We've Run Away From Home: February 26 - March 3

    We are thankful we were able to take a couple of more days off to be with Steve and Betty Ann.  Monday was our day to do things in and around Laie.  We started the day off by an early morning visit to Laie Point.
    

       The beauty at the point never gets old.   Since visiting here with Steve and Betty Ann I have found out that people who are daring enough actually jump off of the point.  Apparently, there is a safe place somewhere on the point to jump off and survive.  When I have been out there and observed the waves crashing in on the point, I have no idea way where on the point they could do that.  I would never had the nerve to do it.

     Then we headed to Hukilau Beach and walked along the beach for about 2 miles.  We were going to try to walk all the way to the point on the far end in the picture to the left, but rain clouds were rolling in and we decided to head back to our car.  We just barely made it to the car in time.

 

 After going back home and having breakfast and getting ready for the day, we next went to view a small art exhibit on the BYU-H campus in the McKay Auditorium Lobby.  The exhibit, "She Speaks through Art" showcased student's works of art.

  

    I'm just posting a few of my favorite ones.

This painting above was actually done by one of the senior missionaries, Elder Greg Silva.  It's a painting of the fishponds at Kaneohe Bay.

We then headed over to the Laie Temple grounds.  The temple is closed on Mondays, but we wondered around to the back of the temple.  There's a path that goes up the hill behind the temple to a small gazebo.

We found an old pioneer memorial cemetery on the top of the hill.  The plague reads:

"Here in the shadow of the temple, lies many of our honored pioneer dead.  They who helped establish the true Church in Hawaii and make Laie blossom as a rose."

Most of the grave markers had no markings on them due to the weather eroding the writing off.  From the few we could read they were buried around the early 1900's.  It looked like there were many infants buried there.

  

The views were spectacular from up there, and it was very peaceful.  We were the only people up there.  What a great place to mediate, get away and be alone if you need to.  

At the bottom of the hill near the entrance, was this statue, dedicated to Ma Noaheakamalu Manuhii.  She is a native Hawaiian who took care of Joseph F. Smith, who became very ill when he came to the island as a 15-year-old missionary. Later, in 1909 Joseph F. Smith, now the prophet of the Church, visited Hawaii and told her that she would live to see a temple built in Hawaii.  Three months later in General Conference, President Smith proposed the construction of a temple in Laie.

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Although construction advanced promptly, sadly President Joseph F. Smith did not live to see the Hawaii temple completed among a people he loved so dearly, but “Ma” did. In her nineties and among the first to attend, Ma was carried through the temple to receive her blessings and be sealed to her husband. While in the temple she heard the words of Joseph F. Smith tell her “aloha,” and a dove flew in through an open window and lighted on her bench. Expressing her feeling of deep contentment, Ma passed away a week later.  She is buried in the pioneer cemetery.

Next we headed up to Turtle Bay Resort and looked around.  It's an elite resort on the northeast tip of Oahu. Since all the beaches are public, people who are not staying at the resort can come in and swim at Turtle Bay.  That's Turtle Bay in the background of the picture to the right.  We have hiked out to the point in the background.

This is actually the beach at the resort that looks nice to swim in.  And they don't even charge you to park, you just have to park kind of far away.  The close parking spots are reserved for the actual guests of the resort.

A little further around the North Shore we stopped at Kawala Bay.  It's here where they filmed the famous Banyan tree in Pirates of the Caribbean and lots of other movies and TV shows have been filmed here.

Sitting on the beach at Kawala Bay.

Last place we stopped at on the North Shore was Sunset Beach.  We didn't time it for sunset, but it's still a nice beach to visit.  There are always quite a few people there.  I had to crop out the people that were having a picnic right under the palm tree in the picture to the right.

We did get a pretty good sunset at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We had dinner at Pounders Restaurant in the Marketplace and afterwards did a little browsing in the shops.

We started Tuesday off with an early morning temple session.  

Here's a view looking out from the temple towards the ocean.

Before going to the PCC, we took Steve and Betty Ann on a behind the scenes view to where we work.  The picture to the left is Betty Ann getting a ride in one the carts that Elder Rappleye services monthly in the motor pool.  The carts are a hot commodity at the PCC.  Currently they are slowing all the carts down and setting them on a certain maximum speed per President Grace's (President of the PCC) orders.

Too many students were speeding around the PCC a little too recklessly.  Not too many people are happy about that.  They bring the cart back and say, "There is something wrong with my cart.  It won't go very fast.".  He then has to explain to them that there is nothing wrong, it's now just limited.

