Emergency Transfer.

We were surprised when we met a new sister today. Sister Hutchinson is from Brigham City. She is a full proselyting sister. She will be able to take over the area when Sister Parkin goes home next transfer. Sister Yao had to go back to the Visitor Center because of something to do with a sister who can drive. Some trades had to be made. Anyway, it has turned out well and she seems really nice. It is good for Sister Parkin too because for her last 4 weeks she has a sister who speaks English. Her last 3 companions have spoken Japanese, French and Chinese. She did well but is was hard sometimes too, to have a language barrier. Wally will miss speaking with Sister Taputea. He loves that French so much. Oui, Oui!

A Regular P-Day.

Today was just another regular P-day. Clean the house, do the wash, and read with the 4th graders. We sure do love doing that. They are so cute. They know where we live now and drop by to say hello. Or tell us they see us out walking at 6:30 in the morning. It is funny how they like it that they know all about us. We also got calls from 2 families to give baptism lessons to little girls who have already turned 8 but don't attend primary. Their families want them to be baptized so we will give the lessons. Wally wants me to do it because he says I am the elementary school teacher. How can he do it he is an old man? "Just like a grandpa would", I said. He thought about that and seemed to not worry so much about it. I made chocolate chip cookies for the elders today. I know they always love it when I bring a treat to District Meeting.

Evan Confirmed Today.

Evan was confirmed today. It was a wonderful thing for him as well as the ward. Wally was able to be a part of the circle and that was special for him. Evan had to be confirmed twice just like he was baptized twice. We laughed and told him he must be special! He hugged me and said "You just have to have faith, that's all!" I love his sweet spirit and great faith. It was a great day in our Sunday School class also. We had 6 less active and non-members come again. They say they enjoyed the lesson and will be back next week. We love teaching them but wish it could be a little more intimate like teaching in their homes but they like it this way and say it is the best for them and that's what counts. We have just one question. How do you group commit people to baptism, wow, and all the other commandments?

Yahoo!! The Day Has Finally Arrived!

We had this picture taken just before Brother Takahashi (84), Evan's Great Uncle, baptized him.
It was a small but wonderful gathering. I asked Bro. Kunane Aipoalani to play "He" on the piano if he would. He plays by ear and is very talented. His mother was a great musician. He sometimes plays interlude music with our organist on Sundays and it was so inspiring and beautiful. I kind of caught him by surprise, he was willing but says now I will have to pay. The spirit was so strong and we feel like it influenced Evan's family who are not members. Afterward we had a little light refreshment so we could visit and talk story. It was a wonderful occasion.

New Missionaries.

Elder Edwards is from Morgan, Utah and Sister Yao is from Hong Kong. Cute missionaries. He is our Zone Leader and seems like a fine young man. He and Elder Taylor from Joseph City, Arizona will come out to Evan's baptism tomorrow. We had a great District Meeting today and got a handout for 131 ways to share the gospel. I am so excited to share it with the ward. They have been asking for ways to do OYM's (open your mouth). We will do 2 1/2 minute presentations in each of the organizations. We hope it will help with the missionary effort out here on the west end of Kauai. When we got home we found out Evan wants Wally and myself to speak at the baptism tomorrow. We will give the baptism and Holy Ghost talks. What an honor to be asked to speak.

Rain, Rain So Glad to See You.

It rained all night and now it is raining this morning. It is wonderful and sooo refreshing. It has been a long time coming and everything is so brown. We were able to get in a walk during a short break in the rain and then we got ready and headed over to Bro. C's for our Thurs. missionary and Hawaiian history meeting. We are preparing for Evan's baptism on Saturday. We sat under his carport, watched the rain and I took this picture so you could see that when it rains here it pours, buckets that is. We had a little rain one day last week and we could already see a change in the grassy areas. I know everything will really come alive with this rain. The ground quickly becomes soaked and the plants really absorb the water. The people over on Niihau are probably cheering right now mabe even doing a rain dance. I'll bet their water catchment systems are really filling up. Hooray for them! Water is such a precious gift over there.

