A Bleak Hawaii Mission

Sunday April 24, 2022    Email #30   Aloha family and friends! Happy Anniversary to Nathan and Stephanie yesterday and Happy Birthday to James tomorrow (today by the time you read this)!    We received quite a bit of rain this week and it has been cooler which I have really enjoyed. In Relief Society today they went person by person and asked every sister to mention their “high” and “low” for the week.  After several people mentioned that the cooler weather had been their “low”, I said that it had been my “high”.  I have loved it.  One day, I went to the settlement to help out there.  It was raining most of the time I was teaching and some of the time, the rain came down very hard.  It was so much fun being out on the porch teaching lessons with the rain in the background.  I LOVED it.    We said goodbye this week to nine senior missionaries who are going/have gone home.  We know and really love five of the nine....

Sunday April 17, 2022    Email #29   Aloha and HAPPY EASTER family and friends!   We miss you all!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday.  We got to have dinner with four other senior missionary couples.  Scott and I went a little late however because of a ward baptism that was in the afternoon at the same time.  I’m not sure if we will get to witness many baptisms while here so we were excited to attend this one. Iris is in the married student ward we attend and is married to a member but was not a member herself.    Our Sunday morning began with being able to listen to Kellie speak in her ward’s sacrament meeting.  She bore a strong testimony of choosing to believe, which is something that Scott and I have had many conversations about while being here.  It was a very uplifting, sincere and beautiful testimony.  Thanks Kellie!    Just before uploading the Scoville book to send to the company for pri...

Sunday April 10, 2022    Email #28     Aloha family and friends!   First of all --   Congrats to Finn on your baptism!!! We are thrilled for you.     I continued to go in to Mahinalani (the name of our store) early each day to learn how to open the store in preparation of the Scovilles going home.  I am putting a book together for them from the students (and missionaries) who work at the store as a surprise farewell gift.  Thanks to Scott!!!  I would never be able to do this on my own.  I am so grateful for the hours he has spent in getting it ready for printing.  It’s been more work than I anticipated to gather the notes of well wishes.  The other thing that will be an adjustment when they leave is taking over as the main teacher for the senior missionary ukulele class each Monday night.  I have big shoes to fill.    I felt really down on Tuesday and part of Wednesday.  I’m not sure why ...

Sunday April 3, 2022    Email #27   Aloha Family and Friends!   I just love conference weekend!  I always have.  I love the spiritual feast and am so sad when the last song is sung and the last prayer has been given.  Thankfully, we are very blessed to be able to re-read, study and listen to the talks over and over again.  The biggest thing that was missing this time was that we weren’t able to see you and enjoy wonderful food, laughter and conversation together.  I have thought about you often this weekend, wondering what traditions you have begun in your families around conference weekend.   I didn’t make cinnamon muffins because I made banana/chocolate chips muffins on Friday to share with my co-workers.  Baking twice in a week is a stretch here because of our small kitchen.  One of the blessings about being in Hawaii during conference time is that it ends really early and there is still time in the day to do other...

Monday March 28, 2022    Email #26   Aloha Family and Friends!   Sorry that this email is a day late.  We were invited to go over to spend the weekend with Joyce and Mike (Scott’s sister and husband) in Maui.  I took my computer but had problems with the keyboard and couldn’t type an email.  We are home now but only have a very short window in which to write and send it out.  So—I will just mention a few things about our weekend.    Joyce and Mike arranged for a whale watching tour.  There is a place on Maui that is supposed to be the best whale watching in the world.  Joyce and Mike arranged it so we could be the only ones on the boat.  It was an experience I will never forget.  It is getting towards the end of the whale watching season, so we were wondering if we would even see any.  Within minutes of the boat getting to the designated area—We saw three and eventually they came much closer to us—within 20 ...

Sunday March 20, 2022    Email #25   Aloha Family and Friends!   “Only in Hawaii!!!…”---that was what the speaker in sacrament meeting said today when he finally noticed that a mother hen and her three chicks had come into the room where we were holding sacrament meeting.  Many of us noticed much earlier and wondered if we should try to shoo them out or ignore them.  That’s a first for us.  But before that event, a new couple from China were asked to come up and give a brief testimony because they were sealed in the temple last Tuesday.  In his very broken English, the husband told about meeting his wife on line and how she wouldn’t get serious with him unless he became a member of the church.  After “dating” long distance for two years and him becoming a member of the church, they were married and now finally sealed together.  She talked about what a different feeling she has now after being sealed—a feeling that she couldn’t put i...