THE BEST EIGHTEEN MONTHS

The nineteenth month, memories of a wonderful mission

2011-07-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

One of the first memorable occasions was a visit by Elder Cook of the Twelve, the Presiding Bishop and their wives, this is a group of us being photographed after a good lunch and some words of inspiration.

A typical, traditional fale, (house), living quarters used by the local population.

Size is dependant on the size of the family and the income.

Black Sand Beach, the sand is comprised of naturally ground volcanic rock of which the Islands are formed. Not all of the islands beaches are black, some are radiant white formed from the coral reef that surround the islands.

Palm trees surround the coast, they wave to the breezes that come in off the sea. These are Coconut palms that seem to fruit abundantly year round. The sea is turquoise, warm and feels so soft to the touch, rather like being wrapped in a soft warm blanket.

The Islands have several
waterfalls each as
beautiful as the last

I'm so glad when daddy comes home......

2011-06-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Our parents are traveling home as I write this,one of the last posts on their mission blog.I can not believe their mission is complete, it seems like yesterday we were receiving the call and setting up this very blog.
We are so thrilled at the anticipation of their arrival, and so proud of the success they have achieved in this portion of their lives. We are grateful for the wonderful example they are to our children, as they save for their own missions and set off on their own adventures.
Our parents have always dreamt of having the opportunity to serve a full time mission for the Lord. As they arrive home from completing this life long dream we are excited to hear about their experiences and adventures.
We love you mom and dad
love your Kids and Grand Kids
xoxoxoxo

2011-05-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
how are you all? We are fine but very busy with sick and new Missionaries but that's OK because time does go by quickly,as you can imagine we are beginning to count down the weeks now.
How was Mothers Day?
We had a nice Primary program and the young women made us all corsages,they simply pick the flowers from anywhere and tie them together with thread,they came and pinned them onto all the moms,it was so nice.
On the Friday evening we had a dance,of course when we got there at the appointed hour there was hardly anyone there,just a few kids and our friend who is responsible for the the Stake music equipment, playing so loud that we could hear it a mile away,I think that was the idea,because before long people started to arrive,Dad and I had to sit at the head table along with the Stake and ward leaders.Evey one was dressed in their finery I had put on my PoliTusi dress but Dad was in his white shirt (the only one) because this was a Fia Fia (party) Samoans really know how to enjoy themselves,Dad was the Belle of the ball,and so many ladies both old and young asked him to dance,it was great I have a photo of him dancing with our oldest member, 86 year old,Sis Laticia Hunt.
The food was typically Samoan,all plated up complete with a fish with eye and TEETH sitting on top..
Have a great day Love to all Mom and Dad xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi everyone

2011-02-05T17:57:00.001-08:00

January 29th 2011
Samoa is sinking or that is how it feels. We have just had our 66th consecutive day of rain and to finish it off we had Cyclone Wilma circling around us for three days. For those on the North American continent that’s a hurricane in the southern hemisphere. I seem to remember explaining this same time last year. Well you know what they say “what comes around goes around “and this one sure did. It just went around and around us growing in intensity as it circled. A few years ago President Hinckley blessed Samoa that we would not get damaged by cyclones and so far we haven’t, just a lot of aftermath, wind and rain. It was almost like it wanted to run straight across us but couldn’t. Time is still going very quickly now, we only have five more months to go before we head back to Canada. It has been a wonderful experience that we will never forget. We would encourage everyone who is LDS to give it a try. Start saving now. If we can do it at seventy, for you it would be a snap. There is no age limit for us oldies and the experience is priceless.

We will try to attach some photos to this one so you can see as well as read what it is like here. One plus for having all the rain was we have gained a reflecting pool for the Temple. We caught a picture of the roadway flooded, actually our neighbour took it. One disappointment both of our latest papaya trees turned out to be males, the non fruit bearing variety so we chopped them down at the knees, maybe they will become transgender. We are still harvesting from the other papaya trees in our back yard. We changed times of our services in the New Year so we now start at 7 a.m. , before it really gets light. A couple of weeks ago the power was off so we carried on in the dark, reading the hymn books was a challenge, normally we would know the words but in Samoan we still need to read the words and the sentence form is different and each word has about a dozen meanings. We are still struggling with the language it will be nice to sing and hear sermons in English again.

We were at a baptism last night; the lady had a very bad speech impediment it must be very hard not being able to make yourself understood. She is such a sweet lady. We are holding a fireside tonight on physical and spiritual health and the 89th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants. We are incorporating the dental field too with a missionary who is a dentist back home. Like most developing countries the teeth and gums are the first things to be neglected. We are still enjoying working at the Samoa Apia Temple on Thursday evenings. Except for the Temple President, Patrick is the only palagi (white man) still working there. All the other palagi have completed their missions and gone home.

The statistics for last year were announced recently, the work is going well; we had eighteen hundred and twenty new converts baptized into the Church here in the Samoan Islands. It is beautiful to see how it affects people’s lives for the better, giving them purpose and direction, improving family relationships, teaching self sufficiency and building confidence, helping the family unit to strive for excellence. Youth who would normally leave school and work on the family plantation are now being encouraged to further their education at colleges both here and BYU Hawaii so that they can improve the situation in their homes financially, especially in having school loans forgiven if they return to live in Samoa. We would like to thank those who donate to the Perpetual and the Humanitarian funds. We see the practical results of your donations without any administrative costs being deducted it goes so much further.

We have been able to help a lady who has lost one leg and possibly may lose the other through diabetes. They live in a small open Fale in the middle of the Island. They live off what they can grow on their plantation (garden)and little else They have a beautiful little girl, ‘Seulepa’ who is about seven years old who doesn’t go to school yet because school is so far away and they have no transportation. We are trying to get a wheelchair for the rough terrain where they live and have taken casts for making prosthesis to send to Utah to be made up with the help of the Humanitarian fund. Your money is being put to good use. Well, time to sign off. Know that you are in our prayers and that we love you. Stay strong and fly straight keeping to that straight and narrow path.
Our love always

Elder & Sister, Pat and Barb, Mom and Dad xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

More news from the sundrenched shores of Samoa,

2011-02-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

September 30th 2010

Talofa, 0 a mai oe, (Hello, how are you)

We have rather mixed bag of content to share with you this month, firstly the temperature is rising again, winter was short lived and the heat is back. Although we are told that temperatures have been higher than usual throughout the world this year our challenge is the humidity, with the sea spreading for thousands of miles all around us we should expect a bit of humidity. The month started off quietly which was most welcome allowing us to catch up with ourselves Elder Tuimauga came back from New Zealand after the surgery on his shoulder. You may remember he had a chronic condition where his shoulder kept dislocating; in the end we couldn’t reduce it without giving him a general anaesthetic. Well he is doing fine busy having physical therapy to increase his total range of movement. There was talk of sending him home to recuperate but he made so much fuss to stay that we gave in and he is very happy now even with six months of concentrated exercising ahead of him.
We spent an enjoyable evening at Vialema. It is now a museum but it was the house Robert Louis Stevenson lived in when he wrote most of his 138 classics like Jekyll and Hyde, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Kidnapped, and many, many, more; anyway, we were invited to celebrate an annual event where we celebrated his life and works. Two gentlemen from the States who served their missions here in Samoa many years ago decided they would restore the old house and open it as a museum and they did a wonderful job. They are also the guys that were responsible for us enjoying The BYU television channel here on the Island via satellite. For which we are most grateful. Later in the month we climbed the mountain behind the Museum where RLS was buried. His grave overlooks Apia Harbour and all the luscious countryside around. It was quite a climb but well worth it, except as we got to the peak the sky opened up as it is apt to do here and we got drenched but it was all in a good cause, it was a fundraiser for a local family support group here in Apia.
Another benchmark for Samoa, the Prime Minister decided we need daylight saving time here, so this year for the first time ever we will be putting our clocks forward an hour. Yes we are just coming into spring so when you put your clocks back we go forward. It won’t make a scrap of difference here; when dawn comes at about 6a.m. and dusk at 6 p.m. except now it will be 7am & 7pm until April when it changes back. It will confuse the cockerel that’s all.
The biggest change in our lives is we have been transferred to another Ward (congregation) So we had to say goodbye to all our primary class children which was quite traumatic for all of us. They all sang the Samoan farewell song to us and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. So we have changed from an English speaking ward to a totally Samoan speaking Ward and because we have been quite busy, we haven’t kept up with our learning of the language so now we smile a lot and haven’t a clue what is going on. Now we can empathize with the other senior missionaries who were with us in Provo during our two weeks training session and went to Greece, Italy, Peru, Brazil etc. etc. after two weeks language training, except we have forgotten what we learned nine months ago. We are praying heavily for inspiration right now. We have been called to help the less-active members with some of their challenges both temporally and spiritually as well as keep the clinic going during the day. We figured the Lord thought we were having too much fun teaching the kids and keeping the missionaries healthy so needs us to stretch a bit more.
We have two new senior couples here, the Dentist Elder Weber and his wife and Elder and Sister Merrell who looks after the Office, The Bells left after their eighteen month stint. We took the new couples up to Saniatau the School/Farm that was established over a hundred years ago as a sanctuary for people in the Church that were being persecuted and thrown out of their villages for joining the church It is situated inside a huge volcano in rich farmland. The Church is now changing it into a Bishops storehouse where they are training the local saints to farm with more productive methods and how to cook and use a variety of fruit and vegetables. They are also developing a new campsite and recreational area for families and youth groups to enjoy the outdoors.
We have been out nine months already, halfway through our mission. Time sure doesn’t stand still here, another nine months and we will be on our way home. We are looking forward to General Conference this weekend and YES we get an extra hour in bed. It doesn’t start until 6 a.m. instead of 5a.m. now we have put our clocks forward. Maybe the Prime Minister knew something after all. Being so far behind others in time still gets confusing. We are the last people to go to bed in the world before you cross the International Date Line going west and it becomes tomorrow already. We had some disturbing news last week, Reg, Barbs step dad who was 98 yesterday had a couple of mini strokes and isn’t doing too well, so we ask for your prayers on his behalf if you are so inclined. Thank you.
We went down to the fish market last Saturday morning to get our supplies of fish for the month Barb found a Lobster that looked more like a crawfish and a crab that surprisingly looked like a crab and a small shell fish that looks like a bug about three inches wide and four inches long, seeing is believing. We also bought a chunk of Masi Masi or Mahi Mahi in Hawaii and a three inch crosscut piece of albacore tuna about a foot in diameter. And a couple of Redsnapper. The colours of the fish are quite remarkable. There are still several species we haven’t tried yet. Nothing like the fish found in the Northern Hemisphere that is for sure. Promise not to leave it so long next time. Manuia le aso, tofa soifua (have a great day, Bye.)

