Week 24 Report

Thankfully it's been a little more normal week - not quite so hectic. I got a lot of work done on upcoming projects, letters, etc. I try to get letters done early and then mail them when they are due. Some of the projects are pretty labor intensive. I could send the job to Office Depot, but if I do it, it saves money for the mission. My time is valuable, but I'm free labor, so it's worth my time. I'm happy to do it. I wonder if my replacement will feel the same way. I am so grateful for the computer classes I've taken in the past. They sure are coming in handy now. Even with doing a lot of the copying, laminating, and cutting myself, I still spend a lot of time and money at Office Depot. We're getting to be good friends!

Housing issues are always popping up, and are usually the kind that makes you just scratch your head. A decision was made to pull out of the apartment with the mold. The landlord, an elderly single lady, was very sad to see the sisters move. But, the neighbors report that the house if full of mold and they never really fix the problem - just paint over it. So, that means Devon is busy trying to find a new apartment for the sisters - not an easy task here in Hawaii. We have one cute companionship of elders that keep locking themselves out of their pad. It was funny at first - now, not so much. They're so sweet and such good missionaries it really is hard to get upset with them.

Tuesday we took Sister Kaitau to the airport to fly home. She was on her way home to Kiribati last week and was stopped in New Zealand. She was sad to be leaving Hawaii and her two companions for the past 6 days. They really hit it off well. Her departure was smooth - no questions. In fact a friend of hers was also on the same flight. One strange thing was that after she had checked in a sweet woman approached her and asked her to check a rubbermaid box full of "medicine" for her. She wanted to get it to Kiribati. I said "no way." She seemed sweet, but who knows what was in the box. You hear warnings in the airport about such requests, but this is the first time I've had one.

Wednesday we had a sweet treat when Carnette and Robert Rischar joined us for dinner. They were in our wonderful Leona Valley Ward many years ago when we lived in the Antelope Valley. They are on vacation here in Oahu and were sweet enough to spend an evening with us. We had a great dinner at Aunty Pasta's and enjoyed catching up on old times. We were thrilled to learn they will be moving to Utah!

On Thursday evening we made a trip to Laie. We needed to deliver a new mattress to an elder, and two boxes of Books of Mormon to the Laie Temple Visitor's Center. They have almost 600 visitors every day!!! Amazing. They are second only to the Salt Lake Temple Visitor's Center. What is also awesome is that most of the visitors are non-members. They can't keep enough Books of Mormon on the shelf. It was also our Manoa Ward's temple night. A large tree branch broke and fell on the Kamehameha Highway. It is only a two lane, rural road, so the broken limb closed one lane. As a result of the break, a team was there trimming all the branches along a rather large stretch of road. Needless to say, we were late, so we missed the session, but we did enjoy a wonderful sealing session with other ward members.

After work on Friday we went to dinner with the other office couples. There is a huge mall in Waikiki called the Ala Moana Mall. It is beautiful and pretty high end. We don't shop there, except when we need to get advise from the Apple Store. They do have lots of fun places to eat, so we went there for dinner. At one end of the mall is a huge Japanese food court. You cannot imagine how many different vendors were there - it was mind boggling. So much food - so little we recognized! I ended up getting a summer roll with shrimp. Devon got a hamburger and fries! We pretty much lack bravery when it comes to food we have no idea about. They did have Japanese soft serve ice cream. It's lactose free - made with coconut milk. And...it was DELICIOUS!!!

Saturday we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the dedication of the Honolulu Tabernacle. Oh how I love this building! We attend church in it each week and walk through it's courtyard every day coming and going to the office. They have been working on it for weeks, getting it spruced up for this event, and it just sparkled. They had tours telling the history of the building - so interesting - and a program with wonderful music and short talks from previous stake presidents. One of those presidents was Donald Halstrom. If you ever come to Honolulu, be sure to include this building on your list of things to see. I suggest you check out it's history before you come - fascinating.

Sunday was sweet, as usual - wonderful talks, wonderful classes, wonderful spirit. It's been a restful day. I made my mother's roll recipe and it was as good as ever. I've had a little love/hate relationship with food since chemo. I think gluten is one culprit. But today I couldn't resist a roll - okay two! So far so good.

We are ready for a new week. It's going to be busy, but we can do it! I know we are doing the Lord's work. We make a difference in so many ways, and being here has made a difference in our lives. It is so sweet to be a missionary in Christ's Church.