The big news of the week is that we got our car back - all fixed, painted, and polished. It looks good and we are very happy to be back in the car business. We have to keep it looking good so that we will be able to sell it when we leave.

Yesterday the branch held a service project for a non-member who lives in Sunset. His property was COMPLETELY overrun with weeds and trash. I have never seen anything like it. He is a friend of a member of our branch presidency though and so he told him we would all be happy to come and help him clean up his dump. There were two big front loaders completely buried in weeds. We couldn't even see them when we were told to cut the weeds and uncover them. I only helped marginally - Mostly I was busy watching out for creepy crawlies but thanks to many hands a miracle was performed!

Where is it?

Hard working Elders

Who knew ?! There is the first one!!

On Friday we decided to give the apartment a really good cleaning. In the process we found a few things to donate to the "Give and Take" which is like a free DI for the students. After cleaning, we gathered up our items and took them over. The sister missionary there told us to put them in the bin. The large bin is covered by a large piece of plywood on hinges. We lifted the lid and were putting the things inside when a gust of wind came up and blew the lid down on Dennis' hand. It is not broken, but is very sore. Good thing he has a good nurse. She thinks he will survive. He is planning on going golfing tomorrow.

Here is a photo of our growing branch which will be featured in the Church News in the coming weeks.  I called my friend there and suggested they feature our unique branch.  They jumped on it and have interviewed people, accepted our photos and written accounts and are working on an article.  It will be fun to see what turns out.




An almost disaster happened when a huge cockroach attacked Kaye in the kitchen.  She fought bravely but was about to succumb when Dennis came to the rescue with a shoe and killed the monster before he could devour Sister Wright. Here is a picture of the biggest cockroach Mom has ever seen.

Because BYUH is on break, they shut down the campus and encourage missionaries to travel or otherwise fill their time until classes start again.  Our fellow missionary friends (Elder and Sister Rowell of Cedar Hills, Ut) had not seen the islands so we suggested we go on a cruise so they could see everything and we would show them around.  We rented a car at each port and saw the highlights.  

This is our Norwegian Cruise Line ship at anchor off the big island of Hawaii.  It was a small ship but very nice.

As part of our trip we went to volcano national park on the big island of Hawaii.When we were there the lava was not flowing but we could see the steam vents (see below) that are caused by surface water dripping down into cracks leading to the molten lava.  So it is there, you just cannot see it right now.  It was a rainy day, but we were prepared.

As part of our tour we went to a lava tube (cave) left from an underground lava flow.  It was interesting but not much different from those at home in Idaho.  Here we are at the entrance to the tube.

 As part of the trip we visited the Kona Temple on the island of Hawaii.  It is a small temple beautifully situated on a hill in the city overlooking the ocean.  While we were there youth from Maui had come for a week long service project working on the temple grounds. 

We had a great trip and are now home.  We were able to pick up our car which was in the body shop and our Mac computer which was also being repaired so we are now back in business.  A week of preparing for the coming term and doing some family history. 

"All in favor of two hour Church?"

This posting will cover the last two weeks (June 18 and June 25). OK, I have been a bit of a slacker due to some weird kind of coughing virus. I am now in my third week of non-stop hacking, driving both myself and my stalwart companion insane. Fortunately, we are beginning to see a sliver of light and my days are getting better.  Nights are still a nightmare. I hope I am not developing an allergic reaction to Hawaii.

As a consequence of my inability to control myself in public locations, our schedule has been somewhat limited. We did go to a movie the other night and I worried about disturbing the other moviegoers but then I remembered where I was -- Godzilla! It was so loud, no one could hear me. Last night we went to "X-Men" with the same result. That movie proved once again that it really is possible to beat a dead idea to death. Dennis even dozed.

For Memorial Day we drove over to the little Laie Cemetery to see how all the graves were decorated. There were lots of beautiful Hawaiian flowers. This cemetery isn't really laid out nice and tidy, but there are a lot of graves. There were many families sitting around their ancestors, picnicking, playing music and reminiscing. I am still surprised to know that I too have a little connection to this cemetery.  My mother's cousin and his wife are both buried here. His name is John Pierce but he went by Jack. His son, who is about my age, still lives here with his wife. He is currently serving as a counselor in the Laie Temple presidency. His name is Keith.

Laie cemetery - May 26, 2014

Kaye with cousin Jack Pierce

Monday night we invited all the missionaries over for a fish fry at the beach. Naturally, it started raining and so Dennis barbequed beautiful mahi mahi, swordfish, and salmon under our roof and we picnicked inside our apartment. These apartments weren't designed for large group entertaining, but it all worked and we had a nice time and we even taught them all to play the dice game.

The rest of the week was pretty much a wash. Dennis did his thing and I stayed home from work Tuesday and Wednesday. Dennis made the menu for the week and so while you all were enjoying a lovely pot roast, we were enjoying some beautiful fish sticks of some unknown kind of fish, along with fried potatoes and onions, and a lovely side of canned creamed corn. Still, I am not complaining. He is an excellent nurse.

Thursday I dragged myself over to the library for our storytime and then went to the Dr. I saw a NP name Naty. She said I have coughed so much, my bronchial passageways are in spasm. Anyway, she prescribed something which I am dutifully taking. I really think with virus', they just have to run until they die. Thursday night another girl from our branch went through the temple. Dad went to the session but I stayed home since I knew this movie wouldn't drown out my coughing like Godzilla. This girl is named Ayesha and she will be serving in Kentucky, Louisville. What an adventure for her. I love these new little missionaries who are so full of faith. I always think about our Kayla and how she too is one of the new breed of sisters.

Friday was a nice day. It was sunny in the morning and so we went over to the beach for a couple of hours. Dad always takes these embarrassing photos, but since I have nothing else to put in, I'll just make it small.

Mostly empty Castles Beach

Friday afternoon I pulled myself together and drove over to Haleiewa for a special treat - not shave ice -even better: PEDICURE!! Thanks to Geoffrey and Leah, I now have beautiful toes for our upcoming cruise which we leave on this coming Saturday, June 7.
After the pedicure I drove back over to Pupakea for our branch Relief Society activity. The presidency planned a fun evening of "Do It Yourself" activities. They made stain remover, laundry soap, make-up remover, etc. We did "Cake in a Mug" for little treats and we all brought food, so of course, it was a big hit!

Today, June 1, we started the new condensed schedule for Church. The community center doesn't have enough money to hire someone to come open the center for the amount of time we need the building and so, for this month only, we are on the 'condensed' schedule. We set up at 10:00, have Sacrament meeting from 10:30 - 11:30, Priesthood & Relief Society from 11:30 - 12:30, and then we all put everything away and are done by 1:00. In July, they have to submit their new budget to the county so we are hoping they will budget for more hours for our branch. We would be happy to pay their expenses, but all extra money goes into a 'general' fund and so it wouldn't be funneled back into our building. We will keep you posted. . .

I have to go make a green salad for our branch "Break-the-Fast" this afternoon. They are having a stuffed potato bar and one green salad. Mine. How about green salad for 100?!?