Paul and Mar Jean Lewis

Monday, March 11, 2019

March 4 - 11, 2019

March is flying by. Who can believe it is already the 11th. Life is about the same. The weather the last month has been cloudy, windy and wet with sunshine mixed in. It is always good to have an unbrella close by.

Last Sunday night was Break the Fast. We picked up the Petersons, from Ivans and friends of Gary and Diane's, to take them with us. They are still tired but settling in. They work from 8 or 9 to 4 or 5 every day, so they have a long day. FHE was about taxes given by Elder Cain and Weech. We will see what Kory decides is the best road for us. We have $23,000 in church donations and probably around 7 or 8 hundred in expenses so it might be to our advantage to itemize. He will probably have to do it both ways to decide.

The kids, Kory and Kelly, got together for dinner Sunday. It's nice to see them getting together. Mallorie, Brayden and Gary went over to Marcie's for dinner with the family also. It's so good to keep these connections.

Yesterday, Sunday, we invited Tessa Sullivan over for her birthday dinner. She is finishing up her student teaching and will graduate in April. Her family is coming. She has to teach until the end of the school year, June 3.

We are tired of driving around the island so opted to stay home today. We did get up early and go to the gym and racketball. Elder Broadbent has been sick this weekend with a bad cold and as soon as Emily Woleist heard about it she made chicken noodle soup for everyone. They are the most amazing people. So giving of time, money and love. We are so blessed to know them.

We also stopped at the Assisted Living home and visited with Leslie and listened to Percy who came to sing. There are some lovely people there.

We love the sister missionaries. Tomorrow is transfer and many are moving apartments and 10 going home. I took over some yogart and cookies this morning to the teaching center. I try to keep something over there every week.

This is an amazing week. All 15 apostles are in Rome for the dedicatiton of the Rome Temple. What an amazing accomplishment. President Nelson said it is 162 temple with over 200 announced or being built. We are living in a wonderful time. Temples are dotting the earth and we feel so blessed to be serving in one. Saturday we were able to help with two sealings. One a young couple from Colorado and a local who was being sealed after 14 years of marriage, an older couple. So sweet to be apart of this work. We serve with incredible people, all so dedicated to loving the Lord and we are constantly amazed at the sacrifices they make to be here.

We love the Lord and are trying to do our small part in helping His work to move forward.

Laie Point

High winds and surf on the North Shore

Pirates of Penzan at the McKay Auditorium

many chickens having breakfast on our way to church Sunday

Percy, from Laie 1st Ward, comes to sing andplay for the residents

Paul listening to Percy

Wild pigs at the Assisted Living, in a few months they will be someone's dinner

Monday, March 4, 2019

February 16 - March 3, 2019

Have been coming into the temple for the last couple of weeks on Thursday morning where we have been coordinating the baptistry. It has been very fun. Today Sister Malan and Savage came in right at 9 am. Sister Savage forgot her recommend. President looked her up and got her in. The Sisters had found a family name and were so excited to bring these people to the temple. So happy we could help them. The Hughes boys came over to assist and the Bramwell YSA who is here for a few months is also coming every Thursday to help in the baptistry. It's a wonderful extra assignment.
Came home and will go back at 2 for our shift.

Thursday evening we were able to help with a sealing of two older siblings to their parents. Brother Anderson did the sealing and it was really wonderful. They also had several other family names to do and toward the end Bro. Anderson invited me to come into the room with them. What a special opportunity. I spent the rest of the evening in the laundry with Zina, whom I love very much. What an example of a daughter of God. She so willingly gives of herself to further the work in the temple by taking care of all the laundry, of which the temple would not operate without what she does.

In my reading today I came across this article by Elder Rasband on the call of missionaries. It's nice to be reminded that the Lord knows and loves each one of us.

