Happy Thanksgiving

Coconut Turkey

Thanksgiving Table

This week, we had our coordinators from New Zealand, Elder & Sister Holbrook come and visit us.  We have had a full week meeting with them getting some training.  

Friday (which was Thursday in the United States), we got together with a lot of senior missionaries and celebrated our Thanksgiving feast complete with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and of course pumpkin pie.  It was a delightful evening of eating, visiting, playing games, and just being thankful.

We are preparing for the next course we will be teaching.  Janice is becoming the visual aid queen and is making some fantastic graphic organizers for our lessons.  She is also getting quite handy with PowerPoint and puts the finishing touches on my presentations as well as making many of her own. 

We are going to administer the SLEP test (for English) for the teachers up at Sauniatu tomorrow.  We are hoping that four of them can pass so they can obtain their ITEP Certificates.

As the holiday season begins, we are thankful that we are blessed to be in a good place with worthwhile things to do that benefit other people.  It is also a wonderful opportunity for Janice and I to be working together and being together 24/7.  God bless!

Good Friends Can Share Flip Flops

Fiafia!

We had another great week here in Samoa!  Time is flying by so fast.  We just realized that we have been out for 2 months already!  Our week was focused on deciding on our next BYU-Hawaii class and administering and correcting the final exam for our previous class.  All six of our students passed the class.  We were pleased with how diligent they were in attending and preparing for the class.  We have decided to teach the Multiculturalism and Culturally Responsive Teaching through Sheltered Instruction (SIOP) class next.  It is a great preparation for teachers of all subject areas in addressing the needs of English language learners here.  We will teach it during their break in December and January.

The senior sisters from American Samoa came to a training here this week.  They are teaching Institute in Pago Pago (Sister Kirkham and Sister Westenskow).  Our neighbors across the street (Elder and Sister Swanger) and the sisters went with us yesterday (Saturday) to Fiafia Beach.  We snorkeled and enjoyed the warm ocean water.  We saw beautiful tropical fish, blue starfish, and black sea cucumbers.  We ate at the resort next door and stayed for a live show (the fiafia) which included fire dancing.  It was fantastic!

We are so happy here.  We are working hard.  This coming week we will entertain our coordinators from the New Zealand office, the Holbrook's.  They are checking up on us and working in the three schools here in Samoa.  This week is also Janice's Birthday and Thanksgiving dinner on Friday.  We are really looking forward to it.

Fire Dancers at Coconuts Resort

Siva at Resort

End of Our First Class

Giant Clam on South Side of the Island of Upolu, Samoa.

We did it!  We officially taught the last lesson of our class Foundations of Education EDU 212 for BYU-Hawaii.  Their final is this coming week.  We are already starting to prepare for the next class on teaching English through sheltered instruction (BYU-H EDU 340)

We had a wonderful time this Friday attending Sauniatu day celebrating the organization of the town and the visit of David O’Mckay.  He gave an apostolic blessing to the people and the town.  You can still feel a powerfully peaceful feeling when you enter it.  There were speeches, dancing, songs, and a feast of mammoth proportions.  Of course, we were put in the front of the crowd and given their finest food.  These people are so kind and respectful.  It makes us want to do a really good job here when we serve them.  We are hoping that we can get 4 of the teachers at Sauniatu to pass their English test in two weeks.  They can get their ITEP certificates as soon as they pass this test.  Janice has been working with them.

We traveled to the south side of the island yesterday and snorkeled out to the giant clam sanctuary.  The clams grow up to 3 feet across and have beautiful colors.  The tropical fish swim in and out of their open clam shells but if you put your hand close, they close up quickly.

We are working hard every day and hit the bed exhausted every night.  We are working on our Samoan and feel it a privilege to be here serving.  We are very happy!

Beautiful Gift from the Uili Family

Traditional Samoan Cooking

Umu Oven for Pesega Samoan Culture Class

Number 2 pig (referring to the size)

Stuffing the pig with mango and clove leaves and hot rocks.