Treasured Islands

The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum

Recently we and the other senior missionaries were invited to attend the annual Robert Louis Stevenson Museum gala.

It was a grand affair, held at the beautifully restored estate of the author of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Stevenson spent the final four years of his life in Samoa.

Museum Foundation President Jim Winegar, a former LDS missionary in Samoa, was the master of ceremonies that evening.

He was accompanied by a missionary friend of Elder McBride’s from 50 years ago, Phil Goodrich.

Among the guests were Sister Afulua Tuivaiti of the mission office and one of our newest Samoa Apia Missionaries, Sister Darla (McBride) Anderson (my sister).

Also attending was the newest addition to the office staff, Sister Mariel Barnes, our new Mission Nurse, from Idaho. She is truly a welcome arrival. Sister McBride is happy to now retire from her ad hoc position of "nurse."

The  Stevenson home, built in the late 1800’s, was slowly decaying until a few decades ago when Rex Maughan (founder of Forever Living Products) and some colleagues – all of whom had served LDS missions in Samoa – paid to have the building completely restored.

The RLS home his now one of the "must see" sites for the passengers on the many cruise ships that come into Apia harbor each year.

Interesting, indeed, that it is a handful of returned Mormon missionaries that is keeping this island treasure in such good repair.

Another Trip to American Samoa

An hour or so after the dinner, Alicia and I boarded the MV Lady Naomi bound for the Island of Tutuila, in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa.  The mission needed to ship some of its bicycles over there. (Both American Samoa and the independent country of Samoa, which used to be called “Western Samoa,” are part of the Apia Samoa Mission.)  The Territory requires that someone accompany a shipment of that nature, or they won’t let it in. Sister McBride and I said we would be happy to make the trip. We had made the same trip in February, for the same purpose.

It is a 9-hour overnight voyage. Alicia did get sea sick that first time after 4 hours on the water, but she was able to take a meclizine pill for it and all went well for the rest of the trip.

So off we went. This time, however, Alicia got quite sick, and had a rough time of it. We think it may have had something to do with what she ate at the gala, as the meclazine seemed to have no effect on her. (Elder McBride slept through most of the trip.) But we did make it, and soon she was feeling better.

We were met at the Pago Pago wharf by Zone Leaders and two other missionaries. These brethren are among some of the finest young missionaries you will ever want to meet.

It seemed only right that we take them all to a Big Breakfast at the Pago Pago McD’s.

We were hosted that weekend by another senior missionary couple, Elder and Sister Jordan.

Wonderful people, the Jordans teach LDS Institute on Tutuila and help see to it that the missionaries keep their houses properly cared for, as we do on the Island of Upolu.

Special Experience on Aunu’u Island

Mission President Hannemann  had suggested that, while we were over in American Samoa, we might want to go visit the sister missionaries on the small Island of Aunu’u off the coast of Tutuila.

This is the first place the Church really got a footing in the islands in the early 1890’s.  The picture below depicts the first landing there by LDS missionary Joseph Dean.

These pictures give you an idea of rough the water was, but neither of us got sick at all on the ride.

We appreciated the opportunity to do some proselyting with Sisters Markowitz and Key, and helped teach a lesson to a family they were working with.

This was the highlight of our trip, to be sure.

The sisters  later related that the testimonies offered by Elder and Sister McBride – especially the one offered by Alicia – had turned the heart of the mother of that family to want baptism. Alicia had barely understood any of the lesson, but she managed to say just the right things to them about what a difference the gospel makes in the lives of people, especially in the lives of men who might need the strength and support of a good wife. That was tremendously important to the mother of this family. This family was baptized this past week.  What a blessing!

The trip back to the bigger Island of Tutuila went just fine. As we got off the boat, about 20 students who attend high school on Tutuila got on. We could see no life preservers.

The flight back to Upolu takes about 20 minutes, as compared to the 9-hour boat trip. But the boat is so much cheaper that President Hannemann is considering having all future missionary transfers to and from Tutuila be made by boat. We’ll make sure they all have enough Dramamine on hand.

Sister Sister Anderson Arrives, and Other Things

If, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, then this blog entry has just about 35,000 words, They will tell you a lot about what Elder and Sister McBride are up to. So we’ll not add more words than necessary to this one.

