BYUH alumni couple featured in the Gospel Art Book say the photo of them in front of the Laie Temple continues to bless their lives
In the Gospel Art Book published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the section “Gospel in Action” contains an image titled “Young Couple Going to the Temple.” The photo has been part of the book and other Church materials since it was taken and depicts a real-life couple and BYU–Hawaii alumni Kristen and Carl Kennerley. The Kennerley's said they were honored to be the subject of a photo that represents the diversity in the worldwide Church and the importance of temple marriage.
Situated against a background of the gleaming white Laie Hawaii Temple surrounded by flowers and greenery, Carl and Kristen Kennerley stand in the photo with their heads bowed, peaceful smiles gracing their faces and their eyes closed. Kristen Kennerley, dressed in a gleaming white dress with a pink flower tucked above her left ear, holds her husband’s hands as they stand outside the house of the Lord, where couples may be sealed for time and all eternity.
Kristen Kennerley, who graduated in 1996 with a degree in exercise physiology, was born on the Island of Hawaii to BYUH alumni Andrew and Marcia Oshita, who attended the school when it was called the Church College of Hawaii. She said her parents shared fond memories of their time at CCH, and she always knew she wanted to attend the university when she grew up.
Just like her own, Kristen Kennerley’s parents’ love story was also centered around the Laie Temple. According to her, her father Andrew was not a member of the Church until two weeks before he graduated, marrying her mother Marcia the following year.
Meanwhile, Carl Kennerley, who also graduated in 1996 with a degree in information systems, grew up in New Zealand and served in the Japan Osaka Mission. At the end of his mission, he said he decided to attend BYUH to join his brother. He said Laie felt immediately like home, despite being far from New Zealand.
Carl Kennerley said he and Kristen met in the McKay Gym, where she worked as a gym monitor and joined him and his friends in a basketball game. He explained, “I had to guard her and I thought it would be way too easy, but she surprised me. Kristen was very aggressive and a good player. That’s when I knew I had to ask her out.” The next week, he asked her to go to the Winter Ball of 1996, which was in February. Later, they were married in December of 1996.
The couple were married in the Laie Temple, but it was not until two months later that their famous photograph found in Church materials was taken.
According to Carl Kennerley, the Church wanted to update their Gospel Art Book by showcasing members who represented the Church’s diverse membership and asked a stake president in Honolulu if he knew of a couple willing to have their picture taken for it. “We were contacted by one of President [Gordon B.] Hinckley’s photographers. It was a very stormy day and we both had to rush straight from work to take them, but it was an amazing experience.”
In reference to seeing herself and her husband in Church materials around the world, Kristen Kennerley said, “At first, it was so weird. We had no idea when it would be published or where. We thought it would only be seen in the Gospel Art Kit. About a year later, we started getting tons of emails and phone calls from family and friends when it appeared in the Ensign.”
The Kennerley's have four grown sons and said they feel blessed to have been the subject of the photo, even if their children were initially embarrassed, according to Carl Kennerley, when their Sunday School teachers would use it in a lesson. “However, once they went on their missions, they loved sharing it with everyone.”
When their sons went on their missions, they used a flip chart which featured the picture to teach lessons. Kristen Kennerley said it was fun for them to use it in teaching and tell people it was of their parents though hardly anyone believed them, she added with a laugh.
Kristen Kennerley said when she and her husband watched the documentary “Meet the Mormons,” they noticed in a scene focusing on Coach Ken Niumatolo’s family life, he was playing ping pong with his children's in a room with the poster–sized picture of the Kennerley's in front of the temple.
On seeing it in the movie, she said, “It was pretty funny for us to see that, and for a small moment, we felt kind of famous.”
Kristen Kennerley commented about the impact the picture has had on people around the world. She said most of the Church temple pictures before theirs were at the Salt Lake Temple and featured Caucasian people. But, she shared, “...as soon as our picture came out, people always commented on how they loved seeing a couple from mixed backgrounds. Carl is half Samoan and I am half Japanese.
“We have received many emails over the years from missionaries and youth who have said they had our picture hanging in their rooms as a reminder to focus on temple marriage. To us, that’s the best blessing and outcome of all.”
A picture that gives hope
Ellen Richey, an alumna from Latvia who graduated in 2012 with a degree in TESOL, said the image of a joyful bride and groom at the Laie Temple gave her hope that temple marriage could be hers. This was essential for her, she said, as she navigated her life as a new member of the Church at the age of 17 in a country adjusting after the fall of the Soviet Union.
