April

Scripture if the Month: Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

4/1 to 4/9: 

Hi Son,
We are doing well, weather all week has been cold and rainy and last night it had snowed! Remember the week you left it was nice sunny warm weather and I had packed away all the kids winter clothes away, well looks like I was too eager beager for spring! Work is going the same and we missed Mina this week while she was on tour. It really looks beautiful in Raleigh, and it sounds like you are keeping busy. We thought it ironic that your schedule is precise, seeing you were always running late. Mina says you need to know the difference between the word ‘than’ and ‘then’ because you’re saying ‘than’ a lot in your letters and it should be ‘then’ instead of ‘than’ lol hahaha Oh well I enjoy hearing from you even if your spelling is wrong :) Love you Mum xxx

Hi Son,
Hope all is well and you are happy. Haven’t done much else this last week since I wrote last. Mina was gone for the week. It seemed strange to have just 3 kids in the house. It felt half empty. Is anyone else writing you other than us? If you have more personal things to write back to any of us then do another separate email from the main one you send to everyone. I’ll just put the main one in the blog. Keep working hard and working smart.
Love Dad

Hi Tyrell,
I went to rugby practice and it is tiring. Talia slept over and brought her kitten too and her kitten is very small. The kitten's name is Kea. It’s so cute and so soft, but it does massive diarrhea. It smells so bad it’s so disgusting it filled up the basement. The weather here used to be all sunny and cloudy and windy but then it snowed today. How’s the weather in North Carolina? And do you even read these?
Love, Jaxon

Hi Tyrell!
I played at my friend’s house with Erana on Tuesday. Erana and I went to the Care Center with grandma and I had my recital on Wednesday. Kage and Dray played over at our house then Erana and I went to play at Kages house and got to see Talia’s new kitten, and Erana and I had Tausala on Thursday. Erana and I played at Kages again, but I slept over at Kages on Friday. I had my basketball game the next day and the score was 20 for the other team and 15 for my team, I made 5 points out of 15. After my basketball game, I played with Kage, Dray, Talia, and Talia’s kitten at my house then at Kage’s house on Saturday. We had church today and watched the movie Willow and had brownies. Bye! Love you!
Love, Leila

Hi tyrell I went to church love erana xoxo (Erana typed this herself)

Mina didn't write an email, she had gotten back from her San Diego Choir Tour. She had fun!

4/10 to 4/16: 

Bonjour Big Bro! I had a really fun time at tour. The first all-night bus ride was really hard to sleep because it was so uncomfortable. We went straight to the San Diego Zoo. Then we went to our hotel and got dressed up for a Broadway show, Finding Neverland. It was very interesting and I love the music in it! What i did overall was go to an Old Town that was hispanic/western looking, partied on a Dinner Cruise during a beautiful sunset, went on the Military USS Midway ship that we went to on a family vacation, had fun at Seaworld and won lots of Awards (we took home the GOLD), and partied at a place in SeaWorld with other schools. I also ran for senior SBO Activities (the main SBOs) , I made primary voting, and Final voting is this week. I’ll find out on Friday if I made it or not. I miss you occasionally, I really enjoy your emails! Love you! -Mina

Hi son, I’m so stuffed with yummy Easter food!!! Pork crackle roast, Curry, Salmon,, Ribs, chopsuey, sides and dessert!!! We had a lovely beautiful Easter Sunday, Mina had to read ‘the Living Christ’ in Sacrament and bear her testimony, she cried and I was teary eyed too. We had yummy food and Easter Egg hunt at Uncle Scott’s house, went overboard with the eggs! Grandma gave out her money eggs. We hope you had a nice Easter day too! Love you Mum & Dad xxx

Hi Tyrell, we had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We had some of our family there and the food was delicious. We played a game of basketball and I sucked, my team wouldn’t even pass to me. Ella Rae looks so cute. I didn’t do much this week so I don’t have anything to talk about except Easter. The weather is nice here, it’s getting sunnier. My rugby practices are tiring. Erana wants to keep these socks she hasn’t taken off since probably February that have massive holes beneath them. We’re always telling Erana to throw those away but she wants to keep them because they’re her favorite socks. Mina did a good talk today at church. And brother Boley gave a good talk and made us crack up because of his jokes. Hope you’re safe and doing what you’re supposed to be doing.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hello Tyrell! I had a very fun Easter Sunday! Mina had a wonderful Easter talk, too. We had Easter at uncle Scott’s house, and played a game of basketball with Spencer, Wesley, Savanah, Savanah’s boyfriend, Maddie, Kage, Dray, Talia, Jamie, Connor, Mina, and Jaxon. It was a very fun and funny game. Love you!
Love, Leila XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Hi Tyrell I EASTER egg hunt.love erana xoxoxoxo

From Tyrell
I love you all! Thank you for the letters, I enjoy them so much! Sorry I don't have much time to something to each one of you, but I hope you are all doing okay. Love you!