Samoa is beautiful! These few photographs try to capture that beauty, but none of them do so fully.

We see rainbows at least twice a week here.

We love our missionaries. We take pictures of them wherever we go – on the road, in the office, at meetings.  The images of those white shirts and ties and name tags carry with them a unique spirit that can’t quite be matched by anything else in the world.

To be sure, our elders and sisters do have their fair share of illnesses and diseases and dog bites, etc., to cope with in Samoa, such as:

We are looking forward to the arrival of a mission nurse later this month!

The English-speaking Pesega 5th Ward sang recently in stake conference. Sisters were to wear white skirts and pink and white blouses.  For the men, white shirts, pink ties, black lavalava.  So that day I wore a pink tie and a skirt to church. (!)  That is our ward bishop on the far right.

We did do a good job, and a few weeks later were asked to sing as part of a locally televised program seen throughout Samoa.

Speaking of special shirts, Alicia and I were simply thrilled on Father’s Day to “Facetime” with our son Scott and his wife Madisen who were married last August – with Scott wearing this T-shirt!  How special is that!

Samoa (the western islands of the chain) achieved independent status in 1962, and Samoan Independence Day is celebrated by parades and shows and all kinds of excitement. Under the leadership of President and Sister Hannemann, we joined in.

Sister Hannemann on left; President Hannemann on right

One of the missionaries to arrive recently in Samoa is my Sister Darla (McBride) Anderson, one of my four younger sisters. She served a temple mission here about seven years ago, and how exciting it is to have her here again!  She is an assistant in the office, along with Elder and Sister McBride.

Not long after she arrived, Sister Anderson was called upon to make a trip over to the large island if Savai’i. We were privileged to accompany her.

Recently the Relief Society of the Pesega 5th Ward held a sunrise service at the chapel across the street from the temple. With candles surrounding the group, Sister Anderson is giving the spiritual thought.

Speaking of traveling to other islands, recently some of the senior missionaries made an excursion over to the small islands of Apolima (population about 120) and Manono (population of about 800). We took two boats for the 16 of us. The owner took the time beforehand to decorate the boats with flowers and green leaves to make it nice for us.

Their boat:

Our boat (the waves make it look like we are getting swamped; we are not):

:

Wait! No life preservers anywhere?

Our boat captain

This is a picture of the one village on Apolima.  It was nice to be somewhere peaceful, without cars, dogs, or noise. It is probably one of the most remote spots in the world. Everyone who lives there is related to each other in some manner.

We also visited Manono Island, where I served 50 years ago and where our grandfather served 100 years ago. It is like Apolima, but with a larger population.

Manono is in the background as Alicia and I sat in a lovely beach restaurant a few days later.

In Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service, we find the Missionary Purpose:

"Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end."

The ultimate goal of this work, of course, is for every one of Our Heavenly Father’s children to receive all the blessings of the temple. We are grateful to have one of those temples visible from our front door.

The Samoa Temple at night (temple housing in foreground)

The Samoa Temple (just before sundown)

Inspired by the spire

The Samoa Temple faces East

But before one can receive those temple blessings, the person must accept the invitation to repent and be baptized and become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Recently we staged a “mock” baptism photo shoot for possible use in a future web site. This was held at the village of Sauniatu. high in the center of Upolu Island. Sauniatu 2nd Ward Bishop Tausiga brought members of his ward to the beautiful water falls there for the event. So this picture is not really a baptism, but just a representation of one.

At the Waters of Sauniatu

Sauniatu is a special place. It was here that the Church provided a safe place to which early members of the Church could resort when they were banished from their own homes and villages as a result of anti-Mormon sentiment. Today the Church is strong in Samoa – approximately 25% of the islands are LDS – but Sauniatu remains a sacred place in the hearts of the Samoan saints.

Adding to the wonderment of the day was the drone camera one of our senior missionaries, Elder Schaefermeyer, brought with him.

Elder Schaefermeyer working his magic

That white thing floating above another of our seniors, Elder Vellinga, is the drone. Amazing shots!

Spy in the sky

Drone shot from opposite angle

We again thank Our Heavenly Father for this opportunity to be of service in this beautiful land, among these beautiful people.