Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Tonight we were returning from Kaneohe and decided to drive Kamehameha Highway that hugs the ocean.  As we passed He'eia State Park Donna said, "Look, there's the Black Pearl!"  Sure enough it was moored at the small boat harbor and like a ton of other lookie-loo's we parked and walked in.  We couldn't get very close to the boat but we found a lot of people who said they were waiting for Johnny Depp to walk by.  I cheated and copied this picture from the promo on the web.

Here's what the Black Pearl looks like from the highway.   As we continued our drive we passed the staging area where the crew parks and then we passed a secured area with a lot of nice house trailers.  Filming here should be done in a few weeks.  The movie is to be released next May.

New VC Schedule

Don spent HOURS helping Elder Eubank work on a revised Visitors' Center schedule for the Sisters over the past week.  Here's an overview:

The schedule gets more complicated because their assignments change daily giving each companionship the full range of times and duties. 

Beginning Wednesday we will have 18 sisters, 9 companionships.  The blue indicates "VC time", gold "rc" is time in the Call Center, the "T's" designate tram assignments to and from the PCC, "M" is meal time.  The white open space is the time they have for proselyting their ward assignments.  Each companionship has a traditional family ward and two BYUH wards for proselyting non-members and less-actives.

The six-week schedule looks like this.  As you can see, they are busy missionaries!

Tripp Family Reunion

We were pleasantly surprised tonight at the VC to see Robert and Irene Tripp who had come to the Visitors' Center with their family as part of a Family Reunion.  The Tripp's served with us when we first began our Kona Temple assignment in 2002.  He was First Counselor in the temple presidency and she served as an Assistant to the Matron.  They have six children, 55 grandchildren and 20+ great grandchildren.  The VC was "packed" and I believe all of their family was there.

July 24 Pioneer Day BBQ

Tonight the Senior Couples hosted a BBQ celebrating Pioneer Day.  We cooked 26 hamburgers and a dozen hot dogs.  Donna did her "Beans" and Don cut up a ton of watermelon.

Top left to right:  Donna, Sister Eubank, Sister Smith, Don; Bottom left to right: Sisters Nishigaki, Watanabe, Stringer, Watanabe, Clark, Smith, Kafusi, Brown, Bacani.

VC guest from Cozumel

I met the nicest man today from Mexico.  A retired computer tech, he now lives in Cozumel.  He gave up his dress shirts, ties, and suits for a pair of shorts and sandals.  Yes, and he had a pony tail.  Tony and I hit it off and he liked what he felt in the VC.  When I asked if he would like a Book of Mormon and he said yes, I said I'd have two missionaries bring it to him in Cozumel.  He said that would be great, and he promised to read it BEFORE they visited him....he said he'd find a copy over the internet somehow.  So, Donna just happened to find a spare copy for him to take with him.  Never judge a book by it's cover.

Quick Trip to Waikoloa Shores

Tom and Dorothy Heers, our missionary friends staying in our 2-bedroom condo for the past 18 months, finished their mission on Monday, so we got permission to fly to the Big Island to check them out of the condo and prepare it for our new tenant, Joanne Kitzul, a nurse at the Waimea Hospital.  Joanne has leased it for one year.

We also used the trip to meet our new tenant in the one-bedroom condo who moved in a couple of months ago.  His name is Nabel Ahmed and he is the Director of Restaurants at the Hilton Hotel.  He hosted us, and the Heers, for a delightful Chinese lunch at the Hilton.

We needed to pack and store some of our personal belongings, make a couple of repairs, and help the Heers get rid of some of their stuff.  Overall, we worked all day Monday and finished up Tuesday morning in time to catch a mid-day flight back to Oahu to fill our evening assignment at the VC.

Language Training

Two of our missionaries are from Japan who have not quite mastered the English language and so we have been asked to conduct language classes for them.  We met Friday for the first session.  Here's a picture of Sister Nishigaka and her companion Sister Watanabe (#1), and Sister Watanabe (#2) and her companion Sister Stringer.  We met at 8:00 am in our living room.  Our text books are "Preach My Gospel" and the Book of Mormon.  We are reviewing the study-scriptures from PMG, helping them both learn the meaning of the words and the meaning of the scripture.  We meet again next Tuesday (if they think it is worthwhile) and in the meantime they, with the help of their companion, will study 30 minutes a day using the same method.

Courtney Visit

One of our favorite granddaughters, Courtney Cook, has spent several days with us.  She's been busy cutting sister missionary's hair, three dates with Shane, a trip with us to the PCC and with Kody, her brother.  She also managed to spend a few days at the beach.

1990 SLC Temple Square Missionary

We were caught by surprise when a couple walked into the VC, looked at Don, and the wife said, "President McArthur!  You were my mission president when I served on Temple Square."  It was Brittany Piotrowsky (now Birk) who served in 1990-91.  She is married to Jeff Birk, who was in the LDS Movie, "Home Teachers" and played the HT with the bow tie.  They now live in Orem, Utah.