A Tearful End and Lessons Learned

So I'm writing this not exactly when it happened, but as soon as I was able to get to a computer. So after we played volleyball on Saturday, the next day was our last day to be in American Samoa. We taught our last bible lesson for the little kids. As I sat in church singing it finally hit me that I was leaving. I was listening to the Samoans sing and thinking about all of the relationships that I had formed over the last 5 weeks. I was overwhelmed with emotions and started crying. At the end of church, Tia, got up and asked us to stand at the front of the church. Again, just like with the Nu Uli church we had another tofa (goodbye) from the Tafuna church. As I was walking up to the front I lost it again. These kids who I had got to know mean so much to me and I wasn't ready to say goodbye. The kids brought us up gifts from the congregation in a line and they kept coming and coming. After this happened we said our goodbyes and took lots of pictures. We exchanged addresses to write letters to each other and parted ways. The rest of the day was spent packing. Marci and I filled up a suitcase each with gifts that were given to us. The thanks we received again was very touching. We went to the airport that night and even had some kids meet us there to say goodbye again. We left hoping to one day return. I will never forget the last 5 weeks for the rest of my life. I have learned a lot about love, kindness, and respect from the Samoans. I want to live my life trying to love other people even if I do not want to or am scared, or do not know them. I want to treat my friends, family, and everyone with kindness. I do not want to have to think or to try, but for it to be effortless because it becomes habit. I have learned a lot about respect. I think that in the United States we forget about this action because discipline is not enforced as much anymore. To show someone respect is to truly go out of your way for them. The relationships that we have with these people were real and powerful. Thanks for reading, we look forward to living out the rest of our lives by the things that we have learned from the people we met and the things we experienced in American Samoa. God can really teach me so much in so little time!

The Good Samaritans

So after an overwhelming unforgettable night...we woke up earlier than we have probably the whole entire 5 weeks we've been here. And David took us to NuuUli to start the Volleyball tournament. We played with the Good Samaritan Team. It was all girls today..the boys played Friday. We played for like 5 hours...not a joke. The court is just cement and the Samoan way is of course...Do you wanna guess?? Yep, your right without shoes. So, Melinda and my feet are red, sore, and got some pretty sweet blood blisters. It was lots of fun..I haven't played that much non-stop since high school. Taking me back in the day. We then said our final goodbyes and got on the Inga bus...this was our 1st time...yeah we were definitely a little nervous, but we got there perfectly and you have to knock on the side of the bus (which is actually a truck with a huge wooden bed with benches people sit in and the radio blastin'). It was a really good experience. I'm not ready to leave...it seems like right when we are getting accustom to America Samoa we have to leave...bummer...but I take with me memories, unforgettable experiences, God's beauty in a different light, lessons learned, and new friends. I'm aquiring a taste for some of the food too...funny/scary the girls who don't eat any vegetables.

Tofa! (The Goodbye).....I Can't Stop Smiling!

Thursday:

We started out with the classic purple soup song that we use to pass out the kids name tags. It is a simple song with a few funny movements like cha cha and boogie woogie. Then we talked about kindness and gentleness. For gentleness we performed the lost sheep skit, which the kids really enjoyed. We had Colleen hide in the middle of the kids as a sheep, while the rest of us were shepherds looking for her. We would ask the kids if they had seen our sheep. They would reply yes yes yes....she's right here. We would pretend like we didn't see her and keep looking else where. At the end we carried Colleen (the lost sheep) and showed how we were gentle with her. This was funny to explain because they didn't know what a sheep was. We made sheep hands with cotton balls. For our snack we decorated cookies to look like sheep. This was probably one of the cutest things ever, all of the kids had icing and cookie all over their hands and mouths. Don't worry though, we remembered to bring baby wipes. Once we got home we practiced our dance till the wee hours of the night. Marci and I wanted to have everything down perfectly since we would be performing it the next night. So we got kind of frustrated, but we went to bed after we ran through it perfectly.

Friday:

The last day of VBS, and boy did it go by really fast. We've had such a great time with these kids. We were without two of our helpers today, but the day still ended up a success. We talked about self control and goodness. For self control we talked about how Adam and Eve did not have self control in the Garden of Eden because they ended up disobeying God. For our craft we made snakes out of paper plates. This was a very cute craft and the kids loved their really cool super long and slinky snakes. For goodness we told the story of the fiery furnace. All of the kids gave us hugs at the end after we finished the day and passed back all of the crafts.

Right after VBS ended we went to a family's house from church to watch them prepare for the umu that night. It was so fun to be a part of, and we could tell that they enjoyed us being there. First, they offered us some cocoa samoa. This was the second time that we tried it, and this time it was amazing! I loved it, I think it was a little sweeter this time. First, we made coconut milk by wringing out the meat of the coconut into a bowl with the husk of the coconut. After that we learned how to peel breadfruit with a the edge of a can. Next, we learned how to peel bananas with a hand made wooden knife. After that, we scraped the meat of the coconut out by using the hand made metal scraper thing that was attached to a seat. We also learned how to make this dish with taro leaves and coconut milk by taking leaves and putting the coconut milk in them and then rolling the leaves into a bowl. Then, you take the breadfruit leaves to cover it. Finally, we learned how to get the coconut out of it's husk by using the metal pole that was sticking up out of the ground. This was quite a scary task because it almost seemed as if we were going to stab our hands as we tried to get the coconut out. We also tried a lot of things: coconut milk, cocoa beans (which tasted very tart like a lemon....weird, but very good), mackerel with coconut milk, and the meat of the coconut. We watched them get the fire ready. They put the food over the hot rocks, and then cover it with banana leaves and let it cook and heat up for a long time. The smoke was very strong. Salvation also taught us part of a sasa with the coconuts. The umu is something that Samoans do on a regular basis. It was great getting to see and experience what all goes into preparing one. They served the food at the Tofa tonight.

