What do senior missionaries in Hawaii do on their P-day? Today we met at Turtle Bay for some snorkeling and sea turtle watching. It was really windy, as you can see in the photo. We had to hold the umbrellas to keep them from turning inside out. The ocean was warm and beautiful, but also pretty rough. Unfortunately there wasn't much in the way of fish to see, but we did see a few sea turtles.
Okay...I have to admit I didn't take this photo, but it looks just like the turtles we saw.
I did take this one when this cute guy poked his head out of the water. They didn't seem at all afraid of the people.
After the beach, we drove a couple of miles to Haleiwa to have lunch/dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant. We had heard a lot about their spinach enchiladas, and they didn't disappoint. Then we stopped at Costco on the way home. It was another great P-day.
After our busy week, we were deserving of a day of rest and play. I've been so busy getting ready for transfers. There are so many things to copy, laminate, cut, collate, and get ready for new missionary orientation. I spent over $400.00 at Office Max making copies! I had to re-do the Welcome Newsletter and send it out. Previously there were a lot of photos of President and Sister Warner in it. So those needed to be swapped for photos with President and Sister Bekker. Fortunately they've been out meeting the missionaries so they had some really nice ones I could use. I also had letters to parents and stake presidents to prepare, and was been busy trying to figure out the airports our September departing missionaries need to fly home to. Six are from the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan. Some of their parents have moved, so they were not sure where they were going home to. Anyway, I think I have it figured out.
The theme of Devon's week was "Water World." One of the elders' apartment flooded. They put a load of wash in the machine and left. Well something malfunctioned in the machine and it overflowed, flooding their apartment and the one below. They will be out of their apartment for 5 days while the clean up and repair is done. One sisters' apartment had been having trouble with a leaky faucet on their tub. They have complained about it and reported it to their landlord for weeks, but he never did anything. Well, they came home Friday evening to find their tub faucet running full strength and were unable to turn it off. They called Devon and the second counselor in their bishopric. They live quite far from us, so the counselor when over and turned the main water valve off. They are living in an older home, so it didn't affect anyone else. The missionaries (4 of them) then spend the night at the counselors home. First thing Saturday morning he went to Home Depot, bought the broken part, and repaired the faucet. Fortunately it didn't flood - all the water went down the tub drain.
Church was wonderful, as usual. Today we had tons of tourists visiting from some really interesting places: Gunlock, Utah, Minnesota, Lethbridge, Canada and even Switzerland. The family from Gunlock was huge. I think the whole town was there. Also visiting was David and Linda Bradford from Orem. David is a friend from my childhood. His mother, Kay Bradford, and my mom were best friends. She is a living legend at 92. We were both amazed to run into each other.
After church we came home and had two wonderful FaceTime visits with Daryn's and Stephen's families. Seeing their faces is always the highlight of our week. We are so blessed to be able to stay in close contact with our wonderful family. Technology is amazing!
In the evening we attended a very special baptism of two Navy sailors. A member on their ship befriended them and over the course of many months has been teaching them. Tonight it was our blessing to watch them be baptized - two special, wonderful young men. Their ship leaves on Tuesday for maneuvers so they will be confirmed next Sunday on the ship. Then in a few weeks they will be back in port. One of our elders gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. He said it is like GPS. It gives us great direction, but we need to remember to keep it charged. Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruits of the spirit are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." I am so grateful for these gifts. I feel them every day in my life through the companionship of the Holy Ghost. They have carried me through tough times and continue to accompany me in this great mission adventure. My cup truly runneth over!
Church was wonderful, as usual. Today we had tons of tourists visiting from some really interesting places: Gunlock, Utah, Minnesota, Lethbridge, Canada and even Switzerland. The family from Gunlock was huge. I think the whole town was there. Also visiting was David and Linda Bradford from Orem. David is a friend from my childhood. His mother, Kay Bradford, and my mom were best friends. She is a living legend at 92. We were both amazed to run into each other.
After church we came home and had two wonderful FaceTime visits with Daryn's and Stephen's families. Seeing their faces is always the highlight of our week. We are so blessed to be able to stay in close contact with our wonderful family. Technology is amazing!
In the evening we attended a very special baptism of two Navy sailors. A member on their ship befriended them and over the course of many months has been teaching them. Tonight it was our blessing to watch them be baptized - two special, wonderful young men. Their ship leaves on Tuesday for maneuvers so they will be confirmed next Sunday on the ship. Then in a few weeks they will be back in port. One of our elders gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. He said it is like GPS. It gives us great direction, but we need to remember to keep it charged. Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruits of the spirit are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." I am so grateful for these gifts. I feel them every day in my life through the companionship of the Holy Ghost. They have carried me through tough times and continue to accompany me in this great mission adventure. My cup truly runneth over!
Time flies when you are keeping so busy! Glad you are able to do fun things on your pDay.
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful to see and imagine what you are doing. I can just see you keeping the President and mission office afloat. I wish I could have your calm, reassured personality. You can just look at what needs to be done and do it! Life would be so much easier if I had your abilities.
ReplyDeleteKnow that we think of you often and are so thrilled to see how well things are going for you both. I can feel your Spirit through your posts. Keep them coming!