My Blog Is Out There!!!

Because it was a 5th Sunday today and we didn't have any responsibilities in Kekaha we went up to Kalaheo for church. The Bishop is always asking us to come up so we did. It was a wonderful block of meetings and we really enjoyed being there. After the 3rd block was finished we felt a hand placed on our shoulders and someone softly say "Could we go to Paco's Tacos with you?" Well, we didn't know who it could be but we smiled and turned around and said, "Sure." We met a young man and his wife who had just moved here from Saratoga Springs, Utah. They have 4 daughters and have been here 3 days. They were in the back of the chapel, looked up, saw us sitting there and said to each other "It's Them!" meaning us. They are the Civilies (hope I spelled it right). Sean told us he was looking on the internet for things about Kauai and I guess when he put certain words in my blog came up and he had been reading it. He and his wife couldn't believe it when they ran into us on their 1st Sunday here. Wow, what a coincidence or was it?

Happy Birthday Ella Grace!

After the Koloa Days celebration we had to rush home so we could attend Ella Grace's 1st birthday bash. It had a sweet shop theme. We always wondered why the 1st birthday was such a celebration here (hundreds of people invited and lots of $ spent) and we were told today. Many years ago when the whalers first came to Hawaii they brought many diseases that had never been on the islands before. This killed a lot of people who had no resistance to them. At that time over 60% of the babies never made it to a year old. If they did then it was hoped they would continue living. That is why it was such a cause for celebration. So now days, it is a tradition that is carried on. We always love these fun, food and frolic times with our new found friends.

'Ohana Mau Loa.

'Ohana Mau Loa. Families can be together forever! Here we are getting ready to march in the Koloa Plantation Days Parade. We are marching with the Kalaheo Ward. When we went up there on Thurs. for our ARP meeting they were making ti leave skirts for the floats for the parade. If you look closely you can see my ti leaf lei. We asked about the parade and they quickly gave us t-shirts and asked us to be part of the celebration. We were excited to do it. We walked along behind the kids pulling the handcarts full of sugar cane. In front of the float.

Here is our float with all kinds of native flowers and ti leave skirts around the outside. The youth and primary children riding the float are playing ukes, singing and tapping out music with sticks (they have a name I can't remember what it is). It was beautiful.

Here we are walking along and passing out Hawaiian Salt to parade goers. The salt comes from the pots out at Salt Pond Park. A family in the ward has a pot and collects the salt, pa'akai, and then packages it and we handed it out. It is used for protection, embodies strength and purity. On many occasions it is used to bless an area. 'Oke kahua ma mua, ma hope ke kukulu. "Foundation first, then the building." By the way we won 1st place for a walking group.

Banana-Mango Bread Fresh From the Oven!

I was going to make banana bread today with some left over apple bananas. It has become one of our favorites and is so yummy. After we got those wonderful mangos yesterday from Bro. C and then some from our neighbors I decided to use bananas and mangos half and half. Some of the mangos were really ripe and sweet so it worked out really well. I don't have any loaf pans so I use this 8x8 and then cut it in half and it works out perfectly. After the bread was finished we took some to our neighbors across the street and some to the Inouye's. We were going over to give the Inouye's a lesson and give Bro. Inouye our recycling ( I'll have to tell you about it sometime) and we thought they might like a treat too. In case you're wondering we made enough bread (I made 4 loaves) so we could have some too and if I say so myself, it was delicious.

Thursdays With Bro. C. Red Rocks and Noni Juice.

We learned so much today as we visited with Bro. C. He has cancer that has gone into his bones and he is taking Hawaiian medicine to help in his treatment. Ala'e is a red medicinal rock that comes from a certain place up in the mountains. It kind of reminds me of a sandstone texture. Anyway, you dry it out and then grind up the rock and mix it with distilled water and then boil it or steep it like a tea. After it is finished cooking for about an hour you chill it. The red particles then settle and you drink the water (very red) that is left on top. Bro. C. drinks about 2-3 oz. a day. He say you can also sprinkle the ground up particles of the rock on your cereal or whatever you eat if you would rather. Wally asked him what it tastes like. "Just like dirt." was his reply. He also is taking some Hawaiian herbs that someone mixes for him. He seems to be doing so well and is in no pain at this time. His faith is amazing and we love meeting with him every week. This afternoon our neighbor across the street brought us some more mangos. Ymmm! They came from Uncle Andy's tree. Willy had some nubby little round things in his bucket along with the mangoes. I asked him what they were and he said,"Noni." These are steeped too and the liquid is Hawaiian medicine that he takes. So much for Noni juice from the manufacturers. We can grow and steep our own over here. This is fresh, the real thing! It is a diuretic, laxative and good for your general health. One problem though. It smells like a skunk....