Elder Wihongi

4/17 to 4/23: 

Hi Son, We skipped our ward today and went to Uncle Don & Aunty Charmaine Peterson’s Homecoming. You saw them when you were in NZ. We ate afterwards at that park we usually eat at when we have Peterson gatherings. Many people asked how you were doing, or they would comment on your letters they read from your blog. We are watching a documentary on tv now called ‘Weird Wonders of the World’ and it was talking about ‘tubefex’ (not sure about spelling) They live in Raleigh, NC. That’s what reminded us to email ya! lol Hope all is well, Love you Mum & Dad xxx

Hi Tyrell, I had a fun time at Uncle Don and Aunty Charmaine Peterson’s homecoming today. I lost my basketball game, but I made a basket. Mom and dad were really mad at the ref’s because they didn’t call all the fouls the other team did, but it was a fun game. The rest of my week was pretty boring, so I’m going to stop the letter right here. I love you Tyrell, and I wish you a great week!
Love, Leila XOXO

Hi Tyrell, we had fun at Uncle Don and Aunty Charmaine Peterson’s homecoming today. We watched a weird show, I think Mom mentioned it in her letter but these ‘tubefex’ look disgusting. They live in the sewers and they’re these weird worm things. I just did the usual on weekdays, homeschool, playing games, and then going to rugby practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Hope you had a great week!
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hi Tyrell, i had  for dinr was one tinea mufin and a bag of chips and onle meet in a brgr.love erana xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxoxox.

Hello Big Bro, Guess who made the main SBO Activities? I did! Haha, but I kinda feel like it is going to be so stressful because I have to plan assemblies and food trucks for football games and spirit week stuff. What have I gotten myself into… Anyways, I went to prom yesterday. For the day activity, we went to a park and played different sports like basketball and frisbee. Then we went to a chinese restaurant and partied at the Capital. Afterwards, i went to my friends house and had cheesecake. I feel like life is going too fast right now. I just want to relax. Oh yea, this kid in my French class was playing The Bird and the Worm by The Used and I thought about how you used to play that on the piano haha. Hope North Carolina is treating you well.
Love Mina oxo

From Tyrell
Thank you for the letters and love family. I love you Leila, and Erana, and Jaxon, and Mina. I hope you are all doing okay, and listening to mom and dad and helping out at home. I miss you all.

Dad, I need another SD card with all the music on it because I left mine at the MTC... could you send me another? And here are the songs I want you to add:

Once and for All- Lauren Daigle

I Feel Heaven Here- EFY

Go the Distance- Hercules

When you come back down-Nickle Creek

Oh Jesus- Jon Mclaughlin

In Christ Alone- Christina Grimmie

Come Thou Fount of every blessing/ If you could hie to Kolob ( with the three young women singing)

Lord of the Rings Soundtrack (in dreams, concerning hobbits, the main track)

Paul Cardall album

Spirit of God-Mormon Guitar

Come thou fount- Mormon guitar

May it be- Celtic Women

My Kindness shall not Depart from thee- Rob Gardner

Lighthouse- Nickle Creek

Destination-Nickle Creek

21st of May-Nickle Creek

Savior Redeemer of my soul (with the three young women singing) ( and the original)

My little prayer- David Archuleta

Arohainamai

And That one group I forgot the name but we went there concert as a family.

All these should be okay on my mission, if you could find these and put them on that would be awesome! Ask Mina to help out she should know a lot of these. I'll run them through my President to but all these songs will be okay I think according to him. Thank you! I love you and mom!

I love you Family! xoxo

Elder Wihongi 

4/24 to 4/30: 

Hello Big Bro, nothing exciting happened this week. I went to PizzaStudio with my friends. It’s next to Zaxby’s. Then we went to play Apples to Apples at Stockton’s House. It was fun. I play tennis every day after school with the boys team. Let me know if there are any cute missionaries who wouldn’t mind having a cute girl write to them ;) (the cute girl is me btw). Taylorsville High School is either filled with not-so-attractive or immature boys. It’s quite sad for me lol.  I’m learning songs on the guitar. Ed Sheeran songs of course. I don’t know how you taught yourself, it’s quite difficult! Hope North Carolina continues to treat you well.
Love you- Mina

