The La'ie Hawaii Temple!!!

The La'ie Temple

I made it a point this last Friday to get a few people together and go to the temple to do baptisms. I have recently been figuring out how to work the new "familysearch" genealogy system and found a few ancestors who had never had the opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be baptized. For those who dont understand much about these sacred beautiful places or the things that go on inside them, here are some videos which put into words perfectly what they are about :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8  and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLXYxmaHWQs 

 In the temple, those who have met certain requirements are deemed worthy to be baptized proxy for others who went before us, our "dead". We believe that missionary work is being busily performed in the spirit world and the sacred ordinances we perform in these temples can be accepted by those spirits who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ on the other side, thus enabling them to continue progressing toward our Heavenly Father even while in the spirit world (to say it briefly).

Although I didnt get to go in (I forgot my recommend ), the baptisms were still able to be done by one of my friends who was prepared to go inside. In the mean time I wandered around enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning, taking pictures of everything. I LOVE the serenity that exists on the grounds of the temples! I get my official endowment this December (so stoked!) and will be able to do more then just baptisms for the dead. I can hardly wait!!!

I really want to get more familiar with my genealogy in these next few months, be a pro by the time I have my endowment this December. So far I have even found out that I am directly related to the king of Spain way back in 1100 AD! Plus his family before him was the royalty of Portugal, and thats just one line! Amazing...In my mom's line we have found out that we are from the royal family in England (I think its England...) We even have a family crest still in the castle. I am so excited to learn about/from the lives of these people, and even more excited their stories will be easier to access since they are probably more sought after (being royalty and all). I think I have been caught, hook-line-and sinker with this whole genealogy thing. Its not only for old people folks ;) I have barely started and I already love it!

The famous "Plumeria" flower here in the pacific not only smells won-der-FUL, but can also be used as a sign among locals to know if you are available or not. If the flower is behind your left ear, you are taken, behind your right means you are available. Cool huh? They make tons of beautiful leis out of these flowers too!

This weird looking flower is called "Bird of Paradise" and is one of the staple flowers of the sub-tropics :) Pretty huh?

This was me afterwards, sitting at the beach reading an awesome book called "Forgiving Ourselves" by...I forgot. An LDS lady with a PHD in Psychology. It was an amazing read, I really learned a lot about how to distinguish weakness and sin and what to do about both. I will have to post more information about what I learned when I have time later because its worth sitting down and typing for an hour :)

And finally THIS is the beautiful view all the way to the ocean that you get standing in front the of the Temple... I love this place.

-Jess