Family wedding at Orator Hotel, Samoa...

Family wedding at Orator Hotel, Samoa

Back from a quick trip to a weekend family wedding in Samoa and it was such a blessing to be there with my parents and cousin's with their children to witness such a special occasion.

It was my boy cousin's daughter's wedding held at the Orator Hotel inland on the island of Upolu, Samoa. Growing up our mothers were very close as sisters but sadly my auntie died many years ago before she could have witnessed such a beautiful occasion but believe that she was there in spirit.

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding with tropical Samoan weather. The pic here is of the ceremony where the officiating marriage celebrant shared the vows with the couple, family and friends.

A wedding reception was held in the banquet hall nearby for all the formalities of speeches, cutting the cake, more speeches, dinner, and dessert as well as a bit of dancing too. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay the whole night but it was an enjoyable time for all.

So now I'm looking forward to attending the next family wedding that's to take place and maybe, just maybe, it will be again in Samoa.

Off the grid in Samoa...

It's been a neat couple of days being off the grid in Samoa. Relaxing with my parents and picking up family from the airport with various family members coming to Samoa for a school malaga (travel visit) and also for the weekend wedding.

It's also been neat to catch up with one of my  cuzzie/bro's that I was brought up with as like a lil' bro to me and his son's first visit with a quick tour from Fasitoo-uta to Apia and over to where the wedding venue is to take place at the Orator Hotel.

Feel really blessed to be able travel to this wedding for my niece (second cousin) in remembrance of her late grandmother (my mum's sister) who was one of my favourite aunties growing up. She would have been proud to see her grand daughter married and we're here in Samoa to represent her at this special wedding.

While here, I took them to Mulinu'u to see the new Parliament building, although I liked the older one as it was in remembrance of the first parliament that sat during the formative years in recognition of the Independence of Samoa in 1962 and many of the landmarks around the town. There is just so much to share about Samoa's colonial history and buildings.

In fact, it was neat to share with them about the history of our heritage culture of Samoa and the many changes that have taken place over the years. So that whilst some of our cousins and family are enjoying the Island resorts life, it's been neat to take them to the village and to see what happens there and how things can be so different yet still similar to NZ and western culture.

Looking forward to what the next few days hold before jetting back to responsibilities from this life of relaxation. Ia manuia le aso Samoa...

"Love" painting series for significant life events...

"Love" series of paintings (#004) by Helen Tau'au Filisi (2019)

This is a current painting (acrylics on boxed canvas) that I'm working on for a special occasion with some of the elements that I like to paint i.e.:

• tapa motif/s
• Samoan traditional tatau/tattoo patterns (male)
• frangipani flowers 
• star or fetu (metaphor or sign for an important event) found also on malu (traditional female tattoo) designs
• Christian biblical verse i.e. Corinthians 13

I've still to finish the watercolour study that I started and working on for our next book but love working on these canvas paintings with especially bright colours in trying to fuse all of these elements together in one painting.

This will be the 4th painting that I've completed in the series with the first being for my elder sister's significant birthday. The second for my friend's wedding. The 3rd for my own significant birthday (and why not?) and this is the 4th of this limited collection.

Still a little more to paint and then will be complete and will be soon starting another series of paintings for special occasions...

Being a local arts funding assessor...

(Photo credit: cropped Auckland Council promo)

This has been one crazy busy month with so much to do before I jump on the plane and relax in a couple of days.

From marking presentation assignments of student work to running writing workshops for teens, attending various meetings, church activities attendance, painting, planning and currently working through my pile of assessments as a local creative arts assessor leaves me with a can't wait for Christmas holidays kinda feeling.

(That's not to even mention being a mom to busy teens and their school activities, with a school production for one this week, supporting with exams for another and transporting from one place to another as well as being a daughter and wife, teacher makes for never a dull moment in our household and in my life!)

Therefore, being an arts funding assessor for the last couple of years for our South Auckland funding of community arts project has been an interesting experience as I bring with me experiences as having written, produced, directed and facilitated several South Auckland full school productions and church productions with a neat team of staff and students; self-published, promoted and produced several plays, poetry and short stories books with novels still to come and I love participating in the arts be it painting, watching a movie, listening to music, watching dance etc. there is just so much to see and do.

With an interest in theatre, performing arts, poetry writing (rather than performance), music, drama, film, fine arts, dance I must say that I have been blessed with many interests and experiences in the arts and then reciprocating by trying to support the arts in our communities I see as another important role that I play within the arts scene (or rather background scene) of advocating for a range of artistic expressions and performances in our communities.

