Hello Elder Moimoi!

Meet Elder Moimoi. He is from Tonga. He served in a Tongan ward in Honolulu before he came to Kauai. He is a Rugby player and is very good. When I asked him what he wants to do after his mission he said "Play Rugby." "For a living" I asked? "Yes" he said. He is a great young man. He speaks quickly and you have to really listen to him to understand. I love to hear him talk. He speaks a "little" pigeon. Elder Grover says he feels safe now. Elder Moimoi is strong and sure of himself. He has a wonderful testimony. His father passed away just after his family was sealed in the temple in 2007. His mother has moved to Australia and that is where he will go when he gets released. We are so thankful for the opportunity to meet and take care of such wonderful elders.

Moa, Moa Everywhere!

In 1992 Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai full force. There were lots of chickens here but they were
domestic chickens.

A lot of property was destroyed and along with that chicken coops. All the chickens escaped!

Now we have chickens everywhere and running free. It is amazing how they have multiplied and keep on going. They are everywhere! They start crowing at 4:oo in the morning and continue all day long. They also have a calling chain. One chicken crows and it goes on down the line. They answer each other. I wonder if we will get used to in 18 months time.

Ouch!

This week has been a little emotional for us. First, we tried to find a doctor who would look at a sore on Wally's face that wouldn't heal. We tried several and no one was taking new patients. Finally, someone told us about a new doctor in Port Allen. She took us in and had a doctor who was shadowing her look at it. It just so happened he had had a fellowship at Uof U. Well, he took a biopsy of Wally's sore and said "I'll let you know the results when they come in." The results were basal cell carcinoma. When you hear carcinoma you go into shock. Dr. Vu called back and said " I want to take some more tissue to make sure it is all gone." Then he called back and said it is too big I am sending you to a specialist in Lihue. Off we went the next day to Dr. Potter. (I had called there but his front desk said we could see him in July.) Dr. Potter took good care of us and said "I'll just take some more tissue. Don't worry, no big deal it, won't spread all is ok!" What a relief! We were ready to come home to our own doctors. I had even looked up ticket prices.

Here is the picture and the count on stitches, 9 in all. Funny doctor made Wall smile so he could see where his wrinkles were before he stitched him up so it would show too much. :) We were really blessed because tourists and insurance have really messed things up for getting into a doctor here. If you don't have Hawaiian insurance or cash up front and a primary doctor too bad. Now we have established ourselves we have doctors to go to if we need them . Whew!

Service and the 4th Grade.

Here is Mrs. Karratti's 4th grade class. Dad and I read with them on Monday's and Wednesday's. They are so cute and it is a fun thing to do. As missionaries we are encouraged to do service one day a week if we can. When I first asked Mrs. Karratti if I could do it she was a little hesitant. I told her all I wanted to do was listen to her students read and that I had had a parent listen to my class at home and how much it helped all the students not just the ones who had a hard time reading. After the first week she was so excited because all the kids loved the attention. I asked her if Wally could come because he wanted to help and she said "I wondered what he was doing when you were here." Our investigator Lauren comes too. Everyone has a good time.

Geckoes, Spiders, Cockroaches. Yuk!

This little guy loves the bathroom. His lives around the big bathtub. He is little and cute. You should see the huge one who lives up by the high ceiling and comes zooming down the wall and runs over to the fridge in the evening.

This spider appeared on Monday when the elder's were here. We all took pictures. This doesn't do him justice. He is huge! Dad vaccumed him up and then emptied him outside. Jeffrey would have loved him. His legs were so00 long.

And tonight the best of all the game. Here I am working on the blog and out runs this guy. Ugh.

All these creatures just make me crawl. Makes you wonder what they do when you are sleeping at night. The ants are the best tho. You can't leave anything on the counter at all or it will be Hawaiianized. That's what we call it. In a matter of a few minutes anything you leave out will be covered. I left a tortilla on the counter waiting for the pan to warm up and I just turned my back for a minute. When I turned around it was covered. Ahhhhh. The other nasty things are the gnats that are attracted to light at night. No lamps, no computers, no touches or they fly in your eyes, up you nose and in your mouth. Yuk!!!

Good Bye Elder Schmerse.

Holy Cow! All but 2 elders are being transferred! We couldn't believe it when we heard it this morning. The only elder left who has been here as long as we have is Elder Parker one of the Zone Leaders. Elder Gerard, the other one left, has been here just 6 weeks since the last transfers. Elder Schmerse is a great elder and we have enjoyed knowing him. We take care of him and his companion on P-days. They wash their clothes here and have breakfast and lunch with us. We kind of feel like they are our boys. While he was sitting here visiting with us he was feeling just fine that he hadn't gotten a call from the Pres. Don't get so comfy Elder. Just about 11:00 his phone rang and you guessed it he got "the call." He is going to be a D.L. in Honolulu.
He is a great young man and will do a wonderful job.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Well, it has been raining for 2 days and nights now. It is gloomy and the roads are flooded. It is interesting that the rain just causes floods everywhere and doesn't go into the ground. We are just sand around here and you would think it would drain. Not so. The other thing that happened this morning was that when I was taking a shower there was very little hot water. It was luke warm in fact. I didn't think too much about it ' til I was doing the dishes later on. Hmm, no hot water. All of a sudden it hit me. All the hot water heaters around here are on top of the roofs and they are solar. No sun, no hot water! Brrr.

