Belonging to Heaven by Gale Sears

Author:Gale Sears [Sears, Gale ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2013-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

***

In the evening when the sun hovered over the island of Lanai and the sweet scent of flowers filled the air, more than a hundred people crowded into the open-sided hale, and said aloha to the Mormon missionaries. The Saints wore their best clothing—the women in their brightly colored holoku dresses, and the men in their European shirts with maile leis around their necks. The women wore strands of flower leis and crowns of flowers on their heads. Napela was proud of how beautiful they looked, and he greeted each member of the company with tenderness, and encouraged them to find a place at one of the tables. Four low tables were covered with ti leaves and spread with food: calabashes of poi, roasted kalo and potatoes, and packages of beef, fish, pork, and fowls done up in banana leaves that came hot from the imu. There were steamed crabs, grilled eel, and seaweed. There were bananas, mountain apples, and watermelons, as well as coconut pudding. It was indeed a feast of honor.

When the guests settled, Jonathan gave a welcome and said a blessing on the food; he then went from table to table visiting and making sure all was well. Brother Cannon and the other departing missionaries sat on mats around the low tables trying their best to enjoy the bounty of food and the companionship of their Hawaiian brothers and sisters, but Jonathan noticed that they did not eat much, and that beneath their smiles were tears.

Brother Hawkins was there from the Big Island, and Brothers Bigler and Farrer from Oahu. They had come for a final conference of the Church and to report their numbers. Jonathan smiled as he set another calabash of poi on one of the tables. There were now over three thousand members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the islands—most on the islands of Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii, but some on Moloka‘i and Kauai. There were Hawaiian men who held the priesthood and served as missionaries. The Book of Mormon translation was complete, and Brother Cannon was taking it to a Church-owned printing press in San Francisco to have the copies made. Many miraculous things had been accomplished in four years, and Jonathan felt humbly grateful to have been a small part of it.

A group of Saints at the far end of one of the tables began singing a lovely mele about the flowers of the islands, and Jonathan saw George leave off his conversation with Kaleohano and turn his head in the direction of the music. Leaving would be hard for him. The festivities began to take on a somber tone, and suddenly Akuna Pake was on his feet and begging the crowd for their attention. He went to the center of the hale, turning in circles, and clapping his hands.

“Here is Akuna Pake, the great storyteller of Maui!” People jeered him. “But, he will not tell you stories of Wakea and Papa our first parents. He will not tell you stories of the four gods Lono, Kane, Kanaloa, or Ku.

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