June 21, 2015
We’re just finishing up a very nice Sunday and Fathers Day here in Laie, Hawaii. The weather is delightful. There’s a nice breeze from the east. The moon and stars are out in their glory. It’s been a very nice and a very busy day. Thank you all for your Fathers Day wishes! They are greatly appreciated.
Of course, Fathers Day or not, our normal Sunday routine went on as usual. That means being at the Center from 9:00am until 11:30, then a quick trip to the house for your mother to change out of her muumuu and for us to grab a quick bite to eat, and then off to Church at the Laie 3rd Ward from noon until 3pm. We then had a couple of sister missionaries over for dinner this evening. After that we took some brownies across the street to a new missionary couple that arrived last Thursday. They will be doing training at the Temple for the next eighteen months. They moved into the Pleasant View 6th Ward just about the time that we moved to Japan in 1995 and Jim and LeeAnn moved into our house in Pleasant View, brother and sister Pierce. He was a dentist and Jim and LeeAnn may remember them. His brother is in the Temple Presidency here at the Laie Hawaii Temple.
We crossed our three month mark last week on the 19th. There wasn’t anything memorable about the event, just that the time has gone by so very quickly. It seems like we just got here and on the other hand it seems like we’ve been here forever. In about twenty months we’ll be finished and on our way back to the mainland. As we were talking about it, as much as we really enjoy being here in Hawaii, we’ll be ready to go back to the US when our mission is finished.
The number of visitors at the Center has picked up now that summer is here. There are times that it seems like a zoo in the Center! The sister missionaries are really kept hopping on those occasions. It’s a good thing as they (and us) seem to be a lot happier when we’re swamped with visitors.
Tile is now being laid in the fountain pool. I’ve attached a picture of the first bit of tile. The foreman told me that it’ll take three weeks to complete the job. I’m hoping that it gets well inspected as the work progresses so that it’ll be acceptable upon completion. The contractor pushed through to “completion” with the first set of tile only to have to rip it all out and start over again. But, sometime in July we should have the fountain working again!
Meanwhile, we also have mice in the Center. Yuck. Yesterday as we were closing the cleaning people told us that there were mice and that we should remind the sister missionaries to keep their area clean and to be sure to empty the trash before they leave. This morning during our prayer meeting I had just finished my spiritual thought when Sister Ting let out a huge yelp and then a couple of other sisters screamed. A mouse had run across the floor. Sister Leng, who comes from Cambodia, couldn’t understand what all the commotion was about. Apparently mice are common household occurrences in her country. We’ll be asking the cleaning company to get quite aggressive in trapping out the mice.
Last Thursday we spent much of our afternoon in video calls to most of you! That was a lot of fun and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing you almost face to face! I’m hoping we can do this much more regularly. Next week is transfer week so our Preparation Day moves from Thursday to Wednesday for the next six weeks. Your mother will be setting up schedules for us to get together on video on a regular basis.
We’re having a very good time and end each day beyond tired. Neither of us have any trouble getting to sleep at night! The work is fun. We’re meeting and talking with so many great people. Yesterday evening we had a large group from the Czech Republic come in to the center. One young lady spoke pretty good English and was able to do some translation. I had a great conversation with the father of the group who seemed to really enjoy talking (even though it was through a translator) with another adult male person who wasn’t in their group. He was glad they had come in and I was very happy to have had a chance to talk with him. The Czech Republic is one of my bucket-list places to visit!
That seems to be the news and update from this little part of paradise! Thanks for your calls, texts, and video chats. I love you all very much and hope you’ll have a great week!
Love,
father!
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