Farnsworth Forum

Please forgive this "mind candy" post! Some of my favorite people recently received Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz" received their Star on November 20, 2007, after a 68 year wait. We met three of the "little people" at a festival two years ago. It was great fun to hear their memories of making movie magic. They received less pay for their work than Toto! Speaking of magic, Elizabeth Montgomery received her posthumous Star on January 4, 2008. Although most famous for her role as Samantha on "Bewitched," she enjoyed a wide range of parts during her career, which was cut short by her death from colon cancer in May 1995.

Marisol is teaching Amelia the fine art of sewing. Grandma will be so proud!!! (Notice the matching pink seamstress uniforms.)

Marisol is taking the second part of Freshmen English this semester. It involves much reading and writing summaries of "The Chronicles of Narnia." Right now the class is finishing up The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before they split up into groups and read one more of the books in the series. Then they will prepare a presentation for the rest of the class. In this way all the students receive an introduction to the rest of the books that their group did not read. I am very proud of Marisol for her hard work. She works very hard during the day as a mother and housewife and spends her nights reading and completing assignments. Please pray for her. Two days ago she received a letter from Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly INS. They have scheduled her for her citizenship interview, English test, and U.S. history test on Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at 10:30 am. This is an exciting, and nervous, time for her as she studies her civics questions. I tease her ...

This evening we went to one of our favorite places, Ypao Beach. Most of the time we spent building castles in the sand, but we did manage to get in a little bit of swimming before Amelia started trembling from the cold. Then we ate some sandwiches in the car before heading home. Tomorrow marks the beginning of another busy week of activities at the college, so we need to fit it these family times when we can.

Our two little "cutie petuties" looked so cute in their Sunday clothes today that we wanted to share a picture with you. Please forgive our lack of humility!

When the students returned from Yap for the new semester, they arrived decked out in beautiful floral crowns and necklaces. They shared with Joel and me, who went to meet them at the airport. Talk about a royal welcome!!!!

Here are our favorite Superheroes, Wolverine and Flash. They like to save their Mamá from "certain danger," like when she has sofa pillows piled on top of her!!!!

On Saturday PIBC hosted a welcome back barbecue for the students. Mark and Keiny (newly elected student council president) helped to cook the meat: ribs and chicken. Joe and Marsa chatted while waiting for the food to be ready. Mamu, Mei (from China), and volunteer English teacher Kathy enjoyed going through the buffet line together. Everyone had a nice time. Special thanks to student council for their help in organizing this activity.

I finally finished installing the last part of the swingset last week. That was a project for the semester break, and it barely got done. Joel and I also went to see "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: a Veggie Tales Movie." Although cute, there are some parts that frightened Joel so we "cuddled" in those parts. Some of it was a spoof of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" series and unintellible on one level for kids. I enjoyed having time to do something alone with Joel, just the Farnsworth men. At the college now we're back to work; registration and the first day of classes was Monday. My new position has me frazzled some of the time. That's probably normal for a new job. Each day I'm learning that I am responsible for things that I didn't realize I was responsible for. Any way I look at it, this job, and the two classes I am teaching, are TOO BIG for me! Every day I'm reminded that I need the Lord's wisdom and strength. Please ...

During this break we have enjoyed playing on the PIBC basketball court with Joel's new scooter and Amelia's baby carriage. Last night we laughed as we watched Amelia's carriage blow away in the wind, and she, always the diligent mother, would run after it. Once the students return, it is harder to have these private moments on the court, but we enjoy spending time with them at our house and on campus.

When mowing, or walking, one must look out for these enormous anthills that the red or "fire" ants call home. Otherwise, one will receive an unpleasant surprise. The worst time was when Amelia sat on an ant city, and the ants quickly found their way into her diaper. Thank goodness she is doing well with her potty training!

Classes at Pacific Islands Bible College begin on Monday, January 21, 2008. Please pray for the students as they travel and for the faculty and staff as they make final preparations. Please pray for the six students who graduated in December and are looking for jobs and ministries to be involved in. Pray for Steve and Anne Stinnette. Steve and Anne left Guam in September for Steve to receive treatment for his eye in Philadelphia. So far the latest contact he was fit with is working well, and they plan to move to Schooley's Mountain, NJ, while they will assist Bill Shuit who has accepted the position of Director of Global Ministries for Liebenzell Mission USA. Please pray for a smooth transition for these men and their wives. Jens and Karin Schulz need your prayers as well. They are currently in Germany trying to work out some visa difficulties so they can return to Guam to continue their work as Campus Director/Financial Director and Office Manager/Registrar of PIBC. In thei...

The other night I got this Mash pajama on clearance at KMart. It reminded me of something funny. During my senior year in high school I played Friedrich in The Sound of Music. We had a dress rehearsal on the night of the Mash series finale. Some of the stage crew guys had a black and white TV set up backstage, and we were watching during our offstage moments. (This particular episode remains a classic even today, 25 years later.) The director did not catch on to this "secret" until some of us missed our cues; then the TV was banished from the rest of the rehearsal. Fun memories!

