Most Friday mornings all of the sister missionaries and the senior missionaries assigned to the Visitors’ Center gather at the garden behind the Temple and take a walk around the old pioneer cemetery. Most make at least one circuit (it climbs a pretty wicked hill) and many do the circuit twice, which makes about a mile. I do one circuit and then a much broader, more flat walk. As we completed the circuit last Friday morning the sun was just peaking over the horizon yielding a very pretty scene with sun rays streaming from the clouds. I was happy to have my iPhone with me to take the picture. The mornings have been fairly cool recently (as in getting down to maybe 55° at night) so a brisk walk in the mornings is quite invigorating. Later on in the morning, however, when the sun is up, the humidity is up, and the temperatures are up: not so much!

There’s an old English tune called “Under a Violet Moon”. I’ve never seen a violet moon, but I have seen violet skies! They happen from time to time at sunset over the Laie Hawaii Temple. I think that my old Minolta film camera using some professional color film and paper could actually come close to capturing the color. But, this will have to do. Hawaii offers spectacular sunrises and sunsets quite often and we’ve fewer of them to see than we’ve already experienced.

Every Monday morning we have the Visitors’ Center Training Meeting (VCTM) at 7:30am. After the opening song and prayer, announcements, and accountability reports, there is generally about an hour available for specific training. Sometimes the training has to do with practicing certain activities such as the tram-tour dialog or conducting tours on the Temple Grounds. Other trainings have to do with more spiritual matters and Church doctrine. Yesterday the training was around recognizing and feeling the special spirit and ambiance that surrounds the Laie Temple and the temple grounds. After some discussion inside the Visitors’ Center, we all went outside on the grounds to spend a few minutes in meditation. I walked up around the front of the Temple and sat for a while in front of the Temple to just let the peacefulness soak in. It was a very moving and special experience for me.

As I was coming back down I noticed the sister missionaries scattered around the plaza in front of the Visitors’ Center doing the same thing. It was such a beautiful morning. A light breeze, cooler temperatures, and a beautiful sky. We definitely picked the right day and time to be outside on the Temple Grounds!

Monday started a new Transfer so our shifts have reversed. We’re now at the Center on Monday and Tuesday afternoon with Wednesday as our Preparation Day followed by Thursday through Saturday on the morning shift. Our Sunday schedule stays the same. On Wednesday two new sister missionaries will arrive from the MTC in Provo, Utah and two other sister missionaries will have completed their three-month term as full-time proslyiting missionaries and will come back to the Center. The net result is that we’ll go from ten companionships to twelve companionships and 25 sister missionaries. Having two more companionships will be a great benefit now that the vacation season is picking up.

Finally, the air conditioning at the Center is stuck in the “on” position … and I really mean “on”! It is almost frigid in the Center. Bringing over a couple of sport jackets has proven to be an inspired decision!

I’ve re-ordered some of the menu items at the top of the blog and added a new item, “Looking Back”. I often wonder what was going on last year, a few years ago, or even five years ago. I’ve been blogging off and on since 2002, about 14 years of history (sometimes more often than others), so I’ve build a page that provides those links.

Ta ta for now!