Take good care of yourselves,

lots of love Pat and Barb Elder and Sister Kelly

Dear Family and Friends,

2010-12-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

As we approach the Christmas season, we are thinking of family and friends.
At this time of year we tend to get caught up in the craziness of the season, sometimes it is difficult to remember the “reason for the season”. Here in Samoa Christmas does not seem to be a flurry of buying and rushing around. So far we have seen very little in the way of decorations and advertising.

We have been busy making great fold up photo books for all the young Missionaries, of their time here in Samoa. They will be given out with other gifts to them at a Christmas party next week.
On Sunday evening we enjoyed a wonderful evening of Christmas music by the Samoan Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and a local Catholic choir. The MC was a well known Samoan singer, popular in the Pacific, Tapi Mariner, he was very entertaining and sang beautifully. It was a wonderful start to the season.

We have just enjoyed a visit with David, who stayed 10 days with us, leaving last week. We were able to take a few days off to visit Savaii a lovely Island a ferry ride away. It was lots of fun, Dave got to do some snorkeling; we stayed in a beach Fale at a little resort. They served “Umu” traditional food cooked on hot stones under Taro leaves, so that was another experience for him.
It was lovely to lie in bed and snuggle under our mosquito nets listening to the tide coming in over the beach, it reminded us of Nova Scotia and our years at Hubbard’s.

After Dave left we took a quick trip to American Samoa. We enjoyed visiting with some sweet friends who are going home from their Mission before Christmas. We stocked up on meat, cheese and some other goodies not available in Western Samoa, it reminded us of flying food into the Deer Lake Reserve in our Northern Canadian days. It was great to visit a “real” Dept. Store

David and Stephanie stocked us up with enough dark chocolate and herb tea bags to open a store ,I’m sure we will be well supplied until we leave here. David, Stephanie, Linea and baby Liam are doing fine, the two dogs are growing big, they are very protective of the family, and don’t seem to mind Linea lying on their backs.

Jon, Lindi and Jonathon(Jonny) are busy as usual with work, studying and opening their home to the local neighbourhood boys. Jon and his family were recently on a TV show,’ Canadian Hero’s,’ which Debbie Travis a sort of Canadian Martha Stuart produces on CBC. It can be seen on Debbie Travis’s blog at Windsor NS Jon was picked to be one of the people across Canada selected as a hero for their volunteer work in their communities.
Jon’s family are very involved with the youth in Windsor, the Show organizers sent Jon away for a week, while the Community fixed up their big back yard, it was lovely with BBQ outdoor kitchen , plants, a Gazebo etc.The Boy’s were a big part of the workforce, to us Jon has always been a hero.

Adrienne and Ian, are still running their Landscaping business, they keep busy with the children and Church activities, the kids are growing fast. Emma will be finishing High school next summer, then onto Collage we hope. Jonathon (JonBoy) is going to come to Samoa in the March, school break, along with one or both of his parents. He wants to visit New Zealand while he is here, we are looking forward to seeing them and have lots of fun things planned for him to do here.
The two younger boys Jared and Aaron are lots of fun and remain good buddies. They are all such lovely grandchildren we are very proud of them, and miss them while we are away from them all.

We keep busy and healthy; it is amazing that our health skills and our energy levels have remained intact for this sometimes challenging work.We love the Samoan people and Missionaries here.

We expect to spend a quiet Christmas, hopefully a more spiritual one. We wish you all the peace and joy that the birth of our Savior can bring into our lives.
As always our love to you all

Elder and Sister Kelly, Mom and Dad, Pat and Barb xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the News

2010-07-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

Receiving Houses from Service Work after Tsunami

On Saturday the 23^rd of January 2010, about 40 men from the Pesega 5^th Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered together at Saleapaga, Lepa to build a house for Faato’ia Viiga’s family.

Faato’ia Viiga’s family was very concerned about building a house after everything was lost, including the life of a child, in the tsunami that hit on the 29^th of September 2009. This is one out of 40 families for which houses have been built and prepared for by the LDS Church.

This group of Elders and High Priests gathered at 4am at Pesega for their trip to Saleapaga. Before departing, they were quickly divided into groups and instructed by those who had construction skills.

They diligently worked for the whole day, with only a short break for lunch. They leveled the foundation, set up poles, mixed and poured cement, and put up the tin roof. A job that usually would take a week or more to finish was completed in one day by this group of volunteers, which included many retirees.

Of the 40 houses that the LDS Church has planned to reconstruct in areas destroyed by the tsunami, 30 have either been completed or are currently under construction, with 10 left to go. Many of these houses were built by volunteer service by members of the church from different stakes and wards throughout Samoa, like this group of diligent men.

Despite the aches and pains from their service that day, they still felt blessed to have the opportunity to offer their services. When asked if they would do it again, their answer- without a delay- was an enthusiastic “Yes!”

Others who wanted to attend but couldn’t due to other circumstances, say that they do not want to miss the blessings of serving those in need.

Viiga’s family was very grateful and appreciative to the Church and the group of 40 priesthood holders for their new fale.

a connection

2010-07-19T07:26:00.001-07:00

Our Daughter's family went to the Hill - Where it all began

They met a sister serving in the Palmyra mission from right here in Apia Samoa!

It is a small world in the church!