Wednesdays With Kisha and Family.

We have started to teach a new family on Wednesdays. They are a fun young couple. They have 2 little ones, a girl 7 and a boy 4. He teaches and coaches high school and she is a social worker. We are blessed to meet and teach such wonderful people. We hope we are teaching the things they need to know and that they are gaining a testimony of them. What a blessing it is for us to study and learn and then share what we know to be true. Experiences like this have such an impact on our lives. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and brings such peace and joy into our lives. There is a Church that meets outside just down the street from us. They meet several nights during the week and Sunday mornings. They sing all the time. It is loud and kind of soft rock. They have such beautiful voices. Then the preacher starts to preach. It is all hell's fire and so loud and all talk about Jesus bringing them down to the depths before that can be saved. Ours is a reverent church including the music and our Savior loves us and is not harsh. I am so glad we feel loved and not threatened.

A Full Day!

We had Ward Council this morning at 7:30 a.m. and then Missionary Committee meeting at 8:30. Sacrament meeting was wonderful. Brother Ortiz from the Stake High Council and Sister Sarme from the Primary spoke. For high council meetings here they always have a sister from one of the stake auxiliaries speak along with the brethren. It is wonderful to hear from them. They always bring their families and it is nice to meet them. Wall taught Gospel Doctrine. The lesson was "We are Witnesses." Great lesson. I am prejudice though. As we were walking out of the building the bishop caught up with us and asked us to be on call seminary teachers this year. Of course, we said yes. Right after church we went to Kalaheo for the baptism of Dougie Pacheco. The sisters found him while out tracting and he was golden. He only had the lessons for about 3 weeks and he was ready for their messages from the beginning! After the baptism we had lunch for everyone in the Cultural Hall. That is our favorite thing. We wish we could bring that tradition back home with us. Lunch right after church. Munch and mingle. What a great idea. Back home to freshen up and then off to Lihue. Elder Rasband of the 7 Presidents of 70 was here on vacation with his family and of course, he was asked to give a fireside. It was outstanding. He, his wife and youngest son bore their testimonies of families and the importance of the home and being together forever. What a great ending to an busy day. President and Sister Dalton flew over here just for the fireside. I guess they and the Rasband's have been friends for years. We always love to see them.

Kalaheo Car Wash.

What a fun morning! The Elders and Sisters have been having car washes at their buildings. Of course, free literature, building tours and treats are included. Sister Brown and Sister DeArton and Elders Bowlby and Cart gave tours. It started to rain at 9:00 wouldn't you know, (it always rains in Kalaheo) but soon cleared up. Who could refuse these cute and enthusiastic young men and women?

The more mature missionaries of course, are enlisted to hand out videos, literature and answer questions. Don't we look just perfect in this setting? As a side note, I finally met a member from Waimea that I had called and tried to make an appointment with. She said she had a visiting teacher and didn't need another one. I told her I was glad to meet her though and if she ever wanted us to, we would come and visit.

North Shore Drive.

What a great day for a drive. The weather is beautiful and we don't have any appointments so we decided to take off. We have a full day tomorrow and so thought this was a great time. This is a one way bridge. Drivers take turns at each end crossing. It is polite to let 5 cars go and then wait your turn while the other side comes through. We are crossing behind the 1st car.

Here is Bali Hai. One of the wettest places on the island. It is so beautiful and green here. Just around the corner are some caves (one wet and one dry) and a beautiful beach. Far too many people and cars on it though. People should come down to the west side of the island

And here we are at the very end of the road! The only place left to go is to hike into the Kalalau Valley. It is a very special valley, lush, green and you can only get there by hiking 11 miles or by boat on the Na Pali coast. We are told it is a very spiritual place. We took a boat ride up the coast last time we were here and it was just beautiful. I don't think we are up to the hike and you have to have a permit to do it. The hike itself takes 2 days and you have to be prepared to sleep on the beach as you go. Then you hike up the valley and have to come out again.

