February 2025 - Mum's 50th Birthday

 2/2/25

Hello Leila, Alisa and I are doing good. Still nothing exciting to tell you about. I played DnD last night with dad, erana, mina, tane, josh, uncle jody, and wesley. Alisa was at a wedding shower. We are currently watching the new transformers with the family, mina and tane aren’t here because they don’t have a car right now. Anyways, do you have to memorize D&C section 4? Some missions had too. We love you and hope you’re doing well. Tyrell and Alisa.

Talofa,

Dad and I had work all week. Monday, after work Maioha and Ali took me out to dinner at China town. We ate at a Japanese restaurant that had Bento boxes and we each got a double meat one and I also got fried udon noodles. It was ok but Hwa’s japanese and Korean restaurant is waaay better lol. So I told them we should eat there next time. We got some groceries and then some dessert at the bakery 85. Got some yummy mochi custard pies and mango cake and chocolate cake. There are more stores in China town, with fun claw machines, with cute teddys. I showed Ali and Maioha, the Angitu practices, Jaxon and I watched in NZ, they liked it. 

Tuesday January 28th, Jaxons 22nd Birthday! After work I went back to that bakery and got some more mochi custard pies, a mango pudding cake and the chocolate cake, coconut pudding cubes, some green grape ice-cream cubes for Jaxon’s birthday cake. We took Jaxon out to Sizzlers the one on Redwood rd closest to us. The wedlings couldn’t make it. So it was Dad, me, Erana and Jaxon. Jaxon got Steak and Snow Crab legs, I got Sizzler steak, Erana got Steak and Malibu Chicken, Dad got the Salad bar. We decided the quality of the food was not as good as I remember when we’d have dinner with Mum. So probably not going to Sizzlers anymore. We then came home and celebrated Jaxon’s bday, sang him Happy Birthday and had his desserts from Chinatown. 

Dad and I did Sealings after work on Friday. We decided to go every Friday since were not doing anything on Friday afternoons. Mina and Tane are having car problems and Mina has maybe some health issues too, she probably needs to see the Doctor. I think it’s cause she’s overweight and when your overweight you get more health issues. I’ll let baby tell you about Mutual and DND. Sorry my email is long, but these letters are our journaling too. Love you and praying for you - Mum xxx

Hi, Leila.  I can barely remember what happened in the previous days of this week.  I signed up for my classes for next year.  I’m taking honors English because I’m required to since I took it this year, secondary math, I was gonna take physics but I’m taking biology, drivers ed, weight training for girls, seminary, health, beginners drawing CE 1020 because my counselor told me to take it, and choir but I kind of want to take dance because I like to dance and I also want to take welding because it’s something new.  I hate the smell of Dorothy’s house.  I’m traumatized by the smell of old people and chemicals.  For YW’s we did an everybody’s birthday party and karaoke.  I forgot that I would be going into older yw’s and there would be new yw’s.  It’s kind of overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.  The new yw’s are kind of annoying.  I’m not gonna call names and I’m not trying to be mean, but some of the new yw are annoying because of their immaturity.  I know I must’ve been like that and I probably still am.  I realized I never really thought much of the future.  I knew I would grow up and move up in things, but I never really thought of never seeing Olivia and Abby in YW ever again.  I knew you wanted to go on a mission but I never really thought of you going on your mission and being gone.  I never really thought of being in the older yw’s.  I never really thought of what I’d do in high school.  I never really thought of what I’d do with my life.  Dad and them had their d&d session on saturday.  Alisa couldn’t be there so I filled in as her character and nearly got her killed, but I also did a cool things and Alisa got the McKinley sword.  I kind of cried this morning while getting ready for church because I thought I looked ugly.  I was in a bad mood for a while this morning, and I realized a while ago that whenever I’m angry at someone else, it’s only because I’m angry at myself.  My self-negativity seems to just project outwards to others through my expressions and tone of voice when I speak.  I got instagram, and I put an app timer on it.  I’ve only followed family members and some friends.  We’re watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the Transformers with animal robots that came out a while ago.  It’s kind of dumb.  Learned about Joseph Smith and D&C 3-10.

Hi Sis Wihongi!

