WAIPIO VALLEY YOUTH EXCURSION & SERVICE PROJECT

We are sooo BLESSED to live in a natural majestic place where beauty surrounds us everywhere. Yesterday, we were fortunate to have traveled with our stake beehives and deacons down to the all famous "Waipio Valley" for a service project.

Anton, Makana & I woke up at 5am to meet the other youth leaders and head off to Waipio Valley where we met up with the rest of the 12 & 13 year olds in our Stake. The drive is about an hour to get to the town of Honoka'a. We were greeted with some informational statistics about the valley by one of it's own family members who has been born & raised there. After our prayer she gave a beautiful 'oli', and as the winds blew through and red robins sat perched on branches that stood 2,000 feet above the water where we stood, we then proceeded with our hike DOWN HILL into the valley. I didn't realize how much I was out of shape until I was half way down....hehehe.. It was sooo steep that we had to zig zag our way down the path holding tall sturdy sticks as our cane. What an experience to remember!!

Our son Anton was in AWE at nature's beauty and I was speechless knowing that some of my ancestors came from this valley which held special meaning to me. It was so quiet that you could hear birds chirping from way deep down in the valley and donkey's hee-hawing from the neighbors back yard. As we reached the nearly 2 mile downhill trek, there were trucks waiting at the bottom to help transport all of us to the home which they were going to be painting as a service project. We rode through rivers, rocky roads, passed a group of horses along the pathway and even spotted the two famous waterfalls. When we all arrived, we were greeted with a devotional instructions in which the youth began to paint & clean a home of a family who has given so much to our church throughout the years they've lived there. We felt a special love and a sense of unity as they all worked together helping one another in completing this awesome project. Amidst the day we were greeted with misty rains, sunshine, haumakua coast tradewinds and it was absolutely breathtaking!! We heard the bearing of testimonies from our youth and leaders that touched each & every one of us..... This will be a day to remember and it will definitely be a page marked in my journal... I'm Grateful for this experience that I had to attend such an uplifting event!!