LDS Temples - Laie, Hawaii

The Laie Temple in Hawaii was dedicated 27 November 1919 by Heber J. Grant and re-dedicated by Spencer W. Kimball 13 June 1978. The site was formerly a 6,000 acre plantation purchased by the Church in 1865 as a gathering place for the Hawaiian Saints.  The 11.4 acres upon which the temple now stands is part of this original property. The temple has 3 ordinance rooms and 6 sealing rooms, with a total Floor Area of 40,971 square feet.

The Laie Hawaii Temple is set in an extraordinarily beautiful setting. The natural setting is home to many breath-taking ferns, palms, and other semi-tropical plants.

The exterior of the temple is made from crushed, local lava rock and coral and is re-inforced with steel. It was dressed with pneumatic tools to produce a white cream finish. It's design is suggestive of the ancient temples found in South America and is shaped like a Grecian cross with no tower. At the time of its construction, there was some criticism of it's design but, later, a prophesy made by Brigham Young, was discovered by President Samuel E. Woolley of the Hawaiian Mission which predicted it's design. President Young forsaw the time when temples would have a central tower with greenery and fish ponds on the roof. The architects of the Laie Temple had, without knowing of the prophecy, made provisions for flower boxes and ponds on the temple roof.

Friezes on the exterior of the temple depict God's dealings with man in four great dispensations from the time of the Garden of Eden to the present. On the north, the story of the Book of Mormon is represented including the departure of Hagoth and others. The panel on the west presents Israel's history during Old Testament times. The New Testament dispensation followed by the Apostasy is depicted on the south. And, finally, the latter-day restoration of the gospel is portrayed in the panel on the east.

Joseph F. Smith, an early missionary himself to the Hawaiian Islands, arrived in Hawaii in 1915 on official business as president of the Church. After a meeting held in Laie, he invited Elder Reed Smoot and Bishop Charles W. Nibley for an evening stroll in the nearby tropical grounds. Quite unexpectedly, he announced to the two men, "I feel impressed to dedicate this ground for the erection of a Temple to God, for a place where the peoples of the Pacific Isles can come and do their temple work.…I think now is the time to dedicate the ground." Later, Elder Smoot commented, "I have heard President Smith pray hundreds of times…but never in all my life did I hear such a prayer. The very ground seemed to be sacred, and he seemed as if he were talking face to face with the Father. I cannot and never will forget it if I live a thousand years."

The dedication of the Laie Hawaii Temple took place on Thanksgiving Day of 1919. President Joseph F. Smith had died just one year earlier, and President Heber J. Grant now served as president of the Church. Speaking at the dedication, Elder Stephen L. Richards said that "the temple is something more than a beautiful building. It is a monument to the great truths of the gospel, and stands for all that is best and holiest in life. While it is a house for salvation of the dead, it should never be forgotten that it is a house for the living and intended to stimulate us to higher things".
Sister Manaoheakamalu, who had taken care of Joseph F. Smith during his first mission to the islands, was now very old and had to be carried into the temple for the dedication. The following week, she returned to receive her own endowment. While in the temple, she heard the voice of President Smith greet her with "Aloha," and "this caused her to weep for joy." She passed away only a short time later.

After the remodeling of the Laie Hawaii Temple in the late 1970's, missionaries received approximately 55,000 referrals as non-members signed the temple's guest register. One non-Latter-day Saint teacher in Honolulu left such a deep impression on her elementary school students of the holiness and sanctity of the temple that some of them bought new shoes before they attended the open house (Temples to Dot the Earth, pp. 126-132, 179).

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