That’s why several thousand alumni return here each decade, most recently from Oct. 7 to Oct. 12, to celebrate the center’s 60th anniversary.

President Hugh B. Brown, then first counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the center — primarily built by labor missionaries, including some from the South Pacific — on Oct. 12, 1963. He cut a traditional lei, signifying the center’s opening. Te Aroha Nui o Te Iwi Maori, a group of almost 200 volunteers from New Zealand, many of them also former labor missionaries in their islands, sang majestically during the program. They came early to help put finishing touches on the center, perform in the new Maori Village, and double the Laie-based cast of the center’s very first night show.

The devotional

For the 60th anniversary, current center leaders put together a mix of spiritual, cultural and social activities, starting with a devotional on Oct. 8 in the BYU–Hawaii Cannon Activities Center. Three exceptional choirs provided music: Kahuku 3rd Ward Tongan choir, an alumni choir from Laie, and a virtual alumni choir from around the world.

Polynesian Culture Center president and CEO P. Alfred Grace thanked all for coming and expressed gratitude that the alumni were a part of making the prophetic vision of BYU–Hawaii come true. Next, Fraser Bullock, chairman of the center’s board of directors, said, “As I look at you, I had this spiritual impression from our Father that He and His Son are so pleased with the work you have done over the decades.”

Keynote speaker Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, reminded the devotional crowd that at the center’s 40th anniversary in 2003, President Gordon B. Hinckley said of Laie, “This place is unique in all the world,” referring to the “triad” of the Laie Hawaii Temple, BYU–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Referring to an earlier speaker, Bishop Budge added the “three entities ... are places where one can feel and see the light of Jesus Christ and the peace and joy that emanates from them.

“You’re unique in ways that really matter. ... The PCC and BYU–Hawaii are certainly working together in the exact ways the Lord and His prophets intended.”

Capturing the heart

But perhaps a final-morning lecture in the center’s Hawaiian Journey Theater captured the heart of the reunion. Former BYU–H President Eric B. Shumway — also a former missionary and temple president in Tonga, and at one time an interim president of the PCC — shared inspirational moments in the center’s history and examples of its close ties with BYU–Hawaii. For example, he once described the two Church institutions as being “joined at the heart.”

President Shumway pointed out the three current “triad” presidents are Polynesian: Grace, a Maori, at the center; Keoni Kauwe III, a Hawaiian, at BYU–Hawaii; and Finau Hafoka, a Tongan, at the temple (as is Eric Beaver, a Samoan/Hawaiian, president and CEO of Hawaii Reserves Inc., which manages nonecclesiastical, Church-affiliated property in Laie).

“As we celebrate this momentous 60th anniversary of the PCC, its past, present and future, there’s one figure that towers mightily over every decision, every event, every accomplishment of both the [BYU–Hawaii] campus and PCC. That person is undeniably President David O. McKay.” President Shumway spoke of President McKay’s “vision, prophetic authority, his courage and his absolute assurance and Heavenly Father’s will” to carry out founding the university and center.

Indeed, President Shumway compared President McKay’s dedication for the Church College of Hawaii in 1955, where he stood “in the middle of an open cane field, no buildings, no faculty, no students, and yet declared what the school was going to be and do was, in my judgment, a modern parting of the Red Sea.”

He continued: President McKay foresaw Laie would “become a missionary factor in influencing ... millions of people who will come to know what this town and its significance are.”

“This transcendent prophetic utterance and its subsequent and ongoing fulfillment should burn in the hearts of every person connected with BYU–Hawaii, PCC, the temple and the local Saints of Laie and the surrounding area.”

President Shumway also said of his brief interim term at the center, “A student’s work was not just a way to pay for his or her education. ... It is a central component of their education. I realized that a PCC supervisor was important like unto a BYU–Hawaii faculty member in his students’ overall growth into a competent, confident contributor in the world of work.”

Since 1955, thousands of students from over 70 countries have attended BYU–Hawaii. Since 1963, over 40 million visitors have experienced the Polynesian Cultural Center, and many CCH/BYUH students have worked there.

The alumni night show

Most anniversary attendees looked forward to watching or performing in the alumni night show. Hundreds of the latter unlimbered and practiced for hours to return to the Pacific Theater stage to sing and dance once again with long-ago friends, in some cases sweethearts they eventually married, and even their children and grandchildren who share the PCC legacy. Indeed, some center “families” now include four generations.

Polynesian Cultural Center’s Hā

The “Breath of Life” night show normally runs about 90 minutes, but the alumni audience didn’t want to leave at the end of their show’s four hours.

It was overwhelming and touching. Some sections had more than 100 performers on stage, including kūpuna, or elders, who were courteously escorted and seated on stage to be with those still agile enough to perform. Some used canes, and one Tongan lady substituted tennis balls for the golf ball-sized seeds normally used in their “hiko” juggling number.

Theater manager David Tiave choreographed a special finale and then, surprise, worked fireworks above the four-story volcano-like backdrop into the routine. In a word, the 2023 alumni show was unforgettable.

One 1963 Hawaiian alumna remarked she cried when she heard the overture to “her” first night show begin to play. A Tongan alumnus who came about a decade later said he saw some kūpuna dance using walkers. “That’s the spirit of the PCC,” he said afterward. “The PCC helped me be what I wanted to be.”

Other activities

Other PCC 60th anniversary activities included two pre-events: The “living treasures” banquet, and the Moanikeala Hula Festival in the Hawaiian Village. Monday morning started with historical lectures, time in the villages and departments. Following days featured an evening social in the villages, a “light” service project, and even a touch rugby game.

Nearing the end, BYUH/PCC brass band alumni overcame “sore lips” to put on a concert, the Gateway restaurant staged an impressive feast, and a “legacy walk” around the center’s perimeter featured “stations” honoring various alumni. There were also lots of opportunities to “talk-story” with old friends, and a “mic drop” session to share tender thoughts and testimonies.

The reunion ended with the current night show cast honoring all the alumni after their regular performance.

Living Treasures Center vice president of cultural presentations Tagaloataoa Delsa Atoa Moe explained treasure honorees generally worked with the public and met the following criteria:

They must have been former employees or contract workers for a minimum of 10 years and living at the time the award is announced, but not a current employee (the last part does not apply to contract workers). All are recognized within and beyond the Center for their mastery of Polynesian culture, and are considered “friends” or on good terms with the center, its mission, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“The hard part was reducing the list of nominees,” Moe continued. “We had many others who we considered based on these criteria,” she said before announcing the most recent “treasures”:

■ Sela Feinga, a Tongan handicraft and weaving artisan who often created colorful lei and haku (braided) masterpieces. “We created our plumeria farm so she wouldn’t have to go around the community, climbing trees and picking flowers,” Moe said. 

■ Fakasi’ieiki Tovo, a master of Tongan performing arts known for his lively choreography, poetic song composition and teaching. His wife, the late Mele Tovo, was honored as a “living treasures” during the 50th anniversary.

■ Cy Bridges, a renowned Hawaiian cultural, performing arts and oral traditions expert. “We had to wait for him to retire before we could honor him with this award,” Moe said. “Sixty years ago, Bridges was a student of the center’s first kumu or master hula teacher, the late Aunty Sally Wood Naluai,” Moe said. His wife, Iraani Bridges, was recognized as a 50th anniversary living treasure.

■ Keith Awai, a Hawaiian cultural and performing arts specialist, kumu hula, choreographer, chanter and dancer. “He is very well known for teaching Hawaiian cultural values, a gifted and revered teacher here in Hawaii and on the mainland,” Moe said. “Awai was also one of Aunty Sally’s students.”

■ William Mahoni, a Maori/Tongan carver and artisan known for his extravagant designs and fabrications. For example, he created some of the center’s previous special events such as the “Christmas lagoon” canoe ride.  

■ Ellen Gay Dela Rosa, known as a Hawaiian choreographer, chanter, musician and dancer. “She is beloved not only here at the center but also throughout Hawaii, the mainland, Japan and other places,” Moe said. “She is Aunty Sally’s niece and one of her students.”

■ Mildred “Aunty Milly” Enos, a master Hawaiian quilter whose knowledge was vital in quilting exhibits and demonstrations at the Mission Settlement. “Her handiwork has been presented to many VIPs,” Moe said.

■ “Chief” Tauasā Sielu Avea, a Samoan ambassador, actor and entertainer extraordinaire. “He genuinely loves his audience,” Moe said, “and he was our inaugural world fireknife champion here at the center.”

■ Eseta Toelupe, a Tongan artist, weaver and intricate leimaker “whose creations adorned prophets, presidents and celebrities as an employee, then as a volunteer, a senior missionary, and she’s back to being a volunteer again,” Moe said. “It’s very hard to find weavers of this caliber anymore.”

■ Steve Cheney, a former contract worker, a volunteer for the past 10 years and a steel-guitar master who is renowned throughout Hawaii and across the U.S. Moe pointed out he grew up in a family band and started playing the steel guitar in 1961. “He’s been recorded many times for the center’s luau and other shows, and his son, Ben, also plays steel guitar for the center,” Moe said.

■ Ratu Seru Inoke Suguturaga, a hereditary Fijian chief “recognized for his knowledge of Fijian cultural arts as well as a liaison with many of our Fijian dignitaries. Moe said, “They are so comfortable with him; many times they go to his house and relax there.”

■ “Mommy” Elisa Teriipaia. Said Moe of this Tahitian genius: “When it came to creating costumes from all across the Pacific, she could take measurements, then cut cloth without a pattern — a skill only a very few people have.” Her husband, Iona Teriipaia, was recognized as a “living treasure” during the 50th anniversary.

■ Faivaola Eric Shumway learned Tongan so fluently as a young missionary that he was given a Tongan chiefly title and is a well-known Tongan language scholar and orator. He spent many years as a professor, administrator and president at BYU–Hawaii. During that time, he also served as an interim president of the Polynesian Cultural Center. “When the king and queen of Tonga came to the center in 2016 to participate in the reopening of the Tongan Village following extensive renovations,” Moe said, “Faivaola addressed them on our behalf in an appropriate manner.” 

■ Leilua Logoitino Apelu started at the center as a student dishwasher, and demonstrated such a strong work ethic in everything he did that after graduating from BYU–Hawaii and earning a master’s degree at the University of Hawaii, he went back to Samoa and became the Church schools administrator. Later, returning to work at the center, he dynamically filled several leadership positions and retired as the chief operations officer. 

Exemplary Service awards

Moe noted the Exemplary Service awards go to people who “worked for the center for about 30 years, either full- or part-time, demonstrating excellence in service, and were friends to our mission and what we represent as well as to the Church.”

