Thursday Feb 2, 2023- we go separate ways….

 Today we had to work at the VC, so Misty took the car and went to see the Bilabong Surf Championships.she got to relax on the beach and check out the area a little. After work, we went to the temple.

It is a lovely shot on the temple steps looking East out to the ocean! But at night it is even better…

Wed. Feb. 1, 2023- Misty Comes!!!

 Today we were able to pick Misty up at the airport!  On the way home we HAD to stop for a bite to eat at Ted’s Bakery!!!

And, Of course, we HAD to buy a Chocolate Haupia Pie to have at home!!!!

Misty was so kind…she knew we were missing home, so she brought us some snow in her water bottle. Sadly, she said it all melted….suuuuuure!

Last week of January, 2023- lots of visitors!

 We have had lots of visitors/friends come this week!!!  It is amazing how many we see here! First was Greg and Marianne Henderson - who used to live  ext door to us in Antioch! Now they live in Alpine, UT which isn’t so far, but we never see them!

Then, as we were talking with them, some missionaries who are in our district came in..The Bartons. Turns out that they live right across the street from Greg and Marianne in Utah!

Next was a wonderful visit from our dear friends, Karen and Vern Wardle. We invited them over for lunch since we had to work later that day at the VC. So fun to catch up with them!

Next was the Blackhams. When we were serving our last mission for the missionary dept. being Senior Office Missionary Coordinators, we got them to come and be mentors for us to work with the senior couples going to serve in the mission office.  Now they have moved on to take over our old job! They come a few times a year to Hawaii and so wanted to see us this time. They were also mentors to Steve and Gail Olsen who work in the office here. Gail was I’ll that day,  ut Elder Olsen came and we all had Lu ch at Pounders!

Our next visitors were Kent and Chris Rhodes. They were here visiting with their family so we got to see and visit with them. We were on shift, and someone had just called Roger back into the VC to help with something….so he wasn’t ‘t in the picture!

The last of our visitors we had this week was UNWELCOME!!!! Luckily he was on the outside and we were on the inside! Except that Roger got the duty to go and kill it! When he started close to it, it just took off! It moved so fast I didn’t think he was going to be able to catch it…but luckily he did! Yuck, the bugs  here are so huge!

Sat. Jan. 28, 2023 - Elder Soares comes to visit.

 What a great day! Elder Soares came to visit our mission!  We first all gathered to take a picture of the whole mission with him! ( we are in the 4th row up from the bottom, over on the right side.we are right in front of two women in white dresses behind us,)

After the picture Elder Soares left first to go over to the Stake center next door, where he would shake each of our hands as went filed into the chapel. It was lovely weather for the picture, but started to rain, just as we went to line up to go into the chapel.

They were being very careful with Elder Soares…we had to use hand sanitizer before we shook his hand.

(Wish I could have had someone take a picture of us when we shook his hand!)

We had a musical number before he spoke… Sister Kinghorn on the violin, Elder White, Sisters Ho and Birchell singing. Sr. Birchell serves with us in the YSA 12th ward.

Elder Soares spoke to us for almost 2 hours!  Then Roger and I had to hurry over and open up the Visitor’s  Center (which had been closed until 1pm that day so all could go to the devotional). After Elder Soares had lunch, he came over to tour the Visitor’s Center.  Sisters Gonzalez and Manalo were chosen to give him a tour, since they speak both Spanish and Portuguese just like Elder Soares.

Hecame over to the desk to shake Elder Mahaffey and my hands, then the Lead STLs- Sr.Roden and Sr. Weaver. Roger also had to quickly talk to and direct some guests out of his path.

When he went to the back to see the temple model, I quickly went to the back to snap a few more pictures.

(Wouldn’t you know? The only pic I got of me with him was this lovely shot from the rear!!! AAGGHH!)

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023 - EGGS!!!

 So, we have been reading news reports of the bird flu killing lots of chickens and therefore the price of eggs has gone way up!!!! At our local grocery stores, like Target and Safeway, the price for a dozen eggs is:

Thank heaven for Costco…we can buy 18 eggs for $6.49…but are limited to one package.

Wow!!! Not sure we can afford to eat many eggs!

Mon. Jan. 16- workout

 We have discovered that we are eligible to go to the BYUH workout center for free!

With our varying schedules, it is hard to get there…especially at a time there aren’t a million students!

