Members greeted with Aloha spirit
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LAIE, HAWAII — Speaking with what is described here as the spirit of Aloha, President Gordon B. Hinckley addressed members in Hawaii Oct. 26 in a regional conference telecast throughout Oahu and to Kauai, Molokai, Maui, Lanai and the Big Island of Hawaii.
Assembled in the Cannon Activities Center on the campus of BYU-Hawaii, President Hinckley said he wished to pose several questions.
"The great underlying foundation of [this work] is not that which we see in bricks and mortar. It is not in buildings. It is not in lands. It is not in monuments. It is not in those things," he said on a sunny, hot Sunday in Laie. "The power and the strength of this work lies in the testimony that abides in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints — the power and capacity to speak in words of faith and conviction concerning the unique truths of this great place and kingdom, which we call The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
President Hinckley, who was accompanied by his wife, Marjorie, was in Laie for the 40th anniversary of the Polynesian Cultural Center. The regional conference was the culmination of three days of activities and festivities surrounding the anniversary celebration. (Please see articles on pages 8-10.)
Also offering remarks during the conference were Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy and president of the North America West Area; President Von D. Orgill of the Polynesian Cultural Center; President Mark H. Willes of the Hawaii Honolulu Mission; Sister Jan Robbins, wife of Elder Robbins; and Ruby Talataina, a student employee from Samoa working at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
During his address, President Hinckley posed several thought-provoking questions as he counseled the Latter-day Saints here.
"One, do you, each of you, actually have in your hearts a certain knowledge that God, our Eternal Father lives? That He is the governor of this great universe? That He is the God over all? And that we, you and I and all the associates that we have around the world, are His sons and daughters? And that we may speak with Him, as we pray with Him? That He is a living, real, personal entity?
"Do you actually have in your heart a conviction that God, our Eternal Father lives?
"Do you have in your heart a conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the First-born of the Father, the ordained Messiah, who should leave the princely courts on high and come to earth, and here walk the dusty roads of Palestine, healing the sick and performing the miracles, born in the humblest of circumstances among a hated, vassal nation, and who gave His life on Calvary's Hill and rose the third day to become the first fruits of them that slept?"
President Hinckley continued: "Do you have in your hearts an absolute certainty that the Father and the Son appeared to the boy Joseph Smith and spoke with him, as one man speaks to another, and gave him instruction and counsel and direction?"
Then, lifting up a copy of the Book of Mormon, the Church president asked members of the congregation if they had a "conviction that this book was translated by the gift and power of God, from gold plates, written upon generations ago, . . . as an added witness of the Lord, Jesus Christ?"
Continuing, he asked if members had in their hearts a certain knowledge that John the Baptist appeared to Joseph and Oliver and placed his hands upon their heads to give them the Aaronic Priesthood. "Do you have a certain knowledge that Peter, James and John appeared to Joseph and Oliver and conferred upon them that priesthood which came from the Lord, Himself?
"Do you have a certain knowledge that there appeared in the Kirtland Temple Moses and Elias and Elijah and conferred the keys of this great work of missionary service, of the gathering of Israel and, above all, the great work of salvation for the dead? This is the foundation of all the work and all that we do."
President Hinckley spoke of the recent survey by Barnes and Noble that named the Book of Mormon among the nation's most influential books. "What a tremendous recognition that is. Translated now into a hundred languages and more. A hundred and fifteen million copies of this book have now been printed and sent across the world as a witness of that."
The Church president urged the young men of the Church here to avoid drugs and to not lower themselves "to do these things which are so prominent in the world. You must have the strength to stand above them, to rise above them, to walk in faith and strength and goodness as sons of God."
President Hinckley urged Melchizedek Priesthood holders to be good husbands, parents, neighbors and friends. He urged them to "stand a little taller and be a little better as sons of God, walking in the majesty and power of that great inheritance, my dear brethren."
Continuing, he spoke of the work for the dead and temple activity. "In this Church and kingdom all that which is made available to man living upon the earth is also offered for those who have gone beyond the veil of death."
As he drew his address to a close, President Hinckley asked: "My dearly beloved brothers and sisters, do you realize what we have? Do you actually realize what we have, which has come through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ? We ought to be stronger. We ought to be a little better. We ought to be a little kinder. We ought to be a little more generous. We ought to be a little more obedient to high principle. We ought to be sons and daughters of God who walk in the majesty and the beauty of a great and marvelous inheritance. I am a child of God. We sing that little song and we say it too, but it carries with it such wonderful depth of meaning."
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