Hey, We Have a Mormon Here!

Wally walked into the post office today hoping for letters or packages from home! He was immediately greeted by a man saying out loud for all to hear. "WE HAVE A MORMON HERE !" "Hey, I'm a Sabbath Keeper." " You are 7th Day Adventist, right?" "Do you keep the Sabbath?" "Yes, it's one of the 10." "Non biblical, right?" " We observe the Sabbath on Sunday because we celebrate his resurrection!" " Interesting." With that the gentleman left the post office not knowing what to say. We have all kinds of interesting experiences here. Wally calls it the power of the tag. Everyone knows who we are!

Chapter 9.. How to Find!

Here we are at District Meeting. It will be our last this transfer, 6 weeks, we can't believe it. It seems like just the other day Elder Prina left and Elder Moimoi got here. Elder Watson, the assistant to the Zone Leader Elder Parker, called and asked us to teach the lesson this time. We said, "OK!' He is so worried about us. He is always trying different ways to make us just like the young Elders, we just aren't and he can't get it in his head. We have figured out his reverse psychology and just chuckle. Wally and I were so prepared. We gave a great lesson if I do say so myself. How much time do you need? All of it! He looked worried handing his time over to us. Half way through Elder W said "Are you including practice?" "Hang on, hang on," I said. Did he realize he was messing with master educators? Everything turned out very well and the Elders had a great experience followed by lunch at Costco. We hope they ask us again!!!

The Pleasure of Your Company...

We have been invited to the wedding reception for the Wright's son here in Kekaha. He was married in the Salt Lake Temple last week to a Utah girl. I told Sister Wright if she need help with the decorating we would be glad to do anything she needed. She never called back and so we decided to drop by the church early in the afternoon to see if anything was going on. Sure enough there she was trying to do most of it herself. We stayed for 3 hours setting up tables, doing bows, putting pictures in frames, setting flowers and candy on the tables and decorating with palm trees etc. We got it all done and it was fun. We found out tho that a traditional wedding celebration is a dinner complete with all kinds of Hawaiian food. Everyone wears Hawaiian shirts and blouses, capri's and leis, including the couple and the parents. The food was delicious. Lomi Lomi salmon, long rice noodles, pulled pork, rice, poi, haupia, macaroni salad and boiled taro leaves with chicken. It was a three hour affair. One of my friends said she couldn't attend because she was going to a baby shower. I couldn't figure out why she couldn't attend both. At home, in three hours Wally and I can attend three receptions and make everyone happy. I found out later that here you stay for the whole 3 hours. It is a full on party. They don't have a line. Everyone is seated then the couple comes in and is seated at their table. We clap. Then we all get in line for the buffet, eat and visit. After eating the couple tells how they met and about their dating and engagement. Then we watch a slide show of the couple. There is beautiful Hawaiian music, we watch the couple cut the cake and then eat it and then it's time to go home. Also, here they decorate a box like a present and put it on the guest book table and everyone slips a card with money in it in the box as they sign. No gifts here just money. Now I see 3 hours was just what was needed for this wonderful celebration.

Tim and the Coconuts...

Wally was the lucky one to try this great Island treat!! Can you guess what it is?

We had the greatest experience today. We took our friends Tad and Teresa out to lunch because they are going home to Canada this week and we won't see them again until next November when they come back. While we were eating they mentioned that they were having their coconut trees pruned. "Wow, can we come and watch?" we said. "Sure, we will call when Tim gets there."

No sooner that we had gotten home than they called and said "Come, Come. Tim's here." Off we went. Tim had a tree climbing gadget he used so he could scoot up the tree and stand while he sawed off the coconuts and then let them down to the ground. It was fascinating. He told us all the health benefits of drinking coconut juice and eating the meat. It is quite expensive to have your trees maintained every 6 months but it is better than being sued if one would fall on someones head and kill them. They are very heavy you know!

Tim's wife then takes the coconuts to the farmers markets and uses a machete to open them at the top. She sticks a straw in and you have a great drink! He is also looking at a press to buy so he can make his own coconut oil to sell. Tim is a contractor by trade and this is what he does on the side to help take care of his family.

Meet the Kelson's and the Jacobson's.

We had a wonderful and busy missionary conference in Honolulu the last two days. Everyone in the mission that has been out 4 months or less was brought to the historic Honolulu Tabernacle to learn the 8 Principles of Teaching. There were 46 new elders and 3 couples. The Kelson's are from St. George and the Jacobsen's are from Midway. We flew out at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday and worked straight 'til 3:00 then went home to the Mission Home with President and Sister Dalton. We had a rest and a walk, then the Dalton's took us all out to dinner at the Outback. It was wonderful. Great food, great company and fun conversation!

After dinner home we went and to bed. Up bright and early again and off to the Tab for more training and practice then off to the airport at 4:00 p.m. and home to Kauai. It was such a good thing to be able to talk to other couples and hear ideas and share. Even though we are all on different islands we exchanged e-mails and we feel we have made wonderful new friends

Canadian Christian Youth Choir.

