Ringing in the New Year in Kekaha -- Happy Birthday Elder Shoemaker!

Area: Kekaha, Kaua'i
Companion: Elder Vaitaki

Hey hows it going?  Sorry that I wasn't able to write you last week.  Some things transpired. I sent you those pictures then the computer was being stupid so I wasn't able to send the message.  Then our keys got stolen; our car keys, our keys to the church, our key to our house.  They were stolen at the post office!  ohhh man dat sucked!  We had to get our car towed because we didn't want the person to come and steal it, so we walked the entire next day and biked the other days. We just barely got the spare key today.   They had to send it in the mail from Honolulu.

Yes, we did have a baptism last Saturday, the "S" family.  Everything surprisingly went very well. We also have a plan for 4 more kids to get baptized this next Saturday.  So that picture of that brown house is where we usually teach the kids.

 New Years Eve was actually pretty crazy!!!!   There was fireworks going off everywhere, like big aerials and some bombs and stuff.   A lot of people over here like to make like a big line of fire crackers and and put them all up and down the electricity lines and fire them off and man those are so loud! Just boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom for like 10 minutes straight. There was a dance party just down from where we live at one of our investigators homes. When your driving down the street you just hear a lot of popping sounds from all the pop-its that are all over the ground. Then this guys truck caught on fire! His truck was leaking gas and a firework got underneath and the truck caught fire! We talked to the guy and he said the truck would still run. Man it was pretty crazy, the people over here go all out.

Truck on Fire!

Elder Vaitaki also got a bit of an owie.  He had to go to the ER and they had to lance and drain the thing! For his limited English words I think he said it was in his gooch area!

The temperatures have been really nice here. Winter time is a good time to be in Hawaii, because its actually relatively pretty cool. This morning we walked to Brother Karrattis home and helped them calk their walls so as to prepare there house to be painted.  That was actually quite fun and also received breakfast and lunch.

I gotta go!  Love you all, Elder Shoemaker

Elder Vaitaki and I at the church with one of our investigators

Teaching children by the Waimea River just like Jesus (LOVE THIS!!!)

A lot of people go all out with Christmas Lights

Us on the Christmas float for the town parade

Biking it!

Biking through Waimea Valley.

Another biking picture through Waimea Valley

Cake and Stuff for my birthday at the Wright's

Oh man and this is some pictures of me on the "R's" family little bike that  they have.  Man I couldn't resist!!   He has a really big nice Harley too. We were just walking down through Kekaha and really Kekaha isn't that big of a town.  We got to talking and stuff and he asked if I wanted to try I just had too. It was fun man.