9-4-14

This is the last chapter of our missionary blog.  Almost seems like another world already.  We flew home on Tuesday August 26, 2014.  We left at 5 A.M. and flew out at 8 A.M.  Had a layover in California for 2 hours and got into Salt Lake at 9:15 P.M.  Cameron & Tawna came to meet us with our car.  We took them back to Bountiful where they live and then came on home.  We got to Hyrum about 11:15 P.M. with the welcome from Brandon and Kelly's families.  We were so excited to see them.  They had school and work the next day so they left by midnight but almost all came back after school on Wednesday.  They had made a banner which they hung in the kitchen and it is still hanging.  

 Kelly and Andrea had washed my windows shiny and clean and cleaned the house.  The dads and kids all worked in the yard on Saturday weeding and mowing.  We were so grateful to have that done.  Lots of things to take care of after being gone for 18 months.

We worked up to Thursday the 21st.  On Wednesday, the sewing and costumes department had a party for me.  They had a pinata that they had made of a rat.  They filled it with candy.  Us old ladies took turns hitting it with a baseball bat.  Our husbands took turns holding the rope that held the rat.  They pulled the rope every time someone swung.  Made it a little harder to kill the rat.  Everyone brought a dish that had to do with Mexican food.  Tasted good.  A variance from the usual menu.  They gave me a quilt that was made from all the pieces of material that I have sewed on.  Cathy from costumes gave me a bracelet that had black pearls on it from Tahiti.  It is so hard to leave them and all the fun and laughs that we have had.

Me talking to the little lady who works in laundry and Tootoo.  I have on the puletasi she brought me from Samoa.

 Fatai from Laie & Elizza, our boss from Australia presenting the quilt they made me from scraps of all the fabrics I have sewn with.

Missionary friends I sew with.  Laura Cardno from Canada and Cathy Tremea from St. George.

Cathy and I.  She is giving me the pearl bracelet.

On Thursday the 22nd, Denis's Maintenance department had a dinner at noon for him.  Lots of food and gifts that they gave us there.  We received beautiful leis at both dinners.  (Pictures of the leis are in the last post.)  They cooked a pig for Denis' meal, with lots of fried bananas, taro, and the basic Polynesian food.  At both parties they made us share our testimonies.  At least we got through them.  Excited to go home but sad to leave the friends that we have made.

Grant Nielson, Denis's sidekick

Me and an Elder from Canada

Sister & Elder Tremea

All the gifts from our farewell parties

Friday, Saturday and Monday we worked really hard cleaning windows, screens,  appliances, woodwork, walls and doors etc.  We packed, repacked and then threw a lot away.  Sent home 7 priority mail boxes and brought home 4 suitcases.  Denis changed the oil on the car and cleaned it good for the new missionaries who bought it.  Monday night at home evening we had to bear our testimonies again in front of all the senior missionaries.  Scared me to death.  Kind of like having a baby.  Only one way to get it over is to do it and get on with life. 

We had dinner Friday night with 9 couple missionaries at Turtle Bay and had a good time visiting.  Thursday night we went with Eikaika and his wife down to Honolulu for dinner.  They are a really cute couple.  Denis really hated to leave Eikaika and Grant Nielsen.  They all had become good friends.

Sunday we had church and told the ward members good-bye.  They make you come to the front and they stand and sing Aloha'oe.  At the end they all proceed to the front and give you leis and tell you good-bye.  That is the hard part, telling all of the students good-bye.  Poor little Tomomi just hugged us and cried.  So did we.  She sent me an e-mail saying that going to church without us "just sucks" but she will keep going.  After church we went to Tremeas and had dinner.  We visited, went to Sunset beach and saw our last sunset.  It was beautiful.  They have become really good friends also.  They come home in 2 months.

Our mission was a very happy and good experience.  We worked hard, had a lot of fun, made a lot of good friends and most of all saw the hand of the Lord in many ways.  I truly have learned that he knows each and every one of us and wants the best for us if we will be obedient and follow his commandments.  I can see so many ways that the Polynesian people are loved by the Lord and he wants them to grow and be prosperous and follow him.  The time has gone by so fast but yet in other ways I feel like we have missed a lot of things that our family has done.  I remember a sign in the Stake President's office with grandparents surrounded by grandchildren and it says "If you love them, leave them."  Our  mission president said if we serve missions we will be blessed a hundred fold.  I really believe it!            