What a beautiful evening. The trade winds are blowing and the breeze is warm and the sky is blue. This is the stuff dreams are made of! Last week Brother Cardejon invited us to a choir concert on the grounds of The Waimea Plantation Cottages. He told us it was a Christian Youth choir from Canada. We decided we would go and hear the performance.

This school is a private school. Fountain View Academy from Vancouver, British Columbia. As they sang spiritual songs they would bear their testimonies of Christ and service in between. It was really tender to hear them. I thought "Boy, do I have a message for you!" I talked to a mother, of one of the students, who was sitting in front of me. She said the students have to apply to get into the school. They don't have to have a musical background when they come but if they are accepted they have to have music lessons for either voice or instrument. The whole student body is in this choir and orchestra or both. What a wonderful evening! The evening was a benefit performance for the Ni'ihau School. The last song was performed by the Ni'ihau students and teachers. The song was Hawaii Aloha and as you sing you stand as an audience and all hold hands and sway as you sing. It was beautiful. Just guess if you can what Dad and I are going to sing for our homecoming? We fell in love with the song immediately and Bro. C. is teaching us the words and tune. We might even get a Ukulele....

Paco's Tacos...Yum!!

You can't read the sign too well but it says Paco's Tacos. We have watched this little shack for awhile and wondered about it when a sign went up announcing Mexican food soon. It seemed out of character for this little town but... Pretty soon it was up and running. As we drove by one day we saw our Kalaheo elder's sitting outside and talking to the "cook", we supposed. We asked them next time we saw the how the food was. They said it was great and that the owner Paco was a member of the church. We decided to support him and his new business so after meeting in Lihue we decided to stop and have lunch. Well, Paco introduced himself to us after seeing our clothes and tags and asked us what we wanted. He told us he had lived in Salt Lake City for 10 years. We ordered 3 different kinds of tacos and a drink. When we went to pay he wouldn't take our money. We said "We want to help your business." He wouldn't take anything anyway and then when we got our order he even included a Flan for dessert. Yumm...the food was delicious and the Flan mmmm we almost died and went to heaven.

Head Over Heals...

Or as Wally said "Enjoy your fall?" On our walk this morning I caught my shoe in a piece of re bar someone had shoved down in the ground with only a little bit sticking up. It was such a shock and I knew I was going down. It flashed through my mind that I should catch by balance but I couldn't and went down on both hands and knees hard. It was so hard I flipped over on my back and landed heavily on my right side. It really hurt but I was able to get up and go on home. I know I will hurt for a few days but I am so glad I didn't break anything just hurt my pride that's all!

I've Got a Surprise For You!!

We had a wonderful Stake Conference this weekend. As well as great meetings we had an additional treat. While we were sitting down for the Saturday night meeting Wally's friend Warren Depew (Carol, Warren center, his wife Sherry, Wally all from Raymond) who has been here for 3 months at his time share, said "I have a surprise for you! A classmate of yours is here from Raymond visiting. It's my cousin." Wally thought and thought. He knew everyone in Raymond, besides that his class only had 44 students. Who could it be? In walked a redhead and her husband. Warren said here she is. Wally didn't want to be rude but said "Who am I talking to?" She said "I'm Carol Hervy." Just like Warren when we met him in K-Mart Wally wouldn't have recognized her. Time changes things you know. 45 years later here they were talking about school days. "What color hair did you have?" "I think I had a crush on you." Hmmmm. It was a wonderful visit and we sat together on Sunday too so we could continue talking about old times and our families etc. They are staying up at Princeville and invited us to come up for lunch but it would have taken an extra 1 1/2 hours for the whole trip clear around the island and back. We were so happy to have had this visit and others with people we know from the mainland. Who would have ever thought a mission to Kauai would have brought us back in contact again.

Evacuate....NOW!

We were ready for bed at about 9:00 p.m. when the phone rang and Brother Inouye asked," Are you watching t.v.?" "You bedda turn it on!" When we did, we saw the unbelievably, horrible scenes of the destruction from the earth quake in Japan. Then they showed the tsunami. What a shock! Our t.v. gave a warning signal and said that we could have a tsunami ourselves because of where we were and how it would travel because of its speed and size. They told us it could travel the 3,000 almost 4,000 miles and reach here at 2:59 a.m. They expected 6 foot swells. We couldn't believe our ears. It could reach us here! We are 5 minutes from the beach and we would be wiped out. We were now receiving calls from ward members who were worried about us and how we would handle the situation. Brother Karratti came over and told us what to pack and he would pick us up in a little bit to car pool up to Koke. It is up in the canyon and would be safe. We started to pack the car and I said to Wally "What do we take when we don't have anything?" It was interesting to think about what we should take in case we had to be gone for we didn't know how long. We packed water, crackers, peanuts, pillows, blankets, t.p. and paper towels. We packed a flash light and found out later it didn't work. At about 10:00 the tsunami horns started to blow and we were told we had to leave right now. Our adrenalin was working over time. We called the elders to see where they were going and they said to Kalaheo to the chapel. We got thinking about it and told Brother Karratti that we would go to Kalaheo to be with the elders. We wanted to make sure they were ok and the building had a bathroom. Whew. We spent a long night in the car. There were lots of LDS tourists who came to spend the night at the chapel too. The tsunami warnings blasted every hour all night long. We kept the radio on all night to see how things were going. They had bouy reports all night long to let us know the progress of the water and the wave heights. Luckily there was no damage right here. We learned later that we have a reef around Kauai at this end and it slows the water down. A few harbors had some swells that damaged boats and Maui got water up in the streets. What an experience but we now know the importance of having 72 hr. kits even in the mission field. Originally they told us that the all clear would be given at 7:00 a.m. and we could go home. We started to go but the radio said that the all clear was extended to 12:00 noon. We had had it and decided we would try to go home. We got down to Ele' ele and we had to go back to Kalaheo because the road was blocked. We waited another 1/2 hour and decided to try again. Yea, the road was open and we went right home. My, oh my, home never looked so good.