"At the end of the meeting Elder Eyring bore his witness to me of the love of the Savior, which He has for each missionary assigned to go out into the world and preach the restored gospel. He said that it is by the great love of the Savior that His servants know where these wonderful young men and women, senior missionaries, and senior couple missionaries are to serve. I had a further witness that morning that every missionary called in this Church, and assigned or reassigned to a particular mission, is called by revelation from the Lord God Almighty through one of these, His servants."

February flew by. One Monday we went down and helped at the Visitor Center while Elder Seabring was recouperating from eye surgery. It is always fun to serve with the young sisters and get to know them better. We have been trying to help them out by taking some snacks down to the teaching center for them. They seem to appreicate it very much. Some of them brought us a sweet note of thanks.

The weather has been pretty strange this month. All the natives think it has been the coldest they can remember for a long time. A few nights were in the high 50's which is very cold for here. It is starting to warm up again and we still have rain on and off.

Sunday March 3rd we left home at 6:50 am and headed for Waipui for church. We were able to go to four Wards, all in the same bldg. The first was Tongan, they had translators for us, then Samoan, no translators, then Marshalese and finally English. We saw many people we knew from the temple, either workers or patrons who come often. What a blessing. It was a fun day. Upon returning home we went to Break the Fast with the other senior missionaries. We picked up Elder and Sister Peterson, friends of Gary and Diane's from Ivans. They are settling in but are tired. They are serving at BYUH in Leadership and usually have a 8-5 hour day.

Nikki and her brothers. She works in the laundry with Zina

Scout pancake breakfast Laie 1st Ward

a very windy day

helping at the VC

Aloha-OE Pam Mecham in ceneter

The Keslers stopped by for a visit. Knew them in HK

Church in Waipai

Sweet Velma from HK

Friday, February 15, 2019

February 1 - 15

Jaxson Branaum almost 1

Laie Point

Joyce and Von Kesler from our HK mission

Fran and Brent Peterson's are good friends of Gary and Diane. Just arrived to serve at BYUH

The ocean in turmoil Sharks Cove

Aloha oe's to the Beuhrings, Tanners

Two of our Sister missionaries, Sister Carter from Meier's Ward on right

Gage's first time at the temple and brother Josh bapatised him.

Our temple engineers, Bro. Tuttle, Dan, and Casey

Temple Road looking toward the ocean

Helping out at the VC for the Seabrings. The VC is closed for renovation so they are totally outside.

Missiionaries leaving the Temple who are going home. Sister Hoffman on the right, grandmother is Sister Nabors from Manhattan Temple we served with.

beautiful Hawaii mountains

Dinner at Pounders at PCC

As you can see there has been a lapse in my writing. I just can't seem to get into the mood to write. That better change.

February has been filled with a few visits and running into people we know from other missions. This last week Von and Joyce Kesler from Hong Kong mission were here in Laie for a visit. They had just finished a cruise with his family and were spending a few days here by themselves. They are now living in Riverton. We were so happy they contacted us. We spent Sunday together. They met us for Church then we drove down to Sharks coast to see the big waves. We had a very unusual storm this last week. The winds were coming from a different direction than usual and the ocean was definitely in turmoil. The waves were up to 40-60 feet and you could see the white crests way out, which we never do. There was a little rain but mostly wind. We ended up being without power for about 5 hours. Emily and Stu Wolthus came to the rescue and invited several friends and missionaries over for a bbq around 6. We ate by candlelight and had a delicious dinner. She is truely amazing. She defrosted steak, salmon, shrimp and bbq it on the grill. Luckily I had a few things in my fridge and I took fruit and salad.

It has been the coldest here in two years, in the 60's. Every day we see a little sun, lots of rain, actually buckets of it for about 10 minutes, then overcast, then sun again and it starts all over again. Luckily we have not been caught in a downpour yet.

Paul and I went to the dermetalogist the end of January and got a few things burned off. He had some things on his ears but they have come back negative. We looked a little strange but they have all fallen off now.

