The ongoing saga of my root canal procedure continues. I've never had a dental procedure take so long to complete. After having my root canal done the end of May, I had to go back to my regular dentist to get the work done for my permanent crown. I called the dentist the day after my root canal, and they told me the soonest they could get me in was 3 weeks away - June 24th! So, finally this Monday afternoon I was able to go into the dentist thinking it would be my last appointment and I would be done seeing dentists for a while. Nope, I was wrong. After sitting in the dental chair for over an hour of drilling and making an impression for a mold, I was told I had to wait another 2 - 3 weeks to get my custom-made crown put on. Considering that my tooth first started bothering me the first weekend in April, it will be a little over 3 months of dealing with my tooth issue by the time the work is all complete. Not one of the best experiences of our mission, but I know it really is just a minor inconvenience considering what I've seen others having to deal with.
This little fella shared a shower with us on Tuesday morning. It's the first time we have had a gecko in our bathroom. We've seen one in our kitchen a few months ago, but nothing since then until Tuesday. We haven't seen him since.
We had made a temple appointment for Tuesday night. I had in my calendar that it was an endowment session appointment, but when I received the email reminder, I noticed it was for temple sealings. We had just done sealings last week and we don't usually do the same temple work two weeks in a row. I decided it must be a sign to do the 3 family names of sisters who we had not been able to seal together the week before. I figured these 3 sisters did not want to wait until we rotated back to do sealings again in about 3 weeks. We were hoping to be able to seal all 3 of them at the same time if we had enough women temple patrons in our session. At the beginning it didn't look like we were going to have enough women. Then the temple sealer said we were waiting for one more man to join our group. We were disappointed because we needed one more woman to join the group in order to seal all 3 sisters at the alter at the same time. A minute later in walked a woman to join our sealing group. Heaven's help was with us that day.
We have been taken off the town run assignment on Thursdays. I have really not been happy about that. I have to admit I shed a few tears when we found out. They got new missionaries starting at the PCC and gave one of the new couples the town run assignment for both Tuesdays and Thursdays. We were hoping they would let us split the assignment and have each couple do one day a week, but the powers that be decided to have just one couple do both days. So instead, they asked me to help with the Ask Me shift on Thursday mornings at 11:30 AM to greet the people as they get off the tour busses. It's been hot, but it gets me out of the office and interacting with the guests, which is a nice change. On Thursday night we did an Ask Me shift. As we were leaving the PCC and walking to our car, we got to enjoy this awesome sunset. It's been a while since we have seen a sunset light up the sky this well.
We said goodbye this week to Danna and Kali, student workers at the food warehouse. They are both going home to the mainland for the summer and not coming back to work at the food warehouse. There has been quite a bit of turnover of student workers during the last month partly because of no school during the summer and students going home. During the summer when school is not in session, most of the students stay to work at the PCC. It's a requirement for the IWork program, a work-study program that most of the students are signed up with to help pay for school. They work 19 hours a week during the school term and up to 40 hours a week during the summer to earn money for the next year's school costs. So, both the students and us are adjusting to the longer work week.
Saturday morning, I had a training meeting for the food warehouse. We have them once a month, but I usually don't attend because it's mostly for the student employees. This was David's last training meeting. He is in charge of training all new student employees and the ongoing monthly training. Next week is his last week at the PCC. More about him in next week's blog post.
We had heard about a surfer from Oahu being attacked by a shark and died right near Goat Island by Hukilau Beach. On Saturday we were walking along the beach up by Goat Island and came across this memorial for the surfer that died. It's a very sad event because he was a famous surfer and had been surfing all his life and knew how to stay safe in the water. In fact, he worked for Ocean Safety for the county of Honolulu.
Now that school is out, we see a lot of kids at the beach. The picture above shows how the locals enjoy the ocean. There were two ladders out in the water that the kids were climbing up and jumping off into the waves. Ocean version of diving boards, I guess.
Sunday was the last day for all these students in our ward. Some have graduated and some our just moving out of the ward. We don't know all of them. The second from the left was on the ward council - finance clerk, I think. Fourth from the left was on the high council so we didn't see him too often. To the left of him is Evan Webb. He was the Elder's Quorum president this last semester. We got to know him very well. We sang "Aloha 'Oe" to say goodbye to them and wish them well on their next adventure.
Next to him is Princess Cobing (Also pictured to the right). She was one of the two Relief Society presidents. She graduated and has gone home to the Philippines to find a job and serve in the church in her home ward. For some reason, Helaman Kim did not get in the group picture above. He was the Sunday School President. He graduated and is going back to South Korea to work and probably apply to medical school.
We will miss them very much, but this was why they came to BYU-H. To get a degree, grow, learn and strengthen their testimonies of the gospel, then go home or elsewhere to serve and contribute to the building up of God's kingdom and the gathering of Israel.
We had a piano student graduate on Sunday, Y. I only taught her one time when my student didn't show up that week. She can play very well with both hands from the Hymns made easy book. When a student graduates, we have a little party for them at the end of class. Of course, that means food and visiting is involved.
I didn't eat much food at the graduation party because we were having the missionaries over for dinner. This is the third transfer that Sister Earl has stayed in our ward, but she got a new companion, Sister Newcomb from Rochester, New York. It is only Sister Newcomb's second transfer since she has been here in Hawaii.
Changes seems to be a constant part of serving here in Laie.
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