Service Sweet Service

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Our primary class got together and performed their car wash service project. The child in charge picked out a couple of individual ward members whose homes we would go to to wash their cars on Saturday morning.

Basically we have six primary children in our Valiant 11 class. As primary teachers we feel that lessons of service and giving are extremely important in these young peoples' lives. It helps them to know what it means to serve, how they may go about serving, and cultivates a desire to serve others selflessly. This year rather then having the students vote on what service project they wanted to do for the month and then planning it out for them, we took our service projects to another level. Each child would pick a month, a Saturday within that month, choose a service project for our class to work on as a whole, and delegate refreshment and necessary equipment or material assignments for each individual class member.

Yesterday our class car wash service project was from 6:30 am to 7:30 am. We went as a class to the selected individuals' homes and washed and dried their car. It may seem that one hour is not much time to do a service project, and yes we were only able to reach the cars of two individuals, but it was the quality of the time that was spent. One individual was extremely grateful and touched that the children had thought of her. She provided water bottles, buttered Samoan bread, and pastries. I was touched by that. We came to serve her and she turned around and served us with much love and gratitude. I sort of felt that we should have done more because she gave us so much, but the important lesson learned here (hopefully the primary children got it :D) is that no matter how much we serve, we can always do more (also the late President Hinckley's message to us as well :D). And no matter how much we serve and try to give back, we are always blessed more so in return and are ever in debt to our Father in Heaven for His love, mercy, and kindness.

We moved on to another individual's vehicle who is still in the hospital, washed and wiped down his truck. After which we headed over to the home of the child in charge whose mother had prepared bacon and eggs, another child had provided fried pork sausage links, we brought a big bowl of rice, and another child provided two gallons of juice and styrofoam cups. We sat down at our host family's table and had a beautiful breakfast. It was a very successful service project and I enjoyed it immensely.

Our service project was coming to an end and my nephew and I went to drop off one of the children because he had a sport engagement he was participating in. While outside I had ran into one of our ward members whose family was in the process of moving to their new home a few villages away. This wonderful ward member and his family always opened their home to our service projects last year and they had a lot of heavy things to move using a U-Haul truck. I told him he could have us for a couple of hours before my nephew had to leave to usher for the temple open house.

I went in to our host family's house to have breakfast, told my sister what was going on next door and she went with our nephew and two of our primary kids who are also related to us and were a big help to our moving ward members. It was such a wonderful feeling to give back to a family who always gave to us; such a natural high I cannot describe! And what was even more wonderful was that we felt of their true and sincere gratitude and it was very very humbling.

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunities that come my way to serve. I know I miss so many of them with my pig headedness at times and my pride or maybe even because I create so much busy work for myself that I forget to take a moment and be aware of those in need around me, but when I am able to recognize someone else's need and be a tool for our Heavenly Father in assisting them on His behalf I cry inside with gratitude that I am able to do what I can do and impact someone else's life for good.

I am also eternally grateful to amazingly loving parents and grandparents who taught me this valuable lesson; that when I am in the service of my fellow beings, I am only in the service of my God. May I always be open to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, listen to those promptings, and be of service for my Heavenly Father on His behalf to all those in need around me.

Peaceful Joyful Day :D

Today we celebrated the life of Bishop Ernest P. Reid. What a wonderful, amazing, marvelous, loving, kind, and humble human being. I enjoyed his funeral services immensely. I loved listening to his immediate family, those who knew him best, tell us about the side of him few of us were blessed to witness.

I will always be thankful to Bishop Reid for making me feel that I am a person of value and worth. I know that I am of worth, but Bishop Reid made me believe in myself more and loved me unconditionally as a child of God. He was a great father figure in our ward. He always wanted the best for each of us and in his humble soft-spoken way he did his best for us and knit us closer as a ward family. He was truly Christ-like and loved each of us ward members as special and unique individuals.

He made me feel that no obstacle was too big to overcome with the help of the Lord and always encouraged me by example to strive for Christ-like perfection in all that I do. I miss him already. He was such a pillar of strength in our ward, a great light in our midst, and knowing that he has left this earthly existence has made this life a bit gloomy and dim. I know he would not want me or anyone else to feel this way. He would want us to rejoice in his happiness and move forward with joy.

