Sleeping under the stars!!

Area:  Pukalani, Maui
Companion:  Elder Niemann

Today's email was a little different!!  We ended up emailing each other back and forth, so it was a little bit more like a chat session. 

 Elder Shoemaker:  Hey hows it going, ok I'm pretty sure I need my social security stuff and my birth certificate and like 2 things that state my residency in Utah if I want to get the document notarized. I'm also pretty sure that I'm gaining weight. It kinda sucks, but you really cant choose what your eating every night because your always eating at a members house every night and they usually go all out for the missionaries.

Elder Shoe's Mom:  Are you still on the computer? 

I will email the Mission Office and let's see if we can't get this thing resolved.  It will work out okay honey. No worries.  The pictures you are sending are sure amazing!!!  We love the one with you on the rock and the ocean splashing!!!


Elder Shoemaker:  We went on another hike this morning to some more waterfalls.  It was pretty cool, we had to climb down the roots of some trees to get to some places.

Elder Shoe's Mom:  Are there any parts on the paperwork that you don't know and need me to tell you why your on the computer?   The pictures are sure amazing Tanner!!  As far as the food thing goes, just try your best to eat in moderation.  Eat slowly and take your time so that they can't continue to feed you more if you eat fast!!  Just keep active, you'll be alright.  

Elder Shoemaker: Then we drove around and chilled on some sweet rocks that sent the water shooting up. we had to wait forever to get those cool shots with the water shooting up behind me, but it was worth it. I'm no longer one of the newest missionaries either.  Yeah, Im kinda a little stressed about the whole drivers license thingy, they wont let it be notarized unless I have those things. O man I'm also kinda stressed about getting fat if you haven't noticed yet.

Soooooooo ELDER SHOEMAKER right here!!!!

Elder Shoe's Mom:  Yes, I've noticed both things!!!!  OK, let me contact the mission office and let's see what needs to happen.  Did  you try to go in and get it notarized?   They told you, you need your birth certificate and SS#?  Would any other ID work?   Let's see what the mission office says.  Don't worry so much about the weight thing, try to let it go bud....cuz it will disrupt your missionary work.  Just pray for STRENGTH....so that you can let it go and keep focused.  Like I said before eat in moderation, eat slowly....We sure love you!  Kinda fun to chat with you real time!

Elder Shoemaker: Doreen's baptism is getting pushed back to the 13th of April.  I think its so her family can be there, but Kalei is getting baptized still on the 30th and they are both rock solid.  I got the paperwork thing all figured out I think, but I also think that I need my license number also so kinda don't know what to do with that. Just to let you know I really like all the emails {his missionary friends and cousins} that your sending me in the mail just keep them coming if you want.

Elder Shoe's Mom:  HEY...lucky day!!  I have your driver license number!!!  Dad's going to send you a little note while I look it up.  

Elder Shoe's Dad chimes in:  Hiya, Buddy.  Don't stress too much about the eating thing.  I gained a few pounds when I went to Georgia.  When you are at a dinner, just take small portions, eat slowly, and it's okay to say "no thank you - I'm full".  Allow your brain to realize your tummy is full by eating slower.  Maybe start some basic exercise daily too.  That's where I started some good exercise habits in my mission.  

 Love, Dad!

Elder Shoemaker: I only have like 15 minutes though and sending all these pictures slows me down. And my brain is kinda in a thousand places at once right now. They told me that I needed a state I.D. or something.  Things are going pretty OK here. It's not even hard to budget our money I have like a boatload left over every month.  Elder Niemann and I slept outside like last week. haha. Behind the chapel it was nice, except the freakin cat was annoying. {meow}

Elder Shoe's Mom:   Here is your DL # {insert blah blah blah}.  Here is the plan.  I'm going to email the Mission Home and see if they can't help you directly.  If we still come up against a wall, then I'll mail the documentation that you need.  It's very frustrating I know, but there has to be a way to do this without having a DL!  So sorry for the mess.......just be strong and it will work out.   Have faith. Hey what about the USB thing?  Answer that question for me.  Music, talks and stuff that you want me to send?  Good job on the money!!!  That's awesome.  We sure love you!!!    Love the pictures too.  I'll be sending and Easter box soon.  HUGS --xoxoxoxo MOM

Elder Shoemaker: About the USB some cars you can just plug it straight into it but not ours. Just send it to me in like MP3 or something then ill just put it on the ipod shuffle i think that should work. I have short time I cant think what I should say. Umm I guess I love you. Ya that work.