The honorees included:

■ Mahana Mo’o Pulotu “worked for many years in the Tahitian Village, Guest Services, and in the (former) Education Department,” Moe said. “She has a perpetual smile. Even when she speaks, you can hear the ‘smile’ in her voice. She leaves a lasting impression on anyone she meets.” Her husband, Tui’one Pulotu, was recognized as a “living treasure” during the 50th anniversary.

■ Toiva Lake “performed her job as a custodial supervisor with passion and commitment,” Moe began “ when she and her team took it upon themselves to ask, what more can we do to WOW our guests. They then put fresh floral arrangements in the restrooms. She also nurtured homesick students.”

■ Fifita Unga, who retired recently as vice president of culinary services, Unga “never did anything less than 100 percent, especially when it came to hosting,” Moe said. “The food workers always looked sharp, just like she did with her ‘garden of flowers’ in her hair.” 

■ Kelela Lombard: Moe described her as “the person who was the initial welcoming voice of the center, who sounded like a Polynesian Oxford graduate. She is dedicated to the center’s mission, just like her mom, Ofa Talakai, was. She worked for years as a reservations supervisor — even when center President Alred Grace was just a young sales guide.”

■ Larry Yuen “was the quiet and the ‘invisible’ financial controller for the center, who worked many long, dedicated hours to ensure the center was financially sound,” Moe said. “That was the hallmark of his service.”

■ John Muaina was the center’s long-term vice president of human resources, now retired, “and our number-one connection to China through the former Asian Executive Management program. For example, he and program alumni arranged the visit of President Gordon B. Hinckley to China.” Moe added Muaina continues to help in human resources working as a service missionary and a volunteer.

■ Mike Foley: Moe described him “as somebody who made sure the world knew about the center. He is a dedicated and gifted writer, journalist, photographer, digital media guy and historian for the center and the Church in Laie.” She added he is currently helping as the content editor for the center’s soon-to-launch 60th-anniversary legacy history website.

■ Les Steward started as a student from “down under” in the theater sound and lights department and moved into the business office as he completed his studies. More recently Steward was vice president of finance and, after serving as a mission president in California, returned to oversee the center’s physical facilities.” 

On behalf of all the recipients, Toiva Lake said she was “very honored” to receive this recognition, but she also thanked all those who “supported me during my time of service” as well as those who worked hard.

Toiva added she loved working at the center for 42 years, and “came to appreciate the other cultures. I wish I was still young so I could continue this job.”

Tovo said he didn’t consider himself a “treasure,” but rather he and his family “had been blessed by the treasure of the Polynesian Cultural Center and what it has taught me.”

Tovo also shared some of his time with honoree Tauasā Sielu Avea, who “thanked the center for the award and all those who have worked hard to make it successful.” 

“The years I worked her, I thought of it as my own cultural center. I came early and I went home late. I treasure the time that I was here,” Avea said.

In his closing remarks, Polynesian Cultural Center President Alred Grace said to the honorees, “Every one of you is so accomplished, and I’ve recently realized one of the greatest privileges of being a long-term employee is knowing all of you in your roles and responsibilities. It was wonderful working and traveling with some of you.”

“On behalf of all our center ‘ohana’ (family), we have a cultural belief to honor our legacy. As we strive to do that, we know that you have done that before us. I want to thank each and every one of you.”

“Mahalo nui loa to all of you for your contributions to the Polynesian Cultural Center and to the mission and vision of this community where we are blessed to have a temple, a place of higher education, and the number-one attraction in Hawaii that preserves and perpetuates the arts, crafts and cultures of Polynesia.”

“President Nelson has said to us, ‘When you share the spirit of aloha, you are sharing the light of Christ.’”

“Our motto is ‘One ‘ohana sharing aloha.’ Our vision is simple, to spread aloha around the world. It’s who we are, and it’s what the world needs. You did your responsibilities so admirably, and we’ll try to do the same thing.”

Lee-Ann Choy, president of the School of Travel Industry Management alumni association which oversees the Hawaii Hospitality Hall of Fame, explained how the name of David O. McKay — a former educator who served as ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1951 until 1970 — is now listed among almost 50 others on a special wall.

“We are building a wall of the history of tourism in Hawaii,” she said of the “foundation these pioneers set for us. Only deceased inductees are honored.”

Other inductees include hoteliers, restaurateurs, educators, tour and transportation executives, entertainers, cultural experts and more.

The Cultural Center’s chief marketing officer, vice president Eric Workman, and a small group represented President McKay at the hall of fame ceremony and banquet. “We were so pleased to hear the UH travel industry management alumni honored President McKay,” Workman said.

“There’s no question in any of our minds that he ‘championed’ the Church College of Hawaii, and subsequently the Polynesian Cultural Center, over many years in the history of Laie. We have all benefitted from his vision and aloha for the Pacific and Asian people.”

President McKay’s history in Hawaii

In late 1920 Church leaders dispatched Elder McKay, then a young member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on a fact-finding tour of its Pacific islands and Asia missions and school systems, with the possibility of going on to Africa and Europe. During that almost-62,000-mile journey, for example, Elder McKay also visited China, Japan, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, India, Palestine (i.e., Israel), Egypt, Armenia, and Europe, arriving home on Christmas Eve 1921.

The early days of Elder McKay’s journey brought him to Hawaii where he witnessed Hawaiian and immigrant school children at the small mission school in Laie near the recently completed Laie Hawaii Temple raise the U.S. flag on Feb. 7, 1921.

This sight ultimately inspired him, when he became president of the Church in 1951, to found Church schools in the South Pacific, the Church College of Hawaii in 1955 (renamed Brigham Young University–Hawaii in 1974), and the adjacent Polynesian Cultural Center in 1963 as a way to help more students from the Pacific islands and Asian Rim fund their college education.

At the university’s groundbreaking ceremony, President McKay predicted “millions of people” would eventually come to Laie, although at the time the total number of visitors to Hawaii was only slightly over 110,000. Since then, however, tourism became Hawaii’s leading industry, and almost 50 million visitors have experienced the Polynesian Cultural Center, making it one of Hawaii’s most popular attractions. President McKay’s foresight is also recognized for fostering the international growth of the Church.

While the Hawaii tourism industry is still recovering from economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, BYU–Hawaii currently enrolls about 2,800 students from over 70 different countries. The Polynesian Cultural Center employs about 800 of those students in a unique, joint work-study program.

Elder Stephen B. Allen, director of the visitors’ center, noted a team of artisans spent over eight months building the highly detailed model on the U.S. mainland. After disassembling and shipping it to Hawaii, they spent more than another week reassembling the model. 

“This is a rare opportunity to ‘see’ inside this building, and most importantly, to learn why temples are so important to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Elder Allen said. “Our most sacred experiences and our most binding promises are made to God in our temples, uniting us eternally in God’s Kingdom.”

Elder Allen explained the new display in Laie is only the Church’s fifth cut-away temple model in the world. He said this is particularly appropriate as members here celebrate the centennial of the Laie Hawaii Temple, which became the Church’s fifth temple on Thanksgiving Day 1919 and also the first to be built outside North America. The Church currently operates 166 temples around the world (with another 51 announced, under construction and/or renovation).

In its earlier years, the Laie Hawaii Temple served all of Hawaii (though there’s now another in Kailua-Kona), Asia and the South Pacific islands. The other four existing cut-away models are located in Latter-day Saint temple visitors’ centers in Salt Lake City, Utah; Washington, D.C.; Paris, France; and Rome, Italy.

“Our approach here is to allow people to browse at their leisure but be available to answer questions,” Elder Allen said. “We’re not intent on giving a prepared tour about the cut-away model. We think as people look at it, questions will arise in their hearts and we’ll respond to those.”

More information is also available online. For example, in addition to the similar new cut-away model in the Rome visitors’ center, Elder Allen suggested anyone interested can “take a virtual tour” that Elder Ronald A. Rasband and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conducted during the recent Rome Italy Temple open house period.

He also stressed that the interiors of Church temples and the ceremonies conducted therein are “sacred, not secret. Guests have asked me a number of times, ‘Can we go in the temple?’ At times I’ve said you absolutely can, but you can’t go into the temple until you are ready to make the promises that we make there. That requires you to be a member of the Church and have reached a point in your progress where you’re willing to make these highest-level promises to God.”

“We feel greatly blessed to have the model at the visitors’ center, and we’re very grateful for those who made it for us,” Elder Allen said.

Karl Walser, a Church Missionary Department manager who oversees fabrication and installation of visitors’ centers exhibits, explained he used a 3D camera to videotape all the Laie Hawaii Temple core rooms, along with reference photos and blueprints to help Clark Schaffer, owner of Schaffer Studios in Spanish Fork, Utah, and his creative team build the model.

Schaffer, who worked for years building models in the Hollywood film industry before opening his own studio, said they first created a “paper model that allowed us to successfully visualize the finished one and make it easier to experiment with the placement of the cut-away ‘windows.’ ”

Once approved, Schaffer foreman Nick Stephens said the creative team did most of the finished work by hand, “rather than using a lot of machines, 3D printers and computers. We did things in an old-fashioned way to create a more sculpted look. We spent a lot of time and attention on the details of the artwork in the model — in part to pay tribute to the original artists who worked on the temple here 100 years ago.”

The Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors’ Center is located at 55-600 Naniloa Loop, Laie, HI, 96762, and is open free to the public year-round, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Multilingual guides are also available, or visitors are welcome to browse the center and temple grounds on their own.

His wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, accompanied the 94-year-old prophet-president, as did Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, all of whom also spoke during the special devotional Thursday, May 16, in the Kona Hawaii Stake Center in Kailua next to the Kona Hawaii Temple.

The four continued the nine-day ministry tour, leaving Hawaii the next day for additional stops in Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Tahiti.