Joel and Amelia have been asking to go see the Mermaid Statue. The mermaid, or sirena, plays an important role in Guam's legendary past. The legend tells how a young girl would disobey her mother to go swimming in the ocean. The mother became angry and turned her daughter into a fish. Hearing of this, the girl's godmother came and reversed part of the spell. Now the girl would remain part girl and part fish. Hence, the concept of mermaid was born. The statue, and the site where it rests, underneath a bridge built in 1800 during the Spanish occupation, is in disarray. The statue is corroding, and the grass really needs a mowing. Too bad that Guam does not realize the importance of preserving these historic sites and tourist attractions. This stained glass window is part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Building. Marisol was fingerprinted here; we continue to await word regarding her citizenship application. We turned in the paperwork in June,...

A very creative teacher, Marisol dressed up as one of the Wise Men for our Sunday School class on January 6, 2008, which is Epiphany on the Church calendar or the traditional date for the arrival of the Magi to visit the baby Jesus. We talked about their visit and the gifts they gave Him, and we shared some small treats with the children. Amelia seemed to enjoy the visit from the Wise Man (Lady?) during class. At least she didn't cry as she does when I dress up in my clown outfit. Joel even got into the act on Sunday night by posing for this picture in a costume that his friend Joyce loaned him. Now our Christmas season is officially over. We took down our Christmas tree and packed away our Christmas music. Next Christmas will be here soon, though. Time certainly does seem to fly!

Yesterday we awoke to find that the sunflower that Joel planted two months ago is blooming. He was so pleased; we couldn't even grow sunflowers in Pennsylvania! (He is squinting in the picture due to intense heat and sun).

Hi all! We finally have internet access at the house. Last week a man from Mariana's Cable Vision came to install. I asked him to tell me if he needed help with anything. He looked surprised that I offered, but he did ask me to help him run cables. Just call me "Ned the Cable Guy." I didn't get to go up on the roof that day. Two days ago I did to retrieve one of Joel's balls that I accidentally threw up on the roof. Here is the pseudo view of the ocean from our roof. Too many trees in the way! I'll have to get our friend Joyce over here with her power saw. This is a view of our neighbors' garden. They sell local produce at the flea market on Saturday mornings. Amelia, Joel and Marisol pose for a birds' eye view picture. Such adventures we Farnsworths have.

Hello again. I am enjoying reading during this semester break, especially now that grades are ready, as of Monday at noon. This has been the biggest post-semester hurdle ever for me, including my seven years of teaching secondary Spanish. I think the move took its toll in terms of exhaustion. After the move, I was not afforded the luxury of rest and recovery due to my teaching load of three classes. I think Marisol felt the same way with the writing demands of Freshman English. This past month I finished reading My Life Before God byWilliam Murray, the oldest son of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who did away with prayer and Bible reading in the U.S. public school system. This book read like a cheap thriller with much negative information shared about his mother and left the reader feeling empty because it did not show how his life changed after his conversion to Christianity. Quite a contrast to the other autobiography that I finished: Rebel with a Cause:Finally Comfortable Being Graha...

Two nights ago we were eating and Amelia was trying to eat by herself and got food all over herself and the floor. In a moment of frustration I told her, "You still need help eating. You think you're a big girl, but you're not a big girl yet." To which she replied, "No? Okay!" How Marisol and I laughed. Then yesterday we took Joel and Amelia to the doctor for a rash which ended up being impetigo. I think I spelled that correctly. Our doctor, Dr. Perez, asked Joel how old he was, and he answered, "I'm four now." Neither he nor Amelia cried at all. Even Amelia stepped on the scale to be weighed, the first time for her. And on the way home we stopped and had to get a routine blood test for Amelia. To our surprise and delight she did not cry even a little bit. We were so thankful and proud of them that we treated them to Wendy's, although Amelia wanted a hot dog, which they don't serve there. Nonetheless, we bought her some fr...

As you can see, Joel and Amelia are ready for action in 2008! They certainly keep their parents hopping! The only problem is this: their feet don't reach the pedals!!! I guess they'll find a way as they always do! Please pray for us to be good parents in 2008! It is a big responsibility, and we need the Lord's help.

Yesterday we invited some students (Mamu, Judson, Merong, and Ken--and Leeman, not pictured) to lunch. We were glad to have some time with them even during the semester break. Some of them have been volunteering to help with some maintenance projects on campus. Marisol made ribs in the crock pot with BBQ sauce following our friend Melissa's recipe. One of the students said that they were the best ribs he had ever tasted, tender and tasty. As the proud husband I agree: SLAM DUNK, Marisol!!!

This is a quick December recap since we were not able to post too much during the last month. December began with two fine youth programs that my Youth and Children class presented in two churches in Guam. I was very pleased with their work. One group presented a program to the Chuukese youth at the Mariana's Baptist Church complete with fun icebreaker games. At the beginning of their program my students introduced themselves to the youth at the Palauan Evangelical Church in Guam. Joel and Amelia love to play in the mud. What kid doesn't??? Joel and I went with Hiob and Micah to see the Harlem Ambassadors, who are similar to the Harlem Globetrotters. Great fun for all! We met Lisa at Harvest Baptist Church during their annual Christmas cantata, for which she played the piano. Lisa is the daughter of longtime missionaries in Spain. Her parents led Gustavo's parents to the Lord years ago, and Gustavo grew up and became the Liebenzell director of Ecuador and Marisol's ...