BSMF...

Happy 60th Birthday Bud Bouche! We were invited out to the Barking Sands Military Base for a birthday dinner for Brother Bouche. His family works on base and lives there too. They are from Orem and all their children graduated from Mountain View High School. Small world. Anyway, the thing that was funny was we all had to have picture ID's and be on a security check list so we could go on base. Our names were on the list but they still checked our ID's and made us feel like terriorists! Hmmm. As we were waiting I hopped out of the car with my camera and asked the guard if I could take his picture. He threw up his hands and said "Oh no you can't do that. It is against regulations. If you do I will have to take your camera." I was shocked. " What can I take a picture of for my blog then?" I asked. "How about that helicopter over there?" So I did. I

forgot the name of it but it was huge. This picture doesn't do it justice! Do Wally and I really look that scary? Maybe like foreign agents? Spys? I can hear what you're all saying now. Very funny.

You Won't Believe This!!

As we were walking along the beach this morning we heard the bells of a fishing pole go off. That means there is a fish on the line. Fishermen fish off the shore all the time. Usually putting in at least 2 poles sometimes 5 or 6. They put little bells on the eye of the pole so when it starts to ring they know they have a fish on the line. I was asking some questions about it when all of a sudden the bell goes off. The guys couldn't believe it. It happened so quickly after they put the line in. This fish is bigger than it looks. It is called a Bone Fish.

Then we see a young boy walking with a pole up and down the beach. A fish is on his line and it will not give up. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally he lands it. It is huge about 3 feet long and must weigh 50-60 lbs. It was and Ulua. WOW! I didn't even think to take a picture I was so excited. I can't believe I did that. What a fun thing to watch. Just think those fish are that close to us swimming in the water!!!

Brother Souza the Ahi and the Ono.

Here is Brother Souza's boat. He goes fishing for days at a time out by himself. This is how he makes his living. He has a fish finder and satellite phone and GPS. He sometimes goes off Niihau.
He has a fish broker who sells his fish to restaurants for him and takes 10%.

We were just coming home one day and passed his house and saw he was home so we dropped in. Little did we know he just got back from a fishing trip. Here he is filleting an Ahi (yellow fin tuna)
and an Ono(supposedly the best eating fish on the islands). We watched and he told us all about it as he did it. He did it so easily with a flick of the wrist. He was even kind enough to give us a big piece of each. He gave us specific instructions on how to cook them and we followed his directions to the "T" and it just melted in our mouths. Never have we tasted such delicious fish and don't suppose we will again!!! His last comment was "the fish doesn't get any fresher that this!"

Dr.s Visit and Plantation Cottages.

The oven for baking bread.

The Kruse House.

Wally had a visit with Dr. Krebs an Dr. Vu today about a sore on his face. They are going to do a little minor surgery on it on Friday. He feels better now knowing that is not quite as bad as he thought it might be. On our way home we decided to visit Sister Cardejon at the Waimea Plantation Cottages. She told us we could use the WiFi in the lobby there. That would be such a great help to us. While we were asking about it she said "let me take you on a tour of the property. I want you to bring all your boys and families here for a stay." So she and her assistant Oomi drove us around in golf carts and showed us their favorite spots. Here Wally and I are standing next to a huge Banyon Tree with many roots. You also can see the picture of the Kruse House. It has five bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, 2 sitting rooms and a huge porch or lanai as they call it here. It is only $650 a night. What a deal. We could all fit in there. It is a plantation cottage and is true to it time period. It is old but wonderful. The last picture is of an oven for baking bread. It is from the 1800's. It belonged to a family in our ward and they donated it to the Cottages so it could be preserved and be seen as part of the history museum. What a great day it turned out to be. Our lesson with Justin and Lauren on Word of Wisdom and Eternal Marriage and Temples was outstanding too. Keep praying for these 2. We love them so much and hope they embrace the gospel soon!

Time Again For Transfers!

We had Zone meeting today. It will be our last as this group. Elder Fiafie(big guy in the lava-lava)and Elder Prina (zone leader bottom left) will be leaving for sure. We will miss them. Elder Prina really wanted to hug us we could tell but held himself back. He is such a good guy. Wish I knew someone to set him up with. We had a great meeting and the Z.L's promised us that if we met our goals this week they would take us out to a mexican restaurant in their area for lunch on Monday, our P-day. They leave Wednesday. Both will go home to Utah. Hmmm, is it worth it. We think so!!! I took them Mandy's Chocolate Chip cookies for a treat this week. Boy, did they ever eat those up in a hurry.

Justin and Lauren Update.

