Temple Square

In Samoa, there are no street addresses. You'd have to live here to understand why.

So, when people ask me where I live, I tell them, "I live on Temple Square!"

Cinderella

Elder Merrell has described his role in the Mission Office as one similar to Radar on the sitcom, M*A*S*H*. I have thought long and hard, to come up with a character that describes my role and I keep coming back to the same one...CINDERELLA

...in Grand Central Station!

A typical day for me includes sitting at the computer, entering baptisms; sitting at the computer, creating a multitude of files for incoming missionaries; sitting at the computer, working on the weekly and monthly reports, the mission history and the newsletter; sitting at the computer entering more baptisms and writing and sending letters to missionaries, to parents, to bishops and to Stake Presidents.

Sometimes I get a break from the computer as I answer telephones; work on release books for outgoing missionaries; file paperwork, and direct traffic to President Haleck's office, which adjoins ours.

All of this is happening as elders and sisters and visitors pass through the office almost constantly, sometimes with emergencies that need to be taken care of immediately. I try to visit with everyone who comes in, without appearing too anxious to get back to my tasks, but sometimes, I just have to get back to work. All around me, people are coming and going, but I am pretty much confined to the Mission Office, unless I slip away to move a load of laundry along...seriously!

...Does that sound like Cinderella to you?

Sometimes I feel that way. (I confess that I have prayed to have the burden lightened, like the followers of Alma did in the Book of Mormon.)

On the other hand...Cinderella is a princess!

And sometimes I feel that way.

I am greeted with a warm welcome and handshake by every missionary who comes into the office. As I slowly learn the names and faces of each missionary serving in Samoa, I am amazed at how quickly I am growing to love them all.

The other senior couples that serve with us are also becoming dear, dear friends.

I am also thrilled to count as my friends an assortment of chickens, roosters, cats, geckos and pigs that are now a normal part of each day.
And, I do have my occasional "night at the ball..."

...One Saturday, the Eves took us to a fireside put on by the missionaries serving in Aleisa Zone. Four sisters and seven elders worked incredibly hard to put on a truly wonderful presentation about the Plan of Salvation. I returned home filled with joy and gratitude.

Cinderella really doesn't have it so bad at all...

AND...I can't leave out Prince Charming! (insert picture of Elder Merrell...someday when he lets me take his picture..)

One of the greatest blessings I have had while serving this mission is to work alongside my eternal companion and see him in a different setting than I am used to.

I always knew he was a hard worker. (Insert picture of the Energizer Bunny)

And I always knew that he was well-organized. (Insert picture of completed 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle)

But it never occured to me that I would come to admire those qualities so much... or that I would develop a desire to be more like him in some of the very characteristics that used to drive me crazy.

Cinderella it is, then!

Stake Relief Society Conference, Samoan style!

A couple of months ago, our Stake had a Relief Society Conference. It was so much fun! Each ward had a room or area to display talents from their sisters, and afterwards, we enjoyed a talent show, and a fashion show. I have never laughed so hard in my life! It was a great day! This is a Samoan Christmas tree, made from fresh palm tree leaves, woven onto a specially made Christmas Tree stand. The decorations are made from palm leaves, too.

This is in the room my ward decorated and this is our Bishop's wife, Sister Joseph and her mother. Sister Joseph "ran away" and joined the church against her parents' wishes and risked losing contact with them. But, as you can see, they are still very much a family. They live next door to one another. She supports the bishops's family in many of the ward activities. Most recently, she participated in the Christmas talent show. That story needs its own post...with video!

This is our good friend, Siva. She accompanies Elder Merrell and I on our visits to ward members and translates for us. She had just given me a flower for my hair and the two of us are trying carefully to keep it from falling out. I love the flowers that nearly every Samoan female wears in her hair. I have to figure out a way to start wearing one, myself.

This dear sister is also in my ward. Her name is Sister Ao (Pronouced like the beginning of the word ouch). She has a wonderful sense of humor. She keeps the sisters in stiches during her monthly Relief Society lessons and she always makes sure I get a copy of the Conference talk she uses...I wish I had a copy of the funny stuff as well!

