This guy is amazing. I heard a comment the other day from someone that said if a person lost all capabilities or use of their body, what is there to live for. This PROVES that there is always something to live for. It proves that Heavenly Father has a plan for us, and that there are many ways we can LIVE our lives.

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast! I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear! I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up stored up, and paid up of the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till I know, and work till He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.
Henry b. Eyring

We had an awesome recently returned missionary talk today.  He quoted this at the end of his talk.  He seemed to have it memorized!  Way to go Elder Jensen!  It is obvious you were a great missionary!

Valenitnes Day

A friend of mine blogged about her Valentines Day activities.  I started thinking about why I hadn't done that?  After all, this does serve as my journal most of the time.

I usually do a nice Italian theme dinner with lasagne, pasta, garlic bread, or that sort of thing.  I make Raspberry Cheesecake, or cookies, or some other yummy treat.  I get sparkling cider, and set the table with a table cloth, candles, confetti hearts strew all over, etc.  you get the picture.  I also have these red plastic goblets that I bought years ago that I fill with various pink and red themed treats. 

This year I planned crock pot lasagna, home made pizza, cake balls, chocolate dipped strawberries, and again filled the goblets and bought everyone a dragon fruit vitamin water.  It was all planned out.  And then plans began to fall apart.  My oldest daughter made plans to go out with friends.  My youngest wanted to spend time with her friends.  So that leaves hubby and I for a nice romantic evening all by ourselves.  Okay, I couldn't complain about that, could I?

Valentines Day came and I thought I would try to let hubby sleep in a bit.  At 7:30 the sound of his phone going off filled the house.  He got off and I went to see who had woke him.  I asked if someone was calling to see why he wasn't at work yet. (he owns his own business so he doesn't have hours set in concrete most days, but usually does have many hours to put in a day).  He said, worse, I have to go to Idaho.  He hurried and packed and I ran to get his bag of Valentine Peanut M & M's to throw in his bag.  And off he went.

Usually I don't mind being alone.  I love it during the day time because it is easier to get stuff done.  BUT, at night it can get lonely, and even more so when the love of your life is in another state.  I should be used to it.  I knew what I was getting when I got married.  I knew there would be many days and nights with him working out of town.  I also knew he would be a good provider and had a great work ethic.  I knew he would take care of us.  I do think this is the very first Valentines Day in my life that I have been alone though.  I was sad, felt sorry for myself, but in the end, I have to be thankful because there are people who are alone a lot more days than I am. Oh yeah, I ate lasagna, pizza, strawberries, cake balls and watched tv.  And I remembered the love I have for my family.

Pinterest

Just when I thought I was on the right track, I discovered Pinterest.  Okay, I didn't seek it out--people kept inviting and enticing me.  It is my own personal bulletin board, but even more so, I look at it as my electronic assistant, scrapbook, journal, cookbook, and dream journal all wrapped up in one place!  So cool!

Catching up

It has been a LONG time since I blogged.  December 15th, Destinee came home from Guatemala.  Things have just been busy since then.  It is nice having her home, and she adjusted well.  She was rehired at her job at Cinemark, and today she met with her college counselor to go over her graduation requirements.  She has 3 semesters left.

Kade will come home on May 29th.  Now it is time for me to paint and fix up his bedroom.

Tyler graduates with his Masters in Physics in August.  He has been applying for some jobs, and who knows where his life will now take him.

Kiana will be a senior next year, and then head off to college.  I am not sure where she will end up, but she would like to live away from home.  It is my hope that she will at least stay here for one year.

I am thinking today that it is time to change my blog name.  It was fitting when I was the missionary mom of two, but now I am "a very blessed mom of 4".

Truly Blessed

A friend of mine from high school is currently in India with a group to train and teach life skills.  Every day she graces us with a piece of her adventures.  Now you would have to know her, but she is the sweetest person in the world, and her heart is so big.  She has dealt with her own life issues, losing her husband at an early age to cancer and raising her young children all by herself.  But she didn't feel sorry for herself, she gave back.  And gave back, and gave back. 

Today she wrote about teaching young children to wash their hands and brush their teeth, and looked up to see their mothers standing in pouring rain, pressed up against the doorway, straining to hear every word.  Every mother wants what is best for their child, and yet in so many places in the world, they are limited.

I have been thinking about what I have and what others don't have the past couple of days.  Destinee's companion had this picture of their shower on her blog, and I couldn't help but be proud of her for being willing to serve in Guatemala despite the trials, and the health issues she had before and during her mission.  She loves those people, and she loves the Lord enough.

I have also thought a lot lately about individual trials, and how my kids have handled them.  A year ago we were experiencing one of those trials.  My husband went in for hip surgery and we thought it would be like his first one.  It was not.  He didn't handle any of the medication well, and despite being totally incoherent and having an allergic reaction, they made us take him home.  He was throwing up, couldn't stand well, dizzy and pretty sick.  I wish I had known then to fight harder.  I told them to keep him and they said no.  I complied.

When we got him home, he got worse.  I spent every day and night wondering if I would lose my husband to stupid medications.  They were things he needed like blood thinners, antibiotics, etc.  He couldn't keep anything down, couldn't get out of bed, and was covered from head to toe in rashes.  I felt so alone--except for the wonderful home health care.  It is probably my own fault because I am not one to "need" anything and can "do" everything by myself  But I did learn a few things during that trial.  I learned that sometimes things happen and we need to rely totally upon the Lord, and sometimes His angels.  I learned that sometimes people just need to know that they are not alone.  And in my darkest hour, I was once again reminded that there is always light, even if it doesn't come when we expect it or in the way we want it to.

