This young man graduated
 from high school this day.
In the background you can see Aunuu

We traveled from the main island of American Samoa to the small island of Aunuu. It is part of the American Samoan island chain. To get there we went on a small boat. Our friends, Elder & Sister Jordan, told us that they have seen dolphins alongside the boat at times. We didn't get to see them this trip but maybe on our next trip.

Arnie enjoying the boat ride.

We went to see a family that the Jordans wanted to tell good bye before leaving to return home. (The Jordans went home yesterday.) There are a lot of poor people in American Samoa & this family is one of them. Such humble circumstances that it brought tears to my eyes. Even though they little they treated us like royalty. So kind & welcoming. They insisted that we stay for lunch. We ate before the family. It was hard to eat first when they have so little. But it would have been an insult to refuse. Before we left they sang a song that brought tears to everyone. It was a very touching day.

Arrival at the island

The boat we rode on

Clay - the captain of the boat.
He is a member of the church.

The view as we return to the main

island of Tutui

I apologize for taking so long to post. I tried to post on my iPad but couldn't figure out how to do it. Downloading them onto my laptop solved the problem. Also, we have to use the internet at the Tutuila Mission Home because we haven't gotten the internet connected in our home as yet. So the posting may be coming a little at a time until that happens.

Before to write a comment when you read each post. You like to hear from us but we really like to hear from you.

Training at the MTC & Church Office Building

Pointing to our Mission at the World Map

We had a wonderful experience at the MTC. The week was spent learning from the Preach My Gospel book. We ran into a couple of high school friends - one of mine and one of Arnie's. We also made some wonderful new friends from many parts of the country. Our teachers were all young (at least young to us - still in college) returned missionaries. They were excellent. 

Our MTC District was made up of Elder & Sister Hill from St. George - going to Nauvoo, Elder & Sister Schultz from Las Vegas - going to Slovakia, & Elder & Sister Harrison from Denver - going to Germany to do Family Research & Extraction. We had a great time with them in district meetings/training - sharing lots of experiences, laughing at the funny things that happen at the MTC, confiding our concerns about our different assignments, etc. They are amazing people.

After the MTC we went to SLC for training at the church office building. This training was more focused on our particular assignment - self reliance, Pathway, & PEF (Perpetual Education Fund). This was another wonderful experience.

Our MTC District

Carla Cleavinger's sister was in
the training in SLC

Elder Sitati - General Authority Seventy
spent some time teaching us.