And the floods came.....

Just one quick update today...yesterday (Dec.11, 2008) was one of those days that you see on TV all of the time, but never realize that some day you might be there! Well, it happened for us.

It started raining during the night of Dec. 10 and didn't stop for 12-15 hours. Now...I am talking rain! Like we have never, ever seen before!!! By 6:30 a.m. on Thur. our phone was ringing about flooding apts., roads, etc. This was something to see once, but one hopes it only happens once in your life time. Many of the locals here say they have not had this happen to them before. We have yet to hear the total amount of rain, but in Laie it was somewhere around 12-16 inches in that short period of time. Needless to say, some roads and bridges were washed out, homes washed away, etc. When we first left our apt., which is just across the street from the PCC, we could see the PCC parking lot was FILLED with water, it was running in rivers down out of the mountains. There were kids out playing in it and the water was up to their waist! They had their boogie boards and were having a blast! Cars were stalled as well as people! Everything shut down and we began to help, just like on TV!!!! First of all, we had a missionary couple that was leaving to go home and Bob and I were assigned to get them to the airport, on the other side of the island. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get there...normally a 45 minute ride. Flooding, unbelievable traffic, detours, rain that made it impossible to see the road, etc. made the trip rather a difficult one. We accomplished that task and then came back with the same difficulty. After we arrived here we went to one of the homes, and helped empty the house and pull out the carpet and all of the floor coverings so things could start to dry. Many of these homes are very nice homes of the administrators of the PCC and college and a lot of them are much more humble homes of the polynesian people here. So very sad and yet everyone so grateful that no lives were lost. Some of the homes we saw had as much as 6-8 inches of water inside in every room and water lines of up to 12 inches or more! The water, of course, is a red, mucky sandy dirt. It is so devestating for so many. They set up emergency shelters for those that are now homeless until temporary homes become available. WOW, we came home tired and grateful that we could help and grateful that our home is situated in a place where no water got into our apt. We had lots of water and large, large puddles in our yard area, but nothing got into the house.When Summer lived here last year on the big island of Hawaii she told us of the rains and flooding...she sent pictures, etc. Well, now we realize exactly what she was talking about!So today we are sure we will be doing the same thing again...helping all that need our help to overcome the disaster. We are happy to be able to help. Will tell more later...now, off to work! Love to you all,Elder and Sister Remund

Update

Here it is the end of November, and we have been in Hawaii almost 4 months. It seems like home now, except for the moments of homesickness that we feel occasionally. We get that way when there are certain things going on with any of you that we actually know about…like Thanksgiving Day for example. I think we are too busy to get
home sick very often, and we are thankful and grateful for that!

We have enjoyed going to the temple as often as time would permit us to do so. This picture was early one Sat. morning when I talked Bob into getting up early (my favorite time). They are closing the Honolulu Hawaii temple the end of Dec. and it will be closed for approximately 18 months. We are hoping they will get it open before we have to return home which will be in 19 months! Well, we will just have to wait and see. But in the meantime we are allowed to travel to the big island of Hawaii to the Kona temple to do temple sessions. We just have to arrange our work and pay our own way…so it won’t be too often, but we plan on doing if a few times.

“Ice Cold Coconuts” is a sign you see on the roadside fruit stands all over the islands. These particular coconuts are better if they are young and the milk has not turned solid (like the coconuts we open on the mainland.) They punch a hole in the top and put a straw through to drink the milk (very good IF it is cold) and then you can break it open and the white meat should be very soft and almost pudding like for the Hawaiians to really like it! As the coconut matures, the meat will solidify and they grate the coconut for cooking, as most of us “Hallies” know it.

A group of students from BYUH have business class to sell the coconuts at the PCC to make money. They were actually giving a discount to the missionaries, so we tried them out. I actually liked it more than Bob did, but he is always a good sport and goes along with me!

One day we came home from work and the house in our back yard was completely tented! This was something new to us. They are going to sell the home and it is a law that the property be fumigated for termites before a person can sell! They had big blowers and some sort of fogging device which ran overnight (probably 12-18 hours) and then the tent came down and the people moved back in. Weird to us, but fun to see!!

Right now this home is being rented by a family from St. George. It is a single mother with teen age and college age children and one child in grade school. They are great neighbors and we hate to see them leave when it sells. Well, we are hoping with the market the process will be slow and they can stay for a while.

We had a wonderful week with the Millers here for a visit. Rick and Teressa, Brandon, Kristen and her husband, Meagan, Skyler and Tyson were here from Nov. 13-19. We just couldn’t get enough time with them! Bob and I took some time off work and really loved being with all of them.

The picture above is when we went with Rick and Teressa to the temple and Meagan had her recommend and did baptisms while we did endowments. What a special time for us!

While they were here we had lots of rainy days, the most rain and coolest days since we have been here. This picture is when we were going to the Samoa village at the PCC and it really was a down pour. Regardless, the time with them was priceless!

The last day of their stay was a beautiful day and they spent some time on the beach at their house on the Hukilau beach. Some guy was snorkeling and came out of the water with this octopus! It didn’t take Tyson long to decide he was brave enough to play with it!

It was quite a thing for the kids to see and Grandpa also…WOW! The sad part is…the guy was going to have it for his dinner that night! Such a beautiful creature and pretty harmless at this point!

Tyson really did get a thrill out of having the octopus crawl around on his back and neck. Pretty brave I think! Not many of us can claim such an adventure!

