VBS is coming soon

This coming week is VBS. So right now I am planning for it. I am also still reading Harry Potter. I am on the fifth book now. As VBS is drawing nearer I am getting a little more stressed. I pray it goes well. Pray for me as well. How is everyone doing? Comment me and let me know, please.

Harry Potter

To keep things updated, I have been reading the Harry potter books in the past three weeks. I am now on the forth. I love the movies and people told me if I liked them, I should read the books. So, I am. And I have to say, it definately clears up any questions I had after watching the movies. I, not particularly being the reader type, am enjoying it. All I do now is read. I have to though if I want to get through the six of them before I head home. I am borrowing them from one of the classrooms at Pacific Horizons School. And there you have it, until next time...

10k run...I mean 6k walk

There was a Sports Day on the island. Jaime and I dedided to join in on the fun of a 10k run. We started where Jaime's softball team had told her they were going to start. We found out when we finished that where we started was at about the 6k marker. Oh well, we still did it. Where we were walking was the sidewalk next to the road where the mountains met the ocean. So, I was wanting to take in the view while Jaime wanted to workout more. I understood. As she ran ahead I met some people and talked as I walked. It was a nice morning. I am very glad we went. And I got a t-shirt.

Up the mountain

The youth at our church live on a mountain. It is their backyard. So naturally I want to climb it. Their house is is high enough anyway that from Linda's house you can see the ocean very well. Her house is the highest in their village. Apparantly the kids had the whole day planned out for me. Which was so cool. I asked if I needed to bring sandwiches or lunch or anything and they gave me a look like I was crazy. They said, "That's not how we do it. We eat on the mountain. If we get hungry or thirsty we get coconuts." Of course, I thought. We start the climband it is so much fun. They say usually when they do it they run up the whole mountain, which I could have done. But I didn't. We get to this one spot where the trees all intertwined. It was amazing to look at. The branches went all the way up to about 50 ft in the air and they were playing tag on them! Just climbing from one branch to the next, amazingly not falling. So I went up also. I found this nice spot where there was a branch coming out of a big branch, which was the perect place to sit for me. So I sat and watched them. It was so cool! Then we all drank coconuts and ate them too! Oh! and another thing. The Machette here is a commonly used tool here. Kids use it all the time. Even to cut the grass. The nine year old was using it to cut a path in the trail for us to walk through. I told them in the states people would not allow that. That people would see it as being too dangerous for kids, and they gave me that look again. The look that says us americans are too crazy. My favorite look. We went further up the mountain and walked the ridgeline and it was so neat. I could see the Ocean on both sides. I loved it. So did they. They brought up some binoculars for all of us to look at the villages below. On the way down the boys were cutting down tall trees to use as posts for volleyball so me and Moga went ahead. It's easier for boys when they are lost because they can just climb a tree and figure out where they are, but I guess the grils don't do that. Playing tag is one thing, but they aren't even allowed to climb coconut trees because it is thought that if a girl climbs a coconut tree the coconut will not taste good. Stupid traditions. Anyway, so noone knows this because Moga doesn't want her Father to know, and I know whoever reads this will not go and tease her or tlak to her about it, but we apparantly went too far right and ended up in the crater near Ganko. Which I thought was funny. I just thought of it as an adventure but Moga was embarrassed and thought I wasn't having fun, since they put a lot into this day and we got lost. I told her it was ok. In all fairness, though, it was my fault, sort of, she wanted me to lead to see if I could find my way back. I thought I could but it's all overgrown and looks the same to me. Its ok though, neither of us expected that. I still had lots of fun. A lady gave us a ride back to their road and we walked home. The kids didn't come back from the mountain until about an hour later. Probably playing tag and swinging on vines while the others cut down the volleyball posts.
Great day I must say. And it was Shaun Snyder's Birthday that day as well.

Well, I'm not jsut going around frolicking. I had my first girl's bible study yesterday and it was such a great turn out. I was so pleased and they were giving me feed back and it gave me encouragement for next week. So please keep praying for me. I miss you all and love you tons,

Whit

Let's see...

What have I been doing?

Ok, Saturday we took some peopel to see the sunset in Poloa. It's on the west side of the island past Leone. It was a beautiful sunset. The first I've really seen here. Anywhere I go here I like it. I took some pictures. I'll try to add them. Tomorrow I go to climb a mountain at the Pa'vaiai village. I like the people there. The youth from our church who live there are taking me. You can already see the ocean from their house. I can't imagine being able to see the view from way up there. Man...I really don't know how God made such wonderful things. Not just here, everywhere. Only being here, do I realize how beautiful everything is. Even back home. It's great there! God is so good.

I don't know what time my camera is operating on.

Words from Ally: (trying to convince Jaime she should get something)

"But I never had this in a long time ago!!"

K, Love you all!

Whit

Sailele

We decided to go to the other sided of the island for a change of beaches. Jaime and Philip had not been there and of course neither had I. We invited other people and ended up having about 30 people on the beach of the villiage of Sailele. We usually ask for permission to swim in some places. This place was a great beach. Very beautiful. The villiagers were very nice and got us coconuts and shucked them and cut them open for us. It had good milk and good meat. The villiage chief said if he knew we were coming he would have made an umu for us. Which is a bed of hot rocks that you cook food on. Kind of cool. K see ya later.

This one is for Ben

Things that will make you proud and disappointed in me.
For all of you who don't know, growing up my brother taught me everything. (well him and his friends)
Ben wouldn't let me inside until I learned how to shoot the basketball off the back board.
I learned how to cook because when the two story tree fort was being made I was the only one around to make food for them.
I learned not to get near Ben when he has a bb bun in his possession.
When I started driving Ben sat me in the car and gave me a speech on if I get pulled over I am to start crying. He then made me cry to demonstrate my skills. It didn't work then but it did when I first got pulled over.
Ben loves fixing cars. Or at least he did before it became his profession. Now it's more of work then play. Well Ben would teach me some things about cars also. How to change the oil and put in anti-freeze and other stuff.
Here on the island roads are pretty rough. Cars get beat up pretty bad. The Nissan truck that Phillip and Jaime have has a problem with it's battery connection. It was that Jaime had to bang it with a hard plastic waterbottle or a good ahrd shoe of baby Julia.
Well, Paul and Philip would occasionally put aluminum foil on there. And then Paul poput a metal something on there but it still messed up. I tried to do something and tightened the bolt on connector thing. And what do you know, Ben, it worked. You would be proud.
However, I dropped the socket wrench and was a little scared to tell Philip until the next day. So with the roads as bad as they are here I didn't fix it for long. Philip found the tool and has fixed it also. So yay for us all. He did a good job.
Sorry Ben. I hope all is well with you and Jessica over there.
Thanks for everything you have done for me. I love you.