Kona October 22 - 28

Kona October 22 – 28

                                      A beautiful evening with few clouds and no VOG

 

Aloha na hoaloha a ‘ohana!  Greetings to friends and family!

Monday, we went to the temple to make some final preparations of the Tuesday opening.  As we have noted before, the main walk way leading up to the entrance is lined with dozens of beautiful orchids which someone dubbed the Orchid Aisle (perhaps a play on the traditional ‘nickname’ for the Island of Hawaii, the Orchid Isle).  There we met three local members who were just cleaning up after replacing many of the Orchids with newer varieties and fresher blooms.  After a traditional Hawaiian greeting of a hug and kiss on the cheek, we asked them about the process they use to keep the temple grounds so beautiful.

 

                                                           The Orchid Aisle

About every two weeks, these faithful saints come and carefully remove plants that have completed the blooming cycle and replace them with fresh plants so the Orchid Aisle is always a beautiful welcome to the Temple.  Visitors and locals alike love the orchids and the beauty and peace they bring to all. The Orchid Aisle ranks up there with the most photographed scenes at the Temple.  We’ve witnessed many young Brides and Grooms having their first wedding pictures taken with all the Orchids in the background.

Many of the older plants that are removed are placed in an area to be rejuvenated and nourished to be replanted at a later time.   These members do this on their own time and with money from their own pockets out of their love for the House of the Lord.  Their selfless service is inspiring to us!

                                                           Beautiful Blue Orchid

This week we were happy to return to the Temple after the two-week closure for maintenance and cleaning.  Tuesday was a day of getting back into the office and preparing for a visit from the Lahaina 1^st Ward from Maui beginning on Wednesday.  It was also a hectic day as we ‘refreshed’ the office activities for scheduling, reports, and finding where we put things before the closure.  It didn’t take long for everything to get back into the routine!

We had the opportunity to get acquainted and reacquainted with the Lahaina Saints as they came to the temple early Wednesday morning, ready to serve.  Other than waking up at 4:30 am and longer hours each day, we have come to really appreciate the faith and loving spirit of the Hawaii saints when they travel to the temple as a ward, to serve the children of our Heavenly Father.  We are so blessed by this opportunity!

On the physical side, we have commented before about the volcanic pollution called VOG which plagues this beautiful land.  Recently, there has been an increase in activity at the Kilauea volcano which has been in eruption since 1983. One of the two active vents, Halema’uma’u, came to life in 2008 and has been emitting clouds of Sulphur Dioxide ever since.  Now, the lava lake under the crater has risen to one of the highest levels measured in years and a breakthrough onto the crater floor may be imminent.  We thought you might enjoy seeing some short videos taken by the USGS of what it looks like inside an active volcano.

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/uploads/multimediaFile-419.mov

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/uploads/multimediaFile-420.mov

Saturday evening, we were watching the news reports of the big earthquake off the coast of British Columbia Canada and we noted there was no report of a tsunami threat to Hawaii.  An hour or so later our smart phones alerted us to a Tsunami Warning issued by the USGS for all Hawaiian waters.  In all the years we have visited Hawaii we had sometimes wondered about the tall towers located all along the coastline with the large yellow alert sirens on top.  We soon found out!

All the local TV stations switched to full-time reporting of the Warning and what residents in what’s called “Inundation Zones” should be doing immediately, namely, get to higher ground and safety. The towers came to life with their powerful warning sirens and we started to evaluate our preparedness. 

We have, on several occasions, talked about what we should do to be prepared for any disaster.  Actual damage to us from a tsunami would not be possible since our apartment is about 1500 feet above the ocean on the side of the Hualalai volcano.  Disruption to electrical, water, and communications, along with access to food and fuel that could occur following an earthquake or tsunami, would affect us. 

The good news was that the tsunami waves were smaller than predicted and we received a good education in a real life preparation for a potential disaster.  We have to make some more plans and take some additional steps for our own protection.  An event like this leads us to miss all the steps we’ve taken at home to be prepared.

This coming Tuesday marks the half-way point of our mission.  We are grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for all the blessings we have received while serving His children here in Hawaii.  We love the Lord and we love and miss our family and friends at home.