We did lots of fun things while the Millers were here, we saw a turtle (Brutus) on turtle beach, did shopping and lots of good eating in Honolulu and playing in the water at Wikiki. We spent a little time at the PCC (however, they have been here before and have seen all of it…we did enjoy the night show). We ate at the famous Hukilau café a couple of times, went to a movie “Madagascar 2” and went to the Valley of the Gods down by Kanehoe. We took them to “Our” new beach (Kawela Bay) over by turtle bay where they snorkeled and played with a hugh sand crab.

Rick and Teressa cooked us a great Thanksgiving dinner and we all ate together on the Sunday they were here. Tyson and Skyler peeled all of the potatoes! We had all of the traditional Thanksgiving food. We truly are blessed with wonderful family, beautiful surrounds, serving this mission, and belonging to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. What more could we ask for? I hope we don’t ask for more!!!!

Before we could even believe it, it was time for the Millers to leave and we were back to our normal life here. Normal life for us is pretty great, we must admit however.

For Thanksgiving we spent the morning with our BYUH 20th ward family at the Aloha Center eating 9 turkeys that were cooked in an emu at the bishops house over night, 50 lbs. of potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole (the best and most yummy I have ever tasted…but don’t ask Bob, he didn’t even taste it!), hugh amounts of stuffing, corn, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, salads, cookies and even a chocolate fountain! The kids loved it, we had about 65 there and the food was pretty much gone before the afternoon was over. We really have a great Bishopric that work very hard to make these kids happy!

After dinner they had about 8 gingerbread house kits and the kids divided into groups and had a competition. Here is Bob getting started with our group. Below is a group of the Asian kids…when they ask me it I could read what they had written on it I told them, “No, but we have a son that spent his mission in Japan and he could!” That always makes them excited, so I told them I would send a picture home so Ryan could read it. Okay Ryan…what does it say?

So again, we are back to normal living and loving it all. It was so wonderful to talk with all of you on Thanksgiving day and know that you are doing well. We know the Lord will continue to bless you as you obey his commandments and make the sacrifices necessary receive His blessings! The day after Thanksgiving we went exploring the island, actually looking for the best place to watch the World Cup Surfing Championships that are now in progress. The waves were big on the North Shore and some of the woman’s events were starting. However, we came on around to the Haleiwa shore and talked to one of the surfers…he said the waves weren’t as big as they were wanting yet, but directed us around the Haleiwa Bay for some good places to view the competition during the events that would be coming up in the next few days and weeks. When we arrived there, what did we see…TURTLES ALL OVER ON THE BEACH! At one time there were probably 7-8 turtles out in the sun. Can you count them in the picture above? We were only there about ½ hour and we saw 3-4 come out of the water and that many go back into the water! What a sight!

This picture above is of two turtles together. One has his front fin over the face of his buddy! People are good not to touch them or disturb them…there are signs all around telling you that they are protected and not to bother them. We loved it! We also went into Honolulu and went to the harbor. We watched some of the big freighters loading and getting ready to leave, cruise ships, and some dinner cruises going out to watch the sunset. They have a nice area to sit and the weather was beautiful. After sun set we went to explore another new Aloha Tower mall that we had not seen before! It was a fun day.

Back tracking a little, on the Sat. after Teressa and family left, we took a little trip around the island and ended up on the south east side of the island. We had dinner at Panda’s and then went to the movie “Twilight!” I guess most all of you have already seen that and what a fun time! So when does the next movie come out?

I think this was the same day that BYU played Utah and we were so sorry to hear the outcome! Oh well, we can’t always be on top! Cindy had a “good time” giving Bob a
“bad time” about that lose! She and Gil are Utah fans, of course! But we still love them anyway!

During the past month we have had some great firesides and Monday Night Home Evenings with the Sr. missionaries. We had Stake Conference and also Sister Sherry Dew was here to speak to the BYUH devotional. We have some great experiences with the things that BYU has to offer.

So it is time to wrap up this letter and tell you all again how much we love you. Thanks for the Thanksgiving cards, the notes, letters, and emails. We love to hear from all of you, even though we can’t respond to each and every one in a timely way! We are always praying for you and giving thanks that you are a part of our lives. Please know that we care about each family and what is going on in your lives. We hope this finds everyone happy and well and looking forward to the Christmas holiday season ahead.

We are very, very blessed and want you to know how much we love and appreciate the gospel for the happiness and joy it brings into our lives and for the hope and peace it fills our hearts with. We are grateful to be serving the Polynesian people here in Hawaii and sharing with them in this land of paradise.

Love for ever and always to all,

Elder and Sister Remund
AKA: Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma

Thanksgiving Plans

We just wanted to send a quick email to let you know how much we are missing you on this Thanksgiving holiday! We send our love and hope that each of you have a wonderful day. We hope you get lots of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie to fill you up good! Have a joyous time with family and friends and know that we love you!

We will be going with our student ward to the Aloha Center for a huge dinner. The Bishop is having 9 turkeys cooked in the emu that the ward dug and built in his yard. (This is how the polynesians cook their food). Large hole lined with banana leaves and burlap, then the food is wrapped and put in and it is covered and cooks for 8-10 hours. We will have to tell you more about it when it all comes together. We are cooking 50 lbs. of potatoes, having 20 dozen rolls, also sweet potatoes, fruit salad, homemade gravy, etc. We will be eating about noon (which is about 3:00 p.m. Utah time). After that we will be playing games and doing things with the kids for the afternoon. In the evening all of the Sr. missionaries are getting together for an evening together to have left overs, dessert, etc. We are doing that at one of the couples home that have a large living room area. It is out on Laie point and is beautiful there.

