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This is long. So brace yourselves for 3 minutes (or 5 for good measure) of reading about a total gem of a week. It should leave you inspired. Thanks in advance if you make it to the end.

Without a doubt, this has been my best week so far. I take it back. These past two weeks have been the best weeks so far. I take it back. This last month has been the best month so far. I take it back, this last year has been the best year so far. I take it back, this past mortal existence has been the best one so far. I could not be more blessed! But really, I have had a spectacular week.

We’ll start with last Saturday. Last Saturday I got to volunteer at the temple Open House, and it was just awesome. I think I got the very best job you could get– I greeted all the guests at the entrance to the main tent where they watch the temple movie and then leave separately for the tour. So I got to talk to everyone that came that night! I asked them how they were, gave them temple brochures, and wished them a happy tour. We had a total of 43,000 guests over these weeks of the Open House. I also had a good 7 mile run that day, ending at Sunset beach, which is a personal favorite. The run felt so good!

On Sunday my visiting teachers invited us over for a delicious brunch before church. They live in Hale 1, which means they have their own kitchen and cook fro themselves every day. So we had non-caf food, which is great not matter what it is. But they’re both from the Philippines, automatically making the food fantastic.

Monday was ordinary, but still by best day so far up to that point.

I have New Testament on Tuesdays, and the highlight of the day was my reading before class. We’re in Ephesians right now, and I just look forward to the time when I do my homework for that class. Each reading I do I am amazed. I have found myself everyday saying, “That is the most excellent passage of scripture I’ve ever read!” I feel so privileged to be reading the New Testament.

On Wednesday I had a fantastic voice lesson. I’m really improving on the technique we’ve been working on all semester, and I did it really well at my lesson. But better than that, Sister Mooy (my teacher) told me that she and Brother Belnap (the other voice teacher) dated in college. That just made my day.

Thursday. Two words: Harry Potter. I have been looking forward to that day for an extreme amount of time, and it finally arrived! We went to the midnight show in Kaneohe, which is about an hour bus ride from Laie. But the best part os that I really enjoyed the movie. It’s so satisfying to go to a good movie, and I thought this one was great. (I did cry when Dobby died.)

On Friday, my friend Hon Xu got baptized! She’s been attending church for two years now, because she had a calling as the ward pianist, and then she finally decided to get baptized. I am so happy for her! The baptism was really nice. Convert baptisms are super exciting to me, especially when I know the person. And THEN, as though a baptism wasn’t enough, I went down to the PCC to buy tickets for the Night Show, and what should I see but a huge line-up of people, all waiting to see the prophet walk into the PCC. I was there when he came in! Then my friend Jenna offered me one of the Ambassador luau tickets she won from Haunted Lagoon. So we got to eat in the fanciest part of the PCC, with very very delicious, high-quality food, and with the prophet! he was in a closed off room, but when he came out, I was like a foot away from him, and he made eye contact with me. Definitely a high light of my entire life. He carries the Spirit with him. Then Night Show was of course fantastic, and President Monson was there in an aloha shirt. 🙂

The big event of Saturday was that I finally, with minimal breakdowns and much blood, sweat, and tears, finished my #*!!@%!* Term Paper!!! All 12 pages of that research paper house a portion of my soul, not unlike a horcrux. I also went to the beach that morning, which was just peachy, and I went to the cultural celebration for the temple. It was awesome! I went to bed at 5:30 in the morning, but it was worth it because I finished the paper.

And now today. Today. This is a day I have been looking forward to since January. Today our beautiful Laie temple was rededicated. So much has been put into preparing this, and it’s finally here! The rededication was amazing, and I’ve realized what a blessing it is to live here. President Eyering said that our temple is “one of the most beautiful temples in the whole world”, and “perhaps the most beautiful setting in all the world.” This is Paradise, and I live here.

Could I be more blessed? I submit that I cannot. Today is my best day so far, and this has absolutely been my best week so far!

*I apologize if this is a little long. I just wanted to publish an example of the best week anyone could ever have.

Well,
So I was reading my scriptures at 3:00 in the morning, after staying up that late working on my term paper. The first scripture I read was Alma 50:1. It says, “And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Nephites.” Wow. Talk about discipline! I should take a leaf out of his book!

“ALOOOOOOOOOHAA!” “Aloooha” “You can do better than that! Let’s try it again. ALOOOOOOOOOHAA!” “AlooooHA!”

Contrary to popular belief, this staple Sacrament Meeting talk-intro is in no way an appropriate use of Aloha. Eric Snider, past columnist for The Daily Universe at BYU said, “If you are from Hawaii, you are entitled to force the congregation to scream “Aloha” at you. This is an official church policy. You preface it by saying, “I am from Hawaii, and over there, we greet each other by saying [this is the part where you yell really loud] ‘ALOHA!'” And then everyone will yell it back at you, partly because you told them to, but mostly because they think it’s kind of cool that they get to yell in church.”

When someone says Aloha, it means so much more than that! Aloha is used as a greeting, farewell, and expression of love. But even more than that, it is a way of life. It can be called the Spirit of Aloha or the Way of Aloha. The island children used to be taught the lesson of Aloha early on because it was about the world of which they were a part. The english translation of one of their early teachings is:

Aloha is being a part of all, and all being a part of me. When there is pain – it is my pain. When there is joy – it is also mine. I respect all that is as part of the Creator and part of me. I will not willfully harm anyone or anything. When food is needed I will take only my need and explain why it is being taken. The earth, the sky, the sea are mine to care for, to cherish and to protect. This is Hawaiian – this is Aloha!

