Question: Why do Samoans talk so fast and do everything else so SLOW?

The Email title was Elder Godderidge's question Sunday evening as we were following a line of very slow-moving vehicles on the road.  Sunday morning we attended a Stake conference and he didn't have headphones so he was having difficulty trying to understand the speakers who talked so fast. We haven't seen anything else besides talking that moves along at a fast pace around here. 

 Another example of slow-moving was the trip we had to take to the hospital on Friday afternoon.  Here's the rundown:

. Check patient in at medical records.

. Go to triage area. Wait for triage nurse to examine.

. Go to outpatient clinic, 2 buildings away.

. Check in at outpatient clinic. 

. See admit nurse at outpatient and get vitals, pain pill .

. Back to waiting room and wait for number to be called.

. After 1 1/2 hour wait, number called to see Dr.

. Wait in hallway outside Dr.'s tiny exam room.

. Enter Dr.'s exam room. Talk to him for 3 minutes. Get an order for X-ray.

. Go to X-ray dept. 3 buildings away.  Porter wheeled patient there in wheelchair

  (he was pretty fast, I couldn't keep up with them without running)

. Check in at Xray. Go to cashier to pay and bring back receipt to x-ray dept. Wait for X-      ray.

. After 30 minute wait (we were the only ones there waiting for an x-ray), tech comes out    to get her for X-ray.

.After x-ray, porter takes her back to outpatient clinic 3 buildings away. I run again.

. Back to Dr. hallway, wait for Dr.

. Enter Dr. exam room.  He looks up x-ray on computer Yep, greenstick fracture of fibula j    just above ankle.. Sends us to plaster room to have a splint put on and writes    prescription for Naproxyn and Panadol.

. I go 3 buildings away to pharmacy and turn in prescription, wait, go to cashier to pay,       back to pharmacy to give them receipt and pick up prescription.  

. Arrive back at outpatient clinic plaster room, just finishing up. Back in wheelchair and 

  off to X-ray 3 buildings down for another picture.  Wait again for X-ray tech. 

. After X-ray # 2, back to Dr. for him to tell us that X-ray still looks the same, gives us          appt. slip for  Monday morning to go the Orthopedic clinic in another building for follow-    up.

WE WERE THERE FOR 6 1/2 HOURS!

Other news of the last week:

It rained A LOT! Almost every day.  We have an outbreak of impetigo in the mission.  I think it's because of the moist humid climate and missionaries have been getting caught in the rain and getting soaked through. Perfect breeding ground for staph bacteria.  4

cases in the last week. 

We went to our District meeting on Tuesday and took pizza and home-made chocolate chip cookies for our zone. They loved us! We delivered needs to the MQ's on our way back home and tried to repair a broken water pipe.

On Wednesday, Sister Reid and her kids, AP's and Technology Elders spent all day decorating the mission home for Christmas. Elder G. had to make a few trips to the hardware store for them. Listened to Christmas music all day at the office. 

Thursday it rained non-stop all day!  We went to dinner with the Purcell's.  Had a nice time chatting with them. They left on Friday for Hawaii to spend Thanksgiving there and California for Christmas, then plan to return to Samoa in January so we'll get to see them again before we go home.    

Friday morning was the Upolu East Zones Conference (3 zones combined). It was a busy morning attending that and helping with set-up, serving lunch and cleaning up. Then our fun trip to the hospital on Friday afternoon/evening with the Sister who broke her leg. 

Saturday morning we went on a run, before the rain started up again.  Elder G. cleaned a dirty MQ and I drove to two different stores to find crutches for the Sister who broke her leg. Then we headed to our Southeast Zone for a baptism which took about 4 hours between travel-time and the baptism.  

Sunday we attended Stake Conference for our stake in the mission home area.  We made dinner for Sister Schofield and her son who is here visiting her for 2 weeks.  Then headed back out on the road to deliver antibiotics and load up beds and furnishings so that the FM group can do new flooring and painting on an MQ next week. It's always an adventure driving on a Sunday Evening in Samoa! Pretty Sunsets, lots of people out walking on the side of the streets, village evening curfew's (called "Sa"for 'sacred') where village Elders stand out at entries into the villages and restrict vehicles from coming or going for a 30 minute period between 6 and 7 p.m. for families to hold evening prayer).

These happens every evening, not just on Sunday.