Hi Tyrell, nothing exciting really happened this week so this will be short. I went to Aunty Heather’s house on Saturday. I went to Bennion to meet my counselor to choose my classes for next school year. That’s all I did this week. Hope you’re having fun in North Carolina. Guess what!!! I saved 8 baby ducklings in the sewer. Erana and I went to the building next door to us and ride our bikes and my longboard. When we went there we saw a mother duck quacking a lot by the sewer. So then I went over to the sewer and heard baby ducklings chirping. And so I went back home and grabbed a dustpan and went back to the building next door. I lifted up the sewer lid, and went down and saw the baby ducklings. They weren’t even scared they just hopped right onto the dustpan. I climbed back up with 8 ducklings on the dustpan and went over to the mother and the mother was soooo happy to see them. There was still one more that I heard in the sewer. I left the dustpan down there to see if it would get on it. Eventually, it did but I got down there and it ran away. It was too scared. I didn’t know how to save it, so I left it down there. There were already two that were dead down there. So then I got out of the sewers and put the lid back and started to ride my longboard. I went over to where the mother lost her babies in the sewer, and I figured out how the ducklings fell into the sewers. The mother did a big diarrhea and the ducklings slipped on her diarrhea and fell into the sewers. I found that out because there’s a diarrhea stain right next to the sewer and there’s little footprints leading to the sewers. So that’s my story about saving the 8 ducklings. Dad said I was a Saturday warrior. This happened last week, I just forgot to tell you. Hope you have an awesome week!

Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hello Tyrell! I hope you had a great week! My game went very well! I scored 8 points out of 10! We still lost, but I made a lot of points! It was the best game I’ve ever done! I hope we win the next game because we didn’t win any game and it’s the last game next week. I played at Kages house on the same day and had yummy cheese bread balls. On Wednesday, I went downtown with my friend, Jenna Fullmer, you’ve probably seen her, but you don’t remember her. I went downtown with her and her grandparents to watch a show called the Shen Yun. I went with them last year too, it was a beautiful and funny show. The hotel this year was better than the one we were in last year. The dinner was very good, but I didn’t eat it all because it was too much for me. The food I chose on the menu was called “The Santa Fe”. It was a fried beef steak with beans,  carrots, and french fries. I know french fries seems boring, but the french fries there were the best fries ever! The place we ate in was called “The Coffee Shop”, and it had a lot of pictures in that place. The show was beautiful again and I had 2 favorites. Jenna and I had an awesome room. We both had our own comfy beds and their was a couch, too. The bathroom seemed better than the whole room, literally. We had some snacks when we came back to the hotel and we played some games. The next day we went to “The Coffee Shop” again for breakfast. I had a breakfast burrito, it wasn’t very yummy. On Friday, I went to the store with mom, dad, and Erana. After that, I had activity days and saw some cool braids that we learned to do.  I hope you have a great week! I love you!
Love, Leila XOXO

Hi Tyrell, I have your music requests ready on a sd card. Try not to lose this one. What do you use to listen to music? That was a funny story with the crazy little nacho giving you crotch shots. I had a companion one time that spoke spanish and spoke spanish to some people. We’re having  some similar experiences except for the crotch shots lol. I enjoy reading your testimony and seeing it grow each time you write. Work has been pretty stressful lately, I’ve been trying to handle it with faith and trust in the Lord. Leila had an awesome game yesterday. She already wrote about it. I try to show her some moves to do during her games. She’s getting better. Erana is really good at riding her bike now. Mina looked very gorgeous in her prom dress last week. She is looking for a summer job already and may start working at Cupbop a korean food place across the road from Culvers. I taught Leila, Kage and Jamison how to do backflips on the tramp when it was Easter. They are good now. We’ll send your music in a package. Tell us what else you want in the package.
Love you son. Dad and Mum xxx

Hi Tyrell, I can ride my bike.
Love Erana oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo.

From Tyrell

Thank you for the letters! :) I enjoy reading them so much, It's the best way to start my week, I look forward to these every week! Love you fam. And send me some food, haha. I don't know, you can send me whatever. We listen to the music in the car when we're driving place to place. But Thank you so much! I love you.

 Elder Wihongi

March - Tyrell Left on Mission

Scripture of the Month: Abraham 3:22-23

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

3/1 to 3/11: 

Sunday 5th that evening we had a special family home evening with Tyrell and bore our testimonies to him. I cried a lot when I bore mine, I shared a story about Marsha, from the Bennion Care Center a trial I had about her and in the end praying for her helped my relationship with her. Tyrell went to the Orthodontist on the 6th, go get him a retainer, he had lost his one a long time ago. And I wanted him to have one for his mission, so his teeth won't move back out of place and go crooked again. It costs about $100. Tuesday 7th, President Lundquist came over to set apart Tyrell as an Elder. Mum came, we had to bare our testimonies again, mine was dumb and I didn't know what to say? Mum and Jason gave really nice testimonies.  Shaun showed up in his police uniform he was on duty.  President Lundquist shared some experiences he had with blessing prayers etc it was really nice. Then he set Tyrell apart, it was a really nice blessing, and the part I remembered from it was that Tyrell will blossom like a butterfly! That night we all slept together in the basement, in the morning I made bacon and eggs and we got ready to take Tyrell to the MTC. 

