July 1, 2013

We started off the week working our usual hours, 8-5 but in addition tonight we were also on ticket duty from 5-7 pm, fortunately they feed us prime rib and crab after we are done, the food is always the same but always good.  You have to be careful on what you eat because the pounds will start to add on pretty fast, and they are much harder to get off at our age.

On Monday night we had our usual FHE (Family Home Evening), tonight we had 3 missionary converts talk to us, two were from Russia and 1 from Fiji.  They all had very interesting conversion stories.  The Sister Missionary shown here in green is Sister Farmington from Russia along with her American

       companion from California.  Her mother and father both died when she was very young.  She said she did not remember anything about them.  She was placed in an adoption center and she stayed there for over 12 years.  A couple from Utah wanted to adopt a young girl to replace a child that had died many years ago, they also had another daughter and she wanted a sister.  They found this young girl and knew immediately that they wanted her in their family.  The process of adopting her took another 4 years along with tons of paperwork.  She has a very strong testimony of Gospel and is very eager to tell others.  You can certainly tell the Lord had his hand in making this adoption happen.  The other Sister missionary from Russia had a similar story to tell, both of these girls were in adoption homes and both were adopted by Utah families.

Sister T (can't spell her real name) is from Fiji and is the one in blue.  The guy on her left is her fiance JJ and is from Utah.  I think you probably know the other 2 people in the picture.  She is the only member of her family to join the Church and she was kicked out of her family.  She is a student here at BYUH and is madly in love with JJ.  He is in his last year of school and she in her 2nd year.  They plan on going back to Utah or California and finding jobs when finished with school.  He is a returned missionary and is a fun guy to be around.  She has an infectious smile and you can't help but like her when you talk to her.  These are the bright spots of our mission, meeting these young people.

On July 4th a group of 5 missionary couples went to the Byodo-in Temple or Valley of the Emples Memorial park.  This is a picture of the Temple, the grounds are gorgeous with ponds, trees, ducks, turtles and flowers.  This Park was built in 1968 to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii.

Sister Reynolds and Sister Tremea

Nona & Papa

             


 Inside the Temple is this Buddha, it is 18 feet tall and thought to be the largest figure carved since ancient times. When the carving was complete, it was covered with cloth and painted with 3 applications of gold lacquer.  Gold leaf was later applied over the lacquer finish.  The hall where it is housed is popularly known as Hoo-do.








We found this Buddha replica that was for sale, it stands about 18 inches tall and would fit nicely some where in our St George home.  Problem is trying to get it home.  This guy is supposed to bring you luck and keep your home safe.

After visiting the Temple we headed for the Koalua Ranch and had their hamburgers, Big ones with lots of fries and cole slaw.  Very good, we haven't had a hamburger for a long time, so it was a good change.

This was the price tag for the Buddha.  I liked what he stood for best.  I thought that was fitting for this fat cute smiling Buddha.





We finished up the 4th with an ice cream social at the Maples home.  They are senior missionaries and just rented a bigger home which will accommodate all of us for these type of gatherings.  After the ice cream we played a little bit of basketball, horse, first one to spell the word horse by missing shots loses.  I think it got dark before we finished the game.  As you can tell it also rained a bit, but that did not change our spirits.  The one things about senior missionaries is we are all very slow.

                                                                                 Senior Missionaries

 Hawaiian Temple in the background

         


We finished up the week by having a luncheon in the costumes department where Sister Tremea works.

        We had stew and rice, which Moma Tu cooked.  she is the older lady and she is a full time employee at the PCC.  The other girl is a student at BYU-H.  The stew and rice was actually pretty good.  Sister Smith also made yummy brownies.  There were about 6 students there and they kept eating.  These kids love to eat and it is fun to see them enjoy the food so much.  Most of them do not have this kind of food back home or it is in such short supply.

We went to Kaneohoe Friday afternoon.  They were out of work for the seamstress department so I didn't have to go in.   We went and bought an iron and some things we needed at Longs Drug.  It was retail therapy for me!  This weekend a memo came from President Grace that the Senior Missionaries were working too hard...and he wanted the missionaries to work 6 hours a day rather than 8.  That will be a change for us.   Maybe I will live after all!

We love the letters and notes from you.  Thanks Emily for your letter.  I will get back to you soon.  All the fun notes and letters help us each day.  We love and miss each of you and pray for you daily.  I know the Lord will bless each of you as live each day choosing righteously and doing your best.
Hugs to all of you.