Speaking of Prayers, mine have been prayers of thanksgiving lately.  I've been reminded of all that I have to be thankful for since it's that time of year at home.  I'm especially thankful for all of my family members!  I'm grateful for all you do to support us while we are away on this mission adventure and taking time out for this opportunity to serve.  We recognize the sacrifice you are all making on our behalf and we hope we can repay you somehow, some way in the future.  I'm thankful for my awesome companion on the mission and in life.  I couldn't do this without Elder Godderidge by my side!  I'm thankful for this gospel, for the knowledge I have of Heavenly Father's plan for us and for our Savior Jesus Christ--for his example, for his sacrifice, and for his love.  I feel it and see it everyday.  I hope all of you do too!  Because he loves each and every one of you!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday this weekend!  Eat some turkey and pie for us!  Not sure we're gonna splurge on a Turkey this year--They're 300.00 Tala,

 That's about 100.00 USdollars!  

LOVE YOU ALL!

Picture of our Zone onTuesday after District meeting and Baptism on Saturday

talked so fast. We haven't seen anything else besides talking that moves along at a fast pace around here. 

 Another example of slow-moving was the trip we had to take to the hospital on Friday afternoon.  Here's the rundown:

. Check patient in at medical records.

. Go to triage area. Wait for triage nurse to examine.

. Go to outpatient clinic, 2 buildings away.

. Check in at outpatient clinic. 

. See admit nurse at outpatient and get vitals, pain pill .

. Back to waiting room and wait for number to be called.

. After 1 1/2 hour wait, number called to see Dr.

. Wait in hallway outside Dr.'s tiny exam room.

. Enter Dr.'s exam room. Talk to him for 3 minutes. Get an order for X-ray.

. Go to X-ray dept. 3 buildings away.  Porter wheeled patient there in wheelchair

  (he was pretty fast, I couldn't keep up with them without running)

. Check in at Xray. Go to cashier to pay and bring back receipt to x-ray dept. Wait for X-      ray.

. After 30 minute wait (we were the only ones there waiting for an x-ray), tech comes out    to get her for X-ray.

.After x-ray, porter takes her back to outpatient clinic 3 buildings away. I run again.

. Back to Dr. hallway, wait for Dr.

. Enter Dr. exam room.  He looks up x-ray on computer Yep, greenstick fracture of fibula j    just above ankle.. Sends us to plaster room to have a splint put on and writes    prescription for Naproxyn and Panadol.

. I go 3 buildings away to pharmacy and turn in prescription, wait, go to cashier to pay,       back to pharmacy to give them receipt and pick up prescription.  

. Arrive back at outpatient clinic plaster room, just finishing up. Back in wheelchair and 

  off to X-ray 3 buildings down for another picture.  Wait again for X-ray tech. 

. After X-ray # 2, back to Dr. for him to tell us that X-ray still looks the same, gives us          appt. slip for  Monday morning to go the Orthopedic clinic in another building for follow-    up.

WE WERE THERE FOR 6 1/2 HOURS!

Other news of the last week:

It rained A LOT! Almost every day.  We have an outbreak of impetigo in the mission.  I think it's because of the moist humid climate and missionaries have been getting caught in the rain and getting soaked through. Perfect breeding ground for staph bacteria.  4

cases in the last week. 

We went to our District meeting on Tuesday and took pizza and home-made chocolate chip cookies for our zone. They loved us! We delivered needs to the MQ's on our way back home and tried to repair a broken water pipe.

On Wednesday, Sister Reid and her kids, AP's and Technology Elders spent all day decorating the mission home for Christmas. Elder G. had to make a few trips to the hardware store for them. Listened to Christmas music all day at the office. 

Thursday it rained non-stop all day!  We went to dinner with the Purcell's.  Had a nice time chatting with them. They left on Friday for Hawaii to spend Thanksgiving there and California for Christmas, then plan to return to Samoa in January so we'll get to see them again before we go home.    

Friday morning was the Upolu East Zones Conference (3 zones combined). It was a busy morning attending that and helping with set-up, serving lunch and cleaning up. Then our fun trip to the hospital on Friday afternoon/evening with the Sister who broke her leg. 

Saturday morning we went on a run, before the rain started up again.  Elder G. cleaned a dirty MQ and I drove to two different stores to find crutches for the Sister who broke her leg. Then we headed to our Southeast Zone for a baptism which took about 4 hours between travel-time and the baptism.  

