Wonderful and Busy Time in Samoa

Our last few months have been busy and eventful. Every day or two, it seems something wonderful, unusual, disturbing, uplifting, awesome, etc., etc., etc., occurs. The lives of senior missionaries are never boring. We recently had a visit from the Asst. Dir. of CES from Salt Lake, Kelly Haws. Brett Macdonald, Director of Church Farms in the South Pacific and a friend of ours, ask us to accomplany him and Bro. Haws to Sauniatu for a special program. Sauniatu is a beautiful place that is significant to the history of the Church in Samoa.

On the way to Sauniatu, we visited a family in Manunu to give Bro. Haws a sense for life in a Samoan village. We counted 15 plantation crops all being grown within a few yards of this family's house.

While in Sauniatu, all of us had a chance to speak to the village about the value of education.

The people of Sauniatu gave Sister Tolman a lei made of spider orchids.

Last month, we had a devotional at the institute and gave class certificates to those students who attended our classes.
Togipau, one of our students who was baptized recently gave a talk at the devotional. Seeing the transformation taking place in someone like Togipau is an amazing experience.

Our devotional included a talent show. The best performance was from this group of singers (Daniel, Fred, Aolele, and Heti), none of whom are members of the Church, yet.

Two weeks ago, we had a very interesting day. This is Uriana, one of our favorite students. Sister Tolman has had a great impact on Uriana's life and helped her with many difficult things. The family decided to name a baby recently born into the family after Debbie. They invited us to the baby's blessing and to'ona'i (traditional Samoan Sunday meal). Upon arriving at sacrament meeting, I was informed I was blessing the baby, which normally would not cause me any concern, but I have never done it in Samoan. It was stressful but turned out okay. After church, we went to Uriana's home, which is in a small valley and includes several houses with the entire extended family living together.

It is an interesting hike down to the home.

This beautiful baby's name is Debra Melanie Louise Alatina Vaisala.

There is nothing quite like a Samoan feast.

Our semester ended two weeks ago. We wanted to thank our institute council students for their work during the past year. We took them to the beach. Believe it or not, they never really go to the beach, despite being surrounded by some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. For most people, it's hard to imagine going to a beach like this and being the only ones there.

We had a great time. These kids are wonderful and a lot of fun. We showed them how to snorkel, which they had never done before.

We then stopped and went swimming at Sua Trench, a huge hole with a cave connecting it to the ocean. It's an amazing place to swim. Although only a one-hour drive from their homes, none of them had ever been there before.

Amidst our busy lives, we sometimes forget we're in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

We found out our replacement senior couple will be here in time to start teaching the next semester in February, so we'll see you about Valentine's Day.