BYU–Hawaii News

For Sione Feinga, a native of Ha’alaufuli, Tonga, the half-decade he served as a labor missionary hardly seemed to be a sacrifice, even though he served a three-year mission in Tonga and was then called to serve another two-year mission to Hawaii. He remembers, “When the missionaries got called to Hawaii, we just jumped with joy…. We thought we were going to Heaven, coming to Hawaii.” (At top: Sione and Alice Feinga in McKay foyer) In 1960, 24-year-old Feinga and 30 of his peers were called to leave their native island of Tonga and come to Hawaii to build the present-day BYU–Hawaii. Before leaving Tonga, Feinga saw building plans and was prepared to work on the construction of Hales 3, 4, 5, and 6. What he couldn’t have anticipated, however, was the legacy that he would build in the years that followed. Read Full Story

BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright said he now better “understands the challenges and issues” faced by the people of Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji after visiting the three island nations during the month of June. President Wheelwright made the trip with Elder James J. Hamula, a member of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and first counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency. This was part of a joint effort between BYU–Hawaii and the Area Presidency to prepare more students to receive higher education. Read Full Story

A team of BYU–Hawaii students are currently in Saipan to collect, analyze, document, and photograph marine specimens native to this part of the world. Dr. Roger Goodwill, Biology Department Chair, and his student team arrived in Saipan on Sunday, July 4, 2010 and have recorded 131 species as of July 10, just within their first week in Saipan. They found an array of crabs, sea worms, sea urchins, shrimps and other unique specimens, some of which are the most deadly creatures in the ocean. Read Full Story

The group “Musical Truth” performed a beautiful medley of “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” at the devotional held on Tuesday, July 6, as the congregation prepared to hear from Bishop Jim Nilson, the Associate Vice President for Technology at BYUH. Nilson served in and retired from the United States Air Force, including service rendered as a computer science teacher at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado. This being one of his specialties, he was a perfect fit for the technology department at our University. Read Full Story

“God really knows how to make molehills out of mountains.” Read Full Story

Retired BYU–Hawaii faculty members Dr. Dale Robertson and his spouse Linda Robertson have recently joined the University Archive department as service missionaries. Read Full Story

"Just like no two people are identical, each of us will have a unique battle plan to resist those things that tempt us, but all battle plans contain similar key components. I would like to share with you some of the features and lessons of my battle plan in hope that we all may be a little stronger, a little more dedicated, and a little more capable to resist the evils of the world," said Brian Blum at a devotional held in the McKay Auditorium on June 22, 2010. Read Full Story

The Brigham Young University–Hawaii Concert Choir visited two countries, held five major performances, and participated in dozens of culture exchanges during a two-week tour in May 2010. (pictured top: The choir delights the audience with a Hawaiian musical number in Taichung, Taiwan) Read Full Story

The Brigham Young University–Hawaii Concert Choir visited two countries, held five major performances, and participated in dozens of cultural exchanges during a two-week tour in May 2010. Read Full Story

After nearly two years of renovation wraps in October, the Laie Hawaii Temple will be opened again. Before the formal temple opening will be the open house dates, which begin Friday, October 22, 2010, and will run through Saturday, November 13, 2010. Read the full article here in the LDS.org Newsroom. Read Full Story