Dave and I are back in Laie, Hawaii doing volunteer work for BYUH and also for the Ploynesian Cultural Center. We've served here three other summers, skipping last year for our Island Park camping trip. So this will be our 4th term here, ranging from 2 months to 4 months a visit.

At first we were scheduled to work during May and June. We found out in late April our reserved apartment for us service missionaries was no longer available to us and we were on our own to find outher housing. Because of the high cost of off campus housing we elected not to serve this year. Then we heard via the grapevine that a student here (and her family) needed to sublease her student housing apartment while she went to Micronesia for and internship for two months. We thought long and hard about it, and decided we should go and help out one more time while we are still healthy enough to do so.

We arrived on July 5th. While unpacking we came to realize the bug infestation in this apartment and my first reaction was to pack up my bags and fly home. Well, we have tried everything we can to get rid of the insects crawling about. So far we have gone through a gallon of Ortho home defense sparay. Being not very effective we bought another brand, Bayer, and it seems to be stronger. We've had housekeeping come in and seal up gaps in the screens and caulk around the bathtub. We spray and kill and clean and then they all must be resurrected because they are back again.

When I prepare our meals it is imperative that I hurray fast, replace lids immediately, wrap things up and guard the sandwich so the bugs don't crawl in it and become a part of it.

Enough about bugs. We enjoyed taking tickets at a Luau at the PCC. The couples who volunteer there dress in matching Aloha shirts and Muumuus which is a requirement. It is always fun to mingle with the visitors there. Afterwards we enjoyed a prime rib dinner at the Ambassador restaurant, the premier one at the PCC, where we eat for free when we volunteer our services.

Out work in the office, gathering MSD sheets and updating the books for the various shops at the university is going well. The hard part for me is to relearn how to use the excel program and now with a new computer I have to adjust to it as well.

We enjoy going to the beach and relaxing there, watching the surf and soaking in the sun. Sometimes we drive to Lanikea Beach where the Hawaiian Green turtles feed and come to shore to bask in the sun. You have to be careful while swimming and snorkeling there or they bump right into you. They are pretty big and when that happens I usually scream and try hard to move out of their way.

It is fun to be here but we miss our family and friends. We are looking forward to Lara's & Justin's visit here as well as the Spencers. I'm praying they will get on a flight because traveling standby can be so iffy and the flights are very full in the summertime.