September 3, 2012

Wow it is already September.  We have been in Samoa for over a month.  Sometimes it seems like longer and sometimes you wonder where the time has gone.

This past week was a busy one for us.  We started teaching the 312 Pedagogy class on Wednesday.  Not very many showed up.  We went around and talked to all those who had signed up on Thursday and they said "Oh did class start last night?"  It is the end of the 2nd semester and school will be out for the next two weeks, yes I said two week break at the end of the semester, and they were all looking forward to that I guess.  Hopefully when school starts back up they will attend.

We went to a YSA Fireside on Wednesday the 29th.  We have a young woman in our class, Sister Kolopa Aiono, who is leaving on a mission next week and they have a going away fireside for them.  They sing, play games, tell riddles, quote scriptures and say some nice things about the person leaving.  They did a lot of it in English so we could understand.  Theat was great and when they did talk in Samoan, O.J. one of the young men in our class and returned missionary, translated for us.  We were very glad to be there.  We feel like the YSA's are accepting us and including us.  When we see them on the street or at the Insitute they make a point of waving or talking to us.  We hope we can be of good service to them.  They served some yummy refreshments.  There were two sweet rolls with sweetened coconut milk with them called Panipopo, some cookies, egg salad sandwich and Cocoa Samoa.  Sometimes the Cocoa Samoa is way two strong.  It tastes to us what burnt coffee smells like.  They roast the cocoa beans and put very little sugar in with it and it is black.  I could barely even take a taste.  This time at the church, it was very light almost like it had milk in it and very mild and a little sweeter and tasted a lot like our hot chocolate.  This Cocoa Samoa was much better than the last time someone served it to us.  It is a very popular drink here in Samoa.

             This is Nada standing in front of the Robert Lewis Stevenson Museum which is the house where he lived when he lived in Samoa.   He called this place Villa Vailima.

This is the front of the Robert Louis Stevenson home now a Museum.

 

 This is Reed standing in front of the statue of the King of Samoa with his son.  This is on the patio where the program and dinner were held.  The King's name is Malietoa Uilamatutu and he was a cannibal.  He required two victims a day.  Yuck!!!  The son offered himself up as one of his victims and the King had to decide either to eat his son or end cannabalism.  He stopped the practice.

Below is a picture of the back of the house and patio where the program and meal took place.

 They gave us leis as we came in.  Reed and I waiting for the program to start.  They served us drinks and appetizers.  The appetizers were raw tuna over cabbage and some rice balls with some kind of raw fish on top.  Reed ate them and said they were good.  Nada did not try them.  That is way too fishy for me!!!!

Below is a picture of the reigning Miss Somoa and the contestants for 2012-2013 Miss Samoa.  They asked them to anwer this question. "Why should you be the next Miss Soman?"  They answered both in English and Samoan.  They were very cute and did a great job.  There are six contestants.  We thought our granddaughters would think this was fun to include. All of them had different flowers and arrangements in their hair.  They were very interesting.

 The girl in the blue gown with the crown is the reigning Miss Samoa.

This is Bill Winegar.  He is the President of the foundation.  He was very friendly and talked to everyone.  He conducted the meeting.   Rex Maughan is on his left and the speaker in the picture below.  He is the Chairman of the foundation and the money behind it all. He now lives in Scottsdale Arizona.  He was very friendly and talked about his mission here in 1957 for 21/2 years and his love for the country and the people.  It was interesting.  

 

 On Thursday night, August 30th, all the Senior Missionaries were invited to attend the annual Memorial Garden Party at the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum.  Wow is it beautiful up there.  This is where Robert Louis Stevenson lived and is buried.  There are two men, Jim Winegar, the president and Rex Maughan the chairman of the foundation and they come every year and do a party.  It is to promote interest and money.  They were both missionaries and companions here in Samoa starting in 1957.  They love the country and people so much and have done so much to help them.  Rex Maughan is the money and Jim Winegar is the promoter.  They invite the Missionary Couples and the Mission President and his family every year.  They had a great program and music and food.  It was a very nice evening. Below is a picture of the plate of food Reed got.  The stuff in the little glass dish is octopus.  The green stuff is taro leaves with coconut milk that was actually quite tasty.  There is chicken, turkey, roast, taro, salmon and pumpkin (squash).  It was very good food.  Reed said the octopus wasn't real good but the sauce was tasty.