As arts assessors, we have to make decisions on six main criteria for getting funding i.e.

1. The idea
2. The process to be taken
3. The people involved
4. Criteria for receiving funding
5. Budget

Decisions have to also be made around the priority of the activities i.e.

• Access and participation for the community members
• activities for those under the ages of 18 years
• arts activities that promote diversity within our cultures
• whether the funding is for individuals or groups

Sometimes I find myself having critical discussions with other assessors either agreeing or disagreeing with conversations around what constitutes art or craft or what gets funded and what doesn't but if I really believe in an artistic expression then I'll go into bat for the artist or group knowing that the funding is often a critical component of whether the art gets expressed or is shelved for another year.

So all the best for the funding rounds that are being assessed throughout our Auckland communities and in being a recipient (for 3 years now) I'm seriously considering to change the genre and move into another field i.e. of theatre or performing arts but will see what the coming months brings as I also have my studies to think about...

Rugby world cup 2019 fanzone...

(Official Emblem for the Rugby World Cup 2019
Photo credits: unknown)

It's been interesting to watch teams representing countries around the world competing against each other in this year's Rugby World cup 2019.

I'm not a huge Rugby fan but the men in my family are i.e. my dad and my beloved, and they don't like to miss a game if they can help it.

I also know that all over NZ, Rugby fans are all glued to their TV or devices to catch the action and to see how NZ and other countries fair in the various game pools.

So now into the third day of competitions, we have a fan zone at home where Rugby matches take precedence over any other TV programme that could be on.

Last night it was interesting to watch the All Blacks play South Africa and even before the match started when the All Blacks performed their Haka or challenge to the opposing team, you could hear South African (I assume) fans trying to drown out the All Blacks challenge which is a no-no in protocol. So when the All Blacks won, I guess they had the last word.

We're especially looking forward to when the Manu Samoa team plays on Tuesday and I'll be writing out a schedule for my dad to watch in Samoa as he will be travelling back with mum to watch from there and I'll join them later in the week.

So you'll find me cheering for our Pacific teams of Fiji and Samoa with NZ and hopefully the best team will win and maybe, just maybe it will be the All Blacks again!...

Wedding planner, Wedding album pics and sweet memories...

In saying goodbye to the newlyweds: my brother, now sister-in-law their miracle son as they jet off back to Melbourne this evening, I decided to make up a quick wedding photo album to take their sweet memories with them i.e. a wedding planner's work is never really done.

So glad that they liked the pics and I had to counter with all manner of restraint to not scrapbook and decorate the album as I wanted to and funnily enough my younger bro still remembered my scrapbooking back in the day.

Call me a romantic, or a wedding planner enthusiast as I was asked about how we were able to plan our newly wed's wedding with all its elements in a manner of two days.

All I can say is that having had a year plus to plan my own wedding in Fiji and in having been in at least 8 weddings as an observant bridesmaid/flower girl (not including two that I had to say no to i.e. in tired of being told why I still wasn't married yet!) not to mention my supporting different friends and family along the way to help execute various parts of the wedding and my amazingly organised parents who always had us helping out at family functions, all I can say is that I've been trained well by them to know what to do and how to do it.

Although I must say that with this particular late minute wedding plan it took a better part of a miracle (thank you God!) to watch it unfold smoothly on the day and especially with the pouring rain the day before and the beautiful sunshine on the day, I mean there's gotta be someone up there watching over and smiling!

So why wouldn't I turn it into a business? because it would take away the joy and make it a chore. Even though I know that the real part of the marriage starts after the one-day wedding and honeymoon, knowing that the wedding day with all its elements begins a new chapter in the lives of two people who exchange loving vows before God (for Christian weddings) I know that it's a memorable day, a cornerstone in vows that are often remembered for a lifetime.

And I don't believe that people should be punished and made to think that they don't deserve a wedding and should 'tie the knot' so to speak at the Registry office where strangers get to watch you walk past them at a public office space because of some indiscretions of the past.

Weddings between two people who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together also don't have to splurge out big time to fulfill the wishes of the masses with hundreds being invited as a courtesy to the extended family and friends especially when a loan has to be taken out to pay for the wedding by the newlyweds.

I love the idea of budget weddings where care is taken to ensure that the needs of the couple are taken into consideration and that all involved love and care absolutely and unconditionally for the marriage that takes place and the future that they build together.

