Guisinger's in Guam: November 2012

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ocean Baptism

Our ward has been leading the mission in baptisms for the past few months. In fact shortly after arriving, we had baptisms every weekend for over a month. The new members are typically baptized in the font at our building. However, a few weeks ago we had the good fortune to be able to attend the ocean baptism of Steve Engkich and Tony Mafton.

The baptismal services were held at the "Ruins of Zarahemla" (next to Burgess's house). . . and the baptisms were performed at the beach across the street. Except for the family whose quiet evening we interrupted, we were the only ones in the little cove. It was a perfect night for a baptism.

THIS is where we live...

This is our neighborhood

And this is a close up so you can see our house. We live at 5 Monterey - the street down from the two round-a-bouts in the middle of the map. We live in a duplex in the middle on the lower half street (as you head towards towards the narrow end). The park is right in our back yard.

Here it is from the outside

Hagatna Bay

Jessica and I were heading home from the DMV on Friday. As we passed one of my favorite views from the road we decided to turn around and take some pictures. Here are some views of Hagatna Bay. We always pass this bay whenever we go north - to Andersen AFB, Micronesian Mall, IPO (Ross and other stores - including Chuckie Cheese), K-Mart, Dedeo farmer's market, Haputo Beach (and others), Rachel's piano teacher, etc. You can see across the bay to Tumon which is where most of the hotels are located. It's a very touristy area - lots of stores(many of them duty free), restaurants, water parks and Fiestas with a show. The colors of the water here are indescribably stunning. Photographs can't compare to the eye in capturing the intense variety of colors. It's truly breathtaking. I could stand on the beach, soaking in the view, for a long time and never tire of it. Many tourists come to this bay to ride jet skis, parasail and enjoy a ride on the banana boats. Enjoy the views... Somedays it's hard to believe that THIS is where we live!!

The view driving south (toward Big Navy)

The view driving north

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A beginning, and Veteran's Day

Finally! Our blog has begun... There are so many things to show all of you who have been wondering what life in Guam is like. To get everyone up to speed, we will post lots of pictures and explanations. If we've missed something that you'd like to see or read about let us know and we will add it.

For Veteran's Day we spent the day at Haputo Beach. It's up north on the west side, bordering the Philippine Sea. You can only access it from one of the Communication bases, so it's not very crowded. Getting to the beach requires a downhill hike which is steep, but not too bad. Coming back up however, is another story. I was beginning to feel as if it might be better to just build a hut and stay down on the beach. All in all it was a GREAT day!!

We went with several other families, because the beach is always more fun with a crowd and today was no exception. The kids had fun building sand castles, playing with crabs, burying each other, creating "mermaid tails," talking, laughing, and snorkeling. I mostly snorkeled and explored the beach, Chad read and explored with me, and, along with the other activities, Tanner learned to husk coconuts, crack them open, drink the coconut juice and eat the flesh - YUM!!