Catching Up - Part 1

OK...It's been a while. So.....here's Catching Up Part 1. What a month. I finally had to start keeping notes so by the time I got around to blogging I wouldn't forget what had happened. And SOOOO much has happened.

Let's start with the Primary Children's Program.

Liahona 2nd ward primary - all dressed in white for the Primary Sacrament Program

Aren't they just adorable? I wish I could have recorded them singing. They knew all the songs, and sang so well. And their talks were amazing. Such testimonies those children have. I especially loved the song, “When I am Baptized.” The lyrics are:

I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain

And ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again.
I want my live to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away,

And I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.
I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

They sang the last line....”I want to be the BEST I can....” with LOTS of stress on Best. It made me think....I do want to be the best I can so I can live with Heavenly Father again. These little children with their beautiful singing brought the spirit to our sacrament meeting and reminded the adults, in simple language, of what is most important, reminded us of God's plan for us, that he loves us and wants us to return to live with Him again.

A picture of the parents taking pictures of their kids...And yes, that's Garth right in the middle :)

We had transfer day October 21-22. We had four missionaries leave, and 13 arrive (three of those are missionaries awaiting visas to Papua New Guinea and Australia).
 

We also had a couple arrive – the Alands. We've already put Sister Aland to work helping out with music for firesides, etc. Yea!!!!

Sister Meyers (L) and Sister Aland (R)

She and Sister Meyers are also teaching piano lessons (in all their spare time) to some of the children in the Ha'akame stake. The first week they had seven children, and in the few weeks since they started the numbers have grown to about 13 or 14...some of them are young children 7-10 years old, and some are teenagers and young adults. They now have enough students they're having to split the class!!! The goal is to give the students enough background that they can begin playing simple hymns and primary songs in church. And as motivation to keep them practicing, we've applied for the Harmon Grant which gives each student who has a music calling in their ward a keyboard of their

very own to keep in their home so they can practice and fulfill their calling. We have 8 pianos coming currently, and likely that many more in the next few months. We need more piano teachers!!!! to come help teach in other stakes. Any takers? :)

We had a WONDERFUL rain storm the end of October. You can always tell when it's going to rain because the air gets heavy. I mean HEAVY!! You feel like you're sucking in air through a straw it's so thick, and when you get out of the shower in the morning you immediately have to shower again. Your clothes stick to you, and it's SOOOO warm and  humid. You feel like you're in a sauna. Then the clouds begin to move in and the sky gets gray. The animals must go into hiding because there are no chickens clucking, no birds singing, and no dogs fighting. Then all of a sudden the skies let loose. One minute it's dry, and the next there are puddles inches deep. It's amazing. And the people all come outside. The kids play slip and slide in their yards, the older kids and some adults grab their soap and shampoo and get a warm shower....Seriously!!! Everyone's outside. It can rain for just a few minutes, or rain all day.  The storm the end of October was not only rain...it was windy, too. And noisy!!!! It was so loud you couldn't carry on a conversation. We, of course, had to run outside with our phones and film the storm. It blew so hard that we had to close the louvers on the windows because the wind was whipping through our hall way and knocking the pictures off the walls and slamming all the doors. We hunkered down and enjoyed being inside.

And, of course, we've entered cyclone season now. We may be due for a bad one this year. Apparently it's been several years since a really bad cyclone. Glad we're in the middle of the island. We've been talking about our emergency plan. The power company turns off all power several days before the cyclone's expected to hit so there are no live electrical wires dangling from power poles during the storm. They say during the last cyclone people didn't leave their homes for five days because the winds were so terrible. Do I want to say I've survived a cyclone or not? Hmmmm......