Then we took them over to the food warehouse.  Here is a new updated photo of me at my desk.  The poster above my desk is the "Our Kuleana", meaning our responsibility, encouraging all employees to be accountable for all they do.  It states our vision - To spread aloha around the world. Our mission - To share the cultures, diversity and spirit of Polynesia in a unique and uplifting way that blesses and inspires all who visit, while contributing to the educational development and growth of all employees. 

 The big letters I, M, U, and A stand for Integrate Beliefs, Magnify Employees, Uplift Guests, and Achieve Excellence.

Of course, we made sure we did the canoe ride at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

   We never know who we are going to see at the PCC from our YSA ward.  This time we saw our 2nd counselor in the Bishopric performing in the show at Aotearoa village (New Zealand).

This time we got our picture taken with Kap, the star of the Samoa village shows.  He's been at the PCC for over 40 years.  He climbs coconut trees, does fire knife dancing, is a stand-up comedian in the Samoa shows, and displays his art in a gallery at the PCC.  Although I have heard his routine several times, it's fun to watch the audience's reaction to all of his jokes. He never fails to get them laughing.

Steve and Elder Rappleye learning a Tahitian dance in the village of Tahiti.

We also got pictures after the Ha show with some of the cast members.   You can't take pictures during the show, but they invite you to come down on stage and take pictures with the cast after the show.  No one that we have taken to the show has wanted to do that, but I knew Betty Ann would want to do it.  The picture to the right is Fiji cast members.

The lighting on the stage wasn't always great for taking pictures, but these dancers are from the island of Hawaii.

Pictured above is the stunning waterfall backdrop on the stage with two of the Tahitian dancers.

      Wednesday was the last day of Steve and Betty Ann's visit. We can't have a visit with Betty Ann without involving some shopping, so in the morning we went to the swap meet at  Aloha Stadium.  I was able to find an Hawaiian outfit for Deklan's birthday that is coming up in March.  It's always good to have Betty Ann around to help get the vendor to lower their price and get the best deals.  Then we stopped at Sam's Club.  We aren't members, but Betty Ann and Steve are.  It was nice to shop and get some different items there that Costco doesn't carry.  Around 3pm we said our goodbyes.  They headed to the airport, and we headed back to Hau'ula.  Another great visit with family here in paradise.

On Thursday, leap day, it was back to work at the PCC. I've decided I don't like leap day because I had a rough day at my job. My brain was probably still on vacation mode. We had a Ask Me shift that night.   It's the first time we were stationed by the Shaka statue.  It's my favorite spot to work.  You get asked to take people's picture by the statue.  We also had someone come up to us and said, 'You guys look way too young to be out here working. Do your parents know you are here?"  That helped make me feel a little better after having a bad day at work.  I told her we had run away from home. 

      Saturday morning, I woke up in extreme pain.  I could hardly move.  I was having spasms in my lower back. We were debating the night before about going on a hike with some of the other senior couples or going to the canoe races at Kahana Bay.  My pain in my back was definitely not going to allow us to go hiking. 

     

       I did manage to get myself ready despite the pain, and we went down to the canoe races.  The water was pretty choppy, and there were a few near miss crashes.  The BYU-H students were having a great time.  I'm not sure how much practice, if any, the teams had on the water, but what they lacked in practice and experience, they made up with enthusiasm and youthful energy.  In the pictures above it shows them carrying the canoe out of the water and then bailing water out of the canoe.  Between races they would have to get all the water out of the canoes so it wouldn't slow them down.

There was a band of drummers and ukulele players beating away the whole time the races were going on.

 Canoe teams launching out.  They would have to paddle out to the certain distance

 where the starter buoys were. 

 

Here they are getting all lined up to begin the race.  Then they would blow an air horn and they would paddle like crazy.

 If you look closely, you can see three canoes racing towards the shore.  The boat with the flags is the starter boat.

Here's a race that was neck and neck.  It was hard to tell who won from our spot on the beach. The guys on the paddle boards on the right-hand side of the picture are the judges at the finish line.

A team celebrating in the canoe after a win.

Another winning team posing for a photo on the beach.

A view of the canoes during a break.  You can see how long they are. Because of the pain in my back, I could only tolerate being there for about an hour, so we didn't get to see the finals.
We found out on Sunday that a student from our YSA ward, Trae, was on the second place team.  Somehow in all the pictures I took, I couldn't find one with him in it.