After tracing some of the highlights of his large family, professional medical career and long life, President Nelson shared ten things he has learned:

1. “God is our Father. He loves us and He wants us to have joy. He does want us to have immortality and eternal life, but He wants us to choose this course. He honors our agency.”
2. “Jesus is the Christ, the Beloved Son of His Heavenly Father. He came into the world to do the will of His Father. He was lifted up on the cross, and that would be the way of granting for us immortality. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, every one of us will be resurrected from the grave.”
3. “We are created in the image of our Father and of His Son,” President Nelson continued. Drawing examples from his career as a cardiac surgeon, he pointed out the body can heal and regulate itself. “It’s guaranteed. It’s God’s gift to us.”
4. “God communicates with His children on the earth through prophets. This has been the method of instruction from the time of Adam,” he said, listing other prophets as well. “This dispensation will not end in apostasy, and it will fill the earth.”
5. “The scriptures are true,” he said. “They comprise a rich reservoir of divine doctrine.”
6. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. It is the restoration of Christ’s New Testament Church, and the gospel is the same that God taught to Adam and Noah” and so forth. “The gospel is ancient, and the restoration of that gospel is so precious.”
7. “Satan is allowed to function … and I’ve learned that if you want to be miserable, follow Satan’s ways. If you want to have joy in life, follow the Savior’s way.”
8. “The youth of Zion today are a chosen generation,” President Nelson said. “Before these young people in today’s generation were born, they received their first lessons in the world of spirits. They were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in His vineyard for the salvation and souls of men.”
9. “Joy comes from keeping the commandments. … Keeping the commandments of God are enabling. They are ennobling. They are protective.”
10. “Salvation is an individual matter. Exaltation is a little more, it is a family matter,” including the sealing in the temple, “and when death comes, you have the assurance of knowing that it is temporary.”

In leading to his apostolic blessing, President Nelson said, “Bless you, my beloved brothers and sisters in Hawaii. You are the Lord’s choicest children. He loves you and wants you to be happy.”

He then blessed the congregation that they would desire to feast on the Lord’s words, have success in their occupational and educational endeavors and have love at home and no contention, among several other things.

“And I bless you with my testimony that God lives. Jesus is the Christ. This is His Church restored in these latter-days to accomplish its great purpose, the gathering of Israel; and having those families of gathered Israel sealed in the temple in preparing the world for the second coming of the Lord.”

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Earlier in the devotional, Sister Nelson charmed the Kona saints by telling how her grandparents served as missionaries on the island of Kauai, and how their love led her to attend the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. She also spoke of the need for individuals to eliminate contention from their lives.

Elder Gong spoke of the impact President Nelson’s calling has had for greater emphasis on the worldwide use of the Church’s official name — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Sister Gong explained her husband's family ties to Hawaii. She then asked the question: How do you say “thank you” to your ancestors? Learn and record their stories, she said. Live good lives. Walk in truth, and bring temple blessings to them.

As the prophet and party left the stake center, the members sang “Aloha Oe,” the traditional Hawaiian farewell song.

Earl Veloria, a member of Kohala Ward and a former president of the Kona Hawaii Temple, said of President Nelson's visit: “His message really touched home because he knows how to reach people. He also shared things about Hawaii that makes us feel warm. Of course, he also reminds us of the promises we need to keep.”

Audrey Veloria, his wife, added: “He told the simple pure truths of the gospel. It was like Christ the Savior was standing before us in old Hawaii, calling us the House of Israel and letting us know of his great love for the people of the isles of the sea. I am so grateful he came.”

Faith Meyer Bean, a member of the Holualoa Ward, described the devotional as a “blessing — it was wonderful and so inspirational.”

Her husband, Joseph Bean, added that the devotional was the first time he had seen the prophet in person, as did Elder Benjamin Shupe, a recently arrived full-time missionary from Chandler, Arizona.

Another missionary, Elder Samuel Bass from Bluffdale, Utah, said, “I definitely felt the Spirit, and I thought it was interesting how President Nelson broke everything down into 10 points of what everyone should know, including nonmembers.”

"‘Ohana" means “family” in Hawaiian.

Approximately 10 million visitors have enjoyed "Rainbows" over the past 18 years. Typical of the close bonds that exist among the PCC “family” of employees, even some alumni returned on July 11 with special permission to dance in that show’s final performance, while others joined the audience. The center also staged free, morning previews of "Huki" on July 10 and 18 for the community.

“'Huki' is a very unique canoe celebration," said Delsa Atoa Moe, PCC vice president of cultural presentations. "It’s very different from anything PCC has done in the past. We’re not focusing on the individual cultures as much as we are on the ocean and how it pulls us all together. We also use this theme to tell the story of Laie, and how the Polynesians came together in this place.”

PCC canoe show manager Jon Raymond Mariteragi said "Huki"starts with dramatizations of the legendary demigod Maui harnessing the sun and dragging up the islands with his magical fishhook. Though far apart, the people on the Polynesian islands then use the ocean as a highway to interact with each other, as portrayed in a canoe-borne cultural exchange, marriage and warfare among the islanders.

The "Huki" storyline continues: With western contact, the Polynesians adapt music and instruments, then add their own rhythms, words and motions to both traditional and contemporary songs. Western-influenced but island-style choral music becomes an important part of Christian worship. Then to raise funds to rebuild their chapel in the 1940s, Polynesian Latter-day Saints living in Laie combine island entertainment and a luau with a traditional hukilau fishing event, where the guests help pull in the nets. The Laie Hukilau immediately becomes popular; the aloha spirit and talent of the local islanders, combined with the "Hukilau" Song and Uncle Hamana Kalili’s famous shaka sign, help spread its fame around the world.

Hollywood helps, too: One segment of "Huki" portrays how popular singer Elvis Presley films part of his 1965 movie, "Paradise Hawaiian Style," at the Center and even adapts the PCC’s signature song, "Bula Laie," into his English version, "Drums of the Islands."

When Brigham Young University–Hawaii (known as Church College of Hawaii from 1955–1974) starts up, more Polynesians and others come to Laie; and the Church soon uses the Laie Hukilau concept to found the Polynesian Cultural Center as a means to help the students pay for their education.

As the canoes come together for the finalé of "Huki," the emcee says, “Now you know my story…and why the Polynesians have gathered again at the PCC in beautiful Laie, for the waters around us do not divide us. They unite us into one ‘ohana sharing aloha.”

“The overall takeaway from our new canoe celebration is that we are all a member of a worldwide family,” Moe said.

She pointed out that a special creative committee has been working on "Huki" for more than three years. Members of the committee include Elder David T. Warner, an Area Seventy, and Ross Boothe as consultants. “They were also both consultants for us on our evening show, 'Hā: Breath of Life,' and they’re back on this project.”

PCC performance specialists are Steve Laulu, Samoa; Rāhira Makekau, Aotearoa; Kalivati Volavola, Fiji; Pōmaika’i Krueger, Hawaii; ‘Alamoti Taumoepeau, Tonga; and Jon Raymond Mariteragi, Tahiti.

“Dallin Muti composed four original songs for 'Huki,' and he’s also responsible for the entire soundtrack; Roger Ewens, Cathy Teriipaia and Fatai Feinga oversaw all of our costuming and wardrobe, and Lance Aina was responsible for canoe choreography,” Moe continued.

Muti, who started at the center in 1986, recalled the new theme song he wrote came to him as David Warner was discussing the concept of "Huki."

“I grabbed a guitar, and the words to the song just came out. It just felt right,” he said. “To me, this is a special place, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work here,” he added.

Moe also said PCC carvers created the custom-built canoes used in "Huki," including a miniature version of our Fijian camakau outrigger canoe, and a Maori-style double-outrigger.

“They also carved the magnificent wooden drums and many other custom-made props and accessories worn by the performers,” he said.

In addition to these people, Mariteragi said he strongly feels that the new canoe celebration is much more than a theater department production.

“Every division in the center has been heavily involved. We’ve all pulled together to help launch 'Huki,'” he said.

For example, “blue-shirt” physical facilities workers and labor missionaries have extensively expanded the seating capacity around the lagoon. The tech crew installed an all-new surround-sound system, and wardrobe ladies and labor missionaries created hundreds of new costumes.

Mariteragi also expressed gratitude for the previous "Rainbows" canoe pageant.

“I honor all the individuals who poured their heart and soul into the making of 'Rainbows,' and all our alumni and current employees who kept it going over the years," he said. "This is part of the spirit that really makes the Polynesian Cultural Center unique. We have a history of honoring those who have come before, and being grateful for the legacy we have.”

But the new show has historical value that highlights the area, Mariteragi said.

“I also love the new 'Huki,' because while we’ve always had recurring themes, this is one of the first times we’re actually telling the story of the Polynesian Cultural Center," he said. "'Huki' portrays actual people and events, and we’re putting that on display."

Additionally, Mariteragi expounded on the founding of the Polynesian Cultural Center and how it is fulfilling its purpose.

“'Huki' also reflects the prophecies of President David O. McKay, who founded the university and the center. We proceeded with our plans in faith,” Mariteragi added. “We worked hard and followed Heavenly Father’s promptings, and I really feel that’s guided our committee, our cast, and everyone involved in this production.”

Alfred Grace, president and CEO of the Polynesian Cultural Center, also shared his remarks.

“We are excited to share a brand-new canoe celebration with our guests,” he said. “Our team has been working tirelessly to ensure that the story of "Huki" authentically captures the unique history and folklore of Polynesia and that our facilities are renovated and reinvigorated to ensure that the experience is elevated for all our guests.”

The First Presidency approved hiring Tausilinu’u David Hannemann as the center’s first full-time paid employee while labor missionaries and community volunteers were still finishing the visitor attraction. Following official opening ceremonies on Oct. 12, 1963, Hannemann served as operations manager, implementing PCC programs and activities that are still popular almost 55 years and 40 million visitors later, including the popular canoe tour, canoe pageant and luau dinner.

“David is the first and the longest-living ‘treasure’ we have here at the Polynesian Cultural Center,” said Alfred Grace, PCC president and chief executive officer. “We refer to our graduates as ‘living treasures,’ because they are foundational to the Center, and their mana [spiritual essence] will remain here forever. This includes our labor missionaries [several of whom were at the event], who built the Polynesian Cultural Center.”

“We’re so grateful to have this opportunity to acknowledge not only Tausilinu’u David Hannemann, but also his eternal companion, Carolyn,” Brother Grace said. “I am so grateful to David Hannemann for all that he has done. We love them both dearly here at the Polynesian Cultural Center.”

Hannemann, now 92, is a Samoan with German heritage, who left his native islands in the late 1940s and spent time in Hawaii and Utah before being called to the Hawaii Mission from 1949-1951. He learned to speak fluent Hawaiian starting in his first area, the Hansen’s Disease colony at Kalaupapa, Molokai.

Following his mission, Hannemann settled in Los Angeles, California, married Carolyn Harline in the Los Angeles California Temple in 1955 and began to raise a family that eventually totaled nine boys and two girls. He also started a popular Polynesian luau catering business.

Having set the PCC on a course to eventual success in those early years, Hannemann returned to California in 1969 to rekindle his business there and also work in tourism management; but then-PCC president William H. Cravens recruited him to return as a senior vice president in 1983.

