Sunset After The Rain

We had to add these shots today of the sunset after the rain.  We even got a rainbow at the sunset!

Sunset at the cathedral at the end of our street (under construction)

Catching Up

The last three weeks have been very busy.  We have been teaching 4 different classes and have just finished up 2 of them this past week (Technology & School Counseling).  That leaves us with two more to continue on after the break and one more to start at that time.  Keeping busy has its perks however, the time sure goes faster.  We are still happy and healthy and very excited preparing for Levi, Rebecca, Isaac, Eliza, Noah, & Henry to come.  We will spend a very fun week with them. It will be good to hold some of our dear ones close at least for a week. We are a little worried however because we have been getting a lot of rain the last 24 hours and really hope it clears up when they come.

Raining (from our front step)

Last Friday, the school had a track competition and picked their team of champions to train for the national college track meet in August.  The day was hot and we held up until lunchtime watching.  The competitors and teachers "toughed it out" however and ran on into the afternoon.

Most competitors were barefoot.

We are so excited that our little transplanted papaya tree is starting to bear fruit.  We may just consider ourselves "island people" not that we have successfully grown a pineapple and a papaya in our yard.  If we could only get the tomatoes to set fruit, we would feel really successful.

Our little papaya tree!

It is hard to believe that we have been gone for 9 months already.  In many ways it seems like just yesterday when we received our call and assignment to Samoa but it has been over a year.  In just a couple of weeks, we will only have one year of service left.  We are starting to think about our plans after we are finished and considering a move to live closer to some of our family.  We shall see when we get to that point however.

God bless each of you and please know that we believe that we are doing some good here.  God planted us on this little island for a purpose and we can see that we have had something to offer.

Manuia le aso (have a blessed day)!

Fa'aSamoa (Culture Day) at the Middle School

One of the teacher's in our class is a beginning Samoan teacher. After listening to one of the ideas we suggested in our class, he decided to make his lessons a little more hand's-on.  He organized a formal Samoan feast complete with constructing 6 Umu pits, #2 pigs, coconut cream, fish, chickens, etc.  The students did all the work and did a marvelous job.  The teacher was pleased that now, everything was making sense to the student and they could apply what they had been learning.  Of course, we were invited and treated so well.  They really enjoyed the activity and we enjoyed rubbing shoulders with them!

Samoan Chicken for the umu!

Stocking the umu (bananas, #2, taro, & breadfruit)

Weaving a basket for the food.

Scraping the breadfruit (uli)

Preparing the fish

Sister Lloyd's Palagi friend at Pesega (her name is Kiona)

Our neighbor boy Jayden.  He is our favorite visitor!

Four Classes Down - Six to go . . .

We finished teaching the BYU-H  Classroom Management Class this week.  We had 10 students who passed the class.  It was fun to see them use things they learned in the class in their classrooms with success.  This coming week we are starting the BYU-H Computer and Technology Assisted Instruction course along with a repeat of the SIOP course.  We also have a couple of teachers starting their student teaching.  We have never been busier with classes up to this point but it sure makes time go fast and we sleep pretty well at night.

Speaking of sleeping well, two weeks ago, Elder Lloyd spent several sleepless nights with fairly severe symptoms of a gall bladder attack.  Being worried about not having the proper medical treatment here for a blocked gallbladder, we cut back on the oil in our diets and had a priesthood blessing.  We scheduled an ultrasound scan the next day (for $40 tala - about $16 dollars US) and there was no sign of gallstones.  The symptoms have disappeared and fried foods are back on the menu.  We fell blessed to not have to worry about flying home for surgery.

Catholic Church in Apia

Child grave of early LDS Missionaries

This Saturday, we did a cultural tour and visited the large Catholic Church on the waterfront.  The interior was simple and beautiful.  It reflected the Samoan art in the design.  We were impressed that it was not over-the-top with gold or garish decoration.

Next, we visited the cemetery to see the graves of some of the early missionaries from the Church around the turn of the century.  There were a few adults but many children.  Apparently, the early missionaries brought their wives and families.  With no air conditioning, antibiotics, and medicine just living here was lethal.  It was a testament of the dedication and faith of those early saints who helped establish the Church here.  Little did they know that 120 years later, over 40% of the population of Samoa would be members of the Church.  In fact, Samoa was the first nation on earth to be entirely covered by stake boundaries (no districts from the mission).