We don't have to work on Fri. so we are planning to go to the beach. We are hearing that there are some BIG surfing competitions this weekend on the north shore and there are 20 foot waves predicted. Those that surf are sure excited about all of it! We hope to see some of that! The weather has been nice. Rain has stopped for a bit and it is about 80 degrees with a constant breeze to keep it cool. We just can't love it enough!!!!!So that is our plans.

Know of our love for you and for the gospel. We love Hawaii, we love our mission. We love the polynesians and the center. We are very blessed and we feel that our family is also being blessed in our absense. Count your blessing always!!!!!!

Love forever and always,Your Hawaiian missionaries!

November Update

We are loving all of the emails, blogs, pictures, cards, letters, etc. that each of you send to us. Keep them coming! We have found our life here at the PCC becoming quite routine but each day has its challenges and new adventures! Probably the biggest thing we have been involved in lately is the Haunted Lagoon!

The PCC decided to try a haunted lagoon because they were looking for ways to get some income. This was the first year anything like this has ever been done on this island, or any other Hawaiian island as far as we know. The lagoon of the PCC is a water way through all of the villages which they give canoe rides on and also have a “Canoe Pageant” each day where the canoes float down with dancers and performers from the different islands for people to watch.

The true story is that some years ago a lady from Laie came up missing for several days and was eventually found, her body up on the shore line along the bank of the lagoon. So they took this event and made a story about “The Haunted Lady of the Lagoon”, who comes to haunt those that ride the lagoon during this event. We don’t have many pictures of it as it was at night, but go to this website and click on the Haunted Lagoon Clip…it actually was pretty good and scary!

The ride was about 20 minutes long with a lot of water monsters coming out of the water and grabbing people on the boat. One person was actually “planted” on the canoe so that they eventually pulled her off and drug her to shore. They had lots of things hanging across the lagoon on ropes and from the trees that would go across and in front of the people, chainsaws, floating graveyards, spiders as big as a car falling down over the bridges…oh, it was something else! There was a lot of loud sound effects.

A lot of the special effects, Bob and the “Blue Men from Maintenance” helped build and work the effects during the 7 nights that it ran. They all had a great time!!!

It was a lot of work because they had to set everything up before dark but have it all taken down for the next day so the routine shows and events for the PCC could continue. There was a lot of hours put in by the Polynesian workers and students and the missionaries. All of the time was donated. They had a goal of having about 6,000 people come. (The cost of a ticket was $8.00.) They had much larger crowds than expected with people coming from all over the island and a final tally of around 14,000 people came through! It was a huge success.

Here is a picture of the Lagoon. Not too good, but maybe you get a little idea????
This is part of the floating graveyard. They had a casket where a skeleton came up out of it. There were caskets and headstone floating all around.

This picture of Sister Dewey (that works with me in the Island Office) is holding up one of the shirts that we made each day for the Lagoon Water Monsters to wear. We used a black T-shirt and hot glued fresh leaves on them. We made 6 every day! The monsters in the water would come up out of the water with these shirts on and really look like water monsters! It was a big job every day, but they loved it. So the Haunted Lagoon was truly a success and everyone at the PCC is anxiously awaiting next year so it can be BIGGER and BETTER! Now they are wanting to know what we are going to do for Christmas!!!! Any suggestions???

Well, we were exhausted from this event, because not only did we have to do our normal daily jobs, but we helped with the Lagoon also. So when it was over, we went one night to Sunset Beach. We stopped first at Ted’s bakery for a sandwich and took our lunch to the beach. It was so beautiful and we had a very restful evening!


This is a flower that grows here called a type of ginger (I can’t recall the exact name). It is so beautiful and we don’t see them around much. The petals are hard, like a wax candle. I loved watching it bloom.
One day I called Bob and told him I was sending him on a “Where’s Waldo Hunt” and told him he needed to find where the lily pads were blooming. It took him about 3 days, but he finally found them! This picture only shows a few out blooming because they bloom in the early morning and then close up during the day. Look closely and you will see the pink heads of a lot of them that are closing.
This is, of course, The Bird of Paradise flower. We see a lot of this and they are very beautiful. This particular one was at the Punch Bowl. We took two new missionary couples for a day around the island showing them the shopping places and some of thetourist areas to see. We did this just this past Sat. (Nov. 1st) and we really enjoyed it.
We are looking forward with great excitement for Rick, Teressa, and the kids to come on Nov. 13th. We know it will be fun to have them here.

We haven’t seen very many people that we know since we have been here. My cousin, Bonnie Edwards McMurdie, from Texas was here one evening and called us and we met and visited with her for a little while. They were on their way to Maui for a week in a condo timeshare. It was good to see here. Also, one afternoon Bob called me from work and said to come and meet him by the Imax theatre. When I got there, there was Kevin and Gayla DiStephano, from Heber. That was a fun surprise too. They knew we were there and had asked missionaries about us and the missionaries called Bob. We took them for a shaved ice while we visited. It was great!

The tourist population is increasing a little and we have about 2,000-2,300 coming each day now. If things go like normal years, it gets really busy from now through the holidays and then continues busy up through the summer months. We hope that is the case, as the PCC really needs the tourist trade!