After the food was passed out, we were up. Yes, we had to dance in front of everyone. I was so nervous that I had that yucky feeling in my stomach. We went first and we did our dance without any mistakes. They appreciated us for doing the dance they yelled and clapped once we were finished. I felt so much better once that was over with. Then, we got to watch the Nu Uli church perform a couple of dances, and they were great. After that, Lu Ou called the three girls from Abilene up to the front. He thanked us for helping and said that him and the church wanted to present us with a gift. Then, he said, "Men come on". I looked back and there was a whole line of men coming from out of the house they started with Marci.... they gave her necklaces, earrings, and lava lavas they just kept piling it and piling it on. They came in one by one and would give Marci a kiss with each gift. All I could do was smile and laugh. We could not believe the thanks and what was happening. The last guy tied a lava lava around Marci and gave her a kiss. Before I knew it they were all lined up again and did the exact same thing for me. We were and are still in shock. I don't know if I've ever seen or experienced appreciation like that before. After that, he asked if we wanted to say anything, so I said a few words, and then we walked off with all of our gifts. Once again lots more smiles and us saying thank you. The guys came over and put all of our gifts into a bag for us. We then took a lot of pictures with everyone, even though we're going to play volleyball and see them one last time tomorrow. The tofa is a big goodbye or send off that is a Samoan tradition. I really can't describe the feelings that I'm feeling right now. I know that I will never forget these few weeks, and am so thankful to have formed all of these relationships.

What We Live For....And A Little Bit of Dancing aka Lots of Dancing in Between

So today's VBS attendance was in decline because it was raining pretty hard some of the time. We had 53 on Tuesday and only around 30ish today, but it was still lots of fun. We sang songs at the beginning and sung songs like I Wanna Be Like Daniel...who would have thought that a VBS song could give you that much of a workout?? I mean you do about 20 squats at a very fast pace. We also learned Ish Conbie Conductor..(totally misspelled) for all of you fellow Blue Haven goers. They really liked it a lot!!! We then talked about patience with the story of Abraham waiting for a child. They got to make paper clocks and also we played the quiet game. Melinda and I would go around to the children and make funny faces and noises. My personal favorite was my pig, monkey, and chicken noises. I got lots of kids out with those. We then gave the kids the wonderful Tootsie Roll Pops and they had to be patient and not bite but just lick. One kid tried to count how many licks it took to get to the center...not really. We then talked about Faithfulness and we laid out beans and leaves and the kids had to go and pick up the leftovers like Ruth did. They then made really cute Welcome signs. Then came the only kind of stressful part. We were trying to play a game where 2 kids are back to back and there was a b-ball in between their back and they had to go from point A to point B. The problem was trying to get the teams even. It was like we were speaking a different language..oh yeah we were. But everything was ok.

We then got our bags because we were invited to play Volleyball. We changed and the neatest thing was that the picture frames we made on Monday were up in their living room proudly. Wait it gets even better...The other crafts we have made were taped up on the wall of one of the rooms. It was just really neat to see how they showed off the stuff we had made at VBS. Usually as I remember when I was a little girl we would just hang stuff on the fridge for like a week but then it would be thrown in the trash. What I'm trying to say was that it was neat. Then I had to go to the bathroom...very interesting they did have a toilet, but no seat and there was a string to flush it. I had to get Tofoi to help me learn how to flush it. Then we were home again on the court. We hadn't touched a volleyball since Spring Intramurals. So we were a little rusty, but they were impressed I think...but the Samoans were very good as well. We won like 3 games in a row, but then the big shots came...The boys/men that were amazing!!! So we didn't win after that. It started raining (this is rain that is not just a sprinkle but a good solid rain), but they said to keep playing so when Melinda and I both tried to set and the ball went straight through our hands. We got laughed at pretty hard, but I didn't feel terrible because they would laugh at anyone when they would mess up Polongi: White Person or not. The guys were so good...It seemed like an Olympic Preview..I'm only exaggerating just a tad really they were all college v-ball material. I have to say there was one time that I just had to dive and remind you we were playing on cement I fell pretty hard and got a pretty sweet banged up knee to show for it. Then to top it off I dove one more time. I was then forced to go clean up and they put Baby Oil on my wound then it was back to the court for me. We then watched the guys play some more...SOO FUN!! Even if you don't like Volleyball or sports in general...you would have liked watching this. Yes I know that's a strong comment.

Since we were soaked they wanted us to change clothes they thought we would get sick because it was so cold let me remind you that the weather gets nowhere less than 75 degrees F. So they gave us all lava lavas that we got to keep and then it was time to watch the girls practice their dance that they will perform on Friday. The Samoan dance is very graceful it was beautiful to watch. Myself on the other hand would be the opposite of graceful, which would be awkward, stiff, and silly looking. They practiced for lets say 5 minutes and then they pulled us up and said that it was our turn. I was like Whoaa this was supposed to be dance practice for ya'll...apparently I was wrong. We had to learn this dance and we all got private instructors...there was 2 girls helping me Tofoi and Nai. We then after 30 minutes learned the routine and then performed in front of everyone. Embarrassing, yes, but fun, yes. We then did the whole cycle over again with Tahitian style dancing, which is all about the hips darling.. Then Luuao had got us McDonalds for lunch while we had been dancing...he's like one of the only ones with a car in the NuuUli village. And guess what??? Give up ok I guess I'll tell you. Melinda and I both ate a Big Mac with lettuce, yes I'll repeat LETTUCE!! We have tried lots of new foods so lettuce was not that bad. Then it was back to dancing...we got to do the Cha Cha slide which was fun since it was a dance that I did know. We then danced until it was time for church we approximately danced for at least a good 2 1/2 hours no joke non-stop. Fun filled with laughter and might I add pain. We are now sore all over but I must say it was definitely worth it and we got an invitation to do it all over again tomorrow...so we'll see what Thursday has in store...

p.s. i'm tired so sorry if stuff doesn't make sense...

