May 27, 2014

We have had a holiday this week and  a weekend without being so busy.  It has been a good feeling to go for the day.  Our P-days are always so packed full, we seldom get anything but personal and home cleaning.  We had a three day weekend and it was good.

We may have mentioned before D-Bob to you before.  He is here on a mission with his parents for one year.  He is Downs Syndrome.  His birthday was two weeks ago and his mom told him she thought it would be good to just have a family party and keep it low key for his birthday this year.   They live in a small apartment.  D-Bob didn't think that was too cool.  He talked to his Ward Elders President and found a student who helped him with invitations.  He made 250 invitations and asked the Elders Quorum buddies if he could have party at their pad.  It was a big party.  His mom got hold of the 250 invitations and cut it down to about 100.   The Elders had the party on the Point at their bachelor's pad.  Six students live in this typical boys apartment overlooking the ocean with big deck. Perfect for parties.  D-Bob's parents bought about 30 pizza's, drinks and doughnuts for everyone.  D-Bob was in heaven.

Happy Birthday D-Bob

Six LDS Students live here.  

Time for Celebration!  We have another 16 year old on the road driving.  Madeline got a car to drive… I'm told it's a family car, but whatever.  Pretty happy teenager.  Be careful Madeline!

Be careful on the road Maddie!

It has been working as usual everyday.  We haven't seen too many big crowds yet at the PCC.  They are always busy on Friday and Saturday, and for some reason Wednesday seems to be a busy day. That is always our walkabout work night and we always have two luau's.  Katie came to see Elder Tremea at work today.  She and Kevin are doing well.  Today I heard Keke is pregnant.  I hope she doesn't lose her volleyball scholarship.  I hope to talk to her soon.


We went to Waimia Falls last weekend.  It had been raining but the flowers were beautiful.  The trees were all in their flower blooming too.  The path was dressed with flowers from the rain.  It looked like I imagine the Garden of Eden would look.  Flowers I had never seen before were on bushes and trees.  We took a zillion pictures to go along with the thousand other flowering pictures I already have.

Hybrid Orchard

Lobster Claws

This was called the Popsicle flower.  

White Gardenia

Car problems…we had to fork out some money.  The brakes needed to be replaced and the bearings in the front wheels had to be replaced.  The air conditioner has a problem, but still works and some other minor things are starting to become problems.  We pray it will keep running until we come home.  Today we took Sister Cooper home for lunch and Dad backed out of the driveway and didn't see an old truck parked on the other side of the road.  Actually it was parked half way on the road.  It was an old beat up truck with the back filled with their entire belongings.  We couldn't see any damage to their truck but it bashed in our back bumper.  They were happy when Dad offered money to pay for damage that we didn't  see.

Elder Cooper told us he would try to take the dent out of the back of the car.  Today, three days after the accident we met with Elder Cooper, and Elder Nielson to ask them to try to get dent out of fender. We jumped out of the car to show them where it was, and to our surprise the dent was gone.  We kidded with them to see if they had just worked on the car today while we were at work but they said they hadn't.  Well, Papa said it was a Lexis and maybe the dents pop out themselves.  Ha Ha.  We're still not sure what really happened but the dent has disappeared!!!  Just another missionary tender mercy.

We stopped outside of Kuhuku for a drink beside the road last week.  It was a farm with a garden in the back.  Papa thinks he can try growing this kind of a garden when we get home.  It is called hydroponics or growing the plants in water and not in dirt.  The small seedlings are put in a small container with holes and placed in a pre cut hole in 2" Styrofoam.  This is about a 3x8 foot bed.  You can see from the pictures the amount of produce that can be grown in a small area.

On Memorial Day we visited the National Memorial Cemetery in Honolulu (Punch Bowl).  This cemetery is dedicated to men and women who served in the military who have died.  It was a beautiful day and the sight of all the American Flags was impressive.  Each grave had a flag placed by it.

The flags were all lined up and people were there to place flowers and to walk among the graves.  Below you see a man and his son walking proudly among the graves.

Old Glory was flying proudly.  The wind was gently blowing and the white clouds and blue skies made the occasion beautiful.  

                                              

Part of the cemetery was dedicated to the soldiers who died in the Korean War but whose names are not known.  There were hundreds of graves with markers  called "Unknown".  We thought of Uncle Rex who served in the Korean war, fortunately he did not die in the war. 

