It is a cloudy, rainy Saturday afternoon and I have some free time so Blog time.  Sunday is the usual day but it will be very busy, so this makes more sense.  The first news is Elder Wright's car wreck. 

The fender bender

On Monday I was driving down a side street and a kid in a pickup backed out of his driveway right in front of me.  I swerved but not soon enough and hit his bumper.  No damage to him but my damage was significant.  I duck taped it together and put a plastic bag over the destroyed headlight (the bulb was still good) I may take up paintless dent repair via duck tape.  I am pretty good at it.  On Wednesday we see the adjuster, pay our $1000 deductible:( and it will go in the repair shop.  Soon it will be good as new and I will be more careful. 

Tuesday we worked at the exit at the PCC.  It is a really boring job for two hours.  We sit in two chairs and watch for people sneaking into the back door of the buffet.  They never do.  All the times we have done it, never any excitement.  So we were reading while sitting in the chairs.  The senior missionary sisters (single) found us reading and let us know we were not being obedient.  I guess I should feel bad, but at my age, obedience means something different in this context.  Since then we have seen her several times so we think she is stalking us to see if we are being disobedient in other ways.  Some of the senior missionaries are really very humorous without meaning to be. 
Most of my time when not teaching has been busy getting tests and things ready for the end of this rushed term (ends first week in June)  These short terms are tough for teachers and especially for students.  But I think I am ready for the final dive at the tape.  Then we have the 5-week break. Whew!
Last night we celebrated Elder Rowell's birthday with dinner at a restaurant in Kaneohe called Haleiwa Joes.  The restaurant was good, but the setting is remarkable.  Here are some photos

The RELED missionaries

The restaurant is located on a hill overlooking a garden and Koi pond.  It is real Hawaiian jungle and very beautiful   After dinner we walked through the gardens and saw quite a variety of flowers and other plants. 
The restaurant food was okay.  Desert was Macadamia nut ice cream which I loved having not had ice cream in quite a while.   But we were surprised when we ordered prime rib.  Good thing we had decided to share because it was a 32 oz cut that looked (no kidding) like a roast.  Everyone laughed when it came.  We
had so much left over that we will have several meals from it.  It was good, just so much.  It was called bone-in prime rib, so different from what we were used to.  When we left we saw this huge native fellow eating his prime rib and it was almost finished.  So I guess we are the whimps. 

Kaye with the fish

Tomorrow we have church, stake training and then a meeting with our group of Indonesian students.  They are a great group and so we are looking forward to that opportunity.  I will close now, grateful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity for so many different experiences.  Makes life in married student housing almost bearable.  :)

Restaurant in Background

Happy Mother's Day!

We have had a nice Sabbath Day and I enjoyed talking with our children and their families. We also had a delicious crab dinner and then attended a baptism for another young adult who lives in Kahuku. His mother joined the church a few months ago and while he was at National Guard, his assigned"Battle Buddy" was a member of the church. After talking with him, he met with the missionaries and decided to join the church as well. It was a huge baptism with many of his mother's ward members in attendance as well as many members from our YSA Branch. The young man's name is Jahdi and he seemed very happy as well as his mother, Sunshine. What a great Mother's Day gift he gave her!

Jahdi with our branch mission leader, Nate

Members of our branch enjoying our "Break-the-Fast"

Last week was our "Break the Fast" with our YSA Branch. We met at the Fullmers after church and enjoyed delicious fish tacos, chicken tacos, and steak tacos along with beans and rice, of course. There were a lot of YAs there, some I had not seen before and some who had not been in church either. They hear food and equate it with party and are very happy to drive over to the North Shore. Now if we can just convince them to drive over for church AND food. Everyone loves these after church get-togethers.

Another little gecho buddy - We love company!

We had a nice surprise from home this week. Lynn and Lyle Wasden were here visiting their son and his family. He teaches at the university. Anyway, they came over for a little visit and were sure impressed with our lovely apartment. I'm sure it brought back many happy memories of their student housing days! It was great to see them.

When I spoke with Kimberly Saturday evening, she said their Sacrament Meeting speaker had bailed at the last minute and as we were discussing a few ideas for Mother's Day, I mentioned that Elder Christofferson had given a wonderful talk in the Fall General Conference, 2013. After talking to her I went back and reread it. If you haven't had a chance to read it in awhile, I would encourage you to do so. It made me appreciate my girls and the wonderful job they are doing as mothers. All five of them realize the importance of having a gospel centered home and putting first things first. They understand that even though there are hard decisions to be made, it always comes down to doing what is best for the children (even if the kids don't appreciate it at the time!). I am proud of each one of them. I feel joy when I am with them and their families. A little mother's day reflection. . .

Mother's Day in Hawaii - 2014

 And now to the big reveal - NEW PCC COSTUMES!!!

You have no idea how happy I was to find something new and cooler (in multiple meanings) to wear on our nights at the PCC. I may actually bring this one home! The other one was so heavy, dark, and stiff that it could practically stand up by itself - kind of like a tent. These are very lightweight and will be much cooler for the hot summer months which are approaching. Aloha!

A new month!  Maybe now the rain will stop and sunny skies will return.  A rundown of the week:
Monday-Normal class and library work.  Evening event was the Harlem Globetrotters.  We had great seats and enjoyed the show.  But some of their magic has gone with the years.  They need Meadowlark Lemmon back on the court.
Tuesday-Kaye's birthday bash!  Lunch at Turtlebay Leilei's resturant.  I had seared Ahi and Kaye had baked Ahi, both delicious.  It was so nice to have a great meal.  Expensive, but worth the treat.  Then back to open presents from family and friends.  Kaye loved the attention and support.  

2014 Birthday Party!

We have a member of our branch (Jackie)who is part of an orchid business.  I asked her to make an arrangement for Kaye's birthday.  Here it is!

Birthday orchid

Jackie told us this plant might last until it is time for us to leave.  Wow that would be great.  It smells so good.
Wedneday- normal work day. (Golf afternoon for me, shot a mulligan 40)  Evening was temple time for me and Kaye had a RS presidency meeting with the branch sisters.  She enjoys being a mentor to these girls.  They are learning important skills as they are in the big transition of life.  Being a YSA is not an easy time of life.
Thursday- Normal work day.  After work cleaned apartment and did laundry.  That has been my job during our mission because my schedule is more flexible.
Friday- spent day in Honolulu running errands.  Kaye finally found a mumu that she likes.  The one provided by the PCC felt like it was made of canvas, so hot and uncomfortable.  So next week you will get to see the new outfits. On the road we stopped at the valley of the temples near Kanohe.  Here are a couple of photos of the Buddhist temple.

Visiting the Buddhist Temple

Kaye ringing the temple bell

Saturday spent preparing lessons for next week and Sunday.  Kaye worked on her Family History lessons and me on my regular lessons.  Kaye is proud of the School of Education professional library that she has been working on for the last while.  The professional books and other printed resources were matter unorganized in the school and really unavailable to teachers and students.  She has organized an unused room into a library, organized and weeded the collection and added updated volumes.  It has been work, but well worth the effort.  She has been amazing in all her assignments.

Kaye's New Library in School of Ed

What a week.  Tomorrow is fast Sunday with all the "break the fast" activities.  Who knew that breaking the fast was such a big thing.  We have one with the Branch (Cafe Rio party) and then one with the missionary couples.  So much for our diet.