Wednesday, July 24, 2013.  Happy Pioneer Day to all you folks back home.  They mentioned it in devotional but that is as far as it goes for celebrating here in Samoa.

We had a zone conference just for the senior missionaries on June 15th.  President and Sister Leota talked to us and gave us that shot in the arm we needed.  They talked about not just being a full-time missionary but being a full purpose missionary.  They talked to us about people watching us and how the young missionaries watch us and listen to what we say.  President talked about how important it is to not just convert people and baptize them but to continue to work with them and get them to the Temple.  That is where the real change happens.  The mission theme for this year is Taliapa, Beat the Drum.  Lets all move together and be working on the same things, Eternal Ordinances!

We know now why our sons talked about how much they loved Zone Conferences.  We really felt the spirit there and it made us more determined to keep moving forward and doing our best to help our teachers move forward and to teach our Young Single Adults how important the Gospel and living its principles are.  The picture below is President Leota standing and some of the senior missionaries listening.  We had the zone conference in the conference room at the mission home.

Below is a picture of some of the senior missionary couples.  We took it in the courtyard of the mission home.  From left to right and by couple.

President & Sister Leota, E/S Spencer (ITEP), E/S Creed (dentist volunteers), E/S Goodlet (TVET) both these couples came in May, E/S Budgett (ITEP), E/S Rotz (public relations), E/S Gertsch (S&I and now also the office couple, E/S Winter (auditors new in May)

 

 

 

 

On Friday June 21st we went to Apia Sports Park to watch the high school track team.  They had a lot of kids fall to the ground with leg cramps.  They don't really do much preparing and the kids come out in this hot sun and run the mile, or 800 meters or 440 and can't quite do it.  They took one girl away in the ambulance.  Other kids run for a while, then walk, then run and laugh.  It is very interesting to watch these kids in various situations.  The students in the cheering section sit with their houses.  They are broken into four houses just like in Harry Potter! They really cheer for the athletes from their houses and the leaders of each cheering section are real performers!

 

 This is one of the cheering sections.  This Apia Sports Park is a very nice facility.  It is the first year theLDS Church College Pesega held their own track and field event here.  They usually only come here for the Zone B finals and Champ of Champs.  It was a good experience for the athletes who have never run on a real track.  At the school the track is grass.

 Some of the students participate barefooted.  Some of them share their shoes with each other.

 One of the athletes getting some medical attention.  Most of the time they had leg cramps or needed water!

 It was fun to be there with the students and teachers.  The kids really want Reed to take their pictures.

 

One of the ladies in our Motootua Ward had her mother pass away.  We attended the family service on Sunday, June 30th.  The family service lasted for four hours, then they fed everyone there a catered box lunch which had been sitting there for four hours!  Then the choir went to the family home and sang songs of comfort for about an hour.  We went with them so we could experience the whole funeral.  The casket was in the living room and the family sat by the casket while the choir sat on the floor and sang.  The Bishop and Stake President gave some words of comfort along with the singing.  It was very HOT!  After the choir finished singing we went to the chapel for another light meal, it is now 10:00 p.m.  The family of the deceased provided the meal and then gave gifts to the choir members for coming.  It is very expensive here for families to do traditional funerals.  It was an interesting experience.

 

On July 4, 2013 we had school as usual here.  We missed celebrating with our family in Utah but were able to hear from most of them.  We went to the Fagali'i airport and picked up mail and picked up Elder and Sister Jordan who are coming to visit with us from Pago.  We were in the MTC with them and the Budgetts and have become good friends.

 

On Friday, July 5th, we took Jordan's, Budgett's and Goodlet's  to the Coastal Walkway, a new waterfall which we had never been to called Togitogiga and to Matareva Beach.  We had a great day.  We then went to Swashbucklers for dinner and celebrated Sister Gertsch's birthday with them.

 

 Doing the Coastal Walkway.  It is a beautiful walk.  This time the road is mostly done so we were able to drive to the car park area.  They have actually even cleared the path which was much nicer than when we were there in June with our kids.

 We had never been to this waterfall before.  It was only a couple minutes walk and then there is a nice pool to swim in.  They also have picnic tables nearby and it is free.

Togitogiga Waterfall

We took a picnic lunch with us and ate when we arrived at Matareva Beach.  We were the only ones there.  It was a wonderful day.

 

School had their two week break from July 1 through the 12th.  We worked hard most of those days to get ahead because we are starting a new student teaching class in addition to our other three classes and we need to start visiting classes.  We took a couple of days off while the Jordans were here to show them around Upolu and they went to Savai'i for a few days with the Budgetts.

 

On Thursday, July 11th, afternoon we took them to Piula Cave Pool and then up to Sauniatu.  They had never been there before so we gave them the tour and then they all went swimming in the waterfall.  We went to the Temple that evening and did sealings with some other senior couples.

We usually have the Cave Pool to ourselves but there were a lot of people here this day.

 

 

On Friday, July 12th we went to the mission home and did the mail.  We got 10 packages labeled and postage paid and then on our way over to the south side of the island we took them to the airport to send to Pago so when Jordans get back on Monday they can get them to the post office.  We took them to Old Hideaway Beach to find seashells.  We found a lot of nice shells which made Sister Jordan very happy.  Then we swam for a while.

 

We had this beach all to ourselves.  It was just so relaxing to walk the beach and do a little swimming.  Reed of course snorkeled and found a couple of cowrie shells so Sister Jordan could have one to take home.

 

 

Saturday, July 13th we took the Jordans, Goodlets and Gertschs to To Sua Trench and Vavau Beach.  The weather was a little overcast and then it poured on us.  We still had a great day swimming, looking for shells and enjoying each others company.  Jordans had not really had any beach time since they came to American Samoa last July.  They really needed a break and enjoyed themselves.  We really loved having them stay with us and be able to show them around our island of Upolu.  We stopped and let them have a look of Fagaloa Bay on the way to To Sua.

 

 

 Above is Elder and Sister Jordan with Fagaloa Bay in the back. 

Left is Vavau Beach.  It is so beautiful and peaceful here.

We went to church on Sunday the 14th and let them meet our wonderful ward members then we took them to the airport for a 3:30 p.m. flight.  We really enjoyed having them and will miss them.  They are great people. 

 

We have been doing the mail for the last month.  It has been a good experience to learn something new.  We have taught all the senior couples how to set up their own accounts and pay for postage online and get their packages all ready to ship over to Pago for the mail. We package up the boxes and ship them from the Fagali'i airport as cargo on Tuesdays and then the Jordan's pick them up in Pago and take them to the post office there to ship to the US.  Then when they get the mail from the US in Pago they box it, put it on the plane and we pick it up at the airport on Fridays, take it to the mission home, unpack the boxes and let people know if they have mail.  It really runs pretty smoothly and we are all very excited when we are one of those who gets mail.

When we brought back the boxes on Friday the 19th, we were told the Reynolds, the newest couple, are going to take over the mail so we were showing him how to log the mail and how much each package costs.  It is amazing how many people it takes to make a mission run smoothly. 

 

 

 

Well that catches you up on all the different things that have been going on here with Reed and Nada in Samoa.  We have been in Samoa for one year this week.  Time seems to be going by quickly.  We have so much left to do and not a lot of time to finish those tasks up.  We are so grateful for all of our blessings.  We love the Gospel and we love the people we are serving with here. We hope you are all well and involved in doing great things.  We love you and will blog again soon.

Alofa, Elder and Sister Spencer