For the next 22 years, Hannemann applied his creativity and distinctive management style to many Polynesian Cultural Center departments. For example, he started the successful Laie tour, which has spurred several million people to include the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors’ Center in their PCC experience. He also helped completely overhaul the Center’s food and beverage operations, and turned the PCC’s original Hale Aloha theater into the primary venue for its award-winning Alii Luau.

Hannemann retired from the Center for the first time in 1955, when he and Carolyn were called to serve as president and matron of the Laie Hawaii Temple. During his years in Laie he also served in many Church callings, including bishop, high councilor and stake president, and most recently as the Laie Hawaii Stake patriarch. He also continues to serve as a sealer in the Laie Hawaii Temple.

Completing their temple presidency calling in 1998, Hannemann has volunteered ever since to help compile the history of the Polynesian Cultural Center. He also continued during this time to share his Aloha spirit with countless guests and mentor new generations of young PCC employees, who affectionately call him “Uncle David,” in the island way.

During the “graduation” event, some of these recalled Uncle David’s contributions, wit and practical jokes over the years. A number drew laughter as they told how he could turn driving his electric utility vehicle through the PCC villages into a thrill ride.

Several related how former PCC president Lester W.B. Moore recognized Uncle David’s great faith, putting him in charge of the weather. “Every single, important function where we have needed to have good weather, we put Uncle David in charge, and we had exactly the kind of weather we needed,” said Delsa Atoa Moe, vice president of cultural presentations. She also praised him as an “immaculate dresser” who often wore white pants and shoes and a large mother-of-pearl shell pendant.

She and others recounted his unique training methods, which could include climbing step-ladders and standing on tables to emphasize points. He also often used posters that Carolyn, who had graduated in art education from Pepperdine University, hand-lettered for him. As he has for many years, he typically saved all these materials.

Accolades from PCC village representatives also showed their deep respect for Uncle David’s Polynesian roots. For example:

Speaking in Samoan, islands director Steve Laulu said “there are no words to express thanks equivalent to your efforts at the PCC. We will not only remember them, but we will also try to work hard to make the PCC even better and more beautiful for those who come here.”

On behalf of the Hawaiian village, Naauao Pane’e first addressed Uncle David in Hawaiian and then presented him with a carved hoe koa — a solid koa-wood paddle, a traditional symbol for working hard, “because it is the hoe that makes a canoe go, and it is the hoe uli of a voyaging canoe that steers it to its destination.”

“This is a small gift, but a great one in all our hearts and love for you on this special day,” Pane’e added.

Tongan Village manager Alamoti Taumoepeau presented Carolyn with a large piece of tapa or bark cloth made at the PCC, and Uncle David with a hand-carved wooden kali, a traditional neck-rest “pillow.”

“In Tongan culture this is symbolic of the kali loa — the long arm of a parent,” Taumoepeau explained. “There’s a Tongan expression that whenever anyone succeeds, graduates, or excels in any event or activity, we always say [translated], it is no surprise or wonder, because he or she rested on the kali loa or the arm of the parent.”

“This is symbolic of Tonga’s greatest learning institution, because all learning happens in the arms of the parents,” Taumoepeau continued. “Today, I not only pay tribute to you and the wonderful legacy you have left us, but also to thank your parents and your forefathers for giving us one of PCC’s greatest sons, and for his loving us with the many experiences and stories we will always treasure.”

“After all the gifts and wonderful thoughts, it doesn’t seem like enough to honor Uncle David,” said Eric Workman, PCC chief marketing officer and vice president, who emceed the event. “Our purpose for meeting today was not only to remind him that we remember all that he has contributed to the center, but we wanted Carolyn to know how much we have appreciated your family and your service through David.

“We wanted the children and grandchildren to know that we remember. We wanted you to have a glimpse of what your father has done, and all that we are indebted to him for, including the literally millions of people that his work has touched. Our Heavenly Father is well aware of his sacrifices and work.”

Following the presentations, Hannemann’s son, Howard, said of his father on behalf of the family, “The secret of his success is that he sought wisdom on his knees. I can’t tell you how many early mornings we’d get up, and we’d see him on his knees. All of us, as we’ve grown up, have said we want to be like dad.”

And in conclusion, David Hannemann responded, “My heart is overflowing with gratitude for each and every one of you. I love you. I will try to be worthy of all the love and kind things you’ve said about me.

“I promise you that each and every one of you here has been blessed,” he said. He also predicted that some of his grandchildren would be at the centennial celebration for the Polynesian Cultural Center in 2066.

LAIE, HAWAII

The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame inducted Junior Ah You into its class of 2017 during an enshrinement ceremony here on Jan. 21, in recognition of his exceptional play as a linebacker, primarily for the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes. But it’s the large Samoan’s decades serving this community with “aloha” since he retired from professional football that truly demonstrate his championship character.

Briefly reviewing his playing career that most recently garnered Brother Ah You his fourth hall of fame honor: He was a two-time Grey Cup Champion with the CFL Alouettes and was named the 1974 Grey Cup most valuable player. He was also one of the CFL’s Top 50 players in the league’s modern history, which is among the reasons the Alouettes retired his #77 jersey, just one of seven to be so designated.

During his Arizona State University days in Tempe, he was a three-time All-Western Athletic Conference player and a 1972 All-American; and in 2012 ASU named him to its sports alumni “ring of honor.” In fact, during half-times in the Sun Devil Stadium, the team also featured him doing the Samoan fire knife dance — a skill he learned as one of the Polynesian Cultural Center’s original employees in 1963.

When Brother Ah You wasn’t dancing for football fans, he often volunteered to put on luau shows to help raise ward building funds in the region. At nearby Kahuku High, he became the dominating linebacker that earned him a full scholarship at ASU, and he also excelled on the school’s basketball team in the off-season.

After retiring from professional football in 1983, Brother Ah You and his family — along with several relatives — quickly took the lead in rendering community service in Laie and the surrounding communities. Examples include sponsoring a free, ongoing New Year’s Day “concert of stars”; sports tournaments during the annual Laie Days celebration each July; feeding the homeless and elderly at the family restaurant — including Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts that include all the senior service missionaries in the area — putting on luaus for various groups at Hukilau Beach; and providing refreshments at community and civic events.

Despite all of his achievements and service, Brother Ah You typically shuns attention and is usually found working in the background, often cooking for hundreds of people. His oldest son, Kingsley Ah You, explained that his father was uncomfortable receiving his latest award “because he doesn’t like to be honored,” so it was special when Brother Ah You shared during the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame enshrinement program what motivated him in sports and community service.

Brother Ah You gave most of the credit to others, starting with his grandparents, Savea Aupiu and Talalupelele Moe, who served as local missionaries in Samoa for 50 years before moving to Hawaii. Brother Ah You recalled after his parents, Miki and Mele Ah You, moved from American Samoa to Laie in 1960 to be close to the temple and before his grandparents moved again to the U.S. mainland, “all of us cousins were taken to my uncle’s house in Honolulu to receive a spiritual blessing from my grandfather, who was a spiritual giant in my family. One by one each of the cousins went in to get this special blessing from this special man.”

“I was just a clumsy kid at Laie Elementary School. I didn’t know how to dribble a basketball, and I remember vividly the blessing my grandpa gave me, that if I stayed close to God, kept the Word of Wisdom and lived the gospel, that I would be very successful in sports. I remember thinking I didn’t know how to play anything, and he’s telling me that I’m going to be successful in something that I knew nothing about. Today, after my career in high school, college and the pros, I want to say to my grandpa, ‘I did it.’ ”

“I want to thank my mom and dad for raising all of us in such a loving, spiritual way. Whatever we are, we became in trying to follow our parents’ example.”

Brother Ah You also thanked his coaches and those in the audience who played football with him through Pop Warner and high school. “I’m here to represent my family and my community. All of you are my ‘ohana’ family. I’m here as your faithful servant. Wherever I went, I was proud to say where I came from.” He also thanked his siblings and other relatives who came from the mainland. “I’m going to be cooking for a long time until they go home,” he joked.

But he saved his most emotional thanks for his immediate family. “My children and my family mean the world to me, and all my dear friends. They are all an inspiration to my life,” Brother Ah You said.

Then he asked his wife, Almira, to join him at the microphone and recognized her “as the person who deserves credit for whatever good I’ve accomplished, the rock in our family. Not once has she yelled at me. She has loved me unconditionally, like my Savior, in spite of my imperfections and many short-comings. She’s an unbelievable woman.” Turning to her, Brother Ah You said, “I’m grateful to your parents for raising you.”

“We were high school sweethearts. This is a true story,” he continued, adding a bit of Polynesian fun, “[She] and her mom chased me down and proposed to me. Now look at us: They call us the beauty and the beast. I’m so grateful my kids look like her.”

Brother Ah You was one of four retired pros named to this year’s Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, which partnered in 2015 with the Polynesian Cultural Center in setting up a permanent gallery in the Welcome Center. Admission to the marketplace and the gallery is free.

Others inducted into the Laie-based hall of fame this year included: Sefo Liufau, Samoan, quarterback at the University of Colorado, 2016 college player of the year; Marcus Mariota, Samoan, quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, 2017 pro player of the year (and the inaugural 2014 college player of the year); Chris Naeole, Hawaiian, who is originally from nearby Kaaawa, and played primarily for the New Orleans Saints; Ma’a Tanuvasa, Samoan, who played primarily for the Los Angeles Rams; Riki Ellison, Maori, who played primarily with the San Francisco 49ers; and contributor “Big John” Manumaleuna for his work with Polynesian and other youth in Los Angeles.

Brother Ah You serves in the Laie 1st Ward high priests group leadership; and the late Brother Manumaleuna, who lived in Laie for a number of years before moving to Los Angeles, was a returned missionary from Samoa.

In addition to their restaurant in Kahuku, Brother Ah You and his extended family operate a lunch wagon business at the Polynesian Cultural Center’s Hukilau Marketplace, from which they often provide refreshments for various community activities and functions.

Emeritus General Authority Seventy Elder John H. Groberg shared lessons and insights from his more than 60 years of service to Tonga, the Pacific islands and other international areas as the keynote speaker on Oct. 21, at the Mormon Pacific Historical Society’s (MPHS) annual conference.

Elder Groberg — who served as a young missionary in Tonga from 1954–1957, Tongan Mission president from 1966–1968 and later as a General Authority in the islands — spoke during the opening session of the historical society conference, which focused on the formal centennial of the Tongan Mission (1916-2016).

