First Christmas Away

Sunday, Dec. 23 -  We only had sacrament mtg. and enjoyed hearing a Chinese girl tell how she & her family joined the church even though the extended family were all Buddhist. Her grandmother was very angry when she found the Book of Mormon they had been reading and gave it away.  For about 5 yrs. they had no contact with the church.  They came to the U.S. and somehow found some missionaries, obtained another Book of Mormon, read it and joined the church.   Cocoa (the girl) was constantly teased by her cousins because her family had joined this strange church. Several years later, she is now attending BYUH and feels it a very special privilege to have been accepted here.  What a brave little girl!

We heard that Carol & Gene Walker had been in a car accident on Sat. Their car is totaled.  Their daughter Kimberly and her 2 children are here visiting.  She was hospitalized over night.  I was cooking our Christmas Turkey so prepared some food to take to them.  Janice Maples made some rolls and a salad.  We drove up to Turtle Bay to deliver dinner.  They were pretty bruised up and still in shock.  They'll have to purchase a new car. What a miracle they were not hurt worse.

 

Christmas Eve day was fun!   We went to Sam's, Wal-Mart & Costco then met up with friends at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.  Will show pics. later as we didn't get any.  We drove out to Hale'iwa Beach and found about 10 turtles just swimming around in the water.  They were waiting for Santa's Reindeer to hop on their backs so they could tow Santa (who was riding on a whale)  to make his deliveries to all  the Hawaiian Children. One little turtle was sunning himself by the lava rocks!! 

 

Later that evening we went to a fun Christmas Eve Party.  We all took white elephant gifts to exchange. 

The favorite gifts were this knife & little red refrigerator.  (both items I got from "Give & Take").  The Allens from AZ. were first to get these items, then we started trading our gifts. A sister missionary from Taiwan ended up with the knife. She was not about to trade with any one! We're not sure what she was going to do with it.  The little fridge (plugs into your car cigarette lighter) was passed to 3 different people and the last guy to get it, got up and left so he wouldn't have to trade with anyone else. It only holds about 2 cans of pop. 

 

We laughed a lot, at the poor sports some of these missionaries were!!

Christmas Day -  Tried to sleep in till 7:00 a.m.  Friends called inviting us to breakfast. Really enjoyed face time with Ranay's family and talking to all our kids & grandkids. We do miss all of you and seeing the beautiful white snow made us both homesick!!

Later in the morning, we sang @ a Retirement Center.  It was beautiful!!  When we get old (older) we would love to live here!!! Two senior citizens were 102 & 104.  Guess you live to be really old here in Hawaii.

We were starving (poor Christmas Missionaries) so drove on down the coast and found this unique little place to eat called "Keneke's". They had a wonderful menu {salmon dinner for $7.50 -  Hamburgers 2 / $5.00}. We'll definitely be going back there real soon! They have bible scriptures written all over the walls.....great restaurant for missionaries!!

 

Visited with some more friends from St. George then later played games with other couples in the evening.  The day went by too fast!!  

 

 Mele Kalikimaka and thanks to our family & friends for all the wonderful gifts and cards. Aloha to all!!

Christmas Parties!

Dec. 19 - We are having so many parties this month!  This morning we found ourselves eating a very yummy brunch, catered by the PCC chef at Pres. & Sister Orgill's home.  These pics. include him, his wife and photographer (future daughter-in-law???) who has a special interest in their son.

 

 

We ate the yummiest "Beef Wellington" I have ever tasted.  Actually, it was the first Beef Wellington, I have ever tasted!! The hollandaise sauce can't be described.  We had a special scrambled egg omelet, all kinds of fruit, whipped sweet purple potatoes, hawaiian canned pop and pastries.  I watched my carbs pretty close but tasted many new things. This is a pic. of the catering staff.