      

      Sunday afternoon was our monthly munch and mingle.  We also honor and sing "Aloha 'Oe" to all the missionaries that are leaving during the month.  This was the first month where there were some missionaries leaving that we know and grew to love in the short 4 months we have been here.

In the picture to the left is Su Jones, the second from the left.  She works in the food warehouse with me.  She has been here almost 23 months, and they are really going to miss her in the warehouse, especially Kapu'u.  I am a little worried that they will be asking me to do a lot of the "extra" things that they are always having Sister Jones do.  The new sister coming in to take her place has big shoes to fill. 

And Elder Craighead on the end has worked with Elder Rappleye in the motor pool.  He is an excellent mechanic and also will be hard to replace.  You can tell that they are much loved by all the leis that were given to them that night.

Another Visit from Family: February 19 - 25, 2024

      To start this blog, I have to go back to last week's mention of meeting Steven Sharp Nelson, from the Piano Guys.  I forgot to mention that one of their YouTube videos was filmed on Pounder's beach here on Oahu, not far from our pad and the PCC.  This picture shows the spot they used in their video.  Check it out.

 Https://youtu.be/jzF_y039slk?si=ooprLyFKJLDhjy63

      We also had a leaking washing machine last time we did our laundry.  Thankfully the washing machine sits on a tiled base with a 2- to 3-inch edge and a drain beside it, so it wasn't doing any damage.  Just hoping it's not a sign that the washing machine is going to quit on us soon.

    Monday morning started off with a beautiful sunrise.  When I sit at the desk in our living room to put on my makeup in the mornings before work, I can look out the window and view the sunrise and get a glimpse of the ocean.  This one caught my attention and was extra spectacular. It's not normally that colorful.

Monday night we were again assigned to help with line management at the Hale Aloha luau.  I was helping at the entrance.  Before the guests started coming to the entrance, I snapped this shot of all the leis waiting to be passed out to all the luau guests.

As I was working, the Cowleys came by to say hello.  They had been enjoying the islands at the PCC all afternoon.  They had their grandson, Coen, with them.

Tuesday, we hit our 100-day mark of our mission.  We were told to give ourselves 100 days to get acclimated to life here in Hawaii, life as a missionary, and life in your job assignment.  Here are a few things we have learned in the last 100 days -

1.  This is not the kind of mission we always pictured we would serve someday.  So, we have had to change our expectations.

2.  It's actually can get cold here.  At least it feels cold with the breeze, and humidity, and windows stuck open and no way to heat your house.

3.  The bugs aren't as bad as I thought they would be.  We have seen 3 cockroaches in our pad, 2 geckos, once in our bedroom and a couple of times in the kitchen.  Ants have been the hardest problem to get rid of.  I had imagined a lot worse!

4.  We have more free time than I thought we would have.  In some ways I like that and in other ways I don't.  We try to find extra ways to bless and serve where we can.

5.  It's been harder than expected to feel like we belong here.  All the senior missionaries are nice and friendly, but we haven't felt like we "click" with any of the other couples yet. We feel like square pegs trying to fit in a round hole. But hopefully we will get there.

6.  Unexpected challenges in our assignments at the PCC.  There was no hands-on training by the outgoing missionaries, so learning our assignments has been by a lot of trial and error.  I have never had trouble with anxiety until now.  For months I felt anxious every morning going into work and worried about how many mistakes I would make that day.  I still make mistakes and not always sure what I'm supposed to be doing, but at least I am not as anxious about it. I'm still waiting for a mistake free day. Elder Rappleye's assignment is less definitive as mine, so he has had a hard time knowing exactly what he is expected and should do.  But we both are learning to like what we do.

7.  Going to the beach at least once a week is good for the soul.  Even if it's just a walk along the beach, it helps put things in perspective, reduces anxiety and stress, and helps me remember to enjoy the journey.

8.  I'm told 90% of senior missionary applications have Hawaii listed on their requests.  We did have Hawaii on our list, but just as a "why not?".  The fact that we did not lobby for this mission or talk to anyone in the mission before we submitted, testifies to the fact that we are meant to be serving here.  We have not figured out why yet.  Hopefully it won't take us our whole mission to figure it out.

9.  It is a blessing to go to the temple almost every week.  Back home we lived just as close to a temple as we do here, but we were too busy with work, family, housework, etc. to be able to go as often as we are here.  

10.  Serving in a YSA ward is fun.  We love serving in the YSA 10th ward.  The students are so loving and accepting, and it is great to interact with so many cultures here. It's amazing to see how strong and valiant their testimonies are.  They truly are the noble and great ones reserved to come in these latter-days to prepare the world for Christ's second coming.  Sundays are my favorite day.

