Happy Fourth of July!!!

 Tonight they had a huge celebration at the PCC. Since we live right across the street from the parking lot we decided to go and see. They had tons of inflatable bounce houses, and ball dives, and games…all free. They had a stage where a band would play and then they would switch out every hour or so. There were probably about 5,000 people there. The Hukilau marketplace had tons of food trucks and shaved ice.

This truck is owned by the Ah You family. They have had several of their sons play BYU football. Last Thanksgiving they made turkey dinner for all the missionaries for free!

 We had invited the Bushman’s over for BBQ’d hamburgers on our new grill! Ha! It is a tiny one!

We all went over together.

Then we walked back across the street to our house and lined up our chairs at the front of the driveway to watch the firework display.  We were thrilled that we didn’t have to be in all the crowd trying to drive home after the fireworks!

The Targets -who live below us, Sister Bushman, Sister Mahaffey, Elder Mahaffey, and Elder Bushman

Sunday, July 3,2022- Fast day

 Today was Fast Sunday. On the first Sunday of the month, everyone can fast for 2 meals and give the money they would have spent to help the poor in our area. We go to church on the BYU-Hawaii campus. It is one of those large buildings with a chapel on each end and multi-sectioned cultural hall in the middle.

Then, they have a fun tradition here…all of the senior couples, of which there are almost 50 couples, have a Break the Fast potluck dinner together. The amount of food is amazing! Someone assigns us a main dish, salad, rolls, or dessert for 15. 

While there, we met Randy Rigby and his wife who are here serving at the PCC. He was President of basketball operations for like 30 years with the Utah Jazz.  Our friend Scott Edwards, who is the Bishop in Chad and Brooke’s ward, knew him growing up and told us to say hi.

June 28, 2022- Beach walk

 Another wonderful day on our early morning beach walk. Today we spotted a stick house? You would be surprised at what we see people living in around here. This was old,  but May have been used once!

Our beach here faces the east. So we see pretty nice sunrises, when we are up. It gets light about 5:30 am !

Then, when we work the late shift at the VC, we see some gorgeous sunsets!

Even the Visitor’s Center looks good at night all lit up.

June 29, 2022- PDAY

 Today was Pday! We usually have to grocery shop that day. So far, we have made the 1 hour trip down towards Honolulu to the Walmart in Pearl City and the Costco close by in Waipio. By the time we drive, shop both stores, go to lunch and back home it is a 6-hr. Trip. We are hoping to narrow that time frame down!  But today, we went to the Aloha Stadium, where the Hawaiian Rainbows from Univ. of Hawaii play. Each Wednesday  and Saturday they have a huge swap meet all around the outside. We wanted to see if we could buy a better looking and lighter weight muumuu and matching Aloha shirt for working at the PCC. We only made about halfway around in a couple of hours! We went early to beat the crowds and the heat! (A later post will show the outfits we bought!)

That night we were invited to the Bushman’s apt.for dinner. The Cannons, who also work at the VC were there too!  The Bushman’s are the VC Supervisors.

They have a tiny little apartment, and the landlord has another house right behind them that fronts on the ocean. He uses it as a B&B but when there is no one there, they can use the patio.

The Mahaffeys, the Cannons, the Bushmans

June 28. 2022- another great beach walk

 We love our early morning beach walks. Today we discovered a swing!

We do a shift at the VC six days a week and have one day off for a Pday….which changes every month.

Monday, June 27, 2022 - PCC training

One of the top tourist spots in HawIi is the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We had our training today on our service there. We will be asked to take the tickets and hand out leis and control the lines at the 3 sites they offer a dinner. We will usually work there 3 times a month. We will work from 4:15 to about 6:15. Then we get to eat there! We were trained by Jeanne Nichols and Karen and Jim Talbot. Jeanne is in charge of all the volunteers to take tickets at the luaus.  The Talbots are in charge of all the senior missionaries serving in various positions at the PCC.

Jeanne took us on a tour of the PCC. The money from the PCC goes to help the students at BYU-HawIi. They work here and are also given scholarships..Usually people start by touring the islands. There are 6 island areas. Hawaii, Aotearoa ( New Zealand ), Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga. Each area does a show to tell about their culture and has activities to participate in.  

There is also a tram tour provided for free. Our sister missionaries are the tour guides. It is a 35 min. Tour that takes you around BYUH, let’s them out for a 15 min. Stop at the temple and visitor’s center, and then shows various sites around Laie and returns to the PCC.

The Luaus where we will be working are : the two more expensive Luaus are Hale Aloha and Hale Ohana.

They roast a 400 lb. Pig everyday for these luaus and make a big presentation of bringing them in before you start eating.

The roasting of the pig:

The other eating venue is the Gateway Buffet. This is a little cheaper, but has a lot more food selection. You still have to make a reservation and still get a lei and are personally seated, but it holds about 800 …twice as much as either of the other ones.

