Our Final Post

This tent is across the street from the grocery store in Laie. 

Note the solar panels on the "roof" of the tent.  

Our Sunset Family Branch and Sunset Beach Young Single Adult Branch, combined their efforts and had an Easter Celebration and farewell dinner for us. What an evening! We spent the entire time being completely overwhelmed. You think you're going to help and serve others on a mission and yet, somehow, we feel like the ones that were blessed beyond measure. How we love and will miss both of our Sunset Branches. Saying goodbye was sooooo hard. 

                                               Our darling grand children made us this adorable sign. 

Thank you to all for your love and support. What a remarkable experience we have had. All the wonderful people we have met and will love forever. The people who have embraced the gospel. The people who forgot who they are and needed a nudge. That's why we came. That's why we left our beloved family for awhile.  We bore testimony of Jesus Christ as we wore his name over our hearts and tried to exemplify his life through the service we gave.  We will continue to bear witness that Jesus is the Son of our living God and the Savior of all men.

Aloha 'Oe A Hui Hou

Farewell to you, until we meet again. 

Oahu Storm

We had quite a storm one night. I had driven to a Relief Society activity in Kahuku, which is six miles from our pad. It was raining a little when I left around six p.m.. At ten p.m., the husband of one of the women, showed up in his truck to take three of us home. I kinda laughed and thought,  "it's just some rain". I'm an old farm girl and a little rain on a paved road isn't intimidating. Fortunately, Ethan, insisted and persisted, and I was smart enough to comply, this once. We got into his truck and started home. I can't explain how hard the rain was coming down. He literally had to stop driving at times, because he couldn't see. There were also torrents of water rushing across the rutted road. Our little missionary car would never had made it. We finally made it to our driveway and he turned down into it and stopped. He decided to walk it to see if he could drive through it and deliver me home. He determined...no: it was too deep. He told me to get on his back and he would carry me. How sweet is that. Ethan is 36 and could have, but, this time I did not comply. My farm girl kicked in and I told him I would walk it if he let me hold his arm. The water was easily three feet deep. It was best it was dark or I would have been able to see what we were wading through. I made it to high and dry ground to discover Elder Cameron and our landlord had been diverting water all evening so our pad wouldn't flood. This is our driveway, the morning after, looking out toward the highway. Ethan, picked us up later, and took us to get our car. He's my hero.

We were fortunate. A neighbors kitchen. 

This is a plantation/event property in the Sunset Community. They. Got. Hammered. They had an event in a week and they were flooded with mud. That grassy area under the mud is where they have weddings, etc. The men in the community, gathered, and literally pushed the mud with brooms. It is a red, clay-like mud. It stains everything and dries cement hard. Mud sucker machines came to help. Everything was hosed off with power washers. Gravel was hauled in. It was an enormous project.

Miracles still happen. Two days before the planned event.

Dry, Aloha

Shoes, slippahs, or not.

The Elders are here. How do I know? The door is open, too!

Sister Lee, "burning" her shoes. Apparently, its departure tradition. However, the hilarious part is she's trying to light leather and rubber on fire with just a lighter. Eventually, a smart Filipino Sister went and found some dry grass and twigs and they had stinky success.

Grandma and sweet Ella's slippahs.

This is what being Hawaiified means...

Elder Cameron in slippahs and socks at our Missionary Correlation Meeting.

Not even socks, this time.

 If we stay any longer, he'll be barefoot, like me!

Aloha

Food Bank

We have served at a local food bank, during our time, here. It is sponsored by 

Hope Chapel. April, on the left, is the boss-lady. This was our last week.

We usually served over 150 families each time.

We will miss this opportunity. We got to know many people.

This day we had 22 missionaries in our pad for a farewell party 

for Sister Lee, on the far right. This is just a few of them. I don't know how they all fit.

Missionaries often took naps on our bed. What is different about this darling Sister, 

is that she got right in under the sheet. It makes me smile!

Temple ground Hibiscus are as big as your head.

Aloha

~ Laurie ~

My college roommate from forty years ago, was surprised 

by her two children, with a trip to Hawaii. We're both much older, but, 

somehow we've survived and picked right up from where we left off.

She's still easy to live with and I'm still bossy.

We put her right to work on service day at the Mighty Missouri.

Our YSA kids talked her into paddle boarding. 

She actually did pretty well and was a great sport about it all.

I think she's pointing at bananas.

Waimea Falls. We need some rainfall.

Closer to Waimea. 

Some people were actually smart enough to get in the water.

We were NOT!

Laie Temple

Visitors' Center

We had a wonderful time.

Thank you, Ashlyn and Seth.

Aloha

The last of our darlings came to visit. 

So did their cousin.

Creed and Holly

 Ella and Grandpa getting ready to snorkel.

Ella, feeding the chickens. Love her style.

 Our "baby" boy. 

Ella and Holly at Sunset Beach.

Matthew, Sean and Nobody, the turtle, at 'Seven Brothers'. 

I took these people out in public.

 Sweet, Betsy. Isn't she lovely.

 Betsy and Sean.

 Betsy, Sean, Matthew and Nobody.

Ella, studying some ants.

View from their private beach in Makaha.

 Ella loved this turtle.

Holly and Creed at their private beach,

 Ella, surrounded by her treasures and snacks for the day.
 Check out the pony taking a bubble bath.

 Creed, Holly and Ella.
Love these kids.

Aloha