More pictures from Hawaii!

A couple mornings the last week I got up at 5:40 and walked down to the ocean to see the cruise ship come in around the corner in the dark! I really enjoyed watching the ocean that early in the morning! (for me that is amazing!). Also saw some triathlon swimmers and canoe-ers. Hawaii at dawn is the best part of the day, not so hot!!

On campus they were trimming the coconut trees and so there were lots of coconuts on the ground. Jac, my supervisor, took one and hacked at it so that we could try the coconut milk. It really wasn't that good. Maybe not ripe enough. Anyway, we had fun!

Another of my jobs at the Global Outreach (GO) center was to water the plants in the courtyard and on the patio. It was rather a guessing game as I have no idea how much to water these Hawaiian plants. But it was something I felt at home doing, and it always felt good to get wet in the heat!

Anytime someone left we had a going away party. For mine we had apple pie and ice cream. These are the ones I was working with at the end....Jac from Oregon, Sujung from Korea, Amanda from California, and Esther (who had just come), from South Dakota. Esther is also a teacher, just retired from Kindergarten, so she was able to show me around the campus school as her son works on staff at the Uof N.

Here I am in our room, which is in the upheaval of packing, making leis for the guys. I picked the plumeria flowers off the ground from trees at the campus, and strung them on dental floss!
Leis are given often in Hawaii, for recognition, for welcome, as thank-yous, etc. You can buy them, but when the flowers are everywhere, it was fun to make them myself!!

Next time......pictures from our trip around the island with the guys!

Blessings to you all!

Back home in Alberta again!

Hi from frosty Alberta! Len and I landed back to the land of cold, fog and snow late on Wed. Nov. 28, after he had joined me for 4 wonderful days in Hawaii. I was able to show him around where we lived and worked and then we toured the rest of the island!
The right picture shows the class that Cathy and I attended one Monday morning. It was a Compassion DTS (Discipleship Training School). For every month we work, we are allowed 1 day off to go to their morning classes, and then "reflect" the rest of the day. So it was good to see what the students do, and to hear their speaker.

The next left picture is me with the Mission Builder coordinators Angie and Bob at our last Mission Builder weekly meeting on Tues. Nov. 20. They do so much and are always busy at Hale Ola and on campus, making things work well for all of us.

The next one is of Cathy and her work student, Stacey. Each student has some job on campus that they do every day from 3-4:30ish. It was fun to get to know them too!

Each Tuesday afternoon there is a big staff meeting at Ohana (meaning "family") Court. This is a big open air arena where we also have our worship times on Monday mornings and Thursday evenings with all students, staff, and Mission Builders. One of our jobs in housekeeping was to serve lunch to these staff people on Tuesdays, about 100 of them. This day we made banana bread with chocolate chips (which was new to the Americans) and served apple pears. There was nothing left of our 10 loaves!

I miss being there! Having the pictures helps, and also hearing from new friends!

Cathy and Richard made it back late Saturday night, Dec. 1. They got to see Pearl Harbor too, spending 2 nights in Honolulu.

We had a great time as roomies! This experience is one we would recommend to anyone!

God blessed us in so many ways, and we felt honored to serve Him and His people in this way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great meal today at noon! Turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberries, dressing etc!
We are thankful for all of you, and that you let us come here!
Goota get to the beach.
love, us

More explanations!

Thanks Len for your comments! Glad someone is looking at this blog of ours! Yes, this missionary work is very hard! But know that we are being used in mighty ways, even when we wash rags, dust furniture and fold clothes! (in the heat while watching palm trees wave and smelling plumerias, and listening to doves coo, and seeing the cruise ships resting in the harbor!)
So, the other pictures......one was Angie leading a mission builder meeting last Tues. I think Cathy is in the picture.
Another couple are at the Lutheran church, one of the building and one of the class I went to. That was last Sunday. The ocean view is a little distracting for sermon listening.
Tomorrow we go to a DTS (Discipleship Training Session) called Compassion. It is one of the "schools" this term and we are allowed to sit in on one for one day. Then the rest of the day we "reflect", probably at a beach! We actually have done a lot of reflecting while here and it has been very good for us. We are still getting along very well as roomies! Both of us like to read at night and neither of us are crazy about getting up in the morning! We don't usually make the breakfast van run. Too early!!
Tuesday and Wednesday are our last working days, and then Thursday and Friday we clean up, and do all the last minutes things that we haven't been able to do before because we are always working during the day!
There are many aspects to this experience.....I could write a book! I have been keeping a journal but it is hard to find time to write every day! So much goes on, way more than I ever thought!
God is good all the time. All the time God is good. And people here are the same as at home, with stories and struggles and quesions and hugs and words of wisdom and encouragement and smiles. Maybe more laid back than at home sometimes, the Hawaiian style.
So, ahuwi ho, (have no clue how to spell that, but it means....until we meet again!)
Aloha,
Marlys and Cathy

Explanations to the pictures!

Now that you have had time to make up stories about the last 14 picture I sent, I will tell you the real stories, although I imagine you figured some of them out! Of course there are 2 Booster shots, one at Curves where I have been only once as it is quite far away, and one at the entrance to the UofNations where we work. You will see Cathy in the walkin fridge getting some cold air. I think the heat bothers her more than me! The flowers in there were from the big staff feast. I don't know who put them there but after a week I took them out and put them in a place where everyone can see them and enjoy them. They are gorgeous!
We had shaved ice one night at a (get this.......) Scandinavian place! It is like a snow cone, and I finally felt a bit chilled, oh should I say, a little less warm, which is how we put it mostly!
The kids with me are the Smiths from Shaunavon. It was Austin's 6th birthday that day! They are fun to have around and live on the same floor as us.
One picture is of some leis from the Kona Coffee Festival lei competition. The entries were all so beautiful!
A Hawaiian sunset....nothing like it, except at Hastings Lake perhaps!!
Us girls at at ice cream place for Cathy's birthday! Their husbands were there too, but not ours. Soon though......5 days only till we meet them at the airport!
It is fantastic here. I can't remember the other pics so I will post this one and come back!

Explanations at a later time. For now, imagine what they are about!

Hope you enjoy these too!