Brad & Dantzelle opened their condo to all of us for meals. We all pitched in on the cost of food, but we got off easy, they organized the meals, bought the food, and we just had to show up and prepare it. That kept our costs down, and we only had to pay for a few meals from other places. The Linton's were next door and so we were able to bring in some of their chairs, etc, to make it convenient. Also, some brought big electric skillets from home that made it especially nice. We were spoiled!
On Sunday we enjoyed attending the local meeting. We were welcomed with open arms and at the end of the Sacrament Meeting the members of the ward all went to the front and sang to the visitors and placed hand made leis (done by the YW with yarn) around our necks. They are such loving people! It was fun for us to run into our home teacher and his wife, Jeff & Linda Hinshaw who were also visiting the island at that time.
Each evening we had a spiritual devotional where we were taught so many inspiring things; Crismon shared some thoughts he had just shared at our stake conference from 2 Corinthians 8:9. Corwin led a family discussion on strengthening our role as parents referring us to the conference talk by Elder Bradley D. Foster, "It's Never Too Early and Never Too Late," from the Oct. 2015 conference. Dantzelle shared Brad's retirement video and presented the excellent lesson she gave in Sunday School on Hebrews. Another highlight was Clyde teaching us about Patriarchal Blessings. Wick is an incredible choir director. He led us in singing the hymns. He taught us some of the background around the hymn and then with his excellent way, he brought out of us such a beautiful sound. This was one of the highlights for me. Malin shared spiritual experiences as a Stake President and encouraged us on testifying. Larry shared his feelings on the seven most "important things" we should always do (personal and family prayers, FHE, personal and family scripture study, temple attendance and keeping the Sabbath Day holy.)
We had so much visiting many interesting sites: We drove to a spectacular view of the "Grand Canyon of Hawaii," in the Waimea Canyon. We drove out to the Lihue Lighthouse and we drove to the north shore to see the amazing Princeville Resort, learn the history of the Russians effort to colonize there, we drove to a lookout to see the beautifully laid out taro fields, drove past Lincoln Koga's childhood home close to Hanalei Bay and watched the huge waves a distance back from the beach as the beaches were closed as the waves were too high. On our return back to the hotel, we stopped at the beautiful Wailua Falls.
One afternoon we watched the GOP Presidential Debate in one of the rooms on the 12th floor, overlooking the beautiful Kalapaki Bay. One evening we watched "The Cokeville Miracle." We did some relaxing at the resort, too, enjoying the beautiful pool and hot tubs. Crismon and some of the others went snorkeling one day on Poipu Beach. We walked through the incredible Hyatt Regency Resort on Poipu Beach. Everywhere you looked, Hawaii was just spectacular! What a paradise! This was the first time Crismon and I had been to this island. It has a more relaxing feel to it, and we enjoyed the slower pace there.
We had to pack up and leave far too quickly, but we had to take a red-eye flight through the night to make it home to prepare for Church meetings on Sunday. It was the only flight that would work to get us home before Sunday. Fortunately, through credit cards that Seth helped us sign up for, we were able to fly with points, the Linton's provided the room, the cost of meals was not bad with making most of them, and then just the cost of the rental car and gas that we all shared. We were blessed! Being together as a family away from our other cares was simply delightful! We missed those who couldn't be with us.
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