President and Sister Hollstrom took us to dinner at Turtle Bay a few weeks ago. It was fun to get to know them better and we had a delicious meal. They also came to FHE last Monday and invited all the missionaries who had a desire to come and serve in the temple as ordinance workers, volunteers or whoever they could. We are in need of more workers. When the BYUH students leave, because they serve four hours it leaves a skelton crew. now.

January 21 - 17

Monday I went over to Jan Mecham's home and helped quilt on a quilt they were making for the mission settlement. I went back again on Tuesday and it was almost completed. Paul did the laundry early and we stopped at Taco Bell to try their special burrito for $1.50. not bad, a three cheese and a chicken enchilada. Lunch for just over $3.00. That night was FHE and the Tanners, Fowlers and Beurhrings are all going home. Sister Beuhring has been doing baby receiving blankets and needs someone to take it over so I will try.

Tuesday we went in at 11 for prayer meeting and then attended the 12 o'clock session and then went to work at 2. The sessions were not as full all day as last week. We need more ordinance workers. Many people had to wait in iniatory and sealing for enough workers.

Paul gave blood this week over at BYUH. He has been so good about doing this service. He gives doubles so can only go about every 4 months.

The last two weeks in January are a blur since I did not write weekly. I'm sure it was more of the same. Monday's going on a trip to Costco and Walmart and then FHE with the other missionaries. A couple of times I did take Tessa Sullivan over to Walmart to get her some things and I also took Jural and Rimpy Vinay over to the Honolulu side so that Ryan could have an extra for his TB test. Because they come from India the shot often shows up showing positive so he had to have an xray. I was happy to do it. Paul stayed home and rested after his strenuous racketball playing.

We see many wonderful friends in the temple. The Carroll family come often. They recently sent out their son to SLSouth mission. He is doing so great. He is a little unusual in that his voice has never changed. He is a good looking young man but you just don't expect this voice to come out of him. I guess growing up it has been a source of ridicule to him. His Mom and Grandmother come to the temple weekly and she sends us his letters. He is an amazing missionary and lives so close to the spirit. Sister Lee, who comes on Tuesday mornings to the 11o'clock session is back from the mainland. There are many like her who come the same time every week and we get to know them.

The weather this month has been very unusual and actually cool for most of the people here and those visiting want to know where is the sun.

President and Sister Hollstrom continue to take good care of us and the Broadbents.

The gospel is true and is on the earth again. We are so happy to be part of President Nelson's army of gathering Israel.

Monday, January 21, 2019

January 7 - 20

The temple opend January 7 and many were waiting at the door for it to open. We were among them. We attended the prayer meeting at 6:15 am and then were on the 7 o'clock session. We went from there to sealings and went down for iniatorities but it was full so we came home and came back at 2pm for our shift. All sessons were overflowing. What a great day. The rest of the week continued the same. We hope it continues. As I said before, there have been some changes and everyone is anxious to see the changes. They are all a great blessing to all of us and we hope inspire all of us to do more work in finding families and completing their temple work.

Saturday we did not have a wedding but each of us did an own endowment and lots of iniatories. We love serving in the temple and being of service to Heavenly Father's work. Sunday was filled with Sacrament meeting where we received a new bishopbric member, and a confirmation of an older man who has had a long road to the Church. We then did Just Serve and from there went to Dan and Karen Nichols home for a delicious dinner. We were asked that morning to cover at the VC for the Aallens who were doing a fireside. It is always fun to be with the Sister Missionaries and get to know them better. It was a great sabbath.

This morning I went over to Jan Mecham's home to help quilt on a quilt they are making for the mission settlement. That was fun.

We are truly blessed by our Heavenly Father.

Sister Moyer and Che (from Korea)

Blake and Grandpa in the rain

Riley at the Laie HI temple

January 17 Laie HI

Riley calling the baptistry

Riley at Laie Hawaii Temple

Waikiki Beach

Laie Temple at sunset

The pool at the Visitor Center

December 31- January 6 Welcome 2019

Wow, it has been a5 days since I wrote. Hope I can remember what we did.