Our Turn For Dinner!

Still can't get Lois to pose for a picture so I thought since Wall and I cooked dinner for Vince, Lois and Bonnie tonight you might like a picture of us! Ha, I'm sure. Anyway it is a nice intro. Vince and Lois always insist on fixing us dinner before we teach so we decided to turn the tables on them. We said last week that the next time we would bring dinner to them. Lois especially was thrilled. "I won't have to cook afta work? Great." Well, with only one sauce pan, one frying pan and a rice cooker to our name, we decided to have burritos. Ymmm. We prepared everything before we left and it was still hot when we got their place. All we had to do was cook the yummy Costco tortillas when we got there. I was so happy everyone had 2 big ones each (except us) and they were delicious. We had the Hawaiian version of creamies and brownies for dessert. It was a great success if I do say so myself and the lesson was wonderful. We gave the Plan of Salvation. I think Lois is beginning to trust us. She asks thoughtful questions and knows we will take all the time she needs with the lessons. What a great friendship we have with these three!

Mangos and Honey.

Mangos and Kauai Honey (organic) and "sweet" neighbors. What a treat! Today our neighbor came over and brought 3 huge Haden mangos and a container of honey as a welcome gift. She is so kind. We always wave and say "Hi" but today she wanted to meet us. I wanted to take her picture but she said no not this week. "When I get my choppers then you can." "Promise?" I said. She nodded. (There are a lot of missing teeth here.) She and her husband live directly across from us and they belong to the Hawaiian church that is just down the street. The singing ones I've talked about before. We always ask how church is and she always
answers"maika'i" (good). I told her we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She told me that we take care of each other in this neighborhood and I should feel safe here. I told her I did. What a lovely feeling of acceptance. Are Wally and I now becoming kama'aina?

Help.....Fran!

Poor Wally. We had such a great P-Day today and then he came home to take a shower and guess who took one with him? That's right a gecko. I had to chuckle. I mean am I supposed to save him from the gecko or what? Wally tried and tried to shoo him down the drain but he was smarter than that and Wall just had to hurry and get out of there! We think we have finally figured out the ant problem but geckos that's another story. We have small ones here and there. One is in our bedroom and crawls all over the walls and ceiling. We have a large one in the kitchen that lives in the florescent light fixture. We have them all over and know that by their droppings. Their droppings are bigger than mouse droppings and we find them everywhere; on the walls, counters, window sills (inside and out). Some how that doesn't bother me like a mouse would though. You should hear the chorus at night. They make the most interesting sounds. Just wish I could explain it to you.

Great Meeting...

We had a wonderful meeting with Kealii and Kisha tonight! We taught the 1st part of The Restoration. We also answered some concerns about why we need 2 volumns of scripture. We also challenged Kisha to baptism and to continue reading the Book of Mormon and to ask Heavenly Father if the things we are teaching are true. We feel welcome at our visits and love their small children too. They keep us going but I always take coloring sheets about the lessons and have a treat if they can answer questions. It's the old school teacher in me I guess. It works and they feel important and that is the most important thing. We know that Kealii wants to baptize his daughter sometime this Fall. She turns 8 in August. After our lesson we always get hugs from everyone and that helps with our missing our grandkids. We tried to take a picture but it didn't work out. We will try for one next week.

Happy Birthday Arorah!

Remember Tama's taro patch? Well, while we were having lunch after working on the lo'i all morning Tama invited us all to his granddaughter Ahrorah's 1st birthday party. It is custom here to have a huge party for the 1st birthday of a child. There is lots of Hawaiian food and entertainment. It is really lots of fun. There must have been 300 people there! It was outside under the beautiful summer sky. For a gift you give money and the rule of thumb is whatever you would pay if you went out for a meal. Interesting. I asked my friend Uli Wright if a stuffed animal would be a good gift for the baby and she said oh no, and then explained what I should do. I could have given an educational toy or some clothes too but I didn't know her size and haven't been to the store to shop.

Here is the table with all the food. There was something for everyone, let me tell you. Right at the front by the paper plate you can see the cups of poi. I'll pass thanks. Farther down the table was my favorite taro and greens cooked in coconut milk. Yum! There were also lots of yummy desserts. Just before we left Tama got up and sang a song with the entertainers. It was great and I'm just sure the "juice" he drank with his meal let him put his whole self into it. After the song he ran over and hugged us and thanked us for coming. I think he really appreciated us being there.

