Greetings one and all. We’ve just gotten home from the monthly Break-the-Fast which we always hold on the first Monday of the month, whether or not it is actually a Fast Sunday, which today was not. Nevertheless, we had a very nice potluck dinner with the other senior missionaries in the area. Quite a few new missionaries have arrived and not so many have left in the last month. The result of that is we have fewer assignments in October to take tickets at the Polynesian Cultural Center luaus than in previous months. At present we only have two assignments for the entire month.
Yesterday and today were the semiannual General Conference from Salt Lake City. Because of the time difference, we watched the live feed on YouTube from 6-8am and from 10-12noon both days. That makes for a very early arising time and for very long days by the time we can roll into bed. The conference sessions were outstanding and very invigorating. I don’t know how it’s possible, but every conference seems to be much better than the last one, which was outstanding in its own right.
Our practice at the Visitors’ Center is to gather in the large theater to watch the 6-10am session on the big screen (via YouTube on the iPad) then have breakfast all together. We then watch the afternoon session from 10am to noon in the same theater. A few people from the community usually come in to enjoy the afternoon session with us as the Visitors’ Center is open for business at 9am. Yesterday (Saturday) we had a breakfast casserole along with muffins (Sister Smith baked them well into the night on Friday evening), fruit, and juice / milk. Today was a much lighter breakfast of bagels, yogurt, fruit, and juice / milk. The sister missionaries really enjoy these breakfasts as it’s an opportunity for them to visit with each other and just plain relax … and, of course, eat to their heart’s content. We have to remember that they’re teenagers or barely out of their teen years and eat like that!
We’ve had a very normal week at the Center. While the number of Polynesian Cultural Center guests on a daily basis is about half what it was during the summer, the number of people taking advantage of the Laie Tram Tour and coming over to the Visitors’ Center for fifteen to twenty minutes has not decreased very much at all. The number of mainland Chinese visitors continues to increase. Overall the number of visitors coming into the center is staying pretty steady at about twice what it was the same time last year. We’re very busy!
This is the last week of this transfer. A week from Wednesday four outstanding sister missionaries complete their missions and will be going back home, including a kind of a favorite missionary from Cambodia whom we’ll probably never see again in this lifetime. However, seven new missionaries are coming in. This week I have the additional task of making sure that we have everything needed in the two “new” apartments that’ll be housing four missionaries each. These “new” apartments were previously senior missionary apartments, one for us and one for the other senior couple, Elder and Sister Andrus. We’ve all moved out and the garages in those two places are being converted into bedrooms, making the apartments into two-bedroom apartments. When they’re completed, we’ll have housing for a total of 32 missionaries. By this time next year our assigned complement will be up to 38 sister missionaries. Housing will continue to be at a premium.
These two “new” apartments are scheduled to be completed by the end of next week, just in time for the new arrivals. They look like they just might make it in time … as long as the new windows arrive by this coming Wednesday. So, I’m working with the Facilities Management Department as well as with the housing coordinator in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission to get these two apartments completely furnished. The beds have arrived, so at least they have a place to sleep!
We enjoy having the sister missionaries come over to have either lunch or dinner with us. Sister Smith keeps the meal calendar and a couple of weeks ago had some brilliant inspiration. She put on the back of the calendar possible main courses for the meal. When the missionaries sign up, they choose what they want to eat from the menu. That is working wonderfully. The missionaries really like getting a home-cooked American lunch or dinner!
The other ongoing activity is to do a deep cleaning on all of the sister missionary apartments. We’re more than half finished. The deep cleaning helps the sisters then maintain the cleanliness of their apartments afterwards. Sister Smith is in charge of this activity and in a couple of weeks we’ll finally be finished with all the apartments for this go around.
The attached picture is a very commonplace activity at the Center … having a picture taken at the feet of the Christus. These four ladies came over from the Polynesian Cultural Center on the Laie Tram Tour in the early afternoon. They were very vivacious and outgoing. They sat down on the edge of the fountain outside the Center for a group photo; one of them leaned back and almost fell into the pool! They were all laughing together as a busload of mainland Chinese visitors arrived.
The Chinese love taking pictures and love even more having their picture taken (both of which are understatements)!! All of the Chinese women wanted their picture taken with the four ladies from the PCC . Not a group picture, mind you, but each Chinese lady by herself with the four PCC visitors. Fortunately the four ladies from the PCC thought this was grand and willingly spent close to fifteen minutes becoming part of a photo in someone’s picture album in China … and who will all remember the day.
Life and time is marching forward! ‘Til next week!
Love,
father/father-in-law/brother/brother-in-law/son/grandfather/uncle/cousin/missionary/friend
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