Ka'anapali

Scott and I are here in Maui, Hawaii. He has some education with Pacific University. Scott is in class everyday until 12:30. I was worried about having so much time alone . . . but I am loving it! Just got back from a walk. The weather is warm, the surroundings are beautiful, and I am finding that my mind is clear. It is nice to think about life without time pressures.

Yesterday, Monday, I wandered in to Lahaina on a shuttle bus. Met a lady from England who's husband is here on business also. It was fun chatting with her. She had a great sense of humor and it was fun learning about England weather . . . very rainy right now with lots of floods. Lahaina old town is very quaint but very touristy. There is some fun little shops and under the big banyan tree were alot of little peddlers. There was a photographer there with great shots of sea turtles. He said that he takes them all with a little 5.5 pixel olympus with the sea turtles only about one to two feet under the surface. No flash . . . the color was great!

In the afternoon we ventured out to Wailea area to find the Aquarium again . . . the spot that took us four days to find last year with only 20 minutes to snorkel once we found it. We found it again and helped a young Chinese couple there also. They were totally lost (we know the feeling). The snorkeling there is unreal! You would have thought that someone had planted all those fish there . . . It was a windy day and outside the aquarium area the water was very murky. But inside the aquarium, it is protected and the water is clear. Lots of school of fishes. Beautiful colors! The walk there and back was hairy . . . black lava rock . . . no mercy if you miss a step . . . but way worth it. On the way back, we figured out where Fishbowl is. Supposedly another great snorkeling spot. The trail is in the middle of about two miles of straight black lava rock, if you would call it a trail. I think we are going to go back there and try to discover . . .

I am enjoying the quiet mind time . . . thinking alot about my children, their spouses, Hayden, Kimbrie Jo . . . things I need to change in my life . . . attitudes I need to change . . . patience I need to develop. Read my scriptures yesterday for a longer period of time than I have for a long time. New insights were given to me and I truly learned from them. When people are hardhearted about the gospel (or even in other things of life), it is because they don't understand and they don't believe, they haven't felt the spirit. If we don't understand, if we have a desire, then learn about it and pray to feel the spirit, we too can understand. I think this even applies to when we don't understand others. If we try to understand where they are coming from, talk with them and go with an open heart and a prayer, we can understand.

Life is great! Today is Tuesday . . . we will see what it brings . . .