Bob is busy doing everybody’s “special projects”! He just ordered 300 wheels for casters to replace on the carts in the cafeteria. They are badly rusted and corroded and needed some work. He spent 2 days on a bobcat leveling out the PCC farm. Today he helped take the large canvas sides off from several of the handicraft booths and they took them to the seamstresses where the huge industrial machines are that they use to make costumes, and they replaced the zippers. Then the “Blue Shirt Men” put them back up again. I continue to work in the Island Office taking care of all of the paper work, files and time sheets for the students that work in the villages. This morning was our managers weekly meeting and my boss sent me to the Hukilau Café to get breakfast for them. They ordered plates of rice, eggs and protugese sausage, and large pancakes with extra butter and syrup! Boy do they love to eat! Have we told you that the Polynesians say if you can hold your plate of food with one hand, there is not enough food on it! And they truly live by this rule!!!!!

We have been to the Hukilau Café to eat a couple of times for breakfast and really enjoy it. I love the coconut pancakes and Bob likes the eggs, sausage, and pancake breakfast. We have taken our friends, the Nebekers, with us and the love it also! It is truly a favorite place of all of the locals!

We are really kept busy with our ward callings. Sundays are certainly not a day of rest for us, but we love it. We love being with the students and being a part of their activities. The ward had a Halloween party which we attended and it was a fun time with lots of relay games, bobbing for apples, carving and painting pumpkins, and of course they had refreshments!. The kids really like us and treat us like their best friends. I know they like having a few adults around as they miss their families from their home lands.

We work in the restaurants once or twice a week at night too. If you think this is a vacation…THINK AGAIN…!!!!! We have never worked so hard before! We might be living in paradise, but this mission is certainly not for “pansies!” Would we trade places with anyone? NO WAY!

Must close for now. Love to all of you.
Brother and Sister Remund (Dad and Mom…Grandpa and Grandma)

Update

Everyone says how beautiful the fall leaves are this year. I suppose we can thank the snow from last winter for that! I think about the beautiful colors a lot and we have pictures of the hills from past years to help remind us. Lynn sent a picture from his phone of the hills behind our house and it did look beautiful. It is beautiful here but there is not the changing of seasons…this will be quite a change for us. The thing I really love is being able to eat outside most of the time and whenever we want and never worry about the weather. It is always pleasant. Today Bob started laughing during one of our church planning meetings. It was a meeting where they were talking about our ward activity party on Oct. 28 and having a Halloween party and where it was going to be. It is scheduled for the “Little Circle” on campus…a fun place outdoors, of course, and when he said that Bob thought, “Wow, it will probably be snowing and cold!” Right then he starting laughing and said, “Guess what I was just thinking?” Well, of course, that is NOT a problem over here but we cannot get our selves out of that mindset! Some of the other missionary sisters and I were talking the other day about being excited to see how they decorate for Christmas here…it will be fun to see! The stores are full of Halloween and Christmas, just like in Utah, but a lot of the trees that are decorated are palm trees!

Let me tell you a little about our past couple of weeks. One Sat. we went for a drive to the Blow Hole down by Honolulu. It is a beautiful place and has a beautiful beach. This picture is from the Blow Hole. The water looks like a wave coming in but it is really a 2 foot hole in the rocks where the water comes in and blows out the hole.

We took a couple of girls from our ward to Wal Mart and Costco on Wed. evening. It is about 20 miles away, but takes about 45 minutes to get there. A lot of the students don’t have cars and sometimes they need a ride to pick things up. There is a bus system that goes around the island several times a day, but it takes a lot of time and if they have a lot to carry, it is hard on the bus. We enjoyed taking them. One was a girl from Alberta Canada, not far from Cardston. The other is a little girl from Cambodia. I say little and I mean little! She probably doesn’t weigh more than 75 pounds! She looks like she is about 15, but she is 26. She served a mission in the Provo, South mission and then went back home. Then she got a sponsor to help her come here to get her education. She is a cute girl and we had a great evening with them. We took them for something to eat after shopping, and WOW can they eat!! I guess they are living pretty meagerly! They were so grateful to have the ride and I know they had lots of fun. We have a fantastic ward and really love the kids and the activities there. The Sat. morning of conference we had a ward breakfast before conference. At 6:00 a.m. (which was 10:00 a.m. for you) we met at the Aloha Center (the student center for the campus) and the bishopric and the two missionary couples assigned to the ward (us and Bro and Sis Denos) cooked breakfast for them while we watched conference on the big screen. It was great. There were about 75 kids there at 6:00 a.m.! A lot of them were in Sunday dress, especially the Asian kids. Dresses, white shirts and ties…they have a lot of respect and they show it at times like this…it is neat to see. Actually, the grownups (us) were just in casual dress. However, we watched conference together, it was great, wasn’t it? Then everyone helped clean up and we came home and watched the afternoon session at 10:00 a.m. here! Then Bob and I cleaned the house, washed windows, washed the car, and then got ready to go to work at the Restaurant. Then we came back home and Bob took a nap while I made banana bread and then he had to go back to work at 8:30 p.m. to plant a 40 foot coconut tree inside the big theatre! This is a project that has been in the planning for a couple of weeks. The PCC is making some big changes to their night show for next year and the Samoan’s want to climb the tree during their part of the show. So that is what the men have been doing.

Bob and Elder Florence built a large platform to put the tree on after it was down, so they could get it into the theater. They used a large spade to cut around the tree, which was out in the PCC nursery and put it on a truck.

