January 2024 - Jaxon's 21st Birthday

Jan 2nd was Mum's birthday, she would've been 83. Scott invited us to go to Sizzlers with them. Our babies sat with their cuzzies and Tyrell and Alisa sat with us at the Adults table. My steak was meh, and I had the salad bar. Jason got the usual, Malibu chicken. I wore my unusual cardi I got from St.George, Hope Chest. We had a nice time eating and talking, visiting with each other.

January 5th girls went to their 'Believe' dance, put on by the Fergusons and friends. They came home saying it was a lot of fun and they got lots of compliments on their dancing. 

Jan 8th-12 was Spirit week at my school. Monday I wore my NZ snuggie I got from Lian for Christmas because it was Pyjama day. I had to turn down my room temperature cause I was sooo hot lol. The next day was Crazy Hair day, and I wore Mum's last of her wigs. Mr.Names the PE teacher was like is that a wig, cause I was like 'Oh no what has she done with her hair' lol. Neon Day was Wednesday and I wore Leila's Stitch socks for Crazy Sock day on Thursday and Spirit day on Friday.

Saturday January 20th Jared and family returned home safely in time for Talia's return on Wednesday 24th at about 10am. I wasn't going to go but I had hardly any work to do so I went to the airport. The men did the Haka - Jared, Fisi, Shaun, Jody, Jonah, Tyrell, Jaxon, Kage. 

Saturday January 27th, Leila had a 'Polynesian Cultural Arts - High School Senior Night'. I had made Nive Schwenke a red, black and white ribbon Lei and put $25 on it, and I added to money to one of Jaxon's Leis he got from his graduation, a yellow and blue one, cause I was running out of time.   Leila represented Ngati Hiona and Tausala. Their were amazing girls that had their Associates degree, had started a business already Wow awesome!. Erana pointed out that I had forgot to add 'PEARL' to Leila's first name, arrrrgghhh! I worried about it for a couple of days lol. Anyway Leila received her award rom her Aunty Fina after her Bio was read. Her award was for her cultural leadership in the Polynesian Arts of dance. And then she was asked to perform. I of course wasn't prepared and was running around like a headless chicken (Erana's words) But Leila did her Poi dance 'Kapohia' with her light up poi's. It was the bomb, I was a proud Mama! She nailed it and was quite refreshing to watch, cause nearly everyone's performance's seemed the same. Sheris and Hayden was there they were selling Hangi and stuff. Aunty Fina and Uncle Oliver were there, we sat in front with them, Nive had saved us seats. La'i and her bf Saul was there, she gave Leila flowers.  Mina and Tane came with us, it was a very long night and they regretted not driving themselves. But when it was done we shouted them to McDonalds where we bumped into Drayden and his friends lol.

LEILA PEARL WAITOHIRANGI WIHONGI, 18,

Kia Ora! - Leila was born and raised here in Utah, she is 18 years old. Her parents Jason and Candice Wihongi are Maori from New Zealand, she has 4 siblings.  She has a 3.9 GPA and has been attending Taylorsville High School for 3 years and will be graduating at the end of this school year. She is taking four CE classes with SLCC and has already completed six CE classes. After graduation she plans on serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her goal is to attend BYU Hawaii for her degree while working at the Polynesian Cultural Center. She is a well rounded person who excels in anything she puts her mind to. She plays the piano, is a part of the Stake Youth Council of the Bennion East Stake, and is on the Seminary Council at Taylorsville High School. Her passion is dance! She loves to choreograph, perform and share her talent with others. She has been a member of ‘Hiona’, a Maori performance group all her life. At 7 years old Leila joined ‘Tausala’, a group founded by Fina Schwenke, which performs dances from the islands of Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, Tonga, and New Zealand.

 

Sunday 28th - Jaxon turned 21 years old. We had his favorite dinner Chicken Enchilada's. 

Leila's Sacrament Talk - Prayer

Sunday Jan 28th, Leila gave her talk in sacrament:

[Heavenly Father, are you really there?