Father's Day

2010-07-14T08:20:00.001-07:00

More Pacific adventures

2010-07-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

More Pacific adventures July 8 2010 Hi Everyone . We have been enjoying some cooler weather this month. Temperatures have been down to eighty degrees and even cooler in the early morning between 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Maybe down to 75F or so, it is mid-winter after all. Dusk and dawn are still around 6-30 a.m. & p.m. Most of the rain storms are short in duration and in the early morning . We have been more busy than usual this month. Samoa is an ideal environment for viral and fungal infections, warm and damp (high humidity and high temps) We have spent more time in hospital than out of it this month. Hospitals are very basic over here. If you think you will be staying overnight you must remember to take sheets, towels, pillows and pillowcases and have someone bring in meals for you. Unless you come in an ambulance with lights and sirens blaring, you should also take a book or magazine to read, you might have to wait several hours before you even see a doctor, 15 hours is our longest wait so far and then they expected us to spend the rest of the night there, another 9 hours, with the young Elder. We had other missionaries to take care of back at the mission home sick bay, so we had to decline. The disapproving looks were very evident. On the way out we saw each patient had about three or four people sleeping around the beds on the floor. It seems it is the custom to stay and comfort the patient. The wards are all open with curtains hanging between each bed. The beds themselves are very old and worn out, mattresses very thin and hard. We saw a gecko and a mouse sharing a hole in a light fixture in one area. We spent one whole day trying to persuade the young doctors to do an appendectomy on one of our Elders who had classic signs of acute appendicitis except the white blood cells hadn’t changed so they wanted to wait and see. When we had made enough nuisance of ourselves after being there for eleven hours they called the chief surgeon who agreed with our diagnoses and immediately sent him down to the O.R. Afterwards he told us as he brought the bowel out of the abdominal cavity it burst all over the place. That was a near miss, minutes more and the appendix would have perforated and that would have infected his whole bowel. Another Elder has a chronic dislocated shoulder which keeps slipping out and he has to have a general anaesthetic to have it reduced. This has happened several times over the last two weeks. We are trying to have him flown out to New Zealand for corrective surgery. Ingrown toenails are another popular complaint, with jock itch and boils as a follow up. Several guys have been down with high fevers without a focus point, we suspect low grade Dengue fever, but can’t isolate anything. Dog bites are a common complaint luckily we don’t have rabies on the island. One guy had a heavy dose of e.coli luckily we managed to keep it isolated. We celebrated Canada Day this week. I put a large Canadian flag up in the window of our office just prior to July 4^th when the real festivities started. We have several Senior Couples here from the States so Saturday night was party night. We had started Saturday with a Primary sports day activity. Being the only Priesthood holder present I got to be the organizer. Have you ever tried to run a three legged race with a 3 foot, seven year old? We all had a great deal of fun, then at noon we were over at the chapel to clean it up ready for Sunday meetings. Guess who had to wet mop the whole chapel area, we have tile floors here. Then home to cook up something for the pot luck Independence Day supper. Thirty Americans and two Canadians, I guess we didn’t stand a chance so we let them have their independence and joined in singing all the anthems and traditional teary eyed songs of Independence days long passed. We had left up the flag and placed a notice under it stating this was “the last remaining Canadian outpost in Samoa” (Our Office). We have American, Australian, New Zealand, Chinese, and many other consulates and embassy’s here in Samoa but no Canadian. I guess we are on our own, probably a cost cutting measure. While at the Hospital the other day we met up with a couple of fourth year Med. students doing an eight week rotation here in Samoa. It seems there are several more, all from the Newcastle (UK) University, School of Medicine, they looked to be in a daze. It must have been a total culture shock for them. England is pretty cosmopolitan but we are 50 years behind the times here, as far as Medicine goes. It was nice to hear the English accents tho’. . We are fighting the battle of the bulge presently; we both need to lose about 15 to 20lbs each. Barbara is in denial of course. The diet here is very challenging, Samoans don’t eat vegetables so we really have to search for and be very creative with our cooking. We have found a green veg called ‘Lau Pele’ but we can’t find any at the Market. We asked at one of the stalls and the lady said in broken English that nobody buys it so they don’t bother to bring it in from their plantations; we asked if she would bring some in for us and she did but because it was a special order, we had to pay the premium price of course. Tara leaves are good too except you have to really boil them well as they have an element that stings the throat badly. Tastes something like spinach and because you have to boil it so well it shrinks so you have to start off with a pot full just to get two portions out of it. We tried to grow squash in the garden and reared a big long stalk with lots of leaves but no blossoms male or female, we did get two but the sun killed them off within two days. Our cucumber plant is looking quite sick too. Guess the volcanic soil is detrimental to their growth. . On the positive side we have four good tomato plants and some strong looking basil plants rearing their pretty heads. The ginger plants are taking up more room than we had planned. The Pineapple, avocado and coconut plants are looking quite healthy too considering we only have about 30 minutes a week to tend them all. . Well we guess that’s it for another month, we send our love to everyone and hope that you are enjoying life as much as we are, especially now that summer has arrived for most of you “Man is that he might have joy” so spread the joy around with those you meet and have a wonderful July. Take good care of yourselves and think positive thoughts.

Lots of love from Samoa, Pat and Barb, Elder and Sister Kelly xxxxxxxx

Pacific Adventure

2010-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Family and Friends

Another episode in the life and times of the Kelly’s. It gets more like a soap opera every month We think we have finally outsmarted the chickens with a 30“fence, so far anyway. We have some seedlings almost ready for transplanting tomatoes and lettuce, a coconut tree at 9” three pineapple, two Ginger plants, some lemon grass , mint, Basil, an avocado tree about 2’ high, two papaya trees already giving fruit and a noni bush. All the things which grow in Ontario don’t grow down here so we are feeling our way through this year. Of course we will be long gone by the time most of the fruit trees are ready to harvest but the next guys will enjoy them. Things seem to be a little quieter this month It will give us a chance to catch up. Pat’s pile is down to an inch already, so that is more manageable. Thank you Sue Brown for offering to come down to assist with the data entry but I think we have it beat now.

We have come to our sixth month mark at the end of this month. One third of our mission over already, we are still trying to see how we can slow the time down. It is going far too fast. We have three baptisms tomorrow from our Primary class they are such sweet kids, seven and eight year olds, they are so eager to answer questions that they forget the answer and the question when we point at them to answer. It is so funny. We have a stack of surplus chairs at the back of the classroom about 8 to ten chairs high that no-one is allowed to sit on for safety reasons. Anyone found sitting on top has to put away all the chairs after class. Now the boys are fighting to sit on them so they can help put chairs away. We have to change that rule soon.

We were invited to a little girl’s birthday party last week; there must have been about fifty young guests and their parents, lots of candies as prizes for games, a very large pneumatic water slide had been rented and enough food for an army. So much for the quiet village life

Pat has been suffering from fungal rashes on his feet lately; it’s the high humidity, anyway we haven’t been able to do our early morning walking. That is our excuse anyway. We really miss the morning chorus though. It starts at about 5-30am with the crickets followed by The bells from each village rung by the Matai, the village head, awaking the villagers for morning prayer, then the birds start singing followed by the cockerels’ crowing and the dogs barking. At about this time the suns starting to come up over the nearby mountain all reds pinks and gold’s. Soon the children start coming up to school in their uniforms of yellow shirts and blue tunics or lava lavas and flip flops on their feet. Each school has their own color combinations of course and they look quite smart. Reminds us of England when we were young with all the kids in school uniforms.

We took the visiting Dentist, Dr Capener and his wife over to the part of the Island that was hit the worst by the tsunami last September. There is still a lot of debris around but the foliage has come back well, a lot of trees dead because of the salt water but a lot of new growth is evident and quite a lot of new buildings have been erected. Dr Capener has volunteered to come over for a three month period to tend to the missionaries dental needs and those of the local population who cannot afford the dental costs here in Samoa. His son Randy, also a dentist is looking after his practice in Utah while he is away. There is a lot of international assistance going on here in Samoa. As you drive along the road you see small notices advising of projects sponsored by one country or another, China, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Japan etc.etc. There is very little industry here most food goods are imported from New Zealand or Australia except what is grown in each families garden, known as a family plantation. So money can be very scarce but what is missing in the wallet is made up in love, humility, friendship and understanding.

We had a nice surprise on Sunday, Sister Bell from next door called over to say there was a program on BYU tv from Canada so we tuned in to find the Canadian Stake Conference broadcast from Vancouver way down here in Samoa It really gave us the feeling of being in touch with home, knowing that all our friends and family were watching the same as we were. It really was a treat and the timing was perfect as the conference closed we just had time to get to church to teach our Primary class, that was a surprise too. Two teachers didn’t show, so we had CTR 4 and 5 plus 6 and 7- 23 kids in all, from ages 4 to 8 in a room just big enough to hold them all and no room to spare. It was great fun and very noisy.

We also got our photo’s in the local newspaper. Dr Capener is a Rotarian (a service organisation) So his Branch donated a piece of equipment that measurers depth of root canals without having to keep taking X-rays, to the Dental Department at the General Hospital, which they really needed. The reason Barb and I were there was we helped set it all up in the background so had to be dragged into the picture too unfortunately.

Our biggest challenge at present is persuading missionaries to drink enough water to keep hydrated. Being so hot we all sweat constantly and should be drinking at least3-4 litres a day dependant on size, plus electrolyte replacement fluids but it just doesn’t happen, so they get sick and we get busy. We have had three missionaries hospitalized this month to be re-hydrated; one needed 7 bottles of IV fluids.

We would be a little remiss if we didn’t boast Samoa’s winning the World Rugby Football Cup during the last couple of days of May “WELL DONE SAMOA” A little Island with a big heart and a great rugby Team. So you Brits Welsh Scots & Irish better get you acts together for next year.

