Kona November 19 - 25

Kona November 19 – 25

Aloha!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with plenty of love, family and food!  It seemed strange to be far away from family and home but we enjoyed the day nonetheless.  A dear brother and sister that serve in the Temple (and care for the Orchid Aisle), invited the Presidency and Missionaries to their lovely home for Thanksgiving dinner.

 

                                         View of the North Kohala Coast

                                        Thanksgiving at the Maluo's

They warmly welcomed us to their home in the northern part of the Island located in a gated community called Kohala Ranch which overlooks the North Kohala coast of the Big Island.  The view of the ocean is spectacular even though it was cloudy and hazy while we were.  We could hear thunder rolling across the water but it never rained while we are there.  North Kohala is very dry, receiving little rain each year.  The area is famous for beautiful resorts and emerald green golf courses cutting through the black lava fields.  We have played on two of the courses in previous visits but a Missionary Budget can’t stand the green fees.

Table centerpiece

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious…turkey, ham and all the trimmings.  True to the Hawaiian tradition there was enough food for three times the number of guests invited so we ‘had’ to carry enough food home with us to provide another generous dinner.

                                                            Almost full!
                                                   
This week saw our first snowfall of the season!  Not here in Kona where it’s still in the mid-80’s but on top of Mauna Kea (White Mountain) where the elevation is nearly 14,000 feet.  It hardly seems like Christmas is near!  Today at choir practice we began rehearsing for the Christmas program although we didn’t have anyone to play the piano.  We have a lot of work to do!

Today the chapel was decorated with baskets of white anthirium with delicate pink spadix and darker pink spathe.  You’ll need a dictionary or a degree in Botany!  We got involved directing some visitors (malahini) and didn’t get a picture.  Maybe next week! 

One thing we have noticed is the emergence of the striking red Poinsettia that seem to grow everywhere; often shrubs fifteen to twenty feet in height and circumference.  This is a ‘blooming’ season for many flowers and shrubs.  A drive along the old narrow and winding Mamalahoa Highway, where our apartment is located, is becoming like a drive through the Garden of Eden. This P-day we’ll get some pictures!

Serving at the temple this past week was supposed to be somewhat slower than last week because we didn’t have any Wards from Maui scheduled and the Annual Training was over.  Tuesday morning started off with water in the break room from a broken hose on one of the washing machines.  The week got busier from there with special projects for the President and Matron, scheduling a large Maui Tongan Ward visit for the first week of December, and another special project from the President to design and print the Temple Christmas cards by next week.  We love the work and the blessing of stretching ourselves to meet the needs of our patrons and leaders!  E hana me ka ha’aha’a (Let us work with humbleness).

Finally, we put up our mighty 32 inch Christmas tree and Sister Elwood is cutting garland from red tissue paper to add a ‘homey’ decoration.  We will add the 22 ornaments and look for a bag of snow to make everything look like an Elwood Christmas Tree.  You will have to wait until next week to see the final product!  We include a picture below of last year’s tree in Boise to whet your imagination!

Another Hawaiian word for the day –Kuleana – take responsibility; stewardship. Good advice for us all.

Much love and Aloha from Paradise!

Kona November 12 - 18

Kona November 12 – 18

                                               Beautiful florals at Church today!

Another week in Paradise and it has been a great one!

We forgot to report last week on Carolyn’s night at Malama Pono held on Monday evening, November 5^th.  As we have reported earlier, Malama Pono is a Hawaiian phrase meaning “caring for each other” or in this case, a gathering of some of the ‘senior’ Sisters in our Ward who meet on the first Monday of each month  for an evening of food, ‘talk story’, and music.  This month, the Temple President and Matron were invited to join the group and provided the music portion of the evening.

Men are not normally part of the group but I have had the pleasure of attending two of the Malama Pono events and can assure you that the food is wonderful and plentiful, plus the Sisterhood is always full of the spirit of Aloha.  As with all Hawaiian gatherings, too much food, music and hula are always part of the spiritual celebration.

As we noted on our last post, this week was going to be a very busy week in the Temple!  Thursday morning, we greeted the Tongan Saints from Maui at 5:00 AM for their two days of Temple service.  It was good to see many familiar faces again and the spirit of reverence they bring to the Temple is inspiring.  It is clear they love and reverence the Temple as they quietly and purposefully move about their worship and service in the House of the Lord. 

Friday morning began the same as Thursday (same time as well).  They were scheduled for special sessions into the afternoon when two other Maui Wards (English speaking) arrived to join them and serve on into Friday evening and again on Saturday morning.  Other than waking up at 4:00 AM, we love the extra opportunities to serve with our brothers and sisters from the Maui Wards.

One interesting point was to see the positive expressions on the faces of visitors when we told them that the sessions will be held in the Tongan language.  We offer them the option of reading English subtitles or using headphones.  They almost always choose the subtitles and often express how spiritually meaningful the experience was to read the words rather than just listening.  One brother noted after the session that “The Gospel is true in any language!”

