July 12, 2015

Greetings from Laie, Hawaii where it is very sticky warm. Not overwhelmingly hot, just very sticky with an extremely high UV index (quick sunburns!). Unfortunately, we have air conditioning problems. Since there is no need for a furnace, homes don’t have central air conditioning. We have two air conditioners, one in the living room window and one in the bedroom window. The living room machine doesn’t cool very well. It acts like it needs recharging. The bedroom machine cools very well, but there’s a bearing going out and it sounds like a jet engine winding up. Further, they’re both plugged into the same electrical circuit. When they’re both running, turning on anything else in the living room or bedroom trips the circuit breaker. Even with everything else off, both machines running are drawing electrical power right at the maximum the circuit breaker will allow and it occasionally trips anyway, probably just out of spite.

Well, last night was close to the final straw. We’re going to have to run the bedroom air conditioner tonight so we can get some sleep, regardless of the noise. I’ve also run an extension cord across the living room from the dining area to plug that air conditioner into a different electrical circuit. So far, it hasn’t tripped a circuit breaker. The people who do the maintenance on the house say that they’ll be replacing the bedroom machine … whenever he can get down to Honolulu and buy a replacement.

So, please try to have sympathy for us! (big grin) … But, I thought you’d like to know about the number one issue in our life right now! What that means is, all is well in Laie, Hawaii. We are doing well. We’re enjoying our assignment and the people we get to work with every day, including the people who walk into the Center every day! This morning we were on shift from 9am to 11:30am followed by Church from noon to 3pm. The first thing everyone who walked into the Center this morning seemed to say was “how nice and cool it was”. Of course, the fact that we left our home early to go over to the Center just because it was cool inside had nothing to do with our schedule this morning….

I mentioned before that the Church purchased 6,000 acres of land in 1865 for $14,000 as a gathering place for the Polynesian and Hawaiian Church members. The first missionaries to Hawaii came in the winter of 1849-1850. These were missionaries called to preach the Mormon religion in the gold fields in California. Everything came to a stop in California in the winter and that winter was particularly cold. The missionaries left California and came to Hawaii because it was cheaper to be in Hawaii than in the gold fields during the winter, and it was easier to get to Hawaii than back to Utah. They found a population particularly interested in the LDS Church teachings, so much so that some of the missionaries stayed in Hawaii rather than going back to California in the spring. Soon the missionary work spread all across the Polynesian islands and many of those new converts made their way to Hawaii to gather with the other Church members. By 1865 there were a couple thousand members in Laie. The purchase of land enabled starting a sugar cane plantation which quickly paid the mortgage for the property. The refined sugar was shipped to Utah where it was packaged by the H&I Sugar Company (for Hawaiian and Idaho), a brand that was later purchased by C and H Sugar (for California and Hawaii). So that’s more on the back story of Laie, Hawaii.

We’re now halfway through this transfer. I’ve noticed that each transfer takes on a kind of a persona. Last transfer seemed to be fairly difficult for several companionships. Most of those issues seem to have gone away and all of the missionaries seem to be happier and they are working well together. On the morning shifts we have several companionships assigned. The trams don’t start running until 3pm in the afternoon, so a schedule was developed so that each of the companionships are in a specific area in the Center for a half hour, then everyone shifts. The schedule depends on the sister missionaries paying attention to the time and making sure that they are where they need to be. This turns out to be a lot harder than it seems it should be! People come into the Center, they connect with a companionship, the schedule gets out of whack, and your mother gets to sort things out and get the various areas in the Center properly “womaned”. I’ve enjoyed watching all of these dynamics. Your mother is in charge inside the Center. Once I’ve got my start-up checklist completed, I actually don’t have an specific assignment.

That means I’m free to sit and do nothing (gets old really fast) or I can walk around outside or walk around inside (gets boring), or I can engage with guests when they come onto the grounds (if I’m outside) or into the Center (if I’m inside). I like to give the sister missionaries first crack at the guests when they come into the Center and only get involved when there are more guests than missionaries. So, my main job turns out to be a “point and shoot photographer”. I meet up with a group of people and offer to be their photographer. I help them find a good place for a picture, depending on the size of the group and their interest, and use their smart phone or SLR camera to take pictures. I’ve seen and used every possible make and model of phone, point-n-shoot, or SLR camera. However, every time when they hand me their phone/camera, they always carefully explain to me where the button is to take the picture. So far I haven’t dropped anything. That would be a disaster, I think.

While I’m taking pictures, I can then talk with them about their trip, what they’ve liked about their trip, and about the Temple. Quite a few people are here for a special reason, on their honeymoon, celebrating an anniversary or birthday, or celebrating a graduation. The honeymooners are the easiest to spot. They are also surprised when I suggest that they might be on their honeymoon, as if that wasn’t so very evident!

A few weeks ago, I did have an interesting picture experience. I volunteered to take a picture of a couple. “Oh no!” she said. “I’m not supposed to be here with him!” Individual pictures were OK, but no group shot!

The Temple has been closed for summer cleaning the past two weeks and will re-open this coming Tuesday. Quite a few people have come into the Center disappointed to find that the Temple was closed as they were planning to do a session at the Temple while they were here. The other day I saw a younger couple nicely dressed in their Sunday-go-to-Meeting clothes carrying Temple bags walking up the stairs to the front door of the Temple. Obviously they didn’t know it was closed. I went outside and sat on the bench by the stairs waiting for them to come back down. We chatted a bit and I took their pictures. I told them that because the Temple was closed, they would need to come back soon. I then told them that just because the Temple is closed, they didn’t have to miss out on a nice, peaceful experience and pointed them to the garden in the back of the Temple. That area is very beautiful, nicely secluded, and graced with a huge banyan tree that covers most of the garden. There are several benches around the garden area. They went up there and came back down a half-hour later after having had a nice Temple experience. They were very grateful for the suggestion. I like walking up through that garden as well.

We’re having a good time and know that this is the right thing for us to be doing right now. I love you and want you to know that I think about and pray for you daily.

<--Previous Entry  |  Next Entry -->