On December 3, 2021, only two states in the US had blizzard warnings—Alaska and Hawaii.
The freak storm resulted in strong winds with gusts of up to 90 miles an hour on the big island, and a foot of snow fell on the 14,000-foot volcano Mauna Kea, making it technically possible to ski and surf in the same hour.
In an address given at BYU, General Primary President Camille N. Johnson asked listeners to put themselves in the shoes of those boat owners docked just off the island of Maui on December 3. To protect their little vessels, fishermen anchored or docked their boats to keep them secured during the storm, but they also removed something called “windage.”
Windage is “anything that the wind can grab,” and experts say that removing windage is critical to protecting a boat in a storm.
To protect these small boats, flags were removed, sails secured, hatches secured, dinghies deflated and stowed, and cushions and lights were stowed. Anything that could be tied or latched down was taken care of.
“[The importance of removing windage] is paramount because it reduces the load on whatever is keeping you safe,“ Sister Johnson shared.
She compares those boats’ connection points of safety to our relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ and poses an introspective question: “Do you have windage you need to remove? Do you need to reduce resistance so that you can weather the storms that are inevitably coming or bearing down on you now?”
A summary of Sister Johnson’s remarks can be read here, and you can watch all of Sister Johnson’s devotional in the player below.
