8-4-13

This week was supposed to be an exciting week.  Monday we were to have a hurricane.  I was all excited for it.  We went to work just like normal but by 10 A.M. is was raining and very gray and cloudy.  Not much wind but it was supposed to hit in the afternoon.  They closed down the Polynesian Center and told everyone to go home.  When we went home the air was very still and very hot.  Denis said it felt like a pressure cooker getting ready to burst.  We went to the store and bought milk and got our landlord some ice.  They were out tying everything that moved down so it would not blow away.  Denis just sat around and read and I made some rolls and sewed.  The apartment was quite warm but we kind of enjoyed a day off.  Nothing happened and later on still nothing happened.  I was kind of disappointed.  We went to bed and all was still and no rain yet.  Next day everything was back to normal.  The hurricane hit Honolulu a little and the island of Maui.  They said Maui got a lot of wind and rain.  

Tuesday night we took tickets for the luau and came home.  We didn't stay to eat.  On Wednesday, I really showed my better self.  We were over at Give and Take and in walks a student with a clip board and a measuring tape.  He asked if he could take some measurements for installing solar panels on our buildings. Someone was gifting money to us and that is what the university decided to do with it. Now mind you, all they are are trailers off of semis with a door and a window cut into them.  They leak, the windows leak, and we have to lay towels around and bowls to catch the rain.  Our power source is an extension cord which goes to I don't know where.  We have a couple of light bulbs when we need light and a couple of broken fans for air circulation.  I had a fit!  I asked him if he would first fix the holes in the ceilings and windows and then check out our hot water, our air conditioning and all of the lighting that we use.  He kept saying that it wouldn't cost us anything because someone was donating the solar panels.  I told him further more if they really did install them I would go clear to the top to find out the donors name and tell him the college was completely wasting his money.  We can't even get a decent fan to use.  I was so mad I started to cry and for some reason I couldn't stop crying. The sad thing was that a lot of townspeople were shopping in the trailer and saw how this missionary sister behaved.  One of the ladies just kept laughing and thought it was so funny.  The next day I was a little embarrassed.  

Friday a kid from Fiji came into Give and Take and told us about the marriage that goes on at the Fiji village everyday at 3:30.  Kathy and I decided to go see it because we had never seen it before.  We went and here are some of the pictures that I took.    

Bridegroom dancing before the wedding ceremony

The groom and bride dating supposedly

Mother in tan cloth helping her daughter prepare for the wedding

Bride in skirt that stands out

Bride & groom ready for the ceremony

The Wedding ceremony

Friday night 4 couples met at a home and had pizza and got to know a new couple from Arizona.  He works with Denis doing the electrical.  They seem quite laid back and can be funny.  They are still trying to adjust.  

Saturday morning was the New Zealand Devotional for the missionaries.  They give us breakfast and have a program with their testimonies and singing.  Very impressive.  I can't help but think of Jeremy on his mission there.  I want to ask each one of them if they know him but then I think they probably were only 5 or 6 yrs. old when he was there.  

The New Zealand Village

Jeremy on top of the New Zealand Church (not really but maybe he can identify with it!)

 

The president of PCC is from New Zealand.  They had a little man who was from New Zealand speak.  He started serving Service Missions in 1960 and went to Tonga and worked for the church.  He was sent here about 1965 to start building on the Polynesian Center.  He says he remembers the kids from the different countries dancing  in the main street in Laie showing the people the ways of their countries.  He has helped build the temple and enlarge the campus and PCC, doing this most of his life.  He loves the PCC and all it stands for and the history that is told in all of the little villages.  

Sunday we went to church and had testimony bearing .  Always makes me cry when I hear their humble testimonies.  I taught Sunday School and the lesson was on Sacrifice.  The kids are so cute in our class.  They are all examples of true sacrifice when they leave their homes and families to better themselves and do not go home for 2-3 years, depending on how poor their families are.  I feel so inadequate compared to them.  Our Elder Palmer and his wife are leaving in 1 1/2 weeks.  They are going to New Zealand for a couple of weeks.  He went there on a mission and has never been back.  They are really good people and everyone hates to see them go.  

Elder & Sister Palmer, with Halina (sister missionary from Switzerland) in the middle.

It is bedtime and so I will close.  Have a good week!  Love Sherleen