Sunday we attended Stake Conference for our stake in the mission home area.  We made dinner for Sister Schofield and her son who is here visiting her for 2 weeks.  Then headed back out on the road to deliver antibiotics and load up beds and furnishings so that the FM group can do new flooring and painting on an MQ next week. It's always an adventure driving on a Sunday Evening in Samoa! Pretty Sunsets, lots of people out walking on the side of the streets, village evening curfew's (called "Sa"for 'sacred') where village Elders stand out at entries into the villages and restrict vehicles from coming or going for a 30 minute period between 6 and 7 p.m. for families to hold evening prayer).

These happens every evening, not just on Sunday.

Speaking of Prayers, mine have been prayers of thanksgiving lately.  I've been reminded of all that I have to be thankful for since it's that time of year at home.  I'm especially thankful for all of my family members!  I'm grateful for all you do to support us while we are away on this mission adventure and taking time out for this opportunity to serve.  We recognize the sacrifice you are all making on our behalf and we hope we can repay you somehow, some way in the future.  I'm thankful for my awesome companion on the mission and in life.  I couldn't do this without Elder Godderidge by my side!  I'm thankful for this gospel, for the knowledge I have of Heavenly Father's plan for us and for our Savior Jesus Christ--for his example, for his sacrifice, and for his love.  I feel it and see it everyday.  I hope all of you do too!  Because he loves each and every one of you!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday this weekend!  Eat some turkey and pie for us!  Not sure we're gonna splurge on a Turkey this year--They're 300.00 Tala,

 That's about 100.00 USdollars!  

LOVE YOU ALL!

Picture of our Zone onTuesday after District meeting and Baptism on Saturday that moves along at a fast pace around here. 

 Another example of slow-moving was the trip we had to take to the hospital on Friday afternoon.  Here's the rundown:

. Check patient in at medical records.

. Go to triage area. Wait for triage nurse to examine.

. Go to outpatient clinic, 2 buildings away.

. Check in at outpatient clinic. 

. See admit nurse at outpatient and get vitals, pain pill .

. Back to waiting room and wait for number to be called.

. After 1 1/2 hour wait, number called to see Dr.

. Wait in hallway outside Dr.'s tiny exam room.

. Enter Dr.'s exam room. Talk to him for 3 minutes. Get an order for X-ray.

. Go to X-ray dept. 3 buildings away.  Porter wheeled patient there in wheelchair

  (he was pretty fast, I couldn't keep up with them without running)

. Check in at Xray. Go to cashier to pay and bring back receipt to x-ray dept. Wait for X-      ray.

. After 30 minute wait (we were the only ones there waiting for an x-ray), tech comes out    to get her for X-ray.

.After x-ray, porter takes her back to outpatient clinic 3 buildings away. I run again.

. Back to Dr. hallway, wait for Dr.

. Enter Dr. exam room.  He looks up x-ray on computer Yep, greenstick fracture of fibula j    just above ankle.. Sends us to plaster room to have a splint put on and writes    prescription for Naproxyn and Panadol.

. I go 3 buildings away to pharmacy and turn in prescription, wait, go to cashier to pay,       back to pharmacy to give them receipt and pick up prescription.  

. Arrive back at outpatient clinic plaster room, just finishing up. Back in wheelchair and 

  off to X-ray 3 buildings down for another picture.  Wait again for X-ray tech. 

. After X-ray # 2, back to Dr. for him to tell us that X-ray still looks the same, gives us          appt. slip for  Monday morning to go the Orthopedic clinic in another building for follow-    up.

WE WERE THERE FOR 6 1/2 HOURS!

Other news of the last week:

It rained A LOT! Almost every day.  We have an outbreak of impetigo in the mission.  I think it's because of the moist humid climate and missionaries have been getting caught in the rain and getting soaked through. Perfect breeding ground for staph bacteria.  4

cases in the last week. 

We went to our District meeting on Tuesday and took pizza and home-made chocolate chip cookies for our zone. They loved us! We delivered needs to the MQ's on our way back home and tried to repair a broken water pipe.

On Wednesday, Sister Reid and her kids, AP's and Technology Elders spent all day decorating the mission home for Christmas. Elder G. had to make a few trips to the hardware store for them. Listened to Christmas music all day at the office. 

