A Bleak Hawaii Mission

Sunday December 18, 2022.    Email #63   HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN!   Mele Kalikimaka Everyone!   I seriously considered not sending an email this week because there is nothing new to share.  But I just couldn’t break my streak of sending one each week, so I decided I would write a quick note to thank you for your loving support of us here.  We appreciate your love and constant prayers!  Thanks to each of you and thanks to those who sent us Christmas cards.  We have loved getting them.   Intellectually, I know that Christmas is a week away, but it sure doesn’t feel like Christmas. However, I will have to admit that I have loved experiencing a simple and slower pace this Christmas season.  We will miss you dearly this coming weekend but are grateful for zoom and face time to be able to connect.    The PCC was involved in making snow one day last week.  I heard that it is an annual tradition here—just one day....

Sunday December 11, 2022.    Email #62    Mele Kalikimaka Everyone!   Pearl Harbor celebrated their “Day of Remembrance” on Wednesday.  Consequently, there were many high school marching bands and choirs on the Island from all over the country.  Many of those High school groups came to the PCC this week.  And on certain days—our store became the “hang out” place for these groups of high schoolers.  They loved playing our ukes, guitar and drums.  Occasionally it sounded like music.  Most of the time it was simply noise, and I would have to go to the back room to take a few deep breaths and get away for a few minutes.  I did talk with several students each day and found that they were engaging and talented.  And it was an incredible experience for them to be at the celebration.  And their chaperones also said that it was an amazing experience.  But I am looking forward to having the decibels in our store lower...

Sunday December 4, 2022.    Email #61    Mele Kalikimaka Everyone!   Monday morning Scott and I both woke up to “Monday Mourning” just a little.  Here comes another week.  That feeling didn’t last long however.  As the week unfolded, we were very  blessed with many fun and enriching experiences.   Our store was very slow this week.  I am hoping that it picks up and we will have more to do.  The downside is that when it does pick up—the week before Christmas, many of our student employees will have gone home for Christmas, so the senior missionaries will need to stay until closing—7:30 p.m.    I canceled ukulele class on Monday because it was the yearly lighting ceremony on campus.  Last year it was held on a Sunday evening and the whole community gathered with their families.  The lawn in front of the McKay building was packed with people.  There was a nice program with music and speakers.  It...

Sunday November 27, 2022.    Email #60    HAPPY BIRTHDAY REESE!   Aloha Everyone!   Today has been a wonderful day.  After our church block, Scott and I went to the Visitor’s Center to see the decorated Christmas trees inside.  It is such a beautiful display.  Each stake on the Island of Oahu decorates a tree for the visitor’s center to be on display during the month of December.  A few other organizations (like the PCC) are also invited to decorate a tree.  I thought that the PCC tree was the most beautiful one on display (NO! I wasn’t involved in it).  It had ornaments with the names of Christ on it.  That was not unusual—many trees had that.  It also had circular glass discs with pictures of Christ.  And it was just put together so beautifully with the plumeria flower sprays and a light blue color throughout.  But another favorite was a tree that represented missionary work.  One woman hand...

Sunday November 20, 2022.    Email #59.    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!   Aloha Everyone!   Here goes round two of covid.  I was surprised that I got it again since round one was in February—not even a year ago.  I have been sicker this time around.  But for the first time in my life I have been able to rest and recover without feeling the stress of arranging time off--getting substitutes for school or taking care of church responsibilities etc. The ukulele store will be fine without me.  We have plenty of help right now.  I have had a fever, congestion, and cough.  The fever is gone, the congestion is improving, but the cough seems to have gotten worse.  My energy level is improving as well.  I am on the mend!  I will be in quarantine through Tuesday then I’ll go back to work on Wednesday with a mask IF I am symptom free. The thing I am most disappointed about is President Eyring is the devotional speaker Tuesd...

Sunday November 13, 2022.    Email #58.     Aloha Everyone!   This is going to be a short email.  There is hardly anything worth mentioning this week.  It was a very “routine” week except for Katelyn arriving here to spend six days with us.  It has been such a pleasure to have her here with us since Thursday. It is at times like this that I think I could be happy to extend our mission for another six months—no problem.  But other times, when we are back in the grind, I am happy to only have four months left.  We did something yesterday that I thought I would never do, and it took Katelyn a fair amount of “encouragement” but in the end, we were so glad we did it.  We went ziplining and had a wonderful time.  It was unnerving to put my life in the “hands” of a strap hooked to a cable but it got easier as we progressed through the eight runs.  The views were incredible .  The longest line was over a quarter of a mil...

Sunday November 6, 2022.    Email #57.     Aloha Everyone!   The spiritual highlight of my week was attending the Tuesday morning devotional on campus and listening to Sheri Dew.  It was absolutely incredible in the best sense of the word.  Scott and I each felt the spirit so strongly and wanted her to go on and on.  It ended too quickly.  I feel like she nails it every time she speaks.  We just loved her talk and HIGHLY recommend that each of you look it up and listen to it.  It is called, “Prophets See Around Corners”.  She has had many experiences with prophets and testified about who they are and what they do.  I believe that this talk will become a classic.  We will see.  I certainly intend on listening to it several times.  While sitting there waiting for it to begin Scott and I reminisced on our experience with speaking at the devotional almost exactly a year ago.  It was nice to be in the a...