We are very thankful for the many brave men and women and served in the military to protect our freedoms.  We are also saddened by those who made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.  When we say our prayers we need to include those serving in the military.

When we serve at the Polynesian Cultural Center we have been walkabouts.  After we get all the missionaries settled at their posts, we are free to walkabout.  This little guy comes in each day with his father who works in the Hawaiian Village.  He is so darn cute.  We asked him what he has on his arms and he said, "Visa's" with his scary warrior face.  We asked if we could buy him…..

We didn't get his name.  Later checking back, he had become tired and was sleeping under the shade of the green leaves beside the hut, and no he was not for sale. 

We send our love.  Be good and do good.

Nona and Papa.

May 12, 2014

The past two weeks have been very busy.  We were so tired this weekend we simply collapsed!
We did go to our Sunday church meetings.  Mothers Day was a day of rest.  But I better start with two weeks ago…

The Harlem Globetrotters came to Laie BYU-H.  The missionaries supported the event, but I can say that we had seen enough by half time, and probably won't be wanting to see another game in our lifetime.  The children loved it and the students didn't support it as much as we thought they would, probably because of the cost.  The best part was the mascot.  He was pretty funny.  The plays were still the same.

Samoan Devotional was Saturday morning at the PCC.  Each village at the PCC has a devotional once a year.  This time it was the Island of Samoa presenting the devotional.  The speakers are mostly students from Samoa and they present a theme for the meeting, at this meeting the theme was respecting our heritage.  These young people do a wonderful job and are very humble and most of them very poor.  During the meeting a rooster (chicken) flew up on the beams and starting crowing, it was very distracting but the meeting went on.   There were many comments from the speakers about the noise but finally the chicken stopped crowing, must of fallen asleep like some of us do during our church meeting.

Did you find the chicken?

Chicken joined the choir.  Inside the Hut.

One of the Samoan Huts

Above is the chiefs hut in the Samoan village.  This was just recently remodeled.  The Samoan culture is very strong in Laie and their chiefs have a lot of say as to what goes on at the PCC.  The Samoans are a large and friendly people and are not in a hurry.


Derek and Emily (Mangelson) Egan graduated from the University of Utah on Friday May 2, 2014. Derek graduated with Honors Bachelor of Science in Operations Management and Emily graduated with Bachelor of Science in Marketing.  We are proud of both of you and Love you both!

They are a handsome couple

They are on their way…..

We have had some birthday boys during April.  Jake turned 14 on April 7, and Sam turned 15 on April 17.  We miss and love you boys.

Sam and Anna at Laie Temple

Jake standing by statue at Polynesian Cultural Center

Coming this week is Erik's 20 birthday.  He sent us a picture of him and his companion.  They wanted to look alike…..bought glasses, ties and matching suit's I hear!   He's doing good in Connecticut.

Erik is on the left, can you tell.  I think he has gained weight.  Looks like he will gain much more if he wants to look like his companion. We are very proud of Erik and the way he is performing on his mission.

Aimee sent us pictures of Madeline on her first Prom Date.  She couldn't remember the boys name but he is 6'5" and Maddie is all of 5'2…..she did her best with 4" heels and stood tall.  You look real cute Maddie, hope you had a good time.  (Don't you think Mom's should know the name of the boy their daughter is going out with?)

Maddie and friends going to dance

Mary came to see us.  She arrived on Wednesday and stayed in Honolulu the first day.  She was with her friend Kathy.  Kathy helped her with car and getting around.  They came out to see us on Friday and I took her to the temple.  They visited the Polynesian Cultural Center and stayed for the Ha, Breath of Life Show that night.  It was good to spend some time together.  We drove in to Honolulu Saturday and took them to the Swap Meet.  We pushed Mary in wheelchair until we were all hot and tired.  We took them back to hotel and then did our shopping and came home.  Sunday they came out and Mary spent the day again with us.    I took her to Turtle Bay and we walked around the hotel and beach.

Mary and Cathy at Temple

Mary at Turtle Bay

Smelling the flowers

Relaxing by the water

I haven't heard from you Mary, did you get home?  Maybe trip wore you out.  I hope you found everyone okay at home.  Love you.

