Another Boring Day at the Office !!

Above is the room we were in the 2nd, 4th and 5th night in the city of Apia, Samoa.

 We caught a rainbow as we were going downstairs to eat at this hotel.  It was only a little sprinkle, however, and not the rain the people really needed.  Bro and Sister Ah Hoy were saying the rain wouldn't come until the people in the area repented and turned to the Lord.  Maybe that's true !! The little huts were actually rooms or honeymoon Fale's that folks could stay in (for a little more Tala (their money)).

This is a shot out front of the hotel, opposite side of the shot with the rainbow.

 Here is President Higgins again with Sister Kite as we were taking the ferry to the bigger Island of Savaii, after leaving Upolu the second morning.

Again, a typical home (Fale')

This is out back of one of the Stake Centers.  The area between the ocean and basketball standard is a font (see next few shots).

 Here is Sister Kite, Pres Higgins and Brother Ah Hoy exploring the baptismal font.

 Here's what we found in the font.  How would you like to get baptized in this font, Braker?

Yes, this was an eel.  He keeps the font clean and we're told this type of eel is harmless and won't bother anyone. Just the same, I like our Stake fonts in Utah a bit better.

 We took this shot especially for Shanna (Adam's wife) as she loves pigs and wants one for a Pet.  These would be running all over the place by the Samoan's homes along with many dogs.

Finally an update from the Kite's !!

We are sorry that we haven't been good about posting on our blog, but we just today received our modem so we can have internet.  WE REPENT !!  Actually we just returned from visiting some 17 Family History Centers on the Islands of Samoa.  What a great experience. The people there are sooo wonderful and faithful under very dire circumstances.  We would meet with Stake Presidents, Counselors, High Counselors, and Family History Directors and Consultants (not each Stake had all of these in attendence but usually several from this group attended our training).  We would also inventory computers and see how they were using them and what we could try to do to improve the work there.  It is a beautiful place as you can see from the photos (We hope !!). 
All the Stakes we visited were very thankful for our visit and several served us a treat and even a few meals along the way.  What great people.  They have strong testimonies and it is interesting to see that the Church functions similar to our own Stake in many ways, despite how meager their livings are.
Hopefully, we can get the pictures we took to show up and we'll try to explain them on this blog by the photo. If not, we'll appreciate help from Haley, Adam or others to help us figure out how best the post photos with the words close by. So here goes:

Here is the 1st hotel room we stayed in.  It was very nice and even had a TUB !! So Sister Kite was happy.  It was right by the ocean so I went out early the next morning to take a few shots of the Sunrise and see if I could see some fish.  I wish Adam could have been there so he could tell me the names of the little colorful fish....

Sister Kite really liked this hotel with the Pool right by the Beach.  Wish we would have had time to enjoy it, but we only stayed overnight from the airport and were picked up by Brother and Sister Ah Hoy (pictures of them coming up) the next morning at 9:00.

Here is the main area of the hotel where we had breakfast before starting the day.

Here is Siste Kite getting ready for our breakfast buffet.

This is a little hard to see but is a typical view of the homes and most had a little bowery-type Fale' (home-shelter) where they would hold family/villiage counsels.

This is a typical store. They would be varied and all along the way as the main road goes around the perimeter of the Island.  This Island the first day was Upolu, where the capital (Apia) is.

Here is a shot of the Samoa Temple.  It was beautiful, though Samoa is really having a drought right now as it should be the rainy season but haven't had rain for a couple of months.

This is Brother Ah Hoy and President Michael Higgins shopping for a snack along our way on the first day.  President Higgins is the Pacific Area Family History Manager and just happens to be our Stake President in Auckland Harbour Stake.

This was a waterfall we stopped to photo along the way. And this ends Day 1 photos.

