August 18, 2024

Two weeks on the island. We’re still getting our apartment (called here, a “pad”) set up to be our home for the next 18 months. It’s coming along. We still need to get some things for storage and computer function, as well as art stations. Dennis is working on the front porch at this point. Debbi has done very little painting, but used the table provided for office function for that bit, so it’s limited. We can’t have both set up at the same time.

 We’re also learning our “jobs.” In MIS, Dennis has a current project of helping other missionaries get their specified Cultural Center email accounts functioning on their phones. (We all now have our Church emails, our mission emails, and our PCC emails—on top of our personal accounts.) He’s also finding that the young guys in his office need help doing some of the standard stuff (like decommissioning computers) that he’s done for years. On the other side, he’s learning some of the more recent developments from them.

 Debbi is assigned to the Marketing Department, with the current assignment to take over the employee/volunteer newsletter and help with other copy as requested. The newsletter is basically a resurrection of an old format, so there is a lot of work to do.

We’re finding our departments consist of cores of FT employees who are leading tons of PT student employees and a few missionaries. That’s how it works here. As amazing a venue as the Polynesian Cultural Center is, it exists to support the students (who are mostly from these island nations) to work to pay for their educations at BYU Hawaii. They work, and we work to enhance what they can earn in their limited hours. We also try to help them feel a sense of family that they may be missing, as many of them can’t afford to go home for visits. Consequently, while they can talk to their families, they may not see them for 4 to 6 years!

 Fortunately, the entire spirit of the islands is “Ohana.” Everyone is family. They treat everyone with respect and kindness. We’re loving that aspect of this adventure and hoping that it becomes second nature to us, too.