Greetings from Laie where Tropical Storm Darby has been making its way across the islands. It came across Oahu today and is currently about 80 miles northwest of Laie. It never made it to hurricane strength (that’s winds 73mph or higher) with maximum sustained winds of about 40mph. It did bring a lot of moisture with it and we got plenty of rainfall this morning. The clouds are now starting to dissipate and I expect the sun will be shining just before it sets tonight.
We’ve had our usual busy and hectic week. Since this was transfer week we opened up our garage Monday through Wednesday for the sisters to drop off anything they’re no longer using or no longer want. Two sisters were returning home after completing their missions and they had plenty of clothing to get rid of that wouldn’t fit in the allowed two suitcases and one carry-on bag. On Thursday Sister Smith sorted through it all, packed it up, and we delivered it to the Give-n-Take place at BYU-Hawaii. The students like it when we bring clothes over. They’re always in good shape with a lot of wear left in them, and they’re in the small sizes that’ll fit many of the Asian and Polynesian students at the University. For some reason, this was a particularly large donation of clothing to go to Give-n-Take this time.
Three new sisters arrived on Wednesday. Two of them were fresh from the MTC in Provo. The third had been serving in Japan but had to return home for a medical problem. That’s now cleared up and she’s going to finish her mission here at the Visitors’ Center. She speaks good Japanese and, since two Japanese sister missionaries completed their mission this past couple of weeks, she’s quite needed. One other sister missionary speaks Korean and the third speaks southern (she’s from Georgia).
We’re on our new schedule which is Monday through Wednesday mornings, Thursday as a Preparation Day, and Friday and Saturday evening shifts. Our Sunday mid-day shift remains the same for the entire year. We’ll also spend Monday afternoon at an assignment in one of the food venues at the Polynesian Cultural Center and spend Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons at the PCC coordinating the trams and buses from 6-7pm. Monday evening is also Family Home Evening for the senior missionaries over at the Heber J. Grant building on the BYU-Hawaii campus. We definitely have sufficient and more on our work schedule!
Today was the usual busy day at the Center, even in spite of the heavy rains. One large group were having their family reunion and came to the Center to get their group pictures. One of the fellows in the group (picture attached) came over to the front desk where I was standing. I’ve told this story on Facebook and on my blog, but it’s worth repeating here as well. The family having the reunion had originated in the Cook Islands. He asked me if I knew why the islands had that name. I posited that it had something to do with Sea Captain James Cook. He said, “Thats one story. However, my story is that we were the first of the civilized Pacific Islands in that we cooked our people first before we ate them!”
Now that was just plain funny. I just had to share.
Life here is good. The days are hot and humid. The nights are warm and humid. The rain, which happens fairly often, is warm and thankfully short-lived. The crowds keep coming to the Visitors’ Center. We’ve already blown away all previous attendance records this year. The mainland Chinese continue to flock to the Visitors’ Center and take Chinese-language Books of Mormon and other literature with them. We’re continuing to send 150 or more qualified referrals each week to missionaries around the world. A quick story: one of the people baptized last week somewhere stateside had been to the Temple Square Visitors’ Center. She was so impressed that she filled out a guest card asking the missionaries to visit. Somehow the card got misplaced. She waited a week and when no one had contacted here, she logged into Mormon.Org, connected with one of the sister missionaries here at our Visitors’ Center, and once again asked for the missionaries to visit with her. This time the referral did not get lost. The next day the missionaries were at her door and two weeks later she was baptized. Of course, the sister missionary followed up with the lady regularly. She was one of nine baptisms last week resulting from visits to the Visitors’ Center or making contact with missionaries in our Center through Mormon.Org. The Lord is hastening His work and we’re working hard at keeping up!
The picture attached: The Cook Island Williams Family Story Teller
Love,
father/father-in-law/grandfather/uncle/brother/brother-in-law/son/friend/missionary
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