This week we landed in our new home after spending a couple of days on the island of Apia, Samoa before ferrying to the island of Savai'i, Samoa. In Apia we had to take care of banking, picking up our mission car, and obtaining driver's licenses. Imagine our stress level when we were told we would need to take a practical driving test! We each had to make a couple of left hand turns and a couple of right hand turns and basically keep in the left lanes, seemingly backward to us. Afterward, we shopped for a few starter groceries. Our home here in Savai'i is comfortable with nice furniture, two bedrooms, air conditioning units, a washer & dryer, and filtered water. We miss internet but it is available in our office which is in very short walking distance. There is absolutely no fear of safety.
Thursday and Friday we met staff and got situated in our office space. We are still learning name pronunciations but the people are patient with us. We joined in for volleyball after school Friday as it was wellness day for the staff, like an early out. They love their volleyball!
We hosted Friday movie night and had a few laptop glitches to work through but we improvised and made it work. Nearly 40 girls from the dorm showed up. The dorm girls come here from Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu Islands. It is remarkable that families care about their children's future so much that they would send high school age girls and boys clear to Vaiola (Vie-oh-la) to obtain an education through English immersion; English is the only language allowed on the BYU-H college campus here (really high school). There is also a boys dorm, the same. There is a cafeteria for the students who live on campus. They wear uniforms and flip flops. So privileged do they feel to attend here that discipline is not an issue; they tend to monitor their own behavior and anyone attending school must adhere to church standards and seminary attendance is a required course. Also, all must memorize the Young Men/Young Women scripture theme. A few non-member children attend as well because their parents recognize the high level of education to be attained here and the values instilled. Non-members must pay tuition, live gospel standards and have a set of LDS scriptures for seminary but there is no push back by parents because of derived outcomes. The church school here at Vaiola has a good reputation.
The country of Samoa has declared itself a Christian nation. There are Methodists, Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, LDS, etc. here. In the evenings between 6:00-6:30 p.m. families gather in fales for family time to sing, pray, instruct, and hang out together. It is a government decree and if you are out driving on the road at that time, you can be ticketed and made to sit there until the hour is over. Most every family has a fale outside their house which is an open air structure much like a gazebo. Sometimes laundry is hung inside it. The ocean front is lined with fales that can be rented. Additionally, there is not such a thing as separation of church and state; quite the opposite. Prayer before any meeting is standard and quite often a hymn is included. We found this true in New Zealand too. While in Auckland, we met with the director of the Manakau Technology Institute. She called on Elder Rees to offer a prayer before starting the meeting, and she was Catholic.
We ventured to a fresh fish market Saturday morning. We bought a blue fish, probably known as a parrot fish, and a lobster (no, it was not alive).
We are glad to call this home for the next 17 months….