Our car broke down so we are trying to look for a new one to buy. I had a girls night with louisa, serina & baby June, Julie, and Alisa. We got matching pajamas and just yapped a lot. We talked about our book of the month called Pachinko. It was a boring book and super long about a Korean family Living in Japan during the war. It felt nice to have all of January be free of any photoshoots. But I will start getting back into photography this month. One photoshoot I have is for all the young women in my ward for an activity at a studio. Tane and I went to the temple this week too for initiatories. How are you feeling about teaching? You getting more confident? Love you heaps and praying for you! Xoxo Mina & Tane

2/9/25

Hello Sister Wihongi

We celebrated Alisas sister Kayla's birthday this week. On her birthday, we went to the nickelcade and won a lot of tickets. Alisa loves to play the coin pusher games. We made a giant bowl of strawberry sago for her, and bought her a party game called hues and cues. It's pretty fun. Then we ate papa John's for dinner and had cake and ice cream. We finished the day by playing a long game of monopoly. The next day was the superbowl. We watched it at uncle Scott's. Alisa and I just took cookies. The eagles beat the chiefs! We were happy about that. The halftime show was the most boring one yet by Kendrick Lamar. Anyways that's all the exciting stuff, hope you are doing well! We love you.

Alisa and Tyrell 

Hi Sis Wihongi, 

This Sunday I had a lot of meetings at church and had to give a short training. I Was sick last week with a cold and I'm still congested. We bought a new car as you know. It's been good so far. Had the superbowl at uncle scotts and I made a Korean miso soup called doenjang jjiggae. I also made a strawberry Sago for Tanes family afterwards because they had a potluck too. It was gone in minutes lol. Hope you are doing well! Love you heaps

Mina and Tane xoxo

Hello Leila, I can barely remember what happened last week.  By the way, I'm writing this on Monday, the day after.  Some drama happened in POP last week.  Ari and Seina, or however you spell her name, got into a fight with Mrs. McLelland.  Ari and Seina randomly dropped out of POP, so McLelland needed a new class president as Ari was president.  McLelland grazed the surface of what happened, as it was unexpected for her, but someone must've texted Seina and poisoned McLelland's words because Seina came into class and started cussing out Mrs. McLelland.  Seina left and McLelland called administration, and after McLelland started yelling at the class and lecturing us, she calmed down at some point and apologized for getting angry at us.  McLelland left the class after someone came to watch the class, and everyone started to snicker and mock/make fun of Mrs. McLelland.  I felt physically sick and disgusted by the people I was surrounded by, whom I thought were averagely nice people.  I know I should have compassion and charity for them, but I can't help but see them differently now, and I feel uncomfortable around them.  

Anyways, the super bowl was yesterday, Kendrick Lamar sang half time.  His performance was okay, not the best.  Rihanna's performance from last year was much better.  SZA featured in one of Lamar's songs.  It was Chiefs v. Eagles, and the Eagles won, surprisingly as I thought the Chiefs were gonna win because of a prophecy dad told me.  We - mum, dad, and I - went out shopping and got ribs, KFC, and ice cream from Macy's on Saturday.  We heart attacked homes with hearts and cookies for yw on Wednesday.  That's pretty much all I remember from last week.  - Love, Erana

Hi Leila,

This past week was the usual 4 days working 10 hours each. Not much going on. The weather had warmed up to the low 60’s at one point but now has dropped back to the 30’s. No big snow storms this year so far. Just light dusting of snow now and then and mostly rain. The grey dodge is getting fixed so it can pass emissions testing. Mum, Erana and I went out on Saturday to Home Depot to look at new ovens but I fixed the problem on the old one right before we left so we don’t have to get a new one yet. While we were out we went to KFC and to Maceys and got an ice cream and also a rack of bbq baby back ribs. We had Stake Conference Sunday and we ate dinner at Uncle Scott’s to watch the Super Bowl. The Eagles thrashed the Chiefs. We ate boil up and chili, miso soup that Mina made, shrimp cocktail, chicken tenders, honey dew and desserts. I got full. Keep studying hard with the language and practising with your companion.

Love you so much, Dad and Mum

2/16/25

Talofa Sis Wihongi

It was Valentine's Day this week and Tane got me a bouquet of white roses and Dots pretzels ♡ then after work, we went to drop off 2 roses and chocolates for Josie and Tessa, we got chocolate for josh and louisa too. We just thought it'd be fun to surprise them since they live so close to us. Then Tane took me out to Seven Brothers which is across the street from us. It is a Hawaiian burger place that is yummy. Then we went home and watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3, because we are watching them all at the moment. I love my husband so much, I am really lucky to have someone who loves and cares for me like he does. He works hard, takes care of our finances and always let's me know our budget/Bills/tithing, he does the laundry every time (i think I've only done the laundry once or twice our whole marriage), washes the dishes after I cook our meal, tells me I'm beautiful when I don't feel like it (which is basically everyday), supports me in my photography and hobbies and encourages me to do them, reminds us to pray each night when sometimes I just want to go to sleep😅🤣, he vacuums and keeps things tidy, helps me stay accountable to my physical goals, makes me laugh and forces me to hug him whenever I get grumpy, and I can go on and on. I've never heard him raise his voice before or ever get angry. I hope you are able to find someone who loves you this much after the mission. I'm so proud to call Tane-Toa my husband♡ On saturday, my ward had a young women's activity to have a photoshoot and I Took all the girl's photos at a studio. They had activities up to this photoshoot like learning to do/take care of their hair, self-worth and true identity activity, face masks, etc. And then This photoshoot is to help them see how beautiful they all are. There was around 25 girls which is a lot! It went on for 2 hours and I had a lot of fun. All the girls are so cute! Now I have to edit them. I learned in a Samoan ward conference that the Samoan word For “covenant” is feagaiga. And it has the word “aiga” in it which means family. So the Samoan word for covenant can remind us WHY we keep our covenants, and that is to be with our families forever. I thought that was pretty cool, the Samoan language is beautiful. Can't wait to hear from you!