We are going to ask a special favour, we are facing a critical situation. We spoke before about a governmental committee that had been set up to study how the constitution can be changed to take away the people’s rights to freedom of religion. The committee submitted its report so that the rights of everyone to worship who they wish will be taken away. The head of each village, ’the Matai’ can dictate who can worship at which denominational church in their village. Even if there is already a chapel there, some people will not be allowed to worship at their own chapel in their own way. They can close down the chapel. It may even cause all missionaries to be to be withdrawn from Samoa too. All because the three largest churches are losing discontented members who are joining other churches and they are losing money because of it, a purely political move. We sincerely believe in the power of prayer and ask you to pray for a fair and equitable result that will allow the Samoan people to have freedom to choose who or what they wish to worship in whatever way they choose. Thank you, we wish you a peaceful and happy month. Take good care of each other, lots of love Pat and Barb Elder and Sister Kelly xxxx

Happy Samoan Mother’s Day to all you moms out there.

2010-05-30T05:52:00.000-07:00

Even those moms in England who celebrated it a month or so ago. I can remember Barb having to buy Mothers Day cards a year ahead because she couldn’t get them in March in Canada, for her Mom over in England. We figure we should have mother’s day every month rather than every year, we owe our Moms so much. Can we ever repay? Maybe, by being good moms ourselves.

Sorry it has been so long since the last letter. We have been rather busy this past month. We had to go and visit the island of Savaii to teach and attend to any Missionary ailments and prepare the way for the Area Medical Advisor and his Wife to visit on a tour of inspection. Dr Fuller normally resides in Auckland, New Zealand. But his practice covers the whole South Pacific islands area.

A few days after arriving back at the mission office from Savaii the missionaries rolled a 12 seater van back on Savaii, luckily there were only seven on board. So off we went again to sort out the Injured and maimed. The Lord surely must have had a hand in this one. The van rolled five times and came to a stop just at the edge of a cliff. The first hospital couldn’t handle most of the injured as they had no x-ray equipment it was just a small cottage hospital, so they were shipped off to the larger hospital after being bandaged up. By the time we arrived they were all at the second establishment and they were being x-rayed. Out of seven only three were serious with back injuries, suspected cracked ribs etc the others had cuts and bruises. Needless to say none had been wearing seatbelts so they were very sore from being thrown around in the van, one was thrown out on impact. The two worst, we escorted to the main Island next morning at 6 am as the last ferry had already left. These needed CT Scans, only to be found on Upolu. So arriving in Apia amid screaming ambulance sirens, flashing lights etc. we arrived at the main hospital “Motootua General“which had a cat-scan donated by the Chinese Government luckily. The scans were clear, nothing broken maybe stretched tendons so neck braces all round. As we were leaving we realised someone had picked up our camera, so no more photo’s for a while.

On arriving back at the Mission Office we were met by Dr and Mrs Fuller. Who had just arrived by Plane from New Zealand. So taking two breaths, off we went again to escort them on a series of teaching lectures and clinics. This carried on for the rest of the week. Between all this we were trying to prepare for next Sunday as we were both speaking during Sacrament Meeting. On the Friday we were off again to Savaii to escort the good Doctor and his wife to meet another three zones of missionaries, 28 in all. By Friday night we were sure ready for bed. On the Saturday we had a restful day, showing our visitors the sights including Blacksand Beach where we found a beach of totally black sand formed by ground volcanic rock Then further along the same coastline we came to the ‘Blowholes’ where, with caves worn under the cliff edge and vertical holes, formed the same way, great spouts of seawater came shooting up to a height of about 40 to 50 feet. Just before each wave was about to hit the guy who runs the place and collects the entrance fee, threw a coconut, which are very plentiful here, down the hole and as you can imagine they came back up at a great rate of knots like being fired from cannon. It was great fun for a while until we started to feel hungry. We drove almost back to the Ferry wharf and turned off down a one track lane where one of our number, Elder Krogh knew of a nice Cafe’ on the beach. Half way down this very narrow dirt road I looked in my rear view mirror to see the biggest bus on the Island about three feet behind me. Surely this wasn’t on the bus route? It seems it was carrying a party of tourists who had been held up in New Zealand by the Icelandic volcano activity and lack of airplanes to take them home. They had decided to visit Samoa and had picked the same quiet little cafe we had for lunch. It was cosy but we all enjoyed a quickly prepared BBQ lunch of sausages, chicken legs, pieces of pork and fish. Together with potato salad made with breadfruit and Tara & palisami, Tara leaves stuffed with coconut cream and cooked over very hot stones, Pasta salad, coleslaw made with Vi a local veg/fruit tastes a little like apples but without a core just a husky middle. It was all laid out on a buffet table adorned with tropical flowers and a variety of different tropical leaves some woven into baskets and serving plates. Sitting there, overlooking and overhanging the beach with the waves beating along the sandy shore, blue skies. The only thing missing were the seagulls. There are no seagulls down here. It sure felt like paradise.

After lunch we had to head straight back to the wharf to get in line for the ferry, back to Upolu. The Ferry has to be seen to be believed. To get a car or truck on the ferry, one has to back on, up a ramp that forms the front of the boat when hoisted up and a ridge at the top that scrapes the bottom of the car. Some cars have to have blocks of wood placed under the wheels to allow them over the ridge. This time we were placed along the side bulkhead with a flatbed truck with a dead cow covered with palm tree fronds except the head which with eyes still open stared at us all the way across the strait to Upolu. In front of us was an open truck with about ten young heifers standing in their own excrement and the usual accompanying flies. Not the best situation for such distinguished guests and we couldn’t get out of the vehicle because we were parked so close together the doors wouldn’t open, in fact we had to adjust our side mirrors in so they wouldn’t get knocked off by other vehicles coming alongside. An hour and a half later we disembarked after a fairly calm crossing and drove to The Aggie Gray Golf and Country Club Resort for Dinner with twelve Senior Missionaries who had driven from Apia, about an hours’ drive, to join us and a great time was had by all. Aggie Gray was a local character, a renowned hotelier and lady of the island maybe we can expand on this later.

When we got home that evening at about ten o’clock, we had to finish off our presentations for Sacrament meeting next morning where we were due to speak and prepare our lesson for our primary class of CTR 7 yr olds. We are in the throes of joining together with two classes of seven year olds in London Ontario to start a CTR Club where they can write to each other and compare life styles and cultural experience in Samoa compared to Canada. It should be fun, our kids are really looking forward to it and have lots of questions to ask.

On Sunday evening the Fullers flew over to Tutuila the third largest island also known as American Samoa for two days. This gave us a day’s break to catch up with writing up reports on treated missionaries over the past few days. Also to plan on the final series of lectures and clinics on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately we had to cancel our shift at the Temple to attend a farewell and wrap-up dinner with the Mission President his wife and the Fullers who were leaving that night for their home in New Zealand. We have to admit we did not work too hard on the Friday.

It was soon after that that we experienced our first shudders of an earthquake. Nothing earth shattering if you will forgive the pun, rather like a very large truck passing closely past the building. The crockery in the cupboard clattered but nothing more. We figure it is just another experience to file away. This week we have been trying to catch up with ourselves. Pat has had a mountain of charts all week, about three feet high on his desk entering reported data into the computer for Salt Lake. While Barbara is entering more information onto other charts to make Pat’s pile four feet high. It doesn’t help that a Mission Dentist has come on a three month working mission attending to missionaries’ teeth which also has to be entered into e-med a church data base which collects missionary health data for analysis from around the world. Elder and Sister Bell the couple who look after the Mission Office have had a friend from home visiting them this week and occasionally missionaries parents come to pick up their sons who have finished their two year term here in Samoa.

A little while ago we took the Dentist up to Suniatau a Church farm that was started off as a haven for church members who were being persecuted for being members of the church. The Farm was started to sustain the folks who had to move up to Suniartau in about 1904. The settlement lies in the crater of an extinct volcano with what looks like mountains all around but are in fact the walls of the volcano. There is also a church school run on the premises and today the farm is used to teach young people in farming techniques for local terrain so they can also improve their family’s plantations, which are small plots of land that families grow food for themselves and to sell at the roadside stalls, or in the market in Apia. A plantation may have a few coconut and banana trees and maybe breadfruit with tara a root vegetable, growing in between the trees. Papaya, mango and avocado pears and pineapple lychees, Mangosteins, Vi, are also scattered around. The climate is kind for growing but all families are only a cyclone or hurricane away from starvation. Meat comes from free-range mini-pigs and chickens, beef from heifers fenced in but with plenty of room to wander. Water is very suspect. It is caught in gutters around a fale and kept in a rubber or concrete tank behind the fale (house). Though locals have constitutions like elephants visiting Palogi, white people, are often stricken with the dreaded diarrhoea until the immune system and stomach flora, kick in and get working.