Now I can put my feet up, relax and smile in knowing that sometimes you can make a positive difference in someone else's world and then encourage them to pass it on at the next opportunity and then to wait for the next wedding day that comes along (next weekend in Samoa) and then to celebrate along with them and share in the neverending joy of the greatest possession - being love ...

Fiafia Night at McAuley High school...

Tonight I had the privilege of taking my family, including my dad, to support my sister cousin's daughter (my niece) with their Fiafia night at McAuley High school (Catholic girls school).

The Fiafia night was in aid of the fundraising a trip to travel to Samoa later this month on a cultural exchange or 'So'o' for some 40 students and their parents, teachers and supporters.

Two important Samoan teachers who have been stalwarts for organizing the trip to Samoa and have been teaching Samoan at the school for well over ten years are Tauanu'u Perenise Tapu and his lovely wife, Jenny Tapu.

I remember when I worked for Team Solutions at Auckland Uni in the early 2000s in organizing for teachers to hold workshops for Samoan language teachers to come together for professional development and Mr and Mrs Tapu were instrumental in ensuring that the girls at McAuley were well supported in their Samoan learning programmes towards gaining NCEA credits in Samoan language that could then be taken into Auckland Uni for majoring in their Bachelor degree.

Tauanu'u also received a special honourary Queen's service medal, this year, for his services to education and the Samoan community. I've also known him as my tutor in the bilinguage matai (chief) Samoan language classes that I took some years ago but was unable to continue due to my other commitments but now my beloved takes his classes and also had him as a Master Practioner for his Masters degree exegesis.

A packed hall was testimony to the high calibre of Samoan songs, dances and entertainment. They also performed a Haka (for women) which brought about a lot of celebration as there are some girls in the malaga who are not of Samoan descent but have learnt the songs, dances etc. to perform.

They will be travelling around Samoa and also visiting the district of Falelatai and some villages there, where my father and my matai titles come from and so hoping to catch up with them in Samoa when I hopefully am able to travel to in the next week for a family wedding.

Ia manuia tou malaga, may your travels be blessed...

Navigating Journeys Writing workshops for teen writers...

Our first 'Navigating Journeys Writing workshop' for teens started yesterday with a school high school group from a local Otahuhu high school.

The neat thing is that it allows me to share our vision and passion for writing with a workshop designed to encourage our youth to write about their journeys using their own authentic voices.

And that's been the reason for setting up these workshops and especially for publishing our latest anthology collections of short stories and poetry, in the hope that these books will provide a sense of community and connectedness of the voices of those who live, work and study in Mangere and Otahuhu to the rest of the world.

I mean that in the sense of having been educated in Mangere through to high school and then continuing to taking several University courses, apart from newspaper articles (often negative) and TV news coverage, there was hardly a time that I could refer to or reference stories from our communities in the different places and spaces that I walk in.

Our first book was called "Mana Mangere Voices" (2017) which was the first collection of short stories and poetry from our Mana Mangere Writers collective and our second book "Sense of belonging" (2018) featured our writers group with some guest writers who also live, work or study in Otahuhu including primary school children and Wananga students.

Now we are on to our third collection and I'll be visiting some local schools to speak to writing groups or teachers in the hopes that there's an individual/s out there with the gift of writing, just waiting to be discovered, encouraged and will join our collection.

If you are interested in attending these workshops or know of any interested in joining please contact me on: helentauaufilisi@gmail.com or contact your nearest Mangere/Otahuhu library to find out the details of upcoming workshops this month of September and in October.

And the fun begins...

Pacific Hub in Manukau promo...

This week we decided to take up Pacific Business Hub's offer through Laura Keil-Hall (Director/Manager) to advertise our products (books) at the hub in a glass case display.

In fact, you can check out the Pacific Business Hub's services available for our Pasifika business on their website of www.pacificbizhub.co.nz.

You can also check out their very active Facebook page which is full of informative info regarding their upcoming events and promotions of Pasifika businesses and their products.

When I went to discuss the idea for promoting our books at the hub, I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful decor and the tasteful display of Pasifika business products with plenty of floor space for meetings and spaces occupied by Pasifika businesses.

It's definitely a first for our Pasifika communities because apart from the Ministry of Pacific peoples offices and the Pacific Business Trust, there are few places that Pasifika peoples are able to find support for setting up businesses and maintaining them.

I'm looking forward to getting more involved in networking with other Pasifika businesses in that it's good to be strategic in managing our resources and to take opportunities to promote our products and services to and for our own people.

