Bulidings of Samoa

This is a beautiful church both the front and back.  This is the back and it has a large field for soccer, football etc.

Was this dog sad because his master died or was it was just a great place to sleep with a great advantage for a quick attack if he gets up the energy to do so? The family graves are in the yard next to the house.

At night these churches have all the lights on and they look really sharp and inviting.

This is the home of one of the many resident NFL players who came back to the Island and built a big home for his mother.

This is a public Fale so it's called a Faleo'o. It is a public fale that anyone can use for parties, funerals or weddings.

This Fale is on private land and they have just a beautiful yard, well groomed with a countless variety of flowers and trees.

All the  other Christian  Churches have big posts around the perimeter of the building - all very different and fancy. The church goers are all dressed in white from head to foot. The women wear beautiful white hats.

This Fale is across the street from the beach so it sustained damage from the tsunami in 2009. We have lost count of the foundation slabs which are all that is left of homes or businesses from the destruction of the Tsunami in 2009. We have heard from some that it was a 60 ft high wave that went inland more than 1 km in some areas. Many of the island homes are along the shoreline within 100 yards of the ocean. Right behind the homes is the steep mountainside so there is no where to go if you have short notice. Our home is high enough to be above the danger zone so we sleep well at night but as we drive around we see destroyed homes that are vacant or just cement slabs where homes once sat.  You can only speculate as to how the occupants fared. One big shell of a business still has a big fishing boat sitting inside it. There is reconstruction ongoing as it takes years to recover from such a natural disaster.

Another public Faleo'o at the airport.  while people wait for their plane to leave or wait for people arriving they will sit on the floor with their back to a post and have a lunch or fall asleep.

Stake Relief Society Party

One of our New Zealand Elders shouting out the commands for the dance they are about to do.  He was great - he is a very big boy and a very big voice.  They did the Haka.

One of the wards doing a dance from one of the Islands here in the Pacific

This dance started with this man sounding the horn, I believe this was the Hawaiian dancers

Young and Old learn the dance moves and enjoyed the evening dancing

Each ward chose a queen for their ward and celebrated her life.  This sister is the International Coach for women's rugby - don't mess with her, she is not just a pretty face. They were the Tongans.

These beautiful women dancing Samoan style in their pulutasi.  ( dresses )

This was from the Tongan ward and it was a Maori dance

Like I said before, young and old participate and learn the dances.  Even the little guy in the front.

The Older sisters were so graceful and they would get up and dance around the sides for every ward.  They knew every dance.

This is the Stake Patriarch and his wife and they loved to dance, he was given a flower for being the best dancer over 50 years old.

Another one of the beauty queens chosen by the Tafuna 2nd ward.  These people love to dance and sing and they can really dance.  Size does not matter - being big is just fine and no one is shy about getting up in front of hundreds to dance.    

Pago Pago - we finally made it.

June 6, 2014 Wendy and I finally get to the airport to leave for our mission.  It was bitter sweet as we said our good byes to those we love so much.  We will meet up with Dave & Lisa and kids in Salt Lake City for a few days before we enter the Missionary Training Centre in Provo, Utah.  We were only able to face time with Aaron & Stacey and the boys but we love them and miss them as well.  Tom.                All the tears effected my eyes and I enjoyed a week of pink eye at the MTC which was very distracting and uncomfortable. Saying goodbye to everyone was touching and pretty hard. Wendy

We had the pleasure of welcoming a few missionaries at the MTC, one of which was Elder Godfrey from our Cochrane Ward.  It was great to see Bro. & Sister Godfrey as they dropped off their son.  We saw Elder Godfrey quit often in the MTC the week we were there.  He will be a great missionary in South Korea.  Tom

Cydne and I enjoyed a long hug as she watched her son walk away with a friendly missionary who met him at the curb. The goodbye seemed harder for the parents than for the missionary. Wendy

The other Missionary we greeted was Elder Burton.  This is CJ's brother's (James) family and their son is going to Berlin, Germany.  It was so nice to see the whole family and watch as they said their good byes.  Always a tender moment.  Tom

With Jessica moving to St. George I know we will enjoy time with this great family in the future.  Wendy

