![]() ![]() With the blessing of President Ezra Taft Benson, a site in the Hauula community was selected from several Church-owned properties. Groberg, a General Authority Seventy who was presiding over the area at the time. ![]() The Laie Hawaii Crops Farm was established in the mid-1990s under the direction of beloved Church leaders such as Laie Hawaii Stake President Sione Feinga and Elder John H. ![]() Read more: Food distribution brings physical, spiritual sustenance to pandemic-weary Fort Hall Reservation Fertile Hawaiian soil, holy ground The farm averages more than 800 volunteer hours each month.Ī pair of pit ovens located on the farm can also be reserved for family and friends to gather and cook traditional Hawaiian meals. The farm is also a popular destination for full-time missionaries and other volunteers who simply want to serve. … Every plot, all the way to the hillside, has been planted with different types of food. They are producing food for their families. “They are plowing and planting and they are seeing the fruits of their labors. “Every day I go to the farm and I see families and kids working together,” said Bishop Tonga. Farmers of all ages - including youngsters and the elderly - enjoy being outdoors (this is Hawaii, after all) and being with one another, all while observing the safety protocols of the day. Preparing a garden plot, caring for crops, harvesting fruit and, ultimately, eating and sharing the food are communal activities. It is a blessing for many in many ways.”įarming can also be fun. Similati Vanisi, who served as missionary on the farm, said people working on the Church property “are always willing to share with others and help each other. “Whatever produce our farmers don’t use, they share with others or give it to the bishops’ storehouse,” said Elder Eillingson. Much of the produce has been used to help feed homeless people in the community. Food that can’t be consumed by its growers is distributed to relatives, fellow ward members and neighbors. “The farm is a very important tool for bishops with regards to helping their members in need.”Īssigned by local bishops, each family farm plot also teaches gospel principles such as self-reliance and consecration. “The bishops in this area have been very busy in many wards because this situation has dragged on so long,” said Elder Mons Ellingson, a full-time missionary who manages the Church-owned farm with his wife, Sister Sarah Ellingson. Located about five miles south of Laie on the island of Oahu, the Laie Hawaii Crops Farm has been invaluable during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.ĭips in Hawaii’s tourism industry - coupled with temporary operational interruptions at the nearby Polynesian Cultural Center and Brigham Young University-Hawaii - have left many local members out of work. “This farm,” said Bishop Saimone Tonga of the Hauula 6th (Tongan) Ward, Laie Hawaii Stake, “is enabling us to produce food that can bless the lives of members and other folks that are in need.” Temporal and spiritual relief during a global crisis Owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than two decades, the 178-acre Laie Hawaii Crops Farm is yielding both temporal and spiritual relief at a time in the world usually associated with fear and worry. ![]() Together, they are raising taro, tapioca, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, guava and a variety of other traditional island crops. Joy accompanies their labors. The reaping only occurs after a season of sowing.īut the scores of Latter-day Saint families/farmers here don’t begrudge the work. While the Bible’s Eden once offered its abundance without effort, the crops here are harvested with sweat, muscle and cooperation. Well-ordered family garden plots, rows of banana plants and towering coconut trees border a stretch of blue Pacific coastline that appear endless.īut the view at ground level of the Laie Hawaii Crops Farm tells a different story. An aerial photo of the Church’s Laie Hawaii Crops Farm could double as a postcard of an idyllic tropical Eden. ![]()
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