Yesterday I forgot to do the blog, so here I am before FHE putting it together.  A rather quiet week so it will be rather brief. Last Monday night we went to the senior missionary FHE because my colleague from BYU, Richard Holzapfel was the speaker.

We are with the Holzapfels and Botts

He did a great job and the seniors loved his stories about his experiences as a mission president in Alabama during the Romney run for president. After the presentation all the BYU colleagues had their photo taken.  We are in the picture with the Holzapfels and the Botts.  They are serving at BYUH in a student assistance program. 

Tuesday we spent the evening at the PCC taking tickets at the Ohana Luau. It is not a big luau so we finished early and while we were waiting to be released so we could eat, I took this photo of Kaye and the canoe. It was much better in real life.  But it did get Kaye all excited about watching Elvis's movies he made at the PCC:  Blue Hawaii and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.  Awful movies but fun when we see so many places we recognize.

Kaye at PCC

The week was rather ordinary with no major happenings.  It was the last full week of the Summer B term so I handed out my finals and we will meet once more. 
Here is a photo of my Summer B Term missionary prep class.  They were a good bunch.  Four international students (China, Korea, Honduras and Bolivia).  Four already have calls to California (2), Halifax and Korea.  I have grown to enjoy this class more than I thought when I volunteered to teach it. 

REL 130 Sum B 2014

On Saturday our Branch President baptized his son so it was interesting to see how that works in Hawaii.  First, the baptismal font is outside under a roof attached to the building (Wailua ward)  Second, everything else is the same (grandma's speak, lots of family, etc.) But the fun thing that is unique is people who come bring candy leis.  Here is a picture of Ashton Lee after this baptism and a photo of mom with him.  I think she still misses primary. 

Ashton Lee after his Baptism

Kaye with Ashton and Sawyer Lee

 Heave Ho! and Apa Kabar!


This week began last Sunday with our branch meeting in the Little Theater on campus because the Sunset Community center was being used as a 'place of refuge' for hurricane victims. Since it was basically a non-event in our area, it probably wasn't needed but I was happy to meet where we had air conditioning and we had our usual turnout so everything worked out just fine.

Tuesday was a big day for me - I got my hair cut. The girl who was doing it moved to California when her husband got a job writing for an ABC television series. He used to work at the library. So Kaylee works from her home and has two cute little kids. She is just getting going with her salon business and is excited to have a hair washing sink (in her laundry room) and a real salon chair. She did a pretty good job. It is hard to maintain any style here because of the wind, rain, and humidity - usually all in one day.
We also worked at the PCC in the evening and we were surprised and happy to meet a girl who graduated from Lone Peak High School and knows Kayla. I think her name might have been Kylee but I'm not sure. Here is her picture:

Lone Peak graduate 

On Wednesday we went to the temple and saw the third new temple movie. We always try to go to the 4:00 session because it is the handicapped session and they always need additional people.

Thursday we went to Aiea to have my arm checked out. It was no big deal and an excuse to have a fun day. We ran some errands. Dennis bought me a new purse. He also checked on the new part for the car. We are part of a Chevrolet recall and have been waiting for several months for the part to arrive and since we hadn't heard from them, Dennis decided to go check it out for himself. Yes, the part was there and had been for over a month but of course, no one had phoned to let us know or to schedule an appointment to get it replaced.  After that, we went to see the James Brown movie which was interesting even though I wasn't ever a big James Brown fan.

Friday morning we went over to Hukilau Beach to watch the launch of the "Iosepa," the BYUH sailing canoe which they built several years ago. It was last taken out about four years ago. They were supposed to launch between nine and eleven, but when it still was sitting there at 12:30 we left and did laundry. We checked back in the afternoon and it was still sitting on the beach. They decided to wait until Saturday.

Kaye with the "Iosepa" at Hukilau Beach

Putting the mast up

Saturday morning we went over to the flag circle on campus at 8:00 am to help the Indonesians celebrate their Independence Day. They began by singing their national anthem. I love to listen to them sing as they sing loudly and enthusiastically. We could learn from them. Then they had a little quiz and were asked questions about their history. It was interesting for us since we didn't know very much about their history. They could name all seven of their presidents and tell how they came to have independence from the Japanese and the Dutch after WWII. They have only been an independent country since 1945. Then they played silly games and just had fun and ate cheese puffs and Chips Ahoy cookies. For one game they cut slits in a cantaloupe and then shoved coins into it. Then they greased the whole thing with butter and the teams had a race to see who could pull the coins out first with their teeth. In Indonesia they have something similar where they grease a palm tree trunk or just a pole. They have prizes tied at the top and people take turns trying to get to the top to win a prize. I'm thinking family reunion. . .

