Talofa Lava from Samoa.  Today is June 20th.  We haven't blogged for almost two months.  We went home to be with Reed's family during his fathers struggle and death.  We will share a few of our traveling adventures and things that took place as soon as we got back to Samoa.

We left Samoa on May 4th and arrived in Honolulu on May 3rd.  We gained a whole day.  We had a 15 hour layover so we rented a car and drove around Oahu to see some sights.  First stop, a macadamia nut farm.  We bought some macadamias and enjoyed them.  We ran into some people that were on their way to the Temple to see a nephew get married.  Of course, us wearing our name badges was a dead give away who we were.

 Next stop was near a little island called China Man's Hat.  It was strange to us after being in Samoa to be on a free, public beach and people were sitting around enjoying the weather and beach.

 

Next stop was Kualoa Ranch.  We took a bus tour around to see where they filmed parts of different movies.  Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Pearl Harbor, 50 First Dates, Journey 2 to mention a few.  It was a very large and beautiful ranch.

 

Who are these famous movie stars?  Then we drove to the Laie Temple.  We took some pictures and went into the visitors center.  We ran into a Sister serving there from Samoa close to the school campus where we live and teach.  Such a small world.

 

 When we left the Temple grounds we headed to the North Shore and ate at Kahuku Grill.  Best coconut shrimp we've had in a very long time.  Yum!  We ran into a couple there who wanted to talk to us about our mission and said they we were getting ready to send two daughters on missions.  If you are ever in Oahu we would certainly recommend this food!  A Stake President owns and runs it.  We then stopped at North Shore and looked at the ocean and beach, stopped at Dole Plantation, took the car back and headed to the airport for another red eye to Phoenix then Salt Lake City

 

 
 
 

We arrived in Salt Lake City at 10:10 a.m. Saturday May 4th after two red eyes and a 15 hour layover.  We gained a day but we had still been up for 48 hours and were tired.  Sally, Bentley, Case and Jane surprised us at the airport.  It was so good to hug and kiss them.  Then Justin and Trevor met us with our car (and we were so glad to see them also) and we drove straight to Reed's parents house.  His Dad looked so sad to us.  He had not eaten or had any water for over 10 days.  He kind of raised his eyebrows and grunted when Reed touched him and told him we were home and that really was the last response we know for sure that he recognized any of us.

We left for a while and went to our house where all our children and grandchildren came to be with us.  It was so nice to see and hug and kiss everyone.  We have missed them so much.  We felt a little guilty because we know we are still on our mission but got to have a little touch of home for two weeks.  The kids brought all the foods we haven't been able to eat for a while like strawberries, broccoli, sloppy joes, grapes and fresh milk!  It was a delight.

For the next few days we spent as much time with Reed's Dad and family as possible.  We spent all of Sunday night taking our turn to give him medicine and be up with him so his Mom could rest.  On Wednesday night May 8th his Dad had a very bad choking fit.  He is so weak and seems to be more uncomfortable.  They had started giving him his medicines in an IV to see if it would help with his twitching.  Again it was our turn to stay with him.  Reed had given him his medicine at 12:30 a.m.  We talked a little, got him resettled and I turned out all the lights about 12:45 a.m.  I was sitting there in the dark wondering why he needed to keep suffering and saying a little prayer about if he could just go home to Heaven that would be so nice for him.  I could hear him breathing harshly and Reed snoring on the couch.  After a little while I thought, I don't hear his ragged breathing so I woke Reed up and we turned on the lights and he had slipped away.  We woke up Reed's Mom and called the Hospice Nurse and all the family.  This was 1:25 a.m. We had a nice family prayer and felt happiness for him to finally be free of all the discomfort. This was May 9th 2013 he was 89 and one half years old.

We had the viewing on Mother's Day, May 12th and the funeral on Monday, May 13th.  Reed spoke at the funeral and did a great job.  It was nice to see family and friends and celebrate a great man's life.


This fine mat and tapa cloth were given to Reed and Nada by Brother and Sister Lepule.  They said they wanted our family in Utah to know that they have a family here in Samoa who love them and care about them.

In Samoa, some people wrap their loved ones up in Tapa Cloths to be buried.  Some of them cover the caskets with fine mats and tapa and cloths to show love and respect.  We felt very honored that they would share these beautiful items with us.

 Reed's Father was a World War II Veteran.  He receive military honors at his funeral.  Two of his grandsons, Blair and Matt are active in the Navy and Marine Corp and were able to stand with the honor guard.

 This picture is of all of Reed's brothers, sisters spouses and his Mother and Aunt Cleo.  It was nice to be able to be with everyone.  We are grateful they allowed us to go home and then return back to our Mission

 

We left Salt Lake City on May 19th, flew to Los Angeles where we had a 15 hour layover again.  That was a very long, tiring day.  Then we flew to Fiji all night and had a 14 hour layover there.  We decided to see a little of Fiji while we were there.  People were very helpful and we took a city bus and went into Nadi and then caught another bus to Port Denarau.  We took a three hour cruise out to South Sea Island.  We felt a little self conscious because we were in church clothes and everyone else had swimming suits on. We took a little submarine ride and just enjoyed the very small island.  It was fun to see a little of Fiji.  We can see why people go there for vacations.  There is a lot to do and there were resorts all over the place.  We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café and then took the bus back to Nadi and then to the airport.  We arrived in Samoa at 9:00 p.m. and Tuesday, May 22, 2013.  It was a lot of long travel hours but we are glad to be back and busy as ever!

Nada standing next to the cruise ship that took us out to the South Sea Island.  We were able to look at some of the other islands and just some beautiful scenery on the way.  It was about a 40 minute ride to the island.

 The island was very small.  They had a pool you could swim in and some beach to play on.  They had a little place that you could buy a drink and that was about it.  We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café below.  It was good food and a fun time.

 

On Friday, May 24, 2013 the middle school held a science fair.  They did a great job.  The students set up their projects under tents to protect themselves and their projects.  We walked around and had the students show us how their projects worked.  They were so excited to talk about them and share them with us.  Their were lots of volcanoes and blowing up balloons with gases but their were some very different ones we had never seen before.  We especially liked one girls on the environment.  She did a great job.  They all did well and some were much better prepared than others but all in all we were very impressed.  They are such cute kids.

Looking at the picture, the young man on the right is Samuel Kaleopa and is in our Ward.  He is using colors to show something about fat in milk.

 We thought this young lady did a great job.  She presented her material well and spoke clearly and confidently.  It was quite a good project how trash, factories, smoke and things cause erosion and affect the environment.

We were sorry to have to go home under such sad circumstances.  We are grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches us about Eternal Life and Eternal Families.  We know we will be able to see Reed's Dad again some day and that now he is not suffering and has been reunited with his family who passed on before him. 

We were so glad to see all of our children and grandchildren and eat familiar food for a few days.  We enjoyed seeing some of our good friends and neighbors.  We did not enjoy our long nights on airplanes or long layovers sitting in airports.  We did try to take advantage of some layovers and see some beautiful things in Fiji and Hawaii.

We are glad to be back in Samoa and able to teach and rub shoulders with the good people here.
Alofa until next time.  Elder and Sister Spencer