Missionaries

Missionaries
I guess I have never been the nicest to Missionaries trying to convert me. Although I have never been out right rude to them as I knew other to be. In college they seemed to come weekly to my apartment so I made a ritual of always inviting them in for beer and pizza. Being Morman missionaries they of course refused and asked to come back at a time without the beer. I told them with pizza you always needed beer so that would be hard to accomplish.
In my village I am taking turns going to the different churches every week so that way I can meet everyone in the village and don’t seclude myself. I go every Saturday I can with my family to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and Sundays I take turns going between the Methodist, the Morman and the Assembly of God Churches. I know how long each of the services are so I am prepared with whatever I need to keep me entertained. For example for the longer services I always bring my Samoan to English dictionary so I can look up any words that confuse me (believe it or not it is a great source of entertainment!). I also bring my water bottle as they three hour services make me feel like I’m dying of thirst.
Last week was my turn with the Morman Church. The first hour was good in which it was the service with the entire congregation. I then went to the first hour of lessons with the youth who were in the late teens to early twenties. I then headed to the third hour in which I was to go with the woman’s group. I was quickly pulled out to talk with the missionaries that were staying in a neighboring village.
I was nervous as I assumed they were going to stop at nothing to try and convert me to their religion. They put us in a room and closed the door. I started to tremble. I was wishing I brought my bag with me so I could fake something to get out of what would sure to be an uncomfortable situation. But alas, I left it inside the room that I thought I was having class in.
The two young men introduced themselves and where they were from. They did the usual, “What religion are you?” and other types of similar questions. We then out of nowhere began talking about life in America and the life of a missionary. It was really interesting what they had to say. It is amazing that one person decides on where to put these people based upon his visions, and that the visions can cause someone to have to pack and move within an hour’s time. We talked about the job market in America and their collegiate plans. (One wants to go to BYU Hawaii and the other was not sure yet.)
We then I guess got down to business. I told them how I have been to a Morman Church in America with friends, but how it was not for me. I also applauded their work in making the Samoan society a better place for families as the Morman churches all come equipped with a basketball court and a volleyball net. I also appreciated how this was one of the few churches that did not seem to make a big deal about people giving all their money to the church. We also talked about the quality of the Morman schools. (They really are supposed to be some of the best schools in Samoa. The kolisi (the word for college but really is our high school) has internet which is an astounding feat for here. The teachers are supposed to be astounding as well.)
We talked about the history of Mormonism in Samoa. They told me that the first missionaries that came to Samoa converted only a few people, so they met in a fale. As soon as they had enough people, they built one of the big churches that they have today. (They are amazing, it makes me think of Pleasantville with every building so perfectly constructed and beautiful.) With the church building came the playing courts and soon many people decided to convert to use the facilities. (Although they do let others play with them there.)
During the entire hour of meeting with them they did not try to persuade me to join their church and just seemed happy that I was making my way through the churches in my village. They did not offer me a lesson, and I did not offer them beer and pizza. (The closest pizza that I know of is probably a two hours drive away, and I am not going to try to even figure out where to buy beer in my village.)
After meeting with them I went to to’ogani with the bishop and his family. They have this beautiful faleo’o overlooking the ocean. It is the last building before the cliff and they get an amazing breeze there. It was so relaxing to spend time with them. They of course asked me about my uo situation and I told them I don’t have one yet. I told them that I do not like smokers and it seemed as though most of the boys in our village are smokers. They assured me that if I find a boy in their church he will be a good man as he will not drink or smoke. For example their son.
It is really funny going to church because every week seems like a new dating show. The pastor always makes sure to tell me that there are many nice boys in their church (sometimes announcing in front of the entire congregation). Then there seems like there is a fight over who can take me home for lunch so they can spend time with me (and make sure I meet their nice sons).
I wonder how long my village will continue this dating show ritual…