GOODBYE HAWAII-HELLO UTAH AND HOME SWEET HOME!

I am finally home and have been here a full month. I was able to have a delightful Thanksgiving with my bro and sister-in-law Ron and Mary and their family. Kevin came along and I really enjoyed being home. Cold and all. I am getting ahead of myself so let see if I can remember my last exciting week in paradise.

Bagging Pearls

Mohea (the Christmas Party Girl) plans for the Christmas Party all year long. Her husband is a pilot and flies around the country and picks up food, gifts, etc everywhere he goes. They had cousins or in-laws in Tahiti and happened on a whole bunch of Tahitian Pearls. She came up to the office one day before I left and asked if we would help bag pearls for the Christmas Party. We bagged over 300 pearls. She gave every person who went to the Christmas Party a pearl. Each pearl was so different both in shape and in color.

 

Pua with her stash of pearls.

There is always something to keep us busy and we usually ended up by having lots of fun and a few laughs as we work.

MY LAST DEVOTIONAL WAS TONGAN

 

The Tongan village was really dressed up for visitors and to show respect to the Lord for all the special gifts he gives his people.

It was a beautiful day in Hawaii with a cool island breeze coming in through the doors.

                                                             Friends of Dian's that I met at the PCC. They served at BYU-H

What a beautiful people and their costumes were gorgeous. How lucky I was to spend two years in this delightful place. Now it seems like a mere dream.

MY LAST SUNDAY

  

These are our beautiful sisters in the Relief Society Presidency. 5 different cultures represented in this picture. Tongan, Phillipian, Utahan, New Zealander, and Asian. 

Just a funny tidbit about DeVon our RS president. One Sunday she was missing from church and no one knew where she was. The next week she was back and one of the sisters asked her where she had been the week before. She said that some other sisters had invited her to go skydiving. She told them no that they could go another day and but they said they were going on Sunday because it was cheaper on Sunday and they didn't want to pay the higher price. Off she went. (She's only been a member for a year or so.) I think she had a talk later with Bishop Mahoni. Thank goodness for repentance 😎 and thank goodness her parachute opened!!!!

Monday Lunch with the Fiu's

Monday on the next to the last day in Paradise I went to lunch with my favorite Samoan and his wife, Robyn. We went to the Island Barbecue Buffet. That was my favorite. They had the best ribs and teriyaki chicken with pineapple and onions cooked on the grill. That made it twice as good. Loved the two of them. 

Story time:

 When I received my mission call I opened the envelope and it stated that I was going to Hawaii. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. Then I looked at the date and it was Jan 2, 2017 that I would enter the mission home. I received my call on June 2, 2016 and started the process in early Jan of 2016. It was a full year from deciding what to do until I left. Everyone, including me wondered why I had to wait seven months before leaving. It was a really long time, those seven months. It wasn't until I was getting ready to come home that I put it all together. If I would just put my trust in the Lord and know that he does everything with a purpose I would not have questioned that seven month wait. I will explain.

When I got there I thought I would be sewing or working in the mission settlement. (Wrong!) The sister that was working in the purchasing department decided that she didn't like it there for some reason and decided she wanted to do something else. It wasn't working out for her. That was the week I arrived so I was asked to take her place. Later she stated that she was just keeping the chair warm for me and later we came to find out that this was probably a true statement.

I started work and it was a little slow at first but then as I learned what I was suppose to be doing and got the hang of things, Misi had his first stroke. He was out of work for six weeks or so and I had to take over all the ordering. It was not easy but I had had enough experience by then to pull it off for a few weeks. Misi came back and all was well until the middle of Feb and Misi had an appointment with the heart Dr. His Dr then found the aneurism on his aorta valve near the opening of his heart. They wanted to take him in that day to do the repair but his daughter was getting married at the end of the week so they decided to operate about 10 days after the wedding. He really had to take it easy because the valve could have burst at any time and he was really taking a chance by waiting but the Lord was with him. 

At this time in March we were changing our biggest vender from YHata to H&W foods. This had been in the works for about 6 months and the ordering is different with every vender. I was really in a dilemma because there was so much that I didn't know. Elder Griffith knew of Regina Valentine and all the good work that she had done previously so they asked her to come help me. What a lifesaver.

