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
17th.
The calendar page has turned once again! October 31st is a memorable date
for us even though most would remember it as Halloween. On October 31st 1985, the call
came to serve as Bishop. This October 31st
marked the first day of the second half of our Mission. We’re sure happy that we’re not getting any
older!
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 20th 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!
Love see all your great pictures and hearing about Hawaii. We need to go back, maybe one day. Thanks for your kind words they meant a lot to us. Jack finishes his last treatment this week we will be so glad to have them done. Won't know if they are working until about Feb. Aloha to you both!!!!
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