Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

Aloha! We are having a wonderful family vacation in the beautiful paradise state of Hawaii. On Saturday we drove to Laie, the home of one of our oldest temples and of the campus of BYU Hawaii. Last sumer we learned that one of my ancestors went there as a missionary around 1860. He was given the charge of procuring the land where these buildings now reside. His wife started the first school there. It hit me that we were now seeing the fruits of their labors. We spent most of the day at the nearby Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a great day.

Of all the beautiful sights and sounds we have experienced, the one that I cannot get out of my head was attending church services at a local congregation of our church near Pearl Harbor. After taking the tour to the U.S.S. Arizona, we changed clothes and headed to a nearby chapel we had found on the internet. We were about the only Caucasians in the whole congregation but we immediately felt at home. The meetings all over the world are conducted the same way. The hymns are the same but more than anything we share the same spirit. It was this congregation's, "Ward Conference," which means that in addition to hearing from their bishop (pastor), we also heard from the Stake President (regional ecclesiastical leader) and his counselor. The theme for the meeting was taken from Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknoledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."The Bishop spoke for quite awhile. I'll have to say that the warm air, the peaceful spirit and my heavy eye lids were not a great combination for remaining alert. He went on for about an hour. The counselor shortened his talk and did a great job discussing trusting the Lord. The Stake President then stood and I shall not soon forget the experience.

He had a soft voice and very kind eyes. He spoke about "leaning not unto thine own understanding." He spoke of times in his life when he put aside what he thought was best and did what the Lord thought was best. He spoke of serving a mission, marrying the right woman, accepting the right job and raising his family. He mentioned his upcoming retirement this December and how he might consider "relaxing, going on trips." Better yet, he spoke of putting those things aside and serving a mission with his wife. He then, tenderly looked into our eyes and declared that he knew the God and his Son, Jesus lived. The spirit of his testimony touched me deep in my soul and I understood that this knowledge came from a man who truly walks with the Lord. He had "taken his yoke upon him" many years hence and truly knows his master. He then declared "this is his church." Jesus cannot reside on the earth at this time so he has chosen a prophet, Thomas S. Monson and he leads and guides us. He then told that congregation that their bishop was called from God. He promised them if they would heed his counsel, they would be blessed. There was no mention of the previous sermon going too long. He loving supported and elevated this good bishop who had only just been asked to fulfil this calling two weeks previous. His words only covered about ten minutes but he left us all with a powerful spirit. The mood had changed. We left, feeling alive and blessed for having been there.