Preparing the cantalope

Ready, Set, . . .

And the winner is!

Another game was with a pencil tied around your waist and a bottle of water. You had to squat down and try to get the pencil into the pop bottle until it reached the water. They made Dennis and me try this one and they were laughing their heads off at the two of us. By the way, dad won! More reunion fun?

Reminded me of squat toilets in China

After this activity we went back to the beach to see if the ship had been launched. No, but I guess they were waiting for Dennis because they got the flatbed thing stuck in the sand and then they called all the people on the beach to go help push this huge, heavy piece of wood into the water. After several tries, they eventually succeeded. Everyone started to cheer. They are sailing around Oahu and over to Kauai and then it will come back to Haleiwa where it will be taken out of the water and trucked back over to BYUH for another four years. It was cool to see! By the way, it is Monday night and it is still sitting in Laie Bay.

Dennis launching the ship

As you can imagine, Dennis was exhausted after single-handedly pushing the boat into the bay and so we finished off our day with a trip over to Haliewa to enjoy a famous Kua'Aina burger.

Who needs a Big Mac?

This was the week of Hurricane Iselle.  I sent reports to the kids during the experience and since this blog is scheduled for a major publication in the future I will include the reports so that they will be part of our mission adventure best seller.  Also many of our readers :) did not receive the reports so now they, too, can experience first hand the first hurricane of the Central Pacific Hurricane season (August through November)  Maybe there is another one coming so I will keep my sterno stove.

Tuesday 5 August.    The adventure will begin on FRIDAY and then again on SUNDAY….our first Hurricane or Tropical Storm.  Pretty soon, Kimberly will not be the only hurricane survivor in the family.  I will keep you informed of what is happening as long as we stay connected to the world.  Right now I am figuring out the sterno stove (wish I had all our camping gear)   Oh well, maybe it will be just wind and rain….I hope so. Went golfing today, weather is beautiful…but 1000 miles away, 165 mph winds, Yikes.  Wednesday 6 August.   Your hurricane reporter checking in from Laie, Hawaii.   All the local markets are out of water bottles (in heavy rain the water supply becomes polluted) and other basics.  We did our part by purchasing a case of water and a sterno stove plus a few groceries.  We are ready with our 72-hour packs and the evac center is only a five minute walk away.  I just have to move my car to the lot where there are no trees. 
But having said all that, the locals are saying that the Big Island will get hit the worst, but it will not be a full force hurricane but rather a diminishing tropical storm, 6-8 inches of rain and 50 mph wind gusts. The path is now moving south of the island chain which is good news.  The second storm is right behind but it will not be as bad.  Schools and other public buildings will be  closed on the Big Island and Maui but everything is staying open on our island.  They do not expect widespread power outages, etc.  Church functions are going forward, the PCC is planning to open on Friday (the worst day) and so great concern has yet to be manifest.  Everyone says there will be flooding in the usual places and that power may go out, but not as widespread as feared earlier.  So today after school we golfed in beautiful weather (I shot a mulligan 39).   Tomorrow the rain should begin in earnest and continue through Monday.  So stayed tuned for tomorrow's report at this same time. 