 

Maui Zone!!

Maui Zone -- end of transfer picture

Lovin' the Island of Maui

Area:  Pukalani, Maui
Companion:  Elder Niemann

Ok well I'm here now and I have 44 minutes. Well yes, it was transfer week, and I wasn't even worried  because there was no way I was being transferred. Our Zone Leader Elder Mortensen will be an AP, he's leaving probably right about now. We have 3 Elders who are going home, they call them "dieing missionaries". It's Elder Seirfert, my district leader, and Elder Wagner and Elder Cope. But I think that new missionaries sometime get transferred. Elder Threet who was on Molokai got transferred, but that's because there's only 4 elders there right now.  There's only 2 sister missionaries on Lanai too.

I think I'm gonna be sad when I get transferred off of Maui, because the likelihood of me coming back is not that high.  It's so beautiful here, and I love living up in Kula, if I lived on Hawaii I would live upcountry Kula, because its sweet! There's the trees and the rolling hills, and I like it how there's always a cloud just hanging off of the top of Haleakala mountain. The clouds are cool, there different shades of grey and white. It's cool how we can see the sun shinning down into the valley through the holes in the clouds. I also just learned that Oprah lives up in Kula, some missionaries before us tried knocking on her door, but she has a gate and a long drive way to her house. She also has the only road to Kihei for upcountry.  She doesn't like to share, so we have to drive through Kahului to get there. 

I'm trying to fill out my drivers license stuff, just need to go to a notary or something. 

We got Doreen to commit to March 30th to get baptized. She's just the sweetest old lady you will ever meet, and I'm totally serious!! When we teach her its almost like teaching a little child. Shes got her chubby cheeks and her pink beanie on.  hehe! She didn't understand that drinking coffee was bad for her, so me and Elder Niemann go to her house in the morning and drink hot chocolate and "talk story with her". That's they way she says it, hehe, its because shes like all Hawaiian and talks pigeon.  Usually its the younger guys that speak in pigeon, so when she says shes "Pow" it makes me smile. Or "da kine" its just funny you kinda had to be there. 

Kelei is also getting baptized on March 30th, we later learned that that day is his birthday. So thats good. Kelei is nothing like Doreen, hes ripped, hes got tattoos, he works as a bartender but doesn't drink. His Wife's Dad is the Temple President of the Kona temple though, and he was actually at our last lesson with him. But yea, he's to be baptized on the 30th. We have a goal as a zone of 23 baptisms and as of right now, if we baptize everyone we have commit as a zone, we should get more than that.  I dont know how our mission goal of 200 is going, they don't really tell us. 

O ya Elder Niemann is from Virginia too, just like my MTC companion. We went on a bamboo hike this morning. It was freaking sweet. This hike is in Haiku, along the road that goes to Hana. There's a dense bamboo jungle followed by a waterfall that you have to jump on the rocks to get to, up river. We saw three waterfalls, but the one after that you have to get in the water and swim to. I did get a little wet but I didn't go swimming ok! I got a nice bamboo stick to remind of that place. That's definitely a place that were gonna have to go back to, because you can swim in all of the waterfalls. I also want to see what the last one looks like. I hit my knee on a rock because I was going super 'Parkour' off all of them, so ya my knee kinda hurts.

I'm definitely getting sick of EFY music, I just know every time I'm gonna hear it at home I'm gonna think of my mission. Because that's basically all we listen to, Its kinda lame but whatever. And yes, we did meet some tourist that said they would call you. We get lots of tourist that come to the Pulehu chapel. I think its where the first person was baptized here on the islands.