She used to get the Liahona magazine in the mail, which is where she first saw the picture and said she liked it so much she cut it out and kept it.
“On my mission, the photo reminded me that a huge part of my spiritual journey is to get sealed in the temple. Sometimes, it even gave me strength to keep going even when I was tired and struggled in other ways,” Richey recalled.
Some time later, Richey said she moved to Belgium in the same year a temple was being built in the Netherlands that was only a two–hour drive from her. She said when she was able to go to the temple, it was like a dream come true.
She added how through all the changes in her life, the picture of the Kennerley’s in front of the Laie Temple brought peace and hope to her over the years. “I knew that one day, my dream to marry in the House of the Lord would come true. And little did I know that it would be that same temple.”
After her mission, Richey wanted to attend BYU in Provo but did not get accepted, so she attended LDS Business College, now known as Ensign College, to get her general studies done. Her mother came to visit her and they decided to travel to Oahu to check out BYUH, where Richey said she fell in love with the aloha spirit. After getting her generals done, she applied to all three of the BYU schools. She got into BYUH and BYU–Idaho and chose to follow the aloha spirit to Laie.
While at BYUH, she met someone she had gotten to know through a friend several years earlier. Two weeks after she graduated, they were married. “Choosing the Laie Temple was a no-brainer, since I was already there and it was my favorite place on earth. It was so gorgeous and beautiful. It still is my favorite place on earth.”
Years after being sealed in the same temple as in the photograph, Richey commented, “It triggers many memories and emotions from my early years as a convert, all the way through my mission and my coming to Laie and BYUH. It’s very fascinating how such a simple thing as a photo can motivate and make one envision the future.”
Amber Stevenson, an alumna from Utah who graduated in 2020 with degrees in cultural anthropology and communications, said the picture always made her feel good about her identity. Stevenson, who is of Samoan descent but grew up in American Fork, Utah, said the picture of the Kennerleys at the Laie Temple was one of the only pictures depicting people of Polynesian ancestry the Church had in circulation when she was young.
When she was a child, Stevenson said her mother was called as the ward librarian at church, and she would always go with her into the library to find the picture. “I just loved it. I loved that they looked Polynesian like me. I loved the Laie Temple in the back with all the palm trees. I loved that she [the bride] had a beautiful red hibiscus in her hair. I thought that was so beautiful and different from other temple pictures.
“As a Samoan growing up in Utah, I didn’t see a lot of photos in church circulation that I could look at and say, ‘Hey they look like us.’ This picture was something I feel like I could claim as a young Samoan in Utah.” Honestly growing up with this picture, as a little girl I could imagine myself getting married in the Laie Temple. It has always been my favorite temple because of it.”
Stevenson added how the photo was powerful in showing the diversity of the Church, saying how up until the 1990s, most of the Church’s official photos were of white members living in the United States. “I loved that this photo represented the Pacific Islands and our dedication to the gospel and the Lord’s House.”
Years later, she said she still feels a strong connection to the photograph. She said it encourages the viewer to contemplate the commitments made in the temple. “I honestly feel like this photo still has deep meaning to me. It reminds me of my parents’ commitment to be married in the Laie Temple and how important the temple still is in my life.”
Strong marriage
Talking about the Laie Temple, Carl Kennerley said he and his wife have always loved the symbolism of the temple and loved to take their children on the grounds to teach them why the temple is so important. “For Kristen, it’s also a special place because her great–grandmother who was Buddhist made a visit there without knowing that someday her family would become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints.”
Kristen Kennerley said the secret to their marriage is the fact they have been best friends from the start. “We actually are pretty different from each other. We were raised in different countries, cultures and even our parents are totally different from each other, but what we had in common was the importance of family.”
Carl Kennerley added how the photo was a powerful reminder to him and his wife of the importance of temple marriage. “But also a good reminder that all marriages take a lot of work, unconditional love, respect and humility,” he emphasized. “Just because you’re sealed in the temple, it doesn’t mean it’ll be ‘happily ever after.’ Marriage thrives when you are both doing your part so you can continue to attend the temple together.”
Carl Kennerley concluded, “Some of the blessings we’ve received are our four amazing sons, a happy marriage where we have learned to grow with one another in the gospel and the knowledge knowing we can be together forever as a family.”