Sunset Pillbox Hike

What better time to hike Sunset Pillbox than at sunset with the Dees?
They are our leaders of the BYUH missionaries and do so much for
all of us. We are so glad they are here.

Marsha Dee and I on the way up to the top.

From the top of the pillbox.

It is a popular place at sunset.

One of my favorite things to see  at the PCC is the canoe pageant.
Saturday night we took tickets again for the Island Buffet. The student
workers called me "auntie". That is common here to call senior ladies "auntie"
and shows respect. In many island cultures such as Tonga, the auntie is
revered and respected. The girls can't cut their hair while their father is alive
and only then if their auntie (their father's oldest sister) cuts it. At wedding
and baby parties the auntie gets her pick of any gift she wants. They know
that the woman is definitely "The Boss."

Turtle Bay Biking and Monk Seal and Pup

Here we are with 2 other bike riding missionary couples; the Edgars
and the Dees. 

We were lucky to come upon this mother monk seal and pup.
She gave birth in this same pool where she was born years ago. These monk
seals are only found in the Hawaiian Islands and are endangered.
There are only 52 left and so they are tagged and closely monitored
personally by volunteers from 7am-7pm. They try to keep
people away from them as they are very protective of their young. Think
of them as a 600 pound mama grizzly that can swim over 20 mile per hour.
A few weeks ago a new mom body slammed a swimmer in the water against
the coral bottom. Their whiskers can sense movement yards away.
That's how they catch their prey; octopus, squids, etc.

Our group minus Sister Dee in front of our
favorite banyan tree.

This is Elder and Sister Waterfall, avid bikers who have biked
through Europe. We took them on the same ride the next week
and the mom and pup had moved down the beach aways. You
can see them on the right. The mother seal stays by here pup
for 6 weeks and nurses him without eating herself and can lose
a lot of her body weight, before she teaches her pup how to
forage for food. 

Our same favorite banyan tree. You can see how tall it is
by looking at this young climber.

Nancy and Scott were up for continuing down the North Shore
and a stop at Ted's Bakery.

The Hukilau Marketplace in front of the PCC had the bird guy come.
He brought lots of parrots and this is Sister Meuller with one of
his Macaws. 

Our Student Workers at the PCC

We had some time recently to catch some of the PCC shows. Here is
the canoe pageant which is my favorite. This is the Fijian canoe and
Alma, counselor in our Ward Elder's Quorum is on the far right. 

Here is the other counselor in our Elder's Quorum, Sitani
from Tonga on the right.

This  is a group from the Cook Islands dancing at the PCC for
only 6 weeks. We hope they will be a permanent addition.

Here is Ammon, our Gospel Doctrine teacher of Hawaiian descent.

Alma again from Fiji. He goes all out in his dances.

Two more of our Ward "young men" in the Tahiti exhibit. The PCC allows
many of the BYUH students to work to pay for their education and
is such a blessing for them. PS they are all doing the "shaka". 

"Oh We're going to the Hukilau"

 I remember the song about the Hukilau, but didn't know the story behind it until
we moved here. Families in Laie years ago would put nets out in the ocean to catch
fish and have a fish fry to raise money for the ward building funds.  Huki means pull in
Hawaiiaan and lau means leaves. An Hawaaian man would go beside the highway
and wave people in to buy the fish. It just so happened he had lost his middle
fingers in a sawing accident. Thus he waved the "shaka" wave which now is
used frequently here and elsewhere and also for the "hang loose" symbol. To help
raise more money the Hawaiians started dancing at the fish fry's. This was
the beginnings of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Eventually  the money
raised was used to help support the PCC.

Here are the locals with numerous nets.  They are carefully folded in the
back of a boat and taken out into the ocean.

Carefully preparing the nets. They are all connected to make one
long net to trap the fish.

Myself and 2 sister missionaries, Sister Stott and Sister Seiler. Behind us
is one row net pullers getting ready to "huki" or pull the nets. There is
another row of people pulling the net in front of us.

Here is the catch that has been pulled up on the beach.

Even the littles one got in the act. It was so fun to be part of this
tradition. 

"Just "Maui'ed"

BYU- Hawaii was closed for 2 days last week to hook up the new cooling
system. With our mission president's blessing we were allowed to travel to Maui.
We are grateful that the same rules  for younger single missionaries
don't apply to senior missionaries. This is our view from the Kaanapali
 Beach Hotel. It is an older traditional Hawaiian hotel.

After a dreamy night's sleep in an  air-conditioned room we rented a cabana
for a relaxing day at the beach with snorkeling.

Dinner was on the Lahaina water front and was delicious fish.

This is all one banyan tree in Lahaina.

Part of the reason we chose to go to Maui was to visit some old haunts of Bill's
grandfather and George Q. Cannon, the apostle that converted thousands
in the1800's. This is the first chapel in Hawaii and where the first
convert in Maui was baptized. It is a sacred site.

The chapel is in Pulehu, a remote area in the foothills of
Haleakala Crater. We were thrilled to be able to go inside.
Here is the photo of George Cannon.

  George Cannon's picture is on the right of Bill.

We drove around the West side of the island and discovered this
beautiful snorkeling beach. At least we had spent the morning
before on a snorkeling tour of the  Molikini Crater. We went out on a
Red Raft Tour out of Kihei. It was amazing snorkeling in very clear
waters. We were also able to stop at Makena Beach to see
lots of turtles. We will have to save Honolua Beach for next time.

Fourth of July Hawaiian Style

FOURTH OF JULY HAWAIIAN STYLE

We started the Fourth of July celebration with an amazing snorkel at
Shark's Cove, where we saw turtles, multiple schools of fish, among other things.
Then on to a senior missionary picnic at the church welfare farm. It is the
 only church farm where members are given plots of land to take care of and raise 
their own produce. On our hike through the farm we saw many plants, 
including this banana tree blossom. Bananas aren't really grown on trees,
but "bushes" and these smaller apple bananas, as they are called, are delicious. 

Then we went to the Laie Fourth of July parade. Here is the
senior missionary float.

This is a very patriotic horse.

They even had a truck that was roasting a pig on the back!

Saturday we did a ride along the North Shore and our reward
was a pastry at Ted's Bakery.

These cute girls were part of the hula dancers at the
luau where we volunteered Saturday night.

PCC and Other Things

One of our duties sometimes when we take tickets at the PCC
is to make sure the latecomers to the luaus each
get a flower lei.

I was surprised one night when this Asian lady (who I thought wanted
to get a photo of the huge carved doors), instead just wanted a picture with me.
I kept trying to get out of the way of the photo until I finally understood.
Now I know how Minnie Mouse feels. (haha)

We started the day at 5am to take this crew to the airport for a
Career Connect to Indonesia. The cute girl, Ari was a
mission companion to my neighbor's daughter
Elizabeth Rhondeau Morgan, who
served in Jakarta. Small world!

This should be a video of our Saturday ride through the beachside
jungle of Turtle Bay.  Here's hoping it works.