Talofa Samoa

3 days is not a lot of time when you come to think of it. At the beginning of the week 3 days felt like an eternity before we were to board the plane but for the Hyde’s it was just the right amount of notice, 4 days would have been forever and 2 days wouldn’t have been enough. The Lord sure knows us individually! We packed up, sold our car in a matter of hours, cleaned our studio, said goodbye to friends, received priesthood blessings and our dear friend Lee drove us to the airport.
As we checked in we prayed as our bags were weighed. we prepared to pay about $200 for our baggage. One bag came in over weight and we were asked if we wanted to shift the weight, since we had an extra check on bag we shifted what we could into that and everything past with a nod and a wink from the check in lady. Our passports were checked and we were sent to security without being charged for our bags. Tender Mercy #1. We passed through security and for the first time they didn’t search any of our bags! Tender Mercy #2. We got something quick to eat though my stomach was full of butterflies we still felt relatively calm under the circumstances and as we passed to the gate Marvin stopped us and asked if we knew Jen. Marvin is tender mercy #3. It was so great to see a friendly face and have someone who knew us to show us the way. So we got on the plane and settled in for a long flight.



At the airport when we arrived we pulled up to the airport and there were people on the runway asking if we wanted to buy some fish. (j/k…that’s a joke for our Samoan friends) but they did let us off on the tarmac, That was our first hint. There weren’t a lot of lights around the airport but we could see the golden arches which offered little comfort to Matthew. We walked into the airport and showed our passport hoping the guard spoke English (most people speak at least enough to get by), then we waited for our baggage so we could take it through customs. With security behind us we walked out to greet Samoa. We walked out to a sea of faces and banners waiting for loved one. We walked through the masses and then I heard my name. “Jessica” I turned around and there was Helaman! My first instinct was to cry as I ran and hugged him. I was so excited to know someone in this crowded throng. Matthew was behind me pushing our bags, waving to all the people thinking they all showed up to meet him. My excitement continued as I saw Myra who hugged us and asked, “what’s your plan?”…..My excitement waned. We were expecting to find the family at the airport with smiles and hugs all around and then to go home to our new rental would be waiting to greet us. This question was a bit unexpected.
We were quickly informed that the adult Myra, our new landlord and Jen’s sister was coming next we and they were expecting us to be on the flight with her so the house wasn’t ready. With that new information we decided to go to the hotel for the night, which is where tender mercy # 4 came. The Hotel van drove up right behind us and Nana and Papa went over to make our arrangements. Next thing we knew we were on the shuttle to the hotel.
When we arrived we were a bit shocked at the price but relieved at the accommodations. We stayed at the tradewinds, which is like a Marriott. We had a nice room where I didn’t even have to use my hotel sheet (mostly because I was so tired) . After a run around with the internet and a run in with our first fafafine (more about that later) we plugged in our new magic jack. It only took till 3:30 in the morning but we got it working for the next days work for Matthew. And with that we were off to bed but we were up again at 7. We had our continental breakfast of cold imitation cereal and warm milk product from New Zealand and went off to work. Matthew was able to get to all his clients which was tender mercy #5 since now we know that he wouldn’t have been able to do that had we been at the house sine we are STILL waiting for the internet. After Matthew’s clients Uncle Larry, Auntie Bernie, Hewitt, and Myra came to pick us up at the hotel and take us to our new home.

Aloha Oi Hawaii

By now most of you have heard that we have moved to American Samoa (ya, it’s a real place, go look it up on a map). After some quick packing and a lot of prayer we arrived here safe and sound on May 20th. On the 16th, which was the Sunday prior to our departure we were greeted at church by our wonderful bishop Schlag.( We believe he was asking questions in regards to a few possible callings, that’s really why we left so hastily J) “Hello bishop! “ “and how are the Hydes today?” “we’re doing great, thanks, and yourself.” “doing well, Congratulations on your graduation.” “ Thanks bishop, it’s been a long time in the making!” “Well congratulations, and how long are you planning on sticking around now that school is finished?” “ we’ll we’re not quite sure about that, we’re still waiting for a little direction but when we know, you’ll know.” “ I appreciate that. You two have a great Sabbath.” “ You too bishop”……that was the last time we ever saw bishop Schlag . Which reminds me, I need to let him know we’ve moved.

Anyway, that got us thinking, we need to make some plans. So we arrived home from church with a bit of an uneasy feeling. As we were discussing this feeling Matthew blurted out, “lets move to Samoa.” To which I offered a sarcastic “ um, okay, I’ll start packing.” Surprisingly, Matthew was serious. As we applied reason to this seemingly unreasonable decision it truly started to make sense, that’s when we knew we were in trouble. So we decided to leave it to the Lord. We decided to go and prayed that the Lord would confirm our choice if it was right.

With our prayer said, Matthew set off to choir practice like the valiant saint that he is and I stayed behind to chat with family online. Several minutes passed and I got a phone call in Samoan! My friend Jen Fiso from back home called and started talking to me in Samoan with such a thick accent that I had no idea even who it was. Once I figured out who I was talking to I told her we were thinking about moving to American Samoa, and by the end of the conversation we had a place to live and someone to pick us up at the airport. …..The Lord has such a sense of humor!

When Matthew returned from choir practice we started making our list of what needed to be done by Thursday at 5 o’clock pm HST. Why Thursday you may ask? Because that was the next flight leaving for American Samoa, and we were going to be on it!