They had to wait until after the night show, which ended at about 9:00 p.m. and then they worked all night and into Sun to get it in and up. This picture shows them bringing in down the tunnel and onto the stage. Then they put the platform on 3 inch pipes and rolled it onto the stage.

This is the hole they planted it in on stage. This shows the tree up and tied in place while they brought in dirt to put around the root base.

Now the tree is up and in place. It is 40 feet tall, the root base is 4 foot in diameter! It has about a two foot trunk at the base. They will not close down the theatre to do things…they work at night to get these things done. The tree was out in the PCC farm where they grow their pineapple, bananas, and coconuts and it was really big. I went out to watch when they took it out…it was amazing. It has been the talk of the center all week. The three missionaries and lots of Polynesian help were so excited to be a part of such a great project! They all have great ideas, and they DID accomplish what they set out to do!

The theatre is sort of like Tuachan. It has seating under cover, but the stage and backdrop (which in this case is a big volcano which goes off during the show!) is all out side. So the tree is planted somewhere on the stage but is actually outside. It looks like it has been growing there forever!

A little more about watching conference here. Sunday morning we watched it at 6:00 a.m. which is 10:00 a.m. for you and it is live from SLC. We could go to the Stake Center and watch it delayed, but didn’t want to get dressed up…I wanted to sit in front of the T.V. here and watch it in my pajamas. Then Bob went over and finished working on the tree while I watched the afternoon session at 10:00 a.m. We have a missionary family dinner once a month, which was held after conference this week. It is usually on Fast Sunday. We take pot luck and I am taking Ritzy Chicken. We usually do it on fast Sunday and they call it Break The Fast. We eat together and it is a fun time. At 7:00 p.m. we met again at the college and they did a rebroadcast for the men of the Preisthood session and a rebroadcast of the R.S. for the women. So that is what our conference weekend was like. Pretty busy!!!

We sure did enjoy conference. Lots of great advise and counsel about not being discouraged, but having hope through our faith for the future. I really felt like I needed to hear that, and I’m sure most everyone does at this time. The world is surely in a mess right now! I’m grateful for the gospel and our teachings to give us the strength to keep marching forward in faith and obedience.

This week Bob worked again tearing down more old buildings and also working in the cafeteria areas on equipment and the walk in refrigerator. Boy is it a big walk in…it is a room about the size of our entire house! Pretty cold in there also. They use fork lifts to move things around in it.

The rest of the week was pretty normal for us. On Sat. (Oct. 11, 2008) there was a devotional in the Fiji village. It was so great. Speakers and dancers and singing…a lot of neat things to see in action about their culture. We love these times. Because I am involved with the Island Office, the staff helps with setting up and the food afterwards…of course, Bob was there too because my “boss”, LaNae really likes him! Are you surprised! She loves his blue eyes and always wants to know if he has a brother she could have…she said she would give up her husband for a brother if he is just like Bob.

We sure love everyone’s emails and blogs, etc. We want you all to know how much we love you. Keep writing and sending pictures. It’s fun for us to keep up on the news at home.

This last picture is of some of the shrubbery around the front walkways of the PCC, BUT the best part is that right in the middle of the picture at the top (just above the black car) is “OUR HOUSE!” This picture was being used by one of the students that work with me in the Island Office as her screen saver. One day she pulled it up to get into her computer and I saw it and said, “Hey, that is our house!” She couldn’t believe it, but there it is!

We love you all. Have a great week. We miss you but are happy and well in our beautiful place here in Hawaii. We do work hard, but it is very rewarding!

Love to you all forever and always,

Brother and Sister Remund

Update

Another busy week and we are still loving Hawaii. Although we do get a little homesick when we hear about the things going on there with each of you. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so they say…well, we are truly believers of that! We miss you so much and love to hear from you!

We know we send lot of long “stuff” for you to read, and you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to! But for those interested, here is more about our life and mission here:

Here are a few things from my journal this past few days…

September 15, 2008 Monday

Another beautiful day in the mission field of Honolulu, Hawaii! The weather is wonderful for me. I don’t even mind the humidity…it is always warm and wonderful!
We went to work today and Bob spent two hours looking for lily pads…(I had given him a “Where’s Waldo” challenge…to find the lily pads in the lagoon that were in bloom!) It took him 2-3 days and he found a couple of places, but not the one I was wanting him to find. Finally I had to show it to him. What a beautiful site, lily pads in bloom! I love it! Then he fixed a couple of drinking fountains in the islands. Later he fixed an ice machine in the cafeteria, went to lunch, and then helped to further clean up the building that was torn down last week.

This evening we went to FHE with the couples. Tonight’s program was a singing group from Laie, approximately 10 men and 10 woman. These Polynesian people have such musical talent…we love to hear them sing, and they do love to sing. They have such great rhythm also. Tonight’s program was a very spiritual program of songs written about the love of the Savior and His blessings for us. Several members of the choir bore their testimony about a particular subject, and then they would sing about it. They gave praise also to the Sr. missionaries that had lived and fulfilled their lives and now have come to bless and strengthen the lives of the Polynesians. They truly do love the couple missionaries.

At 9:00 p.m. we went to our student ward FHE. They are such fun kids, and so full of energy! WOW…we laugh with them and play games with them and learn about their lives and their goals. Many of them come from some pretty humble circumstances and are so grateful to be here getting an education!