To Sua Trenches on the Southeast side of the Island.   It costs 15 Tala each but it was worth it. They are really trying hard to keep this area clean and beautiful.  The grounds were planted and mantained very well.  The water is chrystal clear and it just has a great feeling and beauty there. 

On Saturday September 1st we drove over to the other side of the island to go swimming at the  To Sua Trenches.  The top picture is as you are walking from the parking area to the ocean. We never did see the blow hole. Maybe it only happens at high tide. On the left Reed and I are holding a leaf of the Ta'amu plant to show how big they are. It has a root that the people eat that is like taro only bigger. The ocean is below us.  On the right Reed is standing in front of a grave.  They have graves just wherever and they are quite the monument to the people buried there.  What a beautiful resting place for this woman.  Below is a picture of a fale (house).  This was a really nice little one that people can use when they come to the Trenches for picnics or to just lay in and rest. 

 We drove Elder and Sister Gertsch and Elder and Sister Osborne there.  Elder and Sister Harker and Brother and Sister Roth came together and we met there.  We had a fun little picnic overlooking the ocean before we climbed down to swim in the trench.  It took us a little over an hour to get there.  It is right by Vavau Beach which we love but we will definitely be back here.  We didn't have time to go play in the ocean which we want to do next time.

 Below is a picture from inside the trench.  Reed is taking the pictures that is why he isn't in very many of them.  You can see that we had to climb down a ways to get to the water.  You can stand up in part of it and not in other parts.  The water is quite cool and as the tide comes in and out it pushes you back and forth inside the hole.  Reed swam through an opening about 12 feet that took him out to the ocean.  He said it was a little tight and hard.  Brother Roth went and ended up surfacing too soon and got cuts all over his head from the corral.  That is one of the reasons we didn't go and play in the ocean.  We thought we better get him back.

 You had to walk down some steep stairs to get to this ladder in order to climb down into the water.  It was a little scarey because they get slippery when they are wet.  You can see how many steps on the ladder there are.  Then there is a little platform you can either sit on or jump off into the water.  Under the platform there are a few more stairs that you take to get into the water.  Reed jumped, Nada climbed into the water.

 The water was so clear and refreshing.  The couple on the platform were some kids from New Zealand, not part of our group.  You can see how beautiful the coast line and ocean are from the picture below.  It was a great day. 

As we were leaving the To Sua Trenches area we looked over and this man was taking a rest laying in this fale.  You see them doing this all the time.  Fa'a Samoa!  There is usually a nice breeze under there so it is quite a bit cooler than just even laying under a tree.  Well that does it for this week.  We had a lot of fun things going on.  We love you and wish the Lord's Blessings on you all.  Love Elder and Sister Spencer.

Samoan Food

August 27, 2012

Hello everyone.  Just a brief message about our last week and then we decided to do a food blog this week. 
On Thursday August 23rd, we had a Pacific Area polycom meeting all morning with the leaders from New Zealand , Australia, Utah, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, and Samoa.  Modern technology is wonderful!  We had to leave the training early because they had let all the kids out early so we could do the first Professional Development workshop.  Reed did a lot of preparation and some really good handouts. Reed did it on Cooperative Learning and Student Engagement.  It went really well.  Teachers have told us they have already tried some of the suggestions and felt like they went successfully. 

We have decided what classes we are going to start teaching this week.  One administrative course and one ITEP Endorsement corse here in Pesega and one up at Saniatu.  It is a lot of preparation.  We have to get permission from the Professor at BYUH to use his syllabus and course work and then tell him what we are going to do with it.  A lot of red tape to get through before the teaching can begin.

This is inside the cave.  Reed took pictures of our legs.

The gentleman on the right in blue is the one telling
everyone to get out becuase the pool and
ocean were closed.

This is where you first get into the Piula Pool!

We did have fun on Saturday though.  We went to two new places with Elder and Sister Osborne and Elder and Sister Gertsch.  We  drive because we are the only one with a van.  That makes us the designated drivers if more than two couples go anywhere.  We went to Piula Cave Pool.  It is a fresh water pool and the water was quite cool.  It gets some ocean water though because it does change depth with the tide.  You can actually swim all the way to the back of the cave.  It gets darker and darker but the lava rocks on the bottom of the pool actually glow a little bit. It is behind Piula Theological College and they own the pool and apparantly the beach and ocean right behind it.  At 4:00 p.m. a man came around and told us we had to get out of that part of the ocean because the school owned it and it was closed now!  We have never heard of the ocean being closed before.