The Presidency, Matrons and Missionaries have been preparing for several weeks to conduct the Annual Ordinance Worker Training scheduled for Saturday, November 17^th.   As the number of attendees registering to attend rose to over 150 we began to seriously wonder how we could accommodate so many.  After all, the Kona Hawaii Temple is the second smallest Temple in the world!

The Temple President had outlined the training topics and timing, down to the minute, for the training sessions.  We all became really concerned how we would be able to hold five concurrent training sessions and move five groups of workers between those sessions all the while maintaining some semblance of the order and reverence expected in the Temple.

One easily overlooked problem was how to get more than 150 people dressed in white, in a timely manner, with only 12 dressing booths in each of the men and women’s dressing rooms.  The President told me to figure it out!  We are very thankful for the inspiration we receive in the Temple.  Any solution appeared to be further complicated, due to the fact we had exceeded the number of lockers available in the regular dressing areas and would require the use of the lockers in the baptistry if everybody signed up, actually showed up.  The solution came from inspiration, not from me! 

On Saturday morning, all was ready for the workers arriving for the Saturday shift.  Everything appeared fine until we realized that in addition to Ordinance Workers using lockers, we would also have patrons using the same dressing areas and lockers.  Amid the pending confusing, a simple solution was revealed using only a Sharpie and a small modification to the locker assignment cards that had been so carefully planned out.  All we can say is the truth of what is engraved above the door of the Temple…”Holiness to the Lord The House of the Lord.”

Truly, the Lord is in charge of His House and His influence and inspiration is available to all who enter the Temple to carry out the marvelous work He has ordained for all of His children.

To shorten a long story…the Training program was carried out smoothly and reverently for all who attended and those of us who provided the training.  We thoroughly enjoyed the five sessions we conducted providing a brief overview of the functions and responsibilities of the Recorder’s office.  We are very humbled by our part in preparing the “Book of Life” that will be presented to the Savior at His Second Coming.  See the Doctrine and Covenants Section 128.

Finally, we purchased a magnificent 32 inch artificial Christmas tree ($15)  for our little home.  It is a fibre optic tee and we purchased 28 small ornaments for decoration.  For you family members, think of Grammy’s Christmas tree.  More importantly, Carolyn purchased a few figures for a small Nativity scene.  All will be well!

We have been invited to spend Thanksgiving in the home of a couple who are Ordinance Workers in the Temple.  Their hospitality and her cooking are legendary plus their home is also part of the Bed and Breakfast they own and operate.  Those who have been to their home, on the northern part of the Island, say the view is spectacular!

We extend our love to each of you and our wishes for a spiritual and family-rich Thanksgiving!

Aloha from Paradise!

PS.
Smell the Plumaria!

Kona November 5 - 11

                                       Beautiful Yellow Hibiscus Hawaii's State Flower

Kona November 5 – 11

Aloha ‘Ohana a na Hoaaloha!

It’s a quiet Pule La I Auinala (Day of Prayer, Sunday, after mid-day)! We are resting and preparing, physically, mentally and to some degree, spiritually for the week to come in the Temple.  This coming week we will enjoy a visit by three wards of Maui Saints to the Temple.  While we anticipate the spiritual uplift of their visit, we know the physical side will be tiring.  Thursday and Friday they will begin with prayer meeting at 5:30 AM which will necessitate our arrival before 5:00 AM, and of course it takes us about an hour to get ready and travel down the mountain to the Temple!  We are thankful for the other Missionary couple being in the Temple with us to allow a short break in what promises to be eighteen hour days.

All last week has been a week of hectic preparations for the Ordinance Worker training day next Saturday afternoon.  I think we are getting callouses on our finger tips from all the computer keying for scheduling and logistical challenges of hosting over 130 Ordinance Workers which exceeds the capacity of the temple.  We are confident that the Lord will provide a way and all will be successful!  Oh yeah, I guess we better start preparing for our part in the training program!!

This past week has also been another week of learning for both of us.  When we arrived early last Tuesday morning, the Recommend Desk computer was not responding, necessitating a reboot of the local area network connection to the church Intranet and a corresponding reboot of the computer so we would be able to welcome workers and patrons.  Upon our arrival early Thursday morning, the same symptoms greeted us.  I went through the same steps again in an attempt to restore the computer, all to no avail.  After further research, we discovered that none of the computers would connect to the network, which was a more extensive outage than we’ve encountered before.

After a call to Global Services support in Salt Lake, I rebooted the Server and DSL network connection, again to no avail.  We were not looking forward to a day without our computers since nearly everything in the Recorders Office is computerized.  We then received a call back from Global Services that the entire Hawaiian Islands had experienced an International Internet connection failure.  We believe Divine intervention took over because it wasn’t long before all the networks and computers suddenly reconnected…Auwe and Mahalo!