 By then it was lunch and they took us to Pounders. A wonderful restaurant at the PCC marketplace. ( an area just outside the main gate that is open to the public. It was wonderful, but a little pricey….but then, isn’t EVERYTHING in Hawaii?  

I had the surf and turf platter and Roger had the Swordfish burger, and of course, our beautiful strawberry drinks!

We ran into Sister Madsen who was a teacher at the MTC, but has now graduated and is here working for the summer.

We had afternoon sessions on safety, etc. and our teacher was wearing a sulu. This is like a lava-lava or skirt. After our training we had to go for uniform- fitting. We cannot wear the muumuu and Aloha shirt we wear at the VC.  And so they have a huge row of loaner muumuus and shirts and Sulus! So, yes, Roger will get to wear one while we are at the PCC!  Most of them were really ugly and very heavy cotton! We had to make sure to get matching ones.  We think we got the best of the worst,

We do not wear our missionary name tags while at the PCC. The church does not want it to feel like a proselytizing area. 

Our shift there is coming up soon, so I will post a pic of us in our outfits!

First Shift at the VC- Sunday, June 26, 2022

 Today was our first shift at the VC. The visitor’s center is open every single day…except Christmas Day. So, we work there every day except our Pday, which changes every month. The shifts are usually about 3-4 hours long. There is usually one senior couple and 2-3 companionships of young sisters working each shift. 

There is a beautiful fountain just outside. The temple is over to the left. As you walk in there is a beautiful statue of the Christus. Also, the information and greeting desk.

We can have patrons sit and listen to a short audio narration of the Savior and then they can tour the rest of the VC. As they go toward the back we have the first of several theaters. In this one we usually show the Welcome to Laie 6-min. Video. I tells the history of this area and how the PCC and Temple got it’s start.

Next is the temple hallway. There are large posters on each side that tell about the temple, and then at the end is a huge picture window looking out onto the temple!

Next  is the room called God’s Plan for his family. It is a walk-through video display. I made the mistake of going through this one just before shift, which was terrible because I cried like a baby! I must be missing my family a lot right now!

Next are several displays with buttons you can push for the narration. One is about temples, one is how to find out more about the church, etc.

 

In front of this, about where I am standing to take the picture, is a cut-away model of the temple . And behind it are some interactive plaques on the wall about God’s Plan for us.

There are larger and smaller theaters and teaching rooms where we also show a variety of videos and have meetings.

Finally there is a Book of Mormon room where we show and tell about how many languages the Book of Mormon has been translated into. And an interactive Family search area.

There are some other offices and storage rooms too,  but that is about it. It is a gorgeous place!  Across from the visitor’s center is a family history library on the right and a distribution center.

In the middle of those two, in the courtyard is a statue of Lehi blessing his son Joseph. The Hawaiians believe that Joseph descendants were part of the people who founded the Polynesian is,ands.

2 Nephi 3:1-25

Behind the statue are copies  of the friezes that were carved onto each temple face. The Old Testament frieze faces West. It depicts leaders and prophets of the Old Testament. The central figure is of Adam in the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Life on obpne side and the Tree of Knowledge of good and Evil on the other. Eve is shown kneeling at the altar on the left. By her is Cain whose offering was rejected. Other patriarchs on the left are Seth, Enoch, Noah with the dove, Melchizedek, Issac carrying the wood for his own sacrifice, Jacob, Judah, Benjamin, Joseph in Egyptian clothes, Ephraim and Manasseh. To Adam’s right are representing the Judges, Kings, and Prophets of Ancient Israel.Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel anointing King David, Solomon, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel.

The next frieze is about the New Testament. It is on the south face of the temple. It depicts events in the New Testament and the Savior’s ministry. Christ is in the center. Mary and Joseph and shepherds are at left.  Depicted next are a blind man, the woman taken in sin, A drew and Simon leaving their nets to follow the Savior, a group representing the lame, the halt, the blind and little children coming to Him. On the right are depictions of the growth of the church and Constantine and the Reformation and the translator of the Bible.

The North frieze depicts scenes from the Book of Mormon. At far right is Lehi , then Joseph, Nephi, and Laman, from these boys come the beginnings of 2 great nations: the Nephites, and Lamanites.  Wicked King Noah is holding a crown and Alma seated at his left. Moving left, Coriantumr eared with a sword,  Moroni holding a banner, & Samuel facing the star. The central figure is Christ with Third Nephi kneeling at his feet.man in boat is Hagoth.He is thought to be the fore bearer of the Polynesian people. Seated is Mormon and next to him, his son Nephi

The last frieze faces the East and is a depiction of modern day, or the Latter Day dispensation.

Prophet Joseph Smith is kneeling in center. At feet of God the Father and his son Jesus Christ.