Perhaps I will tell a little about the PCC. Hawaii, specifically Laie, was a place set aside by the Lord for His people to come for peace and serenity…even in the days of the warriors and chiefs of Hawaii. When Matthew Cowley came and then Pres. David O McKay, much of the land was dedicated for the temple and for the people to seek refuge from their difficult lives. Many miracles came about in preparation of this area for the church, and the people are very grateful for it and tell many stories of their heritage in this island and of the miracles that brought them here.

To put it in a short form, BYUH was organized so that the students of the Polynesian islands could come here and get an education and then return to their own islands and make a better life for themselves and for their families. During this time they also wanted to preserve their cultures (Tonga, Tahiti, New Zealand, Fuji, Samoa, the Hawaiian Islands, etc.). A few students started performing some of their native dances and songs down in Honolulu to entertain the tourists and to make some money for school and the idea was conceived to set up the Polynesian Cultural Center and help many students pay their way through school. Therefore, the idea has become such a miraculous tool for assisting students from the islands and is now beginning to pull in many of the Asian Rim and therefore including Japan, China, Mongolia, Siberia, etc. The PCC is the vehicle for many students to have jobs. I think there are about 700-800 jobs available for the students. Because of the economic crunch, all of Hawaii is suffering economically. Tourism has slacked off and it has affected the PCC greatly. They are having lots of cut backs and many of the full time people are losing their jobs or being ask to cut hours. This would appear that they would look at the missionaries as taking their jobs, because basically that is what we do. We fill in all of the slots that are left when jobs are cut. HOWEVER, these Polynesian people do NOT look at it like this. They love their culture and they want it preserved and they know that if it were not for the couple missionaries and the vocations and talents they bring to keep the PCC operating, it would have to close. They do not want that to happen. Therefore, we are loved and praised even more for what we do. It is amazing what the missionaries do. The couples from all walks of life giving of their time and expertise to help keep the PCC going and doing it in a better way. We are praised constantly for what we bring and offer to help them keep the PCC open. It is amazing how much they love and respect us! One sweet woman said tonight, “We have been through difficult times before and we can do it again. We know the Lord wants this place to remain open for our culture and for the students. We just have to find out how He wants it done.” They have so much faith that it will all work out.

Just FYI. It was taking about 1,960 guests daily to make ends meet here at the PCC. With the present slump, we only get those high counts on Fri. and Sat. (Numbers have been around 700-900). At least that has been since mid Aug. to now. The weekends bring 2,000-2,500. The church does not participate in donations to the PCC, it has to stand on its own. They are hoping that by Nov. the numbers will be back around 2,000 plus guests each day…then they hope to keep them up through the summer months of 2009.

Anyway, the missionaries here at the PCC really work hard. Lots of hours and lots of sacrifice…to help preserve the PCC and the students here. It is a privilege for us to be here and be a part of this program. In spite of the hard work and long hours, we love it. Everyone must, because no one goes home early!!!!!

More journal entry from 09-16-08 to 09-21-08

Today at the PCC there was a “graduation” for one of the missionary couples that is going home after 18 months. The Polynesians really put on a big affair and goodby party. It was fun so see and be a part of. The couple is the Christians from California. This is there 3rd mission and all of them to Hawaii. One to BYU, one to HRI, and this last one to the PCC.

Sunday was another busy day at church. We start at about 9:30 a.m. with meetings and then have our block meetings from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Then we often have firesides, ward family prayer, or other meetings after this. We love the kids. Most of them really have strong testimonies, many are return missionaries and strong leaders. They take full responsibility of the wards and really do a tremendous job.

I cooked a bread fruit! It is a well known fruit or vegetable (?) that grows abundantly in the tropics. We saw a lot of them in Tahiti and Bora Bora also, but we did not eat any that I remember! However, one of the managers from the Island Office brought several to work on Fri. and was going to cook some of them in the New Zealand island. He gave one to me and one to Sister Dewey and told us how to cook it. (Right then each person in the office had their own special way to cook and serve it and a lot of them were different!) Anyway, I brought it home and peeled it and took out the large seed in the middle. It is similar to the texture of a squash except it is a light yellow in color (green before the peeling is off) and the meat of it is soft. After it was peeled I cut it into pieces and boiled it until it was tender and then put it in a baking dish and covered it with coconut milk (I bought this from the store and the can said it has 9 grams of fat in 1/3 cup…no wonder it is good!). Then I put butter and brown sugar on it and baked it like we do our sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving time. It actually was very good and everyone liked it that tasted it (except Bob, but you have to remember that he does not like sweet potatoes, squash, etc.). So I am excited to report back to my friends at work tomorrow how successful we were! They will be excited about it! They love it when we will try some of their native foods and like it!

Sat. we cleaned house, did the wash and then took off with our friends the Nebekers for the west side of the island. He lived here for several years when he was in high school and knows a lot about Ohau. The west side is called the leaward side, meaning not much rain, and it was very different from where we live here on the windward side. However, we found some beautiful beaches over in Makaha where we sat on the beach and watched the surfers, the kids play and took in lots of sun! We also went to Haweala and had lunch at a great Mexican place called Chicos’s. It was very good and lots of fun. We discovered another really nice beach just west of Turtle Bay and quite hidden from the public…we can’t wait to show that to our family also! So we had a really fun relaxing day around the island. (end of journal entry)

We have had lots of comments about Grandpa’s lava lava! Some liked it, others were not so sure! Cindy said, “Oh my gosh, my brother has only been in Hawaii for 1 month and already he is wearing a skirt!” Lisa L said, “Tell Bob it takes a real man to wear a skirt!” A lot of the grandkids got a big kick out of it! Actually the men here don’t mind wearing them because they are so much cooler. They usually only wear them when they dress up. The missionaries only wear them when they dress up to work at the restaurant. A lot of the guys wear them to church, the young boys especially. They wear them with their white shirts and ties and sometimes even a sports coat. Some of the bishopric wear them sometimes also. It is very appropriate here. Many of the Polynesians and also the Asian boys wear them. I remember Summer telling me about them when she lived here in Hawaii last winter also.