Its against the rules for me to email Thomas, and that's the only way I can contact him. So how about you just email this to him OK??, so that way technically I won't be breaking any rules. I don't know how other missions handle things because I've never been on a mission other then in Hawaii, but I feel like this mission is pretty dang laid back. Not that I'm braking any rules or anything but ya its just pretty dang laid back.

Thanks for the letter Watts' family ! and also a shout out to the Wests! Thanks for letters, they were magical!!! I got three minutes and I gotta think of things i need to say.... O ya, I've basically been away for two months that's pretty dang cool.  Soon I wont be one of the newer missionaries on the island!  See ya love you all!

Elder Shoemaker

The 40 Pound Mission

Area:  Pukalani, Maui
Companion:  Elder Niemann

I'm having a little bit of a hard time remembering all the things I did this week so sorry if I don't. We were able to commit Kalei (that's how you spell it Mom) to getting baptized in this month of March. Were trying to get at least 3 baptisms so we can hit our goal of 200 baptisms as a entire mission. President Dalton wants to go out with a bang I think, because he will be leaving in like three months. We actually got Peter and Jasmine to say YES to baptism as well, but the thing is you have to go to church three times before you get baptized. But the hard thing is that everyone is such beach bums. Every one's like "lets go to the beach bra!" and I'm like "no way brudda!!".  Its because people work during the week then go to the beach on Sunday.

I got to talk with President Dalton one on one for the first time. We had our interviews and he really is just such a great man. He's also rich as heck, but that's because you have to be friggin' rich to be a mission president in Hawaii. He's also someone that you would never want to mess with - he's the kinda of person that demands authority.  You kinda have to be because Hawaii is a big mission and because not everyone is in the same place, so it kinda hard to control. He can't like make a "surprise visit" to our pad because he's on a different island then us. He said that he's flown at least 1,000 times or something like that while he's been a Mission President, he's really quite a funny man too.

We're trying to get that one lady "D" {the one that farted on me} to also be baptized. Also Caitlyn, Angelina, and Juvy. Juvy has some problems with being sealed to her husband, because he's already been sealed to someone else.

I'm trying to think of anything crazy that happened this week like last week but I cant think of much. Except for last night at the Hariss'. They have this thing they do with the missionaries when they come over for dinner. They make huge sourdough pancakes, and they just keep on making you eat them until you pretty much die. So Mom, I've really come to the conclusion that I'm really probably gonna gain some weight here. That's why they call it the 40 pound mission, because it might happen. And there's really not a lot of time for you to work out, unless you wake up early, there's no friggin' way that I'm gonna lose any of my precious sleep time. All the missionaries gain weight, most of them wait until the last like 6 months of there mission then try to lose it. My body isn't gonna matter after the resurrection anyways...... so its all good.

Today for p-day we have a sports day, so Maui Zone is going down to the Maui Lani Stake Center and we'll just do it there. That stake center is nicer then our stake center too, its pretty new.

Also met a gay guy while tracting, he asked if I wanted to do some nasty things things, I said, "no thank you", so that's always fun. O yea I'm also just wearing those second pair of shoes Mom, so no need to worry..........and Grandma were not cavemen we don't have have church in that chapel. Our church building is in Pukalani, and it has a really good view of the ocean and the rest of the island from there.

I have oatmeal and toast for breakfast pretty much every day, its dellish. Also tell me if Landon liked that sticker I got him, they have a lot of cool stickers there and clothes also, so just send me money if you want any. Our mailbox is still locked but we can get our mail if we talk to the mean mail lady (she doesn't like us).

I received the stuff to fill out my license, but I have not filled it out yet, its to daunting of a task. I also just got a box from Grandma and Grandpa with a whole butt load food just today. So thank... you for that!.... and thanks Jackson and Charlee for the hand-a-cordians.

I forgot the cord to plug in my camera so you don't get any pictures today.   It will make you learn to appreciate when I do OK!! hehe!! O ya, I think you should send me my USB thingy, I would like it. You should also put some cool talks on there so I can listen to them, because its always fun to listen to a talk if you have to drive all the way to Hawaiian homes. Well I have three minutes, So I love you guys! Have a good week !

Love Elder Shoemaker