June - Erana's 11th and Tyrell's 24th Birthdays

Jaxon graduated on Thursday June 3rd. It was at the Usana Amphitheater. It was a hot day sitting in the sun. He was towards the end because of it being in alphabetical order. Candi made him lots of lollie leis. We took photos of him afterwards. We're very proud of him. I'll enjoy not having to get after him for missing homework, etc, but did most everything without us having to worry too much. He had good grades. It will be interesting to see where his life goes now. I don't think it involves a mission at this point so I need to help him set a game plan for work and school and a goal for a career.

The next day Friday Candi and I had a hike in the mountain on the Mineral Fork trail and found a hidden water fall a little bit off the trail along a river where we took some photos. I look forward to more hikes this summer. Candi and Leila also went to some grad parties for some girls in the Tausala group on Fri and Sat.

Family Vacation 6/6 to 6/12

On Sunday June 6th we went on a family vacation to St George and Las Vegas. We stopped at the Beaver Creamery on the way and got an ice cream. We stayed the night at Christine's home in Ivins and had pizza and cake for Erana's birthday. She opened gifts and hung out with Gracie. They have a nice small home in a nice community next to a park. This part of St George had a lot of new developments with palm trees and cacti so it looked in between Arizona and California but I like it a lot. We went for a walk around the park and block.

Monday to Wednesday we were in Las Vegas. We drove the back way though the Indian reservation which skips going through the gorge road. We stayed in the Strat hotel. We first went to the Mirage Secret Gardens and Dolphins and looked around. It was nice.  We had parked at the Treasure Island parking and walked to the Mirage but on the way back the tram was open and we took that back to TI and went to the Avengers Station and went through that. The kids had a good time I think. Then for lunch we headed west on Spring Mountain road the TI parking was on to go to China town for lunch. We ate at Cruncheese Korean corns dogs that have melted cheese inside and breaded crumb outside with different sauces to choose from. I had seen them eat those on k-dramas so when I saw one on Google maps I had to go try it. It was yummy! Next door was a Korean dessert place so we tried that too. It was in a plaza full of Asian restaurants and stores so we walked around them. Got more boba drinks and chinese desserts and pastries from a Korean bakery. We loved that place so we wanted to go back. We went back to our rooms and then walked around the Strat stores but most were empty. We got McD's for dinner. 

Tuesday we went to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus and the kids did the rides. We also won a lot of stuffed toys doing the fishing pole magnet game and kept upgrading the prize so we could get these cute monster looking stuffed toys. Tyrell did it to get a gift for Alisa. Oh yeah, Tyrell has a cute half Japanese and American girlfriend. She is a friend of Mina. They see each other a lot. After we went back to China town and looked around another plaza then went back to the Shanghai plaza and ate at a Chinese restaurant. Spent a hundred dollars but it was nice. We also got these  mochi donuts that were yum. We got another dessert and boba drinks from the other stores. In the evening we went up to the top of the Strat and the kids did the rides. We hung out until it was dark and they did more rides. We had a nice day.

Wednesday we checked out at 11am and went back to Shanghai plaza to get some corn dogs and bakery buns and boba drinks for our brunch. Then we went further down the road to a Kpop store and looked around. Leila is into Kpop and got her a Treasure album. Kpop is Korean pop music. Treasure is a group of 12 boys. Then we drove back to St George to Shaun and Christine's. Shaun was there. We ate dinner and went on a hike in the Snow Canyon park. It's a beautiful canyon.

The next day Thursday we went to a nearby reservoir to swim and relax. They had a paddle board to go out on and some floats. It was nice weather, sunny but not too hot. In the evening we went back to the Snow Canyon park to walk to the sand dunes and take some photos.

Friday, Candi went with Christine to some thrift stores. Tyrell, Jaxon and I went on the Anasazi valley trail hike nearby to see some petroglyphics on rocks on this cliffside overlooking the Santa Clara river. It was pretty cool to discover them on our own on different rocks. We climbed down, up and over a bunch of rocks to see them. When Candi got back we drove to St George town area. We stopped at the Red Hills Desert garden and walked around. Gracie was with us. It was a beautiful garden that was on a hill side overlooking the road and town area. We went to a park with a water play area then looked at a store across the road. We stopped at to get food at the Honolulu grill before going back home. Jared and his family came by in the evening and we all went on a hike again in the Snow Canyon park. It was dark when we got back to our cars to go home.

Saturday we slept in ate some breakfast, cleaned up the home and left back. We stopped at the Creamery again. Bought some root beer milk. It was a nice vacation.

Rest of the Month

Leila went on a girls camp for almost a week and had fun. Candi and I went on 2 hikes up Days Fork trail. We went to Taylorsville days again. Didn't have it last year because of the covid plandemic. The maori group did a show for Living Traditions downtown on the 26th. Candi and the girls performed. We ate Chuck-A-Rama after. Maya stayed over a few days and for Tyrell's birthday we ate at a Korean restaurant with Alisa. I had Japchae which is like chop suey almost but with bigger noodles and veges. I liked it. He had a pavlova for his cake.

