Siren Song of the Ocean

We finally made it to the ocean. I am never disappointed by my expectations. We did find a much calmer beach where we were able to enjoy the water without getting slammed by the waves. Yup, we're rookies! However, Elder Cameron tried his new snorkel gear and declared it "glorious".

The Real Deal

This is Uli Vimahi. He is a native Tongan in traditional clothing. The cream overlay was made for him as a wedding gift by his "Auntie", which is a metaphor for any woman that is close to him, and may or may not be related.

The overlay is made from a plastic seed bag. His "Auntie" took the entire bag apart, string by string, and crocheted or wove each tiny square and then stitched them together. It looks like lace. It is beautiful. It represents the unity of family and this is one man anyone would want in their family. A kind, humble, delightful man. He and his wife have two little boys, ages 5 and 7. The boys were restless and wiggly during our meeting, but, he was so patient as he calmed and encouraged them to be still.

Lei of Light ~ 150 years to celebrate

laie150.org

What a fun time to arrive on the islands. We have already been able to help with this celebration. Sister Cameron has been at BYU-H sewing costumes for the local youth that are participating. Elder Cameron has located a fan and will be setting that up in the sewing room, today, to masquerade as the trade winds.
Note that Elder D. Todd Christofferson will be the guest speaker for the Sunday devotional. We will be attending. Lucky!

🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸  🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸
To catch up...we arrived here last Saturday night. Sunday morning we were assigned to attend a Samoan Ward. What an experience! The meeting was conducted in Samoan and the talks were in English. The men sing like warriors. Magnificent! I didn't even sing, I just listened. Some of the men and young men wear suits and some the traditional lava lava. Some with shoes, flip flops or barefoot.
The women wear muu muu's and the young women dress like typical teenagers. All have assorted footwear. I'm telling you, I am a Polynesian at heart.
We've attended two Trunk or Treats. One Samoan, one Tongan. Much like what we experienced in Caldwell, Idaho.

We were visiting with a young girl, and her father, Matt, disappeared and came back with these avocados he picked for us. The lemon looking fruit don't taste like lemon. He said they're a cross breed of something and are quite bitter. He also picked a ripe quava, which was very tasty.

The avocados are much bigger than they look. When they turn brown, they're ready to eat. Mmmmm.

Hauula is home.

These two are in charge of us!

Our mission president and his wife met us at the Honolulu airport. We were very happy to see them. They greeted us with the black Kukui nut lei from the Hawaiian state tree.

They took over our suitcases, took us to dinner, handed us the keys to our car and sent us North to Hau'ula.

President and Sister Warner 

To wear a ' Kukui ano ano' or Kukui seed lei, is to wear a lei of light. Kukui were the first prayer beads for the Hawaiian people and are still used today. Kukui Leis become more beautiful over time when held in prayer and can be filled with your own Mana (spiritual energy). They can then be worn for protection.

Traveling companion

Elder  and Sister Cameron with Sister Clausen, at the LA airport.  We met her in the MTC. She is native Samoan and is the 2nd child of 17 children. No kidding. She is assigned to the Polynesian Cultural Center as a specialist in the Samoan center. She is so soft spoken and one of the kindest people I have ever met. I hope to see her occasionally. 

Hawaii Honolulu Mission Facts

73,660

Total Church Membership

1

Missions

138

Congregations

2

Temples

25

Family History Centers

Hawaii

Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in northern California were assigned to begin preaching in Polynesia in 1850. In February 1851, the first convert was baptized in Hawaii. By August, there were five congregations with 220 members. A meetinghouse was built in Pulehu on the island of Maui in 1852. This structure still remains today. In 1854, Lanai became the designated gathering place for members, where a colony and plantation began. 

The Church purchased land at Laie for a colony, sugar factory, and schools. The Church College of Hawaii (now BYU—Hawaii) opened in September 1955. In 1963, the Polynesian Cultural Center opened to represent the various South Pacific cultures. These structures, in addition to the temple completed in 1919, bring international attention to the Church.

Laundry must be done, so after classes on Friday, that's where we headed. See the Elder with the mop, on the left?

He had spilled his pop and was "cleaning " it up.  By the time he finished, he had spread it an extra twenty feet.

He was delightful, as you can tell by his smile!

MTC traditional "look where we're going" map.

Elder Cameron is excited to get this started. Don't you love the lime suitcases? Bet those never get lost.

Our Adventure Begins

Tyson, Breanna and their four children, delivered us to the Missionary Training Center, in Provo, Utah, on October 19th.

Elder and Sister Cameron