. It just makes you proud to be a member of this church. Were are trying to get a copy of the video to post on YouTube so everyone can see and hear it.
The second night was singing and dance groups. The third night was the fire dance competition and it was really good. Fire dancing was started in Samoa and some of the guys we work with were famous for it.
The last night was the Miss Samoa pageant. The Miss Samoa from last year is a member of the church and is so amazing and talented.

The picture above is a little blurry but this is Miss Samoa

This is Paul dancing with one of the contestants for Miss Samoa

Every function that we saw her, she was so beautiful and graceful. She was very cordial and you could just see such a light in her eyes. She has been such a great example to all the girls and other contestants. She is a returned missionary and lives in West Jordan. She has been living here for the year so that she could attend all the functions of the reigning Miss Samoa. Two of the contestants this year are members of the church but neither of them won.
Part of the celebration includes a bazaar where they have little booths set up on the grass behind the Government buildings. They are selling jewelry, tapa cloth prints and wood carving pieces.

They also had long boat races that were fun to watch.

They have wood carving competitions going on and they are amazing with what they can make with just rudimentary tools.

They even have a fale were they are doing the traditional tattoos on men. They don’t use the modern electronic tattoo tools; they use a needle made of bone, attached to the end of a little stick and then hit it with another little stick. “Oh My Gosh”, it looked so painful. A lot of people, men and women, have tattoos here. Some of the men have them from the waist to the caves. It is a tradition that is hard to break because it has always been a way of life here. Many local Church leaders are doing their best to overcome this tradition by teaching the principal that heavenly father made our bodies and we should not use it for and art board.
September 7, 2009
Today is the first day of driving on the left side of the road. There has been so much controversy in Samoa about this with many heated exchanges in the paper and protests by Bus operators that are required to cut new doors on the other side of their bus’s and move the steering wheel. They say the cost is over $50,000 Tala.

So far, only 16 out of a hundred or so bus’s have made the required change so most of the island people will be walking until the dispute is resolved as the new law won’t permit bus’s without left hand exit doors on the road. Articles have been in the paper everyday with nasty letters to the Prime Minister and a big lawsuit but even after all that they went ahead with the change.
They made it a National Holiday so that there wouldn’t be so many people on the road during the first two days of the switch. They had police on all of the main intersections and the thing that cracked us up was seeing first aid stations here and there to take care of the possible injured.On some of the corners there was a Red Cross sign with two men, a stretcher and a first aid kit. No car or ambulance just two men standing on the corner. They also held a blood drive last week to make sure there were sufficient supplies of blood at the hospitals just in case. The real problem will come in a few days when people think they have it down and start driving while drunk and forget which side of the road to be on. We’ll stay home at night for a while.
We will have to get used to driving on the left side all over again. It became second nature to Paul after a little while living in New Zealand and he even got the windshield wipers down. Then we come here and go back to driving on the right hand side. It did take a little getting used to but now we are back in the groove just in time to change back. Paul always hopes that whenever he turns and flips the wipers on by mistake, that the cars behind us will know that we are turning. Our only problem is our car is left hand drive and we have to drive on the left hand side. It’s kind of tough to pass a vehicle when you can’t see around the one in front of you without pulling out too far. It will take both of us to drive. My mom always said that it takes four eyes to drive one car.

I thought I would show you how cute my first hair cut in Samoa was.

Our couple of the week is really a family this time. We have had a great privilege of meeting James and Brenda Winegar and their cute daughter Becca. Brenda is Chad Hansen’s cousin in our home ward. They are from Provo Utah and are here on mini six week mission. Jim served here as a young missionary, he and another returned missionary, Rex Maughn have been very instrumental in restoring the home of Robert Lewis Stevenson.

This the view from Robert Lewis Stevenson's bedroom.
Robert Lewis Stevenson lived here the last five years his life and built a beautiful home in the middle of the jungle. He died here and is buried on a mountain top close to the home.
These two returned missionaries have put millions of dollars into this plantation and it is now a beautiful, serene place to visit.
We were invited to a big dinner party held there last week with dignitaries, news media, the Miss Samoan contestants and other special guest. It was a beautiful evening with great food and the entertainment was amazing. I love to see the Samoan’s sing and dance. Their voices are so beautiful and the women are so graceful in their dancing.

