Missionaries in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission will take part in historical community service here Dec. 4-7, during the observance of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

More than 100 missionaries and some members will help during activities commemorating the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. Officials of the National Park Service requested that missionaries help with greeting guests, ushering and parking services. The Park Service expects about 10,000 visitors each of the four days of the commemoration.President George Bush and Mrs. Bush are scheduled to attend the Pearl Harbor ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 7, said Paul A. Fodor, chief park ranger.

"The president will address 200 survivors and families at a 7:55 a.m. service on the Arizona Memorial, coinciding with the time the actual attack began. He also will speak to several thousand family members of casualties from the deck of the battleship USS Missouri at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base pier," Fodor said.

Participation of the elders and sister missionaries was authorized by Mission Pres. Waldo C. Perkins as part of a community service involvement program. Some 24 missionaries per day will take part.

"The missionaries normally devote four hours per week to these causes but we are making an exception for this special occasion," said Pres. Perkins. "We are happy, under these circumstances, to lengthen the service hours to accommodate the Park Service and the public. The Park Service has requested missionary help from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on those days [of the anniversaryT."

Missionaries will wear regular working attire, white shirts and ties for elders and dresses for the sisters. All will wear their Church identification tags. They will come from the Honolulu West, Waipahu, Honolulu, Kaneohe and Miliani zones. Two assistants to the president and zone leaders will supervise the missionaries' activities, which will be on shore side only.

One missionary companionship provides an ironic twist to the service project.

Elder Yoshiichiro Yamaura, 22, of Fukuoka, Japan, and Elder David Curtis, 19, of Coalville, Utah, will join their fellow missionaries in the commemoration activities.

The two missionaries share a closeness, a mutual admiration and a love uncommon in some companionships. And with the Pearl Harbor 50th anniversary observance drawing near, their relationship has special significance.

Their close association has developed over a period of just two months since Elder Curtis arrived in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. Elder Yamaura has completed 22 months of his two-year mission.

"We've had discussions between us and with other missionaries about World War II and the roles our countries played. We've observed that prejudices and strong feelings over the war have all but disappeared," said Elder Yamaura.

"Now we're engaged in teaching the world Christ's gospel of love and love of our fellowman. If we keep that uppermost in mind, and could get all nations to live the gospel, we would have no room for grudges or hatred," he added. He described the warm feeling he had upon hearing of an article in a local newspaper about efforts to raise funds for added memorials at Pearl Harbor.

"The paper quoted retired Adm. Ronald Hays, former commander-in-chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific, saying how pleasantly surprised he was when a Japanese visitor to Hawaii stepped forward out of a desire to help and contributed 1.2 million yen (more than $9,000)."

Elder Curtis spoke of the gospel of love that he and his companion share with people of different ethnic backgrounds - and of the unity he felt with Elder Yamaura.

"The different backgrounds of Elder Yamaura and myself do not create barriers in our work. We are serving the Lord together as real brothers," he explained.

Elder Curtis felt "much respect and somberness" when he and his companion recently visited the Arizona Memorial.

Both elders have grandfathers who were involved in World War II - on opposite sides. Elder Yamaura's grandfather, Yoshio Yamaura, was drafted into the Japanese Army. Elder Curtis's grandfather, Warren Curtis, served in the Pacific with an engineers corps.

Elder Yamaura is a convert to the Church of five years and is the only Church member in his family, although he said his parents willingly support him on his mission. He was a student at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, and at BYU in Provo, Utah, prior to his mission. Elder Curtis also attended BYU before his mission.

The tragic happenings of Dec. 7, 1941, took place just a few miles from where these two elders are assigned to labor in the Waipahu Zone. But that part of Japanese and American history has little meaning to them, nor does it pose any obstacle to their work.

They now join to help commemorate events which took place 50 years ago.

Included in the observance will be a "Remembrance Exhibit" at the USS Arizona Memorial Visitors Center. This exhibit will contain names of all Oahu military and civilian casualties from the Pearl Harbor attack. Also, a fountain is being erected on the naval base as the main Pearl Harbor memorial, Fodor explained.

Visitors will enjoy a host of events, including the Honolulu Symphony performing a special musical number composed for the Dec. 7 anniversary. The park service, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy, operates the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

Boats will shuttle 4,500 visitors per day to the Arizona Memorial and back, Fodor said.