Laie Hawaii Temple

[ √ ] Laie Hawaii Temple

I've checked off my first place on my Hawaiian Adventures Wish List!  

I am really glad that the Temple was the first thing I did!  To be honest, I've been having a hard time here.  A lot of what I've seen has been the run-down industrialized areas.  It really kills the idea that "Hawaii is gorgeous".  But yesterday's drive to the Temple reaffirmed how AWESOME it is that I live here!!!

This map (taken off of the Polynesian Cultural Center website) shows you the Island of Oahu.  I live on the southern part of the Island, next to Pearl Harbor.  You can see at the Northern part of the Island is the temple.  It took me about an hour to drive there.  But the drive was sooooo worth it.  lol What an islander thing to say.  Out here driving 20 mins for something is a big deal!  It's funny the difference because in AZ I'd drive 45 mins to get from my apt to my mom's house!  Or I'd drive from CA to AZ just because I wanted to see family or friends.  No more 6 hours drives now!

I wanted to pull over every five seconds to take a picture!  Every turn was another breathtakingly beautiful site!  But I restrained myself.  I only pulled over once on the way up (though the way back was another story lol)

It was pretty neat, I was driving on Kamehameha Hwy and the foliage was so green and dense!  All of a sudden there was a break and I saw ocean water right next to me!  I had no idea I was driving next to the ocean, hahaha!

The Hibiscus - Hawaii's State Flower.  There were tons of these beauties decorating the temple grounds.

The Temple!  You can see the storm clouds in the background.  I didn't notice this while I was taking pictures.

After an awesome session in the Temple, I walked around the grounds and went to the Visitor's Center.

The Christus statue seen right when you walk into the Visitor's Center.

I thought this was neat.  Until the missionaries came the Hawaiian People didn't have a written language.  It was all oral records.  Jonathan Napela (a native hawaiian and decedent of the Maui island chiefs) joined George Q. Cannon (LDS missionary) in making the Hawaiian language a written one and then translating the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian.  

Jonathan Napela also set up a training center for all the LDS missionaries that immigrated to HI to learn Hawaiian.  And the Polynesian Cultural Center was established to keep the importance of the area's people and history alive.

Ka Buke A Moramona (The Book of Mormon - in Hawaiian)  

This is one of only 9 copies.

Of course on my way home from the temple it was raining quite a bit.  These pictures are still pretty despite the fact that you don't get to see a gorgeous blue sky.

I had to take a picture of a palm tree to remind myself I was in Hawaii not Washington state.  lol  With the rain and overcast sky, it looked pretty comparable.  Of course, here it was a lot warmer.

Just a little extra.  I took this picture of a Plumeria bud that had fallen off of the tree in my yard.  It looked gorgeous, freshly washed from the rain! :)

Well I hope you enjoyed my first Hawaiian Adventure!  Mahalo!