Alofa atu, 

Mina & Tane

Kia Ora!

We had a 4 day school week and a nice long weekend. Friday went to Walmart with Dad and Erana, took a long time there getting some clearance stuff. Got Papa Murphy's Pizzas for Sunday Dinner since Dad and I won’t be there for dinner. Plus I don’t know if you knew but our oven had been broken since Thanksgiving Day and Dad just barely fixed it this past week. Dad and I also checked out Jordan Landing Walmart, but they had nothing. Looked at Ross, got me some cream & brown colored Reebok bball boots and Dad got a jacket and pants. Saturday Erana and I went to the mall and looked around. Erana got jean shorts at H&M and I got some baggy jeans there too. Then we went to ChinaTown and ate some Korean street food, fried squid, Korean potato corn dogs, and Bobba drinks at Sweet Honey Desserts. Sunday went to Church, it was Aiden Jackson’s Farewell and guess what???? He was allowed to play the piano before he gave his talk AAAANDD his sister Paige and two other girls (not of our ward) were allowed to sing or perform a musical number??? Baby and I were confused or I was a little annoyed at why I was told we weren’t allowed to do any of that for your farewell and were told we aren’t supposed to make Sacrament meeting about us? Dad says to not hold grudges. I said I’m not holding grudges. Being annoyed at the moment is not holding a grudge. After church Dad and I renewed our Temple recommend and Brother Leonard was asking me questions about you but of course I was clueless and he must think I’m a dingdong lol. Dad and I went to Anniversary Inn downtown on 5th South. We stayed in the ‘Treasure Island’ room. Dad booked it for something fun to do for my 50th Birthday, even though my Birthday is on Wednesday. Dad has planned a fun getaway for the whole family to Orlando in April during Spring break. Monday we came back home and went to Fashion Place Mall again with Erana. H&M didn’t take off her alarm thingy on her shorts and we also bought her a couple of jeans at a skateboarding store - she spoiled! Lol

This was our enjoyable long President’s day weekend. Love you - Mum xxx

2/18/2025

Hello Sister Wihongi,

This last week was Valentine's week, I taught a boxing class at 5:30am then right after I went to Smiths to buy Alisa some flowers, a card, and surprised her a couple days before Valentine's day. The next day we went to trader jos and the world market. On Valentine's day, I had a job interview and then right after I went to crave to buy Alisa her favorite cookie and surprised her. Then for dinner we ate out at a place called pho 777. And then we started the Hobbit. The day after we played monopoly with Alisas family and I won. On Sunday I had to give a talk. I talked about all the instances in the scriptures where the Lord counsels us to ‘pray always’ to escape temptation and receive the holy spirit. I shared an experience from my mission that explains how God is always one step ahead of Satan. Anyways, We hope you are doing well. Here’s a scripture that explains what it means to ‘pray always’ Alma 37:36-37. Love and miss you. Tyrell and Alisa.