Their home is gorgeous, looks like a palace.  What a treat to dress up &  enjoy singing with other PCC Missionary Couples.  Pres. Orgill told us how their home had been remodeled many times.  A huge renovation took place after a rainstorm in 2008 which flooded all the streets and area surrounding the PCC.  The house has 8 different entry doors.  His wife joked that she needed a map when they first moved in.  He has served as President of PCC for 12 years and has now been called to be a mission president somewhere.  He invited all of us to come to his mission and be missionaries for him after we have completed our service here.

We sang Christmas Carols with Michael Ballam accompanying us and then took photos of 18 missionary couples & 14 single sisters.  A few homesick tears were shed (especially when we sang "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" {not going to happen here}.  As we left, we were given a beautiful book and the famous box of "Macadamia Nuts".

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Well, the afternoon was not to be outdone. The Motor Pool workers {also called the Blue Shirts} had another HUGE Feast! These are the real workers @ PCC!!  Elder Reynolds is one of these great guys!!  

This menu included favorite Hawaiian food plus all the salads provided by us missionaries. 

We played games, including BINGO and Gary won a T Shirt.  We sang  "The 12 Days of Christmas", Hawaiian Style and then exchanged gifts. 

 

 This is Les Stewart, the main boss of the "Blue Shirts".

 Cute decorated Tree

Needless to say we were stuffed, so came home and walked the beach.  It had quit raining for a little while. What an awesome lifestyle we Sr. Missionaries enjoy and such unforgettable memories!  Mele Kalikimaka!

May's Wedding

Dec. 18 - Enjoyed attending May Haiola's wedding reception. {She's been my cute little boss @ Give & Take.} She married Jeff Richardson from Boise, ID.  Hawaiian receptions are similar to Canadian Receptions: We ate a Hawaiian Meal, then enjoyed a program of dancing.

The fresh flowers were beautiful blue hydrangeas and white roses.

 

Bridesmaids

 May's father & grandson

At the end of the program, the bride dances for her future husband. 

We were grateful to enjoy May & Jeff's Hawaiian reception.

Christmas Happenings

Dec. 14 - Christmas Lagoon.

This week, found us @ the Gingerbread House. 

Elder R. stirred up the best {pretend} gingerbread cookies.  Cute little children danced a Korean Dance.  They loved our pretend cookies. This is our favorite service, being involved in the Christmas Lagoon.

Graduation from BYUH was Saturday night.  Elder Bednar was here for the service.  It was an awesome sight to see students in their black caps & gowns with beautiful leis on their necks.  Talked with Sis. Checketts (Stake R.S. Pres. from Sugar City).  Her husband was in Pres. Bednar's Office @ BYUI when Ranay worked there. They drove Elder Bednar & his wife back to the airport and had a great visit with them.  They had to hurry back to SLC but will later come back to Kauai for R & R time.

Our hearts are saddened for parents of the beautiful children who recently lost their lives in the Newtown Connecticut Shooting.  We also feel for those trying to clean up after the terrible typhoon in Samoa & Figi.  Our landlord has been waiting 2 weeks to fly to Samoa to be with his wife and children. Airports still closed.

We have a new President of PCC.  His name is President Alfred Grace, from New Zealand  (grey slacks).........He will be awesome!

Enjoyed a Family Home Evening listening to Michael Ballam.  He told how many Christmas Hymns correlated with Joseph & Emma's lives.  Such horrible tribulations they endured, especially Emma. Burying so many children and finally her beloved Joseph.

He was happy to pose for a pic. with me.  He complimented me on my PINK cashmere sweater (said it was his favorite color).  Elder Reynolds didn't go.  He didn't think he could endure listening to Elder Ballam's opera voice. (While he appreciates the talent of opera singers, it is not his genre of choice!)  He later regretted his decision because we sang each song with Elder Ballam. There was no solo sung.  His narration was most enjoyable!!  Elder R. was remorseful when I shared all the information I heard about Joseph & Emma!  {You snooze, you lose!}

Mele Kalikimaka - Hawaiin Style

We began the month of December taking tickets at Island Feast. How fun to greet guests and wish them a Merry Christmas the Hawaiian way.