Another 4:00 A.M. Morning.

We take the sisters to the airport when it's time for transfers because I am the resident companion for whoever stays until the new companion arrives. The out going flight is always at 6:30 a. m. so we have to be at the airport by 5:30 and it takes about 45 minutes or so to get there from here. By the time we pick up the sisters and put their suitcases in the trunk and get going it takes an hour or so. Anyway, Sister Taputea headed back to the Visitor Center and we got a new sister. We had about three hours 'til the plane arrived so we went to MacDonald's for egg mac-muffins and then to Walmart to do a little shopping. I'm sure Sister Parkin loves hanging out with oldies but goodies! That didn't take long so we ended up parking in the cell phone waiting area relaxing until the flight came in. Only 2 transfers this time. Elder Ence left for Honolulu and will be replaced as Zone Leader. We sure have enjoyed him. He wrote really nice things in our signing journal and even left us us business card in case we ever need our horse trained! Then it's was home to take a little nap.

It's That Time Again...

Today was car and apartment check day. This is transfer week and so we needed to see that everything was in order with the elders and sisters. They have been doing really well with their apartments because I tell them to be prepared and their places had better be clean.(I give them the evil eye Wally says.) Well, I guess the office didn't believe me because I got an e-mail that said I needed to be more strict and that I should only give high marks if I would live in those conditions. At District Meeting I told everyone I would really be on the look out this time and guess what? They didn't let me down. Toilets and showers were beautifully clean for their age. Floors were swept and desks dusted, beds made, it was great. A+ from me.

The flowers and flowering trees come in waves on the island. This wave of color just out is the wild bougainvillea. They are everywhere and almost florescent purple. It is like a shock wave of wild color. It is so beautiful. I am sure the orange will be next because it is about time for the Tulip trees to start their bloom. We had lunch at the Shrimp Station and then took a lovely walk on the ocean at Kapa'as Beach Park walking and bicycle path. Next month I think we will try going to Secret Beach to see the sea caves and water falls.

P-Day with Sisters and Bonnie and Henry.

Early this morning the sisters called us and asked us if we would take them up to the Waimea Canyon. Sister Taputea is leaving on Wednesday and they haven't had a chance to go and see the island from the top. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed ourselves. It wasn't too busy just a few people were up there. The sky was clear and we could see from all the view areas really well. The only disappointment was the view looking over Niihau. For some reason the island was surrounded by clouds. Maybe before we come home I will get a really good shot of the island from up there.

When we got home Bonnie and Henry called and asked us if we could come and spend the afternoon with them at the Marriott and then have dinner. Henry is here for a medical convention and Bonnie is relaxing and reading while he is in workshops. After we left the sisters we hurried on over to Poipu and had a great afternoon and evening with Bonnie and Henry. We ate at the Tortilla Republic. We had just heard about it from our bishop. It was expensive and a little up scale with small portion sizes but yummy. The company was good and the sunset was beautiful. We are so glad they took the time to call us so we could spend some time together. We are so blessed to be friends with our daughters-in-law's parents. We can see why the girls are such lovely young women.

Wow - What a Sunday!

On Thursday Bishop called and asked us to speak on missionary work. The topics were; how we prepared for our mission, teaching converts by the spirit and how we have been blessed by doing it. We had Ward Council at 7:30, Missionary Committee Meeting at 8:30, Talks at 9:00,and yahoo 6 investigators in our Sunday School Class. We thought there would 2, a recently activated sister and Evan. We were prepared for that and just went ahead with what we were going to do because we knew that these people needed to know the basics. We had a couple of ward members sit in on the lesson and that made it perfect because they could share and bare testimony of what we said and make it pertain to real life. The spirit was so strong. We all had chicken skin. It was amazing. One of the things I talked about in Sac. Meeting was teaching by the spirit and to do that you must study the scriptures everyday and then pray for the spirit to guide you in what you do and say. What a great testimony I have of that because of today and how our lesson turned out. You do what you do and look back and see the hand of the Lord working through you. The the greatest blessing of all! Evan had his baptismal interview today and will be baptized next Saturday. We are just thrilled!! And so is he! He has worked so hard and struggled for this great blessing and it is finally coming to pass. Oh, how thankful we are!

