Temple Open House Committee Assignment

We have been called to be on the ushering committee for the open house, cultural night and Laie Temple dedication.  No word yet when the temple will be dedicated other than in the last quarter of the year.  The dates will be announced soon.  The ushering committee is headed by Dean Ellis.  He and his wife, Lisa are friends from our early years in Escondido.

BYUH Devotional Speaker

A few weeks ago I was asked to be the Devotional Speaker at BYUH next Tuesday morning.  Here's a copy of the flyer that has been posted around the campus.  I am more than a little nervous and have sweat bullets getting ready.  Remember me in your Tuesday am prayers please.

Monthly lunch with Senior Couples

Usually every month the four senior couples get away for a lunch somewhere.  Today we drove to Hale'iwa for lunch at Hale'iwa Joe's.  Left to right: Tripp's, McArthur's, Eubank's, Nysetvold's.  Another missionary couple from PCC, Elder and Sister Craig, cover for us at the VC.

VC visited by couple from Italy

Giovanni and his wife came to the VC today.  They are Catholics from Milano, Italy.  They were open to the message of the gospel and didn't seem offended when I talked about the Restoration.  We agreed on priesthood, the importance of families, the need for baptism, etc.  He was intrigued with "temples" especially with one to be built in Rome.  He said that for centuries everyone in Italy were Catholic but in the past twenty +/- years many immigrants to Italy have opened doors to other religions.  They agreed to have missionaries visit them at home and bring them a copy of the Book of Mormon.

May Transfer brings five new missionaries

Five new missionaries joined our team this week: Sister Largent from Oklahoma, Sister Bacani from the Philippines, Sister Muller from Germany, and Sisters Watanabe and Nishigaki from Japan.  The two Japanese sisters were transferred here from Temple Square where they have served for three months.  Japanese sisters originally called to serve here were sent to Temple Square a few months ago, leaving us dangerously under-staffed to handle the hundreds of Japanese tourists who visit our VC.

Four missionaries went home:  Sisters Bailey to Utah and/or Texas; Sister Cutler to Boise, Idaho; Sister Ochiai to Okinawa and Sister Hu to Taiwan.  Here's Sister Hu and Sister Ochiai after we sang "Aloha Oe" at their last Training Meeting.

Sorenson Family Raids VC

We had a delightful visit today at the VC by Roger and Judy Sorenson and their seven kids and spouses.  Roger was our bishop in the Country Park 4th Ward.  One of his sons, Terry, is a counselor in our stake presidency.  Another son is in Ron and Ger's ward and served as their bishop until a couple of years ago.  Their son, Brad, is a dental partner in Washington with some of Floyd Packard's sons.  Great family.

Sister Ochiai finishes Mission, returns to Okinawa