Safely arrived home!

Thank you for all of your support and prayers! It was a fabulous trip!

Day Eight - Thorne

Day Eight: None of us wanted to leave Oahu. The day was exciting though, Jude's birthday! He turned the ripe old age of 15 today, and he couldn't have been more excited when the flight attendant announced that it was his birthday to an entire plane of about 500 people.

The day started off later than when we usually woke up, about 7:30. I didn't wake up until 8:30 though, when I reached phase three: Mike singing to me while hitting me with a pillow.

The morning was boring. Packing and such. We ate eggs and bacon for breakfast, and everyone was packed by the time I got up. We were all packed and ready to go by 10, playing Tetris in the back of the van until all of our suitcases fit just right.

At the airport, we went through agricultural customs and security, and rushed to gate G6. We made it in time to purchase some good eats before boarding our flight. 

We have taken off the tarmac and are now flying above the islands of Hawaii. 

Looking out of the window, I'm realizing  how much our mission trip to Oahu meant to us, but also to the people we served. Some of the people we met were quite incredible. Asking your kids about their experiences and some of the people we met is a great idea, and especially ask them what they thought about meeting God at the taro patch. That trip to the taro patch summed up our trip quite well. We met a woman who truly cared about the environment and the future of the world. She inspired us in so many ways, explaining how we had the power to preserve culture and nature. Before we went into our farming, she sang a prayer in Hawaiian. She fed us taro before we left, and I could see how it was different but also appealing. We were all blown away by our experience at the taro patch, and I think everyone would agree that our trip there had the right balance of faith and service. Even though we wanted to give back, God gave us the gift of hope. She gave us something to pursue.

Signing off for the trip,

Thorne

Day Seven - Knox

Summary:

Today we accidentally went to a church service in Ilokano at a small chapel in the Episcopal Cathedral behind Iolani Palace. Ilokano is a minority language of the Philippines. This was an interesting experience for all of us. The service was set up exactly the same as a service in Saint Mary's or any other Episcopal Church. Afterwards we went shopping in Waikiki and later went snorkeling off of a catamaran. We saw sea turtles, safely held a sea urchin, saw parrot fish, chubs, and a species closely related to the Hawaii state fish. To end the day we went to the restaurant and beach we went to the first day. The food was okay but the beach was the best of the trip. At the Airbnb we finally finished with the multi hour long end of trip reflection, informally referred to as Crying Circle by youth groupers.

Reflection:

At the church service, many, if not all of us were pushed outside our comfort zones by being the outsiders who don't speak the language of the place we are in. It was interesting to see how different people reacted. Some people seemed to throw themselves into it but others were less willing to just go for it. It can be scary to not understand what people are saying even if you know the layout. In conclusion, it was a rather impactful experience for all of us to experience being in the minority in such an obvious way.

Day Six - Henry

It was June 21st, Saturday.

This day was a day unlike any before, that is to say we did not start our day with making sandwiches early in the morning for once as there was no service for the day, just a bunch of sidequests. Instead we got up at 8ish, and after a brief breakfast got to work cleaning the whole house. 

We packed all of our stuff, and made sure to sweep the whole place up. It was then that our dirty van made it's voyage up an exeptionally pretty island coast in the direction of what would become our new place of rest for the next 2 nights: the Airbnb.

We stopped at a food truck parking lot, and I got a poke bowl. And then we drove back to Waimea Valley, where we had our Luau experience yesterday to visit their gardens.

We entered the garden, it has one big main path leading to the waterfall, and several smaller paths to various sections dedicated to different plants in Polynesian islands. Michael and I made it our goal to visit every trail and read as many signs as we could. There was also a section dedicated to the buildings people lived in in Oahu, which I thought was very interesting. I also brought my camera and got to take so many pictures; Hawaii is so full of nature in a way that that cannot be experienced secondhand. I think my camera's sd card filled like 5 Gb more. I can't get those off those off my camera yet so- uh- I'll give you a second to imagine what they could look like on your own.

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Anyways we finally all arived at the waterfall, it was calming but we didn't swim. And then we made our way back, I was so invested in the nature that I may have been a little bit late to the party in fact.

But then our van had to depart yet again, because Mike said so and he's driving. So we drove yet again in the direction of the Airbnb, but not without stopping for shave ice, the same place we visited the day before because it was too good.

As we drove along the coast we noticed a lot of tents with people living in them, and just how much poorer the West Side of the island seemed to be. And yet it's still the same Hawaii.

We stopped at Tumura Supermarket to restock food, and finally got to the Airbnb. Mike grilled burgers while Knox and Jude, had some sort of game where they marched along the patio? Anyways after eating we had our reflection of the day, and then we played Oh Hell! (Which Mike calls Oh Heck!) for the first time of this trip. Oh He(ll/ck)! is a game similar to Hearts, but tricks are good and you have to bet on the exact number of tricks you will end up with each round for bonus points. My favorite moment though was when Thorne bet on getting 0 tricks, however he managed to win a round with a 2 of non-trump, the lowest possible card; so he got no bonus points!

We then went to bed. It's a boring conclusion but it's how most days end. I think it was an exciting day.

Heading home (bittersweet, for sure)!

Last Beach Adventure

Snorkeling