Isolation at Home.

On April 6th, we were told to show up at the mission home with our suitcases packed and be ready to go to the airport.  After exhaustive negotiations, the Church arranged for all of the foreign missionaries (including the senior missionaries) to leave Samoa. They (Church Travel) arranged for a charter flight by Fiji airlines to pick us up and take us to Sydney.  We arrived at the airport at about 9:30 and found that the arrangements were not quite complete.  In fact, our mission president had to really negotiate to allow us to take our luggage.  Once we crossed that hurdle, the nation of Australia had not given official permission for us to pass through.  We had several good Samoan members there with us who had diplomatic ties who spent hours on the phone to make the necessary accommodations for us to pass through Australia (thank you Brother Kio). Finally, we boarded the plane in Samoa at 4:00 PM.  The flight crew had isolated themselves for two weeks to be able to take us to Australia.  They were so kind to us.  Just before we landed in Sydney, one of the stewards explained what it meant to them to bring the missionaries home.  He was not a member of the Church but read Psalm 91 on the intercom to us with these comforting words,
“There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

That night, we were dropped off in Sydney to board a Boeing 777 with two other missions to fly directly to Salt Lake City.  We combined with two other missions (one from Australia and one from New Zealand) and were given first class seats on the charter flight from Delta Airlines.  For the next 14 hours, we relaxed in our full reclining seats, visited, slept, and listened to around 300 junior missionaries singing the songs of Zion on the plane.  We arrived in Salt Lake City at about 6:00 PM (still on April 6th- time travel).  We were too late to make a connecting flight to home but they offered to take us in a shuttle, stay a night in a hotel, shuttle us back the next morning, and catch a flight back home.  We decided to forego the several opportunities to be exposed to the coronavirus and instead, rented a car and drove straight home. At 6:00 AM the next morning, we drove into our driveway and went straight to bed.  When we got up at noon, there were some banners on our van welcoming us home from our family by way of some wonderful neighbors and friends!

Samoa Apia Missionaries aboard Fiji Airlines going to Sydney

Missionaries from Samoa, New Zealand, and Australia going to Salt Lake on Delta Airlines

Banners from our family

Sister Lloyd riding in first class from Sydney to Salt Lake City

"Thank you for your service"

Well, we are still here.  It is official, we are to be evacuated . . . eventually.  As we were getting ready, the Church suddenly decided to bring all foreign missionaries home, prioritizing areas that were more dangerous to be in since the outbreak (wisely so).  That probably bumped us back a week or two as the Coronovirus outbreaks escalate in other areas of the world.  We still have no official cases here in Samoa.  That has not stopped them from being very vigilant in closing the borders and banning public transportation and dine-in eating.  In fact, they have closed off ferry traffic between the islands of Upolu (where we are) and Savai'i.  The Mission President quickly evacuated all of the missionaries in Savai'i including our new ITEP couple at Vaiola and had them come to this island.

What was a little shocking was when I logged in to the full-time missionary portal to check on any notices, a screen came up that said, “Thank you for your service.”  It looks like someone punched the release button for me somewhere.  I bet they don’t know we are still in Samoa.

So, without any classes to teach (because we cannot meet in groups any bigger than 5) we are at a standstill.  We are making arrangements to see if we can offer an online class for Human Growth and Development.

This past week, the emergency restrictions got more stringent.  So before they took effect, we visited Vavau beach one more time.  Yesterday, we took a senior missionary couple (the Williams from across the street) and had the Roundy's (the ITEP couple from Savai'i) follow us so we wouldn't break the "no more than 5 in a group" rule and drove all the way around the island for one last time.  It took 8 hours.  The pictures below chronicle yesterday's trip.

Girl at Apolima-uta

View from South side of the island looking East

Ferry dock for Manono Island

Our neighbors (Neva and Jayden Tuivaiti) on their farm at Tafatafa

Neva and Alofa's nephew getting us a Niu from the coconut tree

Village of Falevai

Waterfall at Togitogia National Park

Beautiful Fagaloa Bay

Nice boat (va'a) near giant clam beach

Janice in mountain stream

Evacuation?