Our Last Oil Change.

On our way to Lihue to get the last oil change for the car before we come home we saw one of my favorite signs. When we first saw these signs we wondered if the members just met at the beach and surfed and played or whatever. Some people feel they can worship best in nature. This is a very popular church here. We found out they do good works though. They take clothes and food to the homeless people living on the beaches all around the island. The guys at the Toyota place said they will miss us. They have been so nice to us since we have been here. They are very respectful and always recognize who we are. After we finished the car Wally took me to Ace Hardware to buy materials for a card making class I am in charge of for Relief Society next month. Next, we went to lunch at Costco. We met some nice visitors from Utah and sat with them while we ate. We always meet visitors while we are there and they are always so excited to see MISSIONARIES. The first question is always "how did you get to come here?" and then "do you really do missionary work?" We have lost all our color even Wally's skin is lighter than it is at home. We do have some latitude but we don't sit on the beach and vacation every day. It is one of the really fun things for us to visit with people and talk about what we do here. We also found the UPS store. Wally wants to start sending all the "stuff" home that we have collected while we have been here. You know it is really hard to part with some things. Poor Wall, he just can't understand that.

Sisters to Lunch and R.S. Fitness Night.

Sister Parkin and Sister Taputea called and asked if they could come down to Kekaha today to have lunch with us. They have never been down this far and wanted to come and see the area. They didn't get to come on Monday to see the Waimea Canyon because the Elders "forgot" to call and let them know they were coming. They could have seen us then. Of course, we said yes and told them to be here at 12:30. We fixed a nice lunch of burritos and fruit with chocolate chip banana bread for dessert. They stayed for awhile to visit and it turned out to be a really nice afternoon. After they left I got ready for Relief Society. We had a Fitness Night. We did Zumba with the Wii and made "Da any Kine" quiche for a healthy dinner. We all brought something for the quiche and a pan so we could bring some home to cook for ourselves. It was really fun! Sister Kua ,above, let me take her picture so you would know who she is. Remember all the times I posted about everybody working on her plantation cottage. Here she is finally back amongst us. She is so sweet and is just thrilled with her house. I found out that she had been showering outside because she could no longer get in and out of her claw footed tub (it was an antique). She is so in love with her new inside shower and she even has hot water to boot. She has never complained or said a word so she wouldn't be a bother to anyone. She is 84 and is thankful for all her many blessing and the kindness of all of those who worked on her home. Oh, my goodness, it makes me think about myself and whether I am grateful enough for the blessings I have.

It's Finally Raining!

We woke up to rain today! We are so glad because we have not had any this winter at all and Kekaha is really suffering. Everything is so brown. As we drove in to Lihue the rain got heavier and heavier. It was pouring. Just like it can do over here. It was amazing. Like someone pouring a bucket overhead. After our meeting we were going to eat at Costco but the tables and eating area are outside over here so we ended up going to the drive-up at Taco Bell. This is the last week of the transfer and so here is the famous end of transfer picture. Here is our prediction. Elder Ence top middle and Sister Taputea bottom right will leave. Wally is sad to think of that because he loves to speak French with her and Elder Turina. She is probably leaving because Sister Parkin is finished with her mission next transfer and Sister Taputea will go back to the Visitor Center. Visitor Center sisters only come out to a pros. area for 2 transfers. Sister Parkin needs to train the next sister to come so she can take over the area. We always say how much we love our elders and sisters but we really do and we become so attached to them. We feed them lunch, fix their pants, bring them treats, check their apartments and cars etc. We really do have a vested interest in them!