Right now the season is such that when it rains it only last for 5-20 minutes. If it is hard you can wait it out inside or under a tree. When it rains hard it puts down buckets in just a few minutes! I have never seen rain like that, but it is so warm! The college walks and parking lots here are all built for this weather…they have large cement “gully’s” (I don’t know the best word) where the rain is channeled. All around campus they have them around the buildings and down the walkways. When it rains hard they fill up and run like a huge fast moving river…it is unbelievable to see it! Pres. Orgill told us that last Jan. and Feb. they had rain for 45 days (just off and on during the day but every day) and it rained a total of 46 inches! Jan. and Feb. are apparently the most rainy season here. Anyway, it is fun to see and we love it.

Another journal entry from Thursday – 09-25-08

Today Hawaii introduced me to two new critters! They were both at the PCC, THANK GOODNESS! I have heard of the centipedes here...well let me tell you they are HUGE! One was crawling across our floor in the hallway of our office today. Sister Jones yelled, "What is THAT?" It was about 7 inches long and about as big around as a 25 cent piece. It had tons of legs...I guess a hundred (hence the name centipede?) and it could move much faster than I would have though possible! She and I were there alone at the time and we had no idea what to do with it. So these two missionary sisters just got out the dust pan (Hawaiian dust pans are upright and have a broom handle on them...pretty nice...especially for picking up centipedes!). We let it crawl into that and then took it out into the garden as far from the office as we could go! We wanted to kill it but didn't know how to attempt that and when I ask Bob how to kill them he said they are very hard to kill as they roll and squirm, etc. He has seen a lot of them out in the buildings they are tearing down by the PCC farm where they grow the bananas, mangos, papayas, etc. He said the birds love them. We have these huge white birds (egrets?) and they are like a duck, sort of...but much more graceful and they are all over. These birds love to eat the cockroaches, centipedes, etc. that the men unearth with their Bob Cats and Fork Lifts they work with.

Anyway...a few hours later I was with Sister Dewy in the Theatre where the night show is held (keep in mind that everything here is outside...at least part of it is). I love that about Hawaii! But on one of the side walls, way up high, I saw a big spider and pointed it out to Sister Dewey. She said, "That is called a Cane Spider!" I had heard that they had them here, but had hoped I would not have to see one...I hope it is my last! It is exactly as it was described to me at first...between a Daddy-long-leg and a Tarantula. It was

bigger than a large Daddy-long-leg with it's legs spread out and it's body was larger than a daddy-long-leg body, but not as large as a tarantula. However, it's legs were bigger around and really hairy like a tarantula. However, the body was not as big as a tarantula. So do you get the picture? I hope I NEVER see one in my house! I ask some of my friends from the New Zealand village if they see them very often and they said they had never seen one, and they don't have them in New Zealand because it gets colder there with changing seasons...they only have them in the true tropics where the weather is always warm! So there you have it...the adventure of my life with the critters of Hawaii! How can I love this place so much when it is so full of creepy, crawly things? I don't know the answer to that...but I haven't wanted to come home yet, that's the good part of this story! (end of journal entry)

This week Bob has some action going on. They are building a platform to move a 30 foot palm tree from the farm into the big theatre. It will be planted in a planter on stage(part of the green area) so that they can climb it for the coconuts during the night show. He is still tearing down buildings, and he worked in the motor pool on a motor from one of the electric carts. He is working hard and sweating a lot! He does a little bit of everything for everyone! It hasn’t taken folks long over here to find out that he can and will do anything and everything. “Bob’s the man for whatever you need!” Bob said the other say, “I wish Bud was here and we could tear those buildings down twice as fast!” Another thing he said to me a couple of days ago was, “If anyone would have told me that I would come on a mission and work this hard, I would never have believed it!” I ask him if he was sorry we were here and he said, “Heavens NO! I love it!” So there you have it!

Hope this finds everyone doing well and loving life! Keep smiling, keep working hard, choose the right, and remember that we pray for each of you every day! The Lord will bless us all if we do as He asks us to!

Love from us,
Elder and Sister Remund

Update

Us at the PCC

Us at the Luau
The "Bob-Sie Twins"
Bob in his "sulu" or "lava-lava" or in other words his skirt! Guess what's under the skirt!?
On Sunday, Sept. 7th we received callings to our ward. We are in the BYUH 20th ward, BYUH 3rd state. Pres. Orgil had us come to his office in the PCC office bldg. where he ask us to be mentors for that ward. I will work specifically with the R.S. ( of which there are two in our ward because there are about 90 sisters) and Bob will work with the Gospel Teaching and Training.