Thursday it rained non-stop all day!  We went to dinner with the Purcell's.  Had a nice time chatting with them. They left on Friday for Hawaii to spend Thanksgiving there and California for Christmas, then plan to return to Samoa in January so we'll get to see them again before we go home.    

Friday morning was the Upolu East Zones Conference (3 zones combined). It was a busy morning attending that and helping with set-up, serving lunch and cleaning up. Then our fun trip to the hospital on Friday afternoon/evening with the Sister who broke her leg. 

Saturday morning we went on a run, before the rain started up again.  Elder G. cleaned a dirty MQ and I drove to two different stores to find crutches for the Sister who broke her leg. Then we headed to our Southeast Zone for a baptism which took about 4 hours between travel-time and the baptism.  

Sunday we attended Stake Conference for our stake in the mission home area.  We made dinner for Sister Schofield and her son who is here visiting her for 2 weeks.  Then headed back out on the road to deliver antibiotics and load up beds and furnishings so that the FM group can do new flooring and painting on an MQ next week. It's always an adventure driving on a Sunday Evening in Samoa! Pretty Sunsets, lots of people out walking on the side of the streets, village evening curfew's (called "Sa"for 'sacred') where village Elders stand out at entries into the villages and restrict vehicles from coming or going for a 30 minute period between 6 and 7 p.m. for families to hold evening prayer).

These happens every evening, not just on Sunday.

Speaking of Prayers, mine have been prayers of thanksgiving lately.  I've been reminded of all that I have to be thankful for since it's that time of year at home.  I'm especially thankful for all of my family members!  I'm grateful for all you do to support us while we are away on this mission adventure and taking time out for this opportunity to serve.  We recognize the sacrifice you are all making on our behalf and we hope we can repay you somehow, some way in the future.  I'm thankful for my awesome companion on the mission and in life.  I couldn't do this without Elder Godderidge by my side!  I'm thankful for this gospel, for the knowledge I have of Heavenly Father's plan for us and for our Savior Jesus Christ--for his example, for his sacrifice, and for his love.  I feel it and see it everyday.  I hope all of you do too!  Because he loves each and every one of you!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday this weekend!  Eat some turkey and pie for us!  Not sure we're gonna splurge on a Turkey this year--They're 300.00 Tala,

 That's about 100.00 USdollars!  

LOVE YOU ALL!

Picture of our Zone onTuesday after District meeting and Baptism on Saturday

Birthday UMU

 

Talofa!

This week Elder Godderidge had a birthday!  On Monday, at our office missionary meeting, he got a card and a Big Hunk candy bar!  On Wednesday, his birthday in Samoa, he got birthday wishes and calls from home and the Apia Zone invited him to an UMU (traditional Samoan meal) and roasted a pig!  They sang happy birthday to him and had cake and ice cream for dessert.  I took a picture of his meal--YUMMY!  I made him a carrot cake and Sister Schofield made him an apple pie. I got him a new wallet that I ordered and it actually came really fast!  He's not sure if he likes it. Really small and credit card friendly, but not so much cash friendly.  On Thursday, Elder Godderidge got some more birthday phone calls from home and we got to see Ridge on WhatsApp with his first birthday cake and candle while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him!  Sad we had to miss that in person, but we'll be there next year for his second birthday! On Friday, our zone missionaries sent him a birthday video.

This week Elder Falavia-Kindness and Elder Ika got their song posted on the mission facebook page.  My question was the inspiration for the song!!  A few weeks back he told us he was going to write a song for the mission facebook page and wanted to know what would be a good missionary question to be the theme of his lyrics.  The question I suggested was "How do I know if I gave enough?"  Elder G's question was "What ya gonna do when he comes for you?" HAHA!  

On Tuesday I gave flu shots to the Tutuilla Sisters who flew in for a temple trip.  I'm almost done with everyone, just one more Savaii zone. That will be a good thing to have over with. On Sunday, we got up early and went to church at Vaovia, one of the areas in our zone.  The Elders had a baptism after the church block so we attended that as well.  

It's been more rainy and humid this week.  Hardly feels like the holiday season is upon us.  November has gone by fast. I have a feeling the last stretch of our mission is going to fly by!  I'm starting to think I better make a list of the things we want to do before our mission comes to an end. One goal I have is to leave things better than they were when I got here as far as the "Mission Health Advisor" role goes.  I KNOW Elder Godderige is going to be leaving things in the Housing Department better than when he got here!  There's still lots we can do, so we won't slow down until we're across the finish line.  And like the song goes, "I know he'll be right here with me".  