Visit to the Kauri Musem that is North of Auckland

We had an opportunity to visit the Kauri Museum as they were having a special "free" day.  So we were invited to travel with Elder and Sister Larsen and decided to go.  The drive of about an hour and a half north of Auckland was very beautiful with rolling hills or lush vegetation mixed with dairy farms. We knew there were a lot of sheep but I think we seen as many cows.  Anyway, here are the shots:

I had some other shots with the Museum trip so I've included them here also.  This one is of Sister Kite at the church near our flat.  Because of lack of parking at our downtown office, we meet at the church and carvan to work each day.

This is a shot of the "Oreo" cows that we spotted on the way to the Museum. I'm sure you can figure out why the name we have given them since that is not their real name of cow!

Here is one of the Kauri trees that was so useful to the New Zealand people for many years until they over-harvested them.  There aren't that many left but they are magnificent trees like the redwood or sequoias in the States.

This is some of the "gum" of the Kauri tree that was also harvested for their excellent properties for using in varnish and other uses. The people would climb the trees and cut into the trees to remove the gum, which lead to the eventual killing of the trees.  Eventually, the outlawed the practice but not until too much damage was done.  They also still harvest some of the trees because many had died and fell to the ground that later became swamp land. So the dig them out of the swamp and find they are preserved well and are still useful as wood since the haven't petrified.

Here, Siste Kite is spinning loose wool into thread on a spinning wheel. It was fascinating to see how a ball of wool would take shape so easily.

A Kauri tree hollowed out that made a great Kodak moment.

These are the Larsen's that we traveled to the Museum with.  They work in the office in the Public Affairs assignment for the Church in the Pacific.

Outside the museum this interesting tree seemed like a good place to practice tree-climbing.

Just a close-up of monkeys in the tree.  Yes, it is a "P-day" so we are in our grubbies.

We re-arranged our flat to try to maximize the space (since there is so little !). This is the living room with the new TV we purchased since the small one (now in the small bedroom) would only pickup 2-3 channels and they were snowy since they were analog.  The new TV picks up the digital signals giving us about 19 channels, though 5 are chinese, one Mouri and a couple other going back in forth between English and Mouri.

You can see our living room also doubles as the dining room.

Here is our kitchen where the fridge and microwave together is about as tall as Sister Kite.

Here you see our washer and dryer (that we affectionately call our "Barbie Dryer".

The small bedroom between the kitchen and living room. 

And finally, the bath room.  The mirror was on the wall opposit the sink so we had nothing to use when shaving. So there are a few things we still need to pickup to improve conditions.  But it is small but adequate.  We really are blessed in America !!

Here we go.....

At the MTC, pointing out Auckland on the big map.

Paula outside the main building at the MTC

The senior missionaries in our group in the MTC. We came to love each of their Spirits and had so much fun with our young MTC teachers that taught us how to feel the Spirit as we work with new investigators or less active members.

We visited with Haley and Matt's kids (Brayden, Madyson and Jordan - Makayla is missing) between the MTC and before leaving to Auckland. Oh, how difficult it was to say "goodbye" to each of our children and grand-children.

Tryin' on the compression socks! OW OW!!! The medical staff insists these things will reduce the chances of getting blood-clots on long airline flights. They are sooooo fashionable I may get used to 'em.

Saying Goodbye

A few pictures from the farewell party Haley and Matt hosted. Lots of friends and family came out to show their support and everyone had a great time.

Our son Adam and his wife Shanna                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                      

Our good friend Lindee Meuller

Ray and Gwen Fellows, who used to live in our ward in Syracuse.

Haley's daughter Madyson and Adam's daughter Aspenn.  They have so much fun together!

I'm always surprised at what comes out when Paula talks !!

Paula's brother Alan, our nephew Tyler and Alan's wife, Yvonne.

Everyone is diggin' in to some really good food.

My mother, Florence, and Step-father, Fred. We're so glad they were feeling good enough to make this fun time at Haley's.  And we thank Haley and Matt for hosting all these great people.  We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone. 

Our Flat

Here are a few pictures we got of where we will be living.