Our trials are nothing compared to those out in the world, and we are truly a blessed people, but it doesn't make it any easier.  The Atonement was for us, and our life lessons are for us, and we need to take those trials and turn them into something good like my friend has.  I am thankful for her example, and for her JOY in life.  Yes, I am truly blessed.

Third time’s the charm

I don't know how I got to this article tonight but it involves a mission to Guatemala and then a mission to the Anaheim Spanish Speaking mission.  I truly believe the Lord directed me to it.

Third time’s the charm

Thursday, 22 January 2009

graphic by Kathleen Majdali “Dear Elder Kaimikaua, you are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the…” was Trevor Kaimikaua’s third time reading a mission call. The former freshman at BYU-Hawaii who is from Makakilo got his first mission call in 2006, another in 2007, and now in 2008, he has received a third mission call. In 2006, Kaimikaua received his mission call to serve in the Guatemala City North Mission and was to report to the Guatemala MTC on Nov. 22. Excited by the call, his parents called friends and family to gather together to share in their sons’ special. “I was excited for him and his parents because he’s an only child and the only grandson on his father’s side,” said Leiha Enos, cousin of Elder Kaimikaua from Makakilo. Before heading to the Guatemala MTC, family, friends, and ward members gathered together at the Honolulu airport to see Elder Kaimikaua off on his mission. “I felt sad that he was leaving because he’s my only cousin on my mom’s side. I was sad that I wouldn’t see him for two years,” recalled Kalei Hoa Paceho. However, Sisylina Peterson, a close family-friend to the Kaimikauas’, recalled the moment when the phone rang with some surprising news about the new missionary. “My Aunty Chauna answered the phone. She stood there for a moment silent then hung up the phone. She turned to me and said that Trevor is flying in tomorrow morning,” said Peterson. After only one week on his mission, Elder Kaimikaua returned home. “I felt that I had to take care of some personal things before I could continue my mission,” said Elder Kaimikaua “My mission president asked if I wanted to do it in the MTC, but I felt like I should just return home and handle it.” Kevin Kaimikaua, his father, said, “I didn’t know what to think when I got a phone call from my son and his mission president saying he would be returning home. I love my son and support him in anything decision he makes.” In mid-2007, several months after returning home, Elder Kaimikaua re-submitted his mission papers. “I got my mission call about three weeks after I submitted it. I was called to the same mission, Guatemala City North Mission,” said Elder K. “This time I was to report to the MTC in Utah.” Elder Kaimikaua reported to the Provo MTC and stayed there for two months before heading to Guatemala. “The second time around, he was enjoying his mission and fell in love with the people. I could see in his letters that his testimony was growing each and every day,” said LeiAnn Kaimikaua, Elder Kaimikaua’s mother. Stevie Yates, one of Elder Kaimikaua’s friends, said, “On Mother’s Day he called my house because his whole family was there for a Mother’s Day dinner we put on. Everyone there got to talk to him.” But Yates added that on the Wednesday after Mother’s Day, Elder Kaimikaua’s father called saying Trevor would be coming home the next morning. “I was shocked by the news that he was coming home again,” said Howard Vinhasa, one of Kaimikaua’s cousin. “At least this time he was in the field for 11 months.” One of Elder K’s best friends, Jared Faumuina, explained what caused the missionary to return home a second time: “When on the mission, Elder Kaimikaua found a lump. He told his mission president about it and they went to the doctors to check things out. The results came back that it was a tumor, but the doctor didn’t know if it was cancerous or not.” So Elder Kaimikaua returned home in Summer 2008 due to medical reasons. “I was so mad that I had to go home,” he said. “I wish I could have done it up there, but my mission president wanted me to check things out at home with the support from family and friends.” “A couple of days later after seeing the doctor, I had surgery to remove the tumor. The doctor still had to find out if it was cancer,” he continued. “The doctor called me back in along with my parents. He told us it was cancer.” After finding out it was cancer, Kaimikaua’s family called their bishopric of their home ward. The second counselor, Sapena Faumuina, asked the ward family to do a 24-hour fast in Elder Kaimikaua’s behalf, four days before he was to start his chemotherapy. “I was touched when the room was full of not just ward members, but family members from all around the island and members from the stake. His friends were all there and all helped with the program in some way,” said Clarence Piena, his uncle. “The spirit was so strong after we closed the meeting.” Davin Kane, a distant family member said, “It was nice to see all those people there willing the give up three meals. That shows the love we all have for Trevor.” After an intense three months of chemotherapy, Elder Kaimikaua was expected to fully recover. “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to return on a mission, but my mission president always kept in touch through this whole ordeal,” said Elder Kaimikaua. After losing 20 pounds and his hair, his mother describes the changes she could see in her son: “I could see that he was gaining his appetite back and his hair was starting to grow back little by little.” She also added, “We weren’t sure what was in store in his future so he decided to apply to school [at BYU-Hawaii] just in case.” Elder Kaimikaua said, “I told myself when I was applying for school that whatever call came back to me first, I would do. So if I got accepted into school then I’ll go to school. But if I got my mission call first, and then I’d go back on a mission and finish my two years.” Kaimikaua added, “I got my mission call this past weekend and I leave in a week. I got called to serve in the Anaheim, California-Spanish speaking Mission. So I leave on Monday, Nov. 17. I’m going to serve for 13 months, the remainder of what’s left on my mission.”