Beach Walk and Dinner.

This isn't a picture of our beach walk but I love this picture of the Kalalau Valley from the top and thought I would use it. It is so breathtaking from the top. The clouds roll in and then if you stay for a few minutes they roll out again. It is almost mystical. I would like to go and hike in there but it takes a boat ride to the drop of and they drop you in the water and you have to swim in. Not up to that right now though! We did walk on our beach tonight. It was a sunset walk, which we love. We were hoping to see the green flash when the sun set but at the last minute some low level clouds appeared and we couldn't see it. After our walk we went back to Tad and Teresa's place for dinner and pleasant conversation. They are our friends from Poland via Sweden to Canada. They are here for just 5 months of the year and already time is flying by. They will leave on March 31st. We had fish, taro cakes, wild rice and a lovely beet salad. We took some yummy banana bread ( thanks for your great recipe Terri it's my fav.) for dessert. We will sure miss the lovely friends we have met here. It is getting so it is near the end for us we are starting a lot of lasts.

Bananas and the Ward Garden.

This morning there was a little knock on the door and when I got there there were these beautiful bunches of bananas. More aloha for us! Yumm. I looked over and saw Bro. M.'s truck across the fence. There he was unloading banana tree starts, papaya tree starts and a few squash plants. When I called to Wally and told him what was happening his eyes lit right up! Ahhh, some gardening to do and plants to tend. He is in his element.

The ward garden is starting at long last. Wally is so happy to have some plants to work on. He asked Bro. M for a rake and a hoe so he can work a little here and there and make sure the plants have plenty of water and he can tidy the area around them a little bit. We are going to include neighbors and friends in the garden as well as ward members. What a great missionary tool. We are both getting a little homesick for the yard, though. We will be so happy to plant the pots when we get home the middle of May.

Sharks Spotted at Salt Pond.

We had a great lesson with Lois tonight. We showed 2 Mormon Messages #16 and #18. They are wonderful short clips that contain inspirational messages by General Authorities and others. We also read 2 Nephi 9. As always it was a great meeting! For dinner we had potluck. I brought Macaroni Bake, Bonnie a delicious salad and Vince and Lois pizza. Yumm! We continue to pray for Lois that she will be assured that she does "Know Enough" ... "Good Things are to Come" and that she will be baptized soon. We got home about 8:00 p.m. and watched the news for a minute and saw that Salt Pond was closed down today because of a shark spotting! Wow! We couldn't believe it. It is rare but I guess it does happen. I can't remember the name of the shark but it wasn't a great white or anything like that. Still it was a shark!

Late for District Meeting.

We always get up early and get our walking and studying done so we can leave about 9:30 for district meeting. It takes us about 45minutes to get there if the traffic isn't backed up. Just as we were about to leave the phone rang. It was our church phone so we thought it would be the elders for some reason. It wasn't though. It was gentleman calling us to ask if The Missionaries could go to the hospital and give a blessing to the wife of a man who worked for him. We have never met them before but they wanted to have a blessing so that the doctors could find out what was wrong with her. Wally called Bro. C. and asked him if he could go. He said yes and so they got ready and left for the hospital. When they got to the hospital there was no person of that name listed and they didn't know her. Wally came home and called the boss and told him what had happened. "Hold on, I'll call you right back." As things turned out he did call back and Wally and Bro. C. were able to go back, meet the family and give a blessing. We were going to wait until the afternoon but decided it was best to just go ahead and find her and be there for her. There is such faith here in blessings given by members of the church who hold the priesthood. We have had several experiences with members both active and less active and non-member friends who rely on that special gift given to those who are worthy. They tell us of the comfort and peace they feel and they Heavenly Father hears our prayers.

Tangelos

Today, as we were about to finish the last leg of our morning walk, we stopped by to say "hello" to Danny a friend we have made. We met him first because he was wearing a t-shirt that said he was a participant in the Senior Games in St. George. We told him we were from Utah and of course how much we loved to go to St. George when we could. We visit with him every so often and today he asked us if we wanted to have some of his oranges. "You can't eat them you have to juice them," he said.