We actually started out our day by attending the home ward for where we live and it started at 9:00 a.m. After Sacrament mtg. and S.S. we went to Pres. Orgil’s office and received our callings and then he ask us to attend the meetings in the 20th ward which started at 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m We had a “Break the Fast” dinner with the couple missionaries at Elder and Sister Adams home at 5:00 p.m. It is a pot luck meal each month. I took sweet and sour carrots, which most people really liked. At 6:00 p.m. we had another meeting with the 20th ward to get organized with our councils for the students and then we had a fireside at 7:30 p.m. by Elder Holland. This was a broadcast, so Bob and I came home with total exhaustion, deciding we could read or view the broadcast at another time. It truly was a full day!

On Monday, the 8th we had work as usual, and then had our first training for working in the restaurants. We will be assigned one of the restaurants or one of the luau’s about once a week. We have to be there (dressed in our “look alike” Aloaha Wear) by 4:30 p.m. This means we have to leave work early and come home to change and get ready. At the luau’s or restaurants we are either assigned the entrance or exit where we take tickets, greet the guests, etc. It is rather easy and sort of fun…and after we can eat at one of the restaurants for that evening. (I think we may get tired of Hawaiian food...but for now we are enjoying it.) The Ambassador Restaurant always has prime rib, crab legs, fresh shrimp, and sushi, along with the rest of the buffet which is always salad bar, different types of chicken, other meats, lots of Hawaiian fruits, rice and potatoes, vegetables, regular rolls or taro rolls (the purple ones which we LOVE), juice, sodas, and lots of desserts. The cost of a ticket for this restaurant is $32.00 per person.

After this we had family home evening with the couples. The FHE was a presentation from the Mongolian students on campus. It was really a great meeting as the church has only been in that country for about 8 years. One of the girls that spoke was the first female in Mongolia to be baptized into the church. He father was the first male.

At 9:00 p.m. we had family home evening with our 20th ward (the single students). They had a short opening and then went outdoors to play some get acquainted games and we really enjoyed our interaction with them.

Tue. right after work Bob picked me up and told me we they were going to tear down an old building next to the motor pool. They had ask him to help if he could, so we drove over. It was a building 150 feet long and 30 feet wide, with steel beams and a tin roof. The steel posts holding the building up were almost rusted away, so it was deemed unsafe. When we arrived there were 3 men working, one on a fork lift lifting items from underneath the building and another on a bobcat helping him. They had finished getting things out and now the three men threw one nylon strap up over the beam and tied the end to the bobcat. They proceeded to move back like they were going to pull the building over. I said to Bob, “They will NEVER pull that down with that one little strap and that bobcat!” Well, they did!!!! And it only took one little tug! The entire thing came falling down. I could not believe it! After seeing it, I think they could have used “Bob’s convertible” instead of the bobcat and it would have come down! So then they spent the next 2 days clearing and stacking the usable supplies and giving a lot of the materials away to the employees (the maintenance workers that are Polynesian). These men here (the missionaries in the physical plant and maintenance) really work hard. Bob is one of the youngest of them and they all work like 20 year olds!

Bob also replaced an air conditioner in one of the offices, worked on an ice machine, and more work on the air conditioner in the IMAX during this past week.

Wed. was our 3rd anniversary and we went to “The Crouching Lion” for dinner after work. It is a fun restaurant we quite like about 10 miles down the road. It has a beautiful ocean view. Actually they had a shark attack at the beach there just this week. The man was in the hospital for a few days. There have been a few (5-6) shark attacks around this island during the past 2-3 weeks. They are saying it is very unusual and they don’t know the reason why this is happening.

On Friday the 12th after work we worked the Gateway Restaurant exit and then had dinner at the Ambassador.

We are settled into our new little home quite nicely. It is amazing how things deteriorate here with the ocean salt water and the humidity. Anything that is metal will rust, like door hinges, lamps, cars, etc. and anything wood gets ridden with termites and rots. So things just do not last long. It is very hard to keep things clean. We have to wash down our >car and the house windows often to keep the salt from etching them. Such a foreign life to me, from the dry climate of Utah.

Sat., the 13th we went to the “Tongan Devotional”. It was held at the PCC in the Tonga Village. Each village does one about every 3-4 months and tell about their culture and heritage. Students spoke and also VIP’s from Tonga and the PCC. They sang some of their Tongan songs and after they put on a BIG lulu and the Tongan club presented a dancing, singing, drum playing program. We really loved it, especially me as I work with many of the managers and students that did all of it. After the devotional we went with 4 other couple missionaries to Honolulu to see the movie “Emma”. That is quite a movie. I truly have gained a respect for her after reading some >of the books about her and then this movie…she was one strong woman and her reward will be waiting in heaven!

Today, the 14th, Sunday we spent from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. in church and now have just come back from a walk on the beach. It is really beautiful and so relaxing. There has not even been a breeze today, so the humidity seems a little worse, and the temp a little hotter. We like it better when the winds blow, which they normally do. We do not suffer at night from the weather. Of course, everyone including us, keep all of the windows open and let the trade winds blow through…that way the temperature is perfect for sleeping. I have had to get used to a few different things, we have to really watch to control the ants…no crumbs, candy, salt, any kind of food can be out at night or you have ants by morning. So we keep everything uptight in plastic containers. Pretty simply, once you know the rules!

We are praying for all of you and hope you are well and happy. We miss you and seeing everyone. That is the one thing that makes it hard.

We are ready for another week. The missionaries are certainly a necessity to the PCC and the Polynesians really love us. We work hard, but enjoy it. We love you and pray for your successes.

Every one keep safe.

Love forever and always,

Elder and Sister Remund