To keep understanding Aloha, I’ve found some different translations of it. This is the breakdown from Hawaiian:
alo, 1. sharing 2. in the present
oha, joyous affection, joy
ha, life energy, life, breath

This is translated literally as The joyful sharing of life energy in the present” or simply “Joyfully sharing life”.

Here’s another translation, probably my favorite:
“A” means “to burn” (figuratively, to sparkle) and it is also the name of mold found in souring foods. “Lo” is short for lo’o and loa’a which mean “to obtain or procure”. Together these indicate a transformation of energy (burning, sparkling, souring food), a product of an energy transformation (the mold), and an effort to get or obtain something. So this is really giving and transferring your energy, your Ha, to whoever you are with.

Now, the truth of the matter and the most exciting part of this for me is that the Aloha Spirit is really just another name for the Holy Ghost. The concepts taught through Aloha are the same that Christ taught, and the Spirit he left is present here in Paradise. The feeling is real. When I came here in January with my mom and my Uncle Spencer, I felt something. Everything is more relaxed here, and time really just slows down. Aloha is the opposite of stress, and that meant it was the opposite of my lifestyle at certain times back at home. I’ve come to understand that absence of stress and feelings of love here are what it will be like in Heaven. I think Heaven in in Laie. So by slowing down and taking time to share and talk and learn and teach and feel and love, by living the Way of Aloha, we will come unto Christ.

To you, my friends, I say ALOHA.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent
To blow up the King and Parli’ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England’s overthrow;
By God’s providence [or mercy] he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Hulloa boys, Hulloa boys, let the bells ring.
Hulloa boys, hulloa boys, God save the King!

Our temple is opening soon! 22 days!! It amazes me that I’ve been blessed to have a temple so close to me all my life– both here and in Provo. I’ve been able to go to the open house twice so far, and I have been completely overcome by its beauty both times. Every single square inch of the temple is intricately beautiful. The baptismal font has a border of a sparkly rock mosaic around it, the artwork is breathtaking, the chandeliers are gorgeous… And then the Celestial Room. Oh. My. Goodness. Maybe the most beautiful room I’ve ever been in. Wow. And the Spirit is so strong in there, even though the building hasn’t even been dedicated yet. It makes me so excited to go there! As I was going through, I kept thinking how much I wanted to help other people come to the temple and experience the blessings that it brings. Each time the guide said something like “We believe that…” I just really wanted to teach it and bring that message and blessing so as many people as I can. I remembered what I’ve been taught all my life:

I love to see the temple. I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit, To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple, I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll cov’nant with my Father; I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth: A family is forever.

Today is my best day so far. I’m going to school in Hawaii, I’ve made some great friends, I have the best english teacher

Today is my best day so far. I’m going to school in Hawaii, I’ve made some great friends, I have the best English teacher on campus

“But there’s a little . . . little, area . . . where I must rule myself. It’s very little—less to him than a tennis court”

Another diagnostic essay. We read A Man For All Seasons in my English class (I highly recommend it), and Sir Thomas Moore talks about the small portion of his life that he must be in charge of– his “tennis court”. So I thought about the tennis courts in my life, and this is what I came up with.

Today is my best day so far. I’m going to school in Hawaii, I’ve made some great friends, I have the best English teacher on campus, I had a delicious breakfast this morning, all of my classes went well today, and now I have the opportunity to write a diagnostic essay. With all these blessings, plus an innumerable amount more, every day is my best day so far. I’ve made this my motto sine I read a book of that title, written by a hero of mine, George Durrant. I’ve come to believe that the only thing in life that is completely up to me is my attitude. That is the tennis court I have full control over. My attitude determines how I feel about everything that happens every day, and it’s up to me to make or break my day. My goal has been to always have a positive attitude, and I’ve found that by that choice, I am happier and better able to serve others.

Attitude is absolutely a choice. Sister Hinckley said, “there are two choices in life. you can choose to laugh or cry. I choose to laugh; crying gives me a headache.” I choose to laugh! I choose to have an attitude of wanting to help others and serve the Lord: a missionary-minded attitude. And attitude of gratitude. An attitude to try to make the day of each person I talk to their best one so far. I’ve discovered that it’s often easier to choose the other way. Negative thoughts are natural, and it’s sometimes satisfying to complain about hard assignments and tests and teachers and bad food and homesickness and any number of others things. But the only result of dwelling on negativity is misery. (And perhaps a headache.)

The catch with this tennis court, this important part of my life that I’m in charge of, is that the effects of my care for it don’t only affect me. Attitudes are very contagious, and it’s surprisingly easy to end up with a whole group of miserable people in a very short amount of time. Luckily, positive attitudes also spread, and the results are equally impressive. Elder Wirthlin taught us about “Come what may, and love it”, and I have tried to remember that and really try to love and accept everything that comes my way, including circumstance, people, and trials.

In my time here at BYU Hawaii, I have been placed in circumstances where complaining would have seemed very appropriate. It was hard to leave my friends and family in Provo, and it was hard to watch my parents leave a week after we got to Laie. My roommate turned out to be a very dramatic girl, and ended up insisting that I leave our room and find a new one so her friend could move in with her. But because I’ve decided to view my whole experience in Hawaii as preparation for my mission, my reaction to each of these hard times has been to learn, grow, and love everything that happens here. That is why today is my best day so far.

Today is my best day so far. I’m going to school in Hawaii, I’ve made some great friends,