A very long overdue update from Hawaii!

A very long overdue update from Hawaii!

I am watching my brothers two girls and it's nap time so I have a few minutes to type...

I had a long first class flight to Hawaii. When I got through customs at 1:30am  in Palau they informed me that you had to pay $50 cash to leave the country! Crazy that I had NO idea of this prior, yet praise the Lord the only cash that I had amounted to exactly $50! So I could leave!! :) it was an uneventful flight and i got to live the same day twice as I left Palau on Monday and got to Hawaii Sunday. The joys of crossing the international date line :)

I had a day on Oahu before I flew to join my mom and little sister in Molokai. It was cold and a different world than what I was used to. I also had to get used to driving on the different side of the car and a lot faster than what I had gotten used to. I spent most of my time driving around trying to figure out where I was going. The mountains were beautiful. 

We spent a week in Molokai and a week in Maui. On Molokai we stayed with a very nice family that has three girls. We got a car and covered the islands tourist spots in two days ;) one of the days we hiked 2.5 hours each way through the dense rainforest to a majestic waterfall! It was so much fun! We saw mango trees that were about 200feet tall. Monkey pod trees, Australian eucalyptus trees which are multicolored, and many many different kinds of flowers. The water under the waterfall was so cold that it took my breath away! Coming from a place where the water was bath temperature it was shockingly freezing!! And...side we didn't get good pictures the first time we swam across...we did it twice! And then when we started feeling things bite tour feet and scaling the slippery moss covered rock wasn't working, we swam as fast as we could back to the other side!

We also had a fun experience with a HUGE seal!

The flight was Maui was...well...um...SCARY!!! It was a 8 seater plane and I was literally flying up out of my seat!!! To say the least I was thrilled when we landed! I was a beautiful flight though. :)

break time...

Ok, now I'm watching my sisters daughter (same day) and she's going to sleep so I have a few more minutes to type...

Maui...oh the Lord has AMAZING timing!! When I was 15 there was a little girl whose family started attending church again. She attached to me and very quickly became "my little monkey." She would always sit on my lap during church and I carried her everywhere. I got her her first real Bible, studied with her for baptism and took her on my first drive as a licensed driver. As time went on our paths parted and she moved back to Maui. Long story short...the very day that we flew to Maui was the day she was getting married. So, after 8 years of lost contact...I was one of the very few that got to be there at "my little monkeys" wedding. I was able to spend some time with her before the wedding and give her a massage. I was so touched and amazed at how sincerely happy she was to have me there, you never know what an impact you have on people lives when they are children and how that impact can last.

We went on some AMAZING drives through the mountains in Maui, saw some HUGE waves, ate some wonderful coconut ( i quite enjoy them now!!!), Nalani learned how to snorkel, and then swim! (We got a boogy board and after teaching her how to use a mask and snorkel I took her out on the board to the reef so she could see the fish! Oh, was that ever an adventure!! :) ) I am so happy that I've gotten so comfortable in the ocean!! Thankfully I didn't see any sharks out there!! I was also able to speak three times at one of the churches there. It's such a blessing to serve the Lord and be a mouthpiece for Him, as unworthy as we feel at times.

The flight back to Oahu was treacherous again!!! It was the longest 45 minutes of my life!!! Not really, but it was horrible! We had a nice relaxing few days there before flying back to Michigan. We were able to see a couple dolphin shows at a hotel and enjoy some time on the beaches there.

I got back and had 2 days before leaving again for MI Camp-pitch and Camp-Meeting where I went to give massages for the women conference employees and attendees!! Enough time to sleep, sleep, sleep and do laundry just to pack up and leave again! And was I EVER busy!!! when I wasn't giving massages I was up helping at the greenhouse and farm, which was so much fun!

I prayed for the Lord to give me what I could handle...

Day 1...1 massage (which was nice since I was SO jet-lagged! )

Day 2...4 massages (I was dead tired and sore afterwards...bad sign)

Day 3...11 massages!!! (who knows how I survived)

Day 4...6 massages (the Lord had mercy on me) and I had to switch rooms in the middle of the day!! CRAZY

Day 5...5 massages (still recovering from the 11 ;)

then we had Sabbath

Day 7...8 massages

Day 8...11 massages (two of those were 1.5 hours each)

Day 9...10 massages

Day 10...9 massages (cut it off at 9 bc i didn't want to do anymore)

Day 11...9 massages

Day 12...4 massages (I blocked off my schedule for I wanted a break!!)

then we had Sabbath

Day 13...2 massages...we all were dead and done... ;)

I couldn't have done it without my parents and little sister who cooked for me and did ALL my laundry!!

My schedule this summer: CRAZY BUSY!!!

Palau - April 7-May 21

Hawaii - May 20- June 6

Massage - June 9-23

Lansing Speaking engagement - July 11-12

Hartland Campmeeting - July 23-28

G&T Wedding - August 1

ASi - Aug 7-10

Ministerial Retreat (massage) - Aug 11-14

New Hampshire - meetings and speaking - Aug 21-Sept 1

(with a few other things not confirmed yet!!)

I'll stop my rambling now...I've been Auntie Childcare services today :) Watched my brothers girls from 7:45-5:30 And my sisters daughter from 6:20-whenever my sister gets home from work...it's 10:02pm now...

Blessings,

~Laura