Hawaii Honolulu Mission
Mission Offices
1500 S Beretania St Ste 416
Honolulu, HI 96826
Mission President: President James H. Bekker
James Henry Bekker, 60, and Delsie Anne Johansen Bekker, five children, Neff’s Canyon Ward, Salt Lake Mount Olympus Stake: Hawaii Honolulu Mission, succeeding President Stephen R. Warner and Sister Elizabeth Warner. Brother Bekker serves as a YSA adviser and is a former stake president, bishop, stake executive secretary and missionary in the Japan Tokyo Mission. Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, University of Utah School of Dentistry. Born in Salt Lake City to Henry Bekker and Louise Thomas Bekker Neel.
Sister Bekker serves as a stake Relief Society president and temple ordinance worker and is a former ward Relief Society president, and ward Relief Society, Young Women and Primary presidency counselor. Born in Salt Lake City to Johan Armand Johansen and Hildur Fluge Johansen.
Special letter to those who may want to visit Sister Kayla Bowen In Hawaii
Special letter to those who may want to visit Sister Kayla Bowen In Hawaii
This is a general, informational letter that is sent to parents of all new missionaries.
We are grateful to have Sister Bowen in our mission. We have had situations in the past that have prompted me to call your attention to a most difficult and delicate matter. My strongest desire is to help Sister Bowen succeed as a missionary. Consequently, with great love and sensitivity, I need to discuss with you the issue of visits to Hawaii by family and friends.
Our missionaries face a difficult challenge. While many may half-jokingly remark that a mission in Hawaii is a prolonged vacation, the realities are that the beauty of this place is both a blessing and a burden. The streets are filled with people in recreation apparel and the atmosphere is often one of distraction. Our Elders must face this in white shirts and ties and our Sisters in dresses. They work diligently to bring a message of Eternal Life through Christ to souls caught up in temporal pleasures. If they lose focus in their calling, they frequently turn their thoughts towards their home and friends. They become discouraged, sad and unproductive.
We love our missionaries. We spend many hours strengthening them, counseling them, and providing encouragement which will lift their spirits and give them courage to continue in the work of the Lord. You can help us in this effort to strengthen your missionary.
Hawaii is among the world's most sought after vacation spots. The families of many of our missionaries plan vacations in Hawaii. We regularly hear from parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, acquaintances, friends of relatives, ward members, former ward members, school chums and others requesting addresses and phone numbers of missionaries so they can “just say hi” or take them to lunch, dinner, church meetings, sightseeing, meeting companions, meeting former companions, visiting members, new converts, investigators, former ward members, and countless other “activities” always for just a few minutes or just an hour.
Experience has proved these visits to be uniformly adverse to the best interests of the missionary. The missionary frequently loses the Spirit in his or her work. The companion of the missionary is also adversely affected, sometimes even more dramatically.
Many parents request an "exception" for excellent reasons. However, the visit by family or friends always is communicated through the astonishingly effective grapevine and every missionary who wants to see family or friends on their vacation trip reminds us that "so and so" got to see their family, why not me?
We urge you to not plan any vacation trip to Hawaii while your missionary is serving here. If you do plan such a trip to Hawaii, we strongly urge you to avoid any contact with her. Do not plan to meet up with her, attend church where she is laboring, request her to have meals with you or arrange any contact whatsoever. Please inform all other family members of this request and discourage friends likewise. We plead with you to not write and ask her to request permission for family or friends to visit. All such requests have the potential to create tension and disappointment in the missionaries that we love so much.
We know of your love for Sister Bowen. Please join with us in protecting her so she can obtain the fullness of the Spirit that comes from dedication and focused service to the Lord.
Sincerely,
James H. Bekker
Mission President
Hawaii Honolulu Mission
Mission President
Hawaii Honolulu Mission
_______________
Size Comparison between Hawaii and Utah
Hawaii's population is 1.4 million. The Wasatch Front's population is 2.0 million
_______________
The LDS Church in Hawaii
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) was established in the Hawaiian Islands in 1850s.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) was established in the Hawaiian Islands in 1850s.
The first LDS Church missionaries to have success among the Hawaiians was George Q. Cannon. Among his earliest converts were men well-versed in the Hawaiian language, such as Jonatana Napela and Uaua. After the construction of the Hawaiian Temple, the Latter-day Saints founded Church College of Hawaii, now Brigham Young University Hawaii, which now includes the associated Polynesian Cultural Center, the state's largest living museum, and an entertainment center;[1] it draws a million visitors annually. The Mormon population in Hawaii continued to increase, and the Kona Hawaii Temple, a second LDS Church temple for the islands, was completed in Kailua Kona on the island of Hawaii in 2000.
As of January 1, 2011, there were in Hawaii 69,872 Latter-day Saints organized into 15 stakes, 124 wards, and 10 branches, and there was one mission. In addition there were 25 Family History Centers, used for genealogical research and study.[2] Hawaii has the highest concentration of Latter-day Saints of U.S. states that do not border Utah.
