Week 73 Waipahu is Progressing

Well this week was pretty uneventful but I will give a brief report and then try to answer some of your questions. This week was a little bit slow for our area but really good for our zone. We have 24 people with a date right now so that is good. Elder Malan and I have 3 of them so we are trying to do our part even in a really slow area. We committed those 3 this week and they are scheduled to get baptized on the 20 of March so we will see what happens. It has been really windy this past week and kind of rainy which is weird for Ewa Beach. Usually it is really dry and hot but it has been a nice change. My comp says he is freezing which I just can't understand because it is still like 85 degrees and at night like 70. I lay in bed and sweat and he is in a hoodie and sweatpants bundled under a blanket. I still think its bloody hot but that's just me. We are looking forward to this coming week though. We are having zone conference and I always look forward to zone conference. It is such an amazing experience and I learn so much everytime we get to go. It is also good to see my buddies the assistants and president. I love seeing them and feeling of their spirit while they are here. Other than that things have been pretty typical. Just still at the grind stone doing my very best to build up this zone and this area.
To answer a few of your questions yes I have eatin at Hukilau and it is really good. The missonaries always eat free there. I haven't had poi in a while but I do love tarrow which poi is made out of. Actually I like tongan tarrow the best. I did meet one of grandpa's friends President Wantanabe and he took me to see grandpa's old neighborhood and house. It was kind of funny to be at his old house and to think that a lot of the family had been there. It is an amazing view from where he lived it overlooked Pearl Harbor. Really neat. I also found out which chapel he went to and stuff so it was pretty cool to see it. I think that is everything for this week I am going to try and send some more pictures home soon. I need to take more so that is one of my goals to take more pictures. Well I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week.

Ofa atu

Zig

Week 72 Tsunami Update

Well hello there family,

Well it was a pretty eventful week. We had the big tsunami that turned out to be nothing. It was a crazy day though. I got the first phone call at 3 in the morning from some missionaries who were scared and so I called the assistants and got a call back from them that pres was having a phone conference in half an hour. So at about 4 in the morning we were all on the phone with pres, well at least all the zone leaders. It was crazy. He told us that we need to get our missionaries moving to a safe place so we started packing things and getting the missionaries informed so they could get moving as well. We really had to get moving in the morning so it was like a hurry up and wait because the thing wasn't even going to come until like 11 in the morning. So we got the missionaries safe, did some studies and other activities with them and kept them occupied. We were finally able to leave at like 3 in the afternoon which pretty much shot our whole day. I was so exhausted that I went back to our pad and slept for a little while so that I could at least function. All in all it was a pretty crazy day.

Well yesterday we had Zone Leadership Conference and it was really good. We talked about the needs of the mission and a few other things. It lasted all day but it was good to see so many of my mission friends. We also had the pres of BYU Hawaii come and speak to us so it was really good. He talked about the liahona and how all blessing are predicated on faith, obedience, and dedication. So it was really good. That's about it for zlc though. If I told you the rest it would just bore you. Oh well pres did have me sit next to him which I thought was kind of funny. I love that man though so I didn't really mind. He talked about the new pres a little bit and how he wants to get things all set up for him so that when he comes things are all ready to go.

My comp and I are still doing pretty well and are still trying to get things going in our area. It is a little bit difficult because things have been really slow but I don't get discouraged I just keep going. I am pretty sure I know why I am here now. There are some of missionaries that are struggling and I feel like I can help them out. I just work my hardest all the time and help out where I can. I think I can really help this zone. I still don't know how long I will be here though. We will see though it will be interesting. Well I think that is all for this week. I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week and I will write again on Monday.

Ofa atu,

Zig

Tsunami

Zach called us at about 10:45 to tell us what was going on with the tsunami. He is currently living in Ewa Beach so we thought he might be evacuated. Here is what we told us. He has been up since 3:30. He was on a conference call with President Peterson at 4:00 to decide what needed to be done. He contacted all of his zone and they are currently at the Newtown Stake Center on higher ground. I asked him if he had gas in his car and he said, "Oh, mother don't you know me better then that!" Well I knew he would be prepared. He had 3/4 tank of gas so he is good for awhile. He also had water and 72 hour kits in the trunk of his car. So I am sure he will be fine. He sounded good. He said it is very stressful trying to make sure everyone is safe and where they need to be. He loves the rush of it all though. I am sure there will be a lot of relief efforts that will take place next week. Keep the missionaries in your prayers.

Week 71 Back to the Basics

Well as you can see from the heading from my email I have taken my zone back to the basics in the way they do missionary work. I made that our zone theme for this transfer so I am pretty excited to see what happens. I was talking to Elder Eteaki on the phone last night and we decided between our two zones we want to get half of vision 100 in the month of March. So that would be 50 baptisms between our two zones. So we will see what happens we are going to try and unite our efforts as much as possible even though we are in different zones. As for my area this was a really good week. My companion and I taught a total of 22 lessons which is really good. Our goal is to teach 20 a week. The week I got here they only taught 11 so we are seeing some big improvements.
So it was pretty funny this week in church. We were sitting there in sacrament meeting and this poly couple with their two little kids and sit next to us. Me loving little kids and loving polys started to play with the kids. Then after church I started talking to them and found out that it was Nia Fotu's sister and brother in law. We are going to their house again tomorrow so that will be fun. They are realy cool people. Hopefully I can build a good relationship and get to know him and his family better. Just a funny little story though.
Well I decided that I wanted to do something to start uniting the zone more so we did a zone car wash on Saturday morning and it was a huge success. We had like 15 referrals from it and like 5 return appointments, which is really good. The zone really came together and united themselves. I was so happy they are finally getting along and working together. It was really cool though because before I left Honolulu the assistants told me they would come and visit me on a regular basis. I got along really well with them in Honolulu and they became some of my best friends,so it was really cool to see them show up at our finding activity. I really love those guys they are like my brothers.
So I finally got to meet one of our 2 investigators we currently have in this area. I am working on trying to find more. She is this local lady that is really cool but we haven't been able to get in contact with her since I have been here. The work in this area has been quite slow lately so we are trying to get things picked up. Hopefully we see some good turn around in the next couple of weeks . I think I am going to try and do a few exchanges this up coming week with a few of the companionships so I get a better idea of what is going on in their areas. Other than that it was a pretty typical week. Talked to a few drunk guys told them we can't drink and walked away. Well just like always I love you all so much and miss you like crazy but there is no place I would rather be right now.
Ofa atu

Zig

Week 1 Remodel Update

The remodeling is coming along well. The concrete walls are gone and most of the debris has gone to the dump. They have knocked down my bedroom wall so that all that separates the bedroom from the construction is plastic sheeting. The new floor for our bedroom extension is in. The new steel beam that holds up the house is in as well. The progress is great and I can't believe how much has been done in a week. I will keep posting pictures and updates as the work progresses.

The makings of the new floor for our master bedroom. Soon to be the closet and new shower. (The top of the picture, not the wood plank. LOL)

Preview of new room in the basement.
Another view new room. Pretty dusty still.

New I-Beam

Support beams for new I-bEAM.