Tender Mercies, Devotionals, Fun, Goodbyes, Disasters and Pure Cuteness!

It has been a week or so since I posted. Life is going along each day and the same with you back on the mainland, I suppose. As of this week I have 7 months left on my mission and when I received my call I had 7 months before I went on my mission. Time marches onward. I would say that this week was uneventful but I can see the Lord's hands in so many things that happen here. I think that this is a place he really loves.
Two Sunday's ago on the 22nd of April we had a visit from our dear 93 year old prophet President Russell M Nelson his wife Wendy and Jeffry R Holland and his wife. It was a great experience to see them here. They talked at the BYU Cannon Center. It was filled to capacity and we had to have tickets to attend. The tickets that we would have received we gave to the students at BYU who didn't get them. There were only 30 tickets per ward. We watched it at the YSA Stake center. It wasn't quite the same as being there but spiritual nonetheless. I really enjoyed and learned from Sister Wendy Nelson's talk. She stated that when they received news that President Monson died they had so much empathy for Jonah and just wanted to run. She said that she has been witness to many sacred experiences. What a job it would be to be the wife of the prophet.
President Nelson talked his purpose for the world wide trip. 1. To get closer to the Savior. 2. To take the Savior's love to the world. We did feel his love as each one of them spoke to us.

Last Saturday we attended the Aotearoa (New Zealand) devotional. "Least We Forget." They paid honor to the men who participated in the Anzac battle during WWII. It was a touching devotional as many of the students talked of their grandfather's who served. Some who didn't come home. They talked of those waiting at home for them to return and they never came back. It reminded me of each day I waited for news when Craig was in Vietnam. Being at the door each day waiting to see if the mailman had a letter for me and then if one didn't come that day that something had happened to him. Then doing the same thing the next day. That was pure anguish wondering and praying that everything would be fine and I would get to see him again. We were luckier than many of the young men who never returned.

After the devotional my friend Karen Rhodes and I went on a little ride and ended up in Kapolei. We did a little shopping and on the way home stopped at one of the beaches. I had never been to this one before. The ocean was really angry on this day and the waves were humongous.




We walked along the beach for a ways and came to this part of the beach that someone had taken the time to manicure so perfectly. It was very beautiful part of the beach.

I am certainly glad that I was not on this surfboard when it was tree bound either that or someone has 

 a great sense of humor.

It has been over a year and it is time for Raeola to make her way back to Canada. She is the only Canadian that I have ever had as a roomie it a hale.  She bids farewell on Thursday and a new sister arrives on Saturday. We decide on Halewia Joe's as a goodby lunch.

Hawaii has really been inundated since the first of 2018 with all sorts of different disasters. To say the least it has been exciting to watch. I am glad that I have been able to watch from a distance. I guess that is another tender merci for us on this part of the island. It all started with the ballistic missile threat during the first part of January. We really thought we would  be blown off the map by that one. Of course it was a fluke of which we will be eternally grateful. It hasn't quit raining here since last November and it has rained hard at times. The floods on Kuai have been horrible and we had floods south of us that wiped out a whole farm along with all its vegetation. Last Thursday and Friday topped it off with nothing I have ever seen before with a volcanic eruption and it is Sunday and it is still erupting. They also had a 6.9 earthquake. Some people in Honolulu said they felt it but I don't think that anyone on this side felt it. I really feel for the people who lost their homes to the lava flow.

"PURE CUTENESS"

Now for some happy news. My darling little AddieCakes turned 2 years old on the 28th of April and here are her pictures that her "not" grandma, Angie took. I've missed both her birthday's now. Be with you next year, AddieCakes.

 Better than flowers and a sunset.