Christmas with our Family

The fun continues. . .
We have been to California, Oregon, and home in Washington.  This coming week, we will be in Minnesota.  We love our family so much.  What a precious gift we were given to have this season with our family.

Home for the Holidays!

since it is school break (and the country is still shut down from the measles) we have taken a sabbatical to get medical exams and see our family.  We cannot describe the strong feelings of love we have as we see our family again. We can’t wait to see them all and give hugs!

Grandma Unicorn with Kailyn and Layla

One last trip to the market for some gifts before we take off for home.

Layla’s picture of baby Jesus.

Government Shut Down

This has been an interesting week.  The Measles epidemic is starting to slow down but not without some great effort on the part of the government of Samoa.  They shut down the nation on Friday and Saturday so vaccines could be administered more efficiently.

We walked over to the mission home on Friday and looked up and down the street and it was mostly empty.

When things opened up again on Saturday, we took an excursion over to the west side of the Island with some other senior missionaries and a nice young Danish couple who are working in the dental clinic and spent a very relaxing day.  Everyone was ready to get out of the house after being locked up for a couple of days.

The LeVasa Group (Sophie, Daniel, Nova, Sister Bennett, Elder & Sister Wright, The Lloyds

Sunset at LeVasa

View of the pier at The Edge

We have tried to keep the tradition of "Taco Tuesday" alive while we were here but we just can't find a decent taco.  We have modified it to Nacho Tuesday because a restaurant on the warf downtown sells a pretty decent plate of nachos for 10 tala (about $4 US).  It has a wonderful view of the pier and Apia harbor.  We have become good friends with Barbara at the Edge.

Christmas at The Edge Restaurant

Nacho Tuesdays

Measles

They shut down our make up classes and closed the buildings at Pesega so there would be no chance of spreading the measles.  That means we have a couple of weeks to get ready for our trip the the USA.  We will fill it with lesson preparations for our next class and pick up on these make up classes in January when we return.  As of yesterday, there have been 44 deaths and over 3000 cases of the measles.  There are still about 60,000 people that have not been vaccinated although there has been progress in vaccinating the younger children.  We held just sacrament meeting today with no one under 19 attending.  The government has banned anyone younger than 19 from attending any public gatherings to try to deter the spread of the disease.

We held the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner on Friday (Thanksgiving in America) in the Seminary building behind our house.  We had about 30 people there including senior missionary couples from both the mission and the temple, some junior missionaries from the office, and a young Danish couple who are volunteering at the dental clinic for a month.  It was so good to taste these traditional tastes again.  We consumed two turkeys, about 15 pounds of mashed potatoes and gravy and a couple of gallons of dressing along with all of the trimmings and of course pies!  It was glorious.  We were so exhausted from the preparations that we took most of the next day staying off of our feet.

Small recreational fale under construction on the beach

With some of our new time opportunities before our trip, we are going to do some stenciling in preparation for out graduating ITEP Teacher certificate students.  We just finished up two teacher's program and should have 9 more teachers finish before we leave in July.  We are hoping to have an assembly with both schools (over 1000 students) and honor them.  We are preparing to give them a stenciled shopping bag and lavalava with the ITEP logo on it with a Samoan design along with a few teaching supplies that you just cannot get here.  Janice has been busy negotiating with her stencil artists (see below) to get just what she needs to do the work.

Janice negotiating with her stencil boys!

Stencils made from Used Xray film

Happy Birthday Janice!

We had a busy and productive week!  We finished our literacy class and immediately started two make-up classes for students who wished a chance to catch up.  We are now teaching Foundations of Education and Classroom Management every day for the next three weeks.  It is keeping us hopping to keep up.

We just had our second successful ITEP teacher finish all of the requirements and should have her application off in the next couple of days.

On a sad note, 22 people have died of the measles, all but one small children.  Less than 40% of the population had been vaccinated but teams from Australia and New Zealand have inoculated over 60,000 people this past week.  All schools have Ben closed and anyone under the age of 19 cannot use public transportation, banks, or congregate. The temple has been closed for two weeks and church has been cancelled also.  The senior missionaries did meet this Sunday in the mission home for a short sacrament and testimony meeting.  It was significant to appreciate what we did not realize something we would miss so much!

Janice’s birthday at Le Vasa resort on the west end of Upolu

Sunset at Le Vasa

Signs

We thought we would share a few of the unusual and sometimes humorous things we read in Samoa.  The sign that protects the thieves is posted in front of one of the higher-end grocery stores (Lucky Food).  The danger sign is posted on the fencing surrounding one of the many large generator stations on campus that are necessary when the local grid shuts down.  We wonder what the difference between a naked and non-naked flame is.  The yield signs here are the familiar shape but have "Give Way" posted on them.  We attended a fancy gathering this weekend with the US Ambassador and the US Navy South Pacific Jazz band and ordered off the Pupu menu!  We think that means small dishes.

We took a trip to Fagaloa Bay this weekend to order us some custom carved canes from a local wood carver.  He does beautiful work.  We took a picture of some of the scenes on that drive.  It is on the Northeast corner of the island of upolu and has deep bays and steep mountain cliffs with waterfalls coming down.  At the wood carver's fale, we had a bunch of little pigs underfoot that were pretty cute.

Fagaloa Bay, Upolu, Samoa

This week has been slow and a little strange because of the measles epidemic here.  The government has enacted emergency powers to prevent large gatherings.  The schools have canceled graduations, prize giving days, and we even cancelled church this weekend in support of those measures.  There have been over 500 cases of measles in the past month.

Happy November!

This coming week is the last week of our Literacy class.  We are turning around and teaching two courses the next week for make up for those students who for one reason or another missed one of our earlier classes.  This will facilitate a group of about 10 teachers who should complete their ITEP certificates by the end of June 2020 (just before we go home).  We are impressed with their tenacity by attending our classes day after day, month after month, after a hard day's work.  We are so proud of them.  What is so exciting is to observe their teaching and see them apply the things that they have learned in class.  It will make such a big difference for the students here at the schools.

Janice & Joe in Sauniatu

We said goodbye Friday to our next door neighbors the Swangers.  They should be home safe and sound in Vancouver, Washington back to the loving arms of their family.  We are surely going to miss Sister Swangers kindness and humor and Elder Swanger's great stories.  They were institute teachers and there is not anyone to replace them yet.  If you are retired, have an advanced degree (masters or beyond) and think this might be a fun assignment for you - talk to your bishop and fill out your papers and come on over.  While we were at the airport, we ran into President and Sister Ho Ching (the mission president and his wife) as they were dropping off some junior missionaries to also go home.  President Ho Ching asked us to be the Zone Leaders for the senior couples on the island.  Of course we said yes.  What that means is that we will be arranging for activities every week and keeping an eye out for their general welfare.  It should be fun!

We attended Sauniatu day last Friday.  It was the 115th anniversary of then Apostle David O. Mckay visiting the village and then leaving an apostolic blessing on them.  They had a parade with the school children, dancing, and of course, food.  Everyone had fun.  You still get a special feeling every time you enter that remote village in the middle of an old volcano.  They are so kind to us and honored our callings as missionaries by giving us the seat of honor during the show.  We are reluctant to be made such a fuss over but these people truly respect those who God has called to come and serve them.  We are always humbled by their faithfulness and love.

Anniversay cake for Sauniatu Day - Elder Lloyd got to blow them out!

David O Mckay Marker near Sauniatu

Sauniatu Students Dancing