Motu o Fiafiaga

Motu o Fiafiaga is the logo on the American Samoa license plates. It means island pleasant. I thought I'd share some photos of this beautiful island. For the most part we really enjoy being here. I do have a few anxious moments when we find a cockroach the size of 2 quarters laying side by side or a gecko that likes to run around the house. I could really do without the creepy crawlies.




First you need to understand that there is only one main highway that runs the length of the island on the south side. Off of this highway there are numerous side roads. Each side road runs through a village (think town or area). Some of the side roads are paved & quite nice. Others are just dirt roads with lots of ruts & holes to maneuver. We live in the village of Leone. It is located on the west end of American Samoa. It takes us about 30-40 minutes to drive to Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa.

While Elder & Sister Jordan were still here they took us to see where some Elders lived. We had no idea where we were going but we were enjoying the ride & the view. We eventually made it to the villages of Masausi & Sa'ilele on the north side of the island. You can see the village sign in the top picture. The second picture is where the road comes to an end. The last picture is the view of the ocean that the villages enjoy every day. Isn't that beautiful?




This is what I call Picture Perfect!!! It's probably on a post card somewhere. If it's not, it should be.

There are many different churches on the island. The buildings are very, very large. Next to the church is another large building where the pastor lives.  Every weekend the parking lots of these churches are overflowing. Saturday night the adults are there to play bingo. We understand that that is the way most of the churches raise money to support the church. And Sunday those same members with their children are at church services. Religion is very important to the people of Samoa. These are pictures of a Catholic church that we visited. The middle picture is of a fale. There is a Nativity scene inside.
















Every 1st & 3rd Friday an open air market is held in Pago Pago. They also have free entertainment. This is a Catholic Sunday School performing. They say free but really they expected donations. Another way that churches raise funds. But aren't the children beautiful?



The Miracle of the Sand

There is an island about 1.5 miles off the southeast corner of Tutuila - the largest island in the American Samoa chain of islands. This island is call Aunu'u. When the church wanted to build a chapel on Aunu'u, the village chief refused to let them. So the members fasted. He finally relented but told them that they couldn't use any of the sand on the beach for the building of the church. So the members fasted again that a miracle would happen. The building supplies all arrived. But there was no sand with which to make the mortar. The morning that construction was to start, all the members went to the beach for the dedication of the site & there they found a pile of sand on the property. Every day the workers would use the sand & the next morning the sand would be replenished. When the chapel was completed, the sand no longer appeared. This event has become known as the Miracle of the Sand.

The Miracle of the Sand Chapel

The beach by the chapel

Someone finding clams

We visited Aunu'u recently with the missionaries. President Hannemann had reassigned all the missionaries to other areas & we needed to transport all of the supplies from the missionaries' homes back to the mission home. This is no small matter because everything has to be moved on boats.

Supplies waiting to be loaded
onto the boat.

We did enjoyed seeing the chapel that was built from the Miracle of the Sand.

Putting supplies on the boat

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