Greetings from the South Pacific. I'm sending a picture today of the lei I got when walking into the Stake Conference we attended. Beautiful pink and green fresh flowers. The Samoan
people are so loving and thoughtful. I think they were made for all of the ushers, but one of the ushers took his off and put it on me.
It was a windy, rainy night last night in Samoa. We stayed over on the Southeast side because one of the stakes (Malaela) in our zone was having their stake conference so we went to the Saturday night meeting and then the Sunday 9:00 AM session. When we got to the stake center there was a big power pole blown over and power lines down across the entrance to the church. People were just walking in and ducking under them like it was no big deal. When we got seated we listened to beautiful children's primary voices singing prelude music without accompaniment. The meeting started without power, so we couldn't really hear the speaker from where we were sitting towards the back. One of the ushers started waving at us to come forward and take a seat closer to the front that he had found. (Guess we looked like celebrities, or they're just nice to old people with missionary tags,haha) The primary choir was full of beautiful children dressed in white trimmed with yellow, and their leaders all had bright yellow dresses. They sang "I Am a Child of God" acappella for the opening song because there was no power for the electric piano. Children in Samoa sing not with their voices, but with their
whole souls! Everyone in the congregation could hear them clearly! After the stake business, the children sang another song without the piano, this time where they sang two different verses simultaneously, the girls singing one part and the boys singing the other. This would be difficult with accompaniment, but without it, it would be extra hard! They sang without a hiccup, in perfect tune, perfect timing and perfect harmony. Shortly after they finished, we heard a big motor starting up and then purring along at the back of the chapel--a generator had been found, and extension cords hooked up, and microphones and keyboard were operational. So everyone was able to hear the remainder of the conference. Sister Reid spoke at the meeting. She was so impressed with the primary that she changed her talk and shared some things she learned from the children while they were singing today. These were some things she observed:
-The children relied on the voices of those around them to stick to their given part. This reminded her that we should surround ourselves with people who will help us achieve our goals.
-They focused intently on their lyrics, while the other half sang different lyrics. This reminded her of Lehi's dream and the importance of staying focused and holding on to the iron rod.
-They looked to their leaders for guidance when they were unsure. This reminded her to look to our leaders to guide us, and to be a leader that will teach others to walk in the light.
- They continually got louder in an attempt to stay on course. This reminded her that we should drown out the noise around us and share the Gospel with conviction.
The Primary choir closed the conference with one of my favorite primary songs when I was a child, "Give, Said the LIttle Stream". They sang with all of their might! and the electric keyboard accentuated their voices beautifully this time!
I, like Sister Reid was deeply touched by the music of these beautiful primary children! and the resilience of the Samoan people when things don't go as planned. They didn't lament, they just did the best they could under the circumstances and found the roses among the thorns. I read a quote, not sure who it's from--"If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change (us)."
We had some new experiences this last week--some good, some not so good.
-Elder Godderidge did more 'honey do's" around the mission home to spruce things up. Hung a new big screen TV on the wall and pictures on either side of it in the conference room.
-we went on a hike Wednesday afternoonto Mount Vaivai. Hard to find the trail and lots of overgrowth to hike through. I scratched up my legs pretty good!
-Had another home invasion( no assault involved) incident and a peeping tom incident, so President Reid brought in the four sisters affected by that and we had to do more shuffling and "counseling" with scared Sister missionaries.
-Blew up my blow dryer! Had to spend a good amount on a new one here that has the wrong plug for when I get home.
-Elder G. started coaching a basketball team for a group of 12 yr. old girls and boys on Thursday evenings. (I could't go with him, so I'll have to take pics next week)
And then I already shared about our weekend.
Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Love ALL of you!
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