Love, Denis and Sherleen Cooper

8-25-14 .

We have one day left and it is Sunday night.  I am tired and so I will write my last week and last of mission blog in a few days when we get home.  We have cleaned and sorted and thrown so many things.  I never dreamed you could accumulate so much stuff.  I keep thinking of the pioneers who could only take a few things in a handcart.  I am even attached to my skirt hangers!  

Tomorrow is one last good-bye at home evening to all the senior missionaries.  I dread this one.  I am scared of half of them.  Oh well, I will close and go to bed.  

Love, Sherleen

These are some leis given to us at a farewell party. All are made of real flowers.

 

8-18-14

Last week of our mission.  Kind of sad when you think that we have been here for 18 months, made friends, a little one bedroom apt. has been our home and our life evolves around doing work for the Lord.  Yesterday as we were driving around we kept saying, "Why haven't we done that or searched out that beach or tried that restaurant?"  Too late now but we have made really good friends and have fond memories of all of the students as well as neighbors.

This week we did our last ticket taking at PCC.  Seemed good to get that checked off the list.  We were down for 3 nights but only did 2 nights.  The last night was canceled.  We have quite a few of complimentary tickets left and we have been getting tickets for some families we know who couldn't have afforded to go it they had to pay for it.  We took Ikaika and his wife, sister, and mom and dad.  First time I have met them.  We really enjoyed visiting with them and they enjoyed the food at Prime Dining.  We love Ikaika and his wife Nalauni.  They are so cute and we will really miss them, Denis especially.

This week in costumes we have made costumes for several of the villages.  Don't even know what you call them.  We will work until Thursday.  Wednesday is our last day of work and they are having a party for me in sewing and costumes.  I hate being the center of attention.  Just let me go off in the wild blue yonder.  I don't like good-byes.  A little like my mom.

Saturday night I had 3 couples over for supper.  I told them I was cleaning out the fridge.  We had french dip, potato salad, fruit salad, cherry pie and ice-cream.  We sat and talked for about 3 1/2 hours.  Had a good time but as they were leaving Cathy Tremea fell on some asphalt that had buckled up and fell head first.  Hit her head, hurt her hip and scraped her elbow.  I worried all night about her.  She said she felt like she had been run over but she was staying home today and resting.  Falls are not easy for us old people.

Today we had to talk in church.  Honestly, I always have to cry.  I would love to stand and talk normal like everybody else.  It was real sad to tell the kids good-bye but next week will be the real deal.  I tell them we are celestial friends.  Probably will never see them again until the next life.  Had a linger-longer after church.  The kids love that.  They really eat up. 

Got cleaning to do and things to go through and throw away and decide what to take home.  Don't want a lot of stuff.  I keep thinking about what I am going to do when I get home.  All I think of is spending time with my grandkids and getting my yard and house in order for fall.  I am so excited to enjoy the fall.  Have a good week.  

Love, Sherleen

I didn't take any pictures this week because I got my camera out and the lens would not come out.  Denis wondered if I had sand in it.  Can you imagine sand in my camera?

8-11-14

Time is zipping by.  Going so fast I hope we can get everything done.  I hate to clean yet because the air is so full of salt and humidity that it just feels thick.  You should see the windows and the car.  I actually brushed salt crystals out of the window sills.  We escaped the hurricane and I was actually a little disappointed that is wasn't more exciting.  I will tell you more later on in blog.

This week is work, take tickets, and work.  Needed to get some birthday cards off and take care of licensing and insurance for our vehicles when we get home.  Made changes for our medicines that we get in the mail and changed some banking over here. 

I took out my rubber tubing that we use once in a while to exercise.  Fatai had never seen one and was using it.  She is our boss.