"It hit me......I'm tired."

So today we talked about joy and peace, it was another successful day! We started out singing and they love to sing, again we sang the classic church VBS songs. And we even had more kids today, it's not like in the States where you have to sign up for VBS. More children were able to come which made us excited, but that meant even more cute little kids running around. We had 53 kids today. I'm not for sure if we mentioned this in the last post, but only the older kids know Samoan, so we have a translator. We split up into groups to do crafts today, so it was kind of chaotic when I was trying to get all of my kids seated and helping them know what to do, but somehow we managed to get it all finished. The first thing we did was a puppet show of Paul and Silas being joyful even though they were in jail. Kate and I did the puppet show, and this was my first time doing puppets so I made a few mistakes. It was hard for me to read my lines and move the puppet at the same time. I even lost my place a few times....ooops! They understood the story after it was translated and laughed a whole lot at our silly puppet moving skills. After that we split up into groups and made happy Paul and Silas faces in a jail. After that we had raisins as a snack so they could make a joyful face on the plate and then eat them. Raisins....some of them liked them while others didn't. I guess we should have thought that over a little more, I'm just glad I didn't have to eat them. Then we told the story of Jesus Calms the storm for peace. We even had the kids do a rainstorm during the story. It sounded pretty cool! Then we made little boats and waves for the second craft. We got back into the same group for crafts. I had a few kids that were able to do theirs on their own, but the rest needed help. I was tapped by the little kids the whole time and got the cute little kid face as they handed their papers to me. I also had a kid drop his boat in a little stream off of a little ledge, which then had all of the little kids standing by a dangerous place where they could fall. I was like AHHHHH, get back please and they sat back down again....a little scary though. At the end when everyone was finished cutting and pasting I had one little boy that kept going around to all of the other groups and picking up their rubbish (trash) and come hand it to me with a proud face saying, look at me, I'm so helpful! After that, we used a parachute to make waves and the storm. Oh wow......they loved this idea and game. We only did it a few times because it was so crazy and we were about out of time. At the end we handed back all of their papers which was again chaotic. By that time the parents had got out, so they were eager to run around. Everything got passed around and we finished another great day.

The kids are so sweet and I just smile and laugh whenever I'm around them. They loved just being around us and talking to us. The ages range from 3 year olds to 8th grade. I'm just so thankful that I'm able to be around them. It makes me pray and desire for the sweetness and love these children have. I should be more like them; loving others without questions and being a friend to those I don't even know. I thank God for the kids here in Samoa.

In the car after we were leaving from lunch I said to Marci, "It hit me, I'm tired." Marci then proceeded to hit my face two times, once on each cheek. She thought I said "hit me, I'm tired" We got so tickled and laughed for a long time, once I told her what I really said. Don't worry though, we took a nap so we're all ready for the night lecture and tomorrow morning. We even already made more things for our crafts since we will probably have even more kids tomorrow.

The Famous Play: "Jesus Loves the Little Children aka Group Hug/Doggie Pile"

So today the joyous but chaotic VBS started. Here's how things got started...We forgot the pages that they were supposed to kool-aid paint on and we also forgot the kool-aid. I know, great start. Sekia Samoa (It's all good) we got both even with around a minute to spare. We were greeted with about 43 screaming kids running with smiles on their faces toward our direction. Melinda and I of course started laughing and gave each other a look of: We're in for a wild ride...We started off singing and they loved it and knew every song we would throw at them..we didn't stump them once. Then Melinda and I were supposed to teach them the Fruit of the Spirit song since that is our theme..you know the one that starts out "Oh the fruit of the spirit's not a _____ (insert edible fruit like grape here). and kept going. Well..we got some confused looks when we were done but then we went over it slowly around at least 15 times and learned hand motions and they learned all the fruit of the spirit. Imagine that all in the 1st day of good ol' VBS. We then split up into groups half were making name necklaces with Tootie Frooties (the off brand fruit loops that Melinda and I are still bitter towards...read last post if confused). And the other group was painting a sheet of the fruit with the kool-aid paint that smelled awesome but got a little messy..I still have some on my hands. I was with the Frootie Tootie name tag group and the older kids got the hang of it right off..but the 2 year olds had a little bit more difficulties..imagine that the 2 year olds having more difficulties. This is where I met my friend Sulu who I helped with her necklace. She then became known for wanting to sit in people's laps...and she ended up being in my group so everywhere I went Sulu was attached. (It was really fun and made me feel like a kid again but then again Melinda and I usually don't act like most 21 yr. olds...sometimes more like 8 yr. olds.. After that we the interns and Colleen acted out the story of Jesus letting the little children come to Him. I was Jesus..don't laugh I know you're getting a funny picture in your head and I guess you're right it was pretty funny. Then we split into groups where the kids got to act out the story for the other kids. It was really fun-lots of group hugs and doggie piles at the end which was very entertaining. My group consisted of Sulu, Nai, Lina, Valentine, Brenda, Afa, and 1 boy who's name I don't recall. Sometime in between here we managed to make picture frames as well that remind them that Jesus loves them...which happens to be the 1st Fruit of the Spirit we are talking about and we didn't even plan it (Sarcasm was used). We then got to play the name game...you know like Marci Marci bo Barci and so on, but try doing it with names like ThankyouLord and Cornelius...it was very entertaining and a mouthful. Then just like they entered they left everything was crazy.."Are you coming tonight..ok I'll see you tonight...Melinda and I trying to say everyones names". Some people stayed longer. Especially some of the older girls like Fatoi, Nai, Valorie, and Vae. Vae is deaf so she wanted us to learn the sign language alphabet...she then wanted us to do it faster and faster. The older girls were very helpful and really sweet. I am thankful that they're were not tricks played..at least not to my knowledge. We then had to leave to go to lunch but we are going to try to get a game of volleyball going one afternoon which Melinda and I are dying to do. I don't know if we'll get shown up our not but it should be fun, but then again Samoans are very competitive like us. (Just cross your fingers it goes ok). We then got stuff ready at the house for tomorrow and now it is almost time for night time lecture...Time is definitely flying...even when you don't want it to that's when it sometimes seems like it flies by the fastest.

