BYU–Hawaii students said they feel privileged to have a temple so close by, and several even have the chance to serve as temple workers.
“Back home in Michigan, the closest temple was three hours away in Detroit so working at the temple wasn’t really an option for our family,” explained Samuel Brieden, a junior from Michigan studying biochemistry. Brieden said he started working in the Laie Hawaii Temple last year.
Aaron Raj, a senior from Fiji studying business management and peacebuilding, is a temple ordinance worker as well. Raj was inspired by Sister Kim, a fellow temple worker who was 90 years old. “Despite her age and her health challenges, she never missed a single day and she never complained.”
He described how she always used a cane and “would stand for hours and hours without sitting, even when the temple president asked her to sit.” She would reply, “I am here for my Lord Jesus Christ, not for myself.”
Raj described how she collapsed while at the temple and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. On her way, she found out the ambulance driver was an inactive member of the LDS Church. She begged him to go back to church and take his family to the temple. Raj explained how she died later in the hospital; but later on, that same ambulance driver came back to the church and eventually back to the temple.
Brieden said his decision to work in the temple was influenced by a friend he met at Southern Virginia University. The friend told him to serve in the temple after his mission. Upon his return from serving in the Samara Russia Mission, he decided to dedicate three hours a week to serving at the Laie Temple, which, he said, has been “one of the coolest experiences ever.”
To become a temple worker, Raj explained, you have to:
- Have a desire to serve God.
- Interview with your bishop. He will fill out an application that is available online or you can get a hard copy from the temple.
- Interview with the stake president. He will submit your application form to the temple presidency if you are worthy.
- Interview with the temple president.
- Be set apart and choose a shift.
- Show up to the temple on your day and the temple missionaries will guide you from there.
From working in the Laie Hawaii Temple, Raj has learned that sacred things need to be treated sacredly, and it’s vital to understand the covenants people make in the temple. He also learned how to appreciate the role sisters play in his life and that the only things that matter in this life happens inside the temple.
At a temple worker fireside he attended on Sept. 27, Raj said he learned it is important to go early so when you are attending the temple so you can feel the love of the Lord without feeling rushed. He also learned “we are working for the Lord and it is important to keep the ordinances pure. Doing this will bless the lives of those who visit the temple.”
As a freshman in school, he didn’t have enough money to buy a temple suit. For the first two weeks, he borrowed clothes from the temple. The following week, President Workman called me into his office and presented me with a suit from Sister Kim. He said, “My eyes filled with tears,” as he wondered, “Who would do this nice thing for a stranger?”
Raj said he learned several valuable lessons from her example. First he learned people are saved by the grace of the Lord after all the can do. Second, he said, “it is the service that counts.”