May Day was a busy day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It's an annual festival to have the Elementary Laie School come to the PCC and have music and dance festival at the Ha Theater.  It was  busy with children practicing during the days before the festival too.  We were able to go to the performance.  The children here learn very young how to dance and perform on stage.

                                                The top picture is of the May Day Queen.

The second picture is of the children's  white costumes.  After they finished dancing they dropped their white costumes and were all in colorful south of the boarder costumes and music.

The Festival went on for three hours.  Every child in the school performed.  Every person living in the little town of Laie was at the performance to watch.  Big crowd, the theater was filled, no seats available.

The World Fire knife Championships were held at the Polynesian Cultural Center this past week.  We have been scrambling to get costumes and outfits for the competitors and workers.  I think everyone had a new outfit, a new shirt, new palliates and lava lavas.    We also made a new sail for the Ha Show.  It was made with beautiful white silk.  We made four panels of 18 yards long, 42" wide.  We figured we worked with 72 yards of material in length and a football field is 100 yards long.  It took four of us a week to finish it.

We were able to get the new sail finished for the Fire knife Opening.  It was completed for the Friday show.  The fire retardant wasn't put on the finished sail however.  When I watched the show I held my breath that the fire wouldn't be too close.  The Saturday show that we were able to watch was altered some, and the fire was used more than usual that night.  Truly, the Lord blesses this place, otherwise it would have burned down long ago.  The fire was over and under the sail so close I thought it would go up in a poof of smoke, but it didn't.  All went according to plan.  The fire dancers competed during the intermission.  We were able to see the Saturday final night Ha show and see the final three competitors.  It was a once in a life time show.  The fire knife finalist had drums play as they danced. For three nights we heard drums.  I was plugging my ears.  This was the 22nd annual World Fire knife Championship.  Let me explain what a fire knife is:  it is like a baton with both ends on fire. The ends have a material with gas and lighted, it burns very hot and these guys twirl the baton as fast as they can.  To be perfect there should not be a break in the fire circle as it is twirled.  It was kind of scary for us to watch,  but they are not afraid.

This picture is of Jeralee Galeai.  Her Mother works with me in Theater and Costumes.  I made her dress for competition night.  Her father is a fire knife dancer in the Ha, Breath of Life Show every night.  No wonder his daughter likes the fire knife.  She was 14 and won in the Junior Competitors.

May Day Festival for seven High Schools on Oahu were all the the PCC on Saturday morning.   Each year they have a "We are Samoan Festival" with the high schools participating.  It was like fantastic, they performed many different routines and were all in sync.  It was like going to the Davis Cup held at the University of Utah for the high school bands.  

.  

The custom of the Samoans is to throw money for the performers.  This is all money on the ground thrown to the dancer.  The money will go to the Kuhuku Samoan School Club.  

At the end of each performance money is thrown at the performers.  This is a tradition for the Samoan people, hundreds of dollars were given to the schools to support the Samoan club at each high school. We were fortunate to be here on our Mission to see these performances.  I guess these are the perks of Mission life at the PCC. Friday night Shen Yun Show.  A group of missionaries got together and went to a Chinese ballet call Shen Yun.  Beautiful costumes and beautiful and graceful dancers.  We borrowed a 12 passenger van from the PCC and went to the concert.  Many of the single sisters do not have cars, the van provided a way to get them all to the concert.  The Pollacks and Ron and I were going alone for Mothers Day Treat, but it ended up that Stacy and I shared our husbands with the single sisters.

The Shen Yun Show is Classical Chinese Dance.  The Chinese Dance is one way which 5,000 years of Chinese culture has been passed down and retained.   The show has never played in China.  It was China's rich cultural traditions displayed through music and dance.  The costumes were beautiful with bright flowing colors.  If you have a change to see it, go.

Elder/Sister Pollock, Sister's Linton, Johnson, DisPain, Bisson, Tisdel, Myasaki, Lewis and Sister/Elder Tremea

Wonderful Show

We passed our one year mark.  It's been like a celebration at the PCC for two weeks now, so I guess we will call it good.  It has gone fast and slow.  The weeks fly by, but sometimes the days seem really slow.  Today we worked all day and then worked tonight taking tickets.  We are still walk abouts so we are moving, walking and checking people.  Very tired tonight.

Looking through pictures and remembering the days gone by with family just a year ago.  We are almost to 51 year Anniversary.  Grateful for family and friends.    Where in the world are we?

Love and miss you all.