Spring Has Sprung, Time With Friends, and an Historical Tour of Honolulu: March 17 - 23, 2025

     

     

 The plumeria trees on the temple grounds are in bloom, so spring has sprung here in Laie.

      I forgot to mention in last week's post that on Sunday night, March 16th, all the senior sister missionaries gathered at the visitor's center to watch the worldwide Relief Society Devotional followed by a few sisters sharing their testimonies.  It was fun to see Elder Renlund talking from the Honolulu tabernacle.  After the meeting we took a group picture in front of the Christus that is in the visitor's center.  I'm in the middle row, third one in from the right. 

      We usually always start our week with ukulele lessons on Monday evening and then FHE with our Ward.  But FHE got cancelled last minute because they couldn't get the gym reserved for our group.  Instead, we just went home after our ukulele lessons.

     Tuesday night was our monthly Senior Missionary devotional at the Visitor's Center.  Sister Margaret Penfield sang a beautiful solo of "I Know That My Savior Loves Me" to begin our meeting.  Sister Karen Fisher accompanied her.  Sister Fisher is our mission "Diana Haggerty" for those of you who know what I mean.  For those of you who don't, it means Sister Fisher is a very accomplished pianist.

       Then the meeting was turned over to the mission leadership council (12 of the junior missionaries) who shared with us what the junior missionary responsibilities are at the visitor's center, online missionary work, the PCC shifts and the different area assignments.  Then they sang us the mission song, "Cause of Christ".

       Each companionship shared with us where they were from, why they decided to go on a mission, and bore their testimonies.  Each missionary ended with "I am a daughter (son) of God, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am a child of the covenant, and I am a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The mission president had the junior missionaries do this once before since we have been here, and it was one of my favorite devotionals.  This time they added the phrase, "I am a child of the covenant."  It's very powerful to hear them all recite the same truths and declarations.   Such amazing missionaries!

      On this week's town run, we went to a new place we've never been before - Chaminade University.  It's located 4 miles from downtown Honolulu and the campus is beautiful.  The flowering shrubs were gorgeous.  We were actually going to the high school academy that is located on the Chaminade University campus.  We were dropping off coconuts and a sharp stick to one of the teachers.  I would guess they were going to teach or demonstrate to the kids how to husk a coconut.  I was surprised that we could deliver the sharp stick to the school.  It could technically be classified as a "weapon".  We enjoyed seeing this new place in Honolulu.

   We have been trying to get Jimboy and Camilla Fajardo over for dinner and games, but our schedules weren't allowing it.  We finally found a night that was good for both of us - Thursday night.  Jimboy and Camilla were the first students we met in our YSA Ward when we came in November 2023.  They were so friendly and nice to us nervous new missionaries.  They got married and moved to a different ward but are still going to school at BYU-Hawaii.  We wanted to reconnect one more time before we leave to go home.  We taught them how to play a new card game - Kings in the Corner, and they taught us a new card game.  I can't remember the name of it, but it's like "Golf" only with 4 cards and it's a lot more game of chance.  We all had a fun night visiting with them.

      On Fridays we receive a delivery of ice cream that is served at the Gateway Buffet.  This Friday's delivery was extra-large because we have been having very high attendance. Lots of people and groups come to the PCC for Spring Break.  Each of these drums of ice cream hold 5 gallons of ice cream.  Zero is pulling the cart to take them to the freezer.

 It was Alex Tam's last day of work on Friday, so they had a little goodbye luncheon for him and his wife out at the motor pool.  Alex has been helping Elder Rappleye service carts the whole time we have been here, so it's going to be a little lonely for him having to do carts without Alex.  Hopefully Bri will pick up the slack and start helping him more.  In the top picture is Elder and Sister Bates (back row), Elder Rappleye, Anthony (the boss over motor pool), Alex Tam and his wife.  The Tams are going back to live on the mainland.   They have been service missionaries for five or six years here in Laie. They have a house in San Jose, California.  He definitely will be missed.

Later that day around quitting time, I got a nice surprise when Terry, who used to work at the food warehouse until he got married, showed up at the motor pool with his wife and child.  The Tams are their neighbors.  I haven't seen Terry for over a year, and I have never seen their little boy either.  It was a very tender mercy to see Terry and his family before we go home in May.

   

   We had an Ask Me shift Friday night and were blessed with a lovely view of a sunset from our post by the Shaka statue.  I'll never get tired of a view like that.

 

From all of our driving around downtown Honolulu on town runs, we could see there are a lot of cool things to see, but we never have any time to visit any of the places when we are doing town run.  I found on the internet a short walking tour of 4 historic church sites in downtown Honolulu.  I also found on the internet a downtown tour poster that showed, as a self-guided tour, 25 historic spots around downtown Honolulu all within walking distance.  We decided to spend Saturday morning hitting as many of the 25 spots as we could before it got too hot.

