Whale Watching

Sunday January 23, 2022   

Email #17

 

Aloha Family!

 

For the most part, work was very slow this week.  January is the slowest month at the PCC. One unusual thing happened. A mother brought in her 10 year daughter who wanted a ukulele lesson.  They purchased the ukulele from us a few days earlier but didn’t have time right then to have a lesson.  I asked the mom to join but she declined.  She said she had to go to the lost and found.  Before I knew it, she was leaving the store and left me alone with her daughter.  They were from Korea and the mom spoke very little English and the daughter was really shy and also spoke very broken English.  She left the girl in our store for about 30 minutes.  The lesson takes about 10 minutes so I kept trying to think of things I could entertain this girl with until her mother returned to get her. I was amazed that a mother from a foreign country would dare leave a child with a stranger in an unfamiliar place.

 

I helped at the warehouse on Monday morning and worked my regular shift there on Wednesday.  They still need lots of help there and I’m trying to decide how many extra hours I will put in this week. The washing machine we use (and share with another family) broke on Monday and I was very concerned that we wouldn’t be able to get a new one for quite a while with so many appliances being unavailable right now.  The closest laundry mat is 40 minutes away.  I’m so thankful that the landlord was able to get a new one within a couple of days. That was a huge blessing!

 

It is whale season and we have been told that one can see whales at the Laie point (where we live) this time of year.  Another senior missionary couple spotted some Monday morning so Scott and I went out to see if we could spot them.  NOPE.  Later in the week I stopped on the street to speak with my next door neighbor and she gave me some pointers on how to spot them.  She said to not to look at individual spots on the water but to scan the horizon slowly going back and forth. Right when she told me that I thought of our Come Follow Me lesson this week in Moses 6 about how Enoch was told to call the people to repentance.  The Lord was angry with them.  And one of the reasons was because their “eyes cannot see afar off”.   I immediately went to the point and tried what she told me and spotted five or so spouts in the water.  I never saw the actual whale breech but I was still really excited about seeing the spouts.  I only spotted them when looking way out there.  My vision had been too close and too narrow.  On Friday, after work, Scott and I walked to the point to watch for whales and saw several.  It was so cool.  They were spouting and then breeching.  They were far out but it was really fun to actually see the body come out of the water.  Then on Saturday we had our monthly missionary activity.  We went to the Makapu’u Point light house for the purpose of whale watching.  We stopped at several places on the hike to the lighthouse and saw whale breeching and the fins slap the water.  It has been a lot of fun to experience such a simple event.    

 

Dad and I were able to attend a dinner this evening with the members of our district.  It was great to be together.  I love these people.  We have been told that the “new districts” will be announced tomorrow and am already sad that we will not be together anymore. After dinner, we each shared an experience we have had that has strengthened our testimony.  It was a very tender time or sharing and feeling the spirit. 

 

I want to end this email with an experience our friend (Sister Cottrell) had while working at the visitor’s center a month or so ago.  She said that she has similar experiences to this all the time.   I have to admit that I am jealous or their assignment—being able to work at the visitor’s center and talking with people about the Gospel.  Here is her story: 

 

Last evening, Monday, as we were on shift to close the Visitor’s Center, we were already noticing the increase of visitors. As one woman left with her family, I wished them a good evening and Aloha as they were walking out the door. I was behind the front desk when about 30 seconds later the lady came hurrying back in the door and came straight towards me. Our eyes met and she was almost in a panic. I said how can I help you? She kept looking at me and then up at the Christus as she spoke. “I want you to know I feel such peace in this place. It is so beautiful, and I feel peace and such joy. I don’t know why I have never felt this before. What am I feeling? Why do I feel this way here? I just feel so much peace. I just wanted you to know as those sisters in the back were telling us about your church and temples, I felt so much peace. I don’t know what this is or why I am feeling this way?”

I told her that she was feeling the spirit of the Holy Ghost and that this is what the church of Jesus Christ is all about. We know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost love you and want you to feel that peace and joy always and that is why we have temples. She said “we have temples too, but I feel so much peace here” I asked if she was Hindu, and does she practice Hindi? She said yes she was from India, but her eyes were darting everywhere and as she looked towards the back of the center at “God’s Plan for His family” she said, “this is what I want to know more about (pointing to God’s plan). I love that God has a plan. That is what I want to know.” I asked her if she had 15min and we could take her through that presentation to learn more but that is when one of her adult sons came rushing through the door and said, “mother, mother, we have to go, the bus is leaving, we have to go now.” (they were on the PCC tram). I quickly gave her a card with the virtual tour address and told her the sisters would take her through God’s plan on a virtual tour and that they will explain everything to her. As her son was pulling her out the door, she was still talking to me, “I WILL sign up for this tour. I feel so much peace, I want to know more…” I feel so much peace… thank you, thank you, thank you”. 

The spirit was so overwhelming that I felt as if I would burst. It was such a full feeling. I can’t explain it with the right words, but it was amazing!

"If we seek it, surely God shall give unto us knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost".

 

We love you with all of our hearts!  Have a wonderful week!

Mom, Grandma

 

 

How I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life this week:

 

*I had been concerned about never being able to help out at the settlement anymore and someone who might be able to help me figure out a way to continue, stopped me while walking to work and asked me questions that brought him understanding about the situation.

*We were able to get a new washer really quick.  

*I had a very near miss of a car accident and feel blessed to have avoided it. 

*I was taught “how to look” for whales by my neighbor.

*The beauty of God’s creations.  Nature and animals.

*I feel peace every time I walk on the temple grounds.

*I felt the spirit as my fellow district members shared their testimonies at our Sunday dinner.















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