Merry Christmas from Kona

For unto you is a born this day in the city of David

A Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

“Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord.”

Oh how the Temple’s message ought to brightly burn in our Hearts and Minds as we commemorate and honor the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are eternally grateful for His Atoning Sacrifice for each of us. May we rededicate ourselves at this special season of the year, to fill our lives with love and service to Him and all of God’s children.

Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

Aloha Dear Family and Friends,

It has been nearly eight months since we entered the MTC in preparation to serve here in the Kona Hawaii Temple. Our time has been filled with the joy and spirit of Temple service and it’s hard to believe we only have a little over four months left to serve. We have been blessed to meet and have the joy of serving with many kind and loving saints here in this beautiful “House of the Lord.“ All our family and friends have been missed and we look forward to a reunion in 2013.

 

The Lord has blessed us with good health and the energy to fulfill our responsibilities which, occasionally, stretched over sixteen-hour days. Our testimony of temple service continues to grow each day and we know we are where the Lord would have us be at this time. We send our love and Aloha to you and all your family. We wish you a warm and happy Christmas season filled with love and good health!

Elder and Sister Elwood

Kona December 10 - 16

 More beautiful floral Arrangements at Church today

Kona December 10 – 16

Aloha from Sunny Kona!

It’s a beautiful, sunny day here in Kona!  I don’t mean to be “laying it on” all of you that have cold weather and snow but in this weather, it sure doesn’t feel like it’s only 9 days until Christmas.  Last evening, we attended our Ward Christmas Party which was a wonderful experience complete with too much food, music, hula, a Nativity program and of course, Santa Claus for the kids. Attending was a crowd estimated to be between 350 and 400 people.  We overheard some Ward members comment “Who is that?  I’ve never seen them before!” so maybe there were a few locals that heard about the Kealakekua Ward Christmas party and decided to come enjoy the food!

Like all Polynesian parties, there was no lack of food and warm greetings for everyone.  The main course featured two whole pigs and six turkeys cooked Hawaiian style in an Imu (underground oven).  Salads of every kind, rolls, hot dishes, and of course, desserts completed the menu.  Someone said “If you don’t recognize it, don’t try it!” but there were a few things we have never seen before but we tried them and they were delicious.  The last thing we tried was a Tahitian ‘Banana Poi’ dish that consisted of bananas mashed, cooked slowly with tapioca starch then baked and served in a sweetened coconut milk…it kinda had a kick so we may not have gotten the whole recipe but it was tasty!

Food lines at Ward Christmas Luau

Kids awaiting the program...note the little "Hula Dancer" in the lower left corner

 

The program was vintage LDS with the added touch of some Hula dancers (two of which were about 10 years old and very good) and some Hawaiian Style Christmas Carols.  The Nativity program was great and provided a spiritual reminder of the birth of our Savior and His love and sacrifice for all of us.

A young 10-year olf Hula Dancer! She was very good!

 

The Nativity Play

Residents of Hawaii love to have parades and the Annual Christmas Parade was held on Ali’i Drive along the ocean front just before the Ward Christmas Party.  We didn’t attend but we heard it was hard to tell who was in the parade and who was a spectator.  We are certain everyone had a great time.

Our week in the Temple was busy and filled with the increased love of the Christmas Season.  We were greeted by Ordinance Workers and Patrons alike with hugs and kisses on the cheek along with Christmas greetings.  Several of us are still suffering the lingering effects of the sore throats we contracted last week so we were a little detached in our traditional greetings.  It is becoming common for us to participate in the Hawaiian greeting style so please don’t be offended if we bring that habit home with us!

 

The "Tree of Life"

 

The Temple grounds are undergoing a landscaping renovation along some of the perimeter walls and we are excited to see the beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers that are being planted.  I asked Ed, our non-member gardener, what variety several of the new trees was called.  He told me they were call “The Tree of Life” which is most appropriate for the Temple grounds.  They are part of the Lignum Vitae family, Liggy for short, and are a variety of ironwood trees, meaning the wood is so dense it won’t float in water.  Right now, they are bearing olive-sized, gold colored seeds resulting from pink flowers in the spring..  We look forward to seeing them in full bloom.

