Mormon comes to my door and didn't know what the Hawaiian language was 🤡

@hiililylani

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Why it worked

The video likely resonated due to its relatable premise of encountering well-meaning but culturally unaware individuals, combined with the creator's direct and humorous delivery. The specific cultural context of Hawaii and the mention of "colonizer behavior" likely tapped into existing conversations and sentiments, making it shareable.

Summary

The creator recounts an encounter with two Mormon missionaries who were unaware of the Hawaiian language, despite being in Hawaii. The creator found this lack of cultural awareness surprising and indicative of a broader pattern of "colonizer behavior."

Structure

1Mormon missionaries arrive at the creator's home.
2The creator notices they don't know the Hawaiian language.
3The creator explains the meaning of the Hawaiian sign on her door.
4The missionaries ask about her background and the language.
5The creator expresses her frustration with their lack of awareness and their persistent proselytizing.

On-screen text

Mormon comes to my door and didn't know what the Hawaiian language was 🤡 HOME JUST HANGING OUT, ON MY PHONE. MY HUSBAND LEFT US SOME BOBA SMOOTHIES DOWN THE ROAD. SO I HAVE THE DOOR CLOSED AND LOCKED AND LIKE 5, LESS THAN 10 MINUTES AFTER HE LEAVES, I HEAR A KNOCK ON THE DOOR. THOUGHT WAS, "OH, I KNOW HE GOES ON HIS SKATEBOARD TO GO SO MAYBE IT I CRACK OPEN THE DOOR AND IT'S NOT MY HUSBAND. IT'S A MORMON. TWO MORMON GUYS. THEY LOOK YOUNG. SO I'M NOT DRESSED APPROPRIATELY, DOOR CRACKED. THEM TO GIVE ME A MOMENT AND I CLOSE I THROW ON MY BATHROBE. JUST TELL THEM TO LEAVE ANYWAYS, BUT OF COURSE DO MY WHOLE LIKE, "HI, HOW ARE YOU?" WHO I GUESS JUST DOES MOST WHEN THEY GO AND HARASS PEOPLE, HE SEES MY SIGN ON THE DOOR AND IT SAYS "OKIMURA HALE WELINA MAI, WHICH MEANS "OKIMURA HOUSE, WELCOME". OKIMURA IS A JAPANESE SURNAME JAPANESE, BUT HALE MEANS HOUSE, WELCOME. HE POINTS TO THAT SIGN AND WHAT DOES IT AND I JUST, TELL WHAT IT SAYS. "OKIMURA HALE WELINA WHICH MEANS "OKIMURA HOUSE, WELCOME." THEN THIS DUDE ASKS ME, "OH, WHAT LANGUAGE IS THAT?" IT'S HAWAIIAN. WE'RE IN HAWAII. HALE IS A REALLY COMMON WORD HERE. PEOPLE KNOW WHAT HALE MEANS. PEOPLE KNOW WHAT WELINA MAI MEANS. SO ALREADY I'M OH, NOT FROM HERE. HE IS SENT HERE FROM UTAH, WHEREVER THE FUCK MORMONS COME FROM. UM, SO I'M LIKE, "OH, IT'S HAWAIIAN." AND EXPLAIN TO HIM WHAT IT MEANS. I LOOK OVER NEXT TO HIM. NOW, HE LOOKS LOCAL, LIKE MAYBE HE'S BUT HE DOESN'T YOU KNOW, LIKE. THEN THE GUYS "IS OKIMURA HAWAIIAN I'M LIKE, NO, IT'S JAPANESE, YOU KNOW, MY AND HE'S LIKE, THAT DOES SOUND LIKE JAPANESE NAME." THEN HE ASKED ME, "SO HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN HA-WHY FOR?" AND I SAID, "I WAS BORN AND RAISED HERE, LIVED HERE MY WHOLE LIFE. I'M NATIVE HAWAIIAN." AND AGAIN, TO THE GUY NEXT TO HIM. SO THEN THE TELL HE'S FEELING A LITTLE AWKWARD. RIGHT INTO IT, MISSIONARIES WITH THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. AND HE ASKED OF THEM BEFORE. I'VE HEARD ABOUT I USED TO AS A KID, I DON'T BELIEVE IN THAT ANYMORE. AND I JUST SAY YOU GUYS ARE HERE. I'M JUST GONNA CUT TO THE CHASE, WE'RE NOT INTERESTED." FIRST GUY AGAIN, HE LOOKS SHOCKED. SECOND GUY CHIMES IN AND HE'S LIKE, "OKAY, UH, ANYONE AROUND HERE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED?" HIM MY HONEST ANSWER, HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW. TO CHECK THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR. GUY THAT TALKS TO YOU FOLKS, LIKE, TIME THEY COME, AND THEY'RE LIKE, "THANK YOU. LEAVE." BUT I'M LIKE, OH MY GOD, FIRST TIME MORMONS OR JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, CHURCH PEOPLE COME TO OUR DOOR AND, "WE'RE NOT INTERESTED," GIVE US PAMPHLETS, "NO, THANK YOU." BUT THIS MIGHT TIME THAT I'VE COME ACROSS A MISSIONARY, WHATEVER, THAT'S CLEARLY NOT FROM HERE AND DID NOT RECOGNIZE "ŌLELO HAWAIʻI. NOW, I'VE MADE PAST BEFORE ABOUT HOW THIS KIND OF WORK IS, PART OF COLONIZATION. DAY COLONIZATION. UM, TYPICALLY HERE, THEY WOULD TRY TO GET LIKE LOCAL MORMONS OR LOCAL JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES PACIFIC ISLANDERS, YOU KNOW, OUR COMMUNITIES. THEY WANNA CONVERT BUT THAT WAS JUST CRAZY. AND AGAIN, I DON'T WANT TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE SECOND HE LOOKED LOCAL TO MY ME AND MAYBE HE EMBARRASSED FOR HIS PARTNER. AND, IF HE IS, THEN I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE REFLECT ON WHY YOU'RE. THIS. TIME DURING HALLOWEEN, THEY LOVE TO ESPECIALLY DURING THAT TIME. AND I DECORATE MY WHOLE BUNCH OF HALLOWEEN, WITCHY, SH*T THAT WOULD CLUTCH THEIR PEARLS. THAT DOESN'T STOP THEM. THEY'RE JUST RELENTLESS. SO I NEED SOMETHING MORE FOR THIS DOOR, YEAR ROUND. A SIGN THAT "F*CK OFF, WE'RE NOT INTERESTED. OUR DOOR." MY GOD. BUT YEAH, THAT WAS WILD. UH, COLONIZER BEHAVIOR. HOW ARE YOU GONNA BE HERE AND NOT KNOW THE LANGUAGE? LIKE, EVEN THE MISSIONARIES HERE, PRE-COLONIZATION, ALL THAT, TOOK THE TIME TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE BEFORE THEY TOLD WAYS ARE SATANIC, DEMONIC, AND THEN CONVERTED US. SO, LIKE, LAZY WORK.