Missionaries from Samoa originally attempted to open a mission in Tonga 25 years earlier, between 1891-1897, but left. Other missionaries sent from Samoa returned again in 1907 and persisted until the Church formally opened the Tongan Mission nine years later.

As Elder Groberg and other MPHS conference presenters pointed out, from those humble beginnings approximately 65,000 Latter-day Saints currently live in Tonga, making that small island kingdom with a population of about 103,000 the first-and-only country in the world where a majority of its people are Latter-day Saints.

In addition to his many years of service, Elder Groberg is often recognized as the focal point in the 2002 feature film “The Other Side of Heaven.” The film primarily depicts his growth as a young missionary known by the Tongan name Kolipoki, as well as the challenges he and his Tongan companion, the late Feki Pouha, overcame on the remote island of Niuatoputapu. His 1996 autobiography, In the Eye of the Storm, which he said President Thomas S. Monson encouraged him to write, became the basis for the film.

Elder Groberg was originally scheduled to deliver his keynote address during the opening Friday night session of the MPHS conference in the Polynesian Cultural Center’s recently renovated and rededicated Tongan Village, but due to threatening weather, the event was moved into the Center’s enclosed Hawaiian Journey Theater. The audience, many of them Tongans dressed in traditional clothing, nearly filled the 600-seat theater. Former Tongan Mission presidents Melvin B. Butler (1983–1985) and Isileli Kongaika (1989–1992) also attended.

“The great blessing of Tonga, in one respect, besides the number of people who are members of the Church, is the great opportunity it has allowed hundreds of others like me to learn something that we probably wouldn’t have learned as well,” Elder Groberg said, “and that is how to love, serve and sacrifice and, yes, how to stay alive physically and spiritually.”

From the Tongan Mission’s informal beginnings to now, Elder Groberg pointed out, there is a direct correlation between the growth of the Church there and sacrifice. “Where there is great sacrifice, there come great blessings. One of the major challenges we have in our generation today is that people are forgetting more and more that basic principle. It’s sacrifice that brings forth the blessings of heaven, not entitlement. It’s hard work and it’s patience over long periods of time. It’s having, holding, believing and nourishing the truth for long periods of time.”

Further, he said, “As we study the history of Tonga and the Restoration, we should always look to those who sacrifice greatly, and be so thankful for all that they have done. At the same time, we should ask ourselves this question: What are our descendants going to see when they look back at me? As you study your ancestors, be grateful for what they have done; but also turn around and ask yourself: Am I willing to pay that kind of a price? …

“One of the great blessings of the Church in Tonga is not only the improvement in the lives of individuals and families, but in the opportunity many have had to serve and help,” he said.

“One of the great things you can do is to be willing to put your whole heart into building the Kingdom of God, whether you deem it a sacrifice or not. Put your whole heart into it, and the Lord will bless you. …

“We’re all brothers and sisters,” Elder Groberg concluded. “We all have legacies, but for you who have that [Tongan] heritage, I want you to know that you have a responsibility to not let it die or even wane. I pray that all of us will increase the light that comes in our lives, and remember that we are part of the kingdom of God on earth.”

The MPHS conference continued the next morning, Saturday, Oct. 22, in the new Brigham Young University–Hawaii Heber J. Grant Building. In the opening general session, Richard, George and Derwin Merill presented the seventh missionary journal of their grandfather, Olonzo D. Merrill, to BYU-Hawaii President John S. Tanner. President Tanner noted Elder Merrill was among the missionaries sent from Samoa to Tonga in 1893 and served there for the next three and a half years.

On behalf of their family, George Merrill explained during his mission their grandfather meticulously “filled seven journals, with entries of what happened each day. He included all kinds of information.” He added the family discovered the journals after their father died and initially presented six of them to BYU-Hawaii in 2007.

Break-out sessions followed, including presentations on the apostolic visits of Elders David O. McKay and George Albert Smith to Tonga in 1921 and 1938, respectively (President McKay also returned in 1955), as well as a look at the 1922 Tongan law that excluded Latter-day Saint missionaries from obtaining visas. Conference attendees learned it took international diplomacy at the highest levels to get the law repealed two years later.

Other topics covered more information on the Merrill journals, the Tongan building missionary program, the impact of Liahona High School, the tenures of several mission presidents, the diaspora of the Tongan Saints, retrospectives on several key Tongan member families and the future of the mission, among other topics.

The Mormon Pacific Historical Society, which was founded at BYU–Hawaii in 1978, concluded its 2016 conference that evening with a free screening of “The Other Side of Heaven” for attendees and community members in the Polynesian Cultural Center’s Hawaiian Journey Theater.

The completion of any major building or project in the islands generally results in a significant celebration; but when the king and queen of Tonga — His Majesty King Tupou VI and Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u — accepted the invitation to attend the “grand reopening” of the Polynesian Cultural Center’s recently renovated Tongan Village on June 10-11, the Polynesian protocol rose to new levels.

Among those welcoming the royal couple were: Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Ruth L. Renlund; Elder O. Vincent Haleck, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Pacific Area presidency; Elder ‘Aisake Tukuafu, Area Seventy for Tonga; Elder Aley K. Auna Jr., Area Seventy for Hawaii, and their wives, Peggy Ann Haleck, Lose Tukuafu and Danelle Auna. Elder Renlund addressed the royal couple during a special banquet on June 10.

A large entourage also accompanied the king, including his majesty’s talking chief, the Hon. Motu’apuaka; the recently appointed minister of tourism and infrastructure, the Hon. Semisi Sika, who is a 1994 BYU–Hawaii and PCC alumnus; and others.

Specially invited dignitaries and guests, as well as hundreds of BYU–Hawaii students and Tongan community members were already seated as PCC president and chief executive officer Alfred Grace and his wife, Sister Valerie Grace, escorted the royal couple to the village on a canoe.

After the king and queen took their seats on a raised throne-like dais that had been erected in front of the fale fakatu’i — a quarter-scale-replica of the late Queen Salote III’s summer palace in Tonga — President Grace said, “Here in this beautiful Tongan village, we encapsulate all that is significant, worthy and meaningful to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is a showplace for a magnificent culture. It is a place of growth and financial support for BYU–Hawaii students and community employees; and it is a place that will bless all who visit.”

Earlier President Grace quoted President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, who rededicated the Polynesian Cultural Center and its new Hukilau Market Place on Aug. 29, 2015, when he said, “May the PCC and its people be a blessing to the visitors who come from many nations and cultures. May those who come here with heavy hearts or weariness be re-energize, enriched, comforted and uplifted. May they find a place of refuge. May those who come out of a hectic world with a hope for serenity, neighborly love and for wholesome recreational activities, never be disappointed. May families and individuals find here a home away from home.”

The king also addressed the crowd, thanking the PCC for inviting him and pointing out that while his parents had visited several times in an official capacity, and he and his wife had come years before as tourists, “this is the first time we have come as guests with a formal function for the PCC, although it now seems like it’s becoming something of a tradition for my family to visit.”

“It’s a great idea that our young people can get to help spread their own culture here, as well as the center helping them to contribute toward their further discipline and education. It not only fosters pride in their own cultural identity, but also helps preserve and pass on the love of their own culture. Sadly, individual cultural identity is being eroded with increasing globalization.”

In addition to “an enormous sense of pride” being displayed in the work of those present, the king said, “It’s also useful to observe that the PCC is a place to mature in character, where students can develop and gain strength in their own individual traits in a safe and guided environment. Character is what makes us what we are in the long run. It is what we become for the rest of our lives.”

King Tupou VI then described such pride, character and the discipline the students receive while studying at BYU–Hawaii and working at the center as “three mutually supporting building blocks.”

“Finally, I would like to thank the center and Brigham Young University for providing an opportunity for education for so many of my fellow islanders for so many generations.”

Elder Haleck, who is originally from American Samoa, thanked the Polynesian monarch for his remarks and noted that many people will come to the PCC to enjoy the Tongan Village, “and its kingdom and people that are unique in all the world, for its cultures and its traditions. For indeed, we are more than just people. We are a reflection of our past, a reflection of those who have come before us.”

He said the royal and Church delegations enjoyed the PCC’s show, “Hā: Breath of Life,” the previous evening. “I would submit to you that our songs and dances … reflect our very being, of who we are, the people of Polynesia, the people of the isles of the sea. In our latter-day scriptures, in the Book of Mormon, Heavenly Father refers to us and says, great are the blessings unto those people who live upon the isles of the sea. We are remembered by Him.”

Under the direction of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Haleck then dedicated the renovated Tongan Village, blessing it to be “a place of many gatherings, a place where those who come here to visit, to see and witness the architecture and the buildings and the places where many of us whose ancestors have come to live and dwell in these places in the isles of the sea, particularly in Tonga, that they will come to appreciate those people who are here representing and reflecting the culture of Tonga.

“I bless it that it will be a place of peace, that it will be place that will be protected from the elements.

“I bless it that as many, many will come to this wonderful place that they will be touched in their hearts, that they will find tranquility, that they will indeed find a friendly people — friendly not only in their smiles, but more friendly in the richness of who they are in the cultures and the peoples that they represent.”

In conclusion, Elder Haleck blessed the PCC’s Tongan Village that it would be a “wonderful place” where the students would gain “a sense of identity of who they are: Not only as people of the Pacific, particularly Tonga, that they’ll understand their great identity as children of our Heavenly Father.”

More protocol followed, led by his majesty’s talking chief who engaged in oratorical exchanges with one of the center’s own Tongan chiefs, Eric Shumway, a retired president of both BYU–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center. As a young missionary in Tonga, Brother Shumway’s abilities with the Tongan language were so highly regarded that he was asked to take the chiefly title Faivaola.

Dressed in traditional Tongan clothes and sitting across the village green from Motu’apuaka, Brother Shumway, speaking in high oratorical Tongan, acknowledged the royals and all the other dignitaries. He recognized “all those whose hands and hearts led to the building of the Polynesian Cultural Center and our presence here today.” He also traced the history of Laie as an ancient Hawaiian place of refuge and its LDS Church history starting with the purchase of Laie plantation in 1865.

Switching to English, he said, “From the beginning, the Polynesian Cultural Center affirmed the Christian message: One blood, all nations.” He also affirmed that the spirit of aloha and the Spirit of Jesus Christ were identical.

“Today we celebrate the Tongan Village, and its contribution to the center and to the world,” Brother Shumway said. (On Sunday evening, June 12, he also addressed an interdenominational musical devotional in Tongan in the Honolulu Tabernacle.)

Next, each of the Polynesian Cultural Center villages presented the royal couple with customary gifts, songs and dances. The PCC executive team and board of directors also presented them with a beautiful hand-sewn Hawaiian quilt and other gifts, including dozens of boxes of chocolate-covered Hawaiian macadamia nut candy to take home.