It's definitely a service that is much needed within our Pasifika communities and I thank Laura for her foresight and visionary leadership to seeing this Pasifika business concept to fruition. No doubt, many businesses will benefit from having business and contact with this important business hub...

Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel (2017 - 2019) over and out...

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking our eldest to a luncheon function to celebrate the end of the Auckland Council's Advisory Panels' term.

Featured here is a pic of the certificate that each panel member received as signed by the current Auckland Mayor, Phil Goff and he also gave them out to each of us at the ceremony.

The neat thing was that over this last 3 year period our panel was lead by two committed and amazing leaders: our chairperson, Leaupepe Ralph Elika with Ligi (Caroline) Harris as vice-chair and we were able to learn about and have input into various Auckland Council initiatives from a Pasifika perspective and often advocating (although I'm told that it's not really our job) or voicing concerns on issues that affect our Pasifika peoples.

In the next couple of weeks, we'll be voting on who will be Auckland's Mayor, Councillors, DHB District Health Boards and local Board members etc. These are paid positions for three years and each person elected has a responsibility to represent their elected members and they may also have political affiliations with current political parties i.e. Labour, National, the Greens etc.

That's why it's really important for us to be informed or at the very least to exercise our right to vote for those people who you believe will represent you fairly at these upcoming local elections. By not voting we are allowing those who do to choose who will be our representatives in these important influential spaces.

Already I've already made up my mind to vote for Pasifika representation (and Samoan at best) with the two Autagavaia brothers (Apulu Reece and his brother Taufagaafa Dr Vaaiga ) on the DHB and our two current Samoan Councillors, Faanana Efeso Collins and Alf Filipaina as well as Lemauga Lydia Sosene and others from my local board (some of whom I'm officially related too as well).

And at the end of the day, although few Pasifika people actually choose to exercise their right to vote, the votes are still counted and those who receive the most votes get into these decision making and influential spaces that do have a bearing on Pasifika people issues whether we vote or not...

'Navigating Journeys' upcoming anthology and cover art...

Navigating Journeys (2019) study.
Ink, Watercolours and Acrylics on canvas

I'm so excited as have now booked dates (some tentative) at four local libraries running creative writing workshops for teens. The libraries are:

• Mangere East
• Mangere Bridge
• Mangere Town Centre
• Otahuhu Toia 

The criteria for the youth writers are for ages 13 - 19 to either: live, work or study in Mangere/Otahuhu geographical areas and the theme for the writing is based around the idea 'Navigating Journeys'.

The deadline dates are very tight so there's not a lot of leeway for me to move with our book launch proposed date being early December but will see how it goes.

The short stories or poetry submissions that I'm particularly interested in publishing for the book is around stories or poetry that resonate with the theme and will also make people think or reconsider things from varying perspective/s.

The above art work study that I developed from the idea of the malu (traditional Samoan's womens tattoo) started with a pencil study, then I added ink to the drawing followed by a watercolour study using a browns palette and then onto an acrylic 'boxed' art canvas in which I wanted to paint the patterns in such a way as to show movement as a necklace, ribbon or sash or even as a superhighway that is multi-directional.

This particular artwork will be at all workshops to hopefully inspire youth writers to share their perspectives, tell their stories that will engage meaningfully with their audience. Again, a very privileged space to be a part of. Thank you God! ...

Fave Samoan artist, Fatu Feu'u...

Fatu Feu'u the artist. (Photo credits: unknown)

My most fave Samoan artist since a teenager has been Fatu Feuu. In fact, yesterday in my art class I gave a short presentation on his life and art of which I have found so inspiring but never quite understood the motifs until I started studying his art.

The presentation was an assessment that asked students to identify an artist that they were interested to talk about, their whakapapa or gafa (genealogy) and to discuss their art.

Fatu was born in the village of Poutasi in the 1940s and left for NZ in his early 20s with this family. His dream was always to become an artist and his mother supported his dream.

Much of his artistic expressions draw from his roots as a Samoan with much of his works including motifs from tapa and traditional Samoan male tattoo designs/patterns of the pe'a or malofie with his own spin on the interpretations etc.

Unfortunately, he was married and divorced twice as I guess being a struggling artist relying solely on commissions and contracts can be a big strain on family life and the life of being a reclusive artist when big projects are commissioned.

You can see examples of his art all over the place with his works being snatched up by a lot of Auckland companies, government departments and all over the world. Locally, I've seen his work on Auckland library walls eg. Otahuhu Library, Mangere community board office in Mangere Town Centre, University of Auckland Education department etc it was even funny when earlier this year we walked into our local Papatoetoe law office and when I identified Fatu's work on the wall (can't help being a big fan) the lawyer wasn't even aware of how iconic/famous the art is.

