Lahaina Latter-day Saints gather to draw strength after Maui wildfires - Church News

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LAHAINA, Hawaii — Standing on Hanakaoo Beach, Unaloto Taukeiaho did not look across the water at the charred and burned remains of his town. He looked at the faces of his dear friends and neighbors — beloved members of the Kahului Hawaii West Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he recently served as stake president.

As they met on Friday, Aug. 18, everyone had a story to tell of where they were when the wind-whipped wildfires grew out of control, how they escaped and how they have been doing since then.

Taukeiaho could not speak without strong emotion taking over him about the heavy losses from the Lahaina fire. Five members of the Church died, including four members of the same family — not only Taukeiaho’s neighbors but also his friends. Their names have not yet been officially released by Maui County.

Two Lahaina residents attend a gathering on the beach after the Maui fires.

80 members of the Lahaina 1st Ward lost their homes, including Taukeiaho. He was able to go back and briefly see where his house once stood.

The hardest thing, he said, was not losing the material things, but the memories of his family in their home.

Many things in his home strengthened his faith — the spot where they knelt in prayer, the room where he gave father’s blessings to his children before each school year, the picture of the temple, the picture of the Prophet, a statue of Jesus Christ, the table where they did “Come, Follow Me.”

“That is not there,” he said with tears in his eyes.

While at the beach together, Taukeiaho and the other stake members drew strength from a visit from Elder Mark A. Bragg, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s North America West Area, who came to Maui to give comfort to the Saints and see the devastation first hand.

“Blessing those in need, mourning with those that mourn — those are the things we ought to do,” Elder Bragg told the group. “The answer to all the questions that perplex us can be found in the loving plan of a loving Heavenly Father. Even with devastation, there is life, there is love.”

Love from the Prophet

Elder Bragg; Elder Voi R. Taeoalii, an Area Seventy in Hawaii; and Kahului Hawaii West Stake President Benjamin J. Hanks made several ministering visits with the Church members on Friday — going first to where the Taukeiaho family is temporarily staying in Wailea, about 28 miles south along the coast from Lahaina.

Elder Mark A. Bragg visits with Maui fire victims whose home burned in Lahaina.

Then Elder Bragg met with displaced members of the Lahaina 2nd Ward in a hotel conference room. This ward is a Tongan-speaking congregation, and the Saints were singing hymns in Tongan when the Church leaders arrived.

Elder Bragg told each group he met that he brought the love of President Russell M. Nelson with him. He expressed to the Latter-day Saints that the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were praying for them constantly.

“Our hearts go out to you and the members around the world are praying for you,” he said.

Lillian Catugal was inspired by Elder Bragg’s message. She and her husband left their home with the clothes on their backs and spent a harrowing 18 hours without cell service not knowing where their daughter was until they finally reached each other. Their home burned down.

“As we run into people in the community, everyone has a different story to tell — incredible stories of survival and heartbreaking stories of loss,” she observed.

Unaloto Taukeiaho sings with his family during a meeting after the Lahaina fires on the island of Maui.

Catugal knew the people who died. “It’s the hardest thing to get through right now and knowing what their families are going through.”

The meeting at the hotel touched Elder Bragg in a way he was not expecting. “Their resilience, their spirituality, their faith, their hope — every single one of them displaced, and yet, there was also joy in that meeting.”

As he met with the members, Elder Bragg asked them about their families and told them they were not forgotten.

“This could not make sense if you only look at it in this aspect, in this day,” he said. “We have to focus on Christ and on His infinite Atonement, and then everything ties to the plan of happiness. Even something with this much devastation will help us in some way.”

Elder Bragg also went to see the two Lahaina meetinghouses, which experienced fire damage around their perimeters but did not burn.

Church leaders look around the grounds of a chapel in Lahaina that was not burned in the fires.

‘The help is there’

In the days following the fires, members of the Church on the island organized many relief efforts, driving many miles to help anyone in need.

