Sunday, February 16, 2014
Thursday, January 23rd, 2014
We were able to pretty much finish up moving into our office today. They have finished all the painting and we have new blinds on our window. Our carpet is nasty, but they are going to replace it in 4-6 weeks. That should be fun, we will get to do this all over again!
I was able to get everything filed that has been stacking up on my desk these last 2 weeks. That felt good!! I can see my desk again. I now have a million emails that I need to go through and put in folders, delete or respond to. That will take me several hours.
On the way home for lunch today, we asked our secretary, Tiamani, what she likes to eat for breakfast. She told us that she never eats breakfast or lunch. She comes from a poor family and they only eat one meal a day. We often give her treats at the office but we never knew that that was all she got to eat during the day. She would never complain and she donates all of her time to the Lord. She works for us - as a volunteer - in the mornings and then she spends most of her time in the afternoon at the temple. While the temple has been closed, she has been helping one of the teachers at Liahona get her room ready for the new school year. This young woman is amazing! She will make a wonderful missionary, but she is so shy, we are worried that she will have a hard time at first.
When we got back to Liahona, we went to the FM department and met two men from the village of Fo’ui. We have been working for months to get them some desks for the students that they help in a night school they have there. They tutor the students who are having a hard time to make sure that they can pass the state tests. We were able to give them 30 desks that Liahona is getting rid of. They aren’t new, but they are in pretty good shape and they will be so much better than sitting on the cement floor! That was a feel good project. I am so happy that we were able to finally make it happen.
After lunch I went over to our Liahona office and started sorting through the paperwork I keep there. Having two offices is hard but we love being able to be close to home in the afternoon. While I was working we got a call saying that they were taking the new machines to Ha’utu. We jumped in the car and ran out there to take some pictures. Quite a few men from the village were there. They are all excited to have the new equipment. We found out that they have not had any water in their homes, except rain water, for the last 3 weeks. Their engine died and could not be repaired again. This new one and the pump got here just in time for school to start. Without water, they could not start school out there. The installation will be done tomorrow so we will go back out and take more pictures. This is the fun part!
Alan had to drive back into town to pick up more chemicals to clean the floor at the Central Pharmacy. We bought them once, for $325.00 and the man who was supposed to do the cleaning took off with them. He used them on another job and has no way of replacing them. We have waited over a month for him because he kept lying to us and saying that he would get it done. This last week we found out that he had used them. Alan was so mad and disappointed. The Bishop that worked with Alan on the pharmacy has talked to the man’s Stake President and we will just let them take care of it. It has been sooooo frustrating! Today we had to buy more chemicals and go a different direction. Alan left two men doing the work and it should be finished tonight. We will be relieved to close this project out!!!
I went back to the office at Liahona and updated some of the journals on CHAS. All of our projects have had to take a back seat while we worked on the cyclone relief. Now we need to get them back up and going. We have a lot of work to finish up here. I also put some more information on the blog. Hopefully I can put some of the pictures of the cyclone damage on this weekend.
It’s Thursday and the temple is closed. We really missed going tonight.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014
When we got to the office this morning we found out that we were being moved from one side of the building to the other. REALLY! Like we have time to deal with this right now. I had so much to do today, but no where to plug my computer in and no desk to put it on. Finally we just had to give in and make the move. It will take a couple of days to get everything organized and put away, but we like our new office. It is cleaner and we can see the ocean out of our window. We have WiFi on this side of the building so we will enjoy that.
When I finally was able to get on the computer to check our email, I found an email that said that our Central Pharmacy Project is 110% over budget!!! I knew that I hadn’t charged anything to that project for a couple of weeks so I traced the charge and found that when the Service Center finance department paid for the water pump and diesel engine for our Ha’utu Project, they charged it to the wrong project. I talked to Ladene in the finance department and she will take care of it. That got my heart rate up!!
Our champion for the Ha’utu Project came in to see us today. We are planning the closing ceremony for that project. The engine and water pump should be delivered tomorrow and installed on Friday. We can have the closing ceremony the first of next week. YEA!!!
When we got to the office this morning we found out that we were being moved from one side of the building to the other. REALLY! Like we have time to deal with this right now. I had so much to do today, but no where to plug my computer in and no desk to put it on. Finally we just had to give in and make the move. It will take a couple of days to get everything organized and put away, but we like our new office. It is cleaner and we can see the ocean out of our window. We have WiFi on this side of the building so we will enjoy that.
When I finally was able to get on the computer to check our email, I found an email that said that our Central Pharmacy Project is 110% over budget!!! I knew that I hadn’t charged anything to that project for a couple of weeks so I traced the charge and found that when the Service Center finance department paid for the water pump and diesel engine for our Ha’utu Project, they charged it to the wrong project. I talked to Ladene in the finance department and she will take care of it. That got my heart rate up!!
Our champion for the Ha’utu Project came in to see us today. We are planning the closing ceremony for that project. The engine and water pump should be delivered tomorrow and installed on Friday. We can have the closing ceremony the first of next week. YEA!!!
