Buota Snorkeling

On Sat. Apr. 6, we had the opportunity to go snorkeling off our own little island.  If you drive South around the airport there is a small bay that has beautiful, crystal clear, clean water in it.  Elder Bush has been wanting to check it out for months, and we finally had a P-day that allowed us to do just that.  We stopped at a fishing store and found some masks and another store had some snorkels. The tide was just starting to come in (we timed it that way) so we walked out to the breakers and played in the waves till we got tired of getting beat, and then let the tide bring us back in. The water was perfect. We saw a few small fish and several brittle star fish. Elder Bush and Sister Cassita even jumped off the bridge when the tide came in some.  It was a great break. As soon as we got in the car it started to rain and rained most of the remaining of the day.

Elder and Sister Youngberg, Elder and Sister Bush, Sister and Elder Rasmussen, Sister Cassita

Buota Bay

P-Day

April 1, 2013
On the first Monday of each month we had combined P-day, which means the senior couples make a treat for all of the elders and sisters. Sister Bush purchased eggs and I boiled them and colored them and then we all brought cookies.  The American elders thought the colored eggs were fun, but all of the islanders could say is that they were different. 

The missionaries came about 2:00 played tennis, basketball, and volleyball, and ate all of the treats.  They left around 5:30.  They really are great kids and it is fun getting to know them and where home is. We only had the East Zone today as the West Zone was participating in a Stake activity for the holiday.  In the East Zone we have 4 Americans, 1 Australian, and the rest are islanders from Samoa, Fiji, and Kiribati.

Sister Kane (left) is from Kiribate, but Sister Tauteoli is Tongan, born and raised in Salt Lake.  She has decided her parents have denied her the island life. 

Zone Conference

     On March 19 and 21 we experienced our first Zone Conferences.  As senior missionaries we attended both as it is our responsibility to provide the lunch for all of the missionaries.  We had about 18 missionaries at each conference plus the seniors so we served 25 people each day. President Shaw, our mission president, spoke to us about the pyramid of discipleship. In the beginning we are obedient out of routine, because of the pressures of others around us.  This is much like a child being made to attend church or the routine in the MTC, of getting up at 6:30 every morning. We move from there to Selective Obedience, where we choose to keep some of the commandments some of the time, when it is convenient or meets our needs. From there we move up to being exactly obedient, which is where some missionaries are. Many of us do everything we are supposed to, but about half of the time it is because someone  is watching us, or we’re afraid of what others may think if we don’t.  At some point we hope to move to “I Know that I Know,” which is becoming more internal.  We are obedient because we know it is the right thing to do for example, we attend church every Sunday wherever we are at because it is the right thing to do.  However, the goal is for each of us to become a Disciple of Christ, which means we are obedient because we have a love of God, the Savior, and all mankind, and we want to be His servant.  The question is, “Where are we on the Pyramid of Discipleship?”

 

President Shaw teaching

Ocean Baptism

This took place in April, but just realized it had been left out.

Cutting the lock

From Elder Rasmussen: When we first arrived we were given keys to our flat; One for Sister Rasmussen and one for me. Only mine has more magic to it. It will take me almost anywhere I want to go on campus. After school hours I like to look around especially in the wood shop and the TVET lab. I have discovered if a machine stops working for some reason or another it will sit…..and sit……and sit until it is covered with rust. So sad.  About a week ago I opened a storage room which had several pieces of wood scraps, an outboard boat motor, and one of the largest bolt cutters I have ever seen. Thankfully, I remembered the bolt cutters because last evening we had a baptism at the Moroni Ward but the baptismal font was broken. They use sump pumps to drain the font and it was not working. So they decided to use the next best thing…..the ocean. Luckily, the tide was out and they knew where a nice lower spot was located to do the baptisms. Only, the gate was locked and the padlock was so rusty it wouldn’t budge. I ran and picked up the old, old, old, rusty bolt cutters and saved the day!! The gate is actually right behind our flat. Now we have a new lock on the gate and we have one of the keys. The front gate guards have the other.