Love and Aloha from Paradise!

Kona October 15 - 21

Kona October  15 – 21

                                       Beautiful Anthurium from a Ward member's yard

                                        Anthuriums and Bird of Paradise...Beautiful

                                              Two of five Florals at Church today

Aloha!

Another week has passed so quickly!  We see the weather forecasts for Idaho and Utah and there is talk about wind, rain and snow already.  How can that be?? The average daily high in Paradise has dropped from 88 to about 86 and the lows are about the same as always.  Living without real seasonal changes gives us a false sense of time passage and I’m sure that it will become more surreal as the seasons at home continue to get colder.  We do miss the autumn in Boise with cool mornings and warm days well into the month of November.  We will not miss low temperatures and snow...well maybe a little around Christmas!

                          Early morning rainbow near Waimea on the way to Honokaa

This was the last week of the Temple closing for maintenance and cleaning. Because there were no tasks that required Elder and Sister W. and ourselves, we traveled together to Honokaa for our first Missionary Zone Conference.  While we are not proselyting missionaries and not required to attend, we were warmly welcomed to the conference by President and Sister Dalton of the Honolulu Mission.  This conference was a real battery recharge for us by just associating with the 30 young missionaries, both Elders and Sisters, and three other senior missionary couples.  The age disparity became evident when they invited all the missionaries who celebrated birthdays between August 15^th and October 15^th to come to the front so we could be honored by an upbeat version of Happy, Happy Birthday and a gift of a candy bar.  My goodness, it occurred to me that I was as old as the combined age of three and a half of the four other young missionaries that were honored with me!

The Conference also brought back fond memories of the time we spent in the MTC.  The Assistants to the President (one of which was from Boise/Meridian) introduced and taught the missionaries a new door approach that, in summary, was to knock at the door, offer to leave a blessing, and to challenge the person/family to be baptized…all in 10 minutes.  Results of this program in the Fort Lauderdale Mission where it was first tried have been amazing. The number of investigators was up; baptisms were up; and retention jumped from 50% to 75%!  We so admire these young representatives of the Lord in their faithful service!

Starting on Tuesday morning, it was our opportunity to return to the Temple and take part in the final cleaning and maintenance.  Tuesday afternoon, we began the task of clearing everything out of the office in preparation for the laying of new carpet scheduled for Thursday morning throughout the office area.  All the desks were cleared, computers and monitors were disconnected, printers removed from the network, and everything movable, removed from the office.  We left the computers on the recorders desk for Wednesday morning so we could monitor email and the air handling zones for one additional day. 

We loved being back in the Temple again but it sure seemed strange to be dressed in white jumpsuits crawling around under desks disconnecting and labeling all the cables, routers and power strips in the nerve center of the TEMPLE!  We also participated in repairing some minor issues discovered during the cleaning.

Since two of the Presidency were off-island and the third member was going home to the Hilo side of the Island, we were given a key to the Temple and instructions on arming and dis-arming the security system.  We were left in charge…well mostly of ourselves.

 It was a special experience to open the temple in the mornings and, at the end of the day, turn out the lights, arm the security and lock the doors.  This brought back special memories of the four years we served as Shift Coordinators and had the blessing of turning out the lights and being the last ones to leave the Boise Temple.  Being alone together in the House of the Lord is a very spiritual experience and brings to our mind so clearly, of whose House we are blessed to enter.   This is will always remain a precious memory for us.

Friday was the ‘put it all back together and pray it all works’ day!  With the help of prayer, all the computers, networks and printers were correctly cabled, connected and tested!  I was even able to successfully add a second scanner to serve as a backup in case of problems.

While I was crawling around under desks playing with all the cables, Carolyn finished a final vacuuming of the hallways and cleaning of the restrooms and the maintenance was completed!  The Temple is now ready to bless the lives of all of God’s children.

Love and Aloha from Paradise!