Coastal Walk Beach view on the south side of the island

Friday, we took the day off and spent it on the south side of the island and explored a little bit.  We drove down to the coastal walk to see the spectacular waves crashing into the lava flow that was deposited there 3000 years ago.  It was magnificent!

Visit From The Prophet

Well, he came, he waved, he blessed, and won the hearts of the people of Samoa!  President Nelson passed us on the street and waved to us.  What was amazing was to realize that he did so all the way from the airport - an hour away!

We assembled in with the other senior missionaries in the VIP section of the audience just left of the rostrum and had a wonderful view.  Elder & Sister Halleck, Elder & Sister Gong, and President & Sister Nelson all spoke for two hours.  Just as the devotional started, the dark clouds above us started releasing rain.  The Choir sang Master, The Tempest is Raging in Samoan for the opening song.  The rain subsided and the devotional continued without rain until after it was dismissed.  When President Nelson got up to speak, he said, "You did it!  You had enough faith to stop the rain!"

At the devotional with our tickets!

We heard of centering our lives on the example and teachings of Jesus Christ, of warnings that persecution is coming into the lives of the members because Satan's influence where good is being called evil, and finally a sweet blessing left on the heads of the Samoan people including a healing blessing for those in need of it.

We had people from the Area Office in Auckland visiting this week.  Sister Vidal asked us to take her to Sauniatu on Friday.  It is always a pleasure to go there and rub shoulders with the wonderful people there.

Janice & Sister Vidal with some Sauniatu students.

President Nelson is Coming!

Things are all a buzz here at Pesega.  President Nelson is coming this Saturday and everyone is excited.  They will line the street with members waving white handkerchiefs all the way from the airport to hotel he is staying at 16 miles away.  If things go right, we should have front row seats for his devotional on Saturday.

We are keeping very busy teaching classes.  We are mostly done with Classroom Management.  We have about three more lessons left.  Joe is teaching an Introduction to School Counseling course.  We will start up a Technology in the Classroom class soon.

We have said goodbye to a couple of missionary couples recently as they have returned home with honor.  The Camerons from Alberta, Canada just finished last week.  They were Humanitarian Aid Missionaries and did a bunch of projects on all three Samoan Islands.  They helped build a lot of community centers, water systems, and home improvements.  We witnessed many families they literally lifted out of the mud to provide them with adequate and sanitary shelter. May God bless them for their faithful service!

 We have Monday off because it is a national holiday (Mother's Day).

We have had to rely on our family, our friends and neighbors to help wake up our house and yard from spring.  We appreciate the long hours that it took our son to get the lawns mowed the first time and get the irrigation system running.

Sunset at SaMoana

Apia Temple last week

Janice's Mother's Day at church

40th Anniversary

It seems like just yesterday we agreed to take this incredible journey called life together.  There, on the balcony of the Harris Fine Arts Center, we decided that we could join together and start what we think is a pretty good life's work (even if we say so ourselves)! We have 6 tremendous children that bless our lives every day, 10 wonderful grandchildren that make us laugh and smile, and of course we have each other.  We are finding that true love means forgiving one another even when we are with each other every minute of every day.  This is a good start for us in this season (retirement) of our lives because it is a structured environment to practice.  Joe composed the following poem for our 40th Anniversary:

Janice & Joe

Forty years ago today
You took a chance to say,
"I want you forever."
So since then, we've just stayed together.

The years melt away
When we think of that great day -

Bouquet at 40th Anniversary Dinner

Our little kingdom since then grew
Into more than twenty-two.

So let's face forward with our eyes
On heaven's gate on each sunrise.
Our goal now close, is heaven's view
Each day, each step, each smile anew!

We stayed at a beautiful resort on our Anniversary night on the south side of the Island.  Imagine our surprise to find out that our sons had called ahead and paid for our dinner there.  They had a bouquet of tropical flowers and sang the next morning to us as we ate our breakfast.  We will always remember how special everyone made it for us.

Our Very Own Pineapple!

We have started our next BYU Hawaii class - Classroom Management.  It feels good to be making a difference in the classrooms here at Pesega.  It is a lot of work but we love to teach.  Joe is starting up a counseling class this coming week also.  We hope to have our first student teacher start soon also.  We harvested our first pineapple that we grew.  We rescued the plants when they were redoing the landscaping.  One bloomed in October and yesterday, we were able to pick it.

Have a wonderful week!  Manuia vaiaso!