Our first visit to the Laie Hawaii Temple (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Holiness to the Lord - The House of the Lord

This Laie Hawaiian temple was announced by Pres. Joseph F. Smith in 1915. It was dedicated by Pres. Heber J. Grant in 1919.  This Temple was the first temple built by the LDS Church outside of the continental United States.

There are several water features including this fountain spray throughout the grounds!

Today was a lovely December day in Laie!  We walked about two blocks to this beautiful scene!  What a blessing to have a temple so close to where we are serving! We love attending and serving within this holy place. It is a blessing in our lives.

It is located on the northeast shore of the Hawaian island of O'ahu.  The temple sits on a small hill, a half-mile from the Pacific Ocean, in the town of La'ie, 35 miles from Honolulu.

The sculpted and beautiful gardens are a bit of paradise within paradise!

The Hibiscus are everywhere and so perfect that they hardly look real!

The Banyan trees tower up so beautifully and their leaves intermingle causing a huge canopy above!

Even behind the temple, the beauty is exquisite!

This is a sculpture depicting a scene from the Book of Mormon where Lehi gives his son, Jacob, a blessing!

There are four separate depictions of noted events of the New Testament, Old Testament, Book of Mormon and the Restoration like this( frieze shown) on the four sides of the upper temple walls.  They are duplicated on the walls within the patio behind the Family History Center.

The temple is for families, one of the greatest treasures we have in mortality.  He has indicated that the greatest work we parents can do is performed in our homes, and our homes can be heaven, particularly when our marriages are sealed in the house of God.  Pres. Thomas S. Monson.

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The temple provides purpose for our lives.  It brings peace to our souls-not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you."

                                                                                           President Thomas S. Monson

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