Weeks 49-52 One Year Mark

Aloha Friends and Family:

It’s been a year to remember!!  Our time in the mission is flying by and we consciously work to find joy in every day because we know we’ll wake up one day when we’re back in Eagle, Idaho and say “what just happened to us?”  Our Hawaii Honolulu mission service has changed us in beautiful ways.  We asked each other this question recently, “how is your life different for having served here?”  We each talked about how much we’ve loved the amazing people we’ve met and how eager we are to continue to serve, in whatever capacity, to keep building Zion by sharing our gifts and talents with others.  We are filled with more love for God’s children–all of God’s children, no matter their circumstances, all are loved and known.  We love serving the missionaries and recognize how needed senior couples are in mission life.  We are filled with God’s immense love for us and are so grateful to be participants in His work of love (and the sunsets aren’t too shabby either).

Last post we were so hoping that a few new cars would have arrived.  And to our great surprise, they have.  Last week we delivered 7 new Kia Sportages to missionary companionships who then traded in their aging cars to the Kia dealership.  We’re hoping this is the beginning of a lot more cars to come . . . 60 more in fact. We felt like Oprah who says “You get a car . . . and You get a car”  The mission is excited to receive these beautiful new vehicles.  Hope they stay that way.  Speaking of that, our record number of days without a no-at fault accident was 50 days, achieved last Aug, when we arrived.  Last Wednesday, we reached 49 days and thought for sure we’d get there, but alas, we got a call from a missionary who was not careful when merging onto the highway and hit a barrier scraping the driver side fender.  And then two days later we heard from another set of missionaries who side swiped another car in a neighborhood doing a U-turn.  It comes in waves and we’re glad everyone is safe and uninjured, but we prefer not dealing with car repairs on these islands that are not known for their terribly efficient service.

We enjoy our district councils where missionaries meet weekly to share their progress and goals.  Our final district council was emotional and fun as we said good-bye to several missionaries who were going home. Spider Man masks (because it’s Elder Bean’s alter-ego!) and a pizza lunch made for a great send-off!

This last transfer was a big one!  We said Mahalo to 24 seasoned missionaries and Aloha to 26 new missionaries.  Keeping track of the coming and goings was challenging but it was wonderful to say thank you and God Bless you to so many wonderful missionaries we came to love and admire.  The new missionaries are eager and full of desire to serve.  A mission is a great adventure-not easy but full of growth and challenges to solve.  We attended the baptism of a young man who learned of the gospel, felt the spirit of how this would change his life from one of drugs, drinking and without much purpose to one of family, doing good and serving others.  He’ll enjoy being a member of the Young Single Adults branch and the Univ of Hawaii Institute of Religion.

After transfer we enjoyed our get-together with the other senior couples on Oahu.  We’ve lost about 8 couples over the last several months who either went to the Laie mission after the split or are not being replaced as of yet.  So we appreciate those who remain for all they do for our missionaries throughout the island.  Even President and Sister Anderson, seated in the right middle, joined us for this night.

A highlight this week was the opportunity to go to Pearl Harbor on a special VIP tour with Elder and Sister Hollingsworth, who serve as Military Relations Missionaries at Pearl Harbor and Hickham Air Bases.  He is a Colonel in the Army who served two 400-day tours of duty in Iran and Afghanistan in his decorated 41-year military service.  He also worked to develop the Pathways Program, a low-cost, online higher education organization run by the LDS church and he was Assistant President at Ensign College before serving here in Hawaii.  They both are such dedicated servants.  They made it possible for us to visit the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor from a special barge that took us around Ford Island and afforded us a more up close and personal view.  It was very sacred and provided us all a time to reflect on what happened there in 1941 and the aftermath.  We are forever grateful for the service of so many men and women who gave their lives at that time and who continue to serve in defending our freedoms.

We send our love and wishes for your continued happiness and well being.  We love being here.  One year.  Six months left.  That will come soon and with bittersweet emotions because of the joy we’ve experienced through senior missionary service and because of the love we feel for each of you and our desire to be back serving with you!  God bless each of you in your ups and your downs.  Our Heavenly Parents are aware of our joys and sorrows and want us to never stop reaching out to them.