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014
Today when we went into the office we just did the most important stuff and then about 10:30 we started calling our kids. This last week, by the time we were able to stop and call anyone, they were all in bed, fast asleep. We really needed to touch base with them and find out what is happening at home. No matter how far away we are, first and foremost we are parents and grandparents and we need to know that all is well in our family!
We talked to Tiff first and found out that it is cold season in her house. That plus the inversion and they have had a bad couple of weeks health wise. Kimi, Mike and Grace are all well. They don’t have that inversion in Colorado. It was fun to watch Grace look at us and try and get to us. She is reaching for us now and wants to come through the phone to Tonga. Lisa said that Amberly is feeling better, but she still isn’t 100% and they still don’t know what is causing the problem. We are all praying that she doesn’t have any more attacks and that this will go away as quickly as it came. The rest of their family is doing well. We woke Greg up from a nap. It was a holiday, Martin Luther King Day, and he had been to St. George on a golfing trip. No surprise there. He got home late the night before, therefore he needed a nap. He must have been dead to the world because he had a hard time waking up. But we talked to him on Facetime so at least we got to see him. He looked good and we think all is going well with him. We have to guess because he is allergic to questions, he has an instant reaction that seems to be life threatening. We had already talked to Dave and Parx. Parx is a little chatterbox but we can’t understand much of what he says. He sounds so cute, it will be fun to see how much he has changed. Dave said that Alisha and the baby are doing great but she is starting to get uncomfortable. Just a couple more months and we will be welcoming a new grandson!!
In the afternoon I took some time to post some things on the blog. I am way behind on the blog and I want to catch up so that I can post the information about the cyclone. I know the kids want to see the pictures.
I kind of put things on hold today, so I had to make a long list of things that need to be done tomorrow. We ended thd day with a walk.
Monday, January 20th 2014
The Reynolds were at our house at 8:00 am this morning and we started our day. We took them for a quick look at the dental clinic here at Liahona. The Area Office wants to help upgrade the office here. Then we headed for the village of Tea’kiu. Mamana was starting her Hygiene Training at 9:00 and we had all of the kits she needed. When we got there she was all set up. She had tables with table cloths and flowers. (She is the Stake RS President!)
She had 9 people that she was training, 8 women and 1 man. As they introduced themselves they expressed how grateful they were to be a part of this training and how excited they were to take it back to their villages. Some of them are RS Presidents, one is a new convert of 3 months and the man is not a member. He was the last to introduce himself, after all of the women had borne their testimonies. 2 of them are from Ha’api and are so grateful for all the church is doing to help their families up there. This sweet man told us that when he saw all of those women he wanted to run away but he didn’t because he knows how important this is. He has 9 children and 8 of them are members. He, his wife and his youngest child are not members. His wife has had her leg amputated and he and the son have to carry her everywhere she goes. As soon as he said that, Mamana told him that she would come and assess her and get a wheelchair for her. He got tears in his eyes and said that he promised he, his wife and his child would all join the church. The Spirit was so strong in that room as our hygiene training turned into a missionary experience.
The Reynolds couldn’t believe what they were seeing. None of us wanted to leave, but after I talked to them about the training we had to go.
We next went to Ha’utu. It was raining buckets so we didn’t actually go in to look at the pump and engine that we are replacing, we just showed them the village and the school that use that water. The engine and pump arrived on Friday and should be installed some time this week or next.
Then we took them to see the Blow Holes. The rain let up a little bit but the wind was really blowing so the waves were high and they loved seeing the blow holes go up. It really is like watching Old Faithful go off every few seconds. They got quite a show today. It was one of the best days we’ve been there.
Our next stop was the Central Pharmacy. They knew all about this project but they had no concept how big the building was. In the project journal I had said that this had almost killed Elder Webb off and now they know why. They were so impressed with all that was done there, how well it was done and that Elder Webb survived the project. He has their profound respect now.
It was time to head back to Liahona for a conference call with the Area Presidency. We didn’t have time to stop for lunch so we ran into our house and I fixed them some sandwiches and off we went again.
We met with Elder Tulkuafu, Howard Niu and President Tupou before the call, just to make sure that we were all on the same page and we had all of the facts. Then we talked to the Area Presidency, the Director of Temporal Affairs and some of the key people in Salt Lake. (I don’t know their titles but they report to the Presiding Bishopric and the First Presidency.) My assignment is to be over the finances for this whole thing, so I had to report on how much money we have spent. They have allocated an additional $75.000 to be used for the short term needs. We will add more as we go along. I am finding that calling to be VERY STRESSFUL but with the Lord’s help, somehow I will do it.
When the meeting was over the Reynolds spent some time in the Service Center answering emails and then it was time to take them to the airport. Wow, those 4 days just flew by. We were happy to get a chance to meet them and spend some time with them. We talk to them on the phone once a month and now they are our friends. It’s amazing how the bonding is instant in the mission field. We look forward to spending some time with them in Utah when we are all home again. They live in Bountiful.
On the way to the airport we drove by Lavengatonga so that they could see the tower and tank. The leak still isn’t fixed so we felt bad about that. Sam is back from Australia now and hopefully it will be taken care of quickly. We really would like to see that project closed before we go home. We have been working on it for our whole mission!
