March Memories

March

This past month has gone by quickly!  Looking back, brings some great memories.  These past weeks at the temple have been busier than usual.  It is spring break in Hawaii and the Maui and Molokai saints have come to the temple along with our Big Island patrons. Some of our sessions have been very large for our small temple.  In last weeks Tuesday morning 8:00 AM endowment session we had 33 sisters and 28 brothers in attendance.  The ordinance rooms are made to seat 38 people - so, chairs were brought in and all that wished to attend were seated.  It was very crowded (don't tell Bruce Allcott - (Caldwell's former Fire Chief) but when they fly from Maui and Molakai and come to do their temple work, it is hard to turn them away.

Sister Hee, Sister Heinzen, Sister Okura, Sister Zabriski, me and Sister Walker

This photo was taken on the Saturday that the Maui/Molikai wards were at the temple.  We wanted to also take a picture of the men that day but if was hard to get them all together.  Maybe at another time!

This past Friday evening brought a sweet, tender and very spiritual experience for me.  Hal and I went to the last shift before the temple will be shutdown for the month of April for renovation and cleaning.  I was assigned to help in the baptistry. A young man and his parents were there and the father was baptizing his son when I entered the baptistry after prayer meeting.  They had come early so that they could do baptisms.  The young man is wheel chair bound and his father carefully baptized him for a number of names.  Then remarkably, the young man baptized his father.  It was amazing to see how the father worked with his son to achieve total immersion by duckin his head forward and sinking down in the font. The mother came to the railing to witness this sweet event.  I was not only touched by the love and devotion I felt from this family, but the spirit was there in abundance - I don't have words to describe all that I felt from both sides of the veil.  Then when they had completed the baptisms, the young man crawled from the font and then walked on his knees into the dressing room.  I had the privilege of offering them both towels.

After this family finished, a group of young people came from the Waikola Ward to do baptisms.  They were such cute kids and so eager to be baptized, confirmed and to help clean up the baptistry.  I love the new directive that allows them to be more involved.  It is wonderful to see the young Priests perform the baptisms for their peers.  They were so cheerful when I asked them to help clean the locker rooms.

After the last patrons left about 8:50 PM, we began to put furniture, scriptures many other items away so that the renovation crew can come in on Monday to do their work.

Hal and I will have 1 week off and then Preston will come to visit and we will have a week to spend with him.  We look forward to him coming!

Then the last 2 weeks of the closure, we are in charge of the intensive cleaning of the temple and having things ready for it to re-open on May 1st.

Our Exercise "Program"

Hal and I found a track at a nearby high school and we try to walk there as often as possible.  We  usually go in the late afternoon or early evening when it is not so hot and we like to watch the beautiful Kona sunsets as we walk.

On a few occasions when we arrived, there were some Hawaii kids were playing on their ukuleles and singing - it was awesome and I told them we liked it so they kept on singing!

Often when we go to walk, we can watch the high school kids practice sports as we make our way around the track.  We have seen football, soccer, La Crosse and track practises since we began walking last November.

The track is smooth and a good place to go!

I usually go around 5 times (a little over a mile) and then I stretch out while Hal goes an extra lap.

"P" Day Adventures

We have been trying to go to places we haven't been to before on our Preparation Day.  One Monday we drove North to Kalaola Beach Park to see some turtles.

They can be hard to spot because they blend in with the rocks and coral.

On another Monday we drove north again to the Kekaha Kai State Park.

 There was a beautiful beach there and many people  were boogie boarding.

Very near there, but on a different road (a very bumpy road) we drove down to the beach to see some Monk Seals.

 

 We saw a mother and her baby.

 We were told by the park attendant that there were only 5 monk seals on the island and an opportunity to see them was rare.  They blend in with the rocks and lava and were hard to pick out until they moved.

On still a different Monday, we drove south this time to Hookena Beach where dolphins are often seen.  We didn't see any dolphins that day but we did go snorkeling. The waves were strong, and getting into and out of the water was a bit of a challenge for two septuagenarians!

You can see Hal's head; it is the small spot with a snorkel - a bit left of center in the picture.

On yet another Monday, we went with the Walkers and the Zabriskis north to Kapaau where we enjoyed breakfast together.  After breakfast, we walked down the street to Vea's Polynesian Gift Shop.  Brother Vea is a sealer in the temple and always has a big, happy smile for everyone.

Brother Vea makes handcrafted wood and bone items as well as percussive hula instruments.

It was a rainy day but we still took a drive to visit some scenic overlook spots, including the Polou Valley Lookout.

We continued our drive through Kamuela along Highway 250 and enjoyed some pretty views of some ranch land and the ocean.

We then made our way to see Rainbow Falls and  the Boiling Pots. The photos above and below show the falls above Rainbow Falls and the Wailuku River which creates the falls and the Boiling Pots.

The photo below is of the "Boiling Pots" - named for the bubbling, boiling water as it flows over the rocks.

 After a stop for lunch in Honokaa at an Italian restaurant, we drove home.  It was a fun day with the other senior couples.

A Fun Home Evening

We gathered  at President and Sister Okura's home with the temple presidency and the other senior missionaries for dinner and a home evening.

 President Okura conducted the evening.

 
 Sister Okura is one of the nicest people I have ever known!

 The Presidency had prepared a delicious Italian dinner with a variety of pastas and sauces, meatballs, salad, brussel sprouts, garlic bread and a big variety of yummy desserts.

President Hee and Sister Okura

 After dinner, we relaxed checked on Family Search to see if and how we were related to one another and then played games.

 Hal was in charge of the games and he sat on a stool and directed the action.  We played Two Truths and a Lie.  In this game each person tells 2 things about themselves that are true and 1 thing that is a lie.  The others try to guess which thing told was the lie.  We had 2 teams (The Presidency against the missionaries) and scored 1 point for each correct guess.  The missionaries won!!  Then we took turns naming our favorite movie and one of our favorite songs.  With all of our phones, we were even able to pull up and play our songs.  These were good ways to get to know each other better.

 Sister and President Heinzen

 Elder and Sister Walker

Sister Hee and Elder Walker
The grand finales of the evening were a duet sung by President and Sister Okura and a solo sung by President Hee.  These musical numbers were a perfect end to a lovely evening.

Relief Society Anniversary Celebration

The theme for our ward Relief Society  Birthday celebration was: "Walk in her shoes".  The picture below shows the cute invitations we were each given.  

We were all asked to bring a pair of shoes to tell a story.  I brought some slippers I had received from a Hotel in Krasnoyarsk Russia that we had stayed in 30 or so times on our 2nd mission.  Hal kept all of the slippers we were given and brought them home with us back to Utah. Now we take them with us when we travel.

We had a short lesson on Family History and were given some resources and ideas to help us do it, and then we had "box lunches" for our dinner.  The boxes were filled with a delicious chicken curry and fruit salad sandwich on a croissant, chips, carrot slices and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

I invited my cute neighbor, Sylvie.  Her husband passed away this past December and she and her 17 year old son live in an apartment 2 levels above us. We have had her over for dinner, taken treats and talked to her a little about the church.  She is a delightful person and really seemed to enjoy the evening.  She was very interested in learning about her family history.

General Conference

March ended and April began with the incredible 188th Session of General Conference and a Solemn Assembly to sustain our new prophet.

President Russell M. Nelson - truly a man of God!

The entire conference was historic and inspiring - what a wonderful way to begin a new era of the Church!

ALOHA!