The Macadamia Nut Farm

While on the island of Molokai we went to a macadamia nut farm.  There were 300 macadamia nut trees.  50 of the trees were over 90 years old.  There was a parking lot and then there was a road through macadamia nut trees.  The guides name was Purdy.  He was nice and mean.  He was friendly and wanted us to try his nuts.  My grandpa asked him where he sells all of his nuts.  He said he only sells them here at the farm and asked my grandpa if he thought we were the only ones that come here!  He was a little crazy.  My grandpa said he was the nut nazi!

This is what I learned about how macadamia nuts grow.  It take about 10 years for the trees to start producing nuts.  Purdy showed us an example of  every single stage of the nut growing on one single tree.  That showed that it produces all year long.  First, the nuts start as a flower on the tree.  Next, they turn into a fluffy flower.  Then the flower falls off and little nuts start to form.  The wind blows off some of the nut buds so the other ones have room to grow.  It takes about 6 month for the nut to grow.  They fall on the ground and are collected.  People have to crack the outer shell off.  Then they have to dry for 2-3 days.  Now they can be held with a special tool while they are cracked with a hammer to get the nut out.  I got to crack some nuts myself and eat them fresh out of their shell.  They tasted even better than roasted.  They were moist, mild and yummy.  The nuts were then roasted in the oven with a little Hawaiian salt.

I learned that macadamia nuts grow all year long.  I enjoyed cracking the nuts open and tasted them. I had a lot of fun at the macadamia nut farm. – Gracie

My Day in Kula

On Wednesday we set off early in the morning to travel up the mountain to the town of Kula where we went had signed up to work on a farm. On the farm we planted about 200 artichoke plants. The soil was soft and easy to plant in. There were two farmer workers that were showing us what to do and working with us. They were unusual with crooked teeth and talked funny. They were also not very quick workers. They were surprised by how many of us showed up (7 of us) and how quickly we worked. We also helped weed the lettuce and kale beds. The stuff grown on the farm was for two restaurants and they grew what the chefs asked for. They also grew tomatoes, apples, lemons, limes, coffee beans, green beans,spinach and lots of kinds of lettuces. We got to taste a couple different kinds of lettuces, one was very spicy and another lemony. This was my favorite part. I thought it would be a horrible thing to have to volunteer on vacation but it actually ended up being fun (I hate saying that!).

Next, we went to the oldest LDS chapel built in Hawaii. It is also in Kula.  It is named the Pulehu Chapel.

Missionaries live in a small house next to the chapel. The chapel was built in 1850. George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith were missionaries who came to Maui to set up the church here. The chapel is very small with only one room. There were wooden floors and it had a very small sacrament table. There was a pulpit but no microphone. It was very simple. The benches looked like they would be very hard to sit on for church. I liked that they had everyone sign a guest book in the foyer who visited. I like this because I could see how many visitors had come there. I was surprised by how many people had signed it. -Maddy

The Way To Make Everything Sweet

The Meyer’s sugar mill on the island of Molokai is the smallest sugar mill in Hawaii. Rudolph Wilhelm Meyer built the mill with the help of his two sons in 1878. The family abandoned sugar making 10 years later because of the low price of sugar, cane disease and drought. The mill today has been restored and is a museum.
The process of making sugar takes slot of time and is messy work. First, a mule would pull a turn stile and the sugar cane would be crushed between two barrel like things. The cane juice flows down a pipe and into a copper container called a clarifier. The juice was boiled and lime was added. Then the juice on top was drained into a large evaporator. Heat from the furnace flowed under the evaporator and the water evaporated out of the juice. The juice thickened up as it went through each gate. Then the juice would flow to the cooling room. The thick juice was taken by bucket to large cooling pans. The juice crystalized forming sugar crystals and molasses. The mixture was brought by pail to two large tubs. They spun around making the molasses flow through a screen leaving the sugar crystals. These were powered by a steam engine. The molasses was sold for cooking, making rum and as an expensive sweetener. This visit to the sugar mill was very interesting. -Brayden

The Tale of Three Trees

The Tale of Three Trees is my favorite story.  It goes like this.  Three trees stood on a mountain top and they all had dreams.  The first tree’s dream was to be a treasure chest and hold lots of gold.  The second tree’s dream was to become a boat and sail great waters and hold great kings.  The third tree’s dream was to stand tall and point to God.  Three woodcutters came to the top of the mountain and cut all three trees down.  The first tree was excited when the man took him to a carpenter’s shop but he got made into an animal feed box instead of a treasure chest.  The second tree smiled when he was taken to a ship yard but he was made into a fishing boat.  The third tree was cut into beams and put in a pile and forgotten.

One night a woman put her new born baby into the feed box because there was no other place for them.  The first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure of all.  Years passed and the second tree sailed out into the sea while the passengers were sleeping.  There was a thundering storm.  The tired passenger stood up and said’ “Peace!” and the storm stopped.  The second tree knew he was holding the greatest king.  The third tree was startled when he got yanked off the pile and dragged through the streets with angry crowds.  He felt terrible when soldiers nailed a man’s hands to him.

A few days later the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything.  It had made the first tree beautiful.  It had made the second tree strong and every time people thought of the third tree they would think of God.  That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

I love this story because every tree got their dream come true in different ways than they expected.  This story always makes my eyes water.  – Gracie

The True Meaning Of Christmas

Last night I watched The First Presidency Christmas Devotional with my family and loved it. I would like to tell you the story that President Uchtdorf share in his talk. When he was young, about 4 years old, he lived in Czechoslovakia. In the room that they had the Christmas tree that was decorated with shining brilliant ornaments and silver tinsel  there were  real wax candles in the room which shined on curtains nearby.  He learned two important things that fateful day.  The first thing he learned was that if he held a wax candle up behind the curtain it would make a beautiful sight.  The second thing he learned was that curtains are flammable!  The candle caught the curtains on fire.  He screamed and his parents came running in shocked.  They pulled down the curtains and stomped the fire out.  He thought he had ruined Christmas but even though he almost turned his apartment into a pile of ash and smoke he didn’t ruin Christmas.  He didn’t destroy the love in his family or the magic of Christmas.  Christmas is not only of gifts, decorations and panicking to finish everything.  Christmas is stronger than that.  Christmas is really about the Christ.

This message made me really think  about the true meaning of Christmas. – Brayden

President Monson’s Christmas Message

Last night was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I loved what Thomas S. Monson had to say so I am sharing it with you. His topic was about Christmas and how we need to think more of Christ. He says, “Christmas is becoming more commercial and it is all about the marketing, sales, parties, presents, and Santa Claus. Christmas is what we make of it. You can establish traditions that keep Christ in Christmas! A tradition we do in our family is read scripture verses from the Bible that have to do with Christ’s birth. Happiness will come to us when we give and serve others and not by being selfish. Loving one another, giving, serving, kindness and most importantly CHRIST is what Christmas is all about.” Now after President Monson gave the these words I know that I will try harder to keep Christ in Christmas. -Maddy