The Family Letter

I've been neglecting this blog of late, mainly because by the time I've rolled in at the end of the day it has either been late or I just haven't felt like writing. But a lot has been going on. Some news, first, then the firsts…

August flew past: After the promotion ceremony I had a nice visit with my mother, who stayed for about two weeks. My birthday rolled around in there, too, so it was good having someone from the family. Mom treated us both to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which was fascinating. And long. We started the experience around noon, had a guide take us through the different islands and cultures of Polynesia, stopping for displays and mini-shows. At 6 p.m. we broke away from the tour for the luau dinner, which was buffet style but good. As 8 p.m. approached we took a shuttle over to the LDS temple¹ We couldn't go into the temple, but they had a nice visitors center and I dare say mom and I learned a few things.

After that came the show. It is supposedly one of the best ones out there. But frankly, and I know many of you will be appalled, mom and I could barely stay awake at that point. It had been a long week, what with the promotion, services, and more… And the PCC is over an hour from home. We talked it over, and left before the show began. It'll be there, and we can always go back just for the show later.

The rest of her visit, and August, seemed to flow quickly past. As August was winding down, I heard from some other long-time friends, the Edwards clan. They'd found some awesome prices on plane tickets, and wondered if they could come on September 1st. I told 'em to come on ahead, and we had a good visit over Labor Day weekend. That worked well because I had some extra time off to spend with them. It is good to reconnect with friends, especially good and old friends from far away! They have been very generous this weekend, too, so their visit wasn't at all a burden… MAHALO, friends, and safe travel as you wing your way back to NY and VA!

And now the new Firsts… We decided to do another beach Eucharist on Labor Day weekend². This wasn't a first, as we did one up at Camp Mokulea on Oahu's north shore, back on Memorial Day weekend. There were some firsts, though, this weekend at Honeymoon Beach, Hickam AFB:

• First Baptisms outside of the church - We had three baptisms on Sunday, and I had never done one outside of a church building before.
• First Baptisms in "living water" - Up until now, my experience had been with a sprinkle in a font. This time we waded right into the Pacific Ocean and did full immersion! It was awesome, it really was.
• First "Family Baptism" - the candidates were two girls, both able to speak for themselves, and their father. That was extra cool, too.
• First Eucharist Celebrated without Underwear - WHAT?!! DID YOU JUST SAY WHAT I THINK YOU SAID?! Um, yep. Of course, some context might help… I had on a bathing suit for the whole thing.

The next baptism coming up will likely be aboard a Navy vessel. They have a tradition where you take the ship's bell, turn it upside down, plug it, and use it as the font. The name of the baptized is then engraved inside the bell. I've agreed to do the service as long as the family invites the church to witness, and they've agreed. We're just looking for a date and time.

That's all the news that's fit to print³, so I'll sign off now! Aloha!

1. The PCC is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, in conjunction with the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University. Our guide for the day was a student at the university. Many work at the PCC to get everything paid for during their college years. Since many of them are from a Polynesian island, and grew up in that culture, it makes the experience all the more authentic. [back]
2. Another cool reason to have the Edwards in town! [back]
3. Without boring you to tears! [back]