These are sisters in my ward who sang during the talent part of the Conference. All four of these sisters are part of an extended family that I have grown to love with all my heart. The two older sisters are real-life sisters. The one sitting down (Sister Tuala) told me to button my blouse one Sunday in Relief Society. (I quickly complied and have not worn that cute outfit to church again) The one in purple is the daughter-in-law of Sister Tuala and she can hold her own. Her daugher leaves to go on a mission to Riverside, CA in early February. I'm not sure either one of us will be able to let her go.

Look at these beautiful displays!

This sister is in the same ward as Sister Kelly, our mision nurse. One day, she stopped by my house, thinking it was the Kelly's and she tried to explain to me that her heart was hurting. She laid down on the couch and clutched at her heart. I about had a hear attack, myself. Fortunately, we both recovered.

Aren't these beautiful! All hand-made, mostly from leaves and seeds...

...by these sisters!

This is Sister Kelly and the "heart-attack" sister performing a dance for the talent show.

Samoans LOVE to have their pictures taken. I stared to take a picture of the two in the middle and before I knew it, two more jumped in!

More displays. I want to have one of these Relief Society Conferences when I come home! (Please Connie, Please!)

"...making a tinkling with their feet."

These are my favorite pair of black heels. I was told to bring closed-toed sandals, and that no one wore nylons in Samoa. I was a stubborn hold-out for a long time. I simply could not feel properly dressed without my nylons and my high heels. Until one memorable morning for me...I was walking over to the Mission Office one sunny morning, in my favorite pair of black heels and a really smart looking red skirt, feeling pretty good about my appearance.

And then, a scripture popped into my head, totally un-invited!

"...because the daughters of Zion are haughty

...walking and mincing as they go,

and making a tinkling with their feet."

I had to get out my scriptures to make sure I was remembering it correctly. Then, I looked down at the footnotes and read what tinking meant...

"walking with short rapid steps in an affected manner"

If anyone was guilty of walking with short, rapid steps as I hurried past the slow-paced Samoans that morning, it was me!

It really cut me to the quick.

So, I have given up my nylons. (My children's mouths have just dropped open)

And I have been wearing this pair of sandals everyday. (until recently when my parents sent me another, even more comfortable pair)

On Sundays, it is okay to dress up a bit, so I sometimes wear the heels...without nylons, because it really is too hot. And because Sister Tolman told me I was the only person in Samoa wearing them, except for Sister Pemberton. (and Sister Pemberton is in her 80's!)

And I don't hurry so much when I walk to the Mission Office anymore.

Life is Good.

A scary story

Meet our friend, the centipede. I know he looks harmless...even a little cuddly, but that is not the case! A bite from a centipede has been described by one victim as "worse then childbirth!" Centipedes are pretty wicked roommates, and this one became ours. I couldn't sleep one night, so I got up and walked BAREFOOTED to the front room. I turned on a light that cast a dim beam in the room. From out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark, swishing shadow on the rug in the hallway where I had just been. Pretty soon the "shadow" moved! When each of those legs are in movement, that centipede is double in size and it can cover a lot of ground very quickly!

Now, I want to stop this story for a minute and bear you my testimony that Heavenly Father does, indeed watch over us. I want to put this story on rewind to share a couple of small miracles that took place before I noticed the centipede.

Miracle #1 We got sent to a mission where Elder Merrell, of necessity, has to do the grocery shopping. Yes, you read that correctly. The Grinch of Grocery shopping has become the Grocery shopper for the Merrells. I don't like it one bit and he's not too crazy about it, either. But he has never once complained about it. Like every other challenge he has faced in his life, he has jumped in with both feet and met it. Which was important to this story. Because we needed a mop. And that is...

Miracle #2: We needed a mop. The one we had was worn out. Many senior couples might have decided to make do for 18 months and save their money for more important purchases. (The senior missionary writing this story is just such a missionary) That is way miracle #1 needed to happen. Because Elder Merrell was doing the shopping, the mop was purchased.

Miracle #3: The mop was not put away! Knowing Elder Merrell, won't you all agree that this was perhaps the greatest miracle of the story? He- doesn't- leave- things- out. EVER! But he left the mop right next to the doorway leading into the hallway. For over a day. Unheard of. Truly a miracle.

Miracle #4: I did not step on the centipede when I passed through the hallway into the frontroom. It was a tiny hallway. It was a large centipede. It was dark.

That brings us back to the fast moving centipede on the hallway that is heading for our bedroom. And the mop. Which was right next to the hallway, in the perfect spot for me to grab and try to squash that centipede.

