Pesenga 2nd Ward Choir

The first Sunday we attended church in Samoa the ward choir sang. We didn't realize that it was the ward choir because they didn't have a conductor and they were in the first 6 rows of the chapel. (Not facing the audience) They sang so clear and loud we instantly fell in love with their singing. We knew that it would probably take months before we could sing like those ward members because we didn't know more than two words in their language. The next week Bishop Joseph asked us to participate in the choir. We agreed reluctantly because of the language barrier. The first practice they sang the Halleluia choris. They were SO VERY GOOD. Then we found out that the songs they were learning were in english. We thought we could do it. Then as the conductor lead all of us his instructions were in Samoan. Again we followed along and had a few helpers point to where we were in the music and we hung on for the ride.

We thought that we would sing once or twice for the ward at Chrismas time. We knew that this would give us an opportunity to get to know these wonderful people. Then all of a sudden we heard about more and more practices. They got longer and longer and more and more frequent. We were having a hard time keeping up with choir practice, visiting families, mission office and home upkeep. Let alone preparing for Christmas. Then we found out they were practicing for a program to be taped and shown on Samoan TV. These people love to perform. Since they were preparing for the TV progam they either voluntered or were asked to preform at more places. Some were on the other end of the island. Getting to these other places is a whole different story. A couple of the pictures give you a hint how we traveled.

When all the performances were over we realized what a wonderful, exilerating and spiritual trip we had been on. Because of our willingness to participate, we gained some very choice friends. We had been so busy we had not become homesick. We were with our Samonan family. They filled in the void of our family back at home. We really enjoyed Christmas. I have videos of one of the performances. I can't get it to upload. I'll keep trying.