On the way to the MTC we stopped at the Provo Temple to take photos, and then we dropped Tyrell off, he was ready to go, we gave him hugs and our love and off he walked with his Escort. 

Friday Jay and I had our yearly PEHP check up, Mum came with us because we were taking her out to eat at 'Chinese Gourmet'. Jay didn't pass his test, because he had drunk a glass of milk for breakfast so we had to wait for him to do 10 mins exercises to see if he would pass it to get a full payment of $100.

 

Hi Tyrell,
I added the emails of our family into your contact list in your email when you were logged in here so add me to your emails when you write Mum. I’m glad to hear you get along well with your companion. I hope you are doing well. Take advantage of the MTC classes and training, it can really help in the field. I know at times it is hard to stay awake with the new schedule of waking up early. I struggled a bit with that. Hopefully now that the first few days are over that you are getting into the swing of things. Those were the hardest for me but I know you can handle anything I did and even better. Mum and I went on date and saw Kong. It’s a fun movie. Jaxon is going to be my new home teaching companion. I’m grateful to have had all those years with you as my companion. I’m proud of you.
Love Dad

Dear Tyrell,
I miss you already. I know that we didn’t play with each other that much, but I still love you. I didn’t play with you or ask you to play with me because you looked busy, and even if you weren’t busy, you had a mad face on so I was too scared to ask you to play with me. I don’t know you that much, but I still cried when we left you at the MTC. I wish I would have been brave enough to play with you. I wish I got to know you better so that I wouldn’t be nervous or scared around you. I wish you good luck!
Love, Leila XOXO

Dear Tyrell,
Sometimes I wonder what you’re doing at the MTC. Are you missing us? I miss when you would show us funny youtube videos and played the piano so nice and sweet. We didn’t really play that much but we would play when we were little. And I miss when you would buy cool games that were so fun to play and that you bought me something on Titanfall 2. I wish you good luck on your mission and don’t forget something at the MTC before you go on the airport, cause you would forget things a lot.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Dear Tyrell,
I gave a talk in primary. I love you. From Erana (I made this Lion for you)

3/12 to 3/18: 

Hi Son,

It’s so nice hearing from you weekly and knowing how you are. It makes me happy knowing that you are well and have awesome friends to help you stay motivated and uplifted. We pray for you every night that you stay happy and overcome any challenges that come your way. Well the past week I did the usual which was work, home school, clean and mother stuff. I got the girls summer clothes out of storage already because the weather has been nice and warm. And that started me de-junking the crawl space, and rooms etc. So I’m in spring cleaning mode! Started walking on the treadmill again since your clothes are no longer on it, trying to lose at least 5-10lbs by summer. And that is pretty much what’s going on with me.
I love you Son! Mum xxx

Hi Tyrell,
We had our yummy St. Patrick’s Day dinner and it was delicious. We played tennis on Friday and it was Mum, Mina, and Leila against Dad and I and my team won even though they had 3 people on their team. Mum was doing a weird exercising thing, she looked funny. Hope you stay awake during your classes and don’t mack around be a good example to your district. And hope you have a good flight to North Carolina on the 27th.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hi Son,
Loved to read your letter. I’m glad you like your companion and district. Sounds like you’re doing well. I remember the food. I gained weight in the MTC. It’s good you’re getting confident with the role-playing. You’ll be a good teacher. But don’t ever get to a point you feel there’s nothing more to learn or to get better at. Stay humble and teachable and the Lord will stretch your capabilities you never thought possible. This week I visited a sick friend in the LDS Hospital close to my work that has cancer. He is Wayne Tarawhiti from Temple View where I grew up. He’s Uncle Shaun’s age. I gave him our L&P white chocolate bar. Hopefully he gets better and beats the cancer. I created a blog that I am posting your emails to. If you have friends you don’t send emails to you can direct them to your blog. http://eldertyrellwihongi.blogspot.com/. When your mission is done we can get the blog printed into a book. Keep studying hard.
Love Dad

3/19 to 3/25: 

Hi Son,

sounds like you’ve had some very spiritual experiences and testimony builders. That’s awesome. Makes me happy and proud that you are already seeing a lot of growth. Grandma inherited some of her brother’s money after he passed and she gave us $1000 because she didn’t need it. See the Lord is already blessing your family in small ways because of your faithfulness. Wesley posted a pic of you and Elder Wheeler on FB so I put it on your blog. We put Jaxon into the Hunter U14 team this year so that I wouldn’t have to coach. They are coached by the Moleni brothers. I didn’t want to be coach. General Conference next week. You’ll probably appreciate it more and pay attention to it more now that you’re on your mission. Remember that your bike is at the Performance bike store in Raleigh under my name. Work hard and love people.