            Clear view of the 14 observatories at the 13,796 foot summit of Mauna Kea

Kona October 8 - 14

Kona October 8 – 14

                                             A beautiful Hula Girl Hibiscus

Aloha I keia Pule La nani!  Greetings on this beautiful Sabbath Day!

We miss the Temple!  This week was the first week of the two-week Temple closure for maintenance and cleaning.  Other than a quick trip to the Temple on Monday to reboot the network printer so the President could print some documents, we have been on a mini-vacation of sorts all week. Elder and Sister W. have been in the Temple all week coordinating the cleaning, repairs and upgrades by virtue of his assignment as the Assistant Engineer.  We will be on call this coming week, while a few finishing touches are applied and to make everything ready for the reopening on Tuesday, October 23.

Later this evening, the First Counselor will call and let us know if we are needed in the Temple tomorrow for training on the procedures required to unlock the Temple door and enter the necessary security codes to avoid having a contingent of police at the door looking for intruders.  Our role for the rest of the week will be to provide access to the remaining workers and to be on call as the ‘local’ emergency contact.  The First Counselor and his wife will be on the other side of the Island for the rest of the week and the other two members of the Presidency are currently off-Island for the remainder of the closure period. 

If we are not needed tomorrow for the training, we will likely accompany Elder and Sister W. to a Missionary Zone Conference, scheduled for Monday on the northern part of the Island.  As full-time missionaries assigned to the Temple, we are not normally invited to most Mission activities and conferences but we can attend if we desire.  This would be a good experience for us if we are available.
                                         
This past week has been the final preparation week for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship.  If you have been to Kona, you can imagine the impact of adding more than 1900 athletes, their entourage, spectators and visitors to the population of the Kona side of the Island.  In other words, welcome to the zoo!  Driving becomes a nightmare with runners and cyclists in training everywhere, especially along the highways and roads.  The event was held on Saturday with the swim starting at 6:30 AM, then the120 mile bicycle race followed by a full marathon.  This is the third year we have been here during the Ironman so we were wise enough to just stay in the apartment all day and avoid the traffic snarls.

On Friday, we drove south to the City of Refuge, Pu’uhonua o Hanaunau, which is a National Park on the ocean south of Kealakekua Bay.  This is a place where ancient Hawaiian Royalty (Ali’i) lived and worshipped their gods!  It was also a place where warriors defeated in battle and commoners who had broken the laws of the gods and Ali’i (Kapu) could flee to for refuge and avoid the death penalty.  Getting there involved swimming across some pretty treacherous waters!  With the coming of the Christians, King Kamehameha II abolished the Kapu and the worship of the old gods in 1819.  Many of the old religious sites and structures were destroyed or abandoned after centuries of use.  Since 1961, this is a beautiful National Park area that provides a glimpse of the ancient Hawaiian society and is still a sacred place for many Hawaiians.

                                          Sister Elwood and a couple of Investigators!

One prominent feature is the “Great Wall” built about 1550.  It still stands and separates the royal grounds from the pu’uhonua or place of refuge.  This wall is very impressive when you consider it was built by hand with no mortar between the stones and stands up to 10 feet high and is some 17 feet thick. I would guess if we were to build this today with all our building codes and regulations it would take a hundred years to complete!

                                              The Great Wall...Over 10 feet high!

                                                     Not a small wall!

                                                Seventeen feet thick and hand made!

In a final though for this week…Pele (Goddess of Fire) combined with the loss of the trade winds to create an atmosphere of VOG that reminded us of the SMOG in Los Angeles back in the Sixties!  Wednesday was a day to stay inside and avoid breathing the air that was heavy with sulphur dioxide (SO2) and water vapor or VOG to the point you could smell and taste it.  I checked the internet and the two active vents on the Kilauea volcano were adding about 3.2 million pounds of SO2 to the atmosphere every day.  Finally, this morning on the way down the mountain to church, we were greeted with a beautiful clear sky and view of the ocean and Kona coast that brought back the picture of Paradise that we have grown to love.

Reflections!

 

Aloha and love from Paradise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kona October 1 - 7

Kona October 1 – 7

Aloha on the first good tropical rainy day in over a week!

