Aaron Zwahlen admittedly has a chronic case of island fever.
There was no cure in 2013, when he was considered one of the top quarterback prospects, and no remedy this week after he completed a two-year church mission.
"I love the place," said Zwahlen, who joins the University of Hawaii football team officially when he begins the school’s Summer Session I on Tuesday. "I love the people. Coach (Norm) Chow is a great coach. I look forward to working with him. I feel like it’s going to be a good place to play as much football as I can."
During spring break in 2012, Zwahlen’s family attended a Warriors practice. His father, Lynn, was a receiver at Brigham Young when Chow was a Cougars graduate assistant in the 1970s.
Soon after that 2012 visit, Chow offered Zwahlen a scholarship with the understanding that it would go into effect after he completed a two-year mission.
"It was love at first sight," said Zwahlen, who was raised in Modesto, Calif. "When I went there for spring-break vacation, we watched practice that first time. I loved it there. The coaching staff, the players, the people on the island, they were so welcoming. I knew that’s where I was supposed to go."
That fall, Zwahlen had a breakout senior season for Downey High. ESPN gave Zwahlen a 4-star rating and ranked him No. 155 nationally on its top-300 list. BYU, Boise State, Duke, Northwestern, Oregon State, Texas Tech and Washington State recruited Zwahlen, who signed with UH in February 2013.
That pledge did not waver, even during the mission to Baltimore that began that fall.
Missionaries are limited to exchanging email once a week. They can Skype family members only on Christmas and Mother’s Day. Their days are filled with studies, community service and sharing their Mormon faith.
There was a loophole.
"We could get up as early as we wanted," Zwahlen said. "I’d get up at 5:30 every morning and work out for an hour or so."
Sometimes he would lift weights in a family’s basement. Sometimes he would go to a nearby high school field to throw passes to another missionary or do footwork.
He brought along a football during his mission. "I had to send for another one because that one was getting worn out," he said. "I had two by the end of my mission."
He said his father, who read news accounts and visited Hawaii a few times, sent weekly updates on the Rainbow Warriors. Zwahlen’s emails contained reports of his work in hard-scrabble areas that later were the sites of riots, of spreading a message that often was resisted.
"When you’re so focused on other people," Zwahlen said, "you forget about all the concerns you have about yourself."
Zwahlen said he learned different ways to relate to others, and to multi-task.
"I don’t have to do one thing 100 percent of the time and not focus on anything else," he said. "I can help other people while doing school work and focusing on my church responsibilities. I can balance things a lot better now."
Zwahlen returned to Modesto on Thursday, weighing 205 pounds — the same amount he carried on his 6-foot-3 frame when he departed two years ago.
"I was able to focus on football during that a.m. period," he said. "Once workouts were done, I did my missionary work."
Zwahlen and his father arrive in town on Memorial Day. He already has an off-campus apartment he will share with teammates Dylan Collie and Damien Packer.
"I’m excited to work with (quarterbacks) Max (Wittek), Ikaika (Woolsey) and Beau (Reilly)," he said. "We’ll see how it goes."