Thursday there were all kinds of warnings about the hurricane that was coming.  We had heard about it all week.  Monday morning I stopped at the store to get a case of water knowing that I had 3 bottles left.  I was not going to replenish it because of leaving.  I haven't stocked up on a lot of things just for that reason.  Anyway we went Tuesday night over to Schofield to get some things in case of emergency.  We took Tomomi and one of her little Japanese friends with us to get some things.  Her name was Marina.  She was as happy as Tomomi is sad.  ( I hope they stay friends.  She even made Tomomi laugh)  Anyway the store was foodless.  The shelves were pretty empty.  No water at all, the soup was gone and so was the whole aisle of cereal.  We then went to Walmart and it was just as bad.  No water, no flashlights, no duct tape, no propane tanks, etc.  I can really see what the parable of the Ten Virgins is all about.  One Hawaiian told me that people stock up like that and if they don't use it they return it to the store.  We all live on the edge.  I have never been so low on emergency supplies as I was here.  The neighbors borrowed us a flashlight.   

Everything was closed up for Friday.  The winds started to blow and the rain came down through the night and into the next day being Friday.  By noon the rain had stopped but the wind blew pretty much all day.  The power went off about 4 times but came right back on.  The ocean was very brown and lots of tall waves.  We went for a ride about 1 o'clock and I could not believe the people out surfing and playing in the water.  The roads were lined up with cars from people wanting to see the waves.  A few of the homes had boarded up their windows but not too many did.  The stores had put plywood up in front of their windows.  

Today we are all back to normal.  The beaches are full of drift wood and junk from the ocean but that doesn't stop the people from going to the beach.  The other hurricane has gone north so the effects won't bother us.  Maybe make the waves bigger and be windy but that is all.  I have dumped all of the garbage cans that were full of water and decided we are safe.  

Debris on the beaches

Waves in ocean.   Look between the bush and tree and you will see a dot.  That is a person swimming.  No fear of ocean.

Church was on as usual.  Really hot and muggy here today.  Not hardly any winds.  I gave my last lesson today.  One year ago in May we started teaching Sunday School for just a few weeks and we have done it all this time.  I have really enjoyed it.  The kids are so smart, ask questions that make us think and we have had to learn the kids' names.  We started out with about 8 kids and now we are up to about 30.  It varies from week to week.

  This week I have fixed a wedding dress that was strapless.  The girl had bought it and wanted me to make it temple worthy.  Oh boy!  She was going to the mainland so she looked for lace that would match the rest of the dress.  She found some so we were in luck.  Brooke has lived in Maui for 6 years with her family.  She came here to go to school and met a boy from Fiji.  They both were in our ward.  She has graduated and he has 3 years left.  She has never met his family or been to Fiji.  I hope things work out because of their differences.  They had a reception that was from 4 to 8 o'clock.  Started 1 1/2 hrs. late.  We had a whole meal of the foods that they like over here.  Same thing!  They had a program and a dance after the meal.  I am sure her parents helped finance it because it was fancier that the normal little receptions are over here with the students.  We enjoyed the evening.  3 couple missionaries had been invited as well as people from our ward so we knew a few. 

Sign in at the reception. 

Bride and groom.  He is in our pictures with our grandkids and Brady.  Kynlee sat on his knee & was a little scared of him.  Kind of dark!

Brooke and Siti Kinykiny

We have 8 more working days and then we will have 1/2 week to clean and pack and get ready to come home.  I am sure I will be sad to leave but we have lots of good memories.

This is a coconut  pod.  What you see on the bottom hangs in the top of a tree.  When it opens it has all of these seeds in it that turn into coconuts.  Very interesting to look at.

  We have missed the last 2 birthdays of our grandkids, Bridger and Kyla.  The kids all helped Brady move to his new home in Preston on Saturday.  Sad that we were not there to help but they got along fine without us.  We are replaceable even if we don't want to be.  Have a good week and be good.  Do some service for someone every day.  (Sunday School lesson)  

Love, Sherleen

8-4-14

Today it finally happened.  I knew the Bishopric would ask us to speak before we leave and sure enough they did.  Oh, I don't know if I can do it.  It is sad enough leaving all of the kids behind that we have got to know but making me speak is a little much.  

This week has been much the same as every other week.  Sewing, repairing costumes, taking tickets at PCC and no parties this week. 

Tou with a bag on her head.  She didn't feel good.  We looked over and there she sat.