Please Don't Be Mad!

So we love you so much and we know we promised not to get a tattoo, but we just had to. Once we learned about the tattoo and how much it means to the culture we made the decision to get one together. The word tattoo comes from a Samoan word, and the tattoo first came from here in Samoa! There is a lot to the history that is hard to explain so if you want to do your own research about it you can, but I will try. In the certain villages there are different types of chiefs or matai's. It showed that these people were important and was the start of a tradition for many years to come. The chiefs would get a tattoo called a patei (note: spelling could be wrong on many of these words), and it was from the waist to mid thigh for girls, and from the waist to the knees for guys. We asked Wilson, who did our tattoo how long one of these tattoos would take and he said about 7 days. I'm sure that it would have taken a lot longer when they would do it the original way. Marci and I have just experienced so much while we were here, and we never wanted to forget it. I know this is just one reason, but we can tell you all more about it when we get back. By the way we're on our last week here and we have VBS the whole week. We know that it's going to be really hard to say goodbye to everyone. After church this morning I was playing with a girl named Juliette. She ended up in my arms and we were spinning in circles and all I could do was smile really big. I told her ok, I bet you need to go now, while I tried to get her off me. This is just an example of the meaningful relationships that we have formed so far.

This last Friday, we went to a pre-show of the Pacific Arts Festival that is going to be held here in a few weeks. This included lots of different groups and schools performing sivas (dances). This was so great for us to be able to watch and it was so fun. The Samoans are so graceful when they dance, and all of the different moves that they do are things that relate to their culture. We even watched girls do a sword dancing routine, which was pretty impressive. They even gave us free sodas.

We don't know if a lot of the kids from the Tafuna church where we are at will be able to come to the VBS since a lot of their families do not have cars. But we plan on having about 40 kids. This whole weekend has been spent watching Gilmore Girls episodes and getting all of the crafts ready for 40 kids. One of our favorites that Marci and I worked on was the fruit of the spirit necklaces. We bought the off brand of Fruit Loops called Tootie Fruities. We decided to give each kid 40 fruit loops to put in a ziploc bag. The problem with the Tootie Fruities was that a lot of them were stuck together, so the kids would not be able to string them on a necklace. Marci and I spent about an hour and a half cutting apart tootie fruites. Thank you to anyone who has ever helped with a VBS or with kids, we can finally relate to all of the hard work you've done. We continue to ask for your prayers as we start on our last week here.

Tonight we met upstairs for a short devotional and we sang lots of great classic church of christ songs. Marci and I felt like we were at Cemetery working or at Aunt Nunny's house. And yes, we have still not yet quite matured yet because we got our tickle box turned over while we were singing. Just some great memories that we were reminded of tonight.

P.S. We really didn't get a tattoo, so please don't call the Willis' mom and dad, don't worry. It was just a little joke, but our friend Colleen did get one. Ha Ha. We had a good time watching here get one though.

Heartbreaker

So today was our last time (during this trip) to see Patello. Recap...he is the man that is handicapped from a routine surgery that went wrong and him, his wife and their daughter live in a single bedroom house that is probably the equivalent to two cajun cone stands put together and their is no bathroom or shower. He greeted us with the warmest welcome. Then his daughter Emme, who is part of our tween group, came over to us and gave us all ulas, Samoan necklace..this one is made of tiny shells. When she put the ula on my neck it was the hardest to try and make the tears not stream down my face. Just knowing that we connected with each other and formed a friendship even just over four weeks is a neat thing. It is just one of those times that God breaks your heart...I definitely wasn't ready for it. God is working in this family and even through trials He is their joy and that exudes in this family. Then Patello sang the Savalivali and Melinda recorded it so she could learn the chords and be able to share this song with others...which is really cool.

We then invited some more people to the Lectureship next week. After that David decided we would go to Rubbles for lunch (this place Melinda had been dying to go) so she was stoked. It was really neat and had a underwater submarine/ship theme. The thing about America Samoa is that at a restaurant you never know when your food will come so you eat when you get your food and it is not considered rude because it is very possible that before your food could be cold before your friend got their food. So basically everyone was finished with their food before Melinda even got her meal. It's kind of a funny thing. I got a Teryaki Beef Burger which was amazing and food like that is probably why I haven't lost any weight while I've been here. We then worked on our VBS and it is sounding like its going to be real fun!! So today with our 1st of goodbyes I come to the conclusion that even though 5 weeks is not a long time there are people here that I will never forget and that I have made memories with that shape my image of joy during tribulation I believe for forever...God works in my life and other peoples lives and that is what is exciting and amazing all at the same time....with many more emotions also!

Also an interesting fact...as I was changing my clothes for our Wednesday night discussion class I found a whole huge family of ants in one of my drawers but living here you just become custom to the insects being around like ants in drawers or spiders in the shower...

Scavenger Hunt and Paddle Pops!

Today we went to visit a lady that goes to church named Gwen. She owns quite a bit of land and gave us a lot of fruit. We even got to use this 15 foot long stick to get grapefruit out of the trees. It was quite funny, my arms were shaking as I tried to hold the stick steady and get it underneath the fruit to push it out of the tree. After that we went inside to talk a while. She babysits her granddaughter Kathleen, who is 10 months old. It made me think of Ashleigh, Lance, and Caedmon. (We really miss you by the way!) She was precious and we really enjoyed playing and being around her.