Original caption

Close encounters of the Mormon kind 😆 #hawaii #hawaiian #nativehawaiian #mormon #lds

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Transcript

I'm at home just hanging out on my phone. My husband left us some boba smoothies down the road. So I have the door closed and locked and like 5, less than 10 minutes after he leaves, I hear a knock on the door. My first thought was, "Oh, I know he goes on his skateboard to go. So maybe it I crack open the door and it's not my husband. It's a Mormon. Two Mormon guys. They look young. So I'm not dressed appropriately, door cracked. Them to give me a moment and I close, I throw on my bathrobe. Just tell them to leave anyways, but of course, I have to do my whole like, "Hi, how are you?" Who I guess just does most when they go and harass people. He sees my sign on the door and it says "Okimura Hale Welina Mai," which means "Okimura house, welcome." Okimura is a Japanese surname. Japanese, but Hale means house, welcome. He points to that sign and what does it and I just, tell what it says. "Okimura Hale Welina which means "Okimura house, welcome." Then this dude asks me, "Oh, what language is that?" It's Hawaiian. We're in Hawaii. Hale is a really common word here. People know what Hale means. People know what Welina Mai means. So already I'm, oh, not from here. He is sent here from Utah, wherever the f*ck Mormons come from. Um, so I'm like, "Oh, it's Hawaiian." And explain to him what it means. I look over next to him. Now, he looks local, like maybe he's, but he doesn't, you know, like. Then the guys, "Is Okimura Hawaiian?" I'm like, "No, it's Japanese, you know, my" and he's like, "That does sound like Japanese name." Then he asked me, "So how long have you been in Ha-why for?" And I said, "I was born and raised here, lived here my whole life. I'm Native Hawaiian." And again, to the guy next to him. So then the tell he's feeling a little awkward. Right into it, missionaries with the Church of Jesus Christ. And he asked of them before. I've heard about. I used to as a kid, I don't believe in that anymore." And I just say, "You guys are here. I'm just gonna cut to the chase, we're not interested." First guy again, he looks shocked. Second guy chimes in and he's like, "Okay, uh, do you know anyone around here who might be interested?" Him my honest answer, honestly, I don't know. To check the building next door. Guy that talks to you folks, like, time they come, and they're like, "Thank you. Leave." But I'm like, Oh my god, first time Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses, church people come to our door and, "We're not interested," give us pamphlets, "No, thank you." But this might time that I've come across a missionary, whatever, that's clearly not from here and did not recognize "Ōlelo Hawaiʻi." Now, I've made past before about how this kind of work is, part of colonization. Day colonization. Um, but like, typically here, they would try to get like local Mormons or local Jehovah's Witnesses, Pacific Islanders, you know, our communities. They wanna convert. But that was just crazy. And again, I don't want to make assumptions for the second, he looked local to me and maybe he embarrassed for his partner. And, if he is, then I don't know, maybe reflect on why you're. This. Time during Halloween, they love to especially during that time. And I decorate my whole bunch of Halloween, witchy, sh*t that would clutch their pearls. That doesn't stop them. They're just relentless. So I need something more for this door, year round. A sign that "F*ck off, we're not interested. Our door." My god. But yeah, that was wild. Uh, colonizer behavior. How are you gonna be here and not know the language? Like, even the missionaries here, pre-colonization, all that, took the time to learn the language before they told ways are satanic, demonic, and then converted us. So, like, lazy work.