2/23/25

Hello Leila, sorry I didn’t write to you last week but I can’t remember what happened last week besides I got new jeans and went to the mall and Chinatown.  I also can barely remember what happened this week.  I only had three days of school this week because I had Monday and Tuesday off.  School was good.  I’m yw secretary for the older girls so I have new responsibilities.  I went to the presidency training for it on Saturday.  I kind of slacked off a bit on Saturday because I vacuumed and all, but then I fell asleep on my bed and woke up two hours later.  Jaxon cleaned the toilet because I went to have dinner with mum, Tyrell, and Alisa at Honolulu Grill; I had to pay for myself.  I saw two very gay guys at Honolulu Grill and they kissed and it blew me away because I would’ve never guessed that they were a gay couple because they looked like wanna-be gangster guys.  After dinner on Saturday, Tyrell, Alisa, Mum, and I went to H-Mart and then Smith’s.  I’ve started working out, sshh.  This Little Light of Mine is a hymn!  I had a nightmare on the night before Saturday morning and it was gory.  I think I had powers in that dream where I could turn back time every time something went wrong and died.  These people were trying to invade this castle I was in, and they were trying to steal a baby that’s important for some reason. Sometimes that baby would get a spell cast on it somehow and it would turn into a ginormous stone dragon.  At some point near the end of my dream the bad people invaded our castle with an army, and they were trying to get inside but they couldn’t; it's a medieval setting in my dream.  And at some point I was in a room where some parts of the floor would disappear and you could just fall through, and I had a bow and arrow but I didn’t use it.  I noticed two guys had gotten inside of the castle and so I went to stop them because they were trying to take the baby; the baby was being taken to a boat in secret so that it may be safe.  With the two guys, one of the dudes randomly pulled a gun out -  even though it’s medieval times - and that guy shot his partner a few times in his chest.  His partner just looked down at his bullet wounds and was like, “what the heck, man”, and the guy who got shot pulled a gun out of his pants and shot the other guy in the head.  The guy who got shot in the heads eyeballs popped out and blood was just spewing from his eye sockets.  After that, something happened and everyone around me started to scream and their skin was melting off their bones like an ark of the covenant kind of scenario.  I freaked out and went to the basement area of the castle and there were random children in the rooms and they all were screaming and were just standing bloody bones.  I went back upstairs and then my dream ended.  Anyways, that’s practically all that I remember.  - Love, Erana

Hi  Leila,

Last Sunday after church, Mum and I went to the Anniversary Inn as a gift for her birthday and we stayed in the Treasure Island suite at the one on 5th south in Salt Lake. We had a nice breakfast the next day that they brought to us. We left at 12pm on Monday which was Presidents Day. I had it off and so did Mum and Erana. We went to Fashion Place mall and walked around and got some new baggy jeans for Erana at the Zumiez store and also got a mango and a passionfruit boba smoothie after that.  On Tuesday I took a sick day off because I didn’t feel like working. Mum went to work and Erana had another day off school. I did our taxes. We get some money back this year because getting the solar panels gave us a tax credit. Wednesday was Mum’s 50th birthday and I took her out to eat at Hwa’s restaurant and got our favorite pork bulgogi and japchae and also some Korean fried chicken. It is so yummy. Mum got the left overs ready to take home but she left it on the table and she was upset that she wasted it and lost some sleep over it, lol. Poor mum, she always over thinks things like that. On Friday Mum and I went to the temple. Saturday we went out to do a little shopping. We got a lot of winter boots for cheap at Walmart as they were on sale. We’ll put them away for when we need them in the future. I liked this scripture I read from Come Follow Me study. D&C 100:7-8.

7 But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.

8 And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.

Study what it means to teach with solemnity of heart and with a spirit of meekness, for doing so comes with a promise that the Holy Ghost will bear witness to what you are teaching. Keep working hard and keep studying the language. You’re doing awesome, the Lord will bless you for your efforts and multiply everything you do with faith.

Love Dad and Mum.

Hi Sis Wihongi 

This week I had a newborn photoshoot in someone's home. It was a couple I knew from high-school. It wasn't my best photoshoot as it was hard doing it in their home with not the best lighting. I went to a Galentines party that was Wicked musical themed. It was fun, it was at Chrystelles parents house. That's Chantal and Chanelles’ sister. Every week I go to ward council meetings early in the morning on Sundays since I have to go to every ward conference in our stake for my calling. This Sunday, ward council was at 7am and my alarm didn't wake me up for it and I woke up around the time I had to leave so I was going to be late. While I was rushing getting ready, Tane-Toa woke up and went to warm up my car and scraped the frost off the windshield  because he noticed I was running late. It was 6:45am. I felt so loved when he did that. He could've just stayed asleep but he chose to serve me hehe. Just another story of my sweet husband. I also made Sunday dinner for mum's birthday. It was kimchi pork belly with lettuce wraps or rice. Hope you are finding joy in doing the work!

Love Mina and Tane

Hello sister Wihongi,

This week we celebrated mom's 50th birthday. Alisa and I went over on her birthday to eat cake and ice cream. They bought a lot of treats from Sagatos bakery and they bought Alisa and I a guava cake. Alisa bought a gym membership pass to eos too. I had nothing to do with that decision, she just wants to slim down more I guess. We took mom and Erana out to dinner to Honolulu grill, which was Alisa and I's birthday gift to mom. Then on Sunday we celebrated her birthday again with aunty and uncle. That was pretty much our week. Hope you're loving the mission and doing well. Keep praying, we love you.

 Alisa and Tyrell.