“Aloha ‘Oe”

Last updated on: February 11, 2023 at 4:52 pm by Dan Peterson

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“Aloha ‘Oe” 2023-02-11T16:52:12-07:00 Dan Peterson

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Looking across Hilo Bay from Queen Lili’uokalani Park (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

We really enjoyed attending sacrament meeting on both of our Sundays here. We met with a Tongan ward in Lahaina, on Maui. This past Sunday, we joined with the Kona 1st Ward, which meets directly adjacent to the Kona Hawaii Temple. One of the negatives in the Latter-day Saint reputation, at least in the United States, is that we’re white racists. And here in Hawaii, whenever I’ve gone swimming, I’ve been acutely aware that I am, indeed, very, very white. But no matter: We loved attending the Kona 1st Ward, in which Bishop Faleata Fanguna, wearing a lavalava, both presided and conducted. His first counselor, Lokahi Aipia, appears to have been out of town, so Bishop Fanguna had the Elders Quorum president, Kekua Ahuna, sit up on the stand with him. It was fast and testimony meeting, and one of those who bore his testimony was Elder Amanaki Uhila, who was also wearing a lavalava and who has just completed his “home MTC” training and who is leaving this week to begin full-time missionary service. At the conclusion of the sacrament meeting — this is a traditional Hawaiian practice that I’ve seen on previous visits to the Islands — the congregation stood and sang “Aloha ‘Oe” to Elder Uhila who was, by now, wearing a lei as well as a lavalava. And then, one by one, members of the congregation went up to the stand and hugged him in farewell.

Haʻaheo ka ua i nā pali
Ke nihi aʻela i ka nahele
E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko
Pua ʻāhihi lehua o uka

Hui:
Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace,
A hoʻi aʻe au
Until we meet again

ʻO ka haliʻa aloha i hiki mai
Ke hone aʻe nei i kuʻu manawa
ʻO ʻoe nō kaʻu ipo aloha
A loko e hana nei

Maopopo kuʻu ʻike i ka nani
Nā pua rose o Maunawili
I laila hiaʻai nā manu
Mikiʻala i ka nani o ka lipo

The congregation sang only a part of the song — my wife and I and our friends being significantly helped when a member of the ward slipped us a sheet with both the Hawaiian and English lyrics on it — but here is the complete translation (of the complete original just above) that was prepared by the composer herself:

Proudly swept the rain by the cliffs
As it glided through the trees
Still following ever the bud
The ʻahihi lehua of the vale

Chorus:
Farewell to you, farewell to you
The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers
One fond embrace,
‘Ere I depart
Until we meet again

Sweet memories come back to me
Bringing fresh remembrances of the past
Dearest one, yes, you are mine own
From you, true love shall never depart

I have seen and watched your loveliness
The sweet rose of Maunawili
And ’tis there the birds of love dwell
And sip the honey from your lips

I noticed no white supremacy in the Kona 1st Ward. I wish that others, too, could see such areas within the Church.

By the way, “Aloha ‘Oe” was composed by Liliʻuokalani (1838-1917), who served as the only queen regnant and as the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, ruling from 29 January 1891 until the rather dishonorable overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by American business interests on 17 January 1893. She was always friendly to the Latter-day Saints, who were always friendly to her. In fact, she actually seems to have been baptized into the Church, though she appears never to have considered herself exclusively one of the Saints. (See my brief discussion of her, and of a blessing given to her at her request by President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency during his last mortal visit to Hawaii, in “The Surprising Latter-day Saint Connections in Hawaii.”)

The lava lake in Kilauea’s caldera can rise or fall in a matter of hours. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) And its lava is continually flowing into the Pacific Ocean, making the Big Island a little bit bigger every year.

We spent the afternoon and evening in Hawaii Volcanos National Park. We drove along Chain of Craters Road down to the sea, where we walked for a while across a massive, relatively recent lava flow. (Our last time to do so was with my wife’s brother and her father, whose last major trip it has proved to be.) En route, we visited several minor craters, as well as the Thurston Lava Tube.

This photograph, taken in 2011 by Phil Whitehouse (from London, in the United Kingdom), shows the end of Chain of Craters Road as it was when we visited with my father in law some years ago. One had to walk to this point, as the road was closed to automobile traffic quite some distance back. Now, it seems, the road is closed off even FURTHER back. As they continually remind visitors at Hawaii Volcanos National Park, this is one National Park that is in constant flux.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

The highpoint, though, was definitely walking out to observe the large pit crater known as Halemaʻumaʻu for a while, despite a heavy mist. Halemaʻumaʻu is a major feature within the much larger caldera of Kīlauea and, historically speaking, it is one of Kīlauea’s most active eruption centers. It is also a principal contributor to Kīlauea’s long-held and unchallenged status as the world’s most active volcano.

Despite the rain and the heavy mist, the view down into Kīlauea’s caldera was spectacular and awe-inspiring. The mist above Halemaʻumaʻu glowed visibly orange long before we reached the edge of the caldera in the darkness, and I was resigned to the possibility that all we would be able to make out would be an even brighter eerie, hellish orange fog. But, instead, we could see the volcanic activity quite clearly, with one very large continuous fountain being especially impressive.