We have been asked to pack up and be ready to go to the airport at a moment’s notice.  The government of Samoa has shut down the airports without considering those who might want to leave. We have been working with the embassy to see if they could negotiate a window for people to leave the country.  They have given us until March 29th to try to get a flight out.  President is coordinating with the area office and the regional travel office to try to arrange a flight out for about 18 senior and junior missionaries.  We will sit tight and see what happens.  In the meantime, we are packing like crazy, making gifts for the teachers we work with and trying to keep our zone informed.

Sister Aiono, Principal at Sauniatu

Clinic at a grocery store

At the waterfall at Sauniatu

Brother Paleotoga at Sauniatu

Safe in Samoa

While the rest of the world is reeling from the measures needed to cope with the COVID-19 virus, Samoa seems to be a pretty good place to be right now.  The country is being very diligent in keeping visitors who might have the virus from coming here.  They have closed their port to cruise ships and just added the requirement that anyone from active COVID-19 contaminated countries must be quarantined for 14 days and test negative at least 5 days before coming here.  It will just about cut us off from the rest of the world while these restrictions are in place.

We got the Roundy’s off to Savai’i safe and sound and they are settling in at Vaiola.  We were fortunate that our dentist couple, the Wrights were there at the same time to show them around.

Also on Saturday, Janice was asked to speak at our neighbor’s little girl’s baptism.  They have adopted us as grandparents.  The girl’s name is Lovence Happiness Fretton.  She is pretty cute but we don’t think we can bring her home.

The senior missionaries participated in a service project on Saturday to get a duplex that Sister Marina owns ready for some elders.  It will be the first time in a while that this ward will have had missionaries.

Joe’s painting of Togitogina waterfall

Sister Bennett and Sister Williams cleaning the duplex

Beautiful day - Beautiful temple!

Lovence’s baptism

Janice sweeping centipedes

Elder Williams trimming the mango tree.

Joe’s painting of a fale at Vavau beach

"Marching" along

We keep so busy that the weeks are flying by.  It seems like every time we turn around it is Sunday again and we are ready to start a new week.  We are getting ready for a new couple that will be going to Vaiola.  We will pick up the Roundy's today.  They will be getting their driver's license and car and then we will escort them over to Savai'i hopefully on Wednesday.

It has finally quit raining and we are starting to dry out.  We can walk on our back sidewalk to our car again for the first time in a few weeks.  We are looking forward to the day when we can walk across the street instead of having to drive over the 4-foot wide 3-inch deep streams. 

We attended Alafua Ward conference today.  Bishop Elisara is an assistant principal at the high school.  They honored us and gave us leis as we came in.  The stake president (President Joseph) works as the main translator for the Church here.  He gave his talk in both Samoan and English.

Our favorite fale at Vavau

Joe and Janice at Alafua Ward Conference

Shells at Vavau

We are drying out!

Well, the cyclone missed us but the rain did not.  We have never seen it rain so hard for so long.  Our yard is still flooded and we have a babbling brook running around both sides of our house.  Our neighbors say that it can take three weeks to subside.  It is a little funny when we want to visit the neighbors across the street.  We walk along the front of our house where it is mostly dry now, get in our car and back across the street that has 2 or 3 inches of water flowing down it, and pull up to their driveway so we  can walk around the back of their house to knock on their back door.

We helped our ward do a service project this Saturday and cleaned up a little primary school back behind us.  There is an acre of playground but it was all covered with weeds, grass, and shrubs.  About 40 Samoan men with bush knives took it down to the ground while the children drug the clippings and branches to a burn pile.  The women then used the coconut brooms (which look a lot like witches’ brooms) to sweep up the grass clippings.  In one hour, they had it looking great.

Lagoon at Vavau beach

My latest painting of a va’a

Fale at Vavau beach

Our plants in the flowerbeds love the rain they’ve received

Cyclone Warning

School was cancelled this week Tuesday through Friday because of flooding.  We had half of the classrooms flooded because there was so much water draining through campus.  It has rained so much here that the ground cannot absorb any more.  We have a stream that has been flowing around both sides of our house for the past five days.  The next few days looks like more rain will come.  Tonight, the train of tropical depressions is cooking up a category I cyclone.  We will see if we have school on Monday.

We have tried to keep busy but are a little stir crazy trapped in our house.  Joe has been painting and Janice has been making aprons for our graduating students (our teachers who will be getting their certificates).

Water going down our street

Our back yard and back doorstep (with the sandbags)

Cyclone Wasi passing through

Joe’s latest painting