9-2-13

Its Sunday night-- and we have just come back from the opening fireside for the week of the 50th celebration for PCC.  We have had a lot of missionaries and student alumni come back over the weekend.  Interesting to see how much they love the school and the center.  The PCC was started back in 1963 and they said tonight that they have had over 143 million visitors tour the place since the beginning.  The center was started to give the Polynesian students jobs so they could pay for their education and then go back and help their own countries be more successful.  

This week there is a lot of special activities that are going on to entertain the people.  Tuesday morning the service missionaries (which is us) are supposed to sing for a fireside that morning.  Monday night we practiced and you should have seen Elder Cooper behave.  He acted like a rotten kid-- kind of like Brady when he was 10 or 12.  I was so embarrassed- I didn't talk to him the rest of the evening.  I told him to mouth the words and just act like he was singing but no, he just sat and looked sour.  Guess he won't be singing on Tues. morning!  

We have been working hard at Give and Take.  This week has been finals for the students so some of them are packing to go home.  We are collecting many things.  One of the married students had his skateboard propped up against the building and a little boy took it home.  His mother let him unbeknownst to us.  The kid was so upset that it was missing.  I took him in the car and we drove all over the campus looking for it.  No luck!  When I got home Diana had gotten a phone call from the mother of the little boy.  They live in Hauula and a neighbor had commented on what an expensive board it was.  The mother got thinking about it and realized they must have taken someone's board.  Denis and I went over and got it and returned it to the student.  I am sure he had said many prayers to find it.  I thought how funny it was that the mother put things together to call Diana, our landlord.  

Tuesday night was an art showing for one of the senior students from China.  Stephanie is in our ward and is very kind and humble girl.  She has been a convert for 4 1/2 years.  Her brother joined the church and is leaving on a mission to Australia.  Her parents are not converted yet but she says they support them.  Her paintings were beautiful.  Her professors say she is very gifted at painting.  She had never done any until she came here to school.  When we first got here we heard a story about a girl that they called the "little goat girl."  This little girl's parents taught in college in China.  The mom became pregnant with a 2nd child.  The government would only let them have 1 child per family.  The parents quit their jobs and moved way up into the mountains so she could have and keep the baby.  They were very poor.  I think they raised goats for money.  As this little girl got older she knew there had to be more to life so she would walk every day about 2 miles down into town.  She would walk over to a school and sit outside of the classroom to listen to the teacher.  She said he had such a quiet and calm voice.  After many days of sitting there he finally asked what she was doing.  I think he was teaching English.  He told her she could come join the class and sit in the room.  Stephanie started to go to the class every day.  The man was an American and a Mormon.  He could not teach her about the church because of China's rules but she became converted through him and other friends anyway.  She learned about BYU Hawaii and was able to go to school here.  I have known this girl for some time but never did I put this story together with her until one of her Professors was telling me about it Tuesday night . Stephanie has graduated but wants now to go to BYU Provo or up to Utah State for her Masters degree.  I told her how close she would be to us if she went to USU.  A lot depends on her finances.  

Picture of two little Hawaiian boys

Stephanie's painting of the mission settlement - sold for $400

Our Bishop McBride, Stephanie and Denis.  She also sold the pictures behind Denis.  Coconuts on the tree with the sun shining on it.  It was beautiful.

Me & Stephanie

We have been sewing many interesting things for all of the shows for the anniversary.  I have to go in to sew on Labor Day because we are not done.  Saturday morning PCC had a Haka competition from different countries.  Jeremy would know what the Haka is about.  They dance and make weird noises and stick out their tongues and look ugly.  Remember when Chris Record and Jeremy and another companion did the Haka in our back yard?  I don't know enough about the history of it to explain.  All I know is they would scare our little white kids to death doing what they do.  We finally left after 3 hours.  Got a little restless.  

New Zealanders at the Haka competition

Haka dance

Some guys kind of making fun of the Haka

 

This is a group from Canada

 Today we went to church.  Several of the boys in our ward and Sunday School class are going to another ward because they are moving to different dormitories.  I hate to see them go---they had such cute personalities.  Tonight was the musical fireside with about 10 choirs from different countries singing Primary songs, church songs and songs from their countries in their native languages.  We recognized the songs because of the music.  Really a spiritual evening to see so many Mormons from so many countries.  

Group from Tahiti singing primary songs in their language

This group is children and grandchildren from the alumni who worked at PCC.  The children were all dressed in the native costume of their country.

                           Have a good week and be good and be safe.  Love Sherleen