After we got them checked in and knew the plane was flying, we said our good-byes and headed for home. I really needed to go for a walk. I haven’t had time to walk in the mornings since the cyclone hit and my back and legs bother me if I don’t walk everyday. Alan went with me. It was relaxing and there was a little breeze tonight. Last week, I don’t even remember which day, Enismore, the lady who is over housing at Liahona, had a new air conditioner installed in our house. We just love her, she has been so good to us! The one we had before just wasn’t big enough to cool off the house and we never used it much because it is so expensive to have it on and then not really do much. The one we have now is WONDERFUL! It cools the house off in about half an hour and then we can turn it off if we keep the doors closed. I love it!!! I can’t believe we suffered all these months and didn’t ask for help. She was so nice about changing it for us and said that she felt bad we had not told her sooner.
The Reynolds were at our house at 8:00 am this morning and we started our day. We took them for a quick look at the dental clinic here at Liahona. The Area Office wants to help upgrade the office here. Then we headed for the village of Tea’kiu. Mamana was starting her Hygiene Training at 9:00 and we had all of the kits she needed. When we got there she was all set up. She had tables with table cloths and flowers. (She is the Stake RS President!)
She had 9 people that she was training, 8 women and 1 man. As they introduced themselves they expressed how grateful they were to be a part of this training and how excited they were to take it back to their villages. Some of them are RS Presidents, one is a new convert of 3 months and the man is not a member. He was the last to introduce himself, after all of the women had borne their testimonies. 2 of them are from Ha’api and are so grateful for all the church is doing to help their families up there. This sweet man told us that when he saw all of those women he wanted to run away but he didn’t because he knows how important this is. He has 9 children and 8 of them are members. He, his wife and his youngest child are not members. His wife has had her leg amputated and he and the son have to carry her everywhere she goes. As soon as he said that, Mamana told him that she would come and assess her and get a wheelchair for her. He got tears in his eyes and said that he promised he, his wife and his child would all join the church. The Spirit was so strong in that room as our hygiene training turned into a missionary experience.
The Reynolds couldn’t believe what they were seeing. None of us wanted to leave, but after I talked to them about the training we had to go.
We next went to Ha’utu. It was raining buckets so we didn’t actually go in to look at the pump and engine that we are replacing, we just showed them the village and the school that use that water. The engine and pump arrived on Friday and should be installed some time this week or next.
Then we took them to see the Blow Holes. The rain let up a little bit but the wind was really blowing so the waves were high and they loved seeing the blow holes go up. It really is like watching Old Faithful go off every few seconds. They got quite a show today. It was one of the best days we’ve been there.
Our next stop was the Central Pharmacy. They knew all about this project but they had no concept how big the building was. In the project journal I had said that this had almost killed Elder Webb off and now they know why. They were so impressed with all that was done there, how well it was done and that Elder Webb survived the project. He has their profound respect now.
It was time to head back to Liahona for a conference call with the Area Presidency. We didn’t have time to stop for lunch so we ran into our house and I fixed them some sandwiches and off we went again.
We met with Elder Tulkuafu, Howard Niu and President Tupou before the call, just to make sure that we were all on the same page and we had all of the facts. Then we talked to the Area Presidency, the Director of Temporal Affairs and some of the key people in Salt Lake. (I don’t know their titles but they report to the Presiding Bishopric and the First Presidency.) My assignment is to be over the finances for this whole thing, so I had to report on how much money we have spent. They have allocated an additional $75.000 to be used for the short term needs. We will add more as we go along. I am finding that calling to be VERY STRESSFUL but with the Lord’s help, somehow I will do it.
When the meeting was over the Reynolds spent some time in the Service Center answering emails and then it was time to take them to the airport. Wow, those 4 days just flew by. We were happy to get a chance to meet them and spend some time with them. We talk to them on the phone once a month and now they are our friends. It’s amazing how the bonding is instant in the mission field. We look forward to spending some time with them in Utah when we are all home again. They live in Bountiful.
On the way to the airport we drove by Lavengatonga so that they could see the tower and tank. The leak still isn’t fixed so we felt bad about that. Sam is back from Australia now and hopefully it will be taken care of quickly. We really would like to see that project closed before we go home. We have been working on it for our whole mission!
After we got them checked in and knew the plane was flying, we said our good-byes and headed for home. I really needed to go for a walk. I haven’t had time to walk in the mornings since the cyclone hit and my back and legs bother me if I don’t walk everyday. Alan went with me. It was relaxing and there was a little breeze tonight. Last week, I don’t even remember which day, Enismore, the lady who is over housing at Liahona, had a new air conditioner installed in our house. We just love her, she has been so good to us! The one we had before just wasn’t big enough to cool off the house and we never used it much because it is so expensive to have it on and then not really do much. The one we have now is WONDERFUL! It cools the house off in about half an hour and then we can turn it off if we keep the doors closed. I love it!!! I can’t believe we suffered all these months and didn’t ask for help. She was so nice about changing it for us and said that she felt bad we had not told her sooner.
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