We arrived in Apia Samoa on June 23, 2014 after spending 10 days at the MTC in Provo, flying to Auckland New Zealand for 3 days and then back to Apia.  It was great to get here and meet President Leota our Mission President.  He is a wonder man, so kind and tender.  He will only be our Mission President for 5 days then his mission is finished and he will go to Australia on another assignment.  Our new Mission President is President Tolman from Arizona and we will meet him on July 9th. Tom

Pres. Leota was such a gentleman. It would have been nice to have had more time to associate with him. Wendy

It was nice to see President Woods picture on the wall.  They had all the Mission Presidents that have served in Samoa.  President Wood actually was one of 3 missionaries that were the first missionaries for the Church to come to Samoa.  He came back 4 or 5 years later to serve as the Mission President.  It is great for us to see how the church has grown here in Samoa since then. Tom

Most members know who Elder Wood was. Some say their grandparents spoke of him often. Wendy

 These are the Krogh's from Utah.  They have served 3 missions to Samoa and this third mission they came for only 6 months to help out any way they could.  They were assigned to learn our job and then train us when we arrived.  We are so grateful for their wonderful help.  Elder Krogh speaks fluent Samoan and is very knowledgable regarding the customs of the people here. Tom
Now this is one cool couple! The amount of service they have given and continue to give is remarkable. She is teaching young people piano lessons while she has been here. Everyone loves Elder Krogh. He is such a novelty since he speaks such fluent Samoan and takes everyone by surprise when he starts to talk. He is very much like uncle Bruce.  Tom

This is a picture of a Fale, which is a house, meeting place, where the people actually live if they don't have a typical home.  They cook, eat, socialize, sleep in these Fale's.  The mountain behind is called Rainmaker mountain and is in the harbour at Pago.  Tom
This Fale is in a public area in the harbour. Most fales are not near as fancy as this. The Tsunami in 2008 must have caused this one to get a new roof. There was extensive damage to many buildings and homes with loss of life. There are many ruins of homes just left as is.  Wendy

The local folks like to fish and when tide is out they climb up on the out cropping so they can cast way out in order to catch fish.  Great to see.

This is a beautiful Fale, it is all lashed together with rope and twine and the poles are carved with beautiful traditional patterns.  This one is large and sits at the airport as a gathering place out of the sun as well as a greeting place when you arrive. Tom

It is fun to see Samoans sitting under this with their backs against the poles. It works.  Wendy

Yes Senior Missionaries are allowed to swim / snorkel.  We travelled to the far westerly part of the Island visiting missionaries and while there we took the opportunity to swim and snorkel for awhile.  The water is warm as a bath, it actually started to rain and it was so pleasant as the rain was warm also.  Got to do more of this. Tom

There was no one around, just us on a pretty little beach with a vacant tsunami damaged house up on the shore. It is such a natural paradise without a hint of commercialism. The snorkeling was just so so. We would go back there to picnic but not to snorkel again. Wendy

This is a very common site, the whole family in a truck.  There are 9 trucks to every car because you obviously can haul more stuff around.  Notice the bananas in the back, also the girls hair is so thick she has 4 large braids.  The men and women have lots of traditional tattoos.  This was a quick stop at McDonalds. Tom
I love to see the women dressed in their sunday best riding in the back of the pickups. I have not seen how they get in the back yet. It must be tricky since they are in long skirts. Wendy

We have a beautiful yard here at the mission home and we have bananas, papayas, pineapples, mango, lemons growing in the yard.  The large bats get to the mangos before we do so we are learning when to pick and what to watch for. Tom
I picked a papaya today and will try it tomorrow. Wendy

Our MTC experience

This was our District in the MTC.  From Left to Right - The Neiburg going to Sweden, Masons going to Alaska, Provinces going to Guatamala and our morning trainer Brother Rowe.

We got very close to this group while in the MTC and we are already planning a reunion in Canada.

 This is Brother Jacobs our afternoon trainer - another awesome teacher and great guy.

Everyone gets to use the laundry mat while your here - this is only 1/4 of them and they are busy all the time 

 We got to know some of the Samoan Elders and Sisters because we would ask anyone who looked polynesian where they were from.  Anyway the sister in red it Tongan and the other two live in Pago Pago in the ward we will be in.  We met them several days ago and always had a good visit when we would see them.  They are cute, they said they had emailed all their relatives and that about 100 people were going to show up at the airport when we arrive.  He He  we will see.