We picked a grocery bag full. He told us how to just cut the top off and then juice them. Don't cut them in half then you have twice the work because you have 2 halves. Danny was up in the tree and we were going around the bottom picking. "Uncle Shorty" (he is about 85 and a member of our ward) drove by and saw us and not Danny. He figured we needed more oranges, I guess because shortly after we got home we heard "whoee" "whoee" and there he was with another bag of Tangelos. He was kind of shy giving them to us but it was so sweet I just had to give him a hug. Such sweet ways members show lots of aloha to us.

This is the yummy, beautiful juice I freshly squeezed today. I got about 1/2 gallon with the first bag. The Z.L.'s just happened by about lunch time. They brought pants for me to repair and when we asked them to stay for lunch they jumped at the chance. You'll never guess but they drank almost the whole pitcher of juice. Hmmm, sure hope I get as much from the second bag. I also made a great dessert Elder Ence loves. It is called Love In A Dish. When I told them they could have that too they were sure they were in Heaven down here in Kekaha!

Fast Day.

This was an absolutely wonderful testimony meeting today. Some less active members who are slowly coming back bore their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and how the Spirit had touch their hearts and they knew they wanted to be back here with the ward and feel the joy and peace that is here. 4 student's are leaving to go back to school and so we sang "Aloha-oe" to them at the close of meeting. Tears were just streaming down our faces. That song is so beautiful but really tugs at the heartstrings. Sister H came up to us and asked us if we would give her a lesson during Sunday School because we could spend more time together. We were thrilled. We have been meeting with her on Tues. nights for just about 20 mins. She said she needs more. The lesson went really well. She wants us to draw pictures of it so she can remember all we said. She is just gobbling up everything we tell her. She reads her scriptures in her native language and marks them as we read them to her in English. We asked her if she would like to pray at the end of the lesson and she said she would. She is so child like and sweet we just love her. We feel extra blessed today!

Baptism.

Kienan was baptized today. It was a great meeting. His neighbor told us she told the sisters that they should go and see him, so they did. He is about 20 years old. He had been to school on the mainland but came home for a semester. The timing was just right. We had the opportunity to take him to a fireside one Sunday and had a good talk with him all the way there and home. We knew he was special from the beginning. You can see how the gospel is a light in peoples lives and Kienan will be an influence to his family and those around him. He bore his testimony at the baptism and it was so sweet to hear how the scriptures and the gospel have changed his life. How wonderful it is to be able to be a part of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ into people's lives and seeing how it touches their souls and makes things so good. I didn't say it is easy just worth it!

Beach Wedding....Beautiful!

Such a beautiful day today! The weather was perfect for a wedding on the beach. We are friends with the bride's grandparents and were so fortunate to be asked to attend the wedding. We couldn't hear Bishop because the waves were gently crashing on the shore. He thought that was ok though because he still is quite shy about being the "wedding bishop." The bride and groom were so cute and so happy.

The wedding party looked gorgeous. The people on the beach were so lucky to witness a wedding without even being invited to it . Everyone was taking pictures and little kids were just in awe of a bride on the beach looking so beautiful. The bride told me she made all the bridesmaids dresses, the flowers, table arrangements, invitations and favors. Her grandmother did all the food. We went to the luau afterwards and feasted on rice, chicken long rice, kalua pork, macaroni potato salad, chicken lau lau, lomi salmon and poi. There was beautiful Hawaiian music playing in the background. We love the slack guitar and ukulele together. But the finishing touch to the evening was when Grandma danced the hula and then bride danced the hula for her husband. Wow, I will never get over how graceful the hula is!

Busy Wednesday.