Becca Winegar, Jim’s daughter, is an amazing 31 year old girl who happens to have Down syndrome. She is so highly functioning that you almost don’t think of her as being handicapped. When she speaks she sometimes stutters but when she sings, she has no problems at all. She can carry a tune and when she sang for a family home evening a week ago, she had everyone in tears. She sang a song called “Just like you” by Janis Kapp Perry.
The evening of the Celebration she and Nathan Wendt, another Down’s syndrome boy performed the song from South Pacific 101 pounds of fun and the song from Oaklahoma. They had the whole audience laughing and got a standing ovation.
She knows her scriptures better than I do. They are completely marked up and her book is twice as big because she has so many notes in them. We went to the temple last week and the sister who took her through the veil was in tears after Becca went through. She said that she had most of it memorized and needed very little help. It’s so amazing to be around her because you know that she is so close to the Lord and is a perfect human being. We just love her.
She and Paul have a thing going about the Y and the U. She knows everything about the Y football team, names, dates, she is an avid fan. Paul gives her a bad time about it. One day she and he were going at it when Paul said “a Utah fan needs love too”. She stopped, looked at him and you could tell she was very thoughtful about it and then agreed with him.
The Winegars are also very instrumental in helping children with special needs here. They are very instrumental in helping the families know that their children can learn and function in society. Paul and Jim became great friends and we were able to get Jim to write a few articles for the paper about Down syndrome children and the Robert Lewis Stevenson Museum and the Utah missionary connection. They are an amazing family and we have felt it a privilege to know them.
This is my twin sister. Everyone gets us mixed up. Sister Squire and I just answer to anything now. Two palagies(white people) We all look a like to them!!!!!

(The Gout Came Back). Paul had a major attack right in the middle of one of the cultural performances and had to get up and leave. By the next morning his foot was really swollen and none of his pills seemed to work. By Saturday morning it was so big that it looked like the Pillsbury dough boy and his toes were starting to disappear. We took him to the hospital and the doctor said this was normal for Samoa as the heat and humidity seem to aggravate the situation. She gave him a shot and tons of pills to take over the next week. By yesterday, the swelling was down and he could get his flip flop on again, he even tried to go snorkeling but the winds were so high that it would have been too dangerous so we just drove back home.
Elder Jessop arrived from American Samoa and brought him a Ukulele last night so I suspect he will learn to play it just enough to be annoying and go off into the sunset singing and dancing in his Lava Lava to the delight of the local members. Or maybe not time will tell.

This is Paul watching the Utah game. We skyped Brandon who put his camera on his TV. They both had a microphone and earphone and if you look closely at the screen you can see Brandon with his head in front of his camera and Paul doing we're number one. It was really fun for them to be able to talk to each other while watching the game.

Another Adventure

Aug

The other day Paul had just come out from his evening snorkeling adventure and was drying off when a local villager came along with a machete. He thought perhaps he was going to cut off his head for violating his beach. He came right over to where he was standing and started climbing a coconut tree. Paul asked him what he was doing and he said "getting a drink". Paul said great, get me one too. He climbed up to the top of the tree and twisted off 4 coconuts and dropped them to the ground. He climbed down and found a large branch and cut both ends to a point. He then pushed it into the ground and began pounding the coconut on the sharp point while twisting it from side to side. It only took him a few seconds to have the entire husk off and then he cut the top off the small remaining coconut and handed it to Paul. He motioned for Paul to take a drink. It was very good with just a hint of coconut flavor. He showed him how to reach inside with his fingers and pull out the very soft white meat of the young coconut. It felt like soft cheese. He said that it was delicious and ate the whole thing. He did the same with his coconut and then went off to play with his little daughter. His name was Red. Paul didn't get a last name but he said he lived right there in the little village that he walks through to get to the beach. He wondered why the coconut wasn't hard like the ones you buy. He said those are older and look black up on the tree. These were still kind of green and much younger and therefore very soft inside.

On Saturday Aug 1st we decided to drive over to the black sand beach. We had been told that it was closed because they are filming Survivor near there. We found the road going to the beach through the jungle and the sign said that you needed four wheel drive but we had been told that it wasn’t too bad so we decided to try it anyway. The first part was a little rough but not too bad then we came to the river. It had covered about 70 yards and as we drove in we noticed that the water came up to the top of our tires. We were, or should I say I, was a little nervous but Paul just barreled on through. Our battery light came on and the air conditioning stopped but we continued on.

