STAY FAITHFUL, STAY CONNECTED, STAY COMMUNITY!: 4/29/2020 Pg 2: Phoebe, Mission Trip

YOUTHFUL VOICES

SHELTERING-AT-HOME REFLECTIONS BY PHOEBE HAYASHI

Phoebe with her confirmation mentor Liz Chun

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that everyone in the Hayashi family is doing physically fine (perhaps not mentally or emotionally). The bad news is we’ve been stuck in the house for a little over a month and the good news may change unexpectedly.

I’m enjoying not going to school. I will freely admit that I have never been thrilled with the idea that I need to spend x amount of hours in the same area and this past week (4/13) was supposed to be the week where the juniors (aka, my grade) took the Smarter Balanced Assessment Test (aka, SBA, aka, the new HSA). So, I’m currently enjoying myself not taking that test. However, I don’t think I’ve been so bored in my life. Because part of the thrill of not going to school is the knowledge that you’ll have to go back to school. Or at least that’s true for me.

I would probably be enjoying staying home more if I could go out every now and then—just to replenish my stock of books. As it is, I’m busily re-reading every fiction book in the house that I can stand to touch. (I’m not desperate enough to read my school textbooks. That would involve thinking.) I also might enjoy staying home more if I were less likely to be interrupted by Jared. I can sit in my room for the next six hours reading a book and I could (given an infinite supply of books that I’m interested in reading) do this for months on end, breaking to make meals. I wouldn’t have to stop reading to eat, because I can (when allowed) eat and read. But I would have to stop in order to not burn my food. Jared, on the other hand, requires human interaction every few hours. So being stuck in a house with some of the most sociable people I know (Jared and my dad) is exhausting for someone who doesn’t like to talk that much (like myself). I have nothing against people who talk, it’s people who expect you to converse that’s exhausting.

For instance, my dad’s birthday was about 2 weeks ago and that night, he decided to make up family-sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” He played guitar, Jared was forcibly impressed into playing the viola and Mom and I sang. It was fine but he seemed to think that the course of an hour would turn us into the Von Trapp Family Singers (from “The Sound of Music”). I’m here to tell you we did not sound like them. At all. Fortunately, the police weren’t called to shut down the torture of innocent felines.

In the few hours that I managed to snatch for myself, I was pretty productive - at first. I crocheted a couple of blankets, an ugly sweater (it came out hideous) and a pair of gloves. Then I finally sewed the pillow that Jared’s been bugging me for and decided to take a long break.

After a couple of weeks of complete and utter boredom, I emailed one of my friends and now we’re exchanging emails. It’s very therapeutic to read something that is both frivolous and amusing from someone suffering similarly to me. Between that and extremely long walks, I’ve managed to restrain my urge to lock myself in my bedroom for alone time. However, I’ve been finding it counterproductive to leave my house for a long walk and continue to encounter other people. So, I have been cutting back on the long walks. But I have also managed to establish a routine that allows me to spend large periods of time by myself (or as close to it as possible).

This routine is also important because of the demands on our sole computer. Between the four of us, we share a grand total of one (1) computer. (There exists a total of two computers in the house, but the second one no one dares to so much as breathe on because it’s Dad’s work computer.) This means that between Jared’s and my schoolwork, (I have “enrichment activities” because my teachers aren’t grading it and Jared has “homework” because his teachers are), Mom’s sort of, not really work (she’s officially taking vacation) and Dad’s...I don’t know what Dad uses the computer for, computer time is kind of limited. Which is why I’m stuck reading physical books.

I would also like to explain that the Hayashi kids have no pictures of our Easter Resurrection Garden because a small furry mammal has been getting into it and so I have abandoned mine to the elements. It hardly has any grass and doesn’t really look like anything. I would like it noted that I did try to make it work, and this isn’t a “dog ate my homework excuse.”

If anything really good came out of this quarantine, it’s that I now have stories to tell my (hopeful) grandkids. “You guys think you had it so bad? Back in my day, I was stuck at home, with my family for months to avoid a massive pandemic!”

YOUTH MISSION TRIP 2020 POSTPONED

Article by AUNTIE MARTI

Group Mission Trip let us know on Monday, 4/20/20 that, “after much prayer and consideration, we are postponing our entire 2020 domestic mission trip season to next year."

Group said: “If there’s one thing we’ve learned after 30+ years of leading mission trips, it’s that God often shows up in the greatest way when our plans fall apart. We hear it over and over again when we invite campers and leaders to share God Sightings during our evening programs—and the common theme always emerges of how something went sideways but God revealed something awesome.”

Prior to Group’s official decision, our youth, parents and chaperones had some discussions about cancelling and possibly replace the experience with a local experience. However, the Taba family provided this feedback:

“Speaking from past experience, Amy and I [Adam] agree that Group mission trips are once in a life time opportunities and the process of traveling away and to a mainland experience is very different from anything around here. The amount of people gathered for the group trips combined with the powerful lessons that are taught makes it an extremely unique experience that is hard to replicate by going to other camps or places.”

We want to thank Aunty Frances Wong and Uncle Ryan Urabe for being brave enough to have volunteered to chaperone us. Thank you also to the Murakamis for volunteering to be staff for the Elkview, West Virginia mission trip. We hope our adults will still feel God’s nudge to join us next year and that we can find a good date that would enable more of our youth to participate.

Finally, and most importantly, thank you to our loving congregation for your support these last three years as we planned and fundraised for this opportunity.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”-Jeremiah 29:11.

Editor’s Note: The Youth Group and the Christian Education Committee wish to thank Auntie Marti for her thorough and tireless planning for our mission trips. Marti: you are soooooooo appreciated!! Mahalo plenty!!

A Gallery of Our Mission Trip Youth in Their 2020 Mission Ts—Radiating Inner Joy Despite Disappointment