This afternoon was our last Tween activity and it rained all day for the most part. We only had four kids today and we had worked hard to make it a great last time together. We still had lots of fun. We had made up a bible scripture scavenger hunt with different verses of the bible. They worked together to look up the different verses and then find each clue. It was so sweet listening to them read the verses because their English isn't quite perfect yet. We stayed with them the whole time, so we would let them know if they figured out the right word out of the verse to focus on. It was hilarious to listen to them pick out what they thought the word was. Example: The son of man .......... Then a boy named Ray said, "It's the son of man" and got up to look for Jesus outside. We got a little tickled. In the video below the clue is utensil. They finally got the hang of it, and it was great to see them work together the whole time. A lot of the kids could not come because they had to babysit. That is a big part of the Samoan culture. The young kids get put in the hands of the kids that are older and they are in charge of taking care of them instead of the parents. We'll get to have these kids in Vacation Bible School, so it's not the last time we'll see them which is good because we were definitely not ready to say goodbye yet.

Tonight we ate upstairs at the Ashley's and had this Mexican casserole dish that was very yummy. After we ate we went to the bush store to get New Zealand ice cream. I had a rainbow paddle pop, which made me feel like I was 12 years old again, and it was summer....and it made me think I was and am having the time of my life! The paddle pop was very sweet different colored ice cream. After that it was time to practice our dance. And we practiced and practiced. Yes, we were serious, the one we're doing in front of 2 Samoan congregations and other visitors. If only ya'll could see us I think everyone would laugh hysterically. Anyways, we're pretty beat. We spend our last day with Putela tomorrow, so that will be sad. He is such a great man. I just ask that you be praying for the lectureship and for us as we prepare to get ready to teach kids next week with VBS. We're missing everyone! Hope all is well back on the Mainland.

Barefoot: The Samoan Way

We taught Bible Class this morning, since it's Sunday, ya know. It went really good! We talked about Paul's Shipwreck and they made the ocean with just a plastic bottle, food coloring, glitter, and the shake of their hands. It was really fun Melinda made them shake their bottles 14 times since there was 14 days...well you know the story. They laughed and thought it was the coolest thing since to little kids most anything can be cool and entertaining. Then we had a couple of minutes until it was time for worship service to start and so the kids got to add the different food colorings they wanted to their beautiful blue oceans...most of them ended up brown. We got some questions like.."What is it that they made?" and so on...We just replied well it used to be the ocean you know the blue pretty color with sparkles. We also wore our Pula Tasi's, our Samoan dresses to church, and everyone really appreciated us trying to appreciate their culture. I also wore a sei, which is a flower that the women put in their hair.

Then after church we went to the traditional Deluxe Restaurant where I got my new favorite thing Banana Pancakes..Yumm! Then Colleen, our tour guide, took us on an adventure to Nu Uli Falls. So she said it would be a short hike so Melinda and I decided that we needed a hiking outfit and matching hiking hairstyle to go along with our hike. After we were ready we asked what shoes to wear and Colleen told us that what she would do which also happened to be "The Samoan Way" was to go barefoot. So Melinda and I decided to try it and we brought shoes along just in case...It was one of the hardest things I've done to my little poor feet. The hike was muddy, rocky, slippery, and painful..but also filled with loads of laughter because it was so funny trying to walk barefoot the entire way..Colleen on the other hand was a pro, a natural. Once we got their and basically the whole way up but sometimes we were to focused on stepping on the easiest course possible to try to admire the beauty..anyways it was amazing!! We got to swim in the little area, but we couldn't go near the waterfall because it rained a lot yesterday and it was to powerful..Sums up God's creation in a simple way beautiful and wonderful but at the same time powerful. We also got to climb up the waterfall a little ways and see it from a different angle. It was lots of fun and I am still to this moment baffled at how the Samoans can walk barefoot up to the waterfall...Fact-Samoans don't really have arches on their feet more just flat since they usually walk barefoot everywhere. That's all of the experiences God showed us today.

An 80 Mile Trip...

So we just returned from Western Samoa this afternoon and thought we should write a little about it. So we went to the airport to check in and we had to stand up on the scale where you usually put your luggage so they could weigh you. This is so they could assign you seats so the weight of the plane would be balanced because the plane was so small. We had to hunch when we were walking to the aisles to get to our seat. I think the plane held about 20 people. It was very pretty flying across the ocean and coming into Western Samoa. The water was beautiful and we were flying in between the clouds. The flight was really fast, it was about 30 minutes. We were shocked once we were up in the air when they turned on the air. It shot out of the vent in a white color. We don't really know how to explain it except we thought we were getting gassed by some deadly chemical, but it was just air. I guess some some scientist will have to explain that to me. Marci was in the front row and could have punched all of the buttons (so she says), I think she means she was really really close. Once we landed, we got a taxi to take us to our hotel. In Western Samoa they have chickens, pigs, dogs, and horses running around everywhere. Everything else is about the same as America Samoa. American Samoa is run by our government, so the poor use food stamps and rely on our government for help. Western Samoa runs itself, and they are proud of being a self supporting nation, even though they tend to be poorer. They still maintain their culture and a lot of their traditions.

We also exchanged our U.S. money for tala, and got a stamp in our passport for leaving the country. We still hadn't done that since America Samoa is a U.S. territory. Once we got settled in, we went to Aggie Grey's for a fia fia night ( a Samoan luau). They had traditional Samoan singing and dancing. We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. A guy came and got Marci to dance up on stage with him. At the end, he gave her an ula, which is a Samoan flower lei. Then they had fire dancing by the pool. Aggie Grey's would be a great honeymoon spot, just in case our future husbands are reading. At the end there was a buffet of food and desserts, it was ok.