Just wanted to let you know that Justin and Lauren are doing well. We continue to teach them lessons every week. They are truly a golden couple. We love them and think of them as if they were our own. We taught them about the organization of the church and they came to Sunday School, Priesthood and Relief Society. They never questioned the lesson on tithing and fast offerings. It just so happens that their house is for sale but they have a lease until April. They called us and told us they couldn't come to church because the house was being shown and they couldn't leave their dog there while it was being looked at. They hopped in the car and headed out. When they got to Kalaheo they saw the church and stopped and left Bonnie in the car and went in to Sacrament Meeting. When they told us our hearts were about to burst. Lauren gave the most beautiful prayer last time we were there and we were humbled by it. It was truly heartfelt and there was no doubt she was talking to our Heavenly Father.

No Slippahs in Da House!

We left so quickly to come on our mission no one had time to warn of some of the nuances of Hawaiian life. One of the big things is no shoes in the house. Every doorway has shoes piled everywhere. We brought all lace up and buckle up shoes that are worthless. We spend a lot of time hobbling around on porches trying to either take our shoes off when we arrive or put them back on as we leave. Love this little sign at the door of our Bishop's house.

Pizza, Pizza, Yum!!

Our Zone and Zone Leaders are terffic! We love all these missionaries. They work so hard and are an example to us. It is so funny to have them teaching us the lessons and telling us what to do. They try to make us feel positive and good. They are always saying "Elder and Sister Fairbanks you are awesome!" I'm sure they are not sure about us. This week we asked them if we could buy them pizza for lunch. For a bunch of starving boys it was a deal they couldn't pass up. They happened to bring a big bag of costco chips and salsa and some left over cookies from a meeting the night before so it turned out to be quite the feast. Let me tell you those super large peperoni pizzas were gone quicker than a wink. Next week I will take them Mandy's famous chocolate chip cookies. It is the mother in me I can't help it. I just wish they would let me hug them.

Don't Get Caught by the Unexpected!

Yesterday we had the rain storm of rain storms! I tried to get a picture of the wind and falling rain but it didn't show up too well. It rained all night and all day Sunday then last night too. When it rains here it like someone pouring a bucket down on us. We are glad Brandon and Jana were here for beautiful weather and blue skys. For our walk today it was clear but because of the storm yesterday the sea was really rough. The waves were about 15 feet high. It was magnificent to watch! We decided to sit on a sand bar and watch to see if we could see some whales. We were careful to be out of the way of the waves. It was so much fun to watch. We were laughing and enjoying ourselves when out of nowhere a wave crashed up and caught us unawares and soaked us to the waist. We had cell phones in our pockets but luckily they weren't hurt, just wet and sandy like we were!

Brandon and Jana Have Arrived!

Brandon and Jana arrived yesterday from Maui. We were so excited that they would come over and spend 2 days with us. We went to Poipu and spent the night at the Marriott. It was so wonderful to have a big, comfortable, soft bed to sleep in. We even watched a little news on T.V.

Here is Brandon doing a flip as he jumps off the Kipu Falls. He makes me so nervous he is such a dare devil. If you look closely you can see the ladder and the rope swing. Brandon went off the swing 2 or 3 times until it hurt his broken rib.

These pictures are taken at Kipu Falls. The kids are checking out the falls. They both jumped but only Brandon tried the rope swing. It is a fun place to go. The hike down to it is narrow path down through a cane field. Half way down I said to Jana "I hope there are no snakes in here" and she told me there are no snakes in Hawaii. Yea!

What fun to show our kids where we do our missionary work, live and go to church. We even took them to see "our" beach. That way they can feel apart of what we are experiencing.

Our Thursday History Lessons.

Meet Brother an Sister Cardejon. Sister Cardejon works as a manager out at the Waimea Plantation cottages. Brother Cardejon is retired and so we have the great opportunity to work with him on Thursdays on the ward list. We are working very hard to up date it and since both of the Cardejons are related to about everyone on the island it is a great help!

As we have gotten more involved in the lists Brother Cardejon has now begun to start our sessions with Hawaiian history and language lessons. It is really a lot of fun and so interesting. We are learning some wonderful things. Many prophets have spent time on the islands and have a great love for the Hawaiian people. We also found out that one of the kings of Hawaii donated the land for our chapel in Kekaha to the church. So every Thursday I will now add a little history and language to the blog. Oh, Brother Cardejon worked at the PCC when it first opened in the early 1960's. He was a dancer. When it first opened it was only for 2 days a week and people thought it would never make it. Somehow the show from the PCC made it to L. A. and the Hollywood Bowl. They were there for a week and even performed on the Ed Sullivan Show(a T. V. variety show from way back). After that the PCC never looked back and it really took off. What a wonderful place it is to show the many cultures of the islands.

It's a Tsunami Warning!

Today was Zone Meeting and right at 11:00 the horns started blaring! The first of every month at 11:00 the warning system is tested. It is in case there is ever a tsunami. We didn't know what to think when we first heard them but now we know. We are glad there is some warning so if we ever have one while we are out here on the very west of the island, right down the street from the beach, we can run , actually drive up Waimea Canyon, which is on the mauka (mt. side) side of the street and be safe!