Two stake centers on Maui took in hundreds of people. Members of the Kahului Hawaii Stake turned their gymnasium into a shelter in a matter of hours. Partitions were quickly put in place to allow individuals and families privacy. Mattresses, linens, towels, clothing, food, water, personal hygiene supplies and other resources were gathered and organized.

A man walks in the shelter constructed in the Kahului Hawaii Stake Center for people displaced by the Maui fire.

Tehani Kama, the stake Young Women president, spent many hours over the past week volunteering at the shelter.

“We know when we put the call out, the help is there. Everyone is so willing to help, wanting to serve — just because they know there is suffering,” she said.

The building became a donation drop-off location and a central place for people to connect with other community and governmental resources. As the government response shifted at the end of the week to finding evacuees temporary housing, Kama said the stake would shift as well to meet needs in other ways.

Gesturing to the beds and tables around her, she said, “All of this may be gone, but I think we still need to be able to provide help as they start to rebuild their lives.”

Then Kama paused to fight her tears. “I think — I hope — the Savior is happy with our efforts.”

‘What faith and love is all about’

On Friday, Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and State Senator Lynn DeCoite toured the shelter with Elder Bragg, Elder Taeoalii and President Hanks. They also spoke together about the response and relief of joint efforts.

Luke was impressed by the organization and volunteer work and expressed her gratitude for the Church.

“They jumped to action,” she said. “This is probably the best shelter I have seen. It provides individuality, it provides privacy. The fact that they were able to put this together in just a half day is amazing. This is what faith and love is all about.”

Church leaders and Hawaii government officials visit a shelter in Kahului, Hawaii, after the Maui fires.

DeCoite said she thought the state of Hawaii could learn from what the stake did.

“I have never seen a set up [like the one] behind me in any of our shelters,” she said. “This is something I feel we need to take in and prepare ourselves if there’s something like this that happens again.”

Luke had been getting updates on the search in Lahaina, where search teams were still going house by house through the burned neighborhoods and expected to find more bodies.

“We ask for your prayers, we ask for support. Pray for us, think about us,” she said. “This community is going to need a lot of spiritual healing, and the [Church of Jesus Christ] will be right there to provide that but we ask people all over the world to keep Maui in their prayers.”

‘You will be strengthened’

The day ended with a devotional for the youth of the two Maui stakes — where Elder Bragg answered their questions and expressed the love that the Prophet and their Heavenly Father have for them.

Many of the youth just started seminary for the new school year and others recently attended a For the Strength of Youth conference — which gave them testimony-affirming experiences before the fires. Now, said Elder Bragg, they need to remember what they have learned and that the Lord is intimately involved in their lives.

Youth attend a devotional after the Lahaina fires on the island of Maui.

Elder Taeoalii spoke to the youth about their baptismal covenant and listening to the Holy Ghost.

“If you feel that prompting to go and help and say something or do something … the power and influence of the Holy Ghost will help you do what Heavenly Father wants you to do,” he said.

Elder Bragg promised the youth, “As you keep your covenants, you will be blessed, you will be strengthened and be given all that you need to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bless others.”

He urged them to look to others affected by the fires.

“You will share the gospel by your actions by helping others feel the love of God, by helping others feel that they have not been forgotten — that they are sons and daughters of God.”

Taukeiaho has been relying on his faith in the Savior as he asked himself, “How do I strengthen my family? How could I strengthen my neighbor? How could I help others to fully understand what I know?”

He continued, “I know that my Savior lives. I know that through all these trials will help us to be stronger than ever. I’m grateful that I grew up in a community like this, that it doesn’t matter who you are and what you do in life, you are all brothers and sisters in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then through His Atonement we can overcome all of this.”

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Lahaina Latter-day Saints gather to draw strength after Maui wildfires - Church News

Love from the Prophet

‘The help is there’

‘What faith and love is all about’

‘You will be strengthened’

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