Love Dad

Kia Ora Son,
It’s the sabbath we have decided to write to you every Sunday after dinner. We really enjoyed your email yesterday, and the photos were nice too. Dad and I were teary eyed and felt the spirit when reading your experiences, we are glad you are having those amazing spiritual experiences. This past week besides work, Mina started her spring break, she got her ACT test results back and got a 23. Jaxon started rugby, and is still playing way too much games. He is your Dad’s home teaching companion and they visited the Garcia’s today. Leila played another bball game and lost, I was yelling a lot! lol. Erana just a while ago fell off the chair into the reading nook for the 4th time taking Jaxon down with her and the chair squished her leg and the curtain fell off and broke in half!! I was yelling and growling mostly at Jaxon lol and Erana was crying! Lol Spent a lot of money at Ross the other day on summer clothing for me and Leila. We are trying to eat more healthier and I made some Dr.Oz cookies last night, they looked like cow poop, and we call them cow patties, they taste too healthy. I don’t have to buy 4 gallons of milk each week just 3 and that’s still a lot, and I don’t have to buy as much cereal! Kids have said, “why are we changing stuff around here after Tyrell left?” lol We are excited for you to be finally leaving tomorrow morning, sorry we can’t be there to see you off - not allowed!
I love you, Mumxxx

I miss you so much! Nothing special last week. I lost my basketball game yesterday, 3/25/17, by 2 points, we had 11 points and the other team had 13. I love you!
Love, Leila

Hello big bro,
I enjoy hearing your experiences. You have so many already and you’ve only been gone for about 3 weeks! Just imagine how many experiences you’ll receive within these 2 years! Well, I just got my ACT test scores. I got a 23. It’s spring break this week and then I have Choir Tour the next week. I’ll be going to San Diego. I’ve been missing your piano songs. Anyways, have you gotten used to your sleeping schedule yet? I hope so.
Love you! - Mina

I miss you Tyrell. I watched Leila’s basketball game.
Love, Erana XOXO

Hi Tyrell,
it’s been a great week here. I’m so glad that you’re on your mission and that I hope you have safe travels to North Carolina on Monday. All I’ve been doing this week is play games and go to rugby practice. My rugby coach is actually Nathan Moleni. Their rugby practice is pretty hard, a lot of exercise and it goes on for 2 hrs. I was playing against Dad on Call of Duty 2. He would always win but there was this one match where I would always be on the roofs and I would snipe him. I think I killed him 17 times and he killed me 9 times. But the next match was pretty annoying because he did the same thing to me and I was raging. And that is pretty much everything I did this week.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

3/26 to 3/31: 

Hi Son,
It was Mina’s spring break this last week, so the kids did half a day of school work. Mina leaves on tuesday for her School Choir Tour to San Diego. Jaxon has been doing his rugby practice tues, thurs & sat. he has really sore muscles and Dad has been getting him to do pull ups.  Leila has her Piano recital this coming tuesday, not sure if Erana will do anything for the recital because she just started. The other day Erana says to me, “she wants a husband that respects her, cooks her dinner and lets her pick her own gowns”! lol  Didn’t hear from you yesterday, we usually hear from you on Saturday’s.  We enjoyed listening to General Conference, it’s been raining lately and nice to stay inside and do nothing. Hope you are well and getting settled into your new place and adjusting to change, remember we are praying for you and love you, Mum xxx

Hi Tyrell,
This week we went and saw beauty and the beast. It was pretty good. I went against Dad on Call of Duty 2 and this one round I won with 25 kills using a rifle. I’m getting pretty good at that game. We may even get Joshua to play against Dad and I. Dad got me northstar prime on my Titanfall 2 game. You got me scorch prime remember. Mom showed us a picture of a mysterious creature that washed up shore in Bear Lake. It had a beak and it was long and big like a snake. Dad said there has been sightings of that in Bear Lake. Any ways how is it in North Carolina? Is it super hot that you sweat a lot in your church clothes. Hope you’re safe and that you can be a good example to your partner.
Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hi Son,
This email is a little late being sent. It’s Tuesday instead of Sunday. We got your email yesterday. I’m so happy you have a good trainer. It’s good to pick up on the good habits early in your mission. You may not always have a companion that is spot-on with the rules. We looked at your area in google maps and saw your apartment and the beach area. Looks like a beautiful place. Your experiences are very similar to mine. I was so scared the first time tracting. Overtime I got used to it. But it will build your character. Remember to use a map and pray and ponder about where to tract and do that at different times in the day as people are home at different times in the day. That is if your companion isn’t already doing that. If not just bring it up in a morning planning session. I hope all goes well with Christian, sounds like an interesting guy. We enjoyed conference weekend. Leila had a basketball game. She scored some points and is getting better. I try and show her some moves to get out of getting trapped. She pulled it off in her game one time. I helped out at Jaxon’s rugby practice the other day. Nothing much else new. I love you and pray for you. Dad

Tyrell's Farewell Talk

Kia Ora Whanau & Goodmorning Brothers and Sisters.

