Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Week!
Campus grows more and more quiet.  Student exams wrapped up Thursday and Friday was Senior Sneak Day.  Saturday we saw many of the dorm kids downtown for their last monthly shopping trip.  We will miss them.  Prize-Giving (Awards Day) and graduation are this week.

We celebrated our Thanksgiving with Elder & Sister Deffense here in Savai'i.  She fixed turkey wings which span 12 ", no kidding.  She also made rolls and I made stuffing and apple pie.  We added in all the other trimming including purple and yellow yams that a friend on campus gave us from her garden.  We are grateful for this time to count our many blessings.

Us & Sister Deffense at our home.

Elder & Sister Deffense invited us to do a ride along with them this Sunday afternoon to visit a couple of Sister missionaries who aren't well.  Below are a few pictures from the nice drive.

 

After making visits we stopped by to view this non-LDS church.

Mangoes

We figure this tree was struck by lightning after a recent storm.

The tree had been full and healthy.

Ron captured this teeny moth with transparent winds on our storm door.

Still figuring out what this is...Opo Squash maybe?

Okay, proof that Ron is not a Scrooge after all!  He came out of the hardware store Saturday with this purchase:  a small Christmas tree.  Now it needs decorations.

We call our home a cabin because of the hard wood walls.

Rainbows & Savaii

The sun is shining bright as ever in Samoa and the rains are increasing, bringing with them lightning and thunder on occasion.  However, the temperatures hover in the 80's as always.  Ron captured this  beautiful double-arc rainbow this week.

Level 12 & 13 students have been taking important external exams each day, averaging 1-2 exams a day.  They continue testing this next week.  Tests are intense because scores can determine their future ability to attend university and such.  The traffic loop has been blocked to minimize noise levels.  Overall the students seem to be in good spirits.  We hosted our last movie night for the year so we baked them cookies.  Love these young people!  It was with profound sadness and joy that we realized in a few days that our association with the fine level thirteen students will be over.  They will be off to conquer the world on their own terms with only the echoes of their laughter, the warmth of their smiles, and the deeply ingrained memories of their kindness to linger with us, a gift to be forever cherished.   

Our Multiculturalism & SIOP class is now complete.  We have been getting grades ready to submit and have had time to pick up the office clutter and clean out some files.  We've also acquired new office supplies with year-end budget monies.

SIOP Class

Preparations for future classes now dominate our time as a dozen courses yet be taught for next year will need be prepared from the ground up.  We are in constant search of worldwide information that will allow the us to guide the instructional practices of our staff. 

Saturday we invited Elder & Sister Deffense to lunch and they ended up taking us to a new location.   It was a 45-minute drive to the beautiful beaches on the northeast side of Savaii at Fagamalo.   The beaches there were very sandy which is not the norm as much of the island is volcanic rock that drops immediately into the ocean.   Tropical fish swam in large numbers in the shallow water that was very warm and most inviting.   It made for a tranquil and salubrious afternoon that disappeared all too fast with the descending sun of early evening.

Other pictures from this week:

Honors first missionary to Samoa in 1830 from the London Missionary Society.

Starfruit---when sliced has five points like a star.  It is eaten much like an apple, skin and all.

                             It has one seed in the center.  Our preference is to cut off the thin 

                            membrane on each section before slicing.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! "THINK TO THANK"

Missionary FHE

On Monday the full time Elders hosted a Family Home Evening with the dorm boys and girls combined.  They made it fun using Jeopardy as the format about gospel doctrine, church history or facts.  The youth really got into it and you can imagine the competition since it was boys versus girls.

Tuesday we were invited to have lunch with our Mission President and his wife along with Elder & Sister Deffense.  We see little of President Hannemann because he travels so much between American Samoa, Upolu, and Savai'i working closely with the young full-time Elders and Sisters.  We felt grateful for the opportunity to become better acquainted.

The administrative classes are wrapped up until late January when school resumes.  Friday was a fun day for the students---a last day for Levels 7-11.  They come back in two weeks for Prize-Giving (Awards Day).  Meanwhile, Levels 12 & 13 have important government standardized exams during the two-week period.  Below is a picture of their entertainment on Friday as each house (or grade) prepared and performed a special number.  Laughter filled the hall.

Friday evening was movie night for the International students since they are the only ones left in the dorms at this time.

Friday while out and about we bought this variety of seaweed from a vendor.  It is harvested from the ocean and is like a gelatinous berry.  They toss it in salads.  It didn't have a distinct taste.

Saturday evening was a date night.  We chose a new place for dinner and weren't disappointed at the Savai'ian Hotel.  We literally were at the ocean's edge looking out with a warm tropical breeze blowing.  It was sunset as we were leaving.

We continue to prepare for next semester's classes and for Area church leaders coming to the graduations of the Pacific Area Church Schools at the end of November.

Varied Activities

Casual Week....

Our administrative class did final presentations and we have loved these teachers!  

Thursday was a devotional in which Level 13 students (Seniors) bade farewell and all Seminary students were presented their certificates for the year.  Basically, this meant each student received a certificate as Seminary is a required course at Vaiola College.

This shows the covered walkways needed in Samoan rains.

Friday morning was our early 6:30 a.m. faculty meeting.  Ron was privileged to present one of our students his ITEP Teaching Certificate.  This was accomplished after he had completed nine ITEP BYU-Hawaii courses and his student teaching.

Early Saturday afternoon we attended a baptism of one of the dorm girls; she is a sweetheart. The dorm boys and girls were there in full support of her.

Afterwards we met Elder & Sister Pitcher (mission dentist and his wife) who had ferried over and we oriented them to the facility layout in preparation of their student dental check ups next May.  We ran into other visitors from Preston, Idaho.  It is always fun to meet new folks.  They had already climbed the Vaiola steps!

 

Saturday evening we had dinner at the Amoa Resort with Elder and Sister Pitcher.  It was Mongolian Beef Buffet. Food was individually pan fried.

Amoa Resort Restaurant

Below are a few miscellaneous pictures:

Fresh Mussel Clam 2' across for sale at a roadside stand.

Boys hanging out after school; the one boy is weaving a basket.

This link came to us from another missionary couple.  Thought it might be an interesting read about a recent missionary's experience in Samoa.

https://pacific.lds.org/miracles-in-samoa?lang=eng-nz