Laie Hawaii Temple, 6 March 2009

While we’re happy that the Laie Hawaii Temple is undergoing renovations (for approximately the next 16 months) that will enhance and improve the facility, it still seems so strange to see the beautiful building stripped of its gleaming white paint. It’s also strange to not see it at night, because the lights have been turned off for now…which doesn’t mean “temple work” has stopped. For example:

Those of us who normally use the Laie Temple have been encouraged  to go to the Latter-day Saint Temple in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island as individual circumstances allow. I’ve heard a number of people and even wards (parishes or congregations) have already done so, which illustrates several points:

  • We who live within a few blocks of the Laie Temple begin to get a little sense of the sacrifice other people make to get to one. For example, in a recent church meeting it was mentioned that there are still places in South America where Latter-day Saints travel five days by bus each way to do so. When I was in Mongolia in May 2007 I was told some of the Saints there have to take a three-day train ride to Hong Kong where their nearest temple is located; and in New Zealand a number of years ago I learned Latter-day Saints in the “Northland” (northern part of North Island), arrange a 24-hour excursion once a month to Temple View near Hamilton: They leave about midnight, sleep through the five-hour drive, do as much “temple work” as they can during the daylight hours, then head back north, arriving about midnight.
  • In Church parlance, Kona has a “small temple” — only about half the size, or less, of the Laie Temple — which means it can’t accommodate as many people at one time, has no clothing rental or cafeteria, and a much smaller volunteer staff of temple ordinance workers. For example, former Laie residents Opura and Vickie Mo’o, president and matron respectively of the Kona Hawaii Temple, do a lot of the cleaning and laundry as part of their responsibilities:
  • Even some Latter-day Saints may not realize that volunteer temple ordinance workers are authorized only to serve in a specific temple, so when Laie’s closed, the approximately 200 volunteers here were “released” (when the Laie Temple resumes operations, the volunteers will have to be “recalled”). When groups from Oahu and Kauai (who previously used the Laie Temple) go to Kona, they have to bring some of these volunteers; but under special arrangements, President Mo’o must interview and authorize them temporarily to assist over there.
  • To be assured of a seat in a Kona Temple “endowment session,” visiting Latter-day Saints are asked to call 866-344-0727 — or email heerst@ldschurch.org — to make a reservation. Small temples throughout the Church are starting to use a similar reservation system. Prior to a session starting, the “recommend desk” receives patrons and asks if they have reservations. If they were made, their names will be on the list for that session. If they do not have reservations, they will be admitted on a space-available basis.
  • Some temple-attending Latter-day Saints in Laie are now planning to attend one of the other nearly 130 other temples around the world during their travels over the next year-and-a-half.

Also, remember, attending services and ordinances in a Latter-day Saint temple is not the only way to do “temple work”: Regional Family History Centers and online resources (http://www.familysearch.org) make it easier than ever for people to do genealogical research and seek information on their ancestors.

You don’t have to be a Latter-day Saint (i.e. a member of the Church) to use these resources . . . and you will quickly be infected by a special feeling of kinship to these long-departed people that the Old Testament prophet Malachi described as turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6).

In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted from time-to-time about progress on the Laie Hawaii Temple. Aloha.