Parking is the issue in downtown Honolulu, but not so much on an early Saturday morning.  We were able to find parking right in front of the Territorial Office Building (#5 on the self-guided tour map and bottom right-hand picture).  It was built in 1925 and is still used today as a government building.  You can see the two large, fluted Corinthian columns grace the front of this classical revival-style building.  Right next to the Territorial Office building is the King Kamehameha Statue, built in 1882 and dedicated in 1883.  It's an18 foot bronze statue representing King Kamehameha I who unified all the Hawaiian Islands (#7 on the self-guided tour map and left-hand picture).  The building behind the statue is the Ali'iolani Hale (#8 on the self-guided tour map and top right-hand picture).  Built in 1874 in an Italian Renaissance Revival style. It's the oldest government building in Hawaii.  It was originally built to be King Kamehameha IV's palace.  King Kamehameha V decided to turn it into a government building.  The state Supreme Court and judiciary history center are located in this building.

Right across King Street is the 'Iolani Palace (#9 on the self-guided tour map).   Built in 1882 in the Italianate style with fluted cast-iron Corinthian columns, decorative iron railings, mansard-style tower roofs and wide lanai (patio porches) on all sides.  It was home to the Hawaiian monarchy until it was overthrown in 1893.  In 1978 it reopened as an historic site, restored to its original grandeur and the public can tour the palace.  We didn't have time to take the tour, but the building is quite impressive.

On the grounds of the 'Iolani Palace are the 'Iolani Bandstand (#19 on the self-guided tour map, left-hand picture) and the 'Iolani Barracks (#18 on the self-guided tour map, top right-hand picture).  The bandstand was constructed in 1883 for the coronation of King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi'olani.  The Royal Hawaiian Band performs there on most Fridays at noon, weather permitting.  The barracks, built in 1870 were home to the Royal Household Guard.

The next place we walked to was Washington Place (#20 on the self-guided tour map and top left-hand picture).  It was built in 1846.  The colonial Greek revival-style house was built for John Dominis, a clipper ship captain.  It is most well known as the inherited residence of his daughter-in-law, Queen Lili'uokalani.  After the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, the Queen lived in this house until her death in 1917.  From 1922 - 2003 it became the Governor's Mansion.  Currently it is a house museum and used for state events. The top right-hand picture shows the roots of the Kapok tree in front of the Washington Place Museum.  The bottom left-hand picture shows a plague in front of Washington Place that has the words of the song, Aloha 'Oe, written by Queen Lili'uokalani.  The bottom right-hand picture shows the historical marker for Washington Place, but in the background on the right side is the Hawaii State Capitol (#1 on the self-guided tour guide map).

The pictures to the right are the first of 4 churches on the walking tour - The Cathedral of St. Andrews.  It took over 90 years to complete this English Gothic-style headquarters of the Episcopal church in Hawaii. (1867 - 1958).  King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma were staunch supporters of the Episcopal church, and the church honors them on November 28th, the anniversary of their confirmation in 1862.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, the second of the four churches on the walking tour, was built in 1914.  It's the oldest historically Chinese congregation among Asian American Episcopal churches.  We could only get a small glimpse of the beautiful stain glass windows.  There are 26 stain glass windows in all - 5 alter windows, 4 Chancel windows, 6 mauka (mountain) side windows, and 7 makai (ocean) side windows, and 4 bell tower windows.  The church's website shows all the unique and beautiful windows. Each window has a hymn associated with the depiction on the window.  There is one window depicting the tree of life and another window depicting St. Peter's keys.  We found these similarities very interesting.  We so wish we could have toured the inside of this church.

 Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, the third church on our walking tour, is a Catholic church.   When the cathedral was first built in 1828, it was surrounded by jungle and dirt.  Now you can see that it sits surrounded by high rise buildings in the heart of downtown Honolulu.  The bell tower was built in 1917 and is the oldest of its kind in Hawaii.  Inside is the oldest organ that is still in use today in Hawaii dedicated in 1934.

Outside in the courtyard stands this statue (left-hand picture) and the right-hand picture shows the other end of the building.  I'm not sure which end is the front and which end is the back of the church.  The pictures online of the inside of this church shows the inside as a lot more elaborate than the outside. 

This tile mural depicting an underwater scene is on the outside of the Alexander & Baldwin building (#12 on the self-guided tour map).  It was built in 1929, blending Hawaiian, Chinese, and other design elements.  On the fourth floor there is a balcony, or lanai that goes around the whole building.

