Time really goes by in a hurry when I’m busy … and today is one of those days that proves the rule. In addition to the normal personal stuff today, Nina and I were at the Visitors’ Center from 9am – 2:30pm. Then we were at the Polynesian Cultural Center taking tickets at the Hale Aloha luau from 4pm – 6:10pm. That was followed by coordinating the trams / bus for the Laie Tram Tour from 6:10pm – 7:00pm. All of the normal stuff included: up at 5:50am to take a 1.25 mile walk, breakfast and scripture study, changing clothes a couple of times, driving people to the PCC and others to BYU-H’s Give-n-Take, making lunch in the morning, and having dinner at the PCC after all was done in the evening. We’re both tired and it’s very easy to get a bit grumpy when were both tired!

Mondays and Wednesdays for some reason are slow mornings at the Visitors’ Center. We had fewer than 40 people at the Center between 9am and 2:30 pm this afternoon. That gives the sister missionaries lots of time to do their on-line assignments while Nina and I greet and work with the guests who come in. If a group were to come in, we’d get the sister missionaries back from the computers in the back room to help with the guests. That wasn’t really necessary today. We did have some delightful people come in, though, including a couple of honeymooners. A family of three came in from Woods Cross, Utah. The daughter had Down syndrome with a mental age of around 6 in a 14-year-old body. She was just a delight. This trip for mom and dad was just for their daughter. Because we didn’t have any other guests at the time, I was able to spend a lot of time with them. Those are very special times at the Visitors’ Center!

The tram coordination activity consists of helping load and dispatch the trams and small bus at 6pm, 6:20pm, and 6:40pm. These are by far the busiest times for the Laie Tram Tour. The luaus generally end between 6:15 and 6:25pm and there isn’t a lot to do at the PCC between then and the Night Show (“Ha … The Breath of Life”) at 7:30pm. During those times we have either two trams and a small 25-passenger bus, or if one of the trams needs maintenance, we’ll have one tram and two 25-passenger busses. We generally fill all three vehicles at 6:20pm and quite often fill all three at 6:40pm. When the PCC guest count goes up in June, July, and August, we’ll probably need two trams and two 25-passenger busses to accommodate everyone. So, during the 6pm – 6:40pm time frame, the sister missionaries are talking with the PCC guests and inviting them to take the Laie Tram Tour (this is a 35 minute tour that stops for about 15 minutes at the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors’ Center). Nina and I load the trams and I coordinate their movement in the very small area available to us so that (fingers and toes crossed … knock on wood …) we don’t have any accidents. It’s a very busy time with a lot of people milling around and a lot of confusion, making this coordination issue pretty important. There are still a few issues to be worked out, hopefully before we need to add the second 25-passenger bus!

Tomorrow is our Preparation Day. I have a doctor’s appointment at 1pm in the pulmonary department at the Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. We’ll also be stopping by the Hawaii Honolulu Mission Office to pick up some Books of Mormon and other supplies. I think we’ll also do a quick stop at Costco for a few items. In other words, it’ll be a pretty laid-back day. We’re both looking forward to a not-so-busy day tomorrow!

Ta ta for now!