Yesterday Denis and I cleaned out some drawers, emptied some shelves, and I have started a Give and Take bag.  Won't be long until I drag out the suitcases.  My goal is to go home with nothing more than I came with.  I can't stand the skirts I have worn for 18 months, nor the shoes and the blouses.  Sad thing is that nothing I have at home will probably fit!  

Denis picking mangoes at the PCC

This weekend I also was trying to fix a wedding gown that is strapless to become modest enough for the temple.  Brooks is getting married on Saturday.  She is a white girl marrying a
Fijian.  Hope it works.  A picture of him is in my blog- he's holding Kynlee and standing with the grandkids and Brady.  He is very nice and well-versed in the gospel but she has never met his family or been to Fiji. 

This week we have sewn some shirts for a guy from Tahiti.  He is huge.  Took a size 5x.  Kathy Tremea had just finished a shirt and he came in to get it.  She wanted a picture with him and he noticed her name badge.  Told her he had a mission companion by that name.  Come to find out it was her nephew's boy who was his companion.  Things like that happen here all the time.  Such a small world! 

Hope all of you have a good week, be kind to everyone.  

Love, Sherleen

7-28-14

Another week has gone by quickly.  I can't believe the days and weeks go by so fast.  Monday was work as usual.  We are getting a senior missionary lady who has been elsewhere but is being transferred over to costumes.  She hates rats and mice.  Hope we have all of them caught so she doesn't have a come-apart.  She seems to be really nice and wants to help with things.

Wednesday in the morning we had another party for a senior missionary going home.  She is the one who has helped me make Mary and Joseph's.  She has taken some night hula lessons with some older ladies so they came to the party for her and danced.  I bet a lot of them were in their 60's and 70's.  Beautiful and graceful ladies.  Some of them are going to Las Vegas to compete in some dance contest in the next few weeks.  Of course we had a lot of good food and desserts.  All we do is eat over here!

Older missionary ladies trying to learn to hula dance!

Kathy, our boss and her little 6 yr. old daughter trying to teach us.  Kathy is a Tahitian.

A lot of the senior missionary couples were asked to go to Honolulu again to do the "mystery shopping".  A few months ago we posed as tourists and went to the hotels and asked the guides about the packages and the things to do here on the island. The PCC wants to know how they are being advertised.  We were asked again and we told them NO.  We did not like doing that.  A few others told them no also.  I can't find that any fun.  I tried to bargain with Elder Pollock to not make me speak in home evening and I would go do that but he wouldn't budge.

Saturday Denis went with 2 of his friends and Grant's son-in-law out into the ocean a little ways to go fishing.  Didn't have too good of luck.  Caught 4 little tuna fish but didn't bring any home.  We have had enough of fish.  He had a good time though.  I just had some good alone time cleaning and sewing.  

Elder Grant Nielsen

Elder Gary Cardno

Sunrise

The boat they fished from

Shark in the water

Grant Nielsen

 Saturday night we took tickets at the PCC.  We were talking to one of the missionary couples at the Visitor Center.  They work with the little sister missionaries at the center.  They also proselyte in rotation.  They have some little Chinese sister missionaries there.  This week there was a convention of people from China who sell make-up over there.  They were staying in Honolulu but were coming up to the PCC for a tour and a luau.  I don't know how it came about but there were some Chinese in the group that wanted to have the missionary lessons.  The sisters had prepared and planned to do it but a male Chinese missionary in Honolulu taught them.  There were 20 people from China who were taught in 4 days, accepted the gospel and were baptized on Friday before they went back home to China.  Another group who went to California did the same thing and the church baptized 50 of the Chinese people there.  The missionary we were talking to said that Elder Russel M. Nelson of the Twelve Apostles said the Chinese are ready for the church but the church is not ready for them.  (Meaning there are so many who want to be converted and we do not have enough people to teach them.)  People in China can not teach the gospel or accept it in that country unless they have a blood relative who is a member.  This missionary said that they study and learn all they can and just wait for the opportunity to be able to be baptized.  I can not believe the little Chinese kids over here who are members.  I think we have as many Asian kids as we Polynesian kids at BYU.  Anyway, back to the little Chinese sisters.  I guess they were so disappointed about not being able to teach their people the gospel.  He said they were all having a sad time, glad about the baptisms but sad not to be able to teach them after they had prepared for it.  In church today, during our Relief Society lesson the girl said that there are 29 countries that the church has not gotten into to preach the gospel.  Maybe they will accept the gospel in ways that are not the norm.

