La'ie Temple, The Point and the PCC

 

On Sunday, after church, we toured the Temple grounds.  I was trying to hide from the paparazzi.

The gorgeous Maternity wall sculpture is a representation of the love (water) that pours from generation to generation.  I thought I'd throw in a profile shot to celebrate maternity.  :)

The fountains that flow down from the Maternity Sculpture...

Recognize this cool guy?  It's Mark Eubank, the meteorologist from Utah.  He and his wife serve in the visitor's center.  He was an awesome tour guide!  He showed us a great video of the history of La'ie. 

During our free time on Sunday, we strolled down to the point at Turtle Bay.  The waves were huge!!!  You cannot tell by the pic, but each wave was at least 15 feet.  Some people there said the waves had been up to 40 feet during a recent storm a couple of days prior.

Monday morning, I had some time to myself, so I drove to the Point across from BYU-H, and enjoyed the sunrise there.  Wow!!!  I even saw whales far off the shore.

Dara Ngeat, the fisherman I met on the Point.  He is a convert to the church, and free dives for octopus, which he uses as bait.  It was so fun to watch him.  His wife is expecting their first baby, a girl, very soon.  They are naming her Kayla.

Recently, Dara (Duh-rah), caught a 65 pound fish.  Nutty!!!

During Jonny's break, I brought him over to the Point to meet Dara and see the gorgeous views there.

Now comes one of our most treasured memories of all time!!!  The Polynesian Cultural Center.  Our experience was unlike anything we ever imagined.  We had met the Orgills (Von and Sherri) the night before at the fireside.  Von was the presiding Stake President at the fireside, so I got to sit by Sherri on the stand.  I also introduced Jonny before he spoke.  It was a wonderful experience.  They told us to meet them at the PCC the next day at noon for lunch, and they would show us around for the rest of the day.  Little did we know what was in store.  Boy oh boy!!

The Orgills graciously welcomed us, then ate lunch with us at a V.I.P. table.  Then, they explained that our day was all arranged for us.  We would be guided personally by Tevita, who has worked at the PCC for a long time.  We were overwhelmed and had a hard time accepting such an amazing gift.  The feelings we had are indescribable.  Who are we to be treated with such kindness and honor?  It was so wonderful.

New Zealand was such an amazing performance.  We were both very teary-eyed, and moved by the experience.  Tevita, just below, was our personal tour guide the whole day and night. He pushed me in a wheelchair, which I originally laughed about.  But I was sooooo grateful for that service by the end of the day!  He was incredible.  Tevita is from Tonga.  He's so funny and friendly.  We hope to keep in touch with him to see what great things happen in his life.

In Fiji, below, we both danced up on stage.  We had front row seats to every show we went to. 

In Samoa, this awesome guy told the funniest jokes, butchered a coconut in a few seconds with his bare hands, and entertained us!

In Tahiti, Jonny was called up to dance.  He was a nut!

Tonga was a blast!  Jonny was called up to play the drums and be silly.  I think he enjoyed himself quite a lot!!!  He was so crazy.  The performers were so funny too.  We loved it!

Tevita took us on a water tour through the PCC. It was gorgeous.  Pictures cannot describe the beauty there.

 

 

 

  

This is the gorgeous couple that play lead roles in "Ha" at the PCC.  What a beautiful show.  I was almost vocally sobbing.  I was so touched by the message of family, resurrection, new birth...and the many moving performances that the dancers did.  Whoa.

 

Needless to say: the people are ALL beautiful who work at the PCC.  We were shocked at their friendliness and sweetness!  We were in heaven!  We were the very first people at the Luau to be taken up to eat.  We sat right in the center and enjoyed the beautiful music, yummy food, and met some great people too.  It was such an amazing experience!!!!!  It all seemed like a dream.  We are shocked that it really happened.  We cannot wait to go back!

Oahu Snipits...More to come soon!

Here's Jonny with Gabriel, an awesome BYU-H student who is gung-ho to help out with online missionary work.  What a cool guy.

President Wheelwright, the pres of BYU-H with Jonny in the President's office, after an amazing meeting with him there.  The night before, his sweet wife made dinner for us.  We ate in their home, which is right on campus.  They are such hospitable, kind, supportive, and great people.  What an honor!

 

Alama Fonua, BYU-H Student Body President.  The sweetest guy ever!

 

Just a few of the dozens of flags in front of the main entrance of BYU-H.

 

David Lucero, who coordinated, planned, prepared, and tirelessly worked to make Jonny's time on campus as meaningful as possible.  He put on the fireside, which was in the Cannon Center on Sunday night (Jan. 31st).  His wife, Kristi, was so interested in what the More Good Foundation is doing.  She's a doll.  They live there in Laie and love it...how could you not love it!?  It was an absolute pleasure spending time with the Lucero's.  They are awesome.

  

Sister Cole (?I may have this name wrong), who was put on the spot by David Lucero, when he said, "Can you guys guess what Sister Cole's secret is?"  I answered jokingly, "she's a tap-dancer?!"  Then, they looked shocked and said, "How did you know?  She was once a dancer on Lawrence Welk!"  Awesome.

  

These are Maori brethren who have been at the PCC for a long time...they rock!  They gave us the coolest book about the PCC, which includes a photo of the brother on the left, and the artwork of the one on the right.

  

  

Jonny with President Von Orgill of the PCC.  He and his wife, Sherri, treated us like royalty at the PCC.  What a treasured memory we will always have of the Orgills and their kindness to us.

  

I was about to cry, because we were close to leaving the campus.  It was really hard to hold in our emotions.

   

A building that looked ruined...but cool.

 

Shark's Cove

 

  

Me, getting a yummy Acai bowl on the North Shore...thanks, Sherri for taking me for one the day before!  I have since been craving one.  They have a yummy acai smoothie in the bottom of a large bowl, then they add organic granola, banana slices, fresh blueberries, and honey.  YUMM-O!!!

  

We were so excited to see Bruno, one of the North Shore's protected sea turtles as he napped.

  

The gorgeous Hanauma Bay!!!!  Wow.

  

  

  

Jonny snorkeled while I relaxed and read a book: perfect!!

  

  

Rainbow above the mountain!

  

The lovebirds! 

 

  

The marina where Jonny took off for his dive the first day we were there.  These were taken on the last day of our trip...but he realized he hadn't taken a shot of the boats there.

  

Beached whale!!!...oh, wait...it's me.

  

Sending out the vibe...

  

Yummy Lychee/Mango Snowcone!!!  Yummy!

 

Coming home was made much more fun when the kids were so happy to see us.  They had made notes and pictures for us, taped to the front door.  It was so nice to be home.  Briggs and Nelly both got honu (turtle) stuff animals, and other fun things.