We proceeded on with the job and Misi came back 3 months later.  At 1st he was part time and then he was able to take over completely by the time I left to come home. Why the seven month wait to go to Hawaii? If I would not have waited those seven months Misi would not have recovered enough to take the responsibility on himself and they would have been in a real mess. As it was those seven months are just what was needed for him to get completely back on his feet and for me to get ready to come home. As for the Sister that I took her place she would have left about Feb and that would not have been enough time to train someone else. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I believe that and it never ceases to amaze me how things work out for the best. He has a plan and we can follow his plan and live again with him someday. I just need to learn that there isn't much that I am in charge of.

Amen!

TUESDAY: MY TIME HAD COME TO FLY INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER!

Tuesday November 13, 2018 had finally arrived and I was so excited to go back to Utah and be with my family there. It was interesting how I was so excited about going and now the Lord was preparing me to go back home. My work and my projects were all complete and I was ready to travel. The Winzeler's picked me up about 4:00 pm and we left for the airport. My plane didn't leave until about 10:00 pm so we decided to go eat at a nice restaurant on one of the piers. Here were are a little after sunset. The Winzeler's are wonderful people. They are the epitome of what a missionary should be.

After an all night flight I arrived in Salt Lake City at the break of dawn.

It was a beautiful sunrise. It was even more beautiful because in a few minutes I would get to see my family and I did:

I felt just a little bit overwhelmed by my welcome home. I did cry with joy at seeing my family.

Angie took her picture off but she was there.

We went to Breakfast at the Black Bear and then shopping to get me a coat and onward to the great valley of Cache. 

The Goodbyes Started and will soon end!

Who ever dreamed a person could collect so much "stuff" in 22 months. I have been going to "give n' take" every day for the past week and I still have two days left. This packing stuff is for the birds. I have enough to start up a whole new household when I get home and can't take it home with me. "Next time" I will not buy anything. It is just that everything in Hawaii is so pretty and so "Hawaiian." The colors are so gorgeous and I love all the flowers. Oh well, some lucky soul will find it and hopefully it will be a treasure to them.

The Parties Begin

Monday of last week the new "Supply Management Group" threw me a going away party. Guess what! I cried. I am going to miss the people that I worked with so much. We laughed and cried together for two years and then bingo I am gone and they are left here to carry on. It is so bittersweet. I would just like to take them home with me. I don't think many of them could survive the cold. What the heck, I may not be able to survive the cold. I had to wear a jacket last night at the International Food Fest and that is very unusual here in Hawaii. It made me think hard but then I decided nothing could keep me here. I am just ready to be back in UT with all my friends and family.

Here we are! This is most of the new "Supply Management Team" minus me. I am the first one to abandon the team. Sister Blodgett, Elder Crookston, VP Jared Hestor, Elder Weech, Elder and Sister Winzeler, Sister Smith, Rain, Sister Taylor, Elder and Sister Shelton, Regina Valentine (who saved me when Misi had surgery, Lili Filipo, Pita Unga, Me, Pua and Misi. What a team! There are quite a few missing who showed up later.

                              Waiting for the food.

Food arrives. We had enough food to feed us the rest of the week even with feeding over 50 people. They don't eat light in Hawaii. Every party is a feast.

Deserts were yummy! My favorite! Ted's chocolate macadamia nut pie and macadamia nut ice cream.

 I was LEI'D!!

Enjoyed every minute of it. 

    

Family Home Evening was a tear jerker for me. I gave my farewell talk and then they sang Aloha Oe. The talk wasn't so great but the singing was fabulous.

      

My "Boss" and Kris Winzeler













Singing my favorite song.                           Lisa Greer (Hale Sister)

Winding Down!

Life in Paradise is winding down. I will soon leave this beautiful part of God's earth and make my way home to the snowy mountains of Cache Valley. I can't wait to go home. I can wait for the snow.It has been an experience of a lifetime and I will never forget it but I can tell my work here has been accomplished and now I can go back to UT for another adventure. Life is so full of them. We never know what God has in store for us. We do know that it will be what we least expect.
I will miss the beautiful people of Hawaii and from all the other countries that I have gotten to know along the way. In this part of the world people just pass through your life on their way to a different life. That is what the PCC and BYU-H is about. I will miss Misi and Pua. Can't spend everyday for two years with someone and not miss them.

That is me in the upper left hand corner. I am the missionary that has been her the longest during this time at the PCC. That must mean it is about time to go home.


