JayLynn E. Loves

Every state there are a few Polynesian style restaurant that has some key elements to make it as authentic as it comes. This past week my niece's in laws and friends opened an Authentic Hawaiian food restaurant in Draper Utah. At first I was a bit unsure since I know so many Local Polynesian style food joints. But deep inside I'm a sucker to try any food place that at least come close to what I grew up in Hawaii. So today my husband Mika and my twin brother Henry went to Draper to check out this location. My sister in Law Jenny and her family also joined us as they wanted to have a simple birthday get together for their grand daughter, my grand niece Ava. Okay to start off with the location, i think its the best location to be. In Draper utah there are so many up and coming food joints and shopping that you can easily find it and enjoy hanging out.
The vibe of this restaurant has that open, calm and relaxing but fun environment to grab some food and chill. Seriously its very chill! As you walk in, you'll be welcomed in with friendly greetings from the staff and cashier. There are many seats both high and low to sit and enjoy your meal. I really love the tree style bark tables. It gave a nice outdoors, sitting by the beach style tables to sit. While you stand in line to order your food, you will enjoy the lovely food aroma that surrounds you like a big hug! There is a big chalk board wall paint menu to choose from. Theres a variety of fresh Ahi or Salmon Poké, other meat options like chicken or beef is on the menu. They have desserts, fun style lemonades and side dishes. My favorite side dish is their Kimchee cucumber. I grew up on it and I really wanted to try it out. Our time came to order, we got the Poké bowl with Olēna style poké, rice, potato salad and cucumber kimchee, a bowl of their popular Furikake chicken and their Poké nachos. We waited not too long for our food, so if you want it fresh it will be FRESH! Now it was time to give it a taste to see if it was good. Wow! Thats the first thing that came to my mind and it was so good. Like it brought me back home to Hawaii at one bite! the cucumber kimchee was spot on with the right texture to the korean spices and it was nicely chilled, which I love when its chilled. The rice had a nice smooth almost sweet taste to it which was nice. The Poké was phenomenal. Perfect balance of sweet and salty and fresh herbs. Chucky cuts of Poké filled my mouth and it was made to perfection. At that very moment, I was 10 years old again back home in Honolulu Hawaii, enjoying some FRESH Poké with my mom and siblings. Now thats when its really an authentic food style that takes you back to your childhood. Not many people can express that about tasting different familiar foods, but for me this place was the winner. Nothing was too dry or overly salty or too sweet or no flavor, it was PERFECT. Sorry if I'm not making sense of things but I can't help it but give this new authentic Hawaiian food restaurant a GOOD RATING! It's a 5 out of 5 in my book!

If youre not a fish eating person, they do have other great for options too. You have to try their Furikake chick it delicious. Overall the food was DELICIOUS AND FANTASTIC! The customer service was wonderful & friendly. The Location and venue was nice and welcoming.
Great food and great location! A MUST VISIT!!

Thank you Uncle Rob, Aunty Rose, Cuzin Chaze & staff for the best Hawaiian hospitality today!
We will be back for some more good grinds!

Tútú Poké Nachos and Olēna Poké Bowl with

Furikake Chicken with Rice, Mac salad and Kimchee Cucumber

Waffle sandwich with Lilikoi sauce

Sweet Lady Poké Bowl

Side Of Aloha

Address: 9263, 541 E 12300 S, Draper, UT 84020

Monday Closed

Tuesday 11AM–7PM

Wednesday 11AM–7PM

Thursday 11AM–7PM

Friday 11AM–7PM

Saturday 11AM–7PM

Sunday 12–3PM

Phone: (801) 251-0152

https://www.facebook.com/sideofaloha/

Hey Everyone! This week was crazy! As we talked to people, we were hit with a lot of questions that I didn't quite know how to answer! But I was able to study a lot on each of the questions. Thanks to technology, I was able to go deeper into my studies. I learned so much.

Blacks and the Priesthood

This is a question that came up more than once this week! a question that Ive never been asked on my mission. And honestly I had no idea how to answer it. We met a guy named Kelly who first asked the question, "Why couldn't blacks hold the Priesthood?" And as we attempted to answer I realized that I didn't even know what the answer was. haha I was honest and said that I didn't know the answer but that I would study it and get back to him.

As I studied about this question I learned that there really is no clear answer to this question. But there was revelation given about this matter found in The Official Declaration 2. The Book of Mormon teaches that "all are alike unto God" including "Black, white, bond and free, male and female" (2Neph26:33) Throughout history of the church, people from every race and ethnicity have been baptized members of the church. During Joseph Smiths time there were a few black male members of the church who were ordained to the Priesthood. But early church leaders stopped conferring the priesthood on black male members of African descent. the reason to this revelation, I have no idea. But Dallin H Oaks stated that We often ask questions like, "Why did the Lord command this? or Why did the Lord command that?" He goes on to say that Its not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We are not going to know everything here on earth. But when President Kimball was Prophet he prayed and meditated about this matter. Him and other church leaders knew that revelation was needed in order for change to occur. In 1978 revelation was given that all men could receive the Priesthood.

Polygamy

Kelly also brought up his concern about polygamy which is something that I am still studying. But as I was reading in the Book Of Mormon, I found something that stood out to me. In Mosiah 21:17 it says, "Now there was a great number of women, more than there was men: therefore King Limhi commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger, and this they did because of the greatness of the number of men that had been slain." This Scripture helped me better understand one of the reasons why God commanded the people to practice polygamy. Because of the great number of men that died from war, There were many widows. And at that time in history, women didn't have equal rights.Therefore Men were commanded to impart to the support of the women. I am still trying to find more answers to this concern.

