Hawaiian Hills

Although I am a bit distraught about the fact that i left my precious board back in LA I am thankful that I am still semi-able to partake in the joy of it all. The Swedes found the perfect, and i mean PERFECT, hill to bomb right next to our house. So sweet. They really wanted someone to photograph them as they made there way down. I jumped at the chance, having both a love for the sport and for the request. Philippe it turns out is also a wonderful boarder and had bought one that day. So with my Swiss and Swedes I followed for a while on a bicycle but they were all towed up by moped. I stopped after a while not knowing how much further they expected me to ride. After a while Samuel come down on the moped and i ditched the bike and was soon zipping up the hill to the drop point. Once we met up with the guys it was on. What a magnificent time! Holding on to Samuel while trying to get good shots was quite the task. I felt much like a paparazzi as i did the balancing act of staying on a moped while trying to shoot behind me. Such a magnifico time. I think I need to do it again but in the back of a truck so I can have more control of the camera and get some great shots instead of some good shots. I have three weeks left with my Swedes and am quite sad about that fact but I must enjoy the time while it lasts.

Daniel & Markus Showing their skills


L to R Philippe, Daniel, Markus, Erik
"The boys"

One Down

First Order of Business

A couple things you guys should know:
1. I put my cell phone on hold while I am here cause its an expense i don't need. If you want or need to call me you can reach me at (808) 326-2179. *Be aware of the 3 hour time difference!
2. They need people badly to work on the new building and they are planning to have 3 more up by the end of this year so if you have a break or need a break and want to volunteer your time get over here! Talk to me more or check out the missions builder program. Also even if your not the construction type you could help do other stuff so people who are working kitchen and such could be freed up to help construction. Think about it, free food, rent, your in Hawaii... yeah you have to work but its totally worth it.

I can't believe I've already been here for more than a week. The internet has been down for almost a week now and so that has made communicating a little difficult. I started working construction on monday and soon discovered we'd be doing a lot a lot of dry walling. Fun stuff. We also have to do fire walls (double thickness) on many sections of the building. It's been crazy cause all the piping and conduate is already installed so cutting pieces around all that has been quite the task. I live in a hostel like home that is perfect for a short stay. I am loving the diversity that I am completely surrounded in here. It is so cool to hear about how things are so different outside the US. I am getting closer to the group of Swedish guys here at Hale Ola (our apartment complex). I've also had so good chats with my Swiss roomie. Let me tell you everything in Switzer sounds top notch crazy clean and nice. It blows my mind to how low the US dollar is compared to other places. I thought 4/gal was a lot for gas but over in Sweden they are paying 12/gal! That is just sick. I've been thinking how rad it would be to go visit my sweds but thinking about how everything is 2 to 3 times as expensive makes that a hard idea to bring about.


My House: Pics wouldn't work will upload latter

Last Saturday when i went surfing i not only got extremely tired and a foot full of vana but i also got a horrible sunburn. I couldn't sleep for several nights it was bad. I didn't use any sunscreen cause no one had any. Such a stupid thing to do. Now I am peeling like a snake its so gross. I think I might have got fried again today even though i had someone put 50spf on me. I cant wait till burning is no longer a problem. Sheesh what are you gonna do though right? Having been to Maui before coming here i had a little idea what the climate was like and the terain but something i never experienced over there was vog. Vog is nasty volcanic ash that creates a fog like substance that has covered the island every day I've been here. There are a few hours it clears out usually in the mornings but it consistently rolls back in when i get off work. Kinda lame but I cant complain when its a comfortable 80 degrees everyday, even with vog.


Above: My First Burn- check the line ha ha my new shorts were all up on me cause i was sitting on a board

We had a great Swedish boxing match between Kris and Daniel wonderful wonderful time ha ha we even set up a phone to be the announcing mic fun times ha ha...




(Above Erik announcing the fight, Below: Daniel and Kris dooking it out)

On this last Thursday night our service was so so good. The speaker really was just calling us to be a people who seek the Lords presence in everything. Really amazing night. God is so good. I feel so blessed to be able to be here. I feel a little disconnected from everyone but I know as time goes on I will be more comfortable and click better with people. I am the new guy once again. Sigh* ha ha thats the story of my life. Yeah its been good real good though. Pray that i will get direction with what and where i go from here. I am having second thoughts about going back to school but pray that I will just be listening for what the Lord is calling me to and I will be obedient in following that.

First Impressions

Hawaii. my new tropical homeland. i thought this might be an easier way to keep everyone up to date on my current events. lets see... i have been so blessed already in just the few days ive been here. First off its pretty amazing that i made it over here. Two major Hawaiian airlines just up and closed shop for good the week before i was leaving. Not only did that cause major problems but the FAA shut down several airlines canceling over 900 flights the day i was taking off. Thanks be to our Lord i made it without a hitch.

Some reason the thought never crossed my mind that there would be people from all over the world here at the YWAM base. It seriously blew my mind to see the diversity of Gods people in this small place. My roommate, Philip, is from Switzerland and is such a kind hearted awesome guy. He is a elementary school teacher back in Switzer. Working with the Missions Builder program is a very cool opportunity. We serve mon-fri 8 hrs a day then have weekends off which consist of island explorations and of course, surfing. It was my first day on a board in 6 years, crazy. Its amazing how much of a workout surfing really is. Me and the Sweds (4 amazing guys from Sweden) hitched out to a local surf spot that was a blast. I only caught one good wave but hey i got plenty of time to catch some more. Unfortunately though on my way back onto the shore i stepped on something that caused some immediate pain. I looked and my food and saw it was full of little slivery black spines. Vana, I soon found out is all over the place and is not fun at all to get a foot full of. I was told peeing on it would help ease the pain and lower the swelling. The whole reason that i was going back to shore was to get some water cause i was totally dehydrated. I felt really sick at first (mainly from dehydration) but then after a while was able to do the deed. I must say peeing on yourself is awkward. The funny thing is that right when we got there one of the sweds was telling me how last week he had to pee on one of the girls cause she stepped on one too. Fun fun. Ha ha.

Yeah so i haven't really worked yet i start on Monday but i just feel so grateful to be here. The missions builders live in an apartment complex that is about a half mile away from the University of the Nations Campus (where we work, and eat). So everyday there are shuttles that run between the locations, you miss the van and your walking. Well I think this is enough for the evening I'll definitely keep you all posted with more as it comes about.

Peace