I think the first activity that occurred since I last posted would be the Eagle Court of Honor that we attended. We have a very small troop here so I was impressed when it was announced that there would be a Court of Honor.
Trevor Moore actually did his project in Italy. His Dad is an FBI agent and though Trevor started in Cub Scouts here in Guam, his family moved to Italy when his Dad was transferred. They moved back to Guam before his Eagle Award was finalized. The Court of Honor was really nice and I enjoyed the slide presentation his mother did showing all the activities Trevor has been involved in. He was on the wrestling team, very active in Scouts, a good student and was in the ROTC. He left this week to attend the Air Force Academy. He is a wonderful young man. Congratulations Trevor on all your accomplishment.Amidst all of the errands that we had to do, Wayne scheduled a day so that we could go to Lorwell's for lunch.
This is a bar-b-que shack that Wayne really likes to patronize. You get skewered chicken for $1.50.
I also like to get pancit which I have learned to enjoy. This is on our list to learn how to cook before we go home.
Another fun activity that I went to was a Relief Society Lei Making night. This was one of our better attended activities. We had a lot of the islanders there and it was really good to have them participating and showing the rest of us some of their skills.
I really tried to make one with a little more style but my plumerias kept ripping. I finally went with simple and just strung them together. They are quite delicate flowers and don't last more than a day but the smell goes on for days. I hung it in our apartment and just enjoyed the aroma.
Not only do they make leis but they do a lot of headbands called Mar Mar's. We have seen many versions of these using all different kinds of flowers, greenery, etc.
This is Merlin Alik. She was one of our Sister Missionaries. She was released in May. When she was called on her mission, her family was living in Pohnpei but they since have moved to Guam and so she is now in our Ward. She has three sisters who attend our Institute class. It is nice to also have her attending our class now.
Wayne loves to have Family Home Evening at the beach so that we can watch the sun set. It was our turn to host FHE last week so he told everyone to meet down in Tumon. We hit Dr. Kebab for take out and ate dinner down there.
It was a little cloudy but Wayne was able to take one really good picture before the sun went completely behind the clouds.
One of the things I will miss most when we leave is the beautiful skies. We just do not get that in smoggy ole Fresno.
I had gone prepared to play games! I covered the really dirty picnic table, set up our florescent lantern and brought out the dice.
It is great that the Anderson's love to play games too. Elder Clarke and Elder Hertzberg (neither like to play games) went for a walk along the beach while the rest of us played Zilch. We had a great time until the TERMITES started swarming. Way too buggy so we picked up and headed to Yogurtland. A perfect end to the evening.
The next Thursday was our second week of Summer Institute. We are doing Teachings of the Living Prophets and our first week was really good.
Class starts at 7:oopm. At about 7:05 I took a picture to show our wonderful attendance. Not one single person was on time! We debated as to whether we would have class but we knew that we would have at least one student. Andrew has a meeting each week, just before Institute, and is usually a little late. I had made homemade ice cream for treats and he had brought a peach blush pie that he made so we were going to at least wait for him and have pie and ice cream. Just after I took the picture, the students began to trickle in. We ended up with 10 students, had a good lesson on General Conference and then played gospel pictionary. Even with hard topics they did so good on the game and the girls won!Sunday was the first Stake Conference for the new Barrigada Guam Stake. The Saturday night meeting was not that well attended but the program was great. I really enjoyed everyone that spoke. On Sunday, the chapel was full, the cultural hall full and there were people sitting on the stage. It was so good to see so many people attending. We also have a Ward in Saipan and so they watched through teleconferencing. One of the speakers was actually speaking from Saipan. All of the messages were so good. The Dowdles both spoke and I loved the message Sister Dowdle gave about the changes in our lives. In the late afternoon we had a senior missionaries potluck to celebrate Father's Day. Good food, good company and a good game of Mexican Train afterwards. (Can you tell I really like to play games?)
In Palau, one of the local crafts is carving. They do story boards and we have a member there who has done the Tree of Life and The Waters of Mormon (ask us to show you our story board when we get home - it is beautiful). His carvings are wonderful and all the missionaries are familiar with these skills. Last week Elder Adams came across an investigator who carves and talked him into teaching the missionaries in the North District to carve. They met with him and had him help carve a board as a going away gift to the Dowdles. Each of the missionaries carved some part of the board.
They presented the board to President Dowdle yesterday. They did an amazing job. It turned out very nice. Elder Adams, the District Leader, and Elder Agalzoff were not there when it was presented but the rest of the North District is Elders Garcia and Fisher, Sisters To'a, Vano, Tuileto'a and Jungblut. Sister Jungblut is leaving us tomorrow. She will be missed.And that brings us to today. We attended our very last Zone Conference. This was also the Dowdles very last Zone Conference so it was a somewhat emotional day. They have done such a wonderful job of leading the Micronesia Guam Mission. The messages they gave today were so good for new missionaries, more seasoned missionaries and even for those of us ready to go home. Although they talked about the four kinds of missionaries (from disobedient to obedient and committed whole heartedly) the thoughts can apply throughout life.
This was the largest group we have had since we have been here. Saipan was invited to join us and so we had a total of 38 missionaries. 7 of those were Senior Missionaries!
I decided I did not want to be off in the kitchen getting ready for lunch and missing part of the conference so I asked the Relief Society if they could do lunch for us. Sister Knowles was given the assignment.
Marlene Alik (sister to our Sister Alik), Karen Knowles, Agnes Tosie, Lisa (I do not know her last name but she is getting baptized this Saturday) and Linda Henry. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Lunch was wonderful and it was so nice not to have to worry about it. I knew Karen would take care of everything.
We never have to worry about tables and chairs for eating. I have not quite picked up that habit. I am afraid I would not be able to get up again!
I did not get the memo but I did manage to wear the colors of the day. 99% of the sisters wore black and white. Here Sisters Tuileto'a, Jungblut and To'a model their look alike outfits.
And last but definitely not least, the wonderful Dowdles. We will miss them so much when they leave next week. I am so glad that we are leaving soon after. It will seem so strange to have another mission president.