Life is simple in Samoa except where politics get in the way The government is presently trying to bring in an act that will change the constitution as it applies to religious freedom, They want to restrict the Islands to three religious groups, heavily backed up by the local ministers of these three religious parties, who have been using unrighteous dominion over the Villagers for years. They demand money for very large houses for themselves while the villagers live in very humble circumstances. The challenge they have now is that they are losing members and money too, as people are leaving those churches for others like Jehovah Witness, Seventh Day Adventists, Bahai and Latterday Saints who don’t treat them this way and the three churches are feeling the pinch. The Latterday Saints build the churches for members and Bishops are not paid a wage so have no need to extract money for those purposes. We pay a tenth of our increase and that is worldwide. This finances books, church buildings, schools, temples hospitals, welfare farms and food banks and general maintenance costs etc. Member contributions cover spiritual, social and educational needs for all, ministerial positions are all unpaid. Everyone gives of their time and talents and this makes for a great community spirit.

We had an interesting morning today escorting the visiting Mission Dentist and his wife to visit with the President of the Dental Association on the Island and the Head of the Dental Department at the local Government General Hospital. The Dentist having a piece of dental equipment to present to the Dental Department on behalf of the Rotary Club, to which he belongs. The Dentist Dr Capener is here from the U.S. for three months volunteering his services to provide free dental treatment to the Missionaries and local residents who cannot afford such treatment. We have met so many good people volunteering their time to help the Samoan Community.

Well we hope everyone has a good summer. We will miss seeing all our friends at the cottage this year but there will be other years. We hope all the nurses have a great time at the reunion in England. We will be thinking of you at the end of the month especially Maureen who seems to be avoiding us. How about coming home via Samoa. It’s only a short jump from Sydney.

Take care, everyone all our love xxxx

Pacific Adventures...... Happy Easter to everyone

2010-04-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

This week-end has been confusing. New Zealand has changed to, or from, daylight saving time. Not only being a day ahead because we are the other side of the Date line but they also, it seems, put their clocks back in April. So on Friday night we were advised on TV that we should put our clocks back at 2 a.m., or had we heard wrong. As we were going to have to get up at 3-45 in the morning to go to a Conference broadcast from Salt Lake, and Samoa being five hours earlier than Utah. Normally we put our clocks forward not back in April. ‘Fall back, spring forward right’. We were confused; we didn’t want to be late for conference next morning and there was no-one to ask as everyone was already in bed, to be up for conference. We didn’t want to be late or too early. What to do? After some thought we realised that down here summer is just ending, although at 95degrees F or 34C one wouldn’t guess it. Also the fact that it gets light at about 6.30am and dark at about 7pm and has done so since we got here, didn’t help. So on Friday night we were in a quandary what time to set the alarm? It wasn’t until next morning that we found out that Samoa like Arizona and Saskatchewan does not have daylight saving time. We are happy to say we were not late for conference which we thoroughly enjoyed.
It seems a tradition has been built up over the years that all or most of the senior missionaries go out for breakfast between sessions. So at just after 7 am we all collected at ‘Aggie Grays’ the best hotel on the Island for a communal breakfast at 25 talla a head (about $20 a couple) and got back just in time for the next session. We looked out for David and Adrienne, our son and daughter, who were at the Conference in Salt Lake but amongst 27,000 heads we didn’t stand a chance. The total Conference, all two days, was amazing, topics to suit everyone and a spiritual feast to boot, so uplifting.
We are off to Savaii, the next and largest Island of the group, on Tuesday for two days, to visit with the missionaries. To teach and attend to any medical situations that may be apparent. We carry this enormous bag of equipment and supplies with us, just in case. All Hospitals over here are Dickensonian and we are reluctant to use them unless it is an emergency we cannot handle. Unless we need to x-ray or ultrasound.
We are sorry to say that the garden we lovingly planted two months ago is in tatters between the chickens and the stray cats and the lack of rain over the last two weeks, but never mind when we get back from Savaii we will start again and replant and find some sort of fencing to keep the critters away. The trouble is it has to look decorative as well??
We have had comments on the lack of missionary contacting experiences in the letters so should explain that this is definitely a service mission. The only time we have for proselyting is when we go shopping. We are kept quite busy seeing patients and writing up reports for Salt Lake This is definitely a 24/7 mission. Last night it was about 10 p.m. when we were called out, prior to that it was 3 a.m. So we are sorry we can’t share any investigator stories with you. We do have the opportunity to talk with doctors and dentists and pharmacists when we call on them. We do enjoy hearing stories from our senior missionary friends from around the world in Europe, Peru, Cyprus, Greece, Brazil and Milano Italy. Who are on proselyting missions or family history missions. Digitally recording genealogical information or teaching in Schools of Nursing.
Basically we are here to keep the missionaries healthy and well, so they can do their work. We are also doing humanitarian work building houses etc for those who lost theirs in the earthquake and tsunami. We had a big Ward beach party last Friday put on by the local village that we were building the fales for, as a thank you. Someone killed three mini pigs that roam the countryside/forest and chickens and tara and breadfruit from their plantations and Cocoa Samoa of course, you can’t have a party without Cocoa Samoa, as we said previously an acquired taste. We should also state that Patrick is now wearing Lava lavas in spite of the comments about sexy knees. It is much cooler and he only wears it after work but it is a beginning. On Sundays all the brethren even the 5 year olds, wear tailored Lava lavas, they look very smart and trim. We will try to send some photo’s of the Ward party but this computer has a mind of its own.
Well we hope you all had a Happy Easter and remembered the reason for the celebration. The atonement is for everyone who wishes to change their lifestyle and do some serious thinking about what we are doing with our lives and what we hope for in the future. For those who believe in a life after this one, this is essential. For those without a belief we say, think on and seriously study the topic, you may be pleasantly surprised. Where do we come from? Why are we here and what next? Is it the end? Or do we carry on to bigger and better things. Yes it is the multi-dollar question. But don’t dismiss it without serious thought, think on. Study it out in your mind and experiment with a prayer, you never know.
Best wishes to you all
(Pat an Barb) Elder and Sister Kelly

Pacific Adventures continues.........

2010-03-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

March 24 2010
I am sitting on the beach , it is Saturday afternoon, we have just finished working on building the latest Fale’ (house) It is 34 degrees Centigrade and I am all hot and sweaty and very dirty from the cement dust and the mud, the mosquito bites and a sore back where I am sunburned. The water is all turquoise and clear out as far as the reef where the coral had built up and the waves are high and crashing into each other. Inside the reef is all quiet and placid. The sky is blue with just a few clouds in the distance, all white and billowing like great towers surging upwards on the horizon. Along the coast, I can see the white sand and coconut palms bending over towards the water. It is so peaceful and serene.
Who would have thought just a few months ago there had been an earthquake and a 20 foot tidal wave that had devastated the lives of all those that used to live along this same coast. Many had survived but many had died too, families torn apart. Homes pulled apart possessions pulled into the sea. Vehicles turned upside down slammed against trees. I saw a boat about 200 yards inland wedged among trees that would have to be cut down to get it out.
How frail we are when pitched against the power of nature unharnessed. How weak we seem when placed in the situation of facing such unequal forces, and when it is all over, we pick up the pieces and start over, putting our lives back together, burying our loved ones saying good bye to past friends and looking forward to a yet uncertain future. These folks, ‘The Happy People’ are rebuilding their lives with smiles on their faces working towards a new future re-sowing their plantations (Gardens), on higher ground, with tara and bread fruit and Banana and coconut trees and pineapple plants and flowering bushes, Lychees , papayas, mangos, so life goes on and they still smile and wave when we pass by.
These people are deeply religious, forty percent are Latter-day Saints They have a deep faith that gives them courage to overcome adversity. It really does open your eyes to what is important in life. How important is the ‘stuff’ that we collect around us and sometimes feel we can’t do without. The big houses, big televisions and all the other toys we cling to. What really is important other than our kids, our family and our beliefs?
Well I am about to empty my pockets and walk straight into the sweet silky waves in front of me fully clothed and clean off. Luckily my sweet wife packed a clean set of clothes for me to change into for the drive home. Take good care of yourselves and remember those that are worse off than ourselves and do something to lighten their load. That’s the Lord program I hope it is yours.
Love and Best wishes to all
(Pat & Barb) Elder & Sister Kelly xxx

Birthday on the island

2010-03-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Another exciting week with birthdays, being new grand parents, and building more Fales for the locals. Sister Eves and mom shared birthday celebrations. We, Elder Eves and I took them out to a fish and chip dinner down on the front, so we watched the boats bobbing up and down while we ate.
Mom says the best birthday present was her new grandson Liam being safely born, She wishes she could have been there to help.