Only it didn't squash. We've since been told that they don't squash...not even by stepping hard on them...which I was certainly not going to do in my barefooted condition. Which brings me to...

Miracle #5: I was able to stop the centipede! He was still wriggling around and scaring the living daylights out of me, but he was stopped until Mike heard my sceams and came to the rescue. He didn't know whether to come out of the bedroom because I was yelling "You can't go in there". Once the mop handle changed hands, I thought we were safe, but Mike couldn't kill it either! I was looking all over for the poison they told us to kill stuff with, but none of it was made up. I finally got a can of roach spray and began spraying it...which caused it to wriggle all the harder...I thought I had given it some sort of super powers and that we were dead for sure.

But Mike kept a hold on the mop and eventually the centipede died.

We put it in a jar. I don't look too happy, do I?

You can't tell me miracles don't happen anymore. Elder Merrell and I lived through one.

One more funny P.S. to this story. When Elder Merrell sent this story out via e-mail, he could not get the pictures to load, so he sent it without the pictures. He sent the pictures in a later post, titled "Deceased roommate" When our friends, the Thamerts checked their e-mail a few days later, the second e-mail came up, first...and they were pretty worried about which one of us had passed away!

As promised, and two days early, Elder Gage!

2 Months

2 Birthdays

2 Goodbyes

Too, Too Hard!

This is Elder Gage, with President Halleck.

Elder Gage celebrated his birthday here in Samoa. It was the second time I have been present for a missionary's birthday celebration.

If you look close, there are 21 candles on the cake!

On November 8th Elder Gage was released and went home.

That was exactly 2 months to the day from the time Elder Merrell and I arrived in Samoa.

Two months to become totally attached to one of Heavenly Father's finest.

Elder Miller, Elder Gage and Elder Chappell

A day or two before he left, I eavesdropped on a phone conversation. (We shared the same office, so it was pretty much impossible not to overhear phone converstions) He was talking to one of his investigators. He did a lot of listening, too.

That is how Elder Gage is. Not pushy, just interested. His personality reminds me a lot of Bishop Tolman. Those of you who knew Bishop Tolman will know what a huge compliment I have just paid Elder Gage. (For the rest of you...trust me...it was huge)

Good-bye, Elder Gage. Ou a iloa e moni le Tusi a Mamona!

(I did that without peeking! Pretty good, right?!)

"Good bye, Elder Tipa...Fa'afetai"

This is Elder Tipa. We shared our office with him and Elder Gage, the other Assistant to the President...until today. Today, Elder Tipa finished his mission and flew home to American Samoa. (The Mission Office is located in "Western Samoa" in case you are confused.)

A couple of weeks ag0, we celebrated his birthday with him.

It is hard to believe that we could become so attached to someone in just a few short weeks. But Elder Merrell and I did just that. We quickly grew to love his smile, his teasing and his ability to connect with everyone he met.


For the past few weeks, Elder Tipa and Elder Gage have been teaching a Samoan class to the senior missionaries. I am sure they must have been amazed at how we struggled with simple words and phrases, but they were always patient with us.

One night, Elder Tipa told us a story about some turkeys who spent the day learning to fly and then walked home, afterwards. He did not have to call us turkeys to make his point!

For me, the word I struggled with the most was "fa'afetai" the Samoan word for "thank-you" I simply could not remember it. One day, as I was using my notes to converse with him, he said to me, "Now Sister Merrell, You Know This!

On his last night at Samoa class, Elder Tipa testified that the gift of tongues was real. It was then that I realized that one of his greatest spiritual gifts was Elder Tipa's ability to believe in everyone.

We will miss you, Tipa.....Fa'afetai!

I think it is fitting to close with this video of Elder Tipa singing a song that his grandfather wrote. It will melt your heart.

Some random pictures from Samoa

I am not sure why, but I cannot get any more pictures to upload, so this will be a short post. I will try to add another post soon. For no, though... This is the Kelleys. We are just about to start a hike to the Robert Louis Stevenson memorial. It was very steep in places, but not too sllippery, even though it poured rain for part of the way. We love them. (The Kelleys) They are in their 70's and have the most delightful English accents! She is the nurse and takes good care of us all. We share a vehicle with them during the week and they are in the office right next to ours.