After we went through the first river we came upon a car coming the other way and we asked them if the rest of the road was better or worse. They said that the first river was the worst and that there were just a few more but not as deep or as long as the one we had just gone through so we continued on our merry way. He mentioned that the week before, when he came through, his car started to float away and he could hear the tires spinning in the water. I guess he made it because he was here to tell about it.
We made it to the beach and found that we were the only ones there. After we had been there for about 30 minutes another car pulled in so we didn’t feel so isolated. They came over and we were talking to them and found out that he was here filming the Survivor series for TV and his wife had flown over from San Diego for a couple of weeks to visit. We discovered that he was originally from Utah and he said that he had gone to Ghetto Tech, Paul said “West High” and he said yes. It turned out that they were members of the church. It’s so amazing that we come all the way around the world and drive to a secluded jungle beach and run into an Utahan that went to West High, what are the chances. The snorkeling was not great but it was a beautiful beach and we enjoyed the afternoon talking to Russ and his cute wife and little boy. They came to our ward the next day so we got to see them one more time before they had to go back to the other side of the island to work. Nice people.
On Monday we learned that we would be going to Savaii, the Big island of Samoa, to help with a water project at a small village there. We had asked the humanitarian people to take us along on their next trip so we could help out and then take some pictures and notes for a newspaper article. So on Wednesday afternoon we loaded up our bags and drove down the island to the ferry boat landing. The drive takes about an hour. You sit in line for an hour and then the boat ride to Savaii takes just over an hour.
It was raining but the seas were calm so the trip went very smoothly although a little wet. All the seats inside were taken so we choose to sit on the open deck and the rickety roof over our heads provided a steady little drip, drip, drip to keep us from going asleep and missing the view.
We arrived on Savaii just after 5pm and went down the stairway to where the cars are parked. Trouble was, the door had been bolted from the other side and the attendant wouldn’t open it. The lady in front of us kept pounding on the door but still the attendant would not open up. We were second in line and the stair well was backed up with people all the way to the top and beyond. There was no going back. Finally after being in port for want seemed like 15 minutes, (really only 5) he let us out. We discovered that our car was the only one left in the bay. We later found out that just before landing, they announced on the loud speaker (in Samoan) that car owners need to come down the center stairwell to board their cars. The speaker was terrible and of course we don’t understand Samoan. But we learned a valuable lesson here. Get to your car early and use the center stairwell.
Our hotel was just down the road from the ferry so we were at our hotel and ready for a nice hot shower and dinner in a matter of minutes. The room was cheap, $129. Tala, ($40 US a night) and looked every bit the part. One decent sized bed and one couch bed. A small sink and fridge, (disconnected) and a small bathroom with a sink and shower stall.
Paul jumped in first and turned on the water. I heard a loud gasp as the cold water came down. He turned the tap left (cold water) and then right, (more cold water) After much adjusting he finally found the answer, more cold water. I checked both sinks and came to the same conclusion. This room does not have hot water. Great! I decided to forgo my shower until after dinner when we could talk to the hotel management. (A small girl at the front desk)
The restaurant look very nice with a wonderful view of the palm covered beach and ocean. I ordered a grilled chicken breast fillet with veggies. Paul ordered Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. We waited for what seemed like 30 minutes or more and our scrumptious meal arrived. There was just one little problem, it wasn’t what we ordered. Instead of a grilled chicken breast I had deep fried leg and thigh with some kind of thick cheese sauce over the top. Paul got what looked like spaghetti noodles but with some kind of cheese sauce mixed with meat served cold on a lettuce leaf. (gross) He took one bite and pushed it aside, I shared my deep fried leg with him, it wasn’t what I ordered but at least it was hot and edible.
We would have sent both orders back but it took too long to get this one and we were tired and wanted to take a hot shower and go to bed. We stopped at the front desk to inquire about the water and were told that all the rooms on that side of the hotel do not have hot water. We asked if we could move to the other side of the hotel and she said sure, but they don’t have hot water either. We asked if any of their rooms had hot water and she said only the new section overlooking the beach but the room would be 2 1/2 times as much. We decided to stay where we were for the night and worry about it tomorrow.
We met our two companions, George and Danny from Humanitarian services, at the complementary breakfast the next morning. Danny is 74 and was a very famous fire dancer in his younger days. He performed in Hawaii, England, Lebanon and eventually Southern California where he stayed and raised his family. George is 64 and was a professional singer and wrestler in his younger days. He performed with Elvis Presley in the movie Blue Hawaii and showed us some pictures of him relaxing with Elvis between takes.
We ate a meager breakfast of toast, cereal and papaya, and headed off for the other end of the island. Our destination was the village of Neiafu located about half way around the island and a two hour drive.
About an hour into the drive, we received a call telling us that a ferry boat, traveling between two of the Tongan island had capsized and sank during the night with the majority of the passengers’ going down with the boat. Early estimates said that there were 85 on board and only 40 had been rescued.
Our Auckland office wanted us to contact our Tongan representative to get the whole story as soon as possible. We soon learned that there were actually 154 people on board and only 45 were rescued. The rest, including 18 members of the Church went down with the ferry in over 300 ft of water .A tragic accident.
The final story came out yesterday saying that the ferry started leaking shortly after leaving port at 5pm. They found that the pumps were not working so the crew was trying to bail the cargo hold out with small buckets. As the compartment filled up with water, the cargo made a sudden shift to one side and the boat rolled over and sank. Only those who were on an outside deck and the captain survived. (All men) All the women and children plus the other men, went down with the ship. They said it sank in just two minutes. One member of the crew said that he saw another crew member who was a recent return missionary; try to run back inside to help a little girl who was screaming, nether were seen again. Only two bodies were recovered that floated to the surface. The rest remain in their watery grave. This has been a real tragedy for the people of Tonga.
In spite of the horrible news we traveled the rest of the way to Neiafu to complete the water project. The village is located at the end of a long dirt road right on a beautiful beach. It’s a rather small village with 30 or so fale’s. You could tell that the village is very poor with little means to make a living and only one old truck for transportation.