We spent all day Monday in the hospital, minding an Elder with a suspected appendectomy Saturday we were up at 3 Am to drive accross the island to build another fale and outhouses The Relief Society came along this time to plant a garden using machetes to cut away all the weeds and grass then dug up the ground to get the stuff planted, Pineapples, Tara Cabbages Palm trees coconut trees Lichees trees, Flowers, bushes and ferns then fenced it around with the rubber that was left over from making flip flops soles it was quite a sight. They served us Pancakes for breakfast with fresh green lemons to squeeze on them and cocoa Samoa which is freshly roasted cocoa beans, ground floating in hot water and sugar. It really is an acquired taste. After we had finished building and digging we were so hot and dirty we went to the beach on the way home to clean up and relax a little. The water was like silk and so clear, it was beautiful and of course we are suffering from sunburn. We looked like boiled lobsters at church on Sunday morning.

The Pacific Adventure Continues....

2010-03-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

An intersting link about Samoa changing a 30 year tradition http://http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ap_samoa_driving_switch_090907_mn.jpg&imgrefurl=http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory%3Fid%3D8506860&usg=__WafTts91raO5PDfl5BpJqQHivgI=&h=240&w=320&sz=25&hl=en&start=58&sig2=LPcXDh6QR0DTxXqKqCtZjA&itbs=1&tbnid=n5Ceh2FnfHMdAM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSamoa%2Bcar%26start%3D54%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=QumXS7mLDdealAfs7N2UDQ

March 5th 2010
We had a new experience this week. Our vehicle had to go in to be serviced and our courtesy car had the steering wheel on the passenger side of the car. As I said previously, Samoa changed from driving on the righthand side to driving on the lefthand side of the road, to fall in line with Australia and New Zealand. Well there are still some cars that haven’t converted yet. So this week I have been driving along the kerb trying to judge how close I am from the middle line. The speed limit is 40 Km/hr or 25 mph all over the Island except in town and I am still trying to find what the limit is in town as there are no signs to let you know. In fact there are no signs, period. I turned left the other day down a street that had cars coming towards me on the other side of the road, which was fine. Well a car came out of a side street driving towards me on my side of the road, then, another van joined it. Guess what! It was ‘a one way street’ No sign to indicate it, you are just expected to know. When I asked a policeman he said “What do you need a sign for, just watch the other traffic “Anyway I had to back up about 50 yards into a busy street with horns blowing in every direction. When driving on the main roads around the Island not only are there white arrows indicating which side of the road you need to drive on but there are speed bumps strategically placed all around the Island about a foot high and that can be very uncomfortable at speed if you happen to be late to catch a plane or the Ferry boat. Another sight you will see are small mini pigs grazing on the side of the road or trying to cross to the other side, where the grazing is tastier.

Another animals you might expect to see are chickens roaming everywhere seemingly wild but not so, they all belong to someone and watch out if you run over someone’s pig . There could be a lynching party after you from the village that owned the pig. There are many dogs just laying around sometimes in the middle of the road too underfed and sick looking to move, you have to be careful they don’t try to nip at your heels . Fa’a Samoa, (the Samoan Way) like everything else one becomes accustomised to the local way.
On Saturday morning at about 3 a.m, we were awoken to a tsunami warning, sirens going horns blowing. We had till 6 am to get to higher ground Or risk getting very wet. As it happened the wave had diminished drastically by the time it reached us. We spent the morning sitting around at the Golf Course Parking lot, which is on higher ground. We had a nice devotional and spiritual discussion, studied a little with the younger Missionaries and went back to our homes at about 11-30am. So after putting away all our 72 hour pack things we napped for a couple of hours. The downside of all this is we didn’t get to go over and build the Fale we had planned to build which puts us a week behind schedule.

a picture of the devistation left behind in the last Tsunami

Pat had to escort a sick Elder home to Tonga this week and the only way he could get back to Samoa was to carry on to Auckland, New Zealand to catch a plane back to Samoa the following day. Not that it was all bad, it gave him time to look around and do, ‘the tourist bit’. He was also able to call in to see the Area Medical Adviser, who is our supervisor, Doctor Fuller, is serving in Auckland but his practice covers the whole of the South Pacific Area, Pat got home at about 3-30a.m. on Friday morning. It is very confusing living so close to the Date Line. He started out at 6am on Wednesday 3rd. got there on Thursday the 4th, went shopping and sightseeing all day Friday 5th till about 7p.m then went to the Airport, took off at about 10 p.m. and arrived back in Samoa at 2-30 am then by van, back to Pesega where we live, about an hour’s journey. Still Friday morning and by 8 am , was back at the Office to work all day Friday the 5th again. We suppose that you get used to it after a while.

We will try and take some photo’s of the Fale building project tomorrow and send them on to you.
Well take care of yourselves and be good. As you can see we are still having a great time and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. A lot of you should start saving for a mission. You will have a ball, as we are. The rest should investigate the Church, then start saving, we can thoroughly recommend it. It certainly gave us direction and purpose. Till next time, lots of love and best wishes.
Elder and Sister Kelly (Pat and Barb Kelly) xxxx

The view from here.....

2010-03-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hello,
We are sharing this letter to let everyone know how much we are enjoying ourselves serving our mission in the Samoa Apia Mission a small island down in the South Pacific, alongside the Date Line where day changes into Sunday at the blink of an eye
We are writing this email to all our friends in the church whose children have left home to start up their own lives. Those who have reached the stage we used to call the empty nest syndrome. Where life is easy, retirement has made us ready to be put out to pasture. After spending all that time working and bringing up families. Of all the frustrations and joys, the sad times and the happy times. Now is the time to relax and vegetate. Boy do we have news for you!
We reached that state a while ago, then the Lord through different people urged us to think about serving a mission. For different reasons

we felt we couldn’t do it. Sister Kelly’s father who is 96 years old and is still living in England, so of course we had to look after him. We couldn’t afford it because we had lost money when the financial market fell. We had to be around for our grandchildren’s baptism which was coming soon and a new baby is due in March. Who would look after our house while we were away. We had all the excuses you could think of. We have both had cancer recently, so what if we became sick again. Even who would look after our garden that we had worked on for so long to get into shape.

We now are on our mission in Samoa and feeling wonderful and guilty. We are enjoying ourselves so much we feel guilty. We thought of all the sacrifices we would have to make all the changes in life style, be out of our comfort zone. Brothers and Sisters, yes it is a sacrifice but a good one, but a beautiful one. We feel rejuvenated, we are doing something worthwhile, we are appreciated, and we are loved. The balance is tilted all one way in our favour . Yes we went to the Lord and He promised us everything and we have everything. As always The Lord came through with His promise. We are so grateful to be on a mission we enjoy every day that comes, in fact the time is going so fast we are trying to slow it down. We don’t want it to end too quickly. Yes we miss the hugs from our kids and grand kids but we can email them anytime we like and on Skype we can see them and talk with them at no cost. In fact they are so excited that we are serving a mission it makes it more worthwhile.
The Missionary Training Centre experience was awesome to use a popular word, it really was. We are still in touch with a lot of the people that we were training with, using email . They are serving in Italy, Peru, South Africa, Brazil, Greece and Cyprus, Arizona, Missouri, even in our home mission in The Toronto West Mission. The Teachers and Administrators at the MTC were wonderful, helping us every step of the way. It was a very uplifting experience Even the food was good and all you could eat.
In Samoa we are working with Senior Missionaries who are working in Church Education, Public Affairs, One couple is taking care of a local farm run by the Church, one couple takes care of all the Fales (Housing) and cars and bicycles. And one runs the Mission Office, There are Temple Missionaries, Member Support Missionaries who assist in the Wards and Branches. The Missionary who went to Cyprus was made Branch President of one of the branches in his area and is loving it. Some folks we met in the MTC are Area Medical Advisors and others are helping in Family History libraries. The Lord uses us in whatever area he feels we are best suited and every one that we are in touch with all say how much they are enjoying life and it was the best decision they could have made.
We do not live by the strict rules that the young missionaries live by. Being more mature we are expected to rule ourselves. We have a comfortable apartment, furnished, we even have a T.V. supplied. Barbara is busy sewing curtains and cushion covers to make our dwelling more homely. I have dug a little garden for herbs and flowers and salad type veggies. We also go out with the other seniors shopping and having meals at local restaurants in the evenings. Some of the seniors enjoy snorkelling over the beds of coral and we enjoy walking along the beautiful beaches collecting pieces of coral and seashells. Patrick with other priesthood holders in the Ward we belong to, have been building houses along the coast for the folks who lost their homes in the recent tsunami and have another four to build, it is hard work but really worthwhile The people are still living in tents until we can finish the houses. The Church has promised to build forty new houses for those who are now homeless because of the earthquake and tsunami. We feel we are really making a difference. Every Monday evening, we get together with all the other seniors and have Family Home Evening with refreshments, of course. Often it is a full pot luck meal and great fun as well as being very spiritual.
We have also been called as Temple workers as we are lucky to be living very close to the Samoa Apia Temple. Just one shift a week. Our Samoan isn’t good enough yet to do sessions in the local language, Thursday is for English sessions. Senior Missionaries do not proselyte unless we choose to, during our own time. We have been given three home teaching families to take care of and have a calling in Primary which we love, the kids are seven year olds and almost ready for baptism.
The Lord has blessed us with good health and more energy than we had before. Our minds seem to be sharper and we are experiencing spiritual blessing we would not have had if we had stayed home. We have enjoyed new cultural experiences and wonderful travel opportunities. We have met so many wonderful people and are truly uplifted in mind and body.
We would urge each of you to consider serving the Lord and enjoy the blessing we have to enrich your lives by putting your faith in Him. If you have the desire He will enable you to make it happen. You all have so much love, wisdom and life experiences to offer in His service.
We send you all our love and best wishes.
Sincerely

