Kona June 25 – July 1
Aloha!
It’s July already!
How the time has flown by. We
were just discussing on the way home from the temple yesterday that entering
the MTC two months ago seems like years, but only two months! Auwe!
We completed another busy week of service in the House of the
Lord. Some days over sixteen hours long with members of the Presidency serving
right there with us. In fact, June was
the busiest month in the history of our beautiful temple.
This last week, we had the opportunity to meet and serve
with another Tongan Ward from Maui, the last until October. I feel the need to learn a little Tongan but
I’m having a little trouble getting the cadence of the language through my mind
to my mouth. One of the counselors in
the Presidency gave me a book about how to learn Tongan and I copied a couple
of phrases. My computer lacks a proper
type font for Hawaiian as well as Tongan so some of the Diacritical marks don’t
print correctly but a few comparisons will give you the point…
English Hawaiian Tongan
Hello Aloha Malo e lelei
How are you? Pehea ‘oe? Fefe Hake?Thanks very much! Mahalo nui loa! Malo ‘aupito!
Well, you get the picture!
I must tell you about one Brother who I worked with to schedule his
Ward’s appointment. He doesn’t use Email so it was more difficult to schedule
all their sessions than usual. I first
received a FAX from him via his brother outlining their schedule needs. After reviewing and determining we could meet
most of their needs, I tried to call to confirm the few changes. No answer, so I left a voice mail. After a
couple of weeks, I received another FAX with changes to his original
schedule. Called him back and finally
got him on the phone…from his voice, I painted a picture of the man that later
proved to be fairly accurate when I met him in person.
He was a little shorter than I expected for a Tongan but was still
several inches taller than me. He had a
neck size that I would judge to be in excess of 20 inches and his hands dwarfed
my own. He was large but powerful and when he spoke, everyone listened.
Okay, the voice! I finally
characterized it this way…if a giant Alaskan Kodiak bear with a cold could talk…you’ve
heard this wonderful brother speak!
A couple of weeks ago, one of the Counselors asked me to meet with him
and a couple from our ward in the President’s office. I was able to provide some procedural counsel
to an issue and was able to assure them about their concerns. That next weekend, this brother sat next to
me in Choir practice and I was amazed at his beautiful baritone voice. I later complimented him on his voice and
asked if he had received professional training.
He said no and that he could not read music either. I was shocked!
Today I sat next to him and while I was having trouble finding the
right pitch for a couple of hymns we are practicing, this brother had the melody
pegged and was fully capable of drowning out the rest of the men in the
choir. Okay, there are only four of us
but he has a beautiful voice.
Later when the meeting was turned over for testimonies, this brother
was the first to the podium to bear his testimony. Another word picture is in
order…mid-thirties, long curly hair, goatee, sun glasses on top of his head! He bore one of the most beautiful and
heartfelt testimonies I ever been privileged to hear.
When the mail came to the temple last Tuesday, we received a package
from a couple who used to live on the Hilo side of the Island. Inside, were
five Book of Mormon in Hawaiian and a note stating that they had moved to the
mainland and had discovered these books when unpacking. They asked that we use them in the Temple or
provide a good home for them. Since they are not bound in white we could not place
them in the Temple but we put a copy in the President’s office and I have one
on my desk.
Saturday, I helped serve at the recommend desk so the brother serving
there could take a break. He is a very
kindly Hawaiian whose name means “Good.”
When he returned, he asked me how I was progressing with reading the
Book of Mormon in Hawaiian. I replied that I had completed it once and was
nearing the end of 2 Nephi on my second reading. He said he didn’t know there was a Hawaiian
translation before he heard about me reading it. He said he had a Hawaiian Bible that he had
read before. A few minutes later he came
to the office and asked me to order a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon in
Hawaiian for him. I explained where he
could order from the church website and gave him the URL address. My bride later suggested I give him one of
the books we had received earlier. I followed
her excellent counsel and gave him a copy.
He was so touched about how these folks on the mainland had sent these to
the temple; he had tears in his eyes and promised to read it. I promised to give him the name of the couple
and their address so he could write and thank them.
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