We were greeted by the village elder and after exchanging pleasantries they helped us unload the two 600 gallon water tanks and set them on the concrete pads that they had poured the previous week. The collection system consisted of one long piece of PVC rain gutter, perhaps 14ft long and pipe to carry the water to an opening in the tank. The fale’s were carefully selected based on the condition of the metal roof. It would only take one side of the roof to keep this large tank full of water all year. It rains a lot in these islands.

We wondered about the cleanliness of the water coming off the roof and were told that the majority of the villages get their water this was and it’s clean enough to drink.

This village has been relying on four old wells that were dug over 100 years ago. They were very shallow, about 4ft deep and the water was not clean at all. To make matter even worse, when the high tide comes in, the wells get polluted with sea water making it too salty to even drink. It always tastes salty, even when the tide is out but they were drinking it anyway.

We finished the first tank by about 1pm and were about to go to the next home when the village elder came out and invited us to have lunch with them. We walked into their humble little fale and found the aged mother sitting on the floor weaving a large mat. She told me that she used to be able to make a mat like this in about a week but with her old age it now took her over a month.

They brought chairs into the room for George and me and Paul. Poor old Danny, the oldest of our group at 74, elected to sit on the floor. They pulled a little table over in front of Paul and me and then brought out plates of food. The meal consisted of a half of a cooked bread fruit. Two scoops of white rice. A large chicken leg in a little bowl of broth and a cup of some kind of chopped up meat, probably corned beef. The chicken leg was the best and the broth tasted very good. The corned beef would have been better hot but was not too bad.

The village Chief gave a little speech in Samoan said a prayer and we began to eat. Paul, after taking just two bites of his chicken, had a black and white cat appear between his legs. It sat staring intently at his food and then suddenly without as much as a meow, sprang onto the table and in a flash he disappeared with Paul’s chicken leg. I have heard of cat reflexes but this was amazing. We had two little boys fanning us as we ate. When they saw the cat grab the chicken leg, their eyes got as big as saucers, and they even looked frightened. Paul and I just started to laugh and they relaxed with a big smile.
It was a humbling experience to be in such a poor home, have them feed us such a big meal, with young boys fanning us as we ate.
The next water tank went a lot faster because the men now knew how to do it and put all the pipes together in about 30 minutes. As we were watching the work we noticed these darling children watching us and I couldn’t help but start playing with them. They would call me Palangi which means a white person. So when they would say it, I would run after them. If I caught them I would pull their little pony tails. They would laugh and the game started all over again.

I then started to say things in English and they would say it in Samoan. The only English they knew was “give us your money”. I thought that was quite funny.