“The circumstances couldn’t have been more favorable,” Elder Haleck said after the events. “We’re grateful for the surroundings we’re in, and we feel a special kinship to the students from the islands who are here going to school.”

“We’re grateful for this wonderful place the Church has provided, the Polynesian Cultural Center, where we can celebrate our heritage and our cultures, and understand and remember who we are as a result.”

“I think the Polynesian Cultural Center is providing much more than an education,” he said. “It’s speaking also to the people and reminding them of who they are.”

The king of Tonga, His Majesty King Tupou VI, and his wife, Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u, began a two-day visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center on June 10, amid seashell trumpeting, flower lei greetings, traditional Hawaiian chanting, drumming and ancient-style hula. They came to mark the grand reopening of the PCC’s newly renovated Tongan Village on June 11.

Polynesian Cultural Center president and chief executive officer Alfred Grace and his wife, Valerie Grace, then escorted the royal couple in decorated electric carts to a special banquet in their honor in the PCC’s large Samoan guest house, where according to custom they sat on a raised dais. A large Tongan coat of arms had been hung for the occasion and each pole in the domed building had been braided with coconut-leaf fronds and flowers.

The king’s entourage included Hon. Semisi Sika, Minister of Tourism and Infrastructure — who is a 1994 BYU–Hawaii graduate; Hon. Tupouahomee Tuita, Cultural Director; Gary Pasina Lavaki, a cultural consultant and PCC alumnus; Mr. Motu’apuaka, his majesty’s talking chief; Mrs. Viela Tupou, Lord Chamberlain and private secretary; Siaosi Kaho, ADC; Siale Puloka, Assistant Secretary, Palace Office; and Ms. Palolo Uata and Ms. Ilaisaane Loloa, personal assistants.

In addition to the Graces, a special Latter-day Saint delegation included Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Ruth L. Renlund; Elder O. Vincent Haleck, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, and his wife, Sister Peggy Ann Haleck; Elder ‘Aisake Tukuafu, Area Seventy in Tonga and his wife, Sister Lose Tukuafu; Elder Aley K. Auna Jr., Area Seventy in Hawaii and his wife, Danelle; BYU–Hawaii president John S. Tanner and his wife, Sister Susan W. Tanner; Eric Shumway, the retired BYU-H and former PCC president who holds a Tongan chiefly title, and his wife, Sister Carolyn Shumway; and Kalo Mataele Soukop, a former PCC labor missionary, original cast member, and emeritus member of the PCC board of directors, and her husband, Harry Soukop.

In his remarks, Elder Renlund told the king and queen he was connected to Tonga through his mother-in-law, whose mother was born in Nuku’alofa, capital of the “Friendly Islands,” and he joked how early in their relationship he had to learn to say the Tongan greeting, Mālō e lelei, correctly. He also spoke of the importance of family ties and quoted from “The Proclamation on the Family.”

Earlier in the program BYU–Hawaii president John S. Tanner reported that Tongans comprise the largest group of Polynesian students at the university, and recently delighted the student body and community during the school’s customary Culture Night program with the largest and liveliest production.

Also earlier in the program President Grace explained that a group of BYU-Hawaii and community men would sing Afi Mei Pulotu (“Fire From Heaven”), a Tongan song composed as a gift to their majesties to celebrate their historic visit. The ballad related how members of the Tongan royal family have courageously assisted Latter-day Saint efforts in Tonga, starting with the first missionaries who arrived in 1891 and extending to the contemporary efforts of Prince ‘Ata, who the king and queen allowed to be baptized.

After the banquet, Hon. Sika said returning to the PCC was like “coming home. This is where it all began for me. I changed my major here to tourism and travel,” he said. “My career in tourism started through the training I went through at BYU–Hawaii and at the Polynesian Cultural Center.”

He added that the Kingdom of Tonga is proud of the Tongan Village at the PCC. “It’s a relationship that’s very critical in our economic growth, especially in tourism. The promotion that’s carried on here in the Center is something we could never afford to do back home. Tonga is being introduced to thousands of people on a daily basis.”

Following the banquet and program, the royal couple attended the Cultural Center’s world-famous evening show, Hā: Breath of Life, where again according to custom, they sat on a specially-constructed, raised throne. After the production, the entire cast of over 100 performers serenaded the king and queen with “We’ll Bring the World His Truth” (“Army of Helaman”).

The royal visit is slated to continue Saturday morning, June 11, with the actual reopening program, which will include appropriate Polynesian protocol for the last remaining monarchs in the South Pacific.

Mike Foley currently volunteers his Internet content skills for the Polynesian Cultural Center and other outlets. ALOHA.

For hundreds of years before the outside world made contact, Hawaiians in this still-small community on the northeast windward shore of Oahu sought out this special place for its walled pu’uhonua — a place of refuge from ancient warfare and cleansing from broken kapu or laws. Aspects of that theme carried over well when the Church purchased the 6,000-plus-acre Laie Plantation in 1865 as a gathering place for its members in the islands.

Over the 150 years since, Laie has influenced millions of people from around the world, just as a prophet of the Lord foretold; and on Nov. 7, almost 800 youth and others in the BYU-Hawaii Cannon Activities Center presented two performances of Behold Laie, a pageant honoring the Church’s unique involvement here that has turned this community into a spiritual, educational and cultural focal point anchored by a triad of Latter-day Saint institutions:

• The Laie Hawaii Temple, dedicated by President Heber J. Grant on Thanksgiving Day 1919.
• Brigham Young University — Hawaii, founded by President David O. McKay on Feb. 12, 1955, and now educating students from over 70 nations, primarily in Asia and the Pacific islands.
• The Polynesian Cultural Center, which opened in 1963 and has since attracted over 39 million people. Or as President McKay said when he dedicated the BYU-Hawaii site 60 years ago, “not thousands, not tens of thousands, but millions of people who will come seeking to know what this town and its significance are.”

Starting about a year ago, youth and priesthood leaders from the five stakes surrounding this community began planning an appropriate sesquicentennial celebration. Delsa Atoa Moe, a member of Laie 1st Ward who chaired the pageant committee, said they wanted to create a production that would “keep our youth engaged in those things that draw them to the Spirit and help them strengthen their testimonies. If it meant three months of rehearsals and 11 months of planning, and doing very little of anything else, it was all worth it.” “We said from the beginning as a committee that we really hoped more than anything, that this would be a spiritual experience as it was for our Laie temple rededication cultural celebration in 2010,” said Tania Mahoni, who served as pageant director and scriptwriter for both events. “The youth now still talk about that, and it’s five years later.”

Sister Mahoni, a member of Laie 5th Ward who is originally from the Cook Islands, told the youth in one of the practices, “I wasn’t born and raised in Laie, but I understand the sacredness of this place. I’ve always understood that, but I didn’t understand the depth of it. I would never have come to that understanding, and I wouldn’t have had the spiritual experiences that I’ve had, if I hadn’t been a part of this.

“Twenty years down the road we want them to look back and see that they were part of this. Like me, I wanted them to have a greater appreciation and understanding for this place where they live, and understand the sacredness of it. I know that they have done that.”

The committee chose Behold Laie, a popular but pertinent song as the pageant’s title and finale featuring a hauntingly beautiful duet and the entire cast. The song was written by the late Aunty Alice Namakelua, a member of the Church. In researching it, Sister Mahoni said she was struck by the scriptural significance of the word “’behold,’ which the Lord or prophets used to acknowledge something significant.”

In plotting the script, which uses a large tree and projected graphics of the branches and roots of a large tree, Sister Mahoni said she was influenced by scriptural references to “seeds of faith, of courage, of love.” She also utilized President Harold B. Lee’s comparison of the “fruits” of the “branching tree of the gospel including love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faith.”

Behold Laie applied those concepts into scenes filled with elements of island dancing and dramatizations that reflected the historic pu’uhonua, the influence of the Laie Relief Society on Hawaii Queen Kapiolani in the 1880s, the struggle and faith of Laie sugar cane plantation workers as they overcame drought and other challenges, the Laie Hukilau — which eventually led to the creation of the Polynesian Cultural Center — the impact of the Church College of Hawaii — which was renamed BYU-Hawaii in 1974 — on Laie in the 1950s and 1960s, how Hawaiian Saints helped preserve hula and other aspects of their culture, and how the temple began blessing the lives of devout Saints from throughout Asia and the Pacific islands, starting with President Joseph F. Smith dedicating the site in 1915.

“As we did the rehearsals this past week, they were moving people to tears,” Sister Moe said. “I was crying, too, so I knew this was something that was going to be powerful.”

In introducing the two performances, Elder Aley Auna Jr., an Area Seventy, said Behold Laie “recognizes those who have gone before us. We’re grateful for them. We’re grateful for their sacrifices. Many have traveled from far-away lands to gather to Laie for the purpose of being able to do better for their families; and what a marvelous blessing it is, not only to have this school, but to have the temple in our midst, the visitors’ center in our midst, and the Polynesian Cultural Center — all blending together to be able to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.”

Elder Auna also recognized the community kūpuna or elders, who were special guests at the pageant. “They have done so much to bless our lives. Many of your families started Laie, and today we have a chance to witness events in the lives of many that bring this group together in a whole new place.”

As Sister Moe had foreseen, the audiences were touched by the performances. “The production was wonderful,” she said. “Elder David Warner — our consultant on the PCC’s Hā night show and managing director of the Church’s priesthood and family department who also oversees all Church productions — was present at the 5 o’clock show. He said he saw the temple rededication cultural celebration we put on five years ago and ‘knew this was going to be good, but what I didn’t expect was to be moved the way I was moved.’”

Sister Moe added, “I also heard some of the youth tell their leaders how grateful they were to be a part of it. One of the Hauula Seminary teachers told me this past week she had asked her class to make a list on the things that they are doing that are bringing them closer to Christ, and the things that they’re doing that are taking them away from Christ. She said three youth wrote on their papers that being a part of the rehearsals for the celebration was bringing them closer to Christ.”

Laie Hawaii North Stake president Finau Hafoka also described the pageant as “excellent.” He said, “I couldn’t help but feel touched and impressed, not just with the performance, but with the spirit that was conveyed to all of us here tonight. It was wonderful.”

Laie Hawaii Stake president Aaron Shumway said, “Tonight was magical. The Spirit was strong, the energy was high and the youth were amazing. We are so grateful for their willingness to be part of this.”