Could it be that time has speeded up again now that I’m a year older…that’s scary!  Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and Skype technology!!

We welcomed the Saints from Moloka’i to the temple this past week and we really enjoyed serving with them.  A few members had been here before, back in July, but the majority were new faces and it was a delight to get acquainted with them.  Moloka’i is a lightly populated, rural Island noted for being the location of the Kalaupapa Leper Colony. Perhaps because of the rural nature of the Island, we found these Saints to be among the friendliest, loving and humble we have met during our mission.  One thing for certain, if we ever get the opportunity to travel to Moloka’i we will not need to worry about a place to stay and food to eat!  The spirit of Aloha is deeply ingrained in the Saints from the Ho’olehua  and the Kaunakakai Wards!

Just a quick repeat of a story about Moloka’i hospitality that I related in an earlier post!  While serving at the Recommend Desk in the Boise Temple one evening, a couple came to the temple to attend a session.  When I scanned their recommends, I commented that their last name meant “more than one wife or one woman” in the Hawaiian language.  The sister asked “how did you know that?”  I explained my efforts to learn the Hawaiian language and of our love for Hawai’i.   She then asked if we had ever been to Moloka’i where she had been born and raised.  I replied that ‘we had not been there but hoped to go someday.’  She then told me enthusiastically, that if we ever planned a trip there to “let her know and she would contact her parents and they would meet us at the airport, have us stay at their home, and make sure we got to see everything on the Island, including a mule ride down the cliffs (na Pali) to the old Leper Colony!”  We met her parents during their visit in July almost by accident and they were just as she promised.  I just don’t know if they could get me on a mule down that trail…maybe with a blindfold!

The Kona Hawai’i Temple is now closed for the semi-annual maintenance and cleaning.  In Boise, we would just lock the doors after the last session and everything was handled by the professional cleaning staff and contractors.  In this Temple, the shift workers, Presidency, and Missionary Couples begin the process Friday evening by following a long checklist of items to prepare for the more intensive maintenance items and deep cleaning.  It was strange to begin the process by removing and packing a number of items for storage and cleaning.  We will be on-site over the next two weeks to oversee and join in a number of the task to clean and refurbish the House of the Lord.

We were saddened to get news, from one of the couples that were part of our District in the MTC, that the Elder B. had developed a brain tumor and had undergone surgery in Billings, Montana before returning to their home for radiation and chemo therapy.  They were a wonderful couple to get to know and to share the MTC experience with.  They were disappointed to have to be released after only four months of serving in Montana but were encouraged by the prognosis for his recovery!  Our love and prayers go out to them for his complete recovery!

This week has been the Elwood Airport Shuttle week!  I took the Temple President and Matron to the airport on Tuesday to fly to the mainland for her Mother’s funeral.  Saturday, we took the Second Counselor and his wife to the airport to fly to their home in Oahu for a two-week vacation while the Temple is closed. An hour or so later, we returned to pick up the President and his wife and drive them back to their home.   They had planned their departure and return so there was always one member of the Presidency on the Island which is Temple Department policy (by about 5 minutes)! The First Counselor and his wife are on the mainland for two weeks.

This has been another wonderful Conference weekend.  The four-hour difference in time between Salt Lake and Hawai’i offers some new challenges and opportunities to watch the sessions.  All sessions are, of course, shown in the Stake Center at 6 am, 10 am and priesthood at 2 pm HST.  Technology to the rescue…we set our alarm for 5:45 am and watched the morning sessions over the internet on our Laptop while still in bed.  No we didn’t fall asleep! We missed the Saturday afternoon (morning) session due to taxi service but Carolyn was able to join me for the Priesthood session (her first and she loved the messages) which was available live on conference.lds.org at 2 pm.  We will now go back and watch the Saturday afternoon session that we missed.

             "Breakfast-in-Bed" between the 6 am and 10 am HST Conference Sessions!

Looking forward to a little break over the next two weeks while the temple is closed but we will be excited to the reopening on October 23^rd.

Love and aloha from Paradise!

                        A purple Sweet Potato from one of the Temple Ordinance Workers

Cooked, mashed, and served with butter!