We finished the second tank, said our goodbyes and hit the road. Paul and I decided to take the road around the other side of the island to go back to our hotel. This way we would have driven completely around Savaii. It took us a lot longer than we thought it would. It started to rain and then we came upon a huge flock of flying foxes or fruit bats.

They get up to 3 feet wing spans. They stretched out for more than a mile. There had to be thousands. One of our friends said that they are very good eating. Taste like chicken liver.

It was dark by the time we made it back to the town we were staying in and it was a little daunting trying to find the Hotel. There are no road signs, no road lighting and all we could remember was that we thought there was a traffic light on the corner where we were suppose to turn. Paul told me not to worry because he had iron boogers and would never get lost. We did find our hotel, right where we left it, and were anxious for another chance at having a good meal.
They messed up my order again. I got mashed potatoes for rice and I’m not sure what was under the sauce of the so called grilled chicken breast with herbs. Paul got mostly what he ordered so all in all we were ok.
We got up the next morning to a heavy rain storm and decided to head back to Upolu for two reasons. One was because of the Tongan ferry accident. We wanted to be able to on top of it for the Area President and two I was hungry for some better food. We had taken peanut butter and jam with us and it has never tasted so good.
On the way back to the ferry I told Paul that we should get out our snorkeling stuff and keep it with us on top of the boat, so that if the boat started to sink we could swim for safety. He gave me the thumbs up on that one.
All and all it was an amazing adventure.

This is our future dinner.

Our feature Missionary couple this week is, President Phillip Hanks and his companion, Sister Dawn Hanks.
Sister Hanks was born in Tetonia and live there until they married. They met at Teton High school. President Hanks was also born in Tetonia Idaho in 1932. He lived there until he left for college at Idaho State University where he earned a degree in Music Education.
He served a mission to Samoa from 1953 to 56 and they came back to Samoa in 1958 as a school teacher and stayed until 1961. He was called that year to be the Mission President of the Samoan mission at the ripe old age of 29. He and sister Hanks arrived with two children and left with four at the end of their call. They returned home in 1965 and he earned his Master’s Degree and a Doctorate in Education.
They lived and worked in Parowan Utah for a few years and then returned to Salt to take a job with the CES department of the Church. In 1993 they came back to Samoa and worked with the Church Education system for three more years.
They retired in 1996 and served another mission for the Church until 1998. In 2000 they were called to a mission in the Ukraine. They served a second mission to the Ukraine from 2003 to 2004 and then to the Freiberg Temple from 2006 to 2007. Their latest call came in 2008 to be Temple President in Samoa.
An interesting little side note. In 1961 they had just finished their teaching contract in Samoa and were planning to take a position in New Zealand for the next four years. The First Presidency had sent a letter to Samoa calling him to be the Mission President which read “Please let us know within the next five days if this will not work for you”. The letter was held up in the U.S. for several weeks due to an airline strike and before it even arrived, the announcement and his photo appeared in the Church news as the new mission president for Samoa. All their family members knew about the calling before he did.

Pioneer day in Samoa

July 22, 2009
On Saturday we had another exciting adventure. We went snorkeling over on the south side of the island. We first stopped at the Coconut Beach resort that Paul had read an article about last week. We were scanning articles that mentioned the Church and this one popped up. It was from a dive magazine and the writer had come to Samoa to do some diving and snorkeling. As he was describing the sites as he drove along the north side of the island, he mentions the Huge Mormon Temple that towers above everything else. That was the only mention of the Church but Paul had to read the whole article and discovered that it had a wealth of information about great dive and snorkeling sites. One of them was near the Coconut Beach Resort and it said to check with Roger at the dive shop. Paul went in and asked for him but the lady at the desk had never heard of him. We asked some other people and finally discovered that he had moved away probably 5 years ago and no one there had any idea where the place was as mentioned in the article. We later discovered that the article was from 1989 and we have no idea why the scanning service that we pay for picked it up now. In any event we were out to snorkel and snorkel we did, but not at that resort. We drove about ten miles east to a beach they we had been to before at Vavau. It was incredible. I can’t believe how beautiful the Coral and fish are. There were so many different types.
The blue star fish is my favorite because it is such a bight blue lying on the white coral and makes such a great contrast. We also saw an eel that was all the way out of its hole just lying on the sand. It had really different designs on its back which kind of resembled a rattle snake or something similar.