Selfie at the point in the non hurricane

This was the worst...not much, thankfully

Thursday 7 August.   Your on the spot hurricane reporter is checking in at 3:15 on Thursday.  The clouds are gathering and growing darker.  It will hit the Big Island as a category 1 hurricane in a couple of hours.     It will not hit Oahu until after midnight so we will wake up to a tropical storm (that is what it is now called for all of Hawaii except the Big Island. ) They have closed the schools for Friday, all government agencies, stopped the bus lines and airports.  The main threat remains 50 mph winds and 5-8 inches of rain causing flooding, trees to topple in the saturated soil, washouts and sea and surf swells.  Power outages are also likely.  Our Church meeting was moved from Sunset Beach to campus because of the second storm that is following this one.  We will be meeting on campus if anyone can drive there. 
The rain has just began to pound down so maybe this is the first of more rain or just an ordinary rain storm.  We'll see.  Stayed tuned to your reporter who will keep you informed of our adventure. 
Friday 8 August.   This is your on-sight hurricane reporter checking in….It is now 8:20am and it is a normal Hawaiian rain storm.  The wind comes and goes, nothing dramatic.  The worst is supposed to come at mid-day.  But the track is moving south and it may just be a storm.  The Big Island got hit but not hard, Maui just had storms with no major anything reported on the news.  So we are next and the birds are singing outside my window, which is a good sign.  Likely lots of rain, and maybe some localized flooding.  Otherwise, pretty much a non-event. We may not even have a power outage…Maui only had a few isolated outages.  I will check in this evening when it has passed or during the day if it becomes an adventure.  The good thing is that it is nice and cool in our non AC apartment. Stay tuned. 
Friday 8 August.   Well, this reporter has little to say.  After an hour of rain this morning, the whole thing became a total NON EVENT!  Little rain, normal wind, no floods, no surf surges, nothing, nada, a total NON EVENT on Oahu.  I think the Big Island was the only one really hit by the storm.  Not that we are not grateful, because we are.  Not that we were not prepared, we were.  BYUH had the Cannon (think Marriott) Center set up for evac and they had thought of everything.  It was amazing.  But only 30 people showed up, mostly homeless beach people, so for that it was good.  We now have a case of water, lots of batteries, a sterno stove and other supplies that we will have in the closet for the next event or leave for the next missionaries.  But who knows, hurricane season lasts until November. 
But because the next hurricane is to the north and will cause only some  rain and wind (that is a nice day in Laie)  I will retire as your on the spot hurricane reporter.  Like I told Mom, Stephen, Geoffrey and I have camped in worse weather than we had today.  So we are grateful that prayers were answered.  Signing off as your hurricane reporter. 

You can see that our hurricane adventure was not so much.  We have seen much worse during our time in Vancouver BC.  But we are not complaining.  It could have been very serious so I am glad that we were over-prepared...much better to be prepared and not need it than the other way.

On a happier note the week began with our Branch break the fast.  This was a pancake buffet the Fullmer's home.  Dave Fullmer (1 counsellor in the Branch Presidency and Beau Nobmann, 2 counsellor are in the photo with Kaye and some of the branch members.  These are favorite events for the branch members.  They certainly can eat a lot of pancakes. 

Two more weeks of school in the summer term, then we are in our last mission semester.  The time is flying.  But I still miss my peach tree.

I thought I would start out today by posting this picture of a house being fumigated for termites and/or centipedes. It is not uncommon to be driving down Kam Highway and see houses completely enveloped in plastic. The occupants have to leave for a few days while the spray works its magic. But what about all their food?

We had a nice week. Last Sunday we were invited to one of Dennis' students home to have dinner. They also live here in TVA and Jun, his wife, Mei Ting, and their baby, Yulia, were so welcoming. Jun cooked us authentic Mainland China food which was much better than anything we ate on our China tour. We ate off of plates, but they used bowls. We all used chopsticks. He prepared a chicken dish, shoestring potatoes ( but not like what you are thinking - They were not deep-fried), eggplant, a dish of scrambled eggs with marinated tomatoes, and of course, rice. It was very interesting to talk with them about joining the Church. She was raised in the Church. Her father is a Branch President, but he joined when he was 15 and then converted his father and mother. He served a mission in Houston and will graduate in August and then they will return to China. We really enjoyed meeting with them and hearing about their experiences.

Jun, MeiTing, and Yulia

Kaye and Yulia, age 7 months

For Family Home Evening we all met on top of the mountain by the shrimp trucks. There is a large, covered arena there and one of the boys in our branch works there with horses and cattle. He is a real cowboy or Paniolo. He has recently become reactivated after ten years of inactivity. He received the Priesthood last Sunday and we are all very proud of him. The kids all did swing dancing and were trying to flip the girls over their shoulders. Not always a great idea. . .But everyone seemed to have a good time.

Swing dancing with the YSA's - Where's Elder Wright?!

On Thursday the Branch Relief Society had an activity over at the temple. We watched a movie about temples with thirty year old hairstyles and dresses. Then the girls did a 'selfie' scavenger hunt around the temple grounds and visitor center. When they finished that, we all met at the pavilion and had a picnic. It was a fun activity.

The presidency always does such a good job of planning and organizing these events, but we can't seem to get more girls to come out. Hopefully, they will hear how fun it is to get together with the other sisters and decide to join in the fun!

On Friday I went with our Sister missionaries to an elementary school in Hau'ula and helped our branch Relief Society President, Marvalyn, Santeco, set up her classroom. This is her first teaching assignment and she will be teaching sixth graders. I think she will look like one of her students. Anyway, it was fun to help do bulletin boards and Elder Wright did his part by showing up at noon with a pizza!