Petra left today for the mainland. We had mixed emotions about the whole thing. We are happy because she will have a promotion in her work as well as a raise. But we will miss her for Chick Chat! We, Maxine, Wall and I met at her house to surprise her and tell her goodbye again. It was easier for us though because we know we will see her again when we go down to Jeff's this summer.

This afternoon all our appointments canceled. Must be the new year. We decided we would go down and walk on the beach. We haven't been for 2 weeks so we wanted to see what's up. 6 trees that are up in the area where the homeless camp has been have had their roots and the sand around them eroded by the ocean and knocked down. It is amazing how far up the water has come! We were talking to a surfer and he laughed and said, "We're sinking!" Trucks used to drive on this beach, campers camped here and now there is a ledge and the water is clear up almost to the fence that is separating the beach from Syngenta corn growing land. I wonder if it will go up even farther. I lived on the ocean all the time I was growing up and saw high tides etc. but have never seen anything like this!

Interview with The President.

I wish this showed how red the sun was. Anyway it looks like something from the creation doesn't it? This was about 7:10 a.m. We had to go in early for our interviews but knew they would be behind when we got there. We started our meeting and Pres. was still interviewing. Finally, he came in and tapped us on the shoulders and said, "Come with me, you 2!" Usually we have an interview with both Pres. and Sis. but today it was combined. They are so wonderful and lots of fun. We sat in a room and talked about the mission and what we thought was good for our area, how we were accepted and trusted. Things like that. They also asked our opinion on certain things. It was good. During this visit we got a talk on eating sensibly. It seems over the holiday weekend some missionaries got really sick and had to go to the ER. It turns out they had just eaten too much including 1 bottle of Tabasco sauce because it all tasted so good. The bill for treatment was astronomical!! Sis. gave everyone a chart that outlines calories, portion size, what not to eat and what to eat if you go for fast food. It was great. It went right along with our New Years Resolutions. She also gave everyone a nice apple for a treat. Yummm. The only problem was I brought a BIG batch of double chocolate chip cookies for the elders to feast on during meeting. We like to spoil them and they appreciate it so much. Everyone laughed and said ok let's eat them but in moderation (Elder T wants to know how many cookies will fit his fist for his portion, he is a big polynesian by the way). Right! Oh, for lunch Pres. took all of us to Pizza Hut for the Lunch Buffet! So much fun for all of us to sit down together and let our hair down (all except Wally that is).LOL!

Rose Parade!

We spent our P-day watching the Rose Parade and football games! We walked this morning about 6:45 and when we got home it was just about time for the parade to start. We were excited to watch it and see the American Fork Marching Band. They did a great job, by the way. Yea, A.F.
There was VOG today. Vog is our "inversion." We get hazy days and a bright red sun and red sunsets when that happens. It comes from the big island when the volcano is acting up. People with asthma and allergies have to take their medicine and watch their outside activities. Well, just in case anyone is interested here are our New Years Resolutions - The Top 3 Each:
Wally: 1. lose weight 2. play some Golf 3. visit and hug grand kids more. Fran: 1. lose weight
2. get some scrap booking done (family history) 3 visit and hug grand kids more. There you have it. Hmmm... Wally and I are getting to be more alike all the time. Do you think so?

Happy New Year Everyone!

Wally and I helped clean the church with the Bouches and Wrights today. It is so easy when there are so many of us. It will be clean and beautiful for tomorrow the 1st day of the New Year. 2o12 we can't believe it! We didn't go anywhere tonight. We just decided to stay home put a puzzle together and watch a movie maybe. We have had a busy but great week and are ready for a rest.

Here is the puzzle all completed. Thanks Brandon and Jana. It was a great Christmas present.

The fireworks started about 6:00 this evening and will go on until about 3:00 a.m. if I am not mistaken. They did last year anyway. It is bigger than the 4th of July here. Already there has been quite an aeriel display. Reminds us of BYU Stadium of Fire. Where do people get these illegal fire works? Come on, we aren't anywhere near Evanston. Really. Submarines do you think? Hmmm. Happy New Year everyone! Love you all.