Virginia has been my companion for over 37 years. She’s stood beside me through thick and thin, through all my struggles in life. She supported me through a demanding education that took nearly every waking minute, an education that allowed for very little sleep. She sustained me in a 32-year career that robbed us of weekends, evenings, and lost sleep on too many nights to count. She allowed me to serve in church callings and Boy Scouting. As a confirmed introvert, she gave me space to recharge, hike in mountains, make a million photographs, and nurture a few other minor hobbies. She asked very little of me over the years. One thing she asked for was a finished house, and maybe one day, I’ll get around to finishing that laundry room in the basement. Through it all, we (but mostly she), raised six children to adulthood. We lived a happy life, and we’re still living a happy life.

We accepted a mission assignment to serve in the Pacific Theatre at the Polynesian Cultural Center where we thought I would be continuing my labors as a stage lighting designer. After four months, I haven’t made a single adjustment. I’m supposed to spend every night watching the show, finding ways to improve, yet doors aren’t open for me to make changes. It’s a strange relationship. Lately, I’ve felt that most of my time is spent waiting for Virginia, supporting her in her assignment. That’s a role reversal, me waiting for her to finish her responsibilities in the theatre. Virginia works in wardrobe, preparing the hundreds of clothing pieces the cast of students go through every night. She is feverishly busy, and she has loved these students like only a mother could. They have come to respect her and love her back. She has made a terrific difference in the lives of many students, perhaps to the entire cast of 60+. She tells me she feels guilty that I wait through the show each night for her to finish her assignment. How can I make up for my entire education and a 32-year career by waiting 1½ hours each night while she dresses young dancers in quick changes between songs? It takes a lot of 1½ hour blocks to make up for an entire life labor, more than I have available in our two years here in Hawaii. I’m not unhappy with my situation. My life is full, and my mission is full. I keep busy doing other things and I remain hopeful that one day the PCC will actually need a resident lighting designer. In the meantime, I don’t regret a minute I spend supporting Virginia in this mission we are serving together.

Bicycle update- Since I last wrote, we repaired 21 old mission bicycles that I thought had zero life remaining in them. I was convinced by a young student named Buyahnbot from Mongolia, that there was plenty of use yet remaining in our old inventory. We worked all Saturday morning one day restoring this ancient collection or rolling and rusted metal. They will be donated to the Women’s Center on campus and given to needy students next semester. Buyahnbot taught me a lot of tricks to maintaining these cruiser bikes. I have a fleet of 26 new bicycles to keep running for the next two years. My life was blessed by Buyahnbot, students will be blessed next semester with free bikes, and the sister missionaries are blessed with their new bikes. As far as I can tell, it’s a win all the way around.

IMOS- (Internet Mission Office System) is the church-wide data base used to manage the entire set of missionaries in the mission. This week, I rebuilt our database and cleaned up missing and incorrect data. The junior (18-22ish age) missionaries have transfers this week and as they receive assignments in new areas, I will once again keep the records up to date. I never considered myself a data entry type person, but I’m learning to enjoy even this aspect of my mission. There must needs be order in all things.

Lastly, here is a photo from Thanksgiving of all the missionaries in the Hawaii Laie Mission. Most missions throughout the world are primarily composed of junior (young) missionaries. This mission is an anomaly in that there is a large contingent of senior missionaries recruited to work at the Polynesian Cultural Center, BYU Hawaii, the Laie Hawaii Temple visitor center, and the mission office support staff. We staged this photo in the Pacific Theatre where our night show takes place. This time, I was actually able to easily photoshop myself into the crowd. I took two photos, one without me, and one with. Then layered them in Photoshop, created a mask, and painted myself in. Easy-peasy.