Tropical Storm Darby is making its way through the Hawaiian Islands today through tomorrow. It didn’t become strong enough to be called a hurricane; it only got up to maximum winds of about 40mph. But, it carried plenty of moisture with it as it came through Oahu today! As of right now the center of the storm is about 70 miles northwest of Laie headed straight for the Island of Kua’i. It should pass across that island by Monday afternoon.

Last year there were five hurricanes in the central Pacific around the Hawaiian Islands with none of them coming very close. That was considered to be a very active hurricane season. This year, because the El Niño has subsided, is supposed to be less active. A full-blown hurricane hasn’t made landfall in Hawaii for more than twenty years.

One thing that every missionary at the Visitors’ Center becomes very proficient at is taking pictures of the visitors. Most want their picture taken in front of the Christus statue in the Center. Many Church members also want their pictures taken out on the courtyard with the Temple in the background. Very often someone will come into the Center and ask if someone can come out to take a picture.

Today we had a very large group in the Visitors’ Center. They came in this morning to have a group picture taken in front of the Christus. Their family originated in the Cook Islands and are now scattered around the Pacific and the mainland. This year they held their periodic reunion in Laie and more than 130 family members were in attendance. Elder Andrus and his wife were on duty when they came in and he spent about a half hour taking pictures with various cameras. Just about everyone there who had a camera or smart phone wanted a family picture taken with their own device. By the time the were finished, some of the children were mighty happy to be done sitting on the floor!

One of the Williams family members came over to the front desk where I was standing. He asked me if I knew why their homeland was called the Cook Islands. I answered that I thought it was because Captain James Cook had “discovered” the islands and made them known to the world (while James Cook did indeed land in the Cook Islands, he wasn’t the first and didn’t claim the islands, I’ve since learned). He replied, “Well, that’s 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!” That’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Wish I’d gotten his name!

‘Til next time! Ta ta for now.