Dinner With Inouyes at Wrangler's

What a wonderful week! Tonight we gave a short lesson to our good friends the Inouye's. We usually see them every week or two but this summer has been so busy we haven't gotten together at all. Brother Inouye called us up and asked us to come over and then go to dinner at Wrangler's Steakhouse. We pass it often enough on our way to Lihue. It is in Waimea and is a restored plantation house turned into restaurant. We didn't have steak though. When you're in Hawaii and have a chance to have fresh fish you take it any chance you get. We had fresh catch- of- the -day Marlin. It was yummy. Each piece was the size of a big steak and had a yummy lemon butter and caper sauce. WOW!! Delicious.

Oh, and you can ride your good, old horse up to the hitchin' post and leave him there while you go on in and set a spell and eat!.

Uncle Andy and Brother Wong...

We love Thursdays. First, we see Brother C. and then we see Uncle Andy. We had a great day reading with Andrew today! He was happy to see us come as always, and there sitting in his wheel chair was Tony Wong! We have become friends with Brother Wong. He likes the missionaries but has lots of beefs with members of the church. Did I tell you he is 80 something years old. He cannot let go of what ever it is that is bothering him. When you visit him he will tell you the same things over and over again and you can't get a word in edge wise. Wally's latest goal is to get him to church. We always stop by his house as we drive by. We wave if someone is there. He is always doing something. He makes earrings (gives me a pair every time I go by), lei's out of different materials, repairs saddles ( he's an old cowboy). And always has advise for everyone. He did sit and listen to us read with Uncle Andy. Sometimes he dozed off but we're hoping something got through. Wall even asked him if he wanted us to get him a Book of Mormon. No! No! he said he had one. We will keep praying for him.

It's Interview Time Again!

President and Sister Dalton were in town today. It is interview time again. Usually they both interview during the District Meeting pulling Elders out one at a time to visit with them. President is the heavy then Sister D. gives the treats and the loving touch. Really they are both great. This time though, they both stayed with us for our meeting and then we went to lunch. Pres. asked where we wanted to go and of course the Elders wanted Taco Bell! Yum! Sounds great said the Dalton's. So off we went for good food and a good visit and some laughs. Back to the chapel to finish the interviews. President and Sister Dalton had a meeting with President Gonsalves, our Stake President at 3:00 and so he asked Wally and I to wait for them and then take them to the airport. We love that because that's when we have our interviews all together in the car. They are the best! We really love them and and know they care about us and what we are doing down here in Kekaha. President Gonsalves is a wonderful leader too.

It's P-Day...

I thought you might like to see where we do our laundry. Here is my laundry room out back in a little lean-to. The machines are old and rusty and I have to turn the outside water (cold only) on every time I use it but it works really well and I am so glad we have them at our house! The only bad thing is Wally has to come out every so often and knock down the mud wasp nests so I don't get stung. Yikes! After we finished our p-day chores Wally took me for a drive. We went to Lapperts for a yummy white chocolate macadamia nut ice cream in a waffle cone ($8.40 for one scoop each) and then went to Salt Pond Beach to watch the waves. Mmmmm the perfect day!

Over the River and Through the Woods....to the Lo'i

We were up bright and early this Sat. morning to work on Bro. Tama Ta'ala's lo'i or taro patch. It has been a service project the ward has wanted to do for some months now. As you can see we had to go through the river up the Waimea Valley to get to the patch. Then on through the woods we went until we got to the place! It was so much fun and lots of members from the ward showed up. We rode up with Bro. Mecham and Bro. Bouche.

The lo'i's are sunken plots of land about 1/4 of an acre in size. We cleaned all the weeds out of them (2) and then set the weeds on fire. The ash makes great fertilizer for the patch. Tama will now get a tiller in the lo'i and turn up the soil. After the soil is turned up then Tama will fill the patch with water. The ward is supposed to come back and learn to plant. That ought to be fun! It might turn out to be a mud bath! Tama can't grow taro fast enough. It is in such great demand for making poi he could sell as much as he could grow and harvest.

This is a Lo'i that is about ready to harvest. When taro is harvested the leaves are cut off of the root with about an inch of root attached and then that will be planted in the patch that has been made ready and the process will start all over again. It is a year round job and takes about a year for the taro to mature. I love the leaves cooked like spinach in coconut milk also the taro cooked like potatoes with onions in coconut milk. Poi now that is another story!