                                             Palm Trees at the Temple got a Haircut!
On the spiritual and more gratifying side of serving in the Temple, Sister Elwood was able to schedule and assist a couple coming to the Temple for the first time on Saturday.  We learned from some of their ward members, that this couple, in their mid-fifties in age, was very poor and had lived in a tent before the Ward members got together and built a tiny house for them, a little larger than the tent.  The ward members also helped with the cost of some of the clothing they would need after attending the temple.

First, we need to give you some background before relating the next part of this story.  Before we left on our Mission, some dear friends surprised us with a sum of money and the instructions that the money was to be used as prompted by the spirit while serving on our Mission.  We have been sensitive to that responsibility and trust placed upon us.  In our blog, we have related in word and pictures about the beautiful Orchid Aisle leading to the entrance of the Temple that is maintained by local members at a cost of their own time and money.  This is such a beautiful and peaceful pathway leading to the Temple!  We felt prompted to use some of this money to purchase beautiful Orchids to contribute to this beauty for all to enjoy.

The compassionate and sensitive half of this companionship and you know who that is, felt inspired to make an anonymous donation to this couple of the remainder of this money to help them purchase the ceremonial clothing they will need to return to the Temple often.  We composed a little note of congratulation and encouragement, put it in one of our note cards with a picture of the Kona Temple and gave it to the Temple President to give to them.  The love of the saints on this Island for each other is amazing and inspiring!

We will forgo any comments about the weather here versus the weather there other than to say that we miss the change of seasons.  The biggest change we have noted is that the daily highs have dropped a couple of degrees on average!  Enjoy your seasons!!

Much love and aloha from Paradise!

Some pictures of our favorite P-Day beach, Honokohau Beach!

                                         Former Home of Hawaiian Royalty...Fish Trap

Sea Kyaker!

                                          Former Home of Hawaiian Royalty

                                               Protected Green Sea Turtle taking a Nap!

                                                          Somebody has to do it!

Kona October 29 - November 4

                                           Halloween Sunset from the Temple

Kona October 29 – November 4

Aloha, or if you’re Tongan, Malo E Lelei!

We finally have all the members of the Temple Presidency back in the Temple again. Combined with the maintenance shutdown vacations, a death in the family and some surgery, the Presidency, Matron and her assistants have been away from the Temple at one time or another for more than a month.  It’s great to be all back together, as a team, serving the saints from near and far in the Temple.  We are all busy preparing for an annual training program for the ordinance workers in the Kona Hawaii Temple District on November 17^th.

The calendar page has turned once again!  October 31^st is a memorable date for us even though most would remember it as Halloween.  On October 31^st 1985, the call came to serve as Bishop.  This October 31^st marked the first day of the second half of our Mission.  We’re sure happy that we’re not getting any older!

                                               Halloween Moonrise over the Temple

Wednesday evening was of course Halloween night and the Stake Center parking lot next door to the Temple was full of about 500 kids of all ages enjoying a Trunk ‘r Treat party sponsored by the three Wards who reside in the building.  We enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Temple.  As we reported before, the Temple Presidency has opened a ‘special’ session every Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM to provide an opportunity for those members that may have difficulty attending the Temple on one of our regularly scheduled times. “Special” also means that the Presidency and missionary couples serve as the ordinance workers. 

Our numbers were small on Wednesday, due to Halloween, but the spiritual experiences were in abundance.  A couple, visiting from the mainland, was able to complete the work for their deceased close relatives in the intimate spiritual setting that is so characteristic of a smaller temple.  The spiritual uplift from serving in the House of the Lord is such a blessing in our lives.

On Friday, Sister Elwood answered a phone call at the Temple from a member requesting a reservation for a Saturday morning session.  While the voice sounded familiar, the name was definitely one we knew well from Boise.  While we always respect privacy in this public forum, those who know us and our friends over the years would recognize Jay and Stacie, who live in our Stake at home.  They had moved into our Ward shortly after I was called as Bishop and we have enjoyed them and their family’s friendship over these many years.  It was great to see them in the Temple on Saturday and again at church this morning!

On a final note, this year will mark the first year since we have been old enough to vote in a general election for President that we will not be voting.  This is not due to lack of trying to vote!  Before we left on our mission, we went online to request absentee ballots to be sent to our new home here in Kona.  By early October, we had not received our ballots so we called the Election Office in Boise.  They assured us that our ballots had been mailed on September 20^th and we should receive them soon or call the US Post Office.  After another week we contacted both the Boise Post Office and the Kona Post Office.  “Oh, if they weren’t deliverable we would send them back to the Election Office.” 

Two weeks ago, another call to the Election Office…”Oh well, just mail a signed request for replacement ballots and we’ll send them right out!”  We sent that request immediately!  It’s now about 30+ hours to Election Day and in spite of daily trips up and down the hill to the mail box…no ballots!  If you haven’t yet or don’t plan on voting, please go vote for us.  If ‘you know who,’ loses the presidency by two votes………………….!!!

Much love and Aloha from Paradise!

                 A couple of our wonderful Orchid Aisle Gardners beautify the Temple