Tsunami in Hawaii

It was a Thursday night and our nephew, David, and his wonderful wife, Wendy, and boys, Dallin and Dane, were visiting us. The phone rang and one of our neighbors, also a senior missionary,told us to turn on the news because a tsunami was headed towards Hawaii. The next few hours were spent learning about the news of the terrible destruction in Japan and the tsunami warning for Hawaii. AT 2am, we went to the Turtle Bay Hotel down the street from us and joined other people in the hallway of one of the floors. We were grateful that our island was not hit hard and that we could return to our condo safely.

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Employee Appreciation

The Polynesian Cultural Center will celebrate it's 50th anniversary in 2013. There are people who have been working here for at least 40 years! Each year there is an Employee Appreciation week. We recognize those who have reached milestones of 5,10,15,etc. years. What a great time we had to show appreciation for all of the wonderful people who work at the PCC! One day we gave out treats and the next day we cooked and gave away 1,000 hot dogs! We had a GREAT time!

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Wonderful leaders of the PCC

From Wonderful Leaders of the PCC

Each morning Merle works for about 3-4 hours at the administration building of the PCC and has the privilege of serving with some wonderful people. The officers are exceptional. In the middle of the picture is President Von Orgill, a man who is adored and respected by everyone. He is so friendly that you instantly feel that he is a dear friend. Because of his kindness, sincerity, and deep personal testimony of the Savior,his influence of goodness is felt by everyone and inspires all of us to be our best. To his right is Alfred Grace,COO, a charming and effective leader. He is from New Zealand and has a great accent! On the other side is David Ralph, CFO, a newcomer to the group. David is quiet and very kind. He has a great sense of humor and just kind of quietly chuckles at some of the crazy things people say and do. Behind David is Logo(pronounced Longo)who is from Samoa and is a vice president. When you say his name, everyone smiles. He is so much fun and I LOVE to hear his accent! In the middle is my wonderful "boss," Kathy Tolleson. The only way I know to describe her is "charity." She always has time for people and is kind (and we laugh so much). The last one in the picture is John Muaina, vp of HR. John is a quiet, kind, deeply spiritual man who has had such patience with us. Yes, my mornings are very special to me.

Ford, "Mr. Popularity" at the PCC

Throughout his life, Ford has brought joy to everyone. The PCC is no exception. The wonderful Polynesian people have accepted him and love him dearly. Whenever people see a picture of the three of us together, they say, "Oh! Are YOU his parents!" Our identity is being Ford's parents.
Ford works in food service, usually with a very kind man named John. With the renovation of the restaurants, Ford and John are usually moving tables and chairs and riding around from place to place in a golf cart. Ford always leans over and honks when he sees us. One of the places that Ford loves the most is the Tahitian village. From the time that we first got here, he goes there daily to watch the dancers and listen to the drums. He has practiced the dance enough to know the moves. I asked him if I could take a video of him with the other guys. He said, "No. Girls!" So I did it and put it on YouTube. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH2K6NhtvjM . There is a part where the skirt falls off and he has help putting it back on. Dave and I love the contrast of his white body to the brown Tahitians. How we love this guy and don't know what our lives would be without him.

Nuuanu Pali Lookout

The book we read says "The Nuuanu Pali ("Cool Height Cliff) overlooking the 985 foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range, is one of the best views of Oahu. It was here in 1795 that King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the O'ahu armies by sending them over these steep, forested cliffs and claiming his victory and uniting the Hawaiian islands. The breathtaking sight and the gruesome history of the battle fought here is enough to send a chill up your spine." It was really a gorgeous place. So hard to think of such a terrible thing happening in such a beautiful place.

Goat Island

Between our condo and La'ie is a beach with "Goat Island" close by. It is a shallow walk from the beach. We loved wading to the island and then walking around.

New Year's Eve in La'ie

We had been warned about all of the fireworks that go off on New Year's. Dave met one man from Honolulu who had come to the north part of the island to get away from the smoke! But they really celebrate in La'ie too! However,this was the last year for that as they have outlawed fireworks in Hawaii. New Year's Day is awesome in La'ie. There is a business man (actually a bread man)who, for the last 20+years, has sponsored music groups to perform in the BYUH gymnasium. Then the past 4-6 years he started having a free lunch, complete with pork, cooked in an emu(in the ground);chili (sorry but Texas' is better); green salad; macaroni salad (you see it a lot on the island);rice; and dessert. Volunteers help "Junior" with his generous acts. The little bread store he owns, sells 1,000 loaves of bread a day, five days a week. They also sell lau lau (meat or fish cooked in leaves)and other Hawaiian favorites. It's quite a business! Also,some days Dole has too many bananas so they send them to Junior and he distributes them from his property. We stopped and got free bananas from the 1,000 boxes that he had. What a wonderful, hardworking, generous man he is! Lucky community!