Temple at dusk.  We had just done some temple work and were walking around the grounds.  So beautiful.

Today, Sunday we had Tomomi again after church.  She loves to come and help cook dinner.  We walked to the beach after and she threw rocks and walked in the water and got wet.  She wanted to know how long we had before we left to go home.  She has gotten so much better as far as talking and being happy.  I hope she will attach to another missionary couple when we go home.  I
think she feels safe with them.  Have a good week.  

Love, Sherleen
P.S.  We have had our exit interview with the mission president this week.  Passed the test!

7-21-14

End of another week or the beginning of a new week.  Can't decide which sounds better.  I am trying to think what we did last week.  It wasn't too productive in costumes.  Our boss Cathy wasn't there part of the week and she left us with no instructions on what to do.  Every morning we would sew repairs from the theater the night before and then we would have 2 hours to do nothing.  We decided to fix the "puletasi's" that Tou brought us from Samoa.  The dresses did not fit so we had to take them all apart and redo them to fit.  Cathy and I wore them on Friday to show Tou.  She brought each of us 2 of them but neither of ours fit.  No more rats, maggots and occcasionally we get a fly.  The place is boring now.

Cathy & I in our puletasis

During the week we ran down to Schofield to get some groceries.  I was all excited for an outing to grocery shop.  I am trying hard not to buy much because we don't want to leave a lot of food when we go home.  We ate at a little Mexican joint that held 7 tables.  We were elbows to elbows.  The salsa was so hot we darned near choked to death.  The food wasn't too bad, and we were really hungry.
Denis went golfing on Friday afternoon.  They had fun, took their time and just enjoyed it.  He always comes home limping from walking up and down the hills.  I don't think they even keep score.  One night this week he went to George's to fix something outside of the rental units.  He likes to putter.  Denis has sold our car already to the man who is taking his place at PCC.  They are coming about 1 week after we leave.  That's a relief to have that done.

Saturday night we had a big fish and spudnut fry with the kids in our ward.  Harland, (our 1st counselor) has sons who fish for a living.  He had the strangest looking fish from the ocean.  The kids scaled them, gutted them and then cut them into about 3 pieces per fish.  Harland rubbed salt on them and put them in a giant wok with oil and deep fat fried them, eyeballs and all.  They kids loved everything.  They actually went for the heads!  We had rice and green salad.  Sis. Johnson and I made 3 big batches of spudnuts and took the dough to the church and rolled them out.  The kids had 3 frying pans going, with some frying the spudnuts and others dipping them in the glaze.  They were delicious.  I think I had four of them.  Good old American food! 

  It was sprinkling off and on the whole evening.  By the time we got home it was pouring.  It started to thunder and lightening like crazy.  Usually it doesn't do that over here.  I was scared.  The lightening looked like it was circling  the house and then the thunder would come and shake it.  We kept getting warnings on the cell phones about flooding.  It stormed bad for about 2 hours.  We went without power for 4 hours.  I was so glad Denis didn't have to go work in this storm.  Brother Harland said he had never seen such bad lightning and thunder before.  He has lived in Hawaii all of his life.  Today there has been lots of flood water standing on the parks.  The sun has shone and it is hot and humid.  Denis' boss Jason called Denis at church to see if he would come and help him.  His garage had flooded and Denis said the water was high enough that it had gotten into his car.  There was about 3 ft. of water that just ran down the street into people's yard.  Tomorrow you won't even know there had been a storm.
 

Today after church we went next door to a new missionary couples place for dinner.  They are from Denver, Co.  They seem very nice, he is the new welder that will take Reed Nielsen's place. 
This Tuesday we have our exit interview with the mission president.  The beginning of the end.  Kind of makes me nervous but has to be done to go home.  As yet we have not got our airplane tickets.  Can't find our papers .  The couple going home in September has theirs and we are still waiting.  Hope there is no delay.  Have a good week and be kind to all you meet.  

Love, Sherleen