The Temple closed on Decemer 29th. It was a full day with six weddings and several own endowments and many people in the temple. Always a good day for us. New Year's eve was typical for us. Paul went to bed about 10 and I stayed up and watched some spectacular fireworks from our driveway. Poppers had been going off all night, just big bangs but at 12 it was quite a show with at least five firework displays going on around me and for home driven fireworks they were pretty good and lasted about 20 minutes. They were in almost a circle around me. Pretty fun. We also watched the ball drop in NY and remembered our fun time there.

New Years day we were invited to dinner with Lydia and John Aki in Kaneohe. They took their family and us and Sister Yen, who was visiting from China, to a Chinese dinner. Very delicious with all kinds of food. We were able to bring some home with us.

On January 3rd Kelly, Riley, Brody and Blake arrived. We picked up the van and then went to pick them up. From their we stopped at Costco to pick up the car and get something to eat. We have had a wonderful time with them and they have really enjoyed it. The Hukula Beach was their favorite.

This is what we spent our time doing. They arrived on Thursday and we picked them up from the airport with the van. It was late so just stopped at Costco to get some food and then home. It would have been about midnight for them. Friday we went to Hukula Beach and that ended up being their favorite beach. I loved it because it was close and easy to get to. In the afternoon we went to the PCC and saw three villages, by then they were tired out.

Saturday they were on their own. They were going to the Botanical gardens in Koneohe to fish with bamboo poles and try out the white sand beach. We had a special occasion in the temple. A young couple from Canada were being sealed and just a few people would be in the temple since it was closed for cleaning. We were able to escort the couple. They received special permission because a grandmother had cancer and had to be home at a certain time for treatment.

Also we are very indebted to President and Sister Hallstrom who graciously allowed us to use their home to sleep every night. Paul and I took advantage of that and it worked out well for everyone. We only had one mishap. The cleaner came in and also Brother Tuttle to do some work and he turned on the alarm so that night when we arrived it went off. He had to come back and reset it and take care of it for us. After that no more trouble. Paul was his usual self and had to vacuum and leave it spotless. What a great guy I have.

After the wedding we picked up Tessa Sullivan from the airport and on our way home stopped at the beach with Kelly and kids for a while. Sunday we attended our Ward and drove to Just Serve. Tuesday we went to Kaulua Ranch for the tour. Beautiful country up there on top we could see the two valleys. Wednesday we went to Honolulu for the Pirate ride which was great fun. Thursday we took the van back and they went on the kayaks and saw turtles and had a good time. One of those days we went to Sharks Cove and did a very little snorkling. Brody really liked it. Riley no thanks. Saturday we went to Waikiki and checked into the condo. Checked out the beach, went to the Tabernacle for Church on Sunday and Monday we came home to get ready for the temple to reopen.

We did spend a few days helping in the temple during the week. Wednesday night Paul and I drove back to the condo to pick up Riley and bring him back out with us so he could attend the Temple Thursday morning before returning home. We were the first ones there and Brother and Sister Kinikini were so gracious. He was able to do ten family names. I took him back to the condo and spent the day and last night took them to the airport. They were on the red eye and I guess things went okey because they are now home. It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed having them with us.

Now we are back at the temple. It is beautiful and glistening. The workers work really hard to keep it beautiful. There are several changes and we were on the first session on Tuesday when it opened so we could experience the endowment before having to officiate it. This was on January 15, 2019 that these changes were made in our temple. We are so blessed to be here.

The sister missiionaries are now in the new teaching center across from us. It is quite a experience. I have been taking a few goodies over for them and so many of them in one place. I think they can have 35 by the time they are all set up. The VC is closed for carpeting and wallpaper so they have been greeting guests outside.

We have been trying to remember them by taking over a few treats to help them out. I took over 30 hard boiled eggs, a box of apple sauce left by Blake and a box of yogart. They seem to love it. I think they are often hungry.

It's been a wonderful shutdown and now we are ready to get busy and work hard until the next. We love our Savior and are so grateful to be able to help build the kingdom.