Christmas in Hawaii

Everyone in Polynesia loves parties! And Christmas time is certainly no exception. It is such a wonderful place to be at this special time. The monthly PCC "Team Meeting" had live music and wonderful entertainment. We had a brunch at President Orgill's home, and then there were parties for those in physical facilities. Christmas eve day Dave and I drove along the North Shore and went to a town where we bought him a guitar for Christmas. He had bought a ukulele for me! Who would have thought? Christmas eve afternoon it absolutely poured down raining so we had lots of guests at the PCC "escape" to the School House. It was wonderful. Such a feeling of excitement and anticipation. We spent that evening with other senior missionaries and then Christmas morning at the Bishop's house where the single students came for brunch. It was probably our quietest Christmas but was still lovely-we were able to talk to our children. What could be better than serving a senior mission and having children that are following the Savior and living His plan!

Elder Rumsey, his role in Physical Facilities

When Dave was in college, he graduated with a major in Industrial Construction Management. He has always said that he went to college for one reason-to become a pilot. And that's what he did for 41 years-fly! Now, 44 years from the time that he graduated, he is working with contractors to help rebuild parts of the PCC! So ironic! It's not in his comfort zone but he's learning!

A Very Special Wedding

On December 21, we attended the temple wedding of two very special people-Tino and Maren, students from Taiwan. They are very dear to us. We met them for the first time on Thanksgiving. Their families weren't able to come from Taiwan to attend their wedding but there were about 15 of us who were thrilled to attend! We are so grateful for the example they set for us.

BYU Hawaii Graduation

On Friday, December 17, we drove to the PCC/BYU Hawaii campus and saw a line of tents set up, selling items. We realized that it was for BYUH graduation. Elder Tom Perry from the council of the twelve apostles, was the guest speaker. What a dynamic man he is! His talk focused on the experience that he had as a marine close to the end of WWII. There were quite a few LDS men who were with him on the island of Saipan but many of the men didn't attend church or follow the teachings. Elder Perry and a former missionary companion of his decided to build a chapel to replace the tent that they had been using. As the men heard of this, they all came together to serve in the project of building the chapel. Truckloads of men came at the end of the days after their duties. A miracle happened! These bearers of the priesthood, as they worked and served together, had their testimonies strengthened and their relationships built. They finished the chapel as the war ended and only had one service there. But the purpose of the project had been accomplished!
After graduation, the graduates are given leis (many of them from those tents that we had seen)

A Touching Story

I met two more amazing women this week. It is a daughter, Aruna, her baby, and her mother, Sushma. They are from India and have converted to the church. Sushma wanted to attend the temple but the closest one to her is in Hong Kong and it is very expensive to fly there. So Sushma got a piggy bank and started saving! She became Relief Society president and told the women that she was going to go to the temple. They wondered how she would do that. She told them about her piggy bank and they all went out and got piggy banks! Sushma just came to Hawaii to see Aruna and her baby, she took out our endowments in the temple, and she met President Monson when he was here! She told me that she saved a little and that the Lord multiplied it. What faith and dedication!

The School House

Merle's mornings are spent in the PCC offices and afternoons in the School House on the PCC property. It is a replica of the schools built by the missionaries in the 1850's. Hawaiians had only an oral language that was in the form of a chant so the missionaries developed a written language with 5 vowels and 7 consonants. They did this so that the Hawaiians could learn how to read the Bible. Both children and adults attended. Part of our duties in the School House are to explain about these schools but we also teach how to make flowers out of leaf strips and leis out of flowers (in the summer)and yarn (other times of the year). In our spare time we make items to sell such as nativity scenes at this time of the year. The School House is a fabulous place to serve!

