Freeway Fun

I talked with Elder and Sister Austin on Thanksgiving and they wanted me to share a photo of the fun mess of a freeway interchange right by where they live that they've been getting used to navigating. If you know my parents, you may know they like to avoid traffic and confusing freeways, so they've had a lot to get used to, but it sounds like they are doing well. They just can't skip using the GPS because it's been a sure way to get themselves lost in a hurry.

Link to Google Map

October Update

We keep telling people we are trying to get things figured out.  And we are still trying.  The four military relations couples are going to meet with the Mission President in November.  We think the meeting is to answer some questions and interact with the Mission President about the military relations program.  

We are assigned to work with four wards in the Honolulu West Stake.  Those four wards have most of the military members who are assigned to Pearl Harbor Navy Station or Hickam AFB.  We are trying to attend all the ward councils of those wards and work with ward mission leaders and young missionaries in those wards.  As you can imagine, we jumped from your pan into the fire!  One of the bishops left us a phone message about talking in one of the wards near the end of November.

Since we have been here Elder Holland and Elder Schwitzer have been here and talked to the missionaries.  We understand two other general authorities will be coming before the end of the year.  It must be getting cold in Salt Lake?  Or maybe this is one of the largest missions in the church.

We plan to go to the Temple this Friday (will try to go once a month). 

We have a nice one bedroom apartment to live in.  It is in a HOA.  We can't get away from the HOA.  It is located near the Aloha Stadium.   Also located near the Airport, Pearl Harbor, Hickam and where several interstate and state highways have exchanges so it's a real spaghetti bowl of roads around us.

Love, Elder and Sister Austin 

Visitors and the PCC

Aloha!

Sorry it has taken us so long.  We had to have the local Time Warner cable co. come hook-up our internet.  They just got it done earlier this week.  We are doing OK and starting to find out about what we should be doing.  

We went to Tripler Hospital with Elder and Sister Caldwell to help with a blessing.  We then went to lunch with them.  They answered a lot of our questions.  Elder and Sister Davis stopped by yesterday and answered more of our questions.  Elder Davis checked out the internet set-up by the cable company and helped us get the printer working.  

Last Saturday we were at the missionary meeting with Elder Holland.  That was special.  Monday night we attended the Family Home Evening at the Mission President's home with the Military Relations missionaries, the Hawaiian Mission office missionaries and several other senior couples.  It was our first chance to meet most  of them.  

We are thankful to be here.

Elder and Sister Austin

Dear President Albright

This is a wonderful missionary story I just read. It's well worth the time. 

Mark Albright served as the Washington D.C. South Mission president during the time Audrey Denison was investigating the church, and this mission covered the area in Virginia where Denison was living. Albright shared this background information along with permission to repost this letter: "I was the mission president in Virginia and was not even aware of the miracle transfer we made that answered her prayers and resulted in her baptism."

Denison sent the following letter to Albright from the Provo MTC, where she is preparing to serve a mission in the Washington Vancouver Mission.

Dear President Albright,
I remember the first time I ever went to a Mormon church. I was 18 years old and a senior in high school. Trust me when I say I had no desire to be a Mormon. My parents divorced when I was a baby, and growing up my mom was a wonderful example of virtue, goodness and working hard to reach your potential. She brought us kids to a local Baptist church, where I learned to love the Lord as a little girl. I am thankful for my upbringing and my mother's powerful influence because I don't know who I would be or where I would be without her. I had just been crowned Miss Teen Nevada, and my dream was to become Miss USA...

Full Story 

It's Your Ship - Michael Abrashoff - USS Benfold

I was given this video to watch in a management class I am taking. There are stories he tells about Pearl Harbor and the Navy and it made me think of my parents.

I've heard from Sister Austin, they arrived safely and are still waiting for their internet to get set up, so hopefully we will hear more about how things are going in Hawaii once that happens.

In the meantime, enjoy the video.

Riding the Storm Out

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday a couple we know from St. George came to the MTC and took us to lunch and then to their place for a while. We were concerned about the traffic getting back to the MTC because of the  BYU football game with TEXAS. Heading back we got caught in both the traffic and the storm  that hit the Provo area before the game. It was a storm with a lot of heavy rain and a lot of flooding in the streets, We got home OK and the couple also got back home OK.

Elder Austin

One Short of the Record

Hi Everyone,
Today Sept. 4, they said here at the MTC they were expecting several hundred new missionaries and would we "stay out of the way". 
This week we are in classes from "Preach My Gospel", learning to be real missionaries. Our group of 127 Senior Missionaries was only one short of the record for the largest group ever. 
Last night we attended the regular Tuesday night MTC Devotional. The speaker was David L Evans of the Seventy. He spoke about the amazing expansion of Missionary work and how they arrived at the decision to lower the age requirement. He said in every other dispensation the Prophets asked for more time. In this last dispensation the Prophet asked for more servants because the time is short. And they came! By October Conference they expect to have 85,000 missionaries in the field.
This is a humbling experience to feel the level of excitement and commitment of everyone here. Hope we can live up to the high level of expectations. 
Sister Austin

A Sea of Smiles and Suitcases

I just had a fun experience this morning during my commute. When my Trax train stopped at the connection with Frontrunner, a mass of missionaries scrambled on board. They hardly fit with all their luggage. I asked, "Is this transfers? where are you all going?" Come to find out, the MTC is now using Frontrunner and the Airport Trax Line to send out missionaries. I imagine my parents will also be experiencing a sea of smiles and suitcases as they enter the MTC this week. Maybe all I'll have to do to see them off when they leave for the field is to walk down and ride the Trax out with them to the Airport. I told the missionaries next to me that it would be good practice for them for transfers in the field. I couldn't help thinking about the recent comparison of missionaries to a wave. It was fun to have a bunch of them wash on board this morning and join me in my morning ride. Good luck! you're about to have a great adventure.

Military Relations Opportunities

https://www.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/callings/missionary/senior-missionary/senior-missionary-opportunities.pdf?lang=eng