I am thankful for the difference Bishop Reid has made in my life. I pray for the strength and determination to take what I have learned from him and use it to grow and be a better person; a more Christ-like person.

Traveling Addiction! :D

I love my job... the only problem is that it is not my true passion or dream. It is part of my dream and I really enjoy the empowerment I have to help and assist others, but at the end of the day it is not what I live for. So why am I still there and not pursuing my true dream? Because a great part of me LOVES to travel. Once you travel for free it is really hard to resign and walk away from a job that gives you wings around the world. I am still wondering how I can do it LOL and I am still there LOL I also work with a number of really really wonderful people who care about others and do their best to be of service to those in need. I know there are people like that in all walks of life, but that personality type seems very concentrated within the group of people I work with :D I am just taking things one day at a time. I am going on one more big trip and then I will focus on my true dream. That seems to be what I always say... but this time I really mean it! LOL Really!!! LOL I know I can always count on myself to crack myself up. But seriously, it is hard to put my feet down and just do the walk. I am currently working on doing just that.

Emosi Damuni Damuni II

I went to a funeral service today and it was very beautiful. I have known this man my whole life as I lived back and forth between American Samoa and Hawaii, but on the other hand I never really knew him. I have always had and do have love in my heart for the Damuni family because my grandparents and parents love them. Its the kind of love that is part me because I choose to love and the other part is like an inherited love because my family loves them. Although I have love in my heart for him I never really knew Brother Damuni and I was afraid of him because he was very fierce in appearance.

We are in the same ward, so this morning I went to help serve the morning refreshment. I really enjoyed doing that. I enjoyed sharing food which I feel also is a comfort to those who came to eat. When all the food for the morning had been served, I went into the chapel and waited for the service to start. I really really enjoyed everything about the service. It was about two hours long and I enjoyed it immensely. When I heard Brother Damuni had passed I actually looked forward to participating in his service because I wanted to learn more about who he was. It was very very nice and heartwarming to hear all that his family had to say in his honor and memory.

Although I was somewhat afraid of Brother Damuni when I was in my youth :D okay and into my adulthood :) I always have and still do admire him. I admired the pride and self-respect he had for who he was and where he came from. Even at a young age I felt his love for his people and his culture shine through all that he did. He was Fijian in every breath that he took and I have always looked up to him for that. I truly believe he was and still is a leader with great presence and strong leadership qualities and whats more is that I see those same qualities he has in his children and grandchildren. What an awesome legacy to leave behind.

I am really truly grateful to have witnessed his farewell from this earth. I admire the man even more and I look forward to his progeny perpetuating his legacy into the future and beyond. :)

I'm Exhausted! :D

Woke up early and baked some cookies I had promised a coworker who helped me out yesterday. I was kinda sad cause the cookies didn't come out how they usually do and I think its cause I didn't scrape off the excess baking power. The oatmeal cranberry cookies actually came out like scones and I like scones LOL but I was aiming for chewy cookie. I don't think I will bake tomorrow morning, but I am craving chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven with milk. Total breakfast of Champions! LOL I may still if I am dying for the flavor of deliciously warm milk chocolate baked to perfection in a rich cookie dough... oh yum! LOL I am so bad when it comes to baked goods. I love it hot and fresh.

Anyways, pulled a 12 hour day that feels more like 24! :) Ahhh gone are the good ole days when I could stay awake for a week and not bat an eyelash! LOL Now if I don't get at least five hours of sleep I am literally a zombie! A Zombie that is comatose! :D After work I had that nice hour long drive back home... :D It was a nice drive, it always is even in the dark. Got home and now I am vegetating in front of the computer before I go to bed.

Oh I have been really good about eating salad all week long. Yes the never ending battle of lifestyle change! I am really proud that I have gotten up early and prepped my salad for work all week, but I think all this salad is giving me gas. I could do without the gas but vegetables are what they are... gas inducers! :D Yeah I am really tired now! I better go get ready and hit the sack.