Elder and Sister Kelly

Pacific Adventure

2010-02-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends February 2010
Talofa lava, (how are you all?) You are all well, we hope and coping with all that winter weather. We on the other hand are still trying to adjust to the heat. At least if you are cold you can put on more clothes whereas here we can only go so far with discarding our clothing. Having said that a lot of the senior missionaries (men ), have adjusted by wearing ‘Lava lavas’, a traditional wrap around skirt worn by most of the local men and boys. Elder Kelly hasn’t got that far yet but is thinking about it??
It was quite busy at first with all the missionaries coming in with random ailments We figured it was just to give us the once over They hadn’t had any Medical staff for a month or two. For those of you with medical backgrounds, we have a correction to make. On reading the last missive, Polariases (Elephant’s) should have read ‘Filariasis (Elephantitis)’ caused be multiple mosquito bites. We must be more tired than we thought. It has slowed down a little now, so we are busy catching up, writing up medical reports
The Temple was closed for two weeks for restoration work after the earthquake and psunami in late September. Moroni (the golden Angel that tops the spire on most LDS Temples) lost his trumpet and the chandelier fell on the table below, in the Celestial Room, plus regular routine maintenance work that is done twice a year. We watched the new Moroni being put up from our office window today. It reminded Elder Kelly of when he used to watch the last stages of the CN Tower in Toronto being erected, from his office at the U. of T. With dozens of Navajo First Nations (Indians) running around, across the ‘I’ beam girders without safety harnesses on, manoeuvering the parts held by the Helicopters into place. That was back in 1974-5.
Just to put you in the picture. Samoa is broken down into two parts, Western Samoa or Independant Samoa composed of two Islands, Upolu and Savaii the latter being the largest and Upola the next largest which is the administrative/ governmental and commercial centre in Apia a small town with a harbour. The rest of the two Islands comprise of small villages, ruled over by a matai (mat-i-e) head man or chief of the village who makes the rules and polices the village, making sure everything is clean and tidy including the homes (fales) and gardens. Every morning & evening he will bang the gong and everything stops including visitors they use the time to pray, study or rest for about 20-30 minutes then the gong is sounded again and everything starts up again. Sometimes there are more than one matai per Village.
American Samoa or Tutuila the third and smallest of the major islands has been adopted by the U.S. It has a large inland harbour strategic for naval shipping etc. The U.S. dollar is the currency used and one can purchase a lot of goods here, not available on the other islands and at better prices. The Tala is the currency of Independent Samoa, worth about T2.41 per $1USD.

2
Goods are quite expensive, owing to the geographic location. Most things come from New Zealand or Australia with some from the U.S.
We are positioned in the Pacific Area , Presided over by President Callister, of the Seventy. The Pacific area comprises of seven time zones, thirteen languages, sixteen Church schools, ten Temples, fifteen missions and a population of 420,000. Of which Samoa, with a total Population of 245,000 ( West. Samoa 180.000 & A/Samoa 65,000) of which 70,000 in West Samoa & 15,000 in American Samoa are members of the Church (30%) in 20 Stakes, comprised of135 Wards & 22 Branches. Religion plays a large part in life here and there are many thriving churchs of different denominations.
We have had the opportunity of driving around the southeast corner of Upolu mainly where the tsunami did the most damage. The Church has committed to rebuild 40 new homes and the individual Wards are adding to that total as independent projects. We are trying to get a little competition going between Wards to increase that number. Life is slower here. We are trying to catch up in reverse by slowing down ourselves. We are very impressed by the Samoan people, always smiling and cheerful, they really are a happy people. They own very little and don’t seem to need lots of possessions around them, they don’t seem to hanker after wealth. They walk elegantly, in fact they seem to glide along, we figure it is because they all wear flip-flops. When we are out walking at 5am there are several people out and about, going to work or school. They do seem to be an industrious and entrepreneurial people.
We went out last night to a local restaurant to celebrate one of the senior missionaries birthday. It was nice sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean listening to the water and having a nice cool breeze keeping away the mosquitoes etc we had a wonderful time. To-day we taught our first primary class at church, 7 year olds. 12 very energetic and enthusiastic kids we were exhausted by the time we were finished it was nap time when we got home. Our home Teachers came this evening with a big bag of Avocados from the trees in his garden, people are so generous here at sharing their produce. We often come home to find a bag of fruit hanging from our door knob. Fa’a Samoa ( the Samoan way) We have been here in Samoa a whole month today time has gone very quickly but we have certainly packed a lot into it. We heard today that we have 4 more fale’s (houses) to build over the next three weeks. So at 4 a.m. on Saturday off we go to the other side of the Island where the tsunami and earthquake hit. A big job but well worth it.
Last September the powers that be decided to change the laws of the road Samoa now drives on the left hand side ( I know you guys that live in the UK say so what!) It was quite an event here . We now have arrows every so far showing us which side of the road we are supposed to be on. All the buses had to have doors cut in the other side to allow passengers to get off on the kerb side but more about that later. Time to close. We wish you all a successful life and hope you are all having as much fun as we are . Best wishes to all, we think of you often and love you lots Pat and Barb Kelly

2010-02-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

Another week gone by already How time flies when you are having fun! We had a good week We had eight new missionaries arrive from the MTC. Dad met them when we were there in priesthood one Sunday. They looked very happy when he walked in and said "Hi Elders welcome to paradise" it was a face they recognised among all the strange faces lots of hand shaking and slaps on backs etc. We are very impressed with the quality of these young men. So this week we started a garden, Flowers only to start. Herb garden next then, after that we'll have to see. We only have so much space. A sister at Church promised us some mint, basil and dill. We often come home and find a bag of bananas or advacados or whatever, hanging from our door knob, no note or anything?? We had time the rest of the week to catch up with office work , reports etc sorting out the drug cupboard, throwing out all sorts of outdated meds. So a routine has started to form.
We are still getting up at 5am and walking around the football field several times then showering and having breakfast Dad gets 1/2 hour of Samoan study in and some scripture study time. Starting work at eight with a devotional with the MP his wife the AP's the office couple, the elder couple in charge of vehicles and housing. Then back to the grindstone, seeing Elders and sisters as they come in with health problems. We have been able to rest up a little in the evenings this week which is nice. On Friday we went to a local Chinese resturant for a meal with three other couples. It has rained most days but it is soon over and the rain is warm, the locals don't worry about it ,they just carry on with what they are doing rain or shine. We have also discovered a family of geckos that we are sharing the house with, they just run around on the walls and mind their own business as tho' we weren't there. There are about 7 or 8 of them all different sizes from an inch long to about 5 inches. We think they live in the air conditioner as we don't use it, or can't afford to use it, Electricity is very expensive.
Saturday, P-Day, we cleaned up the house then Mom went shopping early for fabrics to make a table cloth and napkins while Dad started a compost heap, found and washed down two plastic white chairs to sit on our front step and ironed all his pants and shirts for next week. Later we went on a tour of the island or part of it with our neighbours the Bells, taking a picnic for lunch and meeting up with some other senior missionaries who were snorkeling. We who had no equipment or bathing suits so we walked along the beach collecting pieces of coral and seashells The coral had been washed up by the psunami. We saw lots of devastation along the coast line, Fales (houses) all broken up and cars and trucks destroyed and abandoned and families still living in tents and makeshift shacks. The people are moving up to higher ground and living on their small plantations, were they grow bananas, coconuts, Tara, breadfruit, etc. Most homes are just one room with several posts around the outside and a roof. Some have built a small closed in area out back. you will see some examples in the next lot of photo's we send. There are some that are living in block built houses with windows. These are called Palogi (whitemans) houses. mainly used by those who have lived in New Zealand and come back to the islands.
We are very impressed by the fact that even though they have lived through an earthquake and a psunami athe people are so concerned about those who are suffering in Haiti and starting fund raising sceams for them. The average Samoan has very little worldly goods except a TV here and there, yet they are a happy people, always smiling and singing. They grow their own food some keep cows or pigs and chickens you see, especially in the villages mini-pigs and chickens roaming around loose the cows are kept fenced in tho'. Samoa only has one town, 'Apia' the rest are villages scattered around the islands mainly along the coast. If you Google Samoa you will see very few roads inland except a couple of roads that cut across from north to south These are called cross island roads.
We were given our Home Teaching assignments today two active and one less active, for now. Then the Bishop called us in and extended a call to serve in primary, that will be a new experience for Dad we don't know who we will be teaching yet.