May

 On May 4th Candi and I went to Crystal's home in Orem. Their mother Martha was in hospice care as her cancer took a turn for the worst. We brought Papa Murphy's pizza for the fam. Monica and Jody were there and the other sisters. Martha was unresponsive when we got there. Was just like Mum was in her last day. I had a few tears remembering that and knowing what the family is going through at this time. We sang songs and laughed at memories shared by the daughters. Jody said he'll sing a Kenny Rogers song and I suggested "The Gambler". He laughed at that and told the others and they were shocked and laughed. Apparently Martha had a history of gambling that I didn't know. Even if I did I'd probably whisper that joke to Jody for a scab. Crystal got a kick out of that one. She passed away that night. We went to the funeral on May 12th, a Wednesday. She is buried in a cemetery in Orem on the east bench which has a beautiful overlook of Utah valley. The service was at the gravesite. Each sister spoke. It was a nice sunny day and a nice service.

Candi and Heather chaperoned Maya's bday party while Monica was out of town on the 7th. Candi said it was funny with all those noisy kids and also how Maya reacted to all their gifts when opening them. Leila performed in Living Traditions on the 15th downtown with Tausala and did an awesome job doing a solo poi performance. She also performed at Loi's grad party. Loni's grandson. Jaxon had his Seminary Graduation on the 23rd.

For work I had been studying for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner test and passed it on the 25th. Hadn't done one of those for over 20 years. I was nervous. We had a graduation party for Jaxon and Talia on Saturday the 29th. We used our Stake center and did a hangi for the meat and potatoes. The rest was pot luck. We did the hangi and Cher Clark's home. Her son Sean helped us do it. Woke up early on Saturday to go over and help. Candi was busy the whole night in the kitchen and stuff. We had a lot of relatives and friends come. Many of Talia and Jaxon's friends came and did a number for them. They did a money dance and they got a lot of money to split between them. We did the haka for them. Ollie came and Dion Hettig and Seamus came later. They also had nephews or daughters graduating. Ana and D dropped off Grad ballons for Talia and Jaxon. That was nice of them. The night turned out nice but glad it was over. We vowed to never do one of those again. Too much work and stress. It was Jared's idea but he did nothing to prepare for it and Camilla didn't lift a finger to help or clean because she said she paid for everything so we gave him all the bill after that. Candi and I were so pre-occupied that night we forgot to take pictures.

Memorial day we didn't' really do anything. I think we went to some stores but that's about it. Sunday we did celebrate Kage's birthday and went for a walk on the Jordan River trail to as far as the deer herd behind the chain link fences then turned back. 

Leila's Mothers Day Talk

  Kia ora everyone and Happy Mother’s Day, my name is Leila Wihongi. I was given the topic of Christlike attributes that I’ve received from my mum and they gave me 5 minutes but this should only take 30 seconds. That was my dad’s joke. For those of you who don’t know my mum, she’s the woman with a cool accent. She gets her accent from Hastings, New Zealand where she grew up and learned to love the ways of the Lord. She was surrounded by many loving older sisters and a mother, who raised her most of her life, as her dad was out serving their country in the military.

In Matthew 22: 36-40, it says:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

   The first great commandment is to love the Lord. During my mum's life in New Zealand, her sisters and mother weren’t very active in the church. Despite her family’s inactiveness, my mum, at her young age, would get ready every Sunday to spend the Sabbath worshipping the Lord. She would either walk to church by herself or go with her cousins who would pick her up. When my mum was telling my family about this, I asked why she went to church when everyone else didn’t. She responded, “Cause I liked going to church, whatchu mean?”

   I felt so proud and inspired by my mum, as she chose to go to church because she loved to. To be honest, sometimes I don’t want to go to church, but I go anyway because I know that I’m supposed to. But, after hearing my mum’s story of going to church out of love for God and the gospel, I’ve learned how to turn the “I have to go to church” mindset into “I want to go to church”. Having the “I want to go to church” mindset has helped me better in paying attention in Sacrament meetings and focusing on the Savior during the week.

   My mum has shown me through her actions and words that she loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, and mind. My family has a group chat where my mum always texts us inspirational The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints quotes. My mum also likes to watch this YouTube channel that dives deeper into what the Bible and Book of Mormon’s verses mean. She always makes sure that we have our family scripture study and family prayer. Without my mum, I don’t think my faith and testimony in the Lord would be where it is today.

   The second great commandment is to love thy neighbor as thyself. My mum has shown me different ways to love others by her example through the years. She has served others, fed people, given lots of hugs, written cards, dropped off gifts and things to people who need it.

   Just recently, my Auntie’s mum was passing away from cancer. She was moved from the hospital to her home in Orem so she could pass away surrounded by family. On the final day before she did pass, my mum went over to visit. She brought lots of Papa Murphy pizzas and made them for the visiting family. She stayed for a while and sang songs, laughed, and cried. In Mosiah 18: 8-9, it says, “... Willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort…”. My mother was there for my extended family to mourn with and comfort them.

   She did just the same when my Grandma Barbara passed away three and a half years ago. Back in 2017, when my Grandma Barbara was sick with cancer, all of my family were over at my uncle’s house where my Grandma lived. My mum wanted to lighten the mood for the younger cousins by letting them all sleep over at my house. If you knew my mum as much as I do, you would know she would only let a maximum of 3 people sleep over. At this time, there were about 7 or 8 cousins sleeping over. That’s how nice and caring my mum was