If I was a tourist I would be wearing a "Tsunami Survivor 2010" shirt right now. Those t-shirts have been selling like hotcakes lately haha but I would be super embarassed to be wearing one considering that nothing exciting even happened. It was nice that I was able to call home though so I won't complain. One of our investigators called us at 6:00 am to tell us about the incoming tsunami and soon after that they sounded the alarm all over the islands. My apartment is in the tsunami safe-zone so nothing much needed to be done and then we just had to wait until the "wave" was scheduled to hit the island. Hau'ula is about as close as you can live to the ocean and so some of our members and investigators said that the waves were coming in over the road in some places, but no damage was done. You're right mom...a little anticlimatic. Not that I wanted anyone's house to get destroyed, but it could have been a little more exciting. The funniest thing about it was that the local grocery store was limiting the amount of spam you could purchase....2 cases per family!! So gross.
Its not a coincidence that the Temple is the gathering place for the people of Laie during times of danger (like a tsunami). When the tsunami warning sounded, EVERYONE evacuated to the Temple, the high ground, the safest place. It was a good reminder to me and to many others that as long as we stay close to the Temple, we will be protected from the dangers of this world. The Temple truly is a place of peace, safety, and refuge and at all times we should be living worthily enough to enter in and find rest. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" and the best preparation we can make in our own lives is to repent and take the steps necessary to find safety within the walls of the Temple. It truly is the safest place to be in times of trouble or distress, or anytime at all I guess. "You are never lost when you can see the temple!!"
I think that this past week was really the first time it dawned on me that I live on an island and can't go anywhere. You can't just drive for hours to get away like you can in Wyoming. You drive and you end up exactly where you began....that doesn't really sit comfortably with my personality haha. It's okay though, I like the island life for now. The work is going really well and the gospel of Jesus Christ continues to change people for the best. Thank you for your prayers and letters of support during this past week, it was needed and I love you.
Aloha!
Sister Stringer
Its not a coincidence that the Temple is the gathering place for the people of Laie during times of danger (like a tsunami). When the tsunami warning sounded, EVERYONE evacuated to the Temple, the high ground, the safest place. It was a good reminder to me and to many others that as long as we stay close to the Temple, we will be protected from the dangers of this world. The Temple truly is a place of peace, safety, and refuge and at all times we should be living worthily enough to enter in and find rest. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" and the best preparation we can make in our own lives is to repent and take the steps necessary to find safety within the walls of the Temple. It truly is the safest place to be in times of trouble or distress, or anytime at all I guess. "You are never lost when you can see the temple!!"
I think that this past week was really the first time it dawned on me that I live on an island and can't go anywhere. You can't just drive for hours to get away like you can in Wyoming. You drive and you end up exactly where you began....that doesn't really sit comfortably with my personality haha. It's okay though, I like the island life for now. The work is going really well and the gospel of Jesus Christ continues to change people for the best. Thank you for your prayers and letters of support during this past week, it was needed and I love you.
Aloha!
Sister Stringer