Exchanges!

I went on exchanges with my Sister Training Leader, Hermana Ortiz! It was the best day. We saw so many miracles! I am so proud of myself because I was able to talk to so many people! And guess what? I wasn't scared!! We talked to a guy named Fernando who was outside BBQing. We went up to him and talked to him. He said he respects what we are doing but that we were wasting our time. We were able to talk about some of the concerns that he has about our beliefs and clarified some of the false truths. He asked us, "Why do you believe in a God that you can't see?" We taught him that its all about having faith. He also said that there are many innocent people being murdered everyday so where is God? We shared the story or Korihor the anti christ in the Book of Mormon in Alma 30 and shared verse 44 when Alma teaches him that everything on earth is a witness that there is a God. We bore our testimonies to Fernando and he said he still doesnt think there is a God. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon but he said no. We left him with our number and then we went on our way.

Jehovahs Witness

We were out walking to find people when we ran into the Jehovahs. It was interesting experience. they knew exactly who we were. They started to talk about their belief and gave us no chance to say anything. They gave us pamphlets about how to get to Gods kingdom. We decided to just listen to them. I learned a lot about what they believe in which was very interesting. People mistake us for being Jehovahs witnesses all the time haha.

Spirit Prompted miracle!

Sister Minton and I were going down our list of Potential Investigators when we heard singing coming from an apartment building. Sister Minton felt prompted to go to that door so we went and knocked. A women opened the door. It looked like they were having a party. After talking with her, we asked if she was religious. She said she was but she had found a new outlook on life. We asked what that was and she said Weed! haha She went on to say that weed gives her so much happiness. So I pulled out my Book Of Mormon and said, "We can promise you that this book right here can give you even more happiness than weed." She laughed but I told her we were serious. She said "Okay! Ill read it!" haha It was so cool. She took the Book and said she would try it out! It was a miracle!

Jimmy!!

Jimmy came to church yesterday! AND he went up and bore his testimony!! It was the best thing ever!! His testimony is so powerful! He said that He knows that this church is true. and that the Book of Mormon is true! He mentioned that he is not baptized yet but he feels like he is already a member! It was so good! that made my whole week! I am so excited for Jimmy! He is awesome!

When I feel the Holy Spirit

It's like a feeling of love and warmth from within. Everyone feels the spirit differently and that fine. The Lord want us to feel his love through the Holy spirit that we may understand and know what he wants us to feel at that specific moment in time.

Today in church, I was very eager to feel the spirit more. Lately I haven't felt the Holy Spirit because I knew my life wasn't in line with God's commandments and standards. So knowing my faults, I've humbled myself and begged for forgiveness. I've fasted and prayed hoping for an answer but there was nothing. Feeling emotionally sad, I turned to the scriptures. So many thoughts and emotions filled my mind as I read the things that the Lord was trying to teach his disciples what is require of them to do or live. Many times as I read the scripture passages, I noticed that I was putting myself in their position and thinking to myself that the Lord was directly talking to me through the scriptures. Than I started to feel something, not big but something gentle like. Tears began to run down my face as I felt as if the Lord is softly comforting me and letting me know everything will be okay. He was whispering the words to me, "Just come unto me with a humble broken heart". At that moment I knelt in fervant prayer and gave thanks to the all mighty God. Thanking him for giving me so may second chances. And from that moment on I was faithfully and constantly talking to him which lead me to church today.

As I sat in sacrament meeting, I said a silent prayer to God, hoping that I can feel his spirit even more today than before. Honestly I felt unworthy, slightly unsure if the Lord has forgiven me of my sins and transgressions. Again I prayed to the Lord to know if I was worthy to partake of the bread and water. The moment I closed my prayer and said amen in my mind, a strong yet gentle voice said to me, "Daughter, take the sacrament, your sins are forgiven!" I was like whoa did I just heard that correctly? Silly of me wanting to make sure I heard it right, I prayed again to the Lord. And it was a for sure yes. I was happy. I wanted to partake of the sacrament already! That moment would surly come. The sacrament prayer was given and the Priesthood brethren began to pass out it out to the congregation. Soon one of the brethren came to me and I partook of the bread. At that moment when I ate the bread that symbolize something so precious to me, I felt overwhelmed with emotions.

The feeling of the warmest hugs ever! I began to cry, feeling so much love from something I can't see. I knew it was the Holy Spirit. He was with me and hugging me to the point I felt breathless. That moment of knowing that the Lord heard my prayers felt wonderful. As if he was standing right by me comforting me and embracing me with is glorious love and compassion. I wish that I could describe it more but my words are limited. How can anyone describe a wonderful feeling from something powerful and unseen? You can't! Well I know some people can but I'm not one of them. heheheh

My moment was precious to me and I will forever cherish it. I pray and hope that many people will seek the love of the lord, the Holy Spirit and his true words of comfort and repentance. In hope that our lives would be filled with joy, happiness and peace. Again I share my love and gratitude to the all mighty, loving God who send his beloved son, Jesus Christ. To sacrifice his life for our sins. What great love he has shown unto me by fulfilling God's purpose for all. I've learned to love more, have more compassion and understanding for all. Because the Lord showed me constant compassion.

May we all gravitate in seeking the Lord's will and purpose, that we may know our purpose in this life. Praise be unto him who has given life and love to me and to all of us. Glory be his forever.

When I feel the Holy Spirit

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