this weekend was the cultural celebration for the temple reopening and rededication. the youth from the whole island prepared acts, dances, skits etc. for celebration. President Monson would be in attendance and they worked for months rehearsing.
there were many rehearsals...
beautiful murals painted by alison bishop
our skit and dance was about when Joseph F. Smith came to the islands as a young missionary and decided that Hawaii would be the next place for a temple. the 5th one, the first outside of Utah.
then it was time to go to BYUH for the dress rehearsals for all 9 stakes, equaling about 2,000 youth!
this was so amazing, a replica of the temple that was raised off of the floor. made out of some kind of sheeting or parachute material. it was beautiful.
this one was amazing. all of the youth sat on the floor with flip cards and they made 4 different pictures, a plumeria, a wave, the temple and the islands.
matt and amber hanging out the day of the celebration.
we ate lunch with jack, amber and yani -we were there 14 hrs. the day of the celebration with rehearsal and 2 performances.
matt and his buddy breelyn, kelsey, Eric, and rachel
our youth before their performance
mylani runnels in her maori outfit
the floor of youth awaiting pres. monson's arrival
it was an amazing site!
each stake had a different theme and this one was about WWII at pearl Harbor.it's hard to see but this was boogie woogie bugle boy and it was awesome
the real thing. the kids all sang I love to see the Temple
our cultural dress youth.it was really the most amazing experience for the youth and even for the adults. to bring together so many youth and put on something like this is quite a feat and it was done so well i can't even explain the creativity that was involved. i can tell you the pictures can never do it justice.
it was a very long week and weekend but well worth it for the experience the youth had.
the temple was dedicated yesterday which was beautiful. now it's all done and the work was all worth it!