Missile Launch!

Last night as we were snuggled all soundly in our bed about 10:00 p.m (obeying mission rules). we heard the hiss and pop of a missile being launched. Then a few minutes later we heard another. It was louder and went on much longer. Amazing how we new exactly what was happening. Barking Sands Military Base is a testing facility for several different kinds of missiles. It has been an exciting week what with the submarines, military ships and now the missile testing.

Zone Conference.

What a wonderful Zone Conference yesterday. We have one every 12 weeks. Our Zone is the practice meeting. From that meeting they decide what needs to be added to, cut down a little etc. After ours, they only have 17 to go. President and Sister Dalton and the A.P.'s gave us a inspiring things to think about and work on. The meeting lasted from 9:00 - 3:00 and we were busy every minute except when we broke for lunch. Kekaha provided lunch: outstanding chili, delectable cole slaw salad, fresh french bread and yummy cookies for dessert. Our Elders provided a special musical number. It was acapella and beautiful. Funny though, they didn't ask us to sing with them. Were they worried about us warbling?

You are Ohana...!

I wanted to tell you the most wonderful experience we had on Sunday. We love our ward and the gentle people who so readily accept us and tell us what great things are happening because we are here. We try to serve in every way possible. We do a lot of service which you have seen by the pictures we put here on our blog. In our Sunday School class we were talking about Missionary Service for the lesson. The teacher Sister Cardejon, was talking about how great it was to have a senior couple and know that we are going to be here for 18 months. They love it that we are here for the duration and one of us is not going to be transfered in 6 or 12 weeks. As the lesson went on one of the Brothers (Inouye) in the class said "You are not going to want to leave in 18 months, you know. You are Ohana!" What a great blessing to hear that and feel the love and to know some consider us FAMILY!

Mormon Helping Hands.

Our ward activity this month was a service project. It was planned by the Young Men. We went out to Salt Ponds State Park and picked up garbage. It was a successful event. We picked up lots of stuff and did it in record time. I can't believe with all the garbage cans so close people just throw their trash on the ground. We all wore Mormon Helping Hands vests. It was an impressive thing seeing every one working hard in those vests and getting things done. As always, afterward we had a pot luck brunch. It is fun interacting with the ward and the members. We feel like we are becoming such a part of it and getting to know everyone. The park is a beautiful beach area. We had no idea it was here. It is a great place for family activities. There are pavillions, bathrooms and sheltered pond areas for children to play in and be safe.

It's Supposed to Drain... We Just Don't Know Where!

Here is Wally getting the mail out of our famous box 719. We take turns going in to see if there is any mail. Poor Wally had his turn today and it has been raining for 2 days and nights again!

Here is the parking lot of the post office. He almost had to take a raft across! When it rains here it pours. We have never heard or seen anything like it! Sometimes at night we go out in the carport to just watch it. At home we would watch the thunder and lightning. Here it is the rain. It is amazing. You'd think with all this sand it would just drain really well. Not so. Sometimes it takes a few days to disappear. As I've said before everyone says we should be happy with all the rain because here on the west side it gets really hot and dry in the summer and the grass and everything goes brown. Maybe these rains will help it stay green a little longer. We hope so.

Military Exercises...Here?

I wish I could have taken the picture of the submarine! Yes, that's right the submarine. As we were walking on the beach there it was. It was strange to look at. We first tried to decide what it was. Then as we thought about it we knew. We have seen two of them now. It seemed like something you would see in a movie! They are out in the ocean and they go back and forth. Sometimes you can just see the periscope, I guess that is what it is. Other times it comes farther up and you can see the deck. When we asked someone from the base about it they said they are here for exercises. They come into the harbor and the officers get off ship and go out to the base for meetings and a little R&R for a couple of days and then when they are finished they go back out the harbor and out to the sub. We also saw a BIG military ship. It was sailing back and forth along the horizon doing the same thing, I guess. The base will also be firing missiles in the next little while. I hope we can find out when and can see that. It is pretty interesting around here!!