Wendy and I had the pleasure of celebrating our 42nd wedding anniversary here in the MTC.  It was awesome.  Wendy couldn't pucker up to kiss me on the cheek because she just came back from the dentist where she had a root canal and was still all frozen up.  Doesn't get any better than this.

 Our manager of the Senior couples was Elder Thomas.  He is here on a 2 year mission to manage things.  He was so helpful and helped Wendy around for her dental work etc.  This is a really good man.  Wendy called him her lucky charm.  He was funny, organized, helpful, you name it.

 This couple are going to El Paso Texas to teach institute.  They are the Godfreys from Utah and of interest their son just moved to Calgary to Douglasdale by the South Hospital and has a new dental practice.  Their son actually golfed with Doni Miller a few weeks ago.  Very nice couple. We liked them.

Elder and Sister Bird are full time missionaries called to oversee all Senior Missionary couples applications.  They were so fun.  They were at Ricks College when Wendy and I were there.  Wendy knew Sister Bird as Sister Bird was in Student body affairs and met with Wendy on committee work from time to time.  Bro. Bird has been a seminary teacher all his life.  They told us that there are 6000 seniors serving right now and the current Mission Presidents have requested an additional 8000 (4000 couples) as soon as possible.  

Wendy and I really connected with this wonderful couple.  They will be serving a Military mission in Portland.  He is X military.  They served their first mission in England and came home with 75 new sons and daughters that they called their children.  They have such strong testimonies and are just wonderful wonderful people.  We really hope to see them in 2 years.  

 It's always so inspiring to watch all the new missionaries show up on Wednesdays.  This is CJ's nephew that showed up to go serve in Germany.  We were fortunate to be there and take some pics for them and see James and Denise Burton and their family send another son on a mission.  Go Burtons.

 Well, this is our farewell missionary Elder Godfrey from our Cochrane Ward.  We watched Elder Godfrey get dropped off a week ago and had a quick hug and visit with his mom and dad (Dave and Cynde Godfrey).  We would see Elder Godfrey every few days while we were here and this is the last day before we left.  I wanted to show him mom that he was healthy and had a healthy appetite.  He is a big boy and needs his lunch.

Wendy and I loved seeing the new missionaries show up on Wednesdays.  They are so well taken care of and have so many people here that just make their first hour, first experience so wonderful.  We are very impressed at these wonderful young people.  They are the best.

They call this a lounge for the Senior couples on our floor of apartments.  I don't know why they call it a lounge because no one has any time at all to lounge.  There is a fridge but who would want to put anything in it - the cafeteria feeds you way too much already.  Anyway it was really nice to know they were thinking about our comfort while here at the MTC.  They really do take good care of you and provide great facilities.

Finally made it to the MTC (Missionary Training Centre)

Well it seems like it has taken months for us to get into the mission field and it has.  But we have now had our farewell with family and have made our way to the MTC.  Life here is very exciting and full of training, learning, firesides and new friends, with so many couples going on missions.  There are 80 couples that arrived on monday with us.

Here were are at the Calgary airport heading thru customs after saying good bye to all the Calgary kids and grand kids.  It was hard to leave them but here we go.

And before you know it we are in Provo Utah and have our orientation and name tags as Sister Saunders and Elder Saunders - Samoa Apia Missionaries

We finish our class room work each evening at 4:30 and Wendy and I were restless having sat for 3 days so we took a walk/hike us Rock Canyon just east of the MTC and Provo Temple.  It is a considered a great hiking area in the Provo area.  The peak you see here is called Squaw Peak and it's a 8 hour hike to the top and back.  We hiked a few hours but look forward to hiking the peak on Saturday when we have our day off.

Beautiful Rock Canyon hike

Elder Garrett Godfrey from our Cochrane ward arrived around 1:20 on Wednesday so Wendy and I just had to go see his arrival and say hi to he and his Mom and Dad.  It was great to see them and see how excited they were as they dropped him off for his mission to South Korea.  He will be a great missionary