Eyes to see miracles.

On Saturday, the Vi'iga family of Saleapaga had some visitors. Van loads of men from their church branch in Apia came with hands willing to help. They left town at 4am and by sunrise they were mixng the first load of cement for the foundation of the Vi'igas new home. By the time the last van left after sunset, the roof was up, the floor was hardening and the Vi'iga family was preparing to move their belongings into their new home.

Among these belongings are a chipped wooden cabinet with glass panelled doors. One of the panels has a crack in it. Leua Viiga uses the cabinet to store her glass dishes.They also own a deep chest freezer. Slightly rusting at the edges.It hums quietly in the background of every conversation.

When I visited the Viiga family two months ago, they told me their tsunami story. Leua was at home with her two grandchildren. A seven year old and a three year old. When the wave came, Leua picked up her youngest and ran. But the water was too swift and too strong. Her child was taken from her arms. Their house was swept into a careless pile, burying her underneath it.Her 7 yr old caught hold of the wooden cabinet that was floating by and clung to it. They would find their freezer upside down in a pool of mud- several neighbors down the road.

Leua was badly injured and hospitalized for a month. The little one was found face down in mud. They have a photo of him in their makeshift shelter, draped with shell necklaces. It was a photo taken in the morgue because they have no other pictures of him when he once smiled and laughed. His little grave is out in the yard decorated with colorful streamers and a teddy bear keeps him company.

All these things, the Viiga family told me. But they also told me about their wooden cabinet - "see, this cabinet saved our grandson's life...and none of the dishes in it were broken! you should take a photo of it...it was a miracle"
They told me about their freezer - "see we plugged it in after the tsunami and it still works! Look at it there, theres nothing wrong with it...its a miracle."

In spite of all they have lost. And all they still have yet to endure. The Viiga's have eyes to see "the Lord's hand at work." They can still see miracles. In a chipped wooden cabinet and a rusty freezer.

And now as the wet season rains pour. And gale force winds blow through the mountain hills of the new Saleapaga village, the Viiga family are in their new home. Another miracle?

Sade's Words of Wisdom

Sade dressed as Cruella deVille for Book Parade. She actually fit my knee high black boots and that made me a little sad to see how grown up she really is. When she was little, she used to crack me up with her snippets of deep thought, uttered at the strangest moments.

Did you know that…
*Babies sleep a lot because they’re thinking about heaven…
*When you get old – you die.
* When you die, they put your body in the ground and the worms and the bugs come and eat it.
*Babies can see spirits AND talk to Jesus all the time because they just came from heaven…
*The tooth fairy isn’t real – its just your mum and dad giving you money…
*Girls can’t be prophets – because they don’t have the Priesthood ( announced loudly during the movie Whale Rider.)
*You shouldn’t pick your goobies out of your nose because they stop the blood from coming out of your brain…
*You should only kiss the person you’re married to because if you do that’s called adultery. So if you go somewhere and you feel like kissing someone – then you should run home really fast and kiss your husband quick.
*When I grow up I’m going to look just like my mum and we will be twins.
* When I grow up I’m going to be a artist, and a cooker, and a mum because girls can be lots of things – like my mum – she’s a teacher and a good cooker, and a office boss and a writer and she’s a mum.
* Hmmm…mum I don’t think cooking is one of your talents…(after sampling one of my new dishes)
*When Jesus told the Nephites he had to go and visit his other sheeps – he said that because the Nephites didn’t know that sheep lived in other countries as well, they thought there were only sheep in America and so they were surprised. That shows us that Jesus loves ALL the animals in the world – not just the ones in America…

Samoa Perimeter Relay - Final Report

We ran thru beautiful scenery. Heres Pualele running thru Lalomanu beach, the flattest section of the route.

One die hard individual - Dave Edgar the Ironman, ran the whole thing by himself. Heres Kristen, getting some tips.

At 3am Sinalei Resort, before we start.

Lama runs beside us in the dark - scaring away dogs!

We get warmed up. (and think about ways we can turn back while we still can...) Our rental booking fell thru at the last minute so we had to use a long suffering taxi van. The driver was supremely patient and helpful.
The Morning After.

Its 3am Sunday morning. Im stiff, sore and wishing my fairy godmother would appear with a pizza. Or a huge steak and lobster. Instead Im munching on Bella's gluten free cereal. ( what a letdown) Well, its over. At 3am Saturday morning, our team of six women took off from Sinalei Resort. At 4:24pm in the afternoon - 13 hrs and 24min later - we crossed the finish line beside the Govt Building in town. While Im in no shape to write an official impressive blog, I can say this:

1. The Lord hears and answers prayers. And Hes not too busy to care about six (vaguely crazy) women while they attempt something as mundane as try to run around the island. . Great friends put our names down on the temple roll. We asked the Relief Society to pray for us. And you just know at least 25 diff children with mothers out there, were praying ...please dont let our mum die on the road/fall down in a ditch/get bit by a dog/embarass us by collapsing right in front of the TV3 cameraman. Not to mention there were probably several husbands praying their wives wouldnt get killed and abandon them with some of the aforementioned 25 children.