It is small, but plenty of machines!  This half is all the machines, the other half, across the hall, is for the weights, etc.  it will be nice to go use these facilities!

Friday, Jan. 13- Mom’s birthday

 Mary Farrell Odom was born on the 13th day of the 13th month of the 13th year.  (Here she is 25)

And in honor of her, we celebrate one of her favorite things….a plain taco from Taco Bell.  So, we went to Taco Bell and then brought it back to sit on our deck with our lovely ocean view to eat it.

And now, just like mom we qualify for the free senior drink!!!

Love you mom!!!

Wed. Jan. 11- an interesting request leads to a fun discovery

 Today, as we worked at the Visitor’s center we got a phone call. The young man wanted to know all about a special area close by called Temple gardens. He was going to propose to his girlfriend there and wanted to know the hours it was open, whether you could see the ocean from there, etc.  this little park is right at the end of Hale La’a Boulevard…the beautiful street that runs right up to the temple. We realized we had been by there a million times, but never stopped to see it. In order to answer his questions, we decided to go and explore:

It is a lovely little circular paved area with cement benches that looks out over the ocean!

What a fun discovery!  By the way, he DID propose and she DID say YES!!!

Saturday, Jan 7, 2023 - Arie’s performance

 Layne and family and Misty went today to the Oakland Coliseum today.  They were there to watch Arie and her choir group at school sing the National anthem at the Golden State Warriors Basketball game.

Arie is on the front row, second from the right. Layne was down on the floor to take some pictures, but this one Misty took from the jumbo-tron.

Then they all got to watch the game!  Congrats Arie!!!

Tues. Jan. 3, 2023- MTM

 MTM is Missionary Training Meeting and we have it each Tuesday morning. This morning we departed from our usual training for a guest speaker.

First we had the Tonga Sisters sing! They are a singing group that are pretty famous. They all live here on the North Shore. Usually there are 5 of them, but only 3 were in town, so they came and sang an opening song. Amazing harmonies!

Then our amazing speaker! Her name is Kendall Levine. She was a missionary in the Australia Sydney mission in 2014.

But today, she walked into our auditorium with a cane and with difficulty. Then she told us her story.

She was a five sport athlete and going to college on a full ride basketball scholarship. On September 5, 2014 She and her companion had stopped by the side of the road to take a picture of a double rainbow.

A taxi cab driver who was very tired fell asleep at the wheel and hit her, Throwing her 30 feet and pinning her under his car. Amazingly, she had no broken bones , but was taken to the hospital where she remained in a coma for one month. When she came out of the coma they realized she had a traumatic brain injury and stayed in the hospital for five more months. They did many surgeries, even removing part of her skull. The doctors there said she would never walk or talk or feed herself or dress herself. They thought her parents should just put her into a home.

  She doesn’t remember any of it now, but when she was on her mission she wrote in her journal every day and she has read and reread that journal to help her remember.  Her parents took her home to Utah and began years of intensive physical therapy and subsequent surgeries. When she came to speak to us it had been almost 8 years since the accident . She still has limited mobility on her right side and balance issues. She said I fall down every day. But she told us she was thankful for her experience and that she feels like she is reaching more people now than she ever could have as a proselytizing missionary. She says that as she speaks to groups now, she hopes to inspire people to push through the struggles they face, learn how to forgive and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She is an amazing woman! She showed us many photographs at the end of her growing up, and her whole life before the accident. Then she showed us all the pictures of her since the accident. From someone who was never supposed to be able to walk or talk, now she is in college again, and speaks often to groups of people and tells her story.

Sat, Dec. 31- end of the year!

 Here is a run-down of how many visitors we get per month at the Visitor’s Center :

The totals for Dec. came in at 10,998. It surprises me every time I realize how many people we see every single month!!!

After all that hard work, we didn’t even stay up to welcome in the new year. We went to bed about 10:30. At midnight when all the fireworks started going off, we woke up, wished each other a happy new year, and turned over and went back to sleep! Ha!

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022 - a very religious community

 Laie is a very religious community! While not as many people put lights on their homes, there are many nativities all over town.  They do not put up any lights on our temple, but they do put up a small nativity:

The nativity they put up at BYU-H is really huge!

Even at the Marriott hotel, they put up nativity:

It helps get us into the spirit, especially when it is 75 degrees out!