And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer?

Some say that heaven is far away,

But I feel it close around me as I pray.

Kia Ora Brothers and Sisters, for those who don’t know me, my name is Leila Wihongi. I’m 18 years old and a Senior at TVHS. My parents are Jason and Candi Wihongi. It's my brother Jaxon's birthday today, so if you see him, wish him a Happy Birthday!

I’ve been asked to speak on ‘Prayer’ from the general conference talk given by our Prophet Russell M. Nelson in April 2003, called ‘Sweet Power of Prayer.’ He made some points; I will use them and add them in my own words. The first one is:

WHY WE PRAY:

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are taught to pray at a young age. You can’t get out of it. You have to give prayers starting in Nursery, like blessing the snack, and then in Primary and Young Women’s, you have to provide opening and closing prayers. At Primary age I didn't really think about why we pray, I just did it. But now that I'm older I know exactly why.  It’s because Heavenly Father loves me and wants to know how my day was or how I'm doing. Just like my Dad, I love talking to my Dad about controversial stuff cause that’s what he seems to like talking about all the time. It makes me happy to spend time with him. And that’s what it must be like with Heavenly Father, too. 

Pres. Nelson said - “Through prayer, we can show our love for God. And He has made it so easy. We may pray to Him any time.”

WHEN TO PRAY:

In D&C 90:24, the Lord said, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.”

In our family, we pray together after we read our scriptures in the afternoon. We bless our food in English or Maori. I say my prayers morning and night by the side of my bed. But what I love the most is to know that I can pray to my Heavenly Father whenever I want to, at any time of my day, in my head- I know he is listening. 

Sometimes, I don’t realize that I am silently praying in the back of my mind every day until the Lord answers my prayers the moment I need it most. I remember wanting to quit my job because I was tired of it, and I already had a lot on my plate with school, callings, and extracurricular activities. I guess I prayed to Heavenly Father that I wouldn’t feel this way and to think of the benefits of working. On a day I felt the worst at work, my boss expressed their gratitude for what I was doing and told me that I was greatly appreciated and did a great job at what I did. I immediately felt it was my Heavenly Father speaking to me, telling me that I was doing great and that I was needed.

INQUIRE OF THE LORD:

In 1 Nephi 15:7-9 it says, “7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles. 8.And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? 9. And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.”

Nephi understood the teachings of the Lord because he turned to Heavenly Father and prayed that he might understand, knowing that he would receive an answer. It’s easy to be like Laman and Lemuel and think that the Lord won’t answer our prayers for reasons like, “It’s a silly thing to ask” or “I’m not worthy enough to receive an answer.” But I know from experience that Heavenly Father cares about me and understands exactly what I'm going through. I know I can turn to Him for anything, good or bad.

ANSWERS TO PRAYERS:                                                                                                                 Since it’s my brother Jaxon’s birthday today, I want to share how his birth was a miracle. During the pregnancy, my parents prayed every day that he would be healthy and that there would be no complications during delivery. From Jaxon’s baby scrapbook, my mum wrote, “Jaxon came a month early… Complications were [that] Jaxon’s heart rate would go down every time I had a contraction. He was born [at] 11:37 am, the doctor told us the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. But most shockingly to the Doctor, was when he took my placenta out, he had never seen something like this before in his years of delivering babies that the umbilical cord was in the wrong place on the placenta   surrounded by veins. And when my water broke the tear in the placenta avoided all those veins  - if not, he would have bled to death.” The Doctor was so fascinated by it that he asked my Mum if he could keep her placenta for research. Heavenly Father was able to answer my parent’s prayers and keep Jaxon healthy and safe when he was born.

Nelson - “We should pray in accord with the will of our Heavenly Father. He wants to test us, to strengthen us, and to help us achieve our full potential. When the Prophet Joseph Smith was held in Liberty Jail, he pled for relief. His prayers were answered with an explanation: ‘All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.’”

Testimony - I know that Heavenly Father will answer your prayers and that through prayer, we can gain personal revelation. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.