August 8, 2023

Elder Soderborg: It’s summer in Hawaii, and boy is it hot. You are probably saying that it’s not as hot as it has been in Utah, and you would be right. We have just been spoiled with beautiful weather for the past year. 

In July, Drew and his family came to visit us on Oahu for 10 days. Then, Sister Soderborg and I went to visit Drew’s family on the Big Island for five days. Drew had rented a vacation home in Hilo. We were able to do fun things in the Big Island that we haven’t done in Oahu, like drive up the side of a volcano. Don’t worry, it was not erupting at the time. We also got to see the other temple in Hawaii in Kona.

Mission activities are less intense in the summer because there are no classes and the students who didn’t go home for the summer have been working 40 hours a week. We did have one new experience that has meant a lot to us. It involves a young couple from India.

The wife is a student here, and her husband is a Pathways student trying to get admitted to BYUH. He was being tutored by a service missionary who went home for the summer break. We were recruited to take over during the break and help him with his English. We had met his wife earlier in the year, so we got to know them pretty well. 

After about a month of tutoring, he told us that he was going to go through the temple for his own endowment, and he asked me if I would be his escort. I was surprised but delighted that he would ask. What a blessing it is to be able to help students in many ways.

We have been more involved in helping at the PCC lately. The level of involvement of BYUH missionaries at the PCC changes frequently. When we got here a year ago, BYUH missionaries were invited to take tickets at the luaus about once or twice a month. About a month later we were uninvited because they needed to provide more jobs for students. After a few months of that, the PCC created a new position for BYUH missionaries called Ask Me volunteers. They would stand at strategic spots in the park in the late afternoon to help visitors navigate their experience and answer questions. After a few months of that, the PCC asked for mid-day Ask Me volunteers. Then, just in the past few weeks, we have been told that they soon will not need senior missionaries at all at the luau venues because they will be implementing the use of new electronic scanners to handle the ticket taking. 

So, until the scanners are implemented, senior missionaries are still being recruited to volunteer to answer questions. Sister Soderborg enjoys being out in the crowds talking to people, answering questions. Elder Soderborg does not, so she has been volunteering alone. Most of the senior missionaries in the mission have different assignments than their spouses, so it’s not an unusual situation.

Sister Soderborg: We had to say good-by to two couples that we worked very closely with. Isn’t it interesting that some of the best friends we make throughout our lives are those that we serve with as we further God’s work. I’m sure you all can think of many examples of this. We may not have much else in common, but the camaraderie and love we feel as we work together is what the gospel is all about. 

We miss our friends who left, and we look forward to getting to know their replacements who just arrived in the mission. We miss you, our friends and family and pray for your well-being. Aloha.