Pani Popo - or a Reasonable Facsimile

 It's been a beautiful Sunday.  I stayed in bed as long as I possibly good, and then got cleaned up and ready for church.  We watched Sacrament Meeting, Sunday School, our young missionaries inspirational half hour for the people they are teaching.  

Harry, our young adult rep spoke in Sacrament meeting.  He is a heart throb....I'm certain all the girls' hearts flutter when he goes by.  He returned last year from a mission in Russia.  He is intellectual, spiritual and a great communicator.  His talk was brilliant.  In fact, if you say something he agrees with, he often says, "Brilliant!" - which makes me feel --- brilliant.

Sunday School today was taught by an Oxford professor, Mark Wrathall....he is amazing as a teacher.  He hears every comment and can repeat them back - sometimes with his own observation about the comment.  He is very reinforcing to anyone bold enough to speak out to a computer screen, knowing there are about 50 people out there staring at their screen and listening to you.  Faith, trust in the Lord, and encouraging us to gain wisdom and knowledge through the scriptures was the order of the day, and it always seems new to me.  I love the gospel!

In the afternoon, I made poni popo, a sweet roll dish made in Samoa.  We have a sweet man who is studying here for a year.  He is a good man, who has worked in government in Samoa.  He is studying something in the area of diplomacy.  Leaving a wife and four children to come to Oxford must have been incredibly difficult, because as he says, Samoans are very family oriented, sometimes living in multigenerational groups of 20 or more.  

It is unfortunate that he came during lockdown, when he can't even have the association of ward members. He gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting - last week or the week before.  I wanted to do something for him, so I wrote a sweet friend in our Gilbert ward who is married to a Samoan.  Their family is one of the most wonderful families I have met and we love them.

Amber shared a recipe for poni popo.  It is coconut buns.  Amber must know me well, because she said to start with Rhodes frozen bread dough.  I searched all over the internet, and only found frozen dough balls, which are very small, don't rise and so are probably not soft.

So I made my own rolls, and since I don't have a stand mixer, I did some serious hand kneading!  It's good for the shoulders and arms right?  Once they are ready for the oven, you pour a sweet coconut mixture over them and bake.  I called Brian and asked if we could bring him something.  

The drive over to Brian's flat, past the historic Randolph Hotel...mostly shut down, but it still has the magnificent Union Jack flag flying.

I was frankly worried, because they didn't look like the picture Amber sent, and because it looked like there was a lot of liquid in the bottom of the pan.  But I wrapped them in foil and we drove to his place.  He came right down and graciously accepted the gift.  He later sent a note complimenting the rolls.  I am pretty sure that I can chalk that up to his kind and diplomatic nature and not the excellence of the rolls.  I wrote him back promising to deliver something that I really do know how to make.

He took some pictures, and then we came home to watch the "Why I Believe" Devotional which was on here at 6.

It was wonderful!  They had a great selection of people who bore their testimonies, and it is always such a strength to see and hear what touched their hearts and minds.  Our own Angie spoke.  She is wonderful and has such a knowledge of the bible and now The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.  She got her doctorate in Research and she taught in college for awhile.  Now she is just doing research, but she has a mind that loves to learn, and she is studying the gospel with a passion.  She is delightful to visit with because she has all kinds of questions, all coming from a position of strength.  

She had become disenchanted with the church of her childhood - the Catholic Church.  She has always believe in God, but for several years just checked out of all religions.  When her sister Leticia joined the church a year and a half ago, she began her journey.  She has such strong faith in the Savior, and her grasps the concepts of the gospel like dry earth soaking up the rain.  I love to hear her talk.

Tomorrow is the beginning of another week!  The most exciting thing about it is the possibility of opening a bottle of bubbly apple juice and celebrating my visa extension - unless they either don't write to me this week, or they tell me to "Go Home!"

You may have one eyebrow raised right now wondering when I am writing this.  Remember my good intentions about getting up early to write instead of staying up late?  Well, it is only 8 p.m. and this seems like a great time to do it while everything is fresh in my mind.

The wind has been whistling around the building since last night and it has continued through the day up until now.  It is strangely comforting.  It will get down to 28 this week on several days.  And snow is even forecast on Thursday.  I'll believe it when I see it.

I am so very tired....must be the vaccination.  I accept it gratefully as a marvelous alternative to getting the virus.  SK is also tired, but not tired enough NOT to be up at midnight to watch the Superbowl.  Crazy guy.