The sun is now sinking towards the horizon and the air may be clear enough to witness the “green flash” this evening as the sun sets.  The “green flash” occurs in a split second when the sun disappears below the horizon and the sunlight reflects through the ocean and produces the flash.  With all the volcanic “fog” or VOG we have here, this event is fairly rare to see.  We created the legend that if you see a green flash; you get to come back to Hawaii again.  We have a few of those in the bank!

Christmas is not far off and our hearts and thoughts return to family and friends at home.  This year will be a much different Christmas celebration than we are used to having in Boise.  We look forward to our oldest son and his family arriving on Christmas Eve for a week-long visit which will help fill our day.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you all and we pray we will all remember the birth and atoning sacrifice Jesus Christ made for every one of us and that we will honor him through our service and love towards others.  An early Mele Kalikimaka to you all!

Love and Aloha from Paradise!

Kona December 3 - 9

Red Torch Ginger at the Temple

Kona December 3 – 9

Malo E Lelei!

That’s Aloha in Tongan!  As promised, this has been a very busy week as we were able to enjoy the opportunity to serve with about fifty Tongan Saints from Maui.  As we have said before, serving with the Tongans is an exceptional opportunity to enjoy the spiritual blessings of reverence and faith they bring with them when they visit the temple. 

For example, they started arriving Wednesday afternoon to begin their service with a three-hour training session followed by an evening in various sessions. Thursday morning began at 5:30 AM with a Prayer meeting followed by session after session throughout the morning and afternoon.  Their day ended around 6:00 PM when they met at our nearby Stake Center for a prayerful beginning to a day of fasting lasting throughout Friday.  On Friday, after another day filled with service, they again met back at the Stake Center to break their fast with prayer, followed by dinner.  We didn’t see them again until 5:00 AM Saturday morning!  By 8:00 AM, their service in the Temple had ended and they bid us a loving “Malo” and headed for the airport to return home to Maui.  We look forward to their return again in March for another three days of faithful Temple service.  We will miss their reverent and joyful service in the Temple after we return home.

This week was also filled with special projects in addition to our normal duties.  Sister Elwood has become quite the photographer with her cell phone and anything else that takes pictures; from cameras to I-pads!  There is always plenty of beautiful scenery and people to photograph around the outside of the Temple.  On more than several occasions, as we have been arriving or leaving the Temple, we have noticed couples and families trying to get a picture of themselves in front of the Temple.  She readily volunteers to take the photograph so everyone can be in the picture.

Orchids and Poinsettias

One couple was particularly striking this week.  On Monday, the Orchid Aisle volunteers had planted a row of beautiful red Poinsettias among the orchids on each side of the main walkway to the Temple entrance.  A couple had come to the Temple to attend a session and as they were leaving I noticed them outside the front door taking pictures with an I-pad.  She was dressed in a pretty red dress and he was attired in a cream-colored suit, white shirt and red tie.  I went to the door and he asked if I could take their picture together in front of the Poinsettia lined Orchid Aisle.  I told them I would be right back and went to get Sister Elwood to do the honors.  What a striking picture they made standing in front of all those beautiful orchids and poinsettias dressed in red, cream and white colors. I wish we could have had a copy of the photo!

There are always new ‘opportunities’ while serving here in the Kona Hawaii Temple that we never experienced while serving in Boise.  One of those was an assignment from the Temple President to design and produce the annual Temple Christmas card.  Our computers in the temple do not have software such as Microsoft Publisher that would make this a fairly simple task.  Nonetheless with one of Sister Elwood’s photographs, a Scripture from the Bible and some inspiration, we were able to assemble and have printed a suitable Christmas card for the temple.  I will share a version with you all in a couple of weeks!

