Kona January 14 - 20

Kona January 14 – 20

A cool Aloha from Paradise!

Yes, I know our temperature is not even close to being like the cold most of you are experiencing in Idaho and Utah but it’s actually cool to us and I’m sitting here in my BSU windbreaker.  A strong cold front moved through Hawaii Saturday and Sunday with 30-40 MPH winds out of the north, resulting in night/morning temperatures at our elevation in the high 50 – low 60 range.  Our apartment has the old louvered glass windows that are impossible to close tight enough to keep out the winds, so we fell asleep last night listening to the howl of the wind while we burrowed under the comforter.  We slept well but getting up at 6:30 this morning was on the chilly side.  Our only source of heat would be the oven!

This week has been very busy in the Temple as we are making preparations for our Annual Temple Review to be conducted by Elder William R. Walker of the First Quorum of the Seventy.  The need to get the Review agenda completed and published finally rose to the top of the priority list and by Saturday afternoon, it was almost completed.

We are looking forward to meeting Elder and Sister Walker during their visit.  President Mossman invited us to join them for lunch tomorrow.  While we are not formally on the agenda for the Review, there is a time scheduled for interviews with Elder Walker and we suspect we will have the opportunity to visit with him one-on-one.

Today, we were assigned to speak at the Waimea 1^st and Waimea 2^nd Wards as the second week of our speaking tour continues.  It was another beautiful morning trip to Waimea and we actually arrived ahead of time.  Sister Elwood was very kind to me and only left me about 5 minutes to speak.  All those years on the High Council have proven valuable when it comes to adjusting my remarks to fit the time left.

We continue to be blessed to be with the Saints here in the wards on the Big Island.  The members are so kind and loving to us and we recognize many who come to the temple as ordinance workers and patrons.

During the passing of the Sacrament today, we witnessed a very special act of service.  There is a young man in the Waimea 1^st Ward who is blind but possesses the gift of playing the piano and organ.  He was featured in the Church News last summer for playing the Tabernacle Organ in a recital in Salt Lake.  Today, as he passed the Sacrament, he was carefully guided by another Aaronic Priesthood young man in order to serve in his Priesthood assignment.  It was a very touching scene and Sister Elwood mentioned it during her talk.  We were able to meet with him after the meeting for a few minutes.  He is a very special young man as is the member of his Quorum who helped him function in the Priesthood.

Today, we realized that we only have 100 days left to serve here in the Kona Hawaii Temple.  While we look forward to seeing family and friends in person again, we will greatly miss the wonderful people we associate with and the special opportunity to serve in the Temple.  In the meantime, our schedule and hearts are full so the time will continue to fly by quickly.

Much love and Aloha from Paradise