The Old Camera is Dying!

Here is our new camera. It is a new version of my old one. More pixels, more zoom, more features and less money than 3 years ago. Technology is amazing. I started to take some pictures the other day and my camera started grinding and moaning when I turned it on. The camera guy at Costco said the gears are wearing out and pretty soon it wouldn't open. We were looking for some blinds for one of the missionary apartments today and Wally decided we had better get a camera now so we wouldn't be caught without one. Thanks to the gift cards from our sweet kids, we didn't have a lot to pay to get it. We are going to have to learn how to use it now but it is going to take great pictures we're sure!

Lois, Lessons and Hawaiian Quilting.

We are teaching Lois the missionary lessons. She is a wonderful lady and a friend of Vince and Bonnie. We are having a wonderful time teaching her. She has had all the lessons from different missionaries but wants us to go over them with her again. We have talked about faith and prayer and will probably go over the Plan of Salvation again with her this week. We are also good friends and Vince is teaching Wall picking on the Ukulele while Lois is teaching me to quilt some Hawaiian pillows which is her specialty. She also wants to teach me how to make Sushi. Hmmm. We always have dinner first then teach the lesson and then have dessert. It sure makes for a wonderful Tuesday. Love you Lois.

4x4ing With the Mecham's.

Meet the Mecham's. They are members of our ward. They both teach school; she teaches 1st grade and he teaches math in high school. Brother Mecham is also part of our ward missionary committee. About a week ago Sunday they asked us if we would like to go for a pic-nic on the 4th up to Kokee. We said,"sure, sounds like fun." "We'll pick you up at 10:00." We were excited because we didn't know what we were going to do for P-day and we were happy to go. The ward members are so kind to us. Right at 10:00 they pulled up in their 4 wheel drive and said we like to go off road is that ok with you? Anyway, off we went up to Kokee but we didn't eat there we went down some old dirt roads and ended up having lunch in a pavilion up by the Alaka'i Wilderness Preserve and Swamp. We were also looking over the beautiful and very primitive Kalalau Valley. We drove down through the Sugi Grove and saw awesome pines and huge ferns. It was great!

Then came the best part of the day for me. I was brazen enough to ask Brother Mecham that since he had a 4 wheel drive and we were already in it would he mind taking us out to Polihale
State Park and Beach. "OK, be glad to." He was happy I asked him and he took us there after we came down from Kokee. You will find Polihale down a 5 mile dirt, unimproved and huge pot holed road. There are signs that say if you come out here in a rental car and get stuck you will pay mightily to be towed back! I have wanted to go for so long and didn't know who to ask to take us there. The beach is 17 miles long and has beautiful fine white sand and turquoise blue water. The current is very unpredictable even in the summer. So swimmers have to be very careful. You can see us here down in a big rut in the truck. We went very slowly. And were very thankful for Bro. Mecham's big truck. When we came out on the beach it was beautiful and worth every pot hole in that bumpy ride. Brother and Sister Mecham you are the BEST! Thanks for a wonderful day.

Brother and Sister Potts.

Meet Brother and Sister Potts. Brother Potts is the ward clerk and Sister Potts is the 1st counselor in the Relief Society. Brother Potts works in construction off island 5 days a week. Sister Potts is the Post Mistress at both Makawelli and Kaumakani. Brother Potts wears his lava lava every Sunday with flip flops and a tie. I love it! He is still a big time surfer and goes down to Pakala to catch the big waves anytime he can when he is home.

The 4th on the 1st....

We were so lucky! The Bouche's invited us out to the Base for dinner and fireworks. We knew there was going to be a celebration and fireworks but we thought we would just go out there like anyone else and try to find a parking spot and a place on the grass to watch. On Wed. the Bouche's called and asked us if we would like to come to their place for dinner on their berm out by the ocean and then to watch fireworks. We didn't have to search for parking (security checked our ID's and let us right in) or be part of the crowd (3000) over by the food and craft booths waiting in line. We were able to go over and see all the crafts and watch the kids playing on all the blow up toys and hear the band but then we could go back and have dinner in the gazebo and watch the fireworks on the beach. It was spectacular! It is great having friends who live on base and are so kind to share.