HALLOWEEN-2018
Neither of us was very creative in dressing up. We dressed the same as last year but it was fun just the same. Green Bay is Misi's favorite team and Minnie is turning "89" this year. So I am Minnie at 89. I think she looks pretty darn good for 89. 
Moana street was as crazy this year as last. We had 6 or 8 bags of the big Costco candy and they were gone within an hour. Then our landlord came out and took over and did about the same. They come by the hundreds.
                            

Bishop Greg and Cheryl Christiansen came to Oahu and stopped by for a short visit. Bishop Christiansen originated my mission call from Disneyland while Cheryl was on a terror ride. 😮 They wanted to see our multi-culture ward. It was Bishop Mahoni's birthday (my bishop here) so he fed the whole ward after church and had a linger longer-B-Day party for him. It was a nice day. Good to see someone from home.

Last Luau ticket taking

Ticket taking has been a mandatory part of our mission. Sometime hot, sometimes hotter but we were always well fed afterword. We were able to eat at the Prime Rib Buffet most of the time. I loved there seafood chowder and taro rolls. It all contributed to my "40 lb" mission. My last luau was a special event hosted by President Grace. I loved the way the tables were set up with the "Bird of Paradise"

napkins.

.Sister Hopkinson is standing at the welcome entrance of the event.

Sister Rohm and Sister Mecham were also at the last luau.

USU AGGIES COME TO HAWAII

LAST BIG "P-DAY" HURRAH!

Debbie Day, Cindy Myrup, Julie Nield (from Smithfield), Lisa Greer, and me at the International Marketplace. First we went to the Aloha Swap Meet, then Duke's for lunch and off to the game.

ODDS AND ENDS

Went to Pounders Beach to listen to the waves one afternoon and the Lord blessed me with this beautiful rainbow and sunset

.

GOD BLESS! SEE YOU IN A WEEK! AMEN

Feeding my son to the "sharks!"

Rain is just a way of life in Hawaii. It is as much fun to swim in the rain as in the sun. Now I don't really believe this but most don't care. You are we already wet so I guess if it isn't lightning it doesn't matter much. What does this have to do with anything? It doesn't. Just a thought. Life is often filled with surprises.
Such as this one!Yes! It is what it looks like.
It was a little bit disconcerting to look over the side of a boat and see 2 or 3 of these swimming around the boat.
While Kevin was here he wanted to go swim with the sharks so he booked a trip and I went along for the boat ride. It was awesome watching them swim around and around the boat.
They were in cages and I suppose
perfectly safe. (I didn't want to do it)
It was a little scary thinking of him out there as shark bait.





 

Waimae Falls

Another adventure that we went on was up to Waimae Falls. It is a beautiful walk but when we go to the falls we were in for a big surprise. It must have rained hard because the little falls had turned into  torrential falls. I had a hard time believing they were the same falls that I have been to previous times before. They were not letting anyone swim in the falls, today.
               

HOME ON THE POINT!

Kevin rented an AirBnB home up on Laie Point. It had two bedrooms so I was able to go stay with him for the week he was here. They let me out of the compound for a few days RnR. It was wonderful. It was at the end of Laie Point and had a swimming pool, and a private deck to watch the sunrise and the sunset. I enjoyed the outdoor shower. That is the shower door on the left and to the right is one of the decks and entrances to our rooms.

 

The last day Kevin was here I took him back to Wakiki Beach to his hotel and we looked down from the balcony and I thought I saw a funny looking rock. Then it started moving and looking closer it was a big moulting seal.

And that was that! All good things must come to an end. I left Kevin and went back to Laie for another 6 weeks. Now I am down to 3. See you soon!

THE RAT TRAP

Some people collect stamps, bottle caps, rocks, etc. I guess I am collecting rat pictures. After all that has happened in our office and I think that nothing more can distract us, along comes another surprise. This surprise was the surprise of the "rat invasion."
Meet Lulu!

                                           and Elmer!


Here is HoyHoy in the cockroach trap. HoyHoy ran across my feet one morning as I was talking to a vender. Her hearing will never be the same. She just said she would have screamed louder that I did. She was so kind.


Thursday we caught "Tails" He was in the trap from Monday to Thursday. They could smell him but we couldn't find him. He was right above my head the whole time. Misi said that there were maggot friends up there with him.        SEE THE TAIL!!!                      


                                                              THE "RAT BUSTERS"

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

ODDS AND ENDS!

   

and a few of God's best paintings to end this blog for today!

AMEN!