February 2, 2009

I thought I'd post some pictures that show why we are here in Saipan. For the shot of the moon above, I put my camera lense right into the eye piece of one of the telescopes to see if I could catch on camera what we were seeing through the telescope and it worked! Below are a couple more pictures of J. and Heather at the telescopes...



We were invited over to a members home Sunday after church and had a wonderful time visiting and getting to know them better. Then on Monday we went to the home of another family and had the opportunity to get to know them better. We have been welcomed with open arms and getting to know people here and making friends with them is proving to be a real joy. The branch members here are strong, faithful, people and it is priviledge to be able to associate with them. That, really, has been the best part about being in Saipan so far
Here is a picture taken from the top of Mt. Tapachau, the highest point on the island. The small island is called Managaha. Below, I have posted a video of the view out our balcony here at the hotel. It's kind of a stormy day today so the waves crashing against the reef are bigger than we have seen yet. Yes, this seems to be as stormy as it gets here. They say that the temperature varies by only about 5 degrees, year 'round. In the video, the building that I zoomed in on towards the end is where the telescopes are housed. It is on that patio (where you see the umbrellas) where J. brings the scopes out at night to view the stars. It is often a bit hit and miss as to what can be seen because there are always clouds. But the clouds come and go, minute by minute, so you can almost always see something!