The kitchen in our apartment. You can see our stove in the corner. Things heat up very quickly, here. Water comes to a boil in a minute or two and the oven gets hot very fast as well. I will be spoiled when we return to St. George. Now microwaves are another thing!

Us, with some of our newest and dearest friends. l to r: The Eves from Huricane, the Kelleys, from Canada via England, President and Sister Haleck, from American Samoa, the Bells,from Smithfield, Afolua and her husband, from here on the island, and us. Look at all the men in their short-sleeved shirts! Dad was walking to the temple last week and commented how wierd it felt to have a long-sleeved shirt on! It nearly killed him to start wearing a short-sleeved shirt when we first left.

This is our view as we walk to the mission home each morning. That's the Samoa Apia temple.

We've decided that we are as close to the Garden of Eden as we've ever been! It really does look like this!

Hello from Samoa!

We are in Samoa! After a whirlwind training session, I am taking a very quick break to post a couple of pictures. I am having a hard time finding the pictures I want to use...they are in the computer somewhere, I am just not sure where! These few will have to do for now.

This was taken right after we cleared customs and were greeted by the Mission President, his wife and the Bells. On the left is Sister Bell, who is training me to be her replacement. On the right is Sister Haleck, the mission president's wife. I have been told (since then) that she does not like having her picture taken. So much for making a good first impression!

Our first look at Samoa, through the window of the airplane. Pretty exciting for us!

This is the front room of the apartment we are living in until the Bells move out. Very nice...except...

...these are our room mates! Each morning when we get up and each evening when we return home there are several to greet us. Yes. I have nightmares...and say my prayers while kneeling on the bed...and take very short showers...and sometimes wonder if I will survive 18 months with them.

We are standing in front of the Apia Samoa temple, with President Haleck. The temple is in the same complex as our apartment. It takes about 30 seconds to walk to the grounds, 2 minutes to get to the front steps where this picture was taken. Paradise.

President Haleck with Elder Lokeni, the first missionary I officially welcomed to Samoa. He is from Utah...Salt Lake area I believe.

That's all for now. I know it is hard to believe, but it took me about an hour to get this much. Time to do get back to mission duties! Love you all! Sister Merrell

Baptism, Sealing, Water park fun, and more...better late than never!

Recently, Annie was working on her blog while visiting us in St. George. During that time, she commented that our computer did not let her cut and paste pictures on her blog like she was used to being able to do. YES! It is not just me! It really is hard to make posts on my blog! I have to load everything backwards and if I accidentally delete something, it is gone forever...also there is no moving pictures around or text. Where it starts is where it stays. And there is always large amounts of white space inbetween pictures to be deleted. So I sometimes procrastinate making posts. It is too complicated! I am glad that it is not just me. But I also need to do some catching up. Earlier, I started making posts for single events, but that is taking too long, so I am going to combine a few of the events that I really don't want to forget. Here goes...

Kylie's Baptism

Kylie was baptised on July 30th. She had grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins there, as well as both of her parents.
This was taken right after we arrived at the chapel.

Four beautiful ladies!

Kylie's Grandma South and Jennifer stayed at our house. Here is Joyce, trying out the slide!

With Sadie and Maddie...I love this picture!

Kylie's Uncle, Jacob baptized her

This was taken after the confirmation.

And, later on that night, at our house, Brynlie in one of her favorite dress-up outfits.

For her eighth birthday, Aspen let Kylie get some "purple" streaks in her hair. Sasha is working on her as quickly as she can because Kylie is not the best at sitting still for long periods of time.

Almost done!

Best Mother's Day, ever!

This was my Mother's DAy present from Annie and Russ...a baby announcement!

Spring and Summer Happenings

Will and Mickala moved in the end of April. They will be staying in our house while we are on our mission.

Some summer fun time at the city splash park

Sadie is determined to get Sasha wet!

Jason and Sasha's temple sealing!

A forever family! TJ got to go, too!

Carrs, Parks, Merrells, Merrells, and Squires. The picture with DAniel and Charbell got deleted, accidentally...I am so mad about this!

I am wearing Grandma Shurtliff's dress!

With Dale and Elaine

Love this one!

What a precious little one!

We stopped in Annabella on the way home, to put flowers on Kris's grave. The end of a wonderful trip.