Our office couple, Elder and Sister Partridge, are going home to Arizona on February 2nd and had never been to two of our favorite places so we planned an outing to take them to To Sua Trenches and Vavau Beach. Reed has decided that he is the one to help fulfill senior missionaries bucket wish list before they go home. We also invited Elder and Siter Gertsch our Zone Leaders and Elder and Sister Rotz who arriveed December 12th and have not been in the water yet!
First we stopped at To Sua Trenches. There is one hole that is dry and one that has water. You climb down a lot of steps and then down a ladder. The water is cool but refreshing and you just float around and the tide coming in and out moves you back and forth. It is a quiet, relaxing place to do a little swimming, very little snorkeling and lots of relaxing.
Reed cannot pass up snorkeling no matter how little there is to see under the water.
They have these nice little fales that you can rest in or have a picnic in. We ate our picnic looking out over the ocean. What a view!
This is the view we were looking at the whole time we were visiting and eating. The water is so clear and the colors are so crisp and beautiful.
We climbed down and played on the rocks while the waves came in and washed over them. They have put in a lot of stairs that take you right down to the ocean and planted some beautiful flowers and shrubs all along the hill down to the beach. It was very fun.
A few of the missionaries climbed into this hole as waves came over the rocks and kept splashing. They called it their hot tub. When Reed climbed into it fish jumped out into the other little pools around it. They really jumped high and far. It was very interesting to watch. We then climbed back up the stairs and got in the van and drove about five minutes to Vavau beach. The tide was out so snorkeling was a little hard in some places but we still had a great time. The weather was clear, hot and a beautiful day. We didn't take any pictures this time. Reed and Nada both snorkeld so we forgot to take pictures. It has rained so much these past couple of weeks we could not believe how lucky we were to have a clear, beautiful day. The Partridge's had so much fun and made the comment that they wished they had done these things sooner. Bucket list wish fulfilled!
Monday, January 28, 2013, first day of school for Pesega Middle School, LDS Church College Pesega and Sauniatu Primary School. Reed and Nada had to attend all three schools that day for introductions and to visit classes. The middle and high school just did orientation all day after their opening devotionals and Sauniatu actually held classes. We thought we would share a few first day of school pictures with you.
This is early morning as the students are arriving on the Pesega campus. It had been pouring rain and then cleared up for a few minutes.
Nada standing outside gate 2, the gate we usually use, to the Pesega campus. To her left is the main office and you can see the temple if you keep looking farther to her left. These are the views that we get to see every day when we go to our office.
The middle school is meeting here for their opening devotional and orientation today. The Fale will be their main meeting point. These students were lucky because they are actually sitting on chairs and under tents which was a good thing because it rained off and on all day.
The high school will still use the gym as their main meeting area for devotionals and school functions. Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students. The teachers get the chairs but as you can see the students sit on the floor. Not as lucky as the middle school students.
Sister Maugatai and her year one students at Sauniatu. Reed took every one of the pictures indivually so she could do a picture wall. They thought this was awesome!
Sister Peresentene and her year two students. They were writing letters and drawing pictures that started with those letters.
Sister Maiava, a new teacher and a palagi, teaching her year three class. She is married to a Samoan but she doesn't speak a lot so she will really help these students learn their English this year.
This is called the tuck shop. This is where the students go to buy their lunch if they don't bring something from home. They do not have cafeterias. These are independent contractors who run these shops. Usually for 2 Tala (about one US Dollar) they get a piece of chicken and a little rice. Sometimes they only buy a bag of chips or some fruit drink frozen in a ziplock bag and they eat it like a popsicle.
After lunch they had all the girls go to one room and all the boys go to a different room and they talked to them about the church schools rules and policies. We left shortly after they began so we don't know what else they talked about. We couldn't see why they had to be separate unless it is tradition or maybe they did talk about something that would be easier to have them separated for.
We enjoyed visiting the three different schools and seeing how they start their school year. All the students we talked to seemed excited to be back in school.
We are well and busy. Reed did some presenting at the inservices and is busy getting classes ready which will begin on February 4th. We have had so much rain this month. It is easy to see why things grow so fast here. We are really enjoying our mission, the people and the beautiful places we get to see. We know the gospel is true and that there are great people no matter where you go. We love all of you. Until next time. Elder and Sister Spencer.
I am so happy you are back in school. I know you will be able to make a huge difference with everyone over there. Some of the places you visited are places we want to go see when we come over. It looked like it was a super fantastic day to play in the water.
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