TEACHING THE GOSPEL

We were finally able to start up some of the classes that the stake president in Hilo had given us for our missionary assignments.  It took a while because of the time necessary to decide when and where the classes would be held, then to have the Bishops and adult auxiliary leaders send around signup sheets.  We have been assigned to teach two Adult Institute classes and a Marriage and Family Relations class.  We have also been assigned to be on a new stake council which will look at the new teacher development program and decide how to implement it in the Hilo Stake.  So, we teach institute on Tuesday and Thursday nights and the marriage and family class on Friday nights,  We had good turnouts at the Tues. and Fri, classes but the Thurs. group was a no-show. Pretty sure it just didn't get announced in the 4 wards that should have attended that class.

So, now we spend a good portion of each weekday preparing for our classes - reading and studying lesson material and then preparing any visuals or media that we intend to use.  We had to spend a lot of time last week looking for a new place to rent.  The one that was rented for us has stairs (stairs and I are not good friends)  and it's also on a very busy and noisy street.   Sometimes, since we are getting a little older, we need a short nap during the afternoon.  That is really hard to accomplish with the sirens from ambulance and fire trucks that are housed on the block behind which go by continually which then start the 5 - 10 dogs across the street barking and howling and add to that the souped up cars, trucks, and motorcycles that zoom by using our street for a race track.

Our humble cottage at 2148 Kino'ole Street.It's really quite small.

On Saturday, May 7th, we drove to Kona on the other side of the island to do an endowment session and to attend the sealing of a young couple in our Hilo ward.  They had a young 10 months old daughter sealed to them.  The temple is very small but it is very beautiful inside and out.  In the landscaping going into the temple were dozens of orchid plants of various colors plus many other exotic and lush trees and bushes.

Elder and Sister Leishman

Brother and Sister Ishibashi and Elena

We took a northern highway back to Hilo hoping to see some nice sandy beaches.  We passed through beds of lava splattered all over the ground for miles and miles.  We finally did find a sandy beach, so  I took my shoes off and walked in the ocean for a bit.  The water was Caribbean Sea warm.  I really wanted to put my swim suit on and play in it but I didn't.  Next time, though, I will.  

It felt awesome to have my feet in the ocean again.

Three Week Anniversary

Today, April 24th, marks the end of our third week in Hilo, HI.  We have only been given a starting date for one of our teaching assignments.  We start an adult institute class this Wednesday night.  Eventually, we will teach a Marriage and Family Relations class and a Teacher Development class.  But, to keep us busy, our stake president sent an email to all the Bishops and the one Branch President telling them that they could call on us to talk in their sacrament meetings.  And so we have.  Last week we spoke in the Ka'u Ward which is the southern most ward in all of the USA.  The meeting started at 9 AM.  Ka'u is 1 1/2 hour drive from Hilo, so we had to get up very early that day.  It was a beautiful drive, though, except the part about being so tired driving back to Hilo that we had to pull over for a 15 catnap so Truman wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel.  I was so tired that I couldn't even stay awake to talk to him.  After their 3 hour block we drove about 20 miles further south to South Point, which is actually the southern most tip of all the 50 states.

This is what we found at South Point:

Guys fishing over the ledge which dropped down 30 feet to the ocean below. Elder Leishman would have loved to have his hand on one of the fishing poles, but it was the Sabbath so he just watched.

These guys were just getting ready to make the jump to the ocean from those platforms they are standing on.

This was taken after their jumps.  As you can see there were already others in the water.  There is a ladder of some sort built into the ledge for them to climb back to the top.

This week included a lot of study time, as we needed to prepare for two speaking assignments which we did today.  We spoke at a ward at 9 AM, then went to the Stake Center to attend Sunday School and RS/Priesthood in the ward whose boundaries our cottage is in.  At noon there was a "Linger-longer" luncheon outside in a pavilion behind the chapel.  Then at 1 PM we spoke in the YSA Branch.  At 6 PM we went back to the Stake Center for stake choir practice.  Elder Dale G.Renlund will  be visiting our stake that day.  We decided that singing in the choir would give us some good seats for the conference.

Besides studying this week, we spent our share of time at WalMart shopping for housewares, tools, cleaning supplies, office supplies, etc.  We also had transfers this week.  We lost half of our 12 Elders and Sisters onWednesday, transfer day. We had to meet one set of Sisters at the stake center at 6:30 AM.  They left their car there and we drove them to the airport.  One of them was being transferred to Oahu. Her flight left at 7:30 leaving the other one companion-less until 8:55 AM when her new companion would get here, so we were her companions until then.  We took her to McDonald's for breakfast, then back to the airport, then back to the stake center to get their car.  Whew! And it's now only 9:45 AM.

On Thursday, after studying and shopping was done, we decided to check out one of the waterfalls about 20 miles north of Hilo along the coast highway.  So here's a few pics of that afternoon.

I was smiling because I hadn't yet started down the 1/2 mile path that went down and down and down and then up and up and back down and up until we finally go to the falls.  But, the scenery was so breathtaking that we walked slowly so it wasn't at hard as it seemed like it was going to be.

This was taken towards the end.  I would never had finished the trek on my own.  It was kind of like Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula when Truman had to pull me most of the way up and support me most of the way down.  But I made it! And it was definitely worth the trip, both the Mayan Temple and the Hawaiian waterfall.

BREATHTAKING!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!

Arrival in Honolulu

MTC week was March 28 - April 1, 2016.

 The classic missionary pose in front of the giant map at the MTC; circa 2016

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To the right are the members of our MTC District and on of our teachers:
L to R  Sister Melanie Eliason, Elder and Sister Wurtich, Elder and Sister Scussel, Elder and Sister Christensen, and Elder and Sister Leishman.  The other three couples in our district will be serving for 6 months in the Martin's Cove Mission.

 We left Salt Lake City, UT at 8:00 AM (MST)  on April 2nd and arrived in Honolulu, HI 2:30 (HST).  Our total travel time was about 9 1/2 hours which included a short layover in San Diego.Tomorrow we will fly to Hilo, HI after we have a chance to listen to two sessions of conference,

We stayed our first night in Hawaii at the mission home.  President Warner is the mission president until July. He and his wife are just finishing their 3 year service.  

We spend a little time each day discovering the part of the island where we are living. 

We found a beach that might work for me to get the exercise I need in water.
I haven't tried it yet, but I will.

Rainbow Falls in the background is not too far from our chapel.