Isle of the Sea

2010-02-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

"2 Ne. 29: 7
7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men,
and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?"

Isle of the Sea:

The adventure continues...

2010-02-02T07:20:00.001-08:00

Well we survived another week. We went over to American Samoa in a Twin Otta plane, to give a presentation on Cyclones and guess what? On the second day up comes this cyclone. Lots of heavy, heavy, rain and winds of at least 90mph. We were driving up this hill with about four inches of water coming down the road it was like driving up a waterfall. We couldn't see the road ,just water rushing down at us and that was just the tail end of the storm. It seems the cyclone was coming strait for the island but veered off at the last minute and turned south. So we didn't get the full force of it. By the way a cyclone is a hurricane but in the southern hemisphere The Florida version ( northern hemisphere) turns one way and a cyclone turns the other. We are told the same thing happens to the water draining out of the bathtub.
While in A/Samoa we stayed with the Mission President and his wife at their permanent residence, a beautiful home, from their kitchen window you could see the ocean. A/Samoa or Tutuila is quite different from Independent Samoa the us dollar is used rather than the Talla and they have all the fast food restaurants etc. and foods in the grocery stores that we can't get over here so we brought back all sorts of meat and stuff to stock up our pantry. The missionaries are going great guns over there starting at 7am and teaching all day even on P-day they only have time to take 3 hours to get everything done then back to work. We have spent a great weekend a 'spiritual feast' with Elder Cook,of the quorum of the twelve and Bishop Burton the Presiding Bishop and Elder Callister of the Seventy and President of the South Pacific Area.and their wives. We started off with a Cultural Event by the Samoan Saints a lot of traditional dancing and singing. It was very entertaining. Because of all the missionaries being in town we were very busy in the office. all the ailments you could think of from diarrhea and vomiting, sprained ankles, and treatment for polarises ( elephant's) caused by mosquito's and de-woming. We saw about 50 patients over the weekend we finished up at 12-30 Saturday night and were woken up at 7am on Sunday morning by someone else with the runs ( Montezuma revenge) Memories of being up in Deer Lake. We also had our first dinner guests, a senior couple we were at the MTC with and two other couples from Savaii, the other island of the group all this between attending two firesides and a missionary meeting with Elder Cook and helping to serve the Missionary meals. Early Saturday morning we went down to the fish Market in Apia where we saw fish we had never seen before and the Vegetable Market so we are trying out a few local dishes.
It was our Stake Temple Day on Thursday so we were doing Sealings at 5-30 am for a couple of hours then back again for a session at 6-pm The Temple is very beautiful here with lots of tropical flowers and trees and water features in the grounds.

Mom loves it, she can pop outside and pick these magnificent blooms and arrange them on the dining table.

Adrienne would you take a photo of the 1st Ward Primary Children and email it to us so Mom can start a communication between the two ward primary groups.
We are loving it here, the local people are so happy, friendly and welcoming. Their slogan is " We are a happy people" and they live up to it. Even though we love and miss you all. We know this is were we are supposed to be right now. We know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one and that what we are doing is important. You are all in our prayers every day. Give all the Grand-kids a big hug for us and tell them we love and miss them.

First days in Samoa

2010-01-25T06:22:00.000-08:00

Pics from our experience at the M.T.C (missionary training centre)

how did that get in there?

From this......to this........ (life is good)

Hi Everyone,
Well we have finally come up for air, It has been a busy month. We entered the MTC on January 4th after a hold up with our Visa's. In two weeks we had a full training in Proselyting, Medical training, tropical medicine, and six lessons in speaking Samoan. 14 hours a day including 2 hours homework each evening when we got back to our room. We haven't done homework in a lot of years! We met a lot of wonderful people and gained weight from over eating. because they had run out of rooms at the M.T.C. we stayed at a local Super 8 motel and got our exercise in by walking the 20 minutes between the two each day The mountains in Provo were beautiful all covered in snow.
We finally left Provo January 19th driving to Salt Lake then flying to Samoa via Los Angeles arriving in Samoa at 5-00 am on the 20th some 18 hours later less the 5 time changes we passed through on the way We got off the plane and the heat hit us straight away, it was like walking into stream room The Samoan band was there to welcome us together with the mission President and his wife followed by two assistants (AP's) We arrived at our house (new home) in time for breakfast with our neighbors who were awaiting us, then a get acquainted session for an hour and then to the Med office to see a patient who required attention. Then a quick nap as catch-up During the afternoon we checked out the office to be oriented with what was where etc. That evening we had dinner with Mission President Haleck and his wife. Next morning we up and walking at 5-30 am before it became too hot and have kept that up all week. We are staying in Pesaga pronounced (Pesanga) just out side Apia the capital city, where we have the Temple, Family History Centre, Distribution Centre, Mission Office, a Church School with big playing fields and other admin buildings. The grounds are beautiful with lots of palm trees and tropical plants We have met a lot of very friendly people both senior Missionaries and locals.
We went to the Temple on Thursday evening and out to dinner on Friday evening On Saturday Pat went off with 50 other priesthood holders to build a house for someone who had lost theirs in the recent tsunami, started off at 4-00 in the morning and got back at 5 pm built all except the outside loo (washroom) because we ran out of sand for the mortar, a busy and very hot day but very satisfying. Can't wait for the next project. We have found an English speaking ward nearby to visit on Sundays We are still not fluent in Samoan yet so having someone speaking the same language helps. We are off to American Samoa on Tuesday for a couple of days, to visit with the Missionaries there to give a lesson on healthy living and how to treat a lot of the local maladies and emergency procedures in case of Cyclones, which we have just learned are Hurricanes down here in the southern hemisphere and they spin anti-clockwise opposite to the ones that tour up the American coastline in Hurricane season. Next weekend we have Elder Cook of the Quorum of the twelve and the Presiding Bishopric visiting us from Utah.
Well that's enough to start with, as you can see we are busy and enjoying ourselves immensely. We send our love to everyone. If you know of someone who in not on the list of recipients or the internet please send the info on maybe put it on Facebook if that is possible. Take good care of yourselves will write again when we have time.
Lots of love
Pat and Barb xxxxxxxxxx

The Call

2010-01-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

It all started with a dream.....
when we have retired we would love to serve a mission for our church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, So it began, the planning, the saving, the preparing and anticipating .....The Doctors and dentist appointments, the shots and checkups, the visa applications and finally preparing to say our farewells to family and friends.

We enjoyed a wonderful family reunion/farewell
with family and friends, a weekend of new beginnings for many....
laughter and singing were heard all day and late into the night.....

> It truly was a wonderful weekend,
there was time for fun.....and contemplation

The food was delicious.......

.....cooked lovingly over the fire

There were a large array of activities, games and even crafts

for kids of all ages ....

We are grateful for the memories of this wonderful weekend and have no doubt

there were many smiling down on us from above!

The letter arrived, we drove to Ian and Adrienne's home, contacted the other children and opened the ever anticipated words........where are we living for the next eighteen months?

"Elder and Sister Kelly you have been called to serve in the.....Apia Samoa mission!".....Where?

Shouts from Nova Scotia to Arizona and back to London could be heard throughout the home... What a wonderful adventure we were about to begin.

Apia, Samoa Temple

Well let the games begin...off to Arizona and the MTC (Missionary training centre)in Utah! we will keep you posted on our upcoming adventures