At this spot we are very close to the Aloha Tower.  Although the Aloha Tower is not on the walking tour of downtown, I have wanted to go there for a long time because we have driven by it many times while doing town run.  On our way to the Aloha Tower, we walked past this peaceful memorial fountain and garden, dedicated in 1972.

The Aloha Tower is a retired lighthouse and a landmark in Honolulu located at Pier 9 of Honolulu harbor.  It opened September 11, 1926, and greets vessels, visitors and immigrates to Hawaii.  It stands 10 stories high at 184 feet topped with 40 feet of flag mast.  For 40 years it was the highest structure in Honolulu.  It can be seen at sea 15 miles away.  It is built in the Hawaiian gothic architectural style. They used to have tours to the top of the tower, but since Covid closed it, they have not reopened it, and they are doing some renovations to the tower.

Behind the tower you can see the harbor (lower left-hand picture).  There is also a luau venue behind the tower.  The large tikis (top left and bottom right) are on either side of the stage.  Elder Rappleye is showing off his likeness of the tiki he is standing by in the top left-hand picture.  Beside the tower is an extension of Hawaii Pacific University (top right-hand picture). It also has stores and restaurants. 

The Aloha Tower is situated halfway between the airport and Waikiki.

There are several hula dancer statues located around the complex.

I was so excited to check this off my bucket list of things to do before we leave Hawaii. 

The fourth church we visited is the oldest Christian church in Hawaii, Kawaiaha'o Church (#23 on the self-guided tour map).  It is considered the mother church of Hawaii and the Westminster Abbey of the Hawaiian Islands.  It was established in 1820 and was originally called the Mission Church of Honolulu.  They changed the name in 1840.   The building is made of 14,000 coral blocks, each weighing up to 1,200 pounds. They laid the foundation in 1839 and completed the building in 1842.  This building is also being renovated, thus the fence around the building. 

The name Kawaiaha'o literally means "the waters of Ha'o", the name of a sacred spring located on the property.  These are pictures of the waters of Ha'o.  It was reserved for chiefs and chiefesses only to bath in this spring.  Ha'o was a high chiefess that used to bathe in the spring.

Right next to the church is King William Charles Lunalilo mausoleum.  He was Hawaii's sixth monarch.  He died in 1874 only after a short one-year reign.  On his deathbed he requested to be buried on the grounds of the church instead of at the royal mausoleum at Mauna 'Ala in the Nu'uana Valley where most modern Hawaiian monarchs are buried.  He was temporarily interred at the Royal mausoleum until 1875 when the current mausoleum was almost finished.  His father, who outlived him, requested a second funeral and a 21-gun salute from King Kalakaua like his first royal funeral.  The king granted the funeral but not the 21-gun salute.  During the funeral procession, eyewitness reports stated that a sudden storm arose and that 21 rapid thunderclaps echoed across Honolulu, which became known as the "21-gun salute" for the king.  The king's father, Charles Kana'ina, is also buried in the vault.

The Mission Memorial Cemetary (#23 on the self-guided tour map) is right next to the church.  It was established in 1823, but the oldest grave marker I could find was Mary Ward who died in 1834 (bottom left-hand picture).  We also found a grave marker that Elder Rappleye could relate to inscribed "Charlie - rest beyond the river" (top left-hand picture).

Tombstones engraved with familiar names - Bingham, Cooke, and Gulick - names of people who were missionaries or prominent members of the church and all names of streets we drive on when doing town runs.

It was quite an interesting couple of hours spent seeing all these historic sites in downtown Honolulu.  We didn't see all 25 spots listed on the self-guided tour map, but we hit 11 plus the Aloha Tower.

Saturday night we went to the musical Aida performed by the BYU-Hawaii theater department.  It was the last night of the show, and we knew several people performing in the show.  The singing and dancing were fantastic.  Note the glowing shoes the guys wore in one of their dance numbers (bottom left-hand picture).  It's never hard to get a good seat in the auditorium and the students always do a great job.  The plays and concerts never disappoint.

We knew my piano student, Thanush, was in the production (bottom right-hand picture).  He's the one kneeling.  We knew Anthony, Elder Rappleye's boss at the PCC, was in the production (bottom left-hand picture).  I don't have a very good picture of him.  He's the guard standing behind the guy on the left holding the scepter.  We were surprised to see Clabell from our YSA Ward (top picture first one on the left) in the play.  We didn't know she was performing in it.  We did know she's a phenomenal singer.  Now we know she's also a great dancer and actress.

To end the week, we had our district leader and his wife, Elder Brent and Sister Jackie Lee, over for dinner on Sunday night.  It was sort of a late birthday dinner for Elder Lee (his birthday was earlier in the month).  It was nice to have some company for dinner and get to know them better.