Our Big Little Christmas Tree

Well, our little Christmas tree got a remake by adding 50 multi-colored lights and a couple of hand-made ornaments Sister Elwood received at the December “Malama Pono” activity with the other ‘senior’ sisters in our ward.  In spite of coming down with a cold on Saturday, I added a string of multi-colored lights outside around the ceiling of our lanai so now our little apartment is ‘decked’ but not with holly.

I never expected to get a cold here in Hawaii!  We dutifully got our Flu shots and thought with the warm climate we were set for a healthy winter season.  Not!!  I didn’t feel well enough to go to church and spread this ‘joy’ so we have spent a quiet day here at home resting and trying to get feeling better.  Maybe I need an hour in the hot Hawaiian sun to bake this thing out of me but then, being missionaries, I think we will rely on prayer, faith and rest. 

We pray all is well with you our dear family and friends! 

Much Love and Aloha from Paradise!

Kona November 26 - December 2

Heleconia at Church

 

Kona November 26 – December 2

Aloha ‘Ohana a na Hoaaloha!

Another month has passed and we are looking towards our first Christmas away from Idaho or Utah!  Although we will be in Hawai’i, we will still have some of our family with us which is going to make the experience much less nostalgic!  Rod, our oldest son (Mormon in the new 2013 Youth Theme Song for the year), his beautiful wife and family will be joining us on Christmas Eve and staying with us for a week.

We, as many of you, just watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional!  It was, as it usually is, a wonderful and beautiful spiritual beginning to a Christ-centered Christmas season.  What an incredible blessing it is to be able to see and hear our Prophets, Seers and Revelators teach us about the Savior and His incomparable gift to each one of us.  His example to us and the touching personal stories of “giving of one’s self” are an inspiration for us to do better, to serve more faithfully and to love more freely. 

Our choir practice this morning also added to our appreciation for the Lord Jesus Christ and this Christmas season.  Our numbers more than tripled from the four of last at last week’s practice!  We even had a pianist to accompany the choir this week!  After generous praise from our sweet choir director, I wondered aloud, “and Christmas is only how many weeks away?”

This week has once again been a joy to serve in the Kona Hawaii Temple!  The annual Crèche of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus was placed carefully on the makai (towards the sea) side of the temple along with spotlights to illuminate the scene at night.  Sister Elwood, always with the eye for beautiful scenes, pulled out her cell phone as we walked up towards the entrance to the Temple in the early light of dawn and took some pictures to share. 

Early Dawn view of the Temple Creche

 

The reason for the Season 

 

It has also been a week with a little unexpected excitement.  Sister Elwood picked at something on her leg that, while very small, began to bleed.  I practiced some of my best Boy Scout training in vain attempts to stem the bleeding, all to no avail.  Compresses, ice, nothing would work.  Finally, around 9:30 PM, we decided a journey to the ER was in order.  This was our second trip to the Kona ER and we were again met with friendly service.  To shorten a two hour visit…the doctor diagnosed the injury as some kind of vascular??? and put in two stitches to stem the flow.  All is now well and I get to practice medicine with only a marriage license and take the stitches out in about 10 days!!

As promised last week, we took a few pictures of some of the floral beauty of Ka Mokupuni Nui (The Big Island) that we get to look at every day.  This is not to say, that as much as we enjoy the blessings of warm weather and beautiful scenery, we do miss the cool fall days and colors of home.  The jury is still out on whether we miss snow!

                 Poinsetia behind the Apartment 

Mamalahoa Highway "Swans"

Finally, next week will be highlighted by a visit to the Temple by another Tongan Ward from Maui.  Next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, our days in the Temple will begin before 5 AM and will extend throughout the day.  This will be a large group of saints with more than 50 coming to the Temple for joyous and reverent service.  Our previous experiences tell us that while we will be tired physically, we will be blessed spiritually by the opportunity to serve with our brothers and sisters in the Temple.

Love and Aloha from Paradise!

P.S.
This ship has been anchored in Kailua Bay for about two weeks.  Warship? Nope, it's Paul Allen's
 (co-founder of Microsoft) 414 foot yacht, "Octopus!"

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!