Week 4 Feeling More at Home
The Hawaii Honolulu Mission (HHM) is amazing. The work done here among our missionaries is outstanding. They are working hard in their respective areas, focused on including members of the ward to assist in loving, sharing and inviting all to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ. We heard that there were 50 baptisms this month which is above the mission average. Very exciting.
We’re getting opportunities to meet many of these missionaries. Every transfer (every 6 weeks), missionary leaders come to the mission office (here in Honolulu) for a training/council. They fly in from all the islands for the day. Michael and I introduced ourselves to them so they know who their new vehicle coordinators are. We met so many terrific young men and women.
A week can make a big difference. After struggling to understand our role with our helpful vehicle coordinator trainers the week before, we were on our own this week to figure out all the ins and outs of moving vehicles between islands, accident and maintenance management from afar and qualifying our missionaries to drive. The good news is we are not alone; there are many resources in place to assist us, so we’re getting it, gradually. The office staff are becoming fast friends as we work together and share duties like training meetings for new missionaries, preparing food for zone conferences and other gatherings. We all went out last night for dinner and a movie which was a lot of fun. I see BYU football game watch parties in our future! (Not sure we can all squeeze into our little apartment!)
Last Sunday evening we drove about 20 minutes east toward Diamond Head and watched the sun go down while surfers caught their final waves. I love the rhythm of the waves, so consistently irregular, which is mesmerizing and amazing at the same time.
On Thursday I attempted to ride my bike (a missionary bike I’m borrowing for now :)) the mile to Ala Moana/Waikiki beach from our apartment hoping this could become my new morning beach ride routine, but alas, most of the roads do not have bike lanes and the beach boardwalk paths are for walkers/runners not cyclists, so I may have to adjust my expectations for now. I did stop to take a few nice pics of the morning views. I still have not played any tennis or pickleball; it’s going to take more effort on my part to find a way to play, but I’m determined. We are new members at 24-Hour Fitness, just a mile away so we walk over around 6am so we can be at the office by 8-8:30am.
We also took time yesterday to drive over to the southwest side of the island and walked around the Ko’Olina resorts. One of the four resorts is the Aulani Disney resort. This is where American Idol contestants have competed for the last several years–it was beautiful, even though the weather was a bit misty and overcast. While walking we met two couples wearing black badges like ours and learned that one of the gentlemen was serving as the vehicle coordinator for the other Hawaiian mission, the Laie mission, which takes in the North Shore (BYU-Hawaii, Polynesian Cultural Center and LDS Temple along with 5 stakes). What a pleasant, unexpected meet up–he will become a great resource for us.
We love our Auwaiolimu ward. The members are so kind and sweet; most of them are related to each other which makes it ohana (family love). We are grateful for their acceptance of us as we slowly get to know them and love them. Each week we’ve met visitors from the mainland who are vacationing in Oahu. Today we met friends who are in the same Park City ward as my brother-in-law and sister Rich and Kelly Cook. It’s a very small world!