I'm grateful for that knowledge and for the Savior's love and Example.  It will be easier than ever before to make Christ the focus of the season this Christmas.  I'm looking forward to that even though I'll miss spending the holidays with my loved ones back home.  

Hope you all have a great week! Tofa Soifua  (Good-bye)

What would Elder G do without his DEW

 

Elder Hemmert and Elder Grant

Sister Tuifua and Sister Johnson

 Malo Lava!

This week Elder Godderidge has received two very large shipments of Diet Mountain Dew.  The Senior missionary who picks up the packages from the Wharf, Elder Blankenship, is quite jealous and always asks when Elder Godderidge is going to share some of his Diet Mt.Dew with him!  Well this week, our two young social media Elders caught wind of this and decided to play a joke on Elder Blankenship and film his reaction!  They set up two cameras in their MQ. so they could film themselves on one camera and Elder Blankenship on the other. It was kinda funny seeing his reaction!  I threatened Elder Godderidge NOT to order any more!  We're running out of room in our apartment to store his stockpile! I think he should have enough by now to last him the remainder of our mission!  He might even have some left to give away to poor Elder Blankenship! 

 It was a busy week for us last week with some challenging things to deal with. I hope we don't have another week like this one again.  Despite challenges, it's  amazing to see how the Lord opens a way to accomplish things when we think it's probably not going to be possible.

We had two missionaries who had to be flown home for medical reasons this week. One was a Senior missionary  and the other was a Sister Missionary who only had 4 weeks left on her mission.  It was a crazy week getting Doctor's appointments, blood work and EKG's done, It was also a little emotional having to see them go. When everything finally got worked out for them to be released, the missionary travel department was able to book them all on the same flight home so the young Sister Missionary didn't have to travel by herself. That was a little tender mercy for sure.  She was able to travel with a sweet senior couple. Both of these missionaries will have some health challenges to face when they get home.  The senior Missionary has heart problems and needs a pacemaker, the Sister missionary will most likely need to be hospitalized for Anorexia. Not Fun! But it's comforting knowing they are now in a place where they can get the medical treatment they need.

It was also a busy week for the mission with lots of missionaries coming into the mission office for MLC,  temple trips and PPI's.  When they come in for things, I always have missionaries stop by my office with medical concerns and Elder Godderidge always has requests for MQ stuff. I'm still trying to finish up the influenza vaccines so I had a few of those to do also. On Saturday, we went on our longer run and then headed over to the other side of the island to attend a baptism in the Zone we're supposed to be mentoring. It was an interesting baptism!  There is no font at the church where this ward attends, so they had the program before the baptism there, and then everyone loaded up in vehicles and drove a few miles down the road to another church building to do the baptizing.  Then we all loaded up and drove back to the other church and finished the program.   It would have been a lot easier to just walk across the road to the ocean and do it there, haha.  I've been hoping I might get to witness one of those before our mission ends. I took a picture of the motorcade because we were in the back and one little pick-up was loaded with half of the congregation at the baptism! HaHa, only in Samoa!

I asked Elder G. to help me out with a spiritual message to share with this email: 

  In Priesthood meeting today, The teacher asked the question, "What can we give to God that is not already his? "  The question brought a quote to mind that I'd heard before, so I started looking to find it.  Neal A. Maxwell taught: The submission of one's will (or heart) is really the only thing we have to place on God's altar...However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something TO him!"

Vehicle fast = pain in the butt

 

Malo Lava!

It was great to see pictures of all the Grandkid's (and Bayli's) cool Halloween costumes this week! Thanks for sharing. I hope it was a fun day. I didn't see anyone dressed up here in Samoa. I don't think Hallowen is celebrated here. Apparently the Pesega Lima English speaking ward had a trunk or treat, but that's about it. I'm missing the change of seasons. It would be nice to have a little more variety in the temperature here, it doesn't feel like Halloween. I'm pretty sure it's going to be really different for Christmas! 

