Our Last Transfer.

Another six weeks has gone by. Transfers are next week. It will be our last apartment and car check too. We will be going home 2 weeks after the transfer. Today the ZL's, Elder Porter and Elder Edwards played Jeopardy for me as part of our training. They know I love that game and they were so sweet to let us play it today. I must say the questions were hard though. Did you know that Bruce R. McKonkie wrote the introduction to the Book of Mormon. I didn't. Anyway our team lost so I owe the elders and sister's a home cooked lunch next Monday. Hmmmm what should it be? I'll have to think about that one. Sandwiches anyone? Homemade cookies? Love these young people. Have I said that before? My prediction--Elders Moore and Obray bottom left and right will be going. I'll let you know what happens next week.

The Canyon and The Beach.

Well, we went up to the first 3 look outs of the Waimea Canyon this morning. When Wally and I walked this morning we looked up at the mountains and thought what a perfect time to go. It was clear and the sky was so blue. We were sure we would be able to see for miles. By the time Brandon and family got here (9:00) and we started to drive up the clouds started to roll in. The canyon is so beautiful we wish they could have seen all of it. You can tell by their jackets and Jana's towel it was cool. The coolest we have seen since we have been here. Cool not cold! At the very last stop I prayed for just a short window of time so they could look down and see the ocean at the bottom of the canyon with the waves breaking against the shore. Sure enough we were blessed with a quick view. How happy I was for answered prayers.

"Catch a wave and your sittin on top of the world.." Anyone know that song? Body surfing anyone? This is Kekaha Beach. When Jeffrey was here we went all over the island to different beaches to swim. On their last day we stopped for minute at Kekaha Beach and they wished they had spent some time here. Jeff told Brandon it was a good beach and so did we. Because it was rainy up the canyon "Brandon guys" decided to see if it was true that it never rains in Kekaha and that it is the hottest place on the island. We were rewarded with an absolutely gorgeous day. A perfect beach day. We spent the afternoon playing in the sand and water and watching all the fun. You can tell by the picture that the body surfing and boogie boarding were the BEST! I love our "wild" beach and I am sure going to miss having it just down the street when we get home.

Beautiful Easter Sunday!

Here they all are! Everyone was glad to see Grandma and Grandpa but Sam. He doesn't know us. We aren't scary on Skype but real life is different. We are so glad to have Brandon, Jana and family here. We feel so spoiled because we can show our island off and have their undivided attention. No one else is around. They came down to Kekaha today to church and to meet the members of our ward. Wally and I bore our final testimonies.The most precious thing was Dusa blessing a baby girl in Hawaiian.  It was a beautiful Easter Sunday. It is always warm and beautiful on our part of the island. They liked our little house and our town and especially loved our ward. We visited for awhile but then they went back to Poipu because we had another baptism this afternoon. We went to the Marriott after Tiare's baptism and had a nice dinner and visit with everyone. We have already planned to go up to the Waimea Canyon tomorrow and then hope to spend the afternoon at Kekaha Beach. Goodness these boys have grown in just a year and a half. This family has our oldest grandson and youngest grandchild. Brandon, I remember when you were 16. When I look at your family I can see ours. All those boys......

Wonderful Day.

Today's the day!! Shelbri was baptized. What a wonderful day. Wally baptized and confirmed Shelbri and I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Sister Cardejon gave a talk on baptism and Sister Mecham and Kunane played some beautiful music. After the baptism Dayla and Palani held a luncheon in the courtyard at the church. Everyone who came enjoyed a spiritual feast as well as good food. We will surely miss this part of Hawaiian culture. We love having the food (our waistlines show it) along with activities. Everyone has such a good time talking story and sharing memories. The love and support is amazing. There is such a spirit about it. We know Palani won't be too far behind Shelbri and we told them we are already looking for tickets so we can come back for their wedding and his baptism.

Another Lesson for Margarita.

This is a Bamboo plant. It grows in water. It has special meaning to us. The Blevin's and Margarita gave it to us tonight after our dinner and lesson (The Plan of Salvation). Margarita continues to enjoy the lessons. English is her second language so we are going slowly so we make sure she understands all we have to share with her. We had a turkey dinner with all the trimmings because we can't meet on Easter Sunday because of other family things going on. The pot has elephants all around the outside and that is important too. The Bamboo was trained to grow like this and Sis. B was telling us that the 2 bottom leaves represent Wally and me and the next one up is the Savior watching over us. The heart is their love for us. How sweet is that? We want to bring it home but don't know if we can. We will go to the airport and ask next week. It grows in water so there will be no dirt being transported or anything. We are constantly amazed by the love and support of the people we have met here in Kekaha. Our hearts have been changed forever.

A Week of Shopping and Sending Boxes Home.

We have taught 2 baptism lessons to 8 year olds so far this week. Shelbri's baptism is this weekend and she is so excited she can hardly stand it. I met her and her mom at the church so she could try on her baptismal clothes and she could hardly stand still. "I love Primary." she kept saying. What a cute little girl. All the missionaries went over to Oahu for 8 Step Training and so there was no District Meeting this week. Wally and I didn't go because we will soon be coming home and we wanted to save the mission money. It costs so much to fly inter island. We are busy doing little things on the list of things that have to be done before we go home and were glad to have this time to do them. Especially getting that Red Dirt sweatshirt for when we have to face the cold days in Utah again. At lunch time we decided to go to Yumi's for our last lunch with Gena. We met Gena when we first moved here and lived in Handy's house. She was our neighbor. When we found out she ran her own little restaurant we would go for hamburgers and Pumpkin Crunch every so often. We taught a lesson to Palani and Dayla. We read Alma 32 together. Palani has his scriptures loaded on his phone now and is so happy with it. How happy that makes us to see his joy in the gospel. What a great man he is! How blessed to share the gospel with someone who is loving it and taking everything in and embracing it.

General Conference, Lunch and Dinner!

We can't believe this has been our 3rd general conference since we have been here! We got up early this morning so we could be in our seats by 6:00 a.m. for the live broadcast. It has been such a wonderful conference. Yesterday, Bishop was even able to get the Priesthood Session at 2:00 in the afternoon so Wally didn't have to go alone into Lihue. It was funny having the session in the middle of the afternoon though. I still get the times mixed up because I think in the here and now and not 4 hours ahead to Utah. We had one sad note. Our Bishop's wife was taken to the hospital with pneumonia. We hope she will recover quickly and come home soon. After morning session we ran home for breakfast. Back at 10:00 for the 2nd session. How great was that session? Loved all of it! After the broadcast we were invited to the Mecham's for a farewell dinner. It was delicious. We had a lovely visit. Bro. and Sis. M are both school teachers. They told us they are retiring this year. We gave them a high 5 and told them they will love their freedom. Woo hoo for them! In the evening we went to the Blevin's to teach their son Kekoa's fiance a lesson. Guess what? We had a lovely dinner there too. Oh my goodness how kind is everyone... Margarita is a really sweet girl. We are having a nice time teaching her. We hope she will be touched by the things she learns and will want to be baptized.