February 16 to March 9, 2020 - Mission Preliminaries

We were set apart as missionaries assigned to labor in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Visitors Center Mission by the President of the Bartlesville Oklahoma Stake, Matthew L Bell on Sunday evening, February 16, 2020 at his home in Claremore.  This was 3 weeks before we were to begin our missionary service, but our travel schedule required an early setting apart.  Kathleen and Sarah were able to come with us for the setting apart.

Sister and Elder Burkinshaw after being set apart by President Matthew L Bell in his home.

Kathleen, Sister and Elder Burkinshaw and Sarah following our setting apart.

President Bell gave us several special blessings as he set us apart including that our family (children and grandchildren) would be blessed by our service and he blessed us that we would be able to use our previous mission experiences to effectively teach those who we will serve on Temple Square.

After loading our belongings into the Highlander, we drove to Bettendorf for Harrison's baptism, performed by Benson on Saturday, February 27, 2020.

The Richards Family with Harrison in the middle following his baptism and confirmation.  Benson performed the baptism and Mike the confirmation.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Harrison and Grandma and Grandpa Richards.

We then drove to Lovell, Wyoming (I-25 from Cheyenne to Casper had been closed but thanks to GoogleMaps, we found a way around) to visit Grandma Kay and we had dinner with Uncle Chris, Sami and Katie and Katie's fiance Dylan.

We then drove to Salt Lake where we moved our missionary stuff into our apartment, then flew to Maui with Uncle Mark, Aunt Wendy and Aunt Robyn for a week.


Maui Trip
Since Aunt Robyn had travelled extensively in 2019, she had lots of Delta miles, so several months ago she offered to provide transportation to Maui so we planned to make this trip just before our mission to Temple Square.  Here's a few pictures from our trip.

We stayed in the center of Maui in the town of Kula at a VRBO named Island Sunset Villa.  Here is a picture that illustrates the name of the home.

 

The view from Island Sunset Villa in Kula, Maui, Hawaii where we stayed

Island Sunset Villa is about a mile away from the Pulehu Chapel which was built by George Q Cannon (who would become an apostle and counselor to four Church Presidents) and his missionary companion James Keeler in 1851 and this is where Jonatan Napela was commissioned to translate the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian (See Saints Volume 2, Chapter 10).  Here are some pictures.

The Pulehu Chapel built in 1851 was the first Latter-day Saint building in Hawaii and is often compared to the Gadfield Elm chapel in Gloucester, England (see our London Temple blog post).

The Pulehu chapel with plaques honoring early missionaries George Q Cannon and James Keeler as well as Hawaiian leader Jonatana (Jonathan) Napela.

Close-up of the plaque memorializing the first baptisms and meeting house of the Church in Hawaii.

Close-up of the plaque remembers the contributions of early Hawaiian Church member and leader and Book of Mormon translator Jonatana (Jonathan) Napela.

Elder Burkinshaw inside the Pulehu Chapel which is still used on ocassion for Sunday services and firesides.  Note the photo of George Q Cannon on the left and Heber J Grant on the right.

We spent Monday on a pontoon boat circling the Hawaiian Island of Lanai which gave us an opportunity to see humpback whales up close as well as snorkeling in beautiful clear blue water at several sites around the island.  Here's a few pictures.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw (we had been set apart as missionaries at this time), Aunt Wendy, Uncle Mark and Aunt Robyn at the Mala boat dock on Maui looking across the bay with the Island of Lanai in the distance.

Video of a humpback whale blowing air, then breaching (partially rising out of the water) and his tail is the last thing we see.

Humpback tail which is the last thing we see after he breaches the water. 

The beautiful blue clear water of a small bay on the island of Lanai where we snorkeled.  It looked like the fish you would see on "Finding Nemo" but unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera.  One of our group even found a small octopus which "inked" him.  

You can see the coast of Lanai is very rough and steep volcanic rock.  You can see a couple of caves carved in the cliff above the bay.  These were carved out as the burial sites of Hawaiian chiefs.

We went to the "Old Lahaina Luau" one evening.  Lahaina is on the western shore of Maui and the temperature was about 10-15°F warmer that Kula.  Here's a few pictures.

Our table at the Old Lahaina Luau with Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Mark and Aunt Robyn.  The meal was buffet style and it was very good.

This was the pig that was cooked in a pit covered with banana leaves, then hot coals, then a tarp with dirt on top.  

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with the beautiful sunset a Lahaina Bay.

Sister Burkinshaw, Robyn and Aunt Wendy doing a Hawaiian Dance at the Luau.

The next day we went ziplining in the mountains above Kaanapali, just north of Lahaina.  Here's a few pictures and videos.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Aunt Robyn and Uncle Mark prepared to go ziplining.

Sister Burkinshaw taking off on the zipline.  Note the beautiful beach and ocean in the background.

Sister Burkinshaw coming in on the zipline.  Note the beautiful jungle foliage.

At Ho'okipa Beach, we had an opportunity to see some sea turtles and monk seals.  Here are some pictures.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at Ho'okipa Beach enjoying the sun.

The olive ridley sea turtles blend remarkably with the lava rocks on Ho'okipa Beach but if you look carefully, you can see a large one in the center and at least another six in this picture.

Two monk seals playing in a small bay near Ho'okipa Beach near Paia on the north shore of Maui.  The monk seals are actually an endangered species and the males weigh 300-400 lbs and the females weight 500-600 lbs.  They eat bony fish, cephalopods (squid and octoputs) as well as crustaceans (crabs, lobster and crayfish).

We drove up to the Haleakula volcano crater one afternoon but unfortunately it was very rainy with winds of 40-50 mph and the temperature was ~ 35°F which is understandable at over 10,000 ft above sea level.  Haleakula is at the center of the larger section of Maui as shown in the picture below which describes how the pacific islands including Maui were formed.

Description of how the Pacific islands including Maui were formed by volcanoes and weathering over time.

Elder Burkinshaw at the rim of the Haleakala crater.  The picture doesn't really show the heavy winds (40-50 mph) and cold temperature (~35°F) at the 10,000 ft elevation, but it was intense!  There is both a solar observatory and a space surveilance complex within about 200 yards but it was so stormy that they were not really visible.

Our final adventure was driving around the northeast perimeter of Maui which is know as the Road to Hana.  It was a six hour drive with stops and the road was often very narrow and rocky.  Here are a few pictures.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at one of the numerous waterfalls along the Road to Hana.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Aunt Robyn, Uncle Mark and Aunt Wendy at Honomanu Bay.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at Honomanu Bay.  Note the incredible clouds.

Another vista of Honomanu Bay with the massive cliffs in the background.

The black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park.  The black sand was created long ago by the rough surf pounding on a fresh, bubbling lava flow, courtesy of Haleakela. It took more than a millennia to be ground down into a beach.

A lava rock (basaltic) arch in the ocean near the black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park.

Cliff diver at Wai'anapanapa State Park.

The Seven Sacred Pools of 'Ohe'o.

Far in the distance is the ridge of the Haleakula Volcano crater and you can see the lava flows to the ocean.  Unfortunately the picture doesn't really capture this awe inspiring site.

It was a busy, but enjoyable three weeks with our family prior to beginning formal missionary service.  We actually had several missionary opportunities as we visited with different people during our Maui activities.  We met a couple from Virginia on our Zipline tour who had a co-worker who is a member of the church.  They were very familiar with the Washington D.C. temple and we invited them to take advantage of the upcoming temple open house and they seemed quite excited about being able to enter this very prominent edifice which they had only seen from the outside.

Our next post will describe our first and very eventful week in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Visitors Center mission!

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw