We were up so late on New Year's Eve, that we slept in a little bit and got a late start on the day. The PCC was closed for New Year's Day, so we used the time to get caught up on things - laundry, cleaning, washing the car, blogging, etc. We did get to go to the beach for a little bit. We went to a beach close to where we live that the locals call Pounder's beach. It's amazing to me that so far, the beaches that we have gone to are never crowded. I guess that's because there are so many beaches to choose from it spreads the crowds out.
This planter is sitting right next to our front door. I was told that if I wanted to, I could plant whatever I wanted in it. My first thought was I wasn't going to bother with it because I wasn't sure if I would have time or if I wanted to invest any money into it. It was tempting though because I love growing flowers. Every day we would come home, and I watched as the planter started filling up with weeds. I couldn't let the weeds keep growing and if I had to pull weeds all the time I might as well plant something in it. Also, it looked like maybe some of the plants growing in it were maybe ones we might want to keep. We have seen how expensive food is around here, so I decided maybe it would be worth it to plant a tomato plant in the planter. The next time we were in town at Walmart, I checked in the garden area and found a patio tomato plant that I thought would work in our planter. Here it is all planted. The other two plants I figured out are basil. I learned that basil and tomato plants are great companion plants. The basil helps keep the bugs away from the tomato plant. We'll see if we get some home-grown tomatoes from our "garden".
It was another holiday week with Monday off and then working at the PCC Tuesday through Friday. In both the Food Warehouse and the Motor Pool, we have had several people gone on holiday break. In the Motor Pool, Elder Rappleye was missing Bry, a full-time employee, Elder Tam, a service missionary, and Elder Dehart had family in town, so he was not available to come in. With so many gone, Elder Rappleye was doing more of the hands-on work instead of the office duties. He was definitely liking it much better. In the Food Warehouse, my boss, Lili, has been gone for 4 weeks along with several of the student warehouse workers. It's been extremely stressful for Kapu'u, who was left in charge. She's very capable, but being short workers just makes things stressful. I was doing a lot more counting of inventory this past week. I'm actually starting to remember where items are located and feel more comfortable with putting in the inventory count. Luckily, I still didn't have to do the count for the freezer items😊.
We did have ukulele lessons on New Year's Day in the evening. We finally bought a ukulele for both of us to share. So now I have to borrow a ukulele at the lessons and Elder Rappleye uses ours. We can also now practice, so maybe we'll start seeing some improvement in our skills.
It was nice enough weather this week to play pickleball on the outside courts. We are just learning the game, so we are not very good. We have played tennis, but this is different - different balls, different size court, and different rules. I think it's going to take some time to adjust our skills to pickleball. But everyone is very nice about playing with us and helping us to learn.
One of the best things about this mission is the opportunity to go to the temple often. You just have to plan ahead to get an appointment. We were invited to go do sealings with 2 other couples on Thursday night, the Archibalds and the Tanners. Afterwards we went and got something to eat at Pounder's, a restaurant at the Hakilua Marketplace next to the PCC. This was our first time eating at Pounders. I wish I had a picture to share, but I don't take my phone with me when I'm going to the temple. The food was really good, and they have the "good" fries like they have at the Gateway. Just a note - I order some of the food they use at Pounders every week in my assignment.
We had another assignment at the Hale Aloha luau on Friday night to help with line management. This time we were on our own, no trainers helping us. I was helping at the entrance and Elder Rappleye was managing the exit. It was not very busy towards the end of our shift, so I managed to snap a few quick pictures of the actors waiting for the show to start.
If you look closely at the picture on the right, you can see a few leis left on the stands. Before the luau starts, the stands are full of leis.
You can't see the queen, but she is between the two Kahili bearers escorting her onto the stage.
On Saturday, we got out early so we could go hike Ka'ena Point. It's the western most point of the island of Oahu. The trail follows the route the railroad used to take goods and passengers from Honolulu to Kahuku between 1897 and 1946. We hiked along the left-hand side of the point and back. We took the coastal, lower trail out to the point, hoping to spot maybe a whale or two. They say January - March is a good time to see whales. No such luck.
At times we were close enough to the ocean that we could feel the ocean spray on our faces.
Luckily, all the way out to the point we were hiking in the shade of the peak. You can see the sun coming up over the peak in this picture. We were almost to the end of the 3 mile trail before the sun was totally up over the peak.
Near the point we saw the Moli, or albatross bird. There were several of them seating on their nests. I took lots of pictures of them, but I can't find them on my camera - ??? I'm so disappointed. Hopefully we will go out again and I'll get pictures of the birds.
Here we are at the point.
Here is the view as we sat on the black lava rocks and ate our snacks.
There were signs saying that monk seals are known to hang out at the point, but we did not see any while we were there. We hope to get a chance to hike along the right-hand side of the point sometime.
Even though the hike was fairly flat, we still were feeling it by the end of the 6 miles. Only two months into our mission and we can tell we are getting out of shape. Too much sitting, not enough time to exercise and move.
With the start of a new semester at BYU-H, the senior missionaries are offering the church's conducting and keyboarding class. I work with Sister Jones in the Food Warehouse and she is in charge of the program and told me they needed instructors for the conducting class. I told her I would love to help out. The class is offered on Sunday afternoons at the McKay building. Sister Bodily and I are the instructors for the new conducting class. We had 7 students on Sunday afternoon, all girls, most of them from the Philippines. All have a little bit of music background. For 6 weeks we will be teaching them all about conducting music. After the 6 weeks, if they have mastered conducting, they get to move on to learning the keyboard. I will then be teaching the keyboarding class when that happens. They get one on one instruction, so they need enough teachers to match the number of students. The church provides the keyboard, and if the student goes all the way through the program and fulfills all the requirements, they get to keep the keyboard. One of the requirements is to be willing to share their new talent and skills in church callings and help others learn as well. I am excited to use my talents to help others learn. It also gives me another chance to get to know more of the students here.
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