MARCH 12-15 - GUAM CONVENTION

Thursday was a workday, well, work half day. About 20 of us gathered to do clean-up at the Macheche Community Center where the convention would be held. Not a spider or cobweb was safe!

Macheche Community Center

Dean S. and Ron R. fix a "dead" fan

Spit spot

Rub-a-dub-dub

Soak me!!

Little helpers

Peter B. and Larry T.

Michael H. and Dale W.

Ready for convention!

Chow time

Pizza Hut to the rescue

Ahhhhhhh

Work and lunch were finished by 1 pm, so everyone was free for the afternoon. Some went snorkeling at Ypao Beach.

Ron and Pat Rudolph

Ypao beach coral

Larry T., Kent W., Jim H.

Convention notes
Not many notes as we had to leave Friday night due to tropical storm BAVI.

Weird sea worm with strings emitting from mouth opening

• Think of the most impossible thing to accomplish in your spiritual life - don't filter it by whether you think you can accomplish it. Then read Eph 3:20
• Noah was not disappointed that he followed the instructions for building the ark. Neither was Elijah disappointed that he believed that a raven could provide sustenance. Peter was not disappointed that he let down the net on the other side of the boat. No one who has believed has been disappointed.
• We are a royal family bearing the Lord's name - our Father, the King
• The spirit of God is as uncomfortable being exalted as the flesh is uncomfortable when it's not.

As we watched tropical storm Bavi develop and watched its course and timing, we became increasingly convinced that the center would be right over Guam at about the time our flight was to take off. Maybe there was a flight out on Monday. Nope. Tuesday? Nope. The nearest flight that was not sold out was Friday, March 20! Five more nights of hotel rental; five more days of car rental; five more days of meals out. Yikes! There was one option available - 2:45 am Saturday morning. Since it was a full two days before convention was over and we were to leave the island, we didn't want to make a mistake by flying home early, missing convention and then have the flight take off as scheduled. Debbie and I discussed it and decided to ask Marilyn. She thought it a good idea to leave if possible if that was the only option until the following Friday. Another thing pushing us for early was the fact that Jodi and Justin are arriving on the 21st. If anything went wrong with the March 20 flight, we'd be in real trouble! The United agent on the phone wanted to charge us a $300 change fee because the Sunday flight had not actually been cancelled, but we figured that was small change compared to staying in a hotel for another week! Marilyn suggested going directly to the airport counter. So, we saddled up with our belongings and headed to the airport. Magic. No fee. It was a 5 hour wait for our flight, but we were back on Saipan safe and sound and in bed by 4:30 am. Oh, did I mention that all Saturday AND Sunday flights were cancelled? :-)

SEE NEXT POST FOR TROPICAL STORM BAVI PICTURES

(NOTE: THIS ONE IS ALSO OUT OF SEQUENCE - SAME EXCUSE - FOUND IT AS A DRAFT!)

WING BEACH

Scorecard (10 possible)

Access road - 5

Beach access - 8

Ambiance :-) - 8

Snorkeling - 8

Shells -4 - lots of broken coral, but shells are not many. The hermit crabs have all the best ones!

Wing beach is one of the best snorkeling beaches we've found so far. The water is very clear and there's lots of coral that the fish like to hang around in. The edge of the reef is far enough away that it's not a significant danger. There's even an old submerged cannon barrel from the war. The ocean has different moods which change the color from gray to dark blue to jade green to turquoise blue.

Nondescript entry road to Wing beach

Inviting us into the bush

Rough road ahead. It's more dramatic looking when all the man-eating potholes are filled with rain water a foot deep!

Narrow road ahead

Papaya tree - fruit is green along the trunk just below the leaves - not yet ripe

Sea turtle nesting area! We have not seen any adults, juveniles or eggs

View to the north - the waves break at the edge of the reef - deeper, darker waters beyond. The "rocks" are parts of a Japanese battlement, now dismantled and pieces placed at the sea's edge.

View looking south

Waves are 4-5 feet

A submerged Japanese cannon barrel from WWII

Three little yellow tropicals and a black and white striped fish

In search of the elusive perfect shell

Boonie peppers - edible and VERY hot!

Plumeria - one of the best fragrances ever!

(NOTE: THIS ONE IS WAY OUT OF SEQUENCE. I JUST DISCOVERED THEM AS DRAFTS!)

VALENTINES DAY 2015 - HEART-SHAPED SUGAR COOKIES, A BRUSH FIRE AND A SEA SNAKE

Brush fire on north island

Brush fires have become more common lately. February 2015 was the driest on record since records were kept (1950). No one gets too excited as the greenery slows it down and eventually stops it. Fire trucks showed up, but the firemen just watched!