You could walk all the way to this small island
from the beach.

This is the LDS Church across the street from the Ocean.

 Then we stopped on the way back to Apia at an LDS Church house that is right across from the ocean and there is a beautiful beach and you can actually swim there for free!  The water stays real shallow.  Reed went all the way out to this Island and could still stand up.  He saw some beautiful fish.  The three of us women just stayed close to shore and enjoyed the water, sand and visiting.


This is a very interesting fish.   Look carefully, it's
face is not where you think it is.

The Senior Couples are great and we have a lot of fun together.  We do family night twice a month and usually go out to eat together once or twice a month. 

 

We thought we would share some pictures of the food that we buy at the fresh produce market. 

This is Nada holding what they call a pumpkin.  We would call it
squash.  It is very good.  It tastes a little like acorn
or hubbard squash.

 These are some tomatoes that a neighbor gave us out of his garden.  We actually ate a tomatoe sandwhich with them.  They are not very big but tasted good.  The others are avacadoes.  They have very thin skins but taste very good.  We have really been enjoying them.  They cost 3 Tala each.

 This is a bag of tomatoes that we bought at the produce market.  This is how everyone packs them to sell.  They pick them a little green so they can get them to market and sell them.  They are a little bigger than a grape tomatoe but quite a bit smaller than a roma tomatoe.  They taste pretty good.  They sell them in the market and in little stands all along the roads here.  At the market you pay around 8 Tala but if you buy them on the road usually around 5 Tala.

 This is our kitchen.  This is the water we drink and to cook with.  Mr. Ahoy is the man with the business.  He comes around three times a week and picks up the jugs you leave on your front porch and leaves a full one.  They cost 13 Tala which we feel is very reasonable.  They are really efficient with the delivery and pick up.

Below is a bag of carrots.  They sell these usually in bags of five and these are smaller than usual.  Most of the carrots are very large.

This is how we buy milk and juice.  You cannot buy fresh milk here.  It is all shipped in and most of it is from New Zealand.  We have a hard time finding anything but full cream milk so we just mix it with water and it actually doesn't taste too bad.  The juice is very good.  We haven't tasted any that we haven't liked.  The milk costs 4.20 Tala a liter and the juice is 5 - 6.20 Tala a liter depending on which brand you buy.                 On the left are Nius.  They are fresh green coconuts.  They pick them for their milk.  The top you see there you cut a little bit and then there is an eye there which is quite soft and you poke it with a knife and put in a straw and drink the milk.  It is quite clear not white like milk.  One of these is usually enough for Reed and I to share.  We quite like them.  They serve them for drinks in restaurants all over.  They are only 2 Tala each.  2 Tala is equal to about 90 cents in the US.

We also found a big block of cheese at a store called Ah Liki.  This store is a wholesale store and very nice.  This cheese block is not quite 5 pounds.  It cost 55 Tala.

 

You always buy bananas in bunches.  They are usually very green.  We bought these on Friday the 24th and today on Tuesday the 28th you can see how quickly they are changing. This whole bunch cost 4 Tala.  They are very inexpensive.  They are smaller than what we buy in Utah and the skins are not as thick.  Reed put his watch next to them so you could get an idea on the size.  They grow everywhere and are very good.  We will keep the food blog going off and on as we try new foods and different foods come into season.                    

That is it for this time.  We hope you enjoy sharing our Mission with us through this blog.  We are doing better and better every week.  So for now le aso (good day) from

 Reed and Nada Spencer in Apia Samoa!

 

August 20th, 2012

Talofa from Apia Samoa on August 20th 2012.

Today is our Bentley's 4th Birthday here in Samoa but not until tomorrow in Utah.  It is a little hard being a day ahead.  We feel like we are always thinking in two time zones between Samoa and Utah.  Happy Birthday Bentley!

Last week was a busy week.  Elder and Sister Ronnenkamp were here from Auckland.  They are the Area ITEP coordinators.  They will be finishing their Mission the first part of September.  We will be sorry to see them go.  They are great people and leaders.  We had the privilege of spending time with them at the school and out visiting some of the beautiful areas of Samoa that they have never been to.  We drove to the south side of the island and stopped at the Bahai Temple, the Papapapaitai Falls and then on to Vavau Beach. 
These pictures are of Elder and Sister Ronnenkamp at the Bahai Temple and its grounds.  It is a religion that has 5 million members now and they believe that there is one god.  The grounds are very beautiful and well taken care of.

