Laie Hawaii Temple

We toured the visitor center and the temple grounds.

The concrete for the temple is made of native crushed lava rock and coral.

The couple missionaries were from South Jordan, had been there three days and had served a previous mission in India.

Temple design is shaped like a Grecian cross with no tower.

Beautiful pools and landscape surrond the temple and it was tempting to take tons of pictures. I restrained myself.

Site Dedication:  1 June 1915 by Joseph F. Smith
Dedication:  27–30 November 1919 by Heber J. Grant

Our friends moved to Hawaii while the temple was closed. They helped with the open house. Lucky!
Public Open House:  22 October–13 November 2010
Rededication:  21 November 2010 by Thomas S. Monson

We scheduled a time to go inside and do proxy baptisms. Very kind temple workers! One was from Provo, Ut. She strongly suggested my kids go to school at BYU-Hawaii. "What's to beat? School in the morning and surfer in the afternoon!"

Down the street is Church-owned Brigham Young University–Hawaii and Hawaii's number-one paid attraction, the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Temple Facts:

• The Laie Hawaii Temple was the first temple built in Polynesia.
• The Laie Hawaii Temple was the first temple built outside of the continental United States.
• The Laie Hawaii Temple sits on the original Mormon landholdings of Hawaii known as Laie Plantation. The 6,000-acre parcel was purchased in 1865 for $14,000.
• President Joseph F. Smith was in Hawaii on business in the spring of 1915 when he was moved by a spiritual impulse to dedicate a site for the Laie Hawaii Temple. The action was later ratified by the brethren and publicly sustained in the October 1915 General Conference.
• Construction of the Laie Hawaii Temple came to a standstill when the supply of lumber ran out. Prayers were uttered, and two days later, a freighter was discovered stranded on a nearby coral reef. The captain offered his entire cargo to the saints if they would unload it for him. His cargo? Lumber—enough to complete the temple.
• Carved friezes decorate each side of the top of the temple, depicting four dispensations of time: Old Testament Dispensation (west), New Testament Dispensation (south), Book of Mormon Dispensation (north), and Latter-day Dispensation (east).