November 27 – December 3, 2023

YSA Driving Range

On Monday for FHE the YSA we went to the driving range. I expected just a few people to show up because I thought it would be something only golfers would be interested in, but lots of YSA showed up. Most had never golfed before, including me. It was fun learning how to do it. The Aki’s kept buying buckets of 100 balls which was about 15 -18 dollars each bucket and the YSA spread out into several booths. There were monitors that told how far your ball went and how fast the speed, etc. It was a lot more fun than I expected.

Giving Machine Service

The Kaneohe Ward asked us to fill in a two hour spot at the Giving Machine. We watched the training videos and headed to the mall. We learned that the best approach was too sit in the chairs but be actively smiling at people as they walked by. That way they didn’t feel like we were salesmen.

We had to restock one item. It was a pound of food that cost a dollar. Those went fast because they were so inexpensive. To restock we had to get the key with the passcode and open up the machine and pull out the tray and get the boxes from below and refill the slots.

Pad Inspections

We did apartment and car inspections the week before and found an elder that had his bed on the balcony, and rain was blowing in onto it. The surprises of missionary life.

Food Pantry and Olive Garden with Clarks

On Wednesday we went to our thrift shop to serve but we had pantry service in Honolulu. The last one we went to had so many people there, we figured they wouldn’t miss us. But the Clarks called and said that nobody had shown up. I guess the missionaries from our zone had some sort of meeting they had to go to. So we rushed down to help. Fortunately, it was raining so things were slow. We stayed and helped until three and I was so tired afterwards. We went to Olive Garden to eat with the Clarks. It was at Alo Moana mall, a huge, beautiful outdoor mall that was in downtown Honolulu. We parked at the wrong end and had to walk. My poor feet. We look forward to exploring the mall when we have more energy.

Relief Society Visits Kaneohe

After that we had to rush back because I had an appointment to visit people on base with the Kaneohe RS presidency. I had made the appointments. We visited the Farrers. They and were a young couple who were actually supposed to be in the Kailua ward but had accidentally gone to the wrong one and decided not to switch back. They had a young daughter. After that we visited Sister .She is so warm and friendly. A wonderful person and family. Next we tried to visit the Hill’s. She hadn’t returned my phone calls or texts, so we decided to just drop in, but they were out taking a walk at the beach. The RS president was able to get a hold of them and they somehow opened their garage door and we put the treats inside. They said they would be at church on Sunday. It had been a lot of fun visiting. Sister and sister were so humble, kind, and happy.

Missionary Move

On Saturday we helped the Sisters move into their new apartment over the mission leader’s house and helped the Elders move into the Sister’s old place. The Elders old apartment was really dumpy and in a bad neighborhood so they wanted to move them out. The mission leader didn’t want elders above them so the sisters moved there. The sisters new apartment was really nice but didn’t have AC. Their old apartment had AC but they had to put their bunkbeds in the living room so they would stay cool at night. The elders had a portable AC so they were able to use the bedrooms. Their new apartment was a lot nicer than their old one.

On Saturday morning we went to help the sisters move first. A lot of people had shown up from the ward to help and it went really fast. I stayed at the apartment to clean and told Elder Whitman to send some sisters back to help, but nobody came. I did the best I could. It was kind of fun because the sisters left a bunch of stuff they didn’t want and I was able to sort things as I cleaned. Next the elders brought their stuff over and started moving in. They also had to clean out their old apartment too. They were working all day. They hadn’t gotten any help from their wards so they had to do it themselves. I took pizza to the elders in the evening.

The Elder’s new apartment below. Top floor in the corner with balcony. They now had room to park both their cars (there were two companions in the apartment). Before they had to park at the church and walk 1/2 mile to get to it.

Christmas Decorations at Fundraiser in Military Bunker

While everyone was taking a break for lunch I ran over to the thrift shop to see if they had any Christmas decorations I could buy for the YSA Christmas Party. They didn’t have much but Audrey told me about a Animal shelter fundraiser yard sale being held in a old military bunker. I went there and immediately found all kinds of items for really cheap prices. Small Christmas trees, wreaths, pinecones, big red presents, lights, etc. They were all about 2-3 dollars each and I spent about 30 -35 dollars for everything. I was so blessed to find out about this place.

Learned this Week

YSA and young elders and sisters are capable adults and like to be treated that way. Ask them how they would like to do things and let them decide.

Don’t take things so seriously. Let everything be fun and happy even if it doesn’t go the way you expected or hoped

See the best. Treat others like who you think they can be even when they are falling short.