The couple we were with had just brought their new underwater camera and were on their way over to take a picture but it swam back into the coral before they could get a shot. They took all of these pictures you see here. We also saw several star fish which are called Crown of Thorns. It's below

They are very big and beautiful. They have a grey colored skin with bright red thorns covering their entire body. The first time we went snorkeling, we only saw one of these and thought they were somewhat rare. Today they were all over the place and we probably saw ten or more so I guess they aren’t that rare after all.

This picture is so great because you can see the reflection of the top of the water in it.
Paul and I were on our way back to shore when Paul turned out toward the reef to look at something. All of a sudden we felt like we had entered a river with the current flowing very fast toward the ocean. The coral was getting very shallow and the current was pulling us out to sea over the coral. I didn’t have gloves on and was flying along when Paul, who was able to grab the coral, caught me by my fin and helped me to turn around. He hung onto the coral with one hand and me with the other, pulling us along until I could start swimming again. It had been too shallow to swim because you would hit the coral with your arms and legs. We pulled and swam just a short distance and then it was calm again. We came out with very little damage; I only had a few scraps on my hand and one leg. My other leg must have washed out to sea. Just kidding. We were a little tired after that and had a good rest on the sandy beach.

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On the way home we decided to stop at the National Park where they have this nice little waterfall. There were several pools at different levels. From the upper level of the falls you have an 8 foot jump into the first pool. It looked a lot higher to me but I was looking down at the pool and it’s a bit deceiving. Once you’re in the first pool, there is no way out but to jump into the next pool down. This one is about ten or more feet. There was no turning back once you made that first jump because the stairs that go back up are all the way at the bottom. Paul just jumps right off without a care in the world. I’m a bit more cautious and checked the situation out a little better. I was worried that I might hit the bottom of the pool but I closed my eyes and jumped and was amazed that I never touched the bottom. It was much deeper than I thought.

This is Paul's jumping off the first waterfall.

This is the second jump but you can't see how high is was.
It was great to be in fresh water and I was amazed that I never got cold. In fact I haven’t been cold since we got here. Well, almost never, the other night it got down to 75 and I had to get up and put on a long sleeve shirt. They have a saying here that if you ever get cold, you need to turn off the Air Conditioner.

Shopping at the out door market

Pat trying to pick out some new coconuts

We have had meetings this week with several retired members who now dedicate their time to helping those who are less fortunate. They are Felix Wednt, George Hunt and Daniel Vaoifi. They work as volunteers in the humanitarian services area trying to help others succeed. We’re hoping that they can help us come up with some good ideas for Public Affairs, to help further the work in the islands. They have a really good feel for what’s going on here and seem to know most of the important government contacts that can make things happen. And since we’re always looking for good material for news articles, they can supply us with the information we need from their many projects to just about fill our need for the rest of the year. Right now they are working on several projects including Water systems for remote villages, Computers for a Catholic School and the handover of one of our older churches to a village for use as a community building. We will try to accompany them to island of Savaii next week to help install water tanks and collection pipes for a new water system. We hope to get some good photos and perhaps a few quotes from the village elders about what the new water system will mean for their village. In many of the more remote villages, there currently is no water source and the villagers must spend much of their time each week walking, hiking or paddling canoes to a fresh water source and then back again.
The other day we saw an older lady pushing a wheel barrow along a jungle road with water jugs that she had filled from a spring and was now taking them back to her village. They have to work very hard for things that we just take for granted and it’s such a blessing to see the Church provide so many good things to make their lives just a little better.
We met with our director for public affairs again this week and he is starting to get the vision of what Public Affairs is all about. We get all excited when things start to happen and we see the work moving forward. We have had two stories published in the two weeks we’ve been here so things are progressing nicely

This is Sister Shuster from American Samoa, her husband is the PA Director from there. She is so cute and we love her.

We also met with the PA director from America Samoa this week and took him and his wife to lunch. They are wonderful people. He worked for the U.S. government most of his life while they were living in California. After he retired he decided to move back to Samoa where he could find ways to help the Samoan people improve their lives. They currently live in American Samoa where most of their children are but spend a fair amount of time in Western Samoa where they are building a second home. Or should we say a forth home, because they still own a home in Seattle, and have two homes in American Samoa. He has children living in those extra ones. His wife is a cousin to the royalty in Tonga and Su’a is a chief in American Samoa.