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We had back-to-back assignments to help at the Hale Aloha luau because we were filling in for the Tanners.  On Tuesday night, we switched locations. Elder Rappleye manned the entrance, and I was covering the exit.  It's pretty slow back at the exit, but you get a view of the venue and what's going on.  The picture to the right is breadfruit growing on a tree near the exit of the luau.

The picture on the left is a couple of carts full of the pineapple drink they serve at the luau, and they serve it in a pineapple.  It's very delicious, and what's better than drinking a pineapple drink in the pineapple?

     I finally got a picture of the boys carrying the pig from the "imu", an underground oven or cooking pit to the carving table.  Looks delicious!

Right after our shift, we ate a quick dinner at the Gateway, and then headed over to the Visitor's Center for our monthly Senior Missionary Devotional.  Elder Harris, from our district, sang a special musical number, "For Me Alone" by Sally DeFord.  We have never heard this song before.  It's a very beautiful song about Christ suffering and atoning for our sins.  Elder Harris did an amazing performance.  I'm going to include some of the lyrics of the song:

For love of all God’s children Christ redeemed us from the fall
His mercy without measure is sufficient for us all

But if I alone had stumbled; if I alone had strayed
If I alone had wandered from the straight and narrow way
If I alone were foolish; if I alone were frail
If I alone had faltered when the power of hell assailed
If I alone bore guilt for which my all could never atone
He would have come for me
For me alone

     On Wednesday, our day off, we spent most of the day preparing for Elder Rappleye's sister and husband, Betty Ann and Steve Curtis's visit.  They actually arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon but were spending a couple of days in Waikiki before coming to stay with us on Saturday.  We were cleaning and arranging the extra bedroom for them to stay in.

In the evening, we went and played pickleball and then went over to the Pacific Theater at the PCC to watch the Masters of the Flame competition.  PCC employees vie for the title of best fire knife dancers.  They even had a women's division.

There were 15 competitors in the men's single division.  Kena, the fourth in from the right, works in the food warehouse in the afternoon shift.  He showed off his skills at our Christmas party in December.  There were 6 women in the women's division. 

Here's a few photos from the men's competition.

I just wanted to stay long enough to see Kena compete. It was getting late, and we had to get up pretty early to go to work the next day, so we ended up leaving before he competed.  All the competitors we watched dropped the knifes.  No one had a perfect routine. It's a tough skill to master.

      We took Friday off and met Steve and Betty Ann down at Waikiki where they were staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Paradise Village.  By the time we got down there, we only had a little time before our lunch reservation at Duke's, so we relaxed by the pool.

Here are a few views we had from the pool. Waikiki is an absolute crazy crowded place.  So many people, so many tall buildings, so many cars - it's faster to walk places than drive.  And that's what we did, we walked to Duke's for lunch.

Almost everyone we talked to recommended eating at Duke's.  We were excited that Betty Ann and Steve had made us a reservation there, because we will probably not go back down to Waikiki again unless family or friends are staying there and invite us to come visit them.

The food did not disappoint.  It was expensive though.  The best thing was the dessert, Kimo's Original Hula Pie - chocolate cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge, toasted mac nuts, and whipped cream.  TO DIE FOR!  All 4 of us shared one piece - it's HUGE!  I don't want to know how many calories are in that piece of pie.

View of the beach from the restaurant.  We were hoping for a table on the patio but didn't get one.  It's always crowded at Dukes. 

      Picture on the right - statue on Waikiki beach of native Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, legendary swimmer and surfer, Elder Rappleye and his sister, Betty Ann Curtis are in the picture to the right. Can't go to Waikiki beach without getting a picture in front of this statue.

Some fun photo ops along the walk.

On the walk back, we took the sunny route and walked along the beach.

After lunch we decided to get out of Honolulu and drive out to Hawaii Kai where Steve and Betty Ann used to live 35 years ago.  Since we never got a chance to come visit them when they lived in Hawaii, they took us to see their old house.  It just so happened that the current owner happened to drive up as we were parked in front of the house.  She was kind enough to let us come in, and Steve and Betty Ann could see the changes to the inside of the house since they lived there.  They loved reliving their time on the island.  

Views of Hawaii Kai.  Steve and Betty Ann lived up high on the hill (Mariners Ridge) where you see all the houses.

View of Maunatua Bay.

