February 19, 2023

Aloha Family and Friends,

Paula - Warm wishes to you all. We know it is cold where you are. I think of you often in the freezing weather. I am enjoying the beautiful winter in Hawaii but I also think I will appreciate more the beautiful snowscapes of Utah when we return home. 

Last week we hit our 6-month milestone. We’ve worked with over 50 students. We are in the middle of our second study skills class. We’ve helped at the PCC. We’ve attended devotionals on campus, in the villages, with the mission and every morning in our little office with 2 other missionary couples. We got Covid. Mark was sick for a week and I was never sick. Besides that, we are healthy and happy. We attend church at a Tongan ward and learning much from these faithful people. 

I bought a ukulele that I’m going to learn to play. I attend a hula class for senior sisters. In the evenings I play around with art and Mark has done six puzzles. We’ve visited over 20 beaches and two botanical gardens. We love taking photos of waves, flowers, animals, rocks, rainbows, snails and even chickens. (Chickens are wild birds in Hawaii and are protected)

Mark - There is so much to see here in Hawaii. We are inspired by what we see with our own eyes and what we see with or spiritual eyes. In the New Testament we read:

Matthew 9: 

27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. 
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. 
30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. 
31 But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.

Sister Tracy Browning 2nd Counselor in Primary General Presidency said in the last general conference:

“As covenant children of God, we have been uniquely blessed with a rich supply of divinely appointed tools to improve our spiritual vision. The words and teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in scripture and messages from His chosen prophets and His Spirit received through daily prayer, regular temple attendance, and the weekly ordinance of the sacrament can help to restore peace and provide the necessary gift of discernment that brings Christ’s light and His understanding to the corners of our life and in a world that may be cloudy. The Savior can also be our compass and our pilot as we steer through both the calm and the turbulent waters of life. He can make plain the correct path that leads us to our eternal destination. So, what would He have us see, and where would He have us go?”

Sometimes it is easy for me to lose my spiritual focus in my day-to-day activities. I revert back to old habits when I engage in activities that were familiar in my old life. I can forget that we are called to help gather Israel on both sides of the veil, and not just teach study skills and time management. It’s easy to see frustrating, misguided young people instead of vulnerable and even fragile children of a loving heavenly father. We work every day to try to see what the Lord would have us see as we try to show students the right way to go, realizing that we are called to be missionaries representing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Mark's Moonrise

Paula's Watercolor