This is Helena from Switzerland.  She speaks 4 different languages and is a great friend.  We love to listen to her speak French, German, Swedish,  and broken English.  We have matching muumuus & shirt so decided to take our picture. There are beautiful Christmas trees and lights everywhere at the PCC.

Tuesday we had a musical devotional from the fine arts department of the college. There were various Christmas musical selections from the choral groups as well as brass and percussion instruments. It was beautiful to see students dressed in colorful Hawaiian muumuus and formal attire. 

Friday night we took tickets for a Hawaiian Vocalist, "Amy Gilliam" and enjoyed watching her performance.  The best was the Lead Group who performed before her.  They are called HI.IKUA. We listened to great guitar playing, awesome harmony, and fancy finger work on those guitars! Derick & Nathan would have appreciated the music.  We purchased their CD so we can listen to them often.  

We have loved dressing up and helping with "Christmas in Polynesia".. (Guests ride around the lagoon in boats.The entire lagoon is serene & beautiful.  Mary sits on a real live horse.)

One night we represented Santa's Elves and passed gift boxes to each other as we danced to a catchy tune. Elder "Elf Reynolds" pretended he was a very old elf and the kids in the boats thought he was sooooo funny!

This is Sis. Rigby from Korea who danced with us.

The next night we had cute candy cane aprons and tossed candy canes into the boat (or water) as they came past us. The cutest little kids dance an African Dance.  We feed them lots of candy canes!!

Miss May's Party

Dec. 13 - Had a party for Miss May, my boss.  She is graduating from BYUH, getting married and moving to Boise. Several missionary sisters came to wish her Aloha.  I gave her her very own personalized duffel-bag filled with all sorts of things from Give & Take. We ate cookies & pineapple and partied most of the day. Oh yes, we also worked.

 

May & her fiance, Jeff,

Missionary Farewell

Sunday, December 9 - Our landlord's daughter, Elizabeth Kapu had her missionary farewell.  It was one of the BEST sacrament meetings I have ever attended.  Her father entertained us with laughter and tears.  He had served his mission in Japan and at the end when he bore his testimony, he spoke in Japanese and had his friend (teacher of Japanese Lang) interpret each sentence for him. 

 

Elizabeth also gave a great talk.  We sang to her that beautiful Aloha Oie Song, a tear-jerker for sure.  The entire audience arose and went up to hug her and place leis on her neck. It was like the entire ward family was losing a daughter for 18 months. 

 

Lizzy will be serving her mission in Santa Rosa, California (Samoan-speaking).  She and her father are going to live in Samoa with her mother and two other siblings. Her mother is currently living there, caring for her aging parents. Elizabeth will learn the Samoan language and enjoy a few months with her family before entering the MTC.

 

I put my name-tag on her so she would feel like an official sister missionary!

 

Party in the backyard following the farewell.  

(FROM RANAY:  We tried to call my parents this day.  We wanted to do face-time with them.  But because of the festivities, the computer, internet, etc. were disconnected from the outlets to make room for all the food being served.  Consequently, my parents did not have a WI-fI connection to be able to do face-time.  So we had to settle on a regular old phone call!)

Figi Devotional

Dec. 8 - Saturday morning we attended a Figi Devotional.  They were dressed in beautiful black & white attire.

We were fed breakfast, then were entertained by dancers. 

The devotional was like a church meeting.  There was a wonderful spiritual feeling inside that beautiful hut.  The mats were woven out of palm leaves. One girl was leaving to go on a mission to Mississippi.  Beautiful leis were placed on her neck as we sang "ISA LEI" (Fijian Farewell Song).  We were all crying.  The boy who gave the closing prayer removed his slippers (flip flops) in an act of reverence and respect before stepping on the matted floor.   

This is one of my special friends who comes to "Give & Take".  Her little boy is a "wanna be warrior".  He was so cute and hung on tight to his special spear.