West side of Koko Crater

We drove all the way out to Makapu'u Lookout.  It's just below the lighthouse on Makapu'u Point.  It was super windy out there on this day.

We also stopped at the Halona Blowhole. When the waves come in strong enough, water sprays up through a hole in the lava rock, looking like a mini Old Faithful.  instead of hot steam it's cool ocean spray.

We ended the day back at Waikiki.  Sunset view from Steve and Betty Ann's hotel room.  You know you are on vacation when you have ice cream for dinner - Lappert's Ice Cream.  Steve and Betty Ann highly recommended it and judging from the line outside the door, everyone else thought so too.  We had just enough time to get our ice cream and head to the beach.

We finished the day off with a bang by watching fireworks over Waikiki Bay.

     Saturday was the day we were most excited about.  It was the day we were going to do a whale watching tour.  This was something we had hoped to do when our son, Derek and his wife, Sharron, were here in January, but it got cancelled because of poor weather conditions.  We were really hoping that wouldn't happen again.  The weather cooperated this time and we were able to do our tour.  Here we are as we headed out to sea.

    

  We sailed out of Haleiwa with Bob Marlin Charters.  We had booked a private 4-person tour, so it was just us on the boat which gave us a better chance of moving from one side of the boat to the other, depending on where the whales were.  It was a 2-hour tour, and there is no guarantee on how many whale sightings you will see, or if you will even see any whales.  We were all put to work scanning the ocean for signs of whales - plumes of water coming from the whale's blowhole.   Over an hour into the tour, we still had not seen any whales.  It started to rain lightly on us, and I was beginning to think maybe we should give up and go back to port.

   

  Elder Rappleye was the first one to spot a whale.  then a little later, I spotted a whale.  Soon we had lots of whale tails popping out of the water.

   

   Then Steve and Betty Ann each spotted some whales.  Captain Kev maneuvered the boat so that the group of 4 or 5 whales were swimming alongside us about 50 feet out from our boat.  Our captain did a good job to keep the speed of the boat about the same speed as the whales.

   The biggest thrill was when two whales, one right after the other, breached and came up out of the water.  Then a short time later for the third time a whale breached.  We couldn't tell if it was three different whales, but it was at least two different whales.  In the picture collage to the left, I kept the wake of the boat in one of the pictures so you can see how close we were to the whale.  By now, we knew we had definitely gotten our money's worth.  Captain Kev told us that he had not seen that many whales breaching in at least two weeks, and he goes out every day with tours.

     

     Here we are returning to port, all very happy with our adventure of whale watching.  Thanks to Betty Ann, who provided all the great whale pics.  She got the best pictures between us.

      

     Here's a picture of our awesome Captain Kev.  He's been doing tours for 12 years so he's very experienced.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the shops at Haleiwa.  

   On our way back home, we stopped along the north shore at Ted's Bakery for a late lunch/early dinner.  We got the two-choice mixed plate of mahi mahi and lemon chicken.  We were all so famished from our whale watching and shopping excursion.  Everything tasted wonderful!

      It was fun to have someone to play games with at night. The two games we played were Five Crowns and Tapped Out.  I couldn't help but think about our Pamela Place downtown group that we used to play games with before our mission call.  I'm sure they would love both of those games.

      On Sunday, Steve and Betty Ann went to church in their old ward down in Hawaii Kai.  They got to see a lot of old friends.  

     I had a make-up conducting class to do for two of my students.  After the make-up class, they received their keyboards.  The picture to the left is Rizza getting her keyboard.

This is Nicha receiving her keyboard.  I wish I could go on and teach all 8 of my conducting class students keyboarding, but that would not be feasible.  So, I had to choose one student to teach in the 2:15pm class.  I chose Taputailo Ufi (Talo for short) because she is in our YSA ward.  I also am teaching Zaya keyboarding at 3:30pm because her church schedule won't allow her to get to the 2:15pm time.  They get a one-hour lesson every Sunday.

Unbeknownst to us, Sister Jones took pictures of all of the teachers with their students.  Here is my student, Talo at her first lesson.  She has a little bit of background in piano, so we were able to breeze through section 1 of the keyboarding class.

After the keyboarding lessons and Steve and Betty Ann had returned from their visiting in Hawaii Kai, we had the sister missionaries over for dinner.  There had been transfers a couple of days before Sunday, so we had one new sister missionary.  Sister Earl, from Roosevelt, UT is the sister nearest the window (she was a new sister), and Sister Scott, from San Diego is closest to me.  Both sisters have been on their mission for a while.  It was fun getting to know both of them.