This beach has become one of our favorite beaches to visit.  It takes us one and a half hours to drive there.  The roads are pretty good but you have to drive slowly and there are speed bumps everywhere to keep people from going fast.  When we go to Vavau beach we are usually the only people there and the beaches are clean and beautiful and the water is shallow in some areas and deep enough for snorkeling in others.  To be on this beach is very relaxing, peaceful and a little bit of heaven.  There used to be a resort down there but the Tsunami ripped through there and destroyed all the buildings.

 When Reed is snorkeling he says the corral is all broken and dead and there are starting to be a few new ones here and there. 

 These are all pictures at Vavau Beach.  You can see why we think it is so beautiful.  We can collect seashells and walk without anyone ever bothering us.  We have been here three times now and only had other people, that we didn't take with us, show up one time.  This is paradise.  Elder and Sister Ronnenkamp loved it and wished we would have been prepared with swimming suits.  That didn't stop us from getting our feet wet.

In Samoa, the village owns the beach so there are no public beaches.  If you want to go to a beach you have to pay someone, who is usually sitting there, a few Tala to use the beach.  If no one is sitting there they usually have big rocks blocking the road and you have to wait until someone shows up to give them your money.  It is very interesting, all these beautiful beaches and ocean and no public access.

On Saturday evening the 18th we had a really fun progressive dinner with the senior couple missionaries.  We went to one house for appetizers, one for salads, one for the main course and then we went to the mission office conference room for desserts and games.  We had 2 - 3 couples help with each course.  The food and company were both great.  I fixed peanut butter squares that were a hit.  I had to go to 2 different stores to find most of the ingredients and had to substitute for some things I could not find.  To do a 9x13 pan cost me $32 Tala or $16.  Food costs about 3  to 5 times what it would cost in the USA and that is if you can find the item.  We have found a store close by that carries quite a few items and brands you can find in Utah, you just have to be willing to pay for them.

Well, that is all for this week.  We are fine and getting ready to start teaching next week.  We start professional development this Thursday and then we will follow up by visiting classes.  The work is about to begin in full force. 

We love you and know the Gospel is true.  It is great to go anywhere in this world and find wonderful saints there.  Be Happy.

Love, Elder and Sister Spencer 

Talofa Lava from Samoa on August 15, 2012

This week has not been as exciting as the last week.  We have been going to a lot of meetings, going through a lot of files and trying to set up classes and professional development times.
 


They even gave us a new bed what a
huge surprise.

The best highlight of the week was new furniture for us!!!  Not new furniture but much newer than what we had and cleaner and lighter so it really made our apartment (the Seniors call them condos) much brighter and more livable.  Nada would not sit down on the other couches and after we washed these down she is willing to sit on them.  The other bed Reed kept rolling to the middle all night and now we don't.  It is helping us sleep much better.

New living room furniture and they surprised us with
 a new TV, YEAH!

Below you will see pictures of our dining room set with boxes and then a lot of stuff all over it.  These were care packages from Sally.  We were so excited to receive them.  They included food and comforts from home that you just can't get here and that will help make life a little easier for us.  We could not believe how excited we were to get written cards and gifts from home.  Now we know how our Missionary Son's felt.  Email is great but the written card is even better in some ways!  Thank you Sally and Christy!

This is our kitchen.

Nada was so excited to get these packages.

Yeah food from home!

Who would have thought I could ever be so excited about a swiffer and canned chicken.  Getting instant oatmeal is a great treat!

Sunday, August 12th, was Father's Day here in Samoa.  Reed got to celebrate it again.  We went out to dinner on Saturday night and then the ward gave him this candy necklace for Father's Day.  Then they closed businesses and schools on Monday so they could celebrate Father's Day.  They love to celebrate holidays and if they can get out of school or work they do it!

This past week we had two grandchildren get their tonsils out.  Bentley, who is 3 and Brynlee who is 6.  It is hard to be away but Skype made it nice so we could see them and talk to them and know they were alright.  They are both recovering well.

Well that was about it for the week.  We love the people and the water and the vegetation.  We are getting a little better with the food and heat.  Life is good.  The gospel is true and we will do our best!  We love you all, Elder and Sister Spencer.