Day 2:

We wake up. The end. No just kidding. We find out that there is complimentary breakfast and this is not Super 8 complimentary breakfast it is more like Embassy Suites. We had fruit, toast, baked beans...New Zealand thing.., muffins, poached eggs-never tried but loved, bacon, sausage, a samoan dish that was not my fav., and french toast. We were refreshed and ready to start the day! We drove the the opposite side of the island to Taufua Beach Fales, which cost $26 and included 2 amazing meals...you can't get that in the states...but if you can let me know and we can go together. A fale is a traditional samoan house...now most live in a more modern day house, but invite their guests to stay in the fales. So we get to our fale and change right into our swimsuits to go snorkeling. Even though we live on an island this is only the 2nd time we have been in the water. And this was a way better experience than the 1st time...the water was calm, snorkels worked fine, and the ocean life was like we should have been on the Discovery Channel or something, but in real life. The only hard part was that we were warned not to touch the coral or it would die and that was sometimes a problem b/c the coral was at times only a foot away from yourself and the top of the water. We saw a bright blue starfish like the one off the Little Mermaid when it covers Ursela's mouth. They really do exist and they're huge!!! We learned this neat trick while snorkeling...we're no longer beginners we are probably more at the intermediate level now. We could swim down to the bottom to look and then come up to the surface and not have salt water in our mouths...yes, i know quite an improvement. We also saw a bright blue clam (the clam would be open and then when we would swim down it would shut itself), sea cucumbers, rainbow fish, and fish of every color imaginable. We then split a Coke for lunch and then it was back to the ocean for us now experienced snorkelers. We were in the water to about supper time, which was served family style with everyone sitting at long tables..reminded me of Blue Haven..Melinda and I sat by this New Zealand family and it was really interesting just getting to talk to them and learn differences and for the main part similarities. They speak English, just in case you didn't know, but it was sometimes very hard to understand them. One of the sons was named Reegan and I thought the mom said Vegan and the girl who was close to our age in what they call college "Uni" was named Charma...I thought they said Charmin..like the toilet paper. One phrase that was funny is the daughter said "Mom can I scab some toothpaste off of you?" Also burglars are called home invaders..but they don't pronounce their R's like we do so it sounds more like home invadas. We talked for hours and then invited the four kids to play Uno, which they pronounce Youknow, and they ended up showing the Americans up...we all came in last. They were Christians we ended up finding out and it's just encouraging and neat just to talk to other Christians around the world. When it was time for bed I had to go to the restroom, but when I walked in...their was what I thought was a huge poisonous spider..but it turned out to be only the hugest hermit crab I've seen in my life, no exaggeration. We then climbed onto our cushions and enclosed ourselves in mosquito netting and called it a night.

It was such a great morning waking up to the sound of the ocean. Once we were up we ate breakfast and drove back to Apia. We saw the New Zealand family and they sat down by us again at breakfast...I think they liked us. We saw a lot of horses, it's weird to see them in a rain forest looking setting. It looked like where they filmed Jurassic Park, but I think that was Hawaii or some other place. Then we went to the Marketplace which was huge. It was very overwhelming and almost a little stressful for us. We went up and down every aisle to find out the best prices for things. There were t-shirts, hand made jewelry sets, serving dishes, place mats, purses, flowers, weapons, fine mats...and many other things. We finally managed to get gifts for everyone. We got a tapa board for us and the rest of you will just have to wait until we get back to find out what we got you. After the souvenir shopping we were very tight on our Samoan money that we had exchanged. We ate at a cute Italian pizza place and ate some very good food. We decided not to get a drink, since money was tight.

Things that we didn't get to do: See waterfalls and swim by them, swim with turtles, tours, snorkel where you can swim under a cave, visit a Samoan museum, and many other things. Lovely time, but we're really tired.

Last morning:

We went to Robert Luis Stevenson's house where he spent the last years of his life fighting tuberculosis. I just wanted to have a sentence where it sounded like I read. Don't feel bad if you didn't know who he was: He is a author who wrote many famous works including Treasure Island, Jekyll and Hyde, and you know many other great stories that I have not read. He wrote 13 books in the last 4 years of his life. That's unimaginable to me. While we were waiting on our taxi Melinda met a friends that was part of a cruise ship that was in Samoa. She told Melinda that she looked like her dead husband that had blonde hair and blue eyes. She told Melinda never to remarry because all of her friends who were still married hated their husbands. She said husbands get to possessive when they get older...I thought this was pretty humorous. We then walked around the harbor where ships dock and then it was time to leave Samoa and head back. That is all. We were invited back by the normal rain that comes down usually everyday in American Samoa and that's where this story ends.