In the presentation, I also mentioned that my mum's been my greatest inspiration in art and design as I observed her create and design many things growing up from dresses, bags, necklaces etc. it's a trait that I picked up and continue to enjoy in being a creative...

Book grant for "Navigating Journeys" accepted...

I'm over the moon again with much thanks to our Mangere Otahuhu local board for believing in us and in granting the funds to publish and print our third installment of community voices 'Mana Mangere writers collective' books.

This time we've changed it up a notch and want to include youth and specifically teenagers who would like to contribute to our new book entitled "Navigating Journeys".

So this time, I'll be running creative writing workshops (first come first served basis) free of charge for interested teens in our local libraries (funded by the grant) with a view to publish a book at the end of the year.

This means again, a bit of running around for me to make things happen at the various locations before the end of the year but that's what makes it really exciting in being hopeful to attract young writers from our local areas.

And so the fun begins and if you know of any teenage writers of either poetry or prose, please pass on the message. I'll have soon have the details for our writing workshops at one of our four local library locations of:

• Mangere Town Centre
• Mangere East
• Mangere Bridge
• Otahuhu 

Watch this space or contact me on: helentauaufilisi@gmail.com for further details...

Beautiful intimate wedding at the Botanical Gardens...

The newlywed couple

I love weddings and today I was able to witness the special day of my youngest brother's marriage to the love of his life and high school sweetheart with both families together at a lovely intimate ceremony in Auckland's Botanical Gardens in Manurewa.

The weather was beautiful and gave amazing photographic moments, in the gardens as we witnessed the exchanging of vows of this special couple.

As it has been long anticipated having been engaged for several years whilst living and working in Melbourne. However, they wanted to return to NZ to have a small, no-fuss occasion with both their parents witnessing and surrounded by families. It was simply beautiful.

For some years previously I've been a wedding florist for over 200 weddings with an online presence but that changed in 2010 after the first Christchurch earthquake as many of my clients had been from the South Island.

And for my special bro and his lovely wife (to be at the time) I was able to offer my services as their wedding planner in organising the wedding venue, the ceremony, decorating the venue, planning the menu for refreshments after the ceremony, a scenic photoshoot in the Botanical gardens, reception, MC (bilingual Master of Ceremonies) being my beloved, clean up at both venues, wedding cake and paying off the bills.

Wow! And the official marriage celebrant was Dianne Troupe, of whom I would highly recommend to all. She was absolutely amazing in the professional ways that she worked with me at such short notice i.e. 2 days before the wedding she was able to share some beautiful vows that were intimate, personalized and "on point" as my sister-in-law described as they brought many to tears. You can check out her webpage on: www.diannetroup.com

And so looking forward to the next wedding that I may (or most likely) not be the wedding planner as I know that we have my cousin's family wedding in Samoa at the end of the month of which I am still contemplating to attend having already been to Samoa twice this year already but then again, I love weddings...

'Take Home Pay' Samoan movie ...

Last night my beloved shouted our family out to watch the Samoan-Kiwi comedy movie 'Take Home Pay'. It's the third movie out by writer and director Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa who self-funded the hit movies 'Three wise cousins' (which happens to be my favourite of the three) and 'Hibiscus & Ruthless'.

It features Tofiga Fepuleai, Samoan-Kiwi comedian debuting in his first feature film. He was the one of two comedians that put Samoan comedy on the world stage with their 'Laughing Samoans' series. There were many different tours and the skits often had us Samoans in stitches, reminding us of some of the antics and idiosyncrasies that Samoans have.

This movie was no different with Tofiga playing the role of a not so smart private investigator trying to help a Samoan overstaying fruit picker to find his brother who has taken off with their hard-earned money. Without spoiling it too much, all I can say is that it has an interesting ending in that money doesn't always buy you happiness and that homegrown ingenuity can sometimes pay with dividends (you'll see what I mean when you watch the movie).

Anyway, it was neat to watch it with a Samoan audience as I could hear people bursting out in laughter at times with the various antics that Tofiga brought in his comedy acting and when things that we Samoan know about - we'd laugh at.

A movie that I would recommend for those who like Tofiga and Samoan-Kiwi comedy or who just want to go out and spend time together with family for some light-hearted humour with still some lessons about how money can't buy happiness and that looking after your family is best...