Family Home Evening

On Monday nights we have Family Home Evening with the other senior couples. This last Monday, the 13th, we had three natives of Laie-"Uncle" Joe, "Auntie" Gladys, and Sissy! (Remember that you call anyone older than you are, "Auntie" or "Uncle")to sing and speak at our FHE. Uncle Joe has a fabulous low voice and sang to us. When he sang "The Hawaiian Wedding Song," Sissy sang the high part (which we had always thought was a guitar!) He also led us in Christmas songs. This precious man came with his walker and other challenges but entertained us royally. Auntie Gladys told us about when the church burned down in 1947 and they were going to have to come up with half of the price of rebuilding it which was a huge amount for the 300 members of this little community. But after prayer, they came up with the idea of having a "hukilau"-an activity where large amounts of people take a net about 300 feet long and 20 feet deep and go into the water and encircle a large school of fish. They pull it in and then have a big dinner. They had 1000 people (mostly tourists)at their first one. After 3 years, they had enough money to not only rebuild the church but also to buy an organ. The power of faith! She also recounted of when her dad came running in on a Sunday morning and said, "Happy! Happy!" (her mother's nickname) "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor." Amazing to hear such things from a person who had actually experienced such a historical event and what life was like at that time. What an evening we had!

PCC Administration

The PCC Administration Building-what a great place to serve! It's a two story building filled with wonderful, kind people. Monday, the 13th, there was an event for all of the PCC employees-an open house with soft drinks and the biggest, thickest cookies I've ever seen! It was held at one of the luau venues. We gave hams to the full time employees and missionaries and chocolates to the part time employees. President and Sister Orgill were there to greet everyone. It was a gorgeous day, a waterfall in the background, Christmas music playing, and I thought maybe I had died and gone to heaven!

Hawaii Village

The first month that we were here, we were assigned to the village of Hawaii in the Polynesian Cultural Center. There are also villages of Tonga, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, and the mission home. Our village included demonstrations of the hula and it's history, hula instructions, ukulele instructions, explanation of the migration to the Pacific, the Iosepa (boat) and "hospitality" with instruments and song. Dave immediately set out to learn about the Iosepa, migration, and playing the ukulele while Merle sat around, talked, and absorbed the culture. (Again, he's the achiever and she's the party girl!) What an incredible enrichment to our lives as we immersed ourselves into this culture and group of WONDERFUL people! One of the things I love is that they call anyone in the generations older than they are, "Uncle" and "Auntie." So we have been "Uncle Dave" and "Auntie Merle." It is so endearing but still very respectful.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was probably the quietest we've ever spent. We went casually to a room at BYUH and had lunch with the students of the ward we've been assigned to as mentors. After taking a nap that afternoon, we drove along the north shore. It was surprising how most of the restaurants and eateries were closed. We stopped to watch the kite surfers on the beach and then came home and ate spaghetti. Pretty calm day!

The Prophet Comes to Hawaii

For two years the Laie Hawaii Temple has been under extensive renovation. It was the first temple built outside of the US and was built in 1919. Some have called it the Taj Mahal of the Pacific. We were so happy that we arrived during the open house. On November 18th, President Thomas S. Monson and his counselor, Henry Eyring, arrived to rededicate the temple. They came to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the 19th where they were greeted by Polynesians in their traditional native dress and observed their traditional music and dance. That night we attended the "Ha," a performance including fabulous fire dances of the islands. After the performance was finished, the dancers returned to sing, "Teach Me to Walk in The Light of His Love" to the prophet of the Lord. It was wonderful. Two days later, on November 21, the Laie Temple was rededicated for the work of the Lord. What an incredible week-end we enjoyed!

Arriving in Hawaii

On Saturday, November 6, we flew from Salt Lake to Hawaii. Elder Arnold Palmer, from Kingwood, Texas, met us at the airport with fresh leis and drove us 37 miles north to Laie, our new home. The first week was busy with orientation on the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), getting fitted for clothing, having our pictures taken and meeting our leaders. (Also trying to pick up our shipped car and have the damage repaired) We are surrounded by gorgeous landscape and extremely kind people. We think we're in a paradise!

Missionary Training Center

On Monday, November 1, Dave, Merle, and Ford flew to Salt Lake City. Our dear friend, Steve Cook, picked us up at the airport and drove us to Provo to the Missionary Training Center. They had young elders to meet us and carry our luggage to our rooms. Then one of the best weeks of our lives began! The "MTC" has about 2,200 missionaries, mostly young elders, attending at one time. However, it never seemed crowded. There were about 74 senior missionaries in our group and then we were divided into districts of about 5 couples. We spent the next 5 days, studying and learning how to share the gospel. There is no way to describe the sweet spirit that is at the MTC. The weather was delightful and the trees were gorgeous. The whole experience seemed like a dream.