All You Need is A Full Moon, The Ocean, and New Friends

Today starts with the amazing experience we had last night. Coleen, a Samoan native, took us out to see "Sliding Rock" at night. She told us that the ocean had to be seen at night...and I had my doubts...but I definitely now am a believer. The moon was full and there was a slight breeze but what we saw was the magic, the amazing creation, of God. The moon's light would reflect on to the waves right before they would crash. This made the waves look like they were sparkling...folks, this is not an exaggeration. To make it seem relatable it was like when King Triton gives Ariel legs for forever and when he sticks out his trident (sp.?) the waves that are flowing towards Ariel seem to sparkle. This was to an extent what the ocean waves seemed to look like. It was the 1st time we have really gotten to take lots of time just to sit in awe and admire God's gift, his creation. We ended up singing praises to Him and I have not been that flabbergasted at a sight in a long time. It is a memory that I know will last forever. We couldn't capture it on film...maybe somethings God just intended for us to admire in person instead of the ability to have the memory on film forever....or maybe we just didn't have a good enough camera??...but whatever the reasoning it is one part of God's creation that I will always take with me.
Now....we wake up it's Tuesday...
We got to different places to invite them to the 3rd Annual Lectureship that will start not this coming Sun. but the next. Then after lunch it was time to pick up the Tween Class. One girl, Brenda wrote out a list of Samoan words for us to learn...now we have no excuse not to learn some more Samoan. (Even the simple things in life like her writing ourwords for us mean a lot). We then played a game of good ol' fashioned kickball...which I don't think any of them had played before so that was fun. Then we got into groups and acted out different peer pressure scenarios...we let them be in charge of them and they had lots of fun with it and did a good job. Then we had time to sing and Kate taught them "You Gotta Take the Lord With You" they love love to sing and loved the motions that went along with it. They learned all the English words very quickly and we sang it over and over until they had it down. One boy, Joe, does not speak much English at all. And his smile and him trying to move his mouth and sing some of the words might have been the most inspiring thing of all..Singing even the boys love...who would have thought?? Not like I remember in my youth group....they have hearts that's for sure!!
We then went and picked up our Pula Tasi's...Our Samoan dresses. They are worn basically almost everyday...it's either that or the lava lava's(the wrap around skirts, which me wear too). They are really neat and is something that will spark memories every time we wear them. We then went upstairs for supper with the Ashley's and shared in a meal. After came the scary part....We are performing the traditional Samoan dance for Lectureship representing the Tafuna Church...Cross your fingers b/c I started out pretty rocky. Picture a tall non-coordinated girl + any form of culture dancing...yeah I started laughing too....It's just going to be the 3 of us interns...It shows appreciation and respect for their culture...and it shows them that we want to get to know who they are as a person...Not only their spiritual lives, but who they are entirely so we can form relationships with them...So practice makes perfect..at least that's how the saying goes. We then walked to a Bush store, which is a tiny store that is basically a convenience store and all had cokes. We are leaving for Western Samoa tomorrow so our sharing of our journey with you all will be put on pause until Saturday, but we will try to make up for it...I know you all are probably terribly worried....But..We hope all is well and will leave you with God is in everything!!

Puah....Both a Flower and a very neat lady.

Today we went with David on a lot of visits to many different people that he knew. This was very fun for us because he chose to invite all of these people to lectureship in two weeks, you could tell how much the people really enjoyed their relationship with David. David encouraged the Tafuna church to have 125 people in worship in 2 weeks, so that is why he started inviting people today. This afternoon was really fun. Puah, the wife of an elder (Tia), met us up at the school to make lava lavas with us. She taught us how to design and make a lava lava using tapa board. This board has a design on each side carved out onto about a 3 foot board. First off she told us to choose a flower that we wanted to draw on a piece of cardboard to use as a stencil. We first tried drawing our own. Marci chose the hibiscus flower, while I chose the ginger plant. Our drawings were awful, and when we showed them to Puah she just laughed and said "good try". She then drew the flower for Marci and I while we cut them out. The next step was to paint the flower using the stencil that we had made. After that we used the tapa board and painted it in between the flowers to go along the bottom of the lava lava. It was so much fun for Marci and I to talk with Puah and learn this Samoan design technique. I was not good at it, but we talked and laughed a lot with her. There is something about laughter that makes me feel good from the inside out. I really enjoy it, and I think we were able to connect with her even through something as simple as laughter. I also believe that laughter keeps us young, and helps us not to worry about certain things. She was so excited to figure out what she was going to teach us next week. Next week we're going to do a t-shirt with a tapa design and make sei's (which are the flowers that the Samoan ladies wear in their hair). Now, when we get back we can have a craft day with everyone. Also, I nearly forgot to write about this. Puah was brought up in a family that practiced fofo, which is using medicine and massage to help heal people with aches and pains. I asked her about it because it interested me, so she taught me a few techniques. I practiced on Marci, while she massaged me, so I could feel what she was doing and try and imitate it. We're loving it here!

After I posted for today, David got a call from Emil who is one of his friends. He said that he had a frozen Wahu (type of fish here), that he wanted David to have. We picked it up and he had cut it in half, but it's still huge. We're going to eat it sometime next week...I bet it's going to be yummy.

Manuia le aso sa o tama....Oh your not fluent in Samoan...It means Blessed Father's Day!!

Today is Father's Day. Most of the dad's where ula's (which are the necklaces made from real flowers...who would've thought that was even possible coming from Texas and they last for weeks because the flowers are so nourished with water). And if they didn't have an ula some dad's had these awesome contraptions that I hope to bring back and make popular in the U.S.. Picture this the netting that you would get a fish from the store out of the bowl with, and then different candy bars in the netting tied up with ribbons to make a necklace...awesome!! Bible Class was really fun and very short we barely had time to finish our craft. David, the preacher, had a polongi-white person, have 6 different dads with 6 children up at the front and the visitor had to try to match the dad with their correct child...the Samoans loved it. He related the object lesson to the fact that since we are God's children people should be able to tell that we are different than non-Christians. The Samoans really connected to this. The singing was again amazing and more heart felt than when I sing. Well...the kids are always excited to see us which gives a person huge joy to feel wanted, loved I'm sure God wants us to be that excited when we get to talk to Him, something I need to work on. That is what the Tafuna church is like....people who are lover's of God and people who are willing to help out each other with no questions asked!

Ladies Day!

So today was a ladies day for the church women. They have a ladies day once a month. It was special because it was the Samoan women's idea to have it, so they are the ones that take leadership of it. Today, a woman named Puah led the devotional about love. I could tell that she put a lot of time and effort into her lesson. I sat next to her because we were in a circle and she had about 4-5 pages of notes written out. English of course is still not their spoken language so it is still kind of difficult for them. She spoke with so much wisdom about love, and had found many scriptures for us all to read. She did such a great job, then we kind of had an open discussion time about love which led to a discussion about disciplining children out of love. The Samoan women beat their children with a broom whenever the child misbehaves. Puah told the story of one time when she beat her daughter, then the daughter lied about to the school about how she had the scratches and bruises on her feet. Then social services and the police came to Puah's house to question her about it. Puah said yes I beat her, so arrest me, but whenever she becomes pregnant I will sue you, then the police apologized and left their house. Just a different culture here and the way things are done. I am definitely glad to not have been beaten with a broom. (Mom and Dad I'm not worried b/c I'm an adult now, so you can't use this technique on me.) I was glad to be a part of this time with the church ladies, it was very enjoyable. I saw this snail on the wall of the school building today because it's been raining all day. I was told that this wasn't even a big one, it seemed very large to me!