1 John 4:10 "Herein is LOVE - not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins."

Deb started out the day by hand-carving sugar cookie hearts and baking them. Yum!

Later we went snorkeling and I happened on a little sea snake that was content to just lie on the bottom and wriggle. No - I don't have a picture. Sorry!

After a long bout with writer's block, we are back at the typewriter with news.

MARCH 10-11: GUAM CONVENTION ARRIVALS AND TOURS

Here on Guam and Saipan - and I imagine some other kind of out-of-the-way places - convention is more than just the days of convention. The gatherings are small and often folks travel some distance to get here, so group activities during the days leading up to convention are varied.

On Tuesday, March 10, Debbie and I arrived in Guam from Saipan at about 4P. Marilyn and Sara were there, of course, but so were several of our Guam friends - there to greet us and the many friends and workers who would be arriving in the next couple hours.

Visiting friends included: Ron and Pat Rudolph from San Diego; Dean and Marion Stickland from Olympia; Peter and Marissa Brown from the island of Kwajalein; Micahel ? from the island of Pohnpei. We all stayed in hotels.

Visiting workers were: Cheri Fisk (UT); Tracy Staples (Manitoba); Barb Hofer (MT); Connie Surratt (SC); Brian Frandsen (HI); Larry Taylor (HI); Dale Wipf (Saskatchewan); Dan Farris (NC); Kent Williston (British Columbia); Jim Holt (OK). Workers all stayed in the homes of the Guam friends.

Peter, Marissa and Michael Workers and Guam friends meet Dale Wipf and Sara Dan Farris Marilyn, Marion, Dean, Sara Stickland Tracy Staples, Sara, Cheri Fisk Three Larrys

First thing Wednesday, we all (21 of us) headed up to Two Lovers' Point, where the legend say that

	The Legend of Puntan Dos Amantes (Two Lovers Point) Once long ago, in the time when Spain ruled Guam, there was a proud family living in Hagatna, the capital city.  The father was a wealthy Spanish aristocrat and the mother was the daughter of a great Chamorro chief.   The family owned land and were highly esteemed by all, Chamorro and Spanish alike. Their daughter was a beautiful girl, admired by all for her honesty, modesty, and perfectly natural charm.  Her beauty bestowed the greatest pride and dignity unto her family.
One day, the girl's father arranged for her to take a powerful Spanish captain as her husband.  When the girl discovered this, she was so distraught that she ran from Hagatna all the way to the north of Guam until she found a secluded and peaceful shore.There, on the moonlit shore, she met and fell in love with a young warrior from a very modest Chamorro family.  He was gentle, with a strong build, and had eyes that search for meaning in the stars.  When the girl's father learned of the two lovers, he grew angry and demanded that she marry the Spanish captain at once.  That day at sundown, she stole away to the same high point along the shore, and once again met her Chamorro lover. Her father, the captain, and all the Spanish soldiers pursued the lovers up to the high cliff above Tumon Bay.  The lovers found themselves trapped between the edge of the cliff and the approaching soldiers.  All the young warrior could do was warn them to stay back, and the father ordered the soldiers to halt.
The lovers tied their long black hair into a single knot.  And acting as if they were entirely alone, they looked deeply into each other's eyes and kissed for the final time.  Then they leaped over the long, deep cliff into the roaring waters below.Her father and all who remained rushed to the edge to stare in great anguish. Since that day, Chamorros have looked to the jutting peak above Tumon Bay with reverence.  The two lovers remain a symbol of true love--a love in which two souls are entwined forever in life and in death.  Forever after, the high point on the cliff was known as Two Lovers Point. Love locks Wall of love locks  Next stop was the War of the Pacific Museum. Like the Battle of Saipan, there was a Marine invasion of a Japanese-held island and many, many casualties, including Chamorro natives, before the US secured the island. 2-man Japanese sub - about 40 feet long Japanese machine gun Lunch followed at Asan Beach Watching the parasailing Tracy Staples contemplates Dan Farris, Larry Taylor, Pat Rudolph Dale Wipf after a sand crab  After lunch, some of us continued around the island - a 3-hour trip. One of our stops was the bay where Magellan first landed in 1521. The remainder of the trip was filled with beautiful vistas.  A special stop was made at the University of Guam to see "The Gospel Tree". Thirty years ago, Leo Stanclif and Larry Taylor set up a sign for Bible studies under this tree and spoke for three hours twice a week to any who would care to sit and listen. Larry-Michael-Connie-Kent-Brian-Larry Gospel tree(s) NEXT INSTALLMENT: CONVENTION WORKDAY