My name is Tyrell Wihongi, but most of you probably know me or have known me as the “Quiet one”. It must be exciting for a lot of you to hear me speak, words. But you all know the saying, like father like son. So in my defense, I definitely inherited my quietness from my dad. My dad is a very soft spoken person, and he was just like me before he went on his mission, or so he’s told me. A mission changed my father, I’m sure of it. And I’m hoping that it does the same for me. Apparently I have a lot of ancestors who lived in North Carolina, ancestry that come from my Grandmother's side who inherit her maiden name “McKinley”, The name was originally from Scotland, but emigrated to the states and eventually settled in North Carolina in the late 1700’s, and then to Texas which is where my Grandma is from. I love my Grandma. I report to the MTC on March 8th.

To the topic that I was given, and asked to speak on.

When Jesus Christ ministered on the Earth he established his church, but it was lost from the Earth following his crucifixion and the ministry of his apostles, we call this “The Great Apostasy”. Because the true church was wiped from the Earth, it meant that many truths, ordinances, prophets, and the priesthood were wiped also. And the world entered a state of spiritual darkness. That apostasy made it necessary the restoration of the gospel. I just wanted to give a little better understanding of why it was necessary for the restoration of the gospel. When I hear the word Restoration I immediately think about the Prophet Joseph Smith.

In 2 Nephi 25: 17…”And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.”

Heavenly Father was able to do a marvelous work and wonder through Joseph Smith. When Heavenly Father speaks about his marvelous work and wonder he is speaking about the restoration. I know that Joseph had faith when he prayed in the grove, not only did he receive an immediate answer, God himself and Jesus Christ came down before him, and gave him a mission to restore the true church (the church of Jesus Christ) back on Earth. In Joseph’s owns words this is how he describes what he saw after his faithful prayer in the grove.

“I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me… When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me by name and said, pointing to the other- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

How do you even cope with that kind of answer?

But I Believe him, I know he saw what he said he saw. I remember when I came to know for sure that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and it was in seminary. I remember we had a memorial kinda day for Joseph Smith and it was just all about him, we learned all about Joseph Smith. His life, his family, his trials. Whenever I think I’m going through something hard, I sometimes think about the things Joseph Smith went through. You’d think that if he knew what he was doing wasn’t true, he’d just stop after being tarred and feathered, after being thrown into jail, after almost being killed multiple times, but no he kept going, many people didn’t believe, many doubted him, many wanted proof, many of those people were his friends, family, people he knew, but he kept going. How? Why? Because he knows that it is true, and I know that it is true. Back to my experience in seminary I remember clearly after learning all about Joseph Smith, we sang a song and it was during that song that the spirit testified to me that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. The feeling I felt I cannot describe. A poor Wayfaring man of grief. It is because of the faith of a 14 year old boy, that we are all able to be here today. It is because of him, who overcame many trials and never gave up, that we are able to experience the blessings and the joy that we have all already experienced from the gospel in our lives. And it is because of him that I know that Families can be Together Forever. That is one of the many truths that were restored to him. One of the many truths that are most important to me, And one truth I feel the need to talk about.

Not long ago, I went on a life changing and spiritually uplifting trip to New Zealand. It happened so quick. My dad just unexpectedly asked me if I wanted to go to New Zealand. And I was like pft, yeah. I legitimately thought he was just joking but then he told me that Uncle was dying. My Uncle Alwood (brother of my grandpa). Well before I knew it we (Dad, Scott, Tyrone) embarked on an unforgetable journey that I will never forget. Unfortunately though, My Uncle sadly passed before we landed. Our plan was to visit him in the hospital, but instead we attended his funeral. I cannot tell you how amazing that trip still was though. I had met family I've never met before and the love and the spirit that I felt from them was so overwhelming I felt like I was home. And though I didn't really know my Uncle who had passed away, I had a calm feeling that I would see him again. I’ve never experienced so much love from people who I didn’t really know, but it made me think deeply about the importance of family, and teary eyed to know that I would be able see all of them again, not just in this life but also in the next. I also got to experience a full dose of my maori culture, and to learn a part of who I really am. My uncles, and my dad would point me to everyone and tell me how I was related to them. During one of the services before the funeral, (me,dad,scott) were asked to speak. All three of us bore our testimonies in front of many people I didn't even know, half of which were my relatives, half of which were from another church. But shortly after, everyone was crying, and we were all giving each other hugs, I’m pretty sure I hugged everyone twice. My uncles would tell me you’re probably tired of all this hugging. Nope, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. My testimony of God's plan for us and that families can be together forever was strengthened. I learned many things from my trip and one of them was that true happiness doesn't come from material things or anything of this world, True Happiness only comes from God, but through our family, and through loving others. Families can be together forever. That is one truth that I would not be able to live without. I can't imagine what it'd be like not knowing that, I wouldn't be able to not know that anyway because of course, I have been blessed to be born into the church and was taught that all my life, and because of that sometimes I take it for granted. Don't take it for granted like I did. I now realize how precious that truth is, that families can be forever. There are many people who don’t know that, many who wishes it were true.