Elder Auna noted that the performances were a “marvelous experience” for everyone involved. “I spoke to a number of the visitors who are not members of the Church,” he said, “and they were very impressed, not only with the performance of the youth, but more importantly with the message that they shared.”

That morning, hundreds of residents braved intermittent rains and gusty trade winds to watch a community parade also honoring the sesquicentennial of the Church in Laie.

For the Church News

LAIE, HAWAII

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated a major new addition to the Church-affiliated Polynesian Cultural Center here on Aug. 29, after which he dedicated the new Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Church-owned property adjacent to the center.

Speaking from the new Hukilau Marketplace at the PCC, President Uchtdorf recalled he and his wife, Harriet, who accompanied him, first visited the attraction in 1976, and have enjoyed it ever since. “Your friendship, your kindness, your openness, your spirit of aloha is really what makes the difference,” he said.

President Uchtdorf was also accompanied to Hawaii by President Kim B. Clark of the Seventy, who is Commissioner of the Church Educational System, and his wife, Susan; and Bishop Gérald K. Caussé, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric and his wife, Valérie.

In his remarks prior to the dedication, President Uchtdorf said, “I think it’s really the spirit of aloha which we feel here, and I’m very grateful for the privilege to be assigned by President Monson to be here to dedicate … this beautiful place.

“As beautiful as everything is,” he said, referring to a tour of the grounds he took earlier that morning, “we will remember you as individuals.”

President Uchtdorf praised the combination of faith and spiritual power, extending back to 1865 — 150 years ago — when the Church purchased Laie Plantation. “This is the place where everything started: The building of the temple, the establishment of the university, and the creation of the Polynesian Cultural Center. The faith of the people made this possible. … I’m very grateful to all of you for what you do here.”

President Uchtdorf continued, “I want to tell you how grateful I am for each and every one of you, and how much the First Presidency appreciates everything you do.

“Here in this vast mass of water, you’re a wonderful source of spiritual power, of joy, of friendship, of love for your neighbors. You have a radiance of goodness about you which is truly a marvelous example of what the Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ can do for us.”

As President Uchtdorf dedicated the PCC, he asked that those who come with heavy hearts or weariness might be re-energized, enriched, comforted and uplifted.

He expressed the hope that they could find a place of refuge, and come out of a hectic world with a hope for serenity, neighborly love and wholesome recreational activities.

Following the dedication of the Hukilau Marketplace, the official delegation moved quickly from the PCC to the dedication of a new Marriot Courtyard hotel which is located nearby.

President Uchtdorf recounted how even before Hawaii became a state in 1959, “the Church was heavily invested here in the development of our people,” referring to the temple and the university.

“The students … needed employment, so we established the Polynesian Cultural Center [in 1963],” he continued, “so they could provide for their own education, but also portray and preserve the cultures, arts and crafts of Polynesia.

“We wanted to help the people of Polynesia to find their own identities. Many of the students at BYU-Hawaii learn for the first time important things of their cultures as they work at the Polynesian Cultural Center. What a marvelous thing to help them move forward. …

“After we have these three points — the temple, community and the PCC — we needed a place people could stay. In this place where the temple is our first focus, and the PCC has a supporting wonderful role for this community, the new hotel fits in perfectly.

“This place has a future. It has also an obligation … to protect this beautiful community we have here,” President Uchtdorf said. “That’s why President Monson asked me to come here.”

President Uchtdorf expressed gratitude for the faithful members who many years ago built the community of Laie as a place of gathering and refuge from spiritual storms. He also gave thanks for the vision and courage of modern-day prophets who established the many wonderful Church facilities in Laie. It was a day of celebration, renewal, and looking to a bright future for Laie and its faithful community.

After more than three years of planning and $3 million, the Polynesian Cultural Center premiered its new evening show in August: "Ha: Breath of Life."

Using new animation, surround-sound, digital lighting, staging effects, costumes, choreography, music, renovated backstage facilities and a cast of more than 100 — most students at BYU–Hawaii — "Ha" follows the story of a young couple expecting their first child.

When a volcano erupts, they flee their home and survive a storm at sea. Then, each of the major Polynesian groups at the Cultural Center tells a portion of the story in its own unique way.

Tongans provide the couple with a new home and celebrate the birth of their son, Mana. Hawaiians celebrate Mana's survival into boyhood with feasting and hula. Maoris help Mana develop into a strong young man. In Samoa, Mana literally walks through fire to prove his love for the beautiful Lani. Tahitians fete their marriage. In Fiji, Mana defends his home and mourns the death of his father. As Mana reflects on his life, the Samoan fire knife dance symbolically represents the circle of life motif. And in the finale, the entire cast celebrates the first breath of life of Mana and Lani's new daughter, Hina.

The PCC launched its new night show on Aug. 14 not only with typical Polynesian pageantry, a VIP reception and a complimentary showing for the entire community, but also with a sense that "Ha" departed from its proven night-show formula. For example, approximately nine million people enjoyed its predecessor, "Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky," over a 14-year run of about 4,500 performances.

In fact, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve was a surprise visitor during the last showing of Horizons. "It was a coincidence that we planned to be here on vacation at this time," said Elder Oaks, who served as chairman of the PCC's board of directors in the summer of 1995 when Horizons started. "It's been a grand celebration. Much has been accomplished. We thank you for your diligence and high excellence, and you join with me in looking forward to a new day."

PCC President and CEO Von D. Orgill remarked, "Over three years ago, we wondered if we could build off of the great successes of the past, combining the best of the cultures in a way that would also tell a powerful story that would be felt and remembered by our guests. Now, with a growing number of performances of 'Ha behind us, we know the answer is a resounding, 'Yes!' "

"Guests love the entire experience at the PCC and the night show is always a marvelous climax to their day," Brother Orgill continued, pointing out that satisfaction surveys show between 92-96 percent of guests rank the center's night show as excellent.

During the premiere performance of "Ha" Ricky Suaava, from American Samoa, played the role of the mature Mana; Lucie Wilson of Laie was Lani; and Atu Vaka and Lupiana Fiefia — both of Haateiho, Tonga — were the father and mother. Mykle Keni and William Mahoni, both of Laie, played younger versions of Mana. Other leads include Terina Oto and Boyd "Junior" Lauano.

PCC theater director Ellen Gay Dela Rosa explained that the main characters were selected several months ago.

"We selected them on their coordination, stage presence, poise and, of course, they had to be good at dancing in all Polynesian styles. They had to be good at getting along with their fellow cast members. We also wanted to make sure we had the right ones in terms of personality and integrity."

"It was very difficult to make a choice, but we couldn't have asked for better performers," Sister Dela Rosa continued. "We haven't developed stars in our theater system — everybody is considered a star here — but these worked very hard and earned the right to be where they are."

Brother Suaava said, "I feel privileged to play the main role and I love doing it, but I also realize there's a lot to be done to attain the goal of the whole show. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me, and it's a great show for everyone to come see."

And Brother Vaka, who served in the Colorado Denver South mission, said he really enjoys acting in the role of Mana's father. "It's kind of like a practice for me being a father in the future," he said.

"We had an incredible team working very, very hard to create this new experience," Brother Orgill said. "We trust that 'Ha: Breath of Life' is going to be a favorite of the visitor industry for many years to come."

The Church founded the Polynesian Cultural Center, which is located next to BYU–Hawaii, in 1963. For more information, go to www.polynesia.com.

PCC service missionary Elder Del Nebeker, a retired researcher and university professor, said the center recently purchased 30 wireless perception analysis devices and the accompanying software to enable selected guests to provide second-by-second approval ratings of the show.

He explained that about three times a week the guests continuously rate the show with a dial that, for this purpose, is set from zero-to-100, with 50 being neutral. They are trained "to move the dial without looking at it, because we also want them to be able to watch the show."

"In addition to a computer reporting what their ratings are second-by-second, a [line] graph of the sum average of all those ratings is calculated and superimposed over a video that's being taken of the live event, so that we have a moment-by-moment trace of their overall reaction to what is being actually seen by the audience," said Elder Nebeker, whose ancestor, Elder George Nebeker of the Church's Sandwich Islands Mission, was involved in the 1865 purchase of Laie plantation.

Delsa Moe, PCC director of cultural presentations whose management team and others have been studying the data, said early results clearly identify "five things the audience really likes" about the new night show: fire, children, Tahitian dancing, battle scenes and tender moments.

"This is very, very helpful. Before we had this, there were so many comments and people shared their opinions," Moe said, "but now we see the data. The data show one of the powerful points in 'H? is the death scene. There were some people who felt it was out of place, but the audience likes it. Once we reported this, there was no more push back on the death scene."

In addition to the night show, the technology will be used to fine-tune other PCC operations. For example, Sister Moe said it could help village demonstrators know if what they are saying is of interest to the guests, "and where exactly they need to improve," And Elder Nebeker said it could be used for test marketing materials and food served in the restaurants.

"There's a lot we can do, but we always want to make sure there's value, that it's helping make improvements," he said. "The goal of all of this is very simple: What can we do better? It's not about technology or doing sophisticated analyses."

"Every source and method of data has a story to tell, but they don't tell the whole story. To get the whole story, we need to use other sources as well. We will continue to need paper and Internet surveys, interviews and other things of that nature."

"Still, this is a new era of data collection at PCC."

Speaking at BYU-Hawaii's Dec. 13 commencement, President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, encouraged graduates to continue to pursue God's design for eternal learning.

A former scholar, Stanford professor, BYU-Idaho president and Church Educational System commissioner before his call to the Quorum of the Twelve, President Eyring cited more personal learning experiences than teaching reflections while speaking to the nearly 300 graduates from throughout the United States and 31 different nations.

Acknowledging some graduates might not pursue additional formal education because of cost or circumstances, President Eyring said, "You will go on learning as long as you live and are conscious. Your choice is how to make the best of it.

"This opportunity to go on learning is not a choice; it is in God's design for us," he said, outlining what he called three "important choices we can and must make to make the most of our opportunity."

— "First, we can choose our teachers …

— "Second, we can choose what we will try to learn …

— "Third, we are free to decide how hard we will work in our eternal education."

Choose teachers

He recalled his time as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force while working under officers who had "a deep and true sense" of right and wrong. They were varied in skill and personality, and few expressed faith in God, but they were good people and "all of them had enough light of Christ shining down on them" that allowed them to be recognized as mentors and teachers who helped in one's learning, he said.

"You can find teachers in every setting whose influence draws you toward keeping the commandments of God. And you can discern those whose influence would draw you away from the light of Christ, the spirit of truth and toward darkness and sadness."

