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.

WOW...Week 70 Can you believe it!!!

Well here I am now in Ewa Beach and it is a lot different from the city. My area mostly consists of military people and a lot of newer neighborhoods. I serve the cities of Ewa Beach, Pearl City, Newtown, and Honouliuli. Most of the houses in my area are only about 5 years old so they are are really nice and actually it looks a lot like a mainand neighborhood. I guess one section of our area is a little bit more run down but for the most part it is all brand new. The work here has been really slow and I am going to do all I can this week to get it moving. President has raised the standards for our zone so that should be interesting to see what happens. He says that our zone is really good and that we can do better than they have done in the past. So I am trying to get my zone pumped up and to get them unified as much as I can. Pres expects a lot out of us this transfer so I am going to see what I can do to get that. We are hoping to get 22 baptisms this transfer in our zone so I am going to do everything in my power to help them get it.

So this week had some highs and lows. It was extremely hard to say good bye to Elder Eteaki. I love that guy so much but I have talked to him every day since I left. Pres told me I could talk to him whenever I wanted so that is good. I got to drive the AP's truck for the day and decided I really miss driving a truck. I fit so well in there Colorado and I liked sitting up higher. As for the new zone there are 22 of us and it is the biggest zone in the mission. I am just trying to help the missionaries to know that I love them.I do everything I can for them and just praise them like crazy. I asked my companion if they were doing some things in this zone and he was like no and it is things that should be done in every zone so I changed those right away. My new area is really really slow right now. I don't know what they did all last transfer but they have like no investigators. I will be changing that. It is hard to leave an area because you build it up and get things going great and then you have to leave. It is really frustrating. I left an area with 10 people coming to church 10 with a baptism date and 25 lessons a week to 0 with a date 0 at church and 15 lessons a week. I hopefully will change that though. I am excited to see what happens this next couple of weeks. I am just keeping the faith. You know sometimes the Lord brings us lower before he can lift us higher. Well I know this is short but my mind has gone blank. I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week.
Love you
Zig

The house remodel begins

We are making a bathroom downstairs for the boys and redoing the bathroom upstairs in our bedroom. So the original back wall of the house had to come down. The floor for the upstairs is going to be extended 4 feet to match the wall of the garage. So our basement and bedroom will be a little bigger and we will have a small family room downstairs to relax in. If you need any dust come on over we will have plenty for the next couple of weeks. Today they are jack hammering the original basement wall and removing all the rubble. The dogs are not liking it at all. I think they will go visit their cousin Puzzle for the day. I will keep updating with pictures as we progress the next couple of weeks.