Malu ink and watercolour study...

Malu: pencil/ink and watercolour study (HFT 2019)

I'm currently loving this space to be able to study the malu patterns and meanings as with this first pencil/ink drawing and then replicating in watercolours.

Each icon that has been indelibly etched on skin from time immemorial and each tell a story about the harmonious relationships that faaSamoa through the tufuga tatau (master tattoo artists) had with the natural environment.

So much so, that in my earlier research I found out that our earlier ancestors venerated various natural creatures etc. and so that when the early missionaries came to Samoa they were surprised that there weren't any carvings like there were for many other Pacific Islands cultures. And now the only little known altar space of that time is known as the 'House of the Fee' or o le fale o le fee.

In fact, in many villages, the pe'a, malu, malofie etc. were banned by the missionaries or in the very least frowned upon. I know that I was told by my mother that my great grandmother banned her sons from having this and in honour of keeping her wish, I won't be getting a malu except for the one that already exists on my hand that wasn't done by a traditional tufuga or in Samoa, in keeping with her wishes (retrospectively).

Still, in learning to understand the intent of each icon, it gives me a better understanding and a way of regenerating the ideas for the next generation and lifting the tapu (taboo) in this age in a respective manner that understands the mana (supernatural prestige) of this time honouring artistic appreciation on skin and still giving reverence to our ancestors whose stories continue through to this day...

Tapa/siapo study with watercolours...

First study of Siapo/Tapa study suing Watercolours

I'm loving this new journey that I'm taking in Indigenous Art at Te Wananga o Aotearoa (level 3). I've been able to learn how to use watercolours as I've never quite understood the use of it in my earlier attempts but in having a neat teacher to help me sort out the techniques - well I'm simply loving it.

In high school I learnt to use oil paints as a medium and absolutely loved the way that it flowed onto canvas but the only trouble was that there was a lot of prep to do in working with oils which is why I switched to acrylics for my book art at it was a lot easier to use and wash up afterwards.

So now in that, I've figured out how to master shading much like in using colour pencils, (another one of my favourite mediums) I'm now using Watercolours to explore how I can use it with our next book on tatau or traditional Samoan tattooing as watercolour paper has similar properties to tapa cloth.

And in studying patterns used early tapa/siapo cloths, each panel is quite interesting as geometric shapes are used from environmental inspiration to build up art on some amazing tapa cloths. Some of the panels refer to stars, or plants and even shells or patterns that repeat themselves with a postive/negative effect.

In fact, I have a treasured piece that my mother gave to me when I was at University and I still hold it dear and when my beloved and I were married in Fiji in 2001, we were gifted with a Fijian tapa cloth as a remembrance token of our special time there. Fijian tapa designs are quite unique too in that their symbols and art work identify different symbols and colour work in their pieces.

Now looking forward to start working on the tatau/tattoo book as it has been a few years in the making from the thinking process, to the indigenous research that has gone into writing the text and now to work on the paintings, a real blessed space to be in with more to come...

Happy Fathers' day to our special dads...

Happy Father's day to all our special dad's out there and especially to my very special father who is now in his 80s and currently here with my mum on holiday from Samoa.

And it was very special to have my cousin/sister Lita and her children visit with us at my birth church as we accompanied my parents to church and then went to a shared Fathers' day lunch.

It was also a very special day as I became an elder of the church and it was my gift for my dad as it was something that has been very dear to his heart for a long time.

In fact, over 16 mature elders are no longer able to continue with serving as in their old age things are becoming more difficult for them and most of them, like my father, have been faithfully serving within the church for many years. So the question was asked for others to come forward and I was approached to consider in having supported my father over the years. It definitely wasn't an easy decision as my family has other considerations but for now, I believe that it is the right thing to do.

And in the service, I couldn't stop the tears in realising the many years of service that he has given to the church i.e. over 50+ years and still going strong as he was one of the founding father of the church when it was just a dream and now there is a church for Cook Islanders, Niueans and Samoans with a church and 3 halls.

My father has always had a very good work ethic and taught me about organizing, public speaking and to not be afraid of anything. He even believed in me even when I wasn't so sure myself. It didn't mean that we didn't have our differences but I learned to be respectful and talk through a lot of things with him that now we share a very special bond.

 From my father, he taught me to be considerate and never doubted my abilities in whatever I wanted to pursue and it's been neat to see them settle into their new home in Samoa which was a gift from above. So a very happy fathers' day to you all and I thank God for the blessing of good fathers...