ByeBye Big Island

the last two weeks of May were a frenzy of saying last goodbyes to students, and doing everything on the Big Island we wanted to do before leaving. 

i had my last discipleship appointments with Jessica and Melody, which were really great. i gave them both the book Breaking Free by Beth Moore, and challenged them to think and pray about how they wanted God to change them this summer. while it was a challenge to disciple girls knowing that i'd only have a few months to do it, it was encouraging to see how God grew them in just those few months. 

i also got to hang out with many of my students one last time. i got to have dinner with 3 of my Japanese friends, who are now all back in Japan (and hopefully i can hang out with them this summer). i got to see my friend Risa one last time and have coffee with her. we talked about her views on spiritual things/God, and i was able to pray for her. i also got to have lunch one last time with my friends Taku and Allena. Taku is now back in Japan as well, but while he was in Hilo, we got to share the Gospel with him and he came to church with us sometimes. 

we had one last Cru event of the year- a beach day at Richardsons Beach, where we invited all our friends to hang out one last time. it was fun to see everyone and say goodbye, but also sad because it solidified the fact that we were actually leaving Hilo soon. 

our last week was full of exploring the island, unbirthday celebrations (we celebrated my birthday, nikki's, albert's and kylan's because our birthdays are all in the summer) and packing. we got to go to the top of Mauna Kea and get a tour through the observatories and see the NASA telescope. we build a fort of sheets and blankets in our living room and watched Megamind together. We went to Waipio Valley and hiked (well, i couldn't hike but i chilled at the lookout point and enjoyed the nature with Albert). we watched The Return of the King in the fort and ate chocolate fondue, and went out to dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant. we also went to the Matsui's house, where they cooked dinner for us and gave us goodbye presents. 

our last Saturday in Hilo we had a huge garage sale to sell all of our stuff that we'd had to buy. it was supposed to start at 6 am but by 5:30am people were already starting to come by. praise God, we were able to sell most of our things, but we definitely lost a lot of money. one of the unfortunate consequences of being in Hawaii for only 4-5 months. 

Sunday was a hectic day of cleaning the house and packing. i was able to go to a BBQ with some of the football guys in the evening which was a good, fun last thing to do in Hilo- i even got to share the Gospel with one of the guys i met there! when i got home, we finished cleaning the kitchen, then moved all of our stuff to Sarah/Katie's apartment to spend the night (since we'd sold our mattresses). 

and all the sudden it was official. our days in The Shire were over. it was so surreal...the next morning we'd be leaving for Maui for 10 days of vacation and debriefing, and then all of the sudden, our time in Hawaii would be over...

on a happier note, here are some pictures from our last weeks of May: 

Hilo Coffee Mill tour- in front of a cocoa tree

last beach hangout

last dinner at Ken's with some of the BCM guys + Colton & Patrick 

under the telescope at the observatory 

sunset over Mauna Kea

first (and last) time surfing at Hanalei  

dinner at Miyo's with my Japanese friends

hanging out in Waimea w/ Jeremy and his boys 

lunch with Taku 

(un)birthday desserts!

our fort 

Waipio Valley