"I'm an alboan Samoan"

What an eventful week it was! Full of lots of service, the Spirit, and just overall a good time..

We started the week off with doing some gardening.. The stake here is huge on gardening because of the skills and attributes it develops.. They are qualities that many people here need- self reliance, faith, patience, diligence, and other great stuff.. There is so much that can be related to the gospel through gardens.. I'm definitely going to come back home with a desire to do more of it! Well, more suggests there is more to increase on, I am going to do gardening upon getting home.. The garden basically needed to be sized down due to various reasons.. It was a great team building experience.

Then we did service at the Hopi Senior Center.. What a blast that was! We did all kinds of stuff from washing dishes, cutting fabrics, to playing SIT DOWN VOLLEYBALL.. What a blast that was! Oh my goodness. I never thought that would be so fun, but with those classy older people, it was great.. They are actually pretty good.. We younger guys like to just smash things, which is not good for a super small court and light ball.. I have only one once against them... Yup......

On the way to the Senior Center, we found a lost dog of a member that had been missing for about two months.. THe poor thing had its leg broken, was super skinny, and overall filthy.. It was sad to see him, but cool to see Sister Brock and her son reunite with their dog..

The next act of service, which is what the pictures are all about, as well as the subject line, was Elder Ah Chee and I going to the boarding school to dance.. We have a Samoan we are working with here, which is HUGE for the rez, and he had his sister and her boyfriend come into town.. The son of the brother we are working with did a report on Samoa, and so it was perfect timing for those coming into town to show some traditional dances..

Since my comp is Samoan, they asked him to dance, and I had the privilege of joining them! It was an absolute honor.. Absolute blast.. Half the time I had no idea what I was doing, but it was great.. I scared some little kids doing the Samoan Haka which was beneficial... :D

We did the Haka, as well as some Samoan Slap Dancing.. Super interesting.. I might keep practicing just cause.. The "Alboan Samoan" subject line comes from a teacher asking if I was from Samoa too.. Of course, with my timing being impeccable as always, I responded I was an Alboan Samoan.. RIght as I say that an Albino Navajo walks by and the teacher just gets a shocked look on her face pointing at him! HA! :D


Like I said, there was tons of service rendered, as well as a ton of teaching opportunities.. There are quite a few miracles that occurring all the time.. It's great.. I love being here and I feel sad to know I will most likely be leaving..

The lesson to learn this week was that of idleness.. I think one of the biggest downfalls to individuals, and particularly RM's, is that of idleness.. So much of my life has been idled away and I've noticed in those idle moments, that some of the darkest experiences have come.. The best cure for being idle is work! Effective planning, and execution is vital to missionary work and life.. I feel it is a big thing I am to learn.. Too much of my life has been slept away, time to wake up even more, to be better, and reach new heights..

Love you all!!!

Elder Sandberg