The Honokaa Ward

I have been so impressed with our new ward. It has been a great blessing to us, and I really look forward to attending each week. They are always concerned about whether our needs are being taken care of or not. I'm not sure if I mentioned this a while back, but our apartment came furnished. We have the basics, but for a girl that likes to bake & cook...the kitchen is pretty sparse. I secretly hate it, but I make it work, and I think of my sweet great-grandma that didn't have all the nice gadgets that we all usually have in our kitchens now-a-days. In fact, last night I decided to make breadsticks to go with our dinner, and I was cursing in my head because 1) I don't have a KitchenAid 2) I don't have a hand mixer 3) I don't have a bread machine. So I am sitting there kneading the crap out of this dough by hand with a baby crying at my feet (I was slightly irritated...is it obvious?). Oh well, life goes on. As you can see, I'm obviously still alive...and the breadsticks were good.

ANYWAY, that tangent took forever. I made a plan for dinner one night, and I needed a 9 x 13 pan. "Perfect!" I thought. "Everyone owns a stinkin' 9 x 13 pan!" Oh, right...except this apartment...and I didn't realize until I was getting things ready for dinner. So off to the market I walked to buy a stupid, dinky tinfoil 9 x 13 pan. When the Relief Society president got in contact with me she said, "Sister Pwice?" (She is a cute Filipino lady that misses the "R" in our name.) "Do you need anything now that you are settled?" Now me being the typically stubborn person that I am, I didn't want to bother her and ask if anyone in the ward had an extra 9 x 13 pan. I refuse to buy one because we don't know how long we will be here, but it's seriously a huge inconvenience for this girl who enjoys to bake! I just didn't know if I could humble myself enough to ask. Let me tell you...those stupid tin foil ones don't last very long. Anyway, I swallowed my pride and said, "Well...I don't have anything at all to bake with. Do you think someone in the ward has some extra pans I could borrow?" "OH YES! I will check, and I will come see you!" That afternoon she was standing in my doorway with a Pyrex baking dish. She saved my life, guys! Such a small, simple gesture, yet it meant so much.

That's been my whole experience in this ward so far. The people are so incredibly selfless. A week or two later we were invited to our bishops house for dinner. (They are actually SUPER nice, haole, and own the "Ride the Rim" business that takes you around the rim of Waipi'o Valley...on ATVs.) As we were leaving, Sandy (bishop's wife) turns to me and goes, "OH YEAH! I heard you needed some baking stuff. Let me see what I have!" I left with a cookie sheet, 3 bread pans, and 3 different size mixing bowls that I didn't even ask for. We didn't have these in our apartment either, and I was beyond grateful of her gesture. That's just how the spirit of the ward is, and I don't remember the last time I have felt so cared for in a ward like that.

The sister missionaries in our ward do a fantastic job. I was so excited when I learned that one of them is from Idaho Falls. I love both those sisters so much. They are such hard workers, and they are doing their best to bring people to Christ here in the Honokaa area. On Sunday I learned that there are 400 adults enrolled in the Gospel Doctrine class. Yes... FOUR HUNDRED! Mostly because there is nowhere else to put them for Sunday School because they are inactive and don't hold a calling...but FOUR HUNDRED?!?! Guys, there is such a need here for missionary work and the spreading of the gospel. These sisters have their work cut out for them. Just last night as I was looking out my kitchen window (it was 7:30 but already dark), I looked down to the apartments across from my window and saw those sweet sisters sitting on the concrete teaching a lesson. Our light was on, and I could see them looking up into our house. I held up my arm and waved, and they got the biggest smiles and waved like little crazy beans. (They secretly love me. Well...they love Paisley...but me too a little.) I've never been good at supporting missionaries serving in my ward. Maybe it's because I grew up in Idaho...and there's A LOT of members...and there's not a ton of missionary work. See? And that's the problem with my thinking. There's A LOT of missionary work to do at home. Maybe not as much as Honokaa, but there's still people that are missing from our congregations. If these sister missionaries can bring handfuls of people to church on Sunday, I think we can all strive a little harder to bring that ONE person. We all still matter. There's work to do EVERYWHERE.

The last thought I had was about talents. I swear the thing for LDS girls to do is for their moms to enroll them in piano lessons (at least for me growing up). There were a lot of girls that could play in seminary and so on. On Sunday, the lady got up to conduct and she started singing the first line. I kept thinking, "What the heck? A musical number?" Nope. The rest of the ladies started singing with her back at the beginning of the song. "Ooooohhh. She was giving us the pitch to sing a cappella." I kept thinking, "Uuuuhh...not a soul in hear can play at least the top hand?" Nope, not a single soul. I grabbed the Relief Society president after church and said, "Hey, does no one know how to play the piano in Relief Society?" She goes, "Oh no. No one. YOU PLAY?" I go, "Yeah, I can play. Want me to play next Sunday?" She grabbed my face and kissed my cheek and goes, "Oh sister, YES! I will text you the hymns. Oh sister, I am so glad you came to us." I am so glad I suffered endured all those years of piano lessons and that I can help out here in such a small way. I'll probably super rusty, and it'll be mostly sight reading, which I've never been super good at, but I'm sure they will be so happy with the right hand alone. Share your talents, guys! There's people out there that can seriously, seriously use them.

I pray while we are here in Hawaii we can be an influence for good. I am not a perfect Saint, but that's my goal on this journey called life. I thank this ward for teaching me so much.