A New Background and a Fresh start to blogging again :D

I'm not really a fan of the color green but for some reason I like the way it makes my favorite color blue look :) Blue looks great on green, as well as orange, and brown is not too bad; so because we painted the bathroom blue I painted my room a very nice pea green. The colors of my favorite pictures pop right off the wall LOL ;) So as I was looking for a new background color... I found this wonderful little bit of blue sky with white dreams whispering on a lazy summer breeze over graceful green grass dancing. ;)

I am excited to start blogging again FOR REAL KINE now. Thats what life is all about, little pit stops, but we get up and keep going because its all about the journey leading to our final destination and hopefully for me that is up in the sky deep in the vast beauty of the universe with loved ones surrounding me and angels singing praises to Lord. Yes I just woke up and am feeling very happy refreshed. :)

I just wanted to get on and just do it! Just blog a little and put it out there. Here is a video I did of a wonderfully talented young woman named Chantilly. She wrote and composed these songs. When I sat there recording her I felt of her immense talent. Not just the talent you see on the video, but also the latent talent waiting to burst forth. This was the first time I met her and she was very pleasant, accommodating, and oozing with confidence. I look forward to seeing her talent and spirit grow throughout the years. I hope you enjoy her awesome music.

Chantilly

Patience

(photo by Leanne Hamilton)

I really wish that patience was a virtue I possess :) but it is not. I am such an impatient person and I really don't like that about myself. I don't know why I cannot just let some things slide. Just let it slide! But I am not wired that way and when something gets on my nerves I express myself loudly! I truly believe that I need to let things slide more than I do. I know I am not "super impatient," but I am "plenty impatient" and being impatient is a weakness in myself that I must turn into a strength. I know it is possible because being patient is a choice. It is just such a tough choice, but one very worth making. I guess that's why it is considered a virtue, because sometimes or maybe even "often" :) it definitely takes super human effort not to explode when things do not go as I envision they should. I am recommitting myself to being more patient in life period! I think this goal is one that takes a lot of time, thought, effort, and strength to develop as second nature and one that needs constant renewal. Here's to patience, from now to infinity and beyond!!!!

Summer Solstice! :)

I've wanted to blog again for the longest, but its hard when your computer has crashed and there are other more pressing matters to attend to. I finally couldn't take it any more and thought, "Today is the day! :) June 21st, Summer Solstice." I don't know why, but I am always fascinated by events such as the Summer Solstice. It just sounds and feels so mysterious and at the same time so Shakespearian LOL. I really enjoy reading fantasy novels and summer solstice is magical in the world of fantasy.

The word solstice is derived from the Latin language (yes I looked it up LOL) and is a combination of two words sol + stice meaning sun and to stand still. Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere of the earth marks the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The longest day and shortest night in the Southern Hemisphere falls on December 21 and is called the Winter Solstice. Early celebrations of these events often involved dancing and fires the night before to help increase the energy of the sun as it rose the next day and climbed to the top of the sky. I don't know why but the thought of all those mysterious and magical fires makes me want to go outside and build a camp fire, roast some marshmallows for smores, and insist that anyone with me please not tell any ghost stories! ;)



Summer Solstice also reminds me of Stonehenge. The druids of the past marked the Summer Solstice as the "Wedding of Heaven and Earth." I saw some videos online. Thousands of people flock the night before to Stonehenge to greet the sunrise. This year there were approximately 20,000 people there. I thought it was pretty cool and thought "Yeah! I'd love to do that!" Then I saw a video and it just reminded me of images I've seen of Woodstock in the sixties, crowded and filthy. There was trash everywhere, people being very loud, and bodies of those trying to get some sleep strewn about. It was cool that they were all there at Stonehenge and why they were there, but I didn't see any bathrooms in sight and the thought of needing to use one with no bush coverage for miles is not very appealing.

So yea for the Summer Solstice (as I enjoy it from the comforts of my home in Hawaii) and what I hope is the beginning of many more blog entries to come! :)