Explaining that he has tried throughout his life "to invite people to choose to teach me," President Eyring added "you can choose who you will try to win as your teachers. And you must choose wisely. It makes all the difference."

Choose what to learn

Times may change along with individuals and their lives, "but in every situation, you can try to learn to recognize principles which will be true whatever the situation," President Eyring said.

Of the attempt to discover what brings lasting value, he added: "I frequently give myself an exam to see whether I am improving in my search to recognize lasting principles and enduring values in the lives of the people I try to serve."

He cited as an example his assignment to call new mission presidents, spending as much time as it takes before issuing the call to learn as much as he can about the man and his wife.

"The valuable principle I have learned in the school of experience is to dig a little deeper to be sure of the facts," he said. "The lasting value I have had confirmed in these calls is trust."

Strive for eternal education

President Eyring warned graduates "the temptation to take a rest from learning will attack you again and again, and it will be nearly overwhelming for some of you."

Love of others and fear of rapid changes are among the motivators of people in their pursuit of eternal learning, and those who continue learning will be able to survive through societal cycles of prosperity and challenges.

"The economic times we are going through may be extended and will be repeated," he said. "There will be times of prosperity, in the world around you and in your own lives. But the cycles are sure. Some people adapt and survive well in the worst of times. They are the people who have kept learning."

He encouraged graduates to remember "the love of learning" experience at BYU-Hawaii and to strive to be "a teacher of what you are learning," such as teaching their own children.

"You will work harder if you do it for others rather than only for self-improvement," he said.

President Eyring closed by thanking the graduates for their contributions to the university.

"Many of you have blessed your fellow students," he said. "You have taught them and you encouraged them. You have set an example of humility in wanting to learn and of determination in effort to learn.

"Your fellow students may not have thanked you yet. But they will be forever grateful.

"I love you for what you have done for this great university while you were here," he continued. "And I love you for letting me try to be your teacher for a few minutes."

"Don't be a slave," Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve admonished the 235 new BYU-Hawaii graduate candidates gathered in the Cannon Activities Center on June 21.

He said, "We all know that slavery was abolished in the British Empire and in the United States over 150 years ago. But I have been astonished to read that there are still about 27 million slaves in today's world" including an estimated 50,000 "trafficked into or transited through the United States."

"The slavery of these tragic victims is involuntary. They are victims of someone else's decisions, motivated by greed or other wickedness," Elder Oaks said. "Fortunately, you are not likely to be victims of involuntary slavery. But if you are not careful, you can be imprisoned by another form of slavery, whose duration can be lifelong. This evil has existed since the beginning, when Satan proposed the ultimate slavery. He would have taken away our power of choice, making us robots to his will.

"The Father's plan of salvation rejected that proposal, but since His plan was based on our power to choose, we each have the power to give ourselves over into many lesser forms of slavery. I call this voluntary slavery."

Elder Oaks pointed out such slavery includes sin and drug addictions.

Adding passions and excessive preoccupations to the list, he said, "When we allow ourselves to be brought under the power of anything or anyone, we become a slave to that person or that thing." For example, he a quoted former member of the Seventy, Elder H. Ross Workman, now President of the Laie Hawaii Temple, who said: "One can be in captivity to sin or to the pursuit of worldly honors, such as fame, wealth, political power, or social standing. One can also be in captivity through obsessive preoccupation with activities such as sports, music, or entertainment."

Elder Oaks also cautioned against debt and even wealth, saying that President Gordon B. Hinckley "used the metaphor of slavery to apply to the extremes of economic circumstances" and warned over a decade ago that "there is nothing that will cause greater tensions in marriage than grinding debt, which will make of you a slave to your creditors."

President Hinckley also warned against "wrong priorities in acquiring wealth. ... Income is important, but you do not need to be a multimillionaire to be happy. In fact, you are more likely to be unhappy if wealth becomes your only objective. You will become a slave to it. It will color all your decisions."

Elder Oaks urged the graduates to shun voluntary slavery. "Prize your power of choice. Protect it against every surrender, every dilution, every threat. Hold to the values you have been taught by your worthy parents, by righteous teachers in these classrooms and others, and by the Holy Ghost whom our Father in Heaven has given to teach us and to protect us," he urged.

Quoting John 8:31-32, "one of the greatest passages in the Bible," Elder Oaks said, "True freedom is to know the truth, to act upon that truth suffered for sin and can, therefore, make us free indeed.

"When we know the truth and act upon that truth, we can avoid the slavery of which I have spoken. Each of us has the precious gift of the Holy Ghost, whose function is to 'guide (us) into all truth' (John 16:13.) By keeping our covenants we can have the assurance that we will always have that Spirit to be with us. If we do that, the Savior assures us that we will always be free."

Earlier in the commencement exercises, BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright urged the graduates to follow four "principles that will help you realize the great promises a loving Father in Heaven has in store for you." The principles are: continuous learning, setting aside time each week to do so, giving service and applying what is learned "to bless the lives of others, thereby receiving the Lord's blessings in our own life. Following these four steps will enable you to build on the foundation provided by your studies at BYU-Hawaii."

Roger G. Christensen, Assistant to the Commissioner of the Church Educational System and Secretary to the Board of Trustees for BYU-Hawaii, also shared advice with the new graduates: "Much of what you learn in college, many of the facts and details, will either be forgotten or outdated over time. However, knowing how to think and how to learn allows us to keep updated or to expand our knowledge by learning new things or to think about things in new ways." He urged the graduates to "make a personal goal to distinguish yourself by being honest at all times and in all things and in all places."

Abigail Guzman, a political science graduate and former law student in her native New Zealand, spoke on behalf of the students. She told how seeing a photo of a former Kiwi classmate graduating in legal regalia brought her to the verge of becoming wistful "at those opportunities that it appeared I had missed out on, when I looked down at my two-month-old daughter sleeping in my arms and was struck with the realization that there is nowhere in the world that I would rather be at this moment."

"I have already started my full-time post-graduate employment as a stay-at-home wife and mother. While this is not a typical job for a recent graduate in today's world, I can't think of a better use for my fine education than to apply it as I love and serve my family."

She and her husband, Roberto, who also graduated in the same ceremony, plan to move to Perth, Australia, with their daughter.

Lots of flower leis — some of them piled so high the recipients could barely see — adorned 200-plus graduates after they received diplomas from BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 15. More than half of them are from 31 countries.

Prior to Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve delivering the commencement speech in the Cannon Activities Center, recently inaugurated BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright emphasized two principles that would help the graduates "realize the great promises a loving Father in Heaven has in store for you."

"The first principle is that of excellence. Excellence is about doing your best all the time, about setting a standard that is higher than that often found in the world around you; and achieving excellence depends much more on consistency, focus and hard work, than it does on being brilliant.

"The second principle I would like you to remember and take with you is that of character. Character is the array of personal attributes that define your capacity to act according to what is true and right in all circumstances," President Wheelwright continued.

Elder W. Rolfe Kerr, Commissioner of Church Education and an emeritus member of the Seventy, also briefly addressed the graduates. He reminded them they would be going into the world after enjoying the "spiritual security and the emotional comfort" of BYU-Hawaii.

"The Savior knew of the challenges of being in the world when He prayed, 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil" (John 17:15).

"I believe what the Lord was suggesting then and would suggest to you here today is that we cannot isolate ourselves from the world, but surely we can insulate ourselves against the evils of the world.

"The Lord expects you to be lights unto the world," Elder Kerr said. "The power of example is so crucial, and there is that high expectation that you will be the very best examples as you go into the world....Do everything you can to build His kingdom where you are."

Slightly more than half of the 2,400 undergraduate students at BYU-Hawaii come from more than 70 countries.

The halau wa'a or "canoe learning compound" will become the permanent berth for BYU-Hawaii's 57-foot traditional twin-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoe, the Iosepa, when it isn't on the water. A nearby gate will provide easy access when the large canoe is towed to nearby Hukilau beach, where it was initially launched in 2001 after being carved from seven large Fijian logs. The canoe has been temporarily berthed behind dormitories on campus since then.

"There's been a spirit about this canoe we call Iosepa that has bound the hearts, spirit and minds of all who have been associated with it," said PCC President Von D. Orgill. He added the canoe embodies the special relationship between the Center and BYU-Hawaii.

William K. "Uncle Bill" Wallace III, director of the BYU-Hawaii Hawaiian Studies program, thanked the major donors who have provided most of the funds for the canoe and its new home, and said their generosity "is important to us, but it means we have responsibility. I promise that we will do the best that we can to take care of the canoe and all the many blessings that have come our way because of your love and aloha."

One of the donors, Ira A. Fulton, a member of the PCC's board of directors and the BYUH/PCC Presidents' Leadership Council, replied, "I just love this place, and I've really gotten close to Uncle Bill. I'm so proud to be involved here."

Mark H. Willes, another major donor who is chairman of the PCC board, co-chairman of the Presidents' Leadership Council and a former mission president in Hawaii, observed "how anytime somebody comes in touch with the canoe, they feel something special." He also predicted the new halau wa'a and the canoe "will make a large difference" and be "a transforming project for the Polynesian Cultural Center, for BYU-Hawaii and the Church."

The concert, which was held in the Honolulu Hale (Hale meaning "house" or "building" in Hawaiian), also marked appreciation extended from Mayor Hannemann, who is a Church member, to BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway, who will soon leave the Laie campus to preside over the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple.

"I'm also here today because I wanted to officially bid adieu to a very special friend of the Hannemann family, a gentleman I have known for many, many years — first on the basketball court, I believe, where he was one of the feistiest guards I have ever played against. He would never give the big men any slack when we would get the ball under the basket," Mayor Hannemann said.

"Of course, as hard as he played on the basketball court, he also has excelled in many, many areas, including being a top-notch ecclesiastical leader of our faith, but most importantly, too, and of late, of being president of BYU-Hawaii."

Mayor Hannemann then read a special proclamation citing President Shumway's work in Tonga, at BYU-Hawaii, the Polynesian Cultural Center and the community, and commended his "many, many achievements."

The mayor added he wants President Shumway to come back to Honolulu when he completes his new assignment as president of the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple, because "this is the kind of gentleman, this is the kind of family, that I'm very, very proud to call one of our own, and we cannot afford to lose in the long term."

President Shumway responded: "We are very grateful to be here today to express our appreciation to the City and County of Honolulu, as a university presenting our premier performance organization, the BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir.

The Honolulu Hale performance, under the direction of Professor Michael Belnap, featured some of the numbers the BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir will perform during its three-week tour in May to Urumqi, Xian, Beijing and Tianjin, China; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.