*We had prayed for good running weather. By good I mean - NOT sweltering sauna sun and heat. And NOT tropical storm and wind either. And the conditions we were blessed with could have been sent straight from a runners textbook on 'perfect weather to run in.' The day was overcast and cool. Breezy to the point of almost being cold. Time and again as I stumbled along trying not to cry cos it was 'just too hard and i was just too tired to go any further' - the wind would blow, giving me the extra lift i needed and a reminder about how Heavenly Father had blessed us all with wonderful running weather and so of course you can keep going because Hes watching out for you. Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather.

*Several of our team were terrified of being attacked by dogs. Especially as we ran in pitch darkness through a coastal village. There had been a lot of angst and soulsearching about what each of us would do if we got attacked. WE took a golf stick to run with. And stayed close to the support car. And we prayed. Fervently. Especially fervently when the dogs started barking all along the road at 4am, sending messages to each other up and down the coast...alert alert, silly women attempting to run through our territory...get ready here comes breakfast...and probably lunch and dinner too. But prayers were answered again. Dogs barked. Dogs ran at us. Dogs thought about us. But not a single dog went into a mad frenzy and attacked us. It helped we had an amazing support team ready and able to jump out of the car and do a mafia faceoff with roving canines. Thank you Lord for protecting us from dogs.

*Probably the best way I can express how wonderfully Heavenly Father took care of us yesterday, is to list all the things that could have gone wrong - but didnt. Nobody got injured. Not even when it was dark and the road was a moving mass of loose gravel and potholes. Not even on the coastal road when traffic was screaming past ( hasnt anybody told these bus drivers that a narrow rural road at Fagaloa? is NOT a super highway?) Nobody collapsed or had to quit. Kristen had pneumonia and we thought we would have to airlift her out. But she powered on and even mustered enough energy to show us some cheerleading moves from her high school days. Pualele didnt sleep the night before. At all. She had two papers due at varsity. And shes giving a talk today in Sacrament. She was decidedly dismal when we picked her up in the van at 1am to drive out to the starting line. But she powered on. Manu had to breastfeed her baby several times during the relay - taking away some valuable energy there. But she powered on. EVerybody finished the relay safe and well. All the support crew finished the relay safe and well. Thank you Lord for keeing us safe.

2. No athlete can compete without a support crew. Not even 'fake' athletes like the Dream Team. As i type this I want to cry ( again) as i think about all the people who helped us to make it to the end. Thank you Darren for sponsoring our team and planting the seed of the idea that a group of ''ordinary' women could even attempt something so extraordinary. Thank you to all the spouses and children who encouraged us to train. And to eat healthy. And took on extra responsibility at home so we could each prepare for this race. Thank you to Johnny for driving a hungry baby all the way so she could be fed - and her mother could still run. Thank you to Tai for finding us a van at the last minute when our rental booking fell through. Thank you-*Samantha and her husband Lama who drove behind our runners from 3am till midmorning. The road was somewhat spooky that early in the morning. We ran through forests that echoed with the sounds of night. But always, their car stayed behind us, highbeaming the way. when dogs barked Lama jumped out to run beside us. When we tired and stopped to walk, Lama jumped out to run beside us. When we got lost and almost lost hope - Lama jumped out to run beside us. When we wanted to quit on a steep hill, Lama ran beside us and encouraged us...just 200 more meters, you can make it, just one foot in front of the other... Basically I think Lama ran at least half the perimeter relay just to keep us motivated! We couldnt have made it without you guys. And Samantha is a superwoman - after being up half the night with us, she then drove back to town in time to play in a netball game. *The Arp family replaced Samantha as the support car. And what overwhelming supporters they were. Each of the Arp children took turns to run beside us - up Le Mafa Pass...and down again. All the way from Piula to town. EVen Sig took a turn to keep us company on the tarseal. They gave us water. And ice sponges. And didnt get offended when we maniacally kept bugging them..."how much further to the changeover? What do you mean u dont know?! Go run ahead and tell me if u see the car u hear me!" Its not easy to drive at super slow speed without going insane. Or 'accidentally' running over the woman staggering in front of you. Thank you Kathy and Co.*Our taxi van driver who transported us the whole 102km. He was patient. And enduring. He drove fast when we needed to get to bathrooms. He drove slow when we followed a shuffling runner. He politely ignored us when we had to use the 'forest au natural' restrooms. He turned a blind eye when we changed sweaty wet clothes. He didnt turn up his nose at a van of perspiring athletes. He was a dream driver.The 2009 Perimeter Relay is over for the Dream Team. We didnt cheat ( like some OTHER teams) We didnt quit. We made it. We 'realized' our dream. And maybe, just maybe we'll do it again next year?