Another thing that was restored is the temple. I had the amazing opportunity to go through for my first time last week, to be endowed. I chose to go through the Draper Temple. But all i can say is, it was weird, but my dad explained to me it's because that's how they used to do it way back in Moses and Abraham's day in their temples, so I guess that would make sense why most of the things we do in the temple would seem very strange in our day haha. I may have also thought it was a little cheesy haha, but then I started to feel the spirit so strongly at one point, I might have even cried a little, I prayed to God and said I was sorry that I thought it was cheesy haha. My bishop told me that going through the temple for your endowments is more important than going on your mission. And he’s right. It’s a huge step to take that brings us closer to our Heavenly Father. We are able to perform many beautiful and sacred ordinances in the temple. In fact, that is how we are able to be sealed to our families forever. My temple trip was like the cherry on top to my New Zealand trip. From my NZ trip I learned the importance of family. Now because temples have been restored I know that I can be sealed to them forever. Anyways, I had to share those three experiences I had with you all, but now it's about time for me to close.

Brothers and sisters, this is the message of the Restoration and my testimony to you. That God lives, he loves and knows each one of you individually. That Jesus is the Christ and your savior, he died for you. That many truths were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and so long as you abide by the principles and laws of the truthfulness of the gospel, you will be saved at the last day.

3 Nephi 27:21-22

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;
22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

I leave my love and my testimony with you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

February - Tyrell's Mission Farewell

Scripture of the Month: Moses 7:18

18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

2/1 to 2/4:

Pat Nuku picked Tyrell and I up in the morning and took us to the chapel where the funeral is. It is the same chapel that the aunties and uncles went to when Grandad moved the family to Auckland. It was a beautiful service. All the talks focused on Uncle's generosity, hospitality and charity. Uncle Bill spoke and Uncle Don. I helped carry the casket to the hearse. We had photos outside. Pat drove us to the Mangere cemetery but got a little lost trying to follow Scott. We got there right as Uncle Don was given the dedication prayer. It was breezy and didn't feel hot but I got a bit of a sunburned face. I could feel it the next day. We went to the marae after and they had lunch ready for us. A family from the Ratana church helped with the kitchen duties for 2 of these days and man they did a lot. Very awesome of them. Tyrell is loving this experience. We visited and talked later on at Deb's home with Vaughn, Kristi and Deanna then went to the Harbor bridge again on the north side under the bridge to see the city lit up. We got dropped off at Lian's home.

We got picked up in the morning and drove to Hamilton. Tyrone and Deanna came with us. We got an ice cream in Pokeno, yum. We dropped Deanna off at Strantz' Steve Hemi's home on corner across from chapel where Golders used to be. We walked around Temple View and visited Aunty Charmaine and Uncle Don at the visitors center. We also got to visit with Elizabeth and Sis May. We got a feed of fish and chips in Dindale. Deanna was with us. A drunk maori fulla with a case of beer and an open can came in all wobbly. Started talking with Tyrone and everyone. He turns to me and says, "You're a handsome fulla, are you gay?" We start laughing. He says "oh  sorry bro". I can see Deanna will have a new story to share with everyone. We ate our feed in Temple View by the park by Daniels old home. We are staying with the Heperi's. We visited with Aunty Pat and Uncle Bill and Luella. We also visited Harland Paki later on in his home. Good to have a chat with him. His boy Lane is on a mission. We took photos up at the Temple.

Friday, 2/3 we drove out to Dad's grave and also visited Buck Nin's and Les Rose's graves. We went into Hamilton and walked around for a bit. We bought some Momma's Doughnuts and took them over to Pat Nukus. We had lunch with him and Kath and Jas. It was a nice visit. After we went to Hamilton Lake and relaxed a little and walked around. At about 7pm we went to a restaurant to eat out with some TVBs. Reuben Harris and JP Keung shouted us all. Patrick Kailahi, Harland, Daniel Golder and Apa Watene came. We had a good time and some good laughs. We ate steak. Afte we went and got an ice cream at McDonalds. We saw Hono Wihongi Troy's boy there. It was a good time.