After a busy week of meetings, it was fun to enjoy a Saturday celebration of our pioneer heritage with the members of our ward. In honor of both the original pioneers from the U.S. and also the early Samoan pioneers here on the islands. They decided to have a short trek up the canyon to a place called Saniatu (Prepare to go forth). Everyone met at the main road and then the hearty ones made the 4.5 mile trek up to the property. The road started out fairly steep but quickly leveled out and was just slightly uphill the rest of the way. We had been assigned to drive up and down the canyon ferrying the drivers of cars back down to the starting point after they had parked their vehicles at the top. Once we had everyone on the road, then we just made sure that everyone was OK and not in need of help. Many of the older members also walked and they are in the late seventies. Pat joined in the walking about half way up and made it to the top with just a few blisters for her trouble. Since I’m still having trouble with the joints in my big toes, I stayed in the car to provide help and water to anyone that needed it.

Once there we enjoyed a delightful afternoon of playing in the water, jumping off cliffs into beautiful ponds that are fed by stunning waterfalls.

This is Paul and Sister Anderson. Notice that everyone wears their clothes when they swim.

Our Dinner was hot dogs and sausage’s and we ate until we were about to burst (they call this a sausage sizzle) and then we listened to the stories of the early Samoan Pioneers and all the trials that they faced after joining the Church.

Our sausage sizzlesSaniatu is an 800 acre piece of land that the Church purchased from a German rubber plantation back in the late 1800’s. As missionaries went forth teaching and baptizing people, a problem arose when many of them were rejected by their villages for joining the new Church.
They were expelled and even assaulted with stones and clubs and told to never come back. They had nowhere to go so the Church bought this land as a haven where they could live in peace. There were many tales of the hard ships and trials that they experienced over the years as well as the many miracle’s that they witnessed of healings of the sick, turning away storms and lightning by priesthood power, and many others.
We have found that the Samoan Saints have such great faith and testimonies and miracles are almost a daily occurrence for them. One group of saints after being rejected by their village, were told that they had to pay for their past food that had been consumed in the village. Not having any money or other earthly goods to use as payment. The group promised to pay the village back just as soon as they could harvest crops from the new land they were going to. The village elders rejected this offer and demanded payment before they would let them leave. All they had was the clothes on their backs so they gave them everything that they owned and then made the trek to Saniatu totally naked.

We suggested that they recreate that version of the trek on Saturday as we were sure that it would make a splash in the local news papers. We public affairs people are always thinking, that’s what we’re good at.
Over the years, the Church has developed the property and today it has a beautiful school, a modern chapel and homes for all the teachers. It sits in a most beautiful setting with streams running along both sides of the property, with cascading waterfalls and pools along the way. The Prophet David O. McKay paid a visit to the site in 1921 and declared it the first Temple in the pacific. A traditional Samoan Fale was built for this most special occasion and remains to this day with a plaque identifying it as the McKay Fale. It was truly a marvelous day and one that we will remember for a long time.

This is the McKay Fale

The Kimball's, Squire's and us eating fish and chips before the trek.
Our featured couple this week is Elder Ron and Sister Janice Squire. Ron was born in 1948 in Canyon city Colorado and was raised in Westcliffe Colorado. He attended Western State College and majored in mathematics. Upon graduation he took a position as a High school Math teacher in Snow Flake Arizona. There is an old story that still circulates around the town, to the effect that Ron and his friend rode into Snow Flake on Harley Davidson Motorcycles with sporting long hair and beards. Ron denies this story and said he didn’t buy a motorcycle until years later but local residents swear by their version.

Ron worked in the school system and eventually became the principal of the school. He was a non-member when he and Janice married in 1973 and joined the Church in 1996 after attending and holding calling for much of that time. He eventually became Bishop and also worked in the Boy Scouts, Young men and Stake High council.

Janice was born in Rigby Idaho and raised in Ririe Idaho on a Dairy farm near the Snake River. She lived there until going off to first Ricks College and then BYU where she received a teaching degree. She was offered a job at the High School in Snow Flake Arizona. Where she met Ron and married in 1973. She was a lifelong member of the Church. They have 4 children 2 girls 2 boys. And have 8 grand children with one on the way. This is their first mission and they are serving in the CES dept. They teach school in Apia and will begin teaching local teachers in the next month. The Squire’s have become great friends, and we spend most Saturday’s with them, exploring the island and snorkeling in the beautiful ocean around Samoa.