The Ocean: WARNING!! Not for people that use Floaties

So today was our first day to swim in the ocean and we went snorkeling. We'd never been before and let's just say the picture I had in mind was a little different. We went at 10, which was low tide. Don't let that fool you though...The waves were very choppy and the water would reach about to our calves so every time a wave would hit we would hold on to dear life and we wouldn't realize that ohh we could just stand up. So we have quite a few pretty sweet cuts all over our legs. Who knew snorkeling could be so dangerous?? We stayed about 5 min. at Flower Pot Rock and David did not think it was safe enough so we left. We had just gotten used to the water..but then we drove about 20 min. longer to go to Tisa's, which is more of a sandy beach area, the other was more just lava rock. That's why we got all the cuts...but this was still rough water with coral and lava rock as well. We start out here and we our warned that the current is very strong so not to go out very far at all. Snorkeling is not as easy as it might seem...Here are some of the things that can happen:
1. Waves can hit you unannounced and you get blown away and either thrown against a rock or into another person
2. Your snorkel can not work...or maybe I had no idea how to use it..and can suffocate you
3. When you try to clear out your mask the only hair that you have can be ripped out b/c it is tangled so bad from the water
4. You also can see the coolest coral of different colors like red, orange, and purple.
5. You can see blue fish, yellow fish, a school of fish, big fish, baby fish, white and black striped fish, spotted fish, and even eels (David saw one and he was kind enough not to point the eel out to us) I would've gone crazy
6. And just when you get the hang of snorkeling you hear the "lifeguard who charges $1000 to save someone and your missionary yelling at the 3 interns that we've gone too far. "Girls come back!! Girls!!...Lifeguard whistling..." Just for the record we were only like 20 yds away but the tide was changing pretty fast I guess and the waves were getting pretty big..Remember this isn't Galveston
7. Once you finish you have sand everywhere, which was kind of annoying.
End of Snorkeling.
Then with our wet selves and all we went to the National Park, aka The North Side of the Island where basically no one lives.
It was beautiful more like a rain forest but then you could go out and see the ocean at different outlets. There was this area of rocks that made up the beach area and the ocean made a really neat sound b/c it was hitting all the rocks and smoothing them out it sounded more like thunder than ocean waves it was really neat.

The moral of the day is that God's creation here Is not possible to miss, It is powerful, It is enormous, It is beyond beautiful! It is made by my God who is the Creator of all things...and these things are AMAZING!!

Secret Garden

Ok, so it wasn't really a secret garden. I just couldn't think of a great title, and thought it might make you interested to read. Today we went by to meet a Chinese couple who is keeping a house while the owner is away. They live in a house just around the corner in the same village that we do. We pulled up to the house, and got out. It was such an amazing sight when we found them out back. They have only been keeping the house for about 2 months, and had already started a huge garden. We wished so bad that Kinzie and Matt could have been with us at this moment because they have started their own garden this year. The couple had planted many different things: sugar cane, papayas, pineapple, taro, bread fruit, oranges, bananas, pumpkin, onions, tomatoes, beans, cabbage, cucumbers, and many different flowers. They had also tilled some land that they were about to plant some more things in. They had borrowed a tiller for a few days, but the only other tools they had was a machete (spelling?) and a hoe. Wow, I could not believe that they did all of that work in so little of time, and with only those couple of tools. That is all they do though. The garden is how they support themselves, and you can tell that they enjoy it and work so so hard. The man was so happy to meet us, and showed us all of the different things growing. Him or his wife didn't speak English very well. He used his machete and just chopped us off 3 huge things of sugar cane. He also gave us onions and cucumbers. He then got a fresh pineapple for us. I have to say that it is very beautiful and I could just smell deliciousness whenever I was near it. Don't worry we haven't tasted these things yet because we've been busy, but we definitely will let you know once we do. The wife was pregnant and her baby is due this month and she was still working in the garden. Marci and I hope to spend some time with them one afternoon. God does provide! The garden is the only income the couple has.They were so satisfied and happy with what they had, and I know people always say this whenever they visit poorer countries, but it was so true. They were so satisfied and happy with what they had and what they were doing. In the United States we're always striving for that certain status, and always wanting more. I am truly moved by their lifestyle and hope, pray and think that mine should model and be more like theirs. Not just being focused on myself. What a great example they are for me.

We visited Putela ( paralyzed man we talked about in a past post), and sang him the Samoan song we learned, and he said that we would record it next time we were there. Today his daughter Emmie and wife were at the house. They sat with us and we all talked. It was really neat again to listen to David and Putela as they read the bible in Samoan and then translated it into English. Marci and I tried to read along in Samoan, it was really difficult though. We got about 2 words right out of every 20. I told him that I wanted to try reading next time. He then asked Emmie to sing us the song that had been written for one of their close friends that had died. Putela played while Emmie sang. Emmie was really close to this person, and did not want to sing at first, but then she did. She sang the song in Samoan and it was so sweet and a very genuine heart felt song. You could see the tears in her eyes and her mothers as she sang the song. Next week she is going to come to our Tuesday activity so that is really exciting.

Tonight at supper Marci was in charge of making some potatoes from a mix. And we all know of how Marci and I are great cooks. We'll just say that the potatoes turned out as a kind of soup looking thing. We both got a good kick out of it.

I pray that God will continue to open my eyes to new ideas here. We are just so blessed to be here.

P.S. No the picture of the bananas is not upside down. That's how they grow.