Saturday, 2/4 we drove to the Waitomo Caves. Tyrell was videoing the green hill surroundings. He loved the country side. It looks like the Shire. The caves were fun and nice. Our maori guide shone the light on the worms for us. He wasn't supposed to. We took photos on a little walk we had in the paddocks. On the way back we stopped at a Kiwi house. It was like a little zoo. We got back to TV and had more photos at the Temple. We ate dinner at Trina and Israel Wirihana's home. The aunties were there too. Dolly, Raihi and Charmaine and other relatives. The Lomax's I think. I bought a Lion House plaque from Trina that is made out of the CCNZ gym bleachers. We also visited with Bro and Sis Brown, Dana's parents who were there at the dinner. It was a nice feed. Israel can cook. We slept again at Uncle Bill and Aunty Pats'. They were very happy to have us for a short stay. It was like old times. They are very much the same.

We were off in the morning back to Auckland. We got dropped off a Lian's so we can shower and pack then got picked up again later in the day. We went over to Deb's home. We went to do some last minute goodies shopping. We had another feed of fish and chips then hung out until we went to the airport to catch our flight home. We said our goodbyes to Gene, Deb and whanau. What a trip. I bought 2 brown sheep for the little girls at the airport. The flight home on Air NZ was so much better. Tyrell and I were moved to our own row with 2 seats. We slept good. The seats had these head wings that come out to lean on. The movies worked nice. The food was good. Just an enjoyable flight. Our families were waiting for us at Utah. Was so good to see them again.

Jason and Tyrell were still in New Zealand. I took the Leila and Erana to the dentist, Leila had teeth pulled and Erana had caps put onto her back bottom teeth.

2/5 to 2/11:

Jason and Tyrell were coming home today, Sunday in the evening. Went to get them around 7ish at the airport. Heather and Marci were there with kids.  Erana had made a sign that said 'Dab' on it and then corrected it to say 'Dad'! I filmed and took photos when they showed up, it was good having them back. At home Jay gave everyone their gifts, Jaxon got an all blacks top and a pounamu and goodies. Girls got bone carvings and lamb teddy's and goodies. I got a lavalava and a new bone carving and lots of goodies, rashuns, pineapple lumps, watties sauce, passionfruit syrup etc...
On the 8th Jaxon got ordained a teacher it was just us there. Girls had Tausala and I'm liking the new location on state street.

2/12 to 2/18:

We had Stake Conference, Polo Fifita spoke about his experience on being sealed in the temple to his wife Mele, their journey there. Didn't do anything that special on Valentines day, not even for the kids this year too poor. Friday the 17th went through the temple with Tyrell at about 11am. Went to Draper Temple, Mum came and so did Aunty Raihi. Jared and Camila also showed up. Was a nice experience and I think Tyrell did well, Jason helped him. Took photos afterward and went and ate at Chuck-a-rama. For my Birthday I got anti-aging lotion, a samsung wireless charger for my phone and Sushi! I turned 42yrs young!!!

2/19 to 2/25:

Went and celebrated Ariki's 2nd Birthday after Church, Mum, Scott, Heather & kids, Joshua, Serina, Melia and Jonah were there too. Jared throwing Alessandra's used diaper around is what I can remember of the night?! On Tuesday the 21st Uncle Danny passed away, which was sudden for us, but Mum knew he was going to, but just told us last Sunday that he wasn't doing so well? There is no funeral, he is just being cremated and Uncle Paul found money in Uncle Dannys bank to cover costs. Jason ordered Tyrell's bike for his mission.

Mums 42yrs young! 

2/26 to 2/28:

Sunday we had Tyrell's Mission Farewell, we only invited the Aunties, Brent Hillams family, The Finlayson's, Schaap family, Kasey Lords family, Tyrones family, Sreeves family. Everyone showed up except the Bakers, Sreeve & Finlaysons. Tyrell gave an awesome talk, he always does, was a little funny too. Then he played a piano piece, 'Come Thou Fount' he messed up a little, I think he was nervous. We ate at Scott's house, Quinn Lawrence was the only friend Tyrell had there, because Tyrell told his girl friends that it was just for family. I had prepared almost all of the meat, and used Carol Boley's oven cooker. Meat turned out awesome, yummy!  Food was good and so was the weather and everyone had a nice time together. I was sad I didn't invite Ko Ngati Hiona, and then later found out I could've just invited them to sacrament! duh me!