Two Lover's Point and Talofofo Falls

Sister Martin and I have been on our mission a little over a year and have enjoyed many great hikes/sites in Guam. Two sites we were avoiding were big for tourists, where busloads of people go daily...Two Lover's Point and Talofofo Falls Resort.

Two Lover's Point
After having fun with the members at the Barrigada Ward roadside cleanup (Adopt a Highway), Bishop Davis offered to go with us to Two Lover's Point. He mentioned a few things that mostly only the "locals" know about.

While driving on the road just before the sign to enter, Bishop Davis pointed out the areas on the right and the left that used to be Air Force base Barracks. There were old power poles not in use and even an old sidewalk, a rare sight on Guam.

We arrived, and yes, there was plenty of parking for buses. To our amazement, they weren't all filled. So it was relatively uncrowded.  

It was actually 10:30 am but the human sundial showed 11:00 am. Perhaps a taller person would show the correct time.

The first interesting things Bishop Davis showed us was the people powered sundial.

You stand on the correct month, raise your right hand if it is morning or your left hand if it is afternoon, and it shows the time of day.

Pictorial story of Two Lover's Point

Two Lover's Point Story
As the legend goes, centuries ago a Chamorro (native Guam) Princess was told she must marry a Spanish Captain. Refusing to do so, she planned to run away her true love, a local warrior. During their escape, the Spanish soldiers pursued them. Fianally, they tied their hair together and jumped off of the cliff together to their eternal fate.

Bishop Davis also showed us an image of the princess formed in the rocks.

Locals say the rock ledges to the left show an image of the princess

He then showed us various holes in the cliff-side, caused by guns and artillery fire during WWII battles in Guam.

During the battles in Guam, soldiers would hide in these caves in the cliffs. Holes from bullets and artillery are still visible. 

Elder and Sister Martin  

Talofofo Falls

We arrived to the resort entrance on a hot Saturday afternoon. Sister Martin loves the heat so she was happy. Surprise, no buses in the parking lot.

We headed straight to the cable cars that take you to the falls.

Sister Martin by the lower falls

Elder Martin at the lower Talofofo falls

Nothing like a nice bamboo bench in the shade

The falls were beautiful. All the rest of the resort was a little run down.

This was the upper falls

Not too far from the falls was Yokoi's cave. Yokoi was a Japanese soldier that hid out until 1972. He said he didn't know the war had ended. Hiding out for 28 years. Quite the story.

Walking through the jungle to a reproduction of Yokio's cave

Unfortunately, the signs didn't mention that this was not the real cave. The real cave had collapsed years ago.  

Sister Martin took this picture of a beautiful flower

Very strange. This was the entrance to their spook alley.

That afternoon we enjoyed a nice burger and shake at Jeff's Pirates Cove.

We enjoyed these two tourist spots. Not as much as some of the more remote places we've visited, but still nice P-day activities.

Waterfalls, oceans and sunsets. God's creations are always amazingly beautiful.

Preparing for Missionary Mother's Day Calls

The younger missionaries rarely have the opportunity to call home. One is Christmas and the other is for Mother's Day. This means that many of them must set up the call in advance with their mothers or families.

Elder Canakaivata, Elder Arcayan and Elder Taule'alo

Sister David, Sister Kichiro, Elder Waimila

Sister Baum seems unsure why Sister Talakai is so excited about a package of cookies... But she's excited about everything.

On their Monday p-day, and after their Thursday Zone meeting, many came to the office and tried to call or email home to set it up. Some are from small islands where very few people have phones or email access. This makes it challenging but still doable.

Elder Matalolo is from St. George, Utah and Sister Aviata is from Australia

Our Zone Leaders, Elder Matalolo and Elder Waimila, worked hard to get everyone scheduled to call or do an internet video call.

Elder Wright with Elder Canakaivata next to a bunch of Yaris tires with Click and Ship USPS labels, bound for Pohnpei

It's always an exciting time with a lot going on when they fill the office.

Sister Misinale, Elder Matalolo, Elder Holmes

A lot of enthusiastic, high energy missionaries, with burning testimonies of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We feel their strength and conviction.

Sister Muamoholeva, and Sister Misinale

Elder Ladore, left, and many other missionaries swarm the office. Sister Martin, right.

Sister Rock, Sister Muamoholeva, Sister Misinale

And just think...there are about 80,000 missionaries like this, serving world-wide, from many countries, serving without any worldly compensation. The "second pay" or spiritual blessings received are priceless.

By August, our mission will also have 13 senior couples serving 18 or 23 month missions. Wow. God truly lives and Jesus Christ lives, and there is a prophet on the earth today who receives revelation from them.

Elder Tafuna, Sister Misinale and Elder Katta

Sister Martin took these pictures of me at the post office, shipping out two cruiser bicycles to the island of Yap.

Elder Martin at the post office

These boxes are too big to run online postage labels. I just started doing online shipping labels. It saves a lot of time and money. It saved 50% per tire by doing the USPS online shipping label. We don't have to go to the post office as much either.
 

Sister Misinale wanted me to take her picture. They won the cleanest car award during our monthly car inspections that Elder and Sister Thomas help out with.

Sister Misinale, Sister Ta'ase and Sister Aviata won cleanest car

Elder and Sister Thomas at the mission office near a few leftover car cleaning supplies  

Sister Thomas and Sister Martin

Final note...A category 1 typhoon just brushed by, barely missing Yap a couple of days ago, and everyone is fine. We're in Typhoon Alley and they keep on coming.

Guam War Dog Memorial, Spanish Steps and Welcome

After a great week in the office, Sister Martin and I enjoyed getting outside for another fantastic P-day. This was one that we have been waiting for.

Our Military couple, Elder and Sister Thomas, arranged for the couples to go to Spanish Steps. This was not easy since it is closed quite frequently due to the navel ships that like to anchor in that bay. But our timing was good and we were blessed with the opportunity and good weather.

We started on a Saturday morning. I wasn't able to take very many pictures because it was quite steep and you had to hold on to rocks and ropes on the way down.

After a 15-20 minute descent down the steep terrain, we reached the flat part of the jungle.

The mosquitoes were quite thick and we didn't put on bug spray. We tried swatting them away. 

We reach an ancient Spanish Well, took a few pics and continued on the hike.

We then reached the ocean which was quite the beautiful site.

After exploring around a while, it started raining, drenching everything we owned, including two cell phones used by us and one other couple. They don't quite work right anymore.

Then we headed back up the mountain.

Sister Martin after climbing one area of the hike that had a ladder.

Next stop was the Guam War Dog Memorial.

Here we learned a little about how dogs sacrificed their lives along with many marines in WWII. Note: The following Monday for FHE, The Thomas's invited us over to watch a documentary on the Guam war dogs.  War Dogs Movie It was a well made film and quite touching.

During this hike, we welcomed a new couple, Elder and Sister Brimhall who will be serving on the island of Yap.

Nearby the War Dog Memorial, these Japanese Prisoner of War Steps remain as a Memorial to Japanese POW's held on the Navy base, showing their excellent masonry skills.

After the war dog memorial, we headed over to a great little restaurant call Mollie Maggie's, an Irish establishment with great sandwiches, fish and chips, and more. It too was located on the Navy Base.

Another excellent day spent with wonderful LDS Senior Couple Missionaries.