November Fun

Long Boat Races

Word went out that there were long boat races in the Pago Pago Harbor. While we were there we decided to go watch. You can watch the beginning or the end but not much in between. 

It's hard to see but there are 3 boats in the top picture that are positioning themselves to start the race.

You can clearly see the 2 leaders. The small boat in the forefront is the officials. 

Young Men & Young Women Fund Raiser

YW perform traditional Samoan dance

The young men and young women had the annual fund raiser for a temple trip in February. It was a spaghetti dinner and dessert auction.

Elvis aka YM President

The young men seated everyone and helped serve. The young women served and performed for the program.

YW doing a solo

There was also karaoke. If you were challenged to sing and refused to do so, you had to pay $5. If you wanted to challenge someone, it cost $5.

Luisa emcees the program.

Highlight of the program was the performed by the Young Men Presidency and when we paid to challenge the Bishopric to sing karaoke. Sure wish I had gotten a picture but I was way too busy laughing. It was delightful.

Luisa is in the YW Presidency. She is the one who spearheaded the reading program back in June/July.

Another solist

We had a great time, spent lots of money, & took home to much junk food.

Happy Anniversary

My sweetheart

We celebrated our 47th anniversary on Nov 20. We went to a nice restaurant that sits on the edge of Pago Pago Harbor. Food was pretty good. The view was beautiful. The company was the best. 

The view from our table

Our sweet waitress is a Pathway student. At the end of the meal she gifted us our dinner. So, sweet! And certainly unexpected.

We had a very lovely evening!










Happy Thanksgiving

Elder Anthon watch

Our ward celebrates Thanksgiving with a Turkey Bowl. 

Anybody who wants to play comes. They are divided into teams and then play a double elimination flag football tournament.

The Game

Well, that's football with a few modifications - No center to hike the ball. The quarterback just says, "Hike!" - Every play is a pass play. No running plays. 

But it works. We enjoyed it for a while but the game just kept going and going. Finally, we left to go home.

Our bishop is on the left in the dark baseball hat. Brother Wade is on the right checking out the brackets. He's the main organizer. He is the Elder's Quorum President and his wife is the RS President.

Thanksgiving Dinner at the mission home with Sister Westenskow (in the dark blouse) and Sister Kirkham (in blue). They are the new Senior Sisters that are here to teach institute.
Sister Westenskow's daughter used to live in Great Falls and knows Neil & Amber. Small world.

 

Feeding the Hungry

Feeding the Hungry

One of the largest employers in America Samoa is Starkist Tuna. The factory has shut down for several weeks for routine maintenance. As a result, a lot of people are out of work - not only the factory workers but also the fishing boats, etc. These are people who work for less than minimum wage and live from paycheck to paycheck. Knowing that there would be a lot of people going hungry, a brother in our stake organized a food drive. He had been to the states and had observed how this type of service works. So he went about doing good, collecting food and getting donations. On a Wednesday, the Sisters in the stake divided the food and put it into plastic sacks. The cultural hall was covered with food sacks. It was scheduled to be moved on Saturday for distribution. But on Friday, the youth of our ward had a fund raiser planned for a temple trip they will take in February and needed the cultural hall. So Friday morning some ward members moved the food from the cultural hall to other places in the church - outside under a tent, into the chapel, onto the stage. Saturday morning the food was taken to where it was given to those who had lost their jobs. I think the Lord would be pleased.

Some of the food that was moved outside. Eventually the tarp was completely covered. Notice the age of some of our volunteers.

The food in the last corner of the cultural hall is being moved. 

Trip after trip after trip - Good job, Elder Anthon

The food getting stacked in the aisles and on the benches in the chapel.

There may be those who disapprove but I couldn't help but think that the Lord would be pleased that His chapel was being used for such a act of charity.

The young people were extraordinary. Here they are passing cases of pop from one spot to another.

They deserve a moment of rest. They were tired but there is a bit of drama going on as well.

A Tour of American Samoa

Cruise Ship in the Pago Pago Harbor

There have been 2 cruise ships docked in Pago Pago in the past couple of weeks. We have become so accustomed to everything that we are wondering what exactly they are going to tour.



But since we have friends coming on a cruise in December that would like to see us, we have decided we need to remember exactly how we felt when we first got here. Everything was so new and thrilling to see. We would like to share some of that excitement with them. These are friends that we met on our European trip last year. Here's some of the things we thought they'd like to see.



Pictures of the Samoan Cultural Center in Pago Pago.




Try Pot - this pot was used by whalers to render the blubber obtained from whales.

An intricately hand carved statue.

Miniature boats used by ancient Samoans. Some were used for fishing, others for exploring & still others for warfare.

A "flower" arrangement.

Another carving. 

View of Pago Pago Harbor from the mountain top. This is looking down on the south side of the island.








Step across the road & you see the north side of the island.

Ocean views

Some of the large church houses on the island.

The village of Leone where we live.

One of the many hidden coves

The view from the Mapausaga Stake Center.

"Summer" is in Full Bloom

As our "summer" approaches things are beginning to blossom. We are really enjoying the new beauty.

This is on the road going to our home.

A pink flowering tree

This tree is completely barren - no leaves, no flowers. It almost looks dead. But in a few months it will look like the next pictures.

From barren to beauty.

This tree is just beginning to flower. 

Beautiful flower - I have no idea the name of this flower.

I think the shape of these flowers is amazing.

This bush has 2 different colors of flowers.

Mapusaga Stake Center Dedication

Ocean View at the beginning of the evening

Same view after the dedication

The Mausaga Stake dedicated their new stake center. Friday was the fiafia - celebration. Each ward did a musical presentation. Most of the wards did dancing but some of them did singing. I'll try to post some videos of the dances.

The singing here is absolutely amazing. One of the wards in this stake has produced a CD. 

We were invited to sit at the head table. They are so kind to us and always treat us with the greatest respect. 

The Samoans really know how to party. We always come away with so much food we can't eat it all.

Part of the crowd attending the dedication

T

More of the crowd

One of the dances, this part of the dance featured the men

Another ward

This ward did mostly singing

Another ward featured the men

By the Seas, By the Beautiful Sea

I thought I'd share some pictures of our lovely island just so you can get an idea of what we see everyday.

My favorite sights are of the ocean. It is so beautiful. Every time we go to Pago Pago we are mesmerized by the waves. They are always different. Sometimes they are tumultuous & sometimes they're quite calm. In many places the waves crash into each other as they come from different directions. If I had time I could sit and watch them for hours. There's not a lot of beach & the beaches that we have are quite rocky instead of sandy. In the Pago Pago harbor where the waves are most fascinating, there is no beach at all. The waves break fifty to a hundred yards out & then there is a "lake" between there & land. Often we see people playing in the water. If the tide is out, we will see men fishing. in that "lake". Can't believe that I only have videos of the waves by Pago Pago.

I hope this plays. These are the waves by Pago Pago Harbor.

This is at Turtle & Sharks. The waves come in so hard that when they hit the rocks, the water sprays into the air.

This is also Turtles & Sharks. Legend has it that this is the only place in the world where turtles & sharks swim together. 

This is the sight of our Ward Party. One of the few sandy beaches. This is owned by our bishop's in-laws.

This is down by the airport.

Also by the airport. Notice the two bridges that have formed on each side.

A large cargo ship heading into Pago Pago Harbor

Elder Anthon enjoying the ocean. This is the east end of the island.