April Showers

 This week has been the wettest one since we arrived in Samoa.  We had a big storm on Wednesday that lasted for most of the afternoon and some other big ones during the night a few more times. It really pours down here and if you get caught out in it you're drenched in a matter of seconds. I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as outdoor sprinkling systems here.  Nature just takes care of that and keeps water tanks filled and plants green.  It's amazing that there's not more flooding. But the ground seems to absorb it quite well.  We 've been able to drive to some more of the other areas on the island this week.  We went to one zone on Tuesday and hit all of the MQ's (missionary quarters)  putting up whiteboards and doing small repairs, and Thursday we did some more.  I've been taking my black medical bag along on these trips because if we run into the missionaries they often have a medical issue that they want something for, like headache, diarrhea, bug bites or rashes, stuff like that.  We've discovered that P-day, which is Wednesday, is the busiest day for us because all of the missionaries come into the office from their various zones to get their money and go to the stores to buy supplies and of course get together for games and fun.  While they're at the office, they come in with all their ailments and want medicine or advice on minor medical issues, and they go to Elder Godderidge for cleaning supplies and things.  So we don't really get a P-day like the rest of the mission.  But we can take time off at other times of the week to have a little break.  This week we went to the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum early Saturday morning and found our first hiking trail!  We hiked up the trail to his grave site. It's the first time I've really tried hiking since my foot surgery and it was kinda hard.  My foot doesn't cooperate on the rocks and uneven terrain. That's a bummer.  When we got to the top, there was a group of kids that were there playing their music and dancing and they performed for us!  They're not at all shy here. Robert Louis Stevenson is a famous author from Scotland that traveled to the south seas and never went back home.  He had Tuberculosis and the weather here suited him better so he stayed in Samoa and built a big home and died at age 44 from the TB.  He wanted to be buried on top of the mountain.  We didn't go into the museum because it wasn't open yet so we'll have to save that for another day. So my assignment for the older grandkids is to find a book by Robert Louis Stevenson to read this week. You can google his most popular books.  I read "Treasure Island" when I was young I think. Saturday afternoon we attended a baptism--two young girls were baptized at the one we went to.  There were 33 baptisms in the mission this week.  Most of them are on Saturday so we just pick one to go to.  It's a good way to meet and mingle with the members.    

We got up at 4:30 this morning (Sunday here) to go and watch General Conference Saturday morning session at 5:00 AM!  I'm pretty sure you're all shocked that I got up that early, but I did.  We streamed it on a big TV in the mission office conference room.  After the session, we had a big breakfast with the President and his wife, the office secretary, Sister Schofield, and the office missionaries. Then after we got that cleaned up it was  9:00 AM and ready for the afternoon session so we watched that too. Here in Samoa, they will watch conference next weekend in Samoan, so all the wards just had regular meetings today.  I guess it takes time to get it translated into the language.  We had a little break before we went back for the evening session at 1:00 pm.  Tomorrow will be Monday, so I'm not sure how much of the Sunday sessions  we'll be able to watch live. What a blessing it is to hear from the apostles and general church leaders. There were many inspiring messages today.  Hope you're all having the opportunity to watch it there.  I really liked the talk by Elder Steven R. Bangerter. He said  that the most important work happening on the face of the earth today is the gathering of Israel.  He also talked about how we are all foreordained by God before this life to do things here on earth. I loved what he said his Father told him that he has always remembered: "Protect the private times of your life". He said to fill those times with wholesome activities and thoughts, to go to God in prayer in those private times and discover his plan for you.  I want to try to feel his guidance and direction better by using my private time to listen and learn from the spirit.     

I'm sending a picture of a funny text I got from one of the missionaries this morning for your entertainment, other pics of our hike, the museum, a sunset on the ocean last week, and  the baptism we attended.