So this week, all of the mission vehicles that are driven by young missionaries were parked.  Everyone had to walk.  District meetings and English Connect classes were held on whatsApp video chat or Zoom.The missionaries had to figure out their transportation on their own for P-day. Turns out, they were pretty creative on p-day and they found ways to get where they wanted to be without too much trouble. They took city buses, taxis, and called Senior couples for rides.  We had a few doctors appointments that we had to pick up Elders for, but nothing really too out of the ordinary for us. But I know some of the senior couples were shuttling missionaries all over this last week. Elder Godderidge was busy delivering needs to two of the zones, fixing things, cleaning out a storage room for Sister Reid, and driving me around to make deliveries.  He also coached his U-15 girls basketball team in a championship game and they won!  They were short two jerseys, so Whitli's Jazz jerseys came in handy!  Thanks Whit! 

I've been having to do lots of medical stuff with a couple of our Elders lately so I decided to share a little bit about them.    

Elder Kol is 24 years old, and came here from Papua New Guinea.  He served the first 16 months of his mission in PNG while waiting for his VISA papers to go through. So he didn't get to go to the Provo MTC for language training and he only went to the New Zealand MTC for two weeks prior to arriving here.  He speaks some English, but doesn't know much Samoanl.. He always has a smile on his face and tries to communicate the best he can.  When he was 5 years old, his foot was sliced open by his brother with a machete .  He has a scar almost all the way around his foot and it's crooked because when they repaired the broken bones they didn't line them up properly.  This causes him quite a bit of foot pain after long days of walking. So a little over two weeks ago he was bitten by a dog on his right leg just below the calf.  It was a nasty bite and he went to the hospital and had it cleaned and dressed.  They don't stitch up dog bites here because it's very likely they would get infected if they did.  So it just has to heal very slowly and close up on its own, leaving a huge scar behind.  Come to find out, Elder Kol never had any of his immunizations as a child or before he came on his mission.  Somehow that fell through the cracks!  So we had to take him to the hospital on a Saturday evening to get a tetanus shot before it would have been too late if tetanus was introduced into his body from the dog.  Then the area medical doctor informed me that he also needed tetanus immunoglobulin since he has never been immunized and ihe had to get it within 21 days of the bite or it would be too late. There's none of that here in Samoa, so they arranged to have it flown from America to American Samoa and then to Apia.  Last Thursday, I gave him the tetanus Immunoglobulin and took him to the immunization clinic to get his first round of  "Catch-up vaccines".   He got poked 6 times that day and just took it with a smile! It would have been easy to give up and go home. I remember when he arrived at the airport, he had one small carry-on size suitcase and a backpack compared to the 2 huge suitcases and carry-on's that the other missionaries had. Such a humble missionary from a very humble background, but so happy to be serving the Lord despite his challenges.  I love Elder Kol!

Elder Katoa is also 24 years old.  He is a tall, lanky Elder from Tonga.  I've learned some things about his past from him.  He was born in Tonga, moved to Tutuilla with his parents for 15 years, then moved back to Tonga to live with his best friend's family to go to high school.  He started having health probems, lost all of the hair on his arms, legs, and eyebrows and was eventually diagnosed with Leprosy.  He was treated for six months in Tonga in 2021-22.  Of course none of this was documented on his health history and mission physical, haha!  Anyway, now he has been having more health problems and has these dermal indurations (lumps under the skin) all over his body.  Bloodwork revealed that his WBC count is very high and his RBC count is very low.  After lots of questioning, he told us about the Leprosy treatment he'd had.  So now we're trying to find out if it's come back or if he's having post-treatment reactions from the strong medications he received during the first round of treatment.  Still waiting for results of the skin smear that he had done to determine active Leprosy.  When we were taking him home from his last Dr. visit, I was chatting with him about what Tonga was like.  During the conversation, I found out that his father passed away in Tutuilla a few years back at age 52, and Elder Katoa hadn't been able to be there to see him or talk to him before he passed.  This was a difficult thing for him. Now he is feeling sick again, and worried that the Leprosy might be back or something else is seriously wrong with his health.  He said " In Tonga, before my mission I would go to the temple in the mornings and pray that everything will work out.  I loved going to the temple.  I know if I keep praying now, everything will be alright." What faith!  What courage!  I pray that he will be able to be treated and healed once we figure out what's going on with his physical body. I love Elder Katoa!

"We are not alone in this life.  While we must face challenges and trials, our Heavenly Father knows our capabilities and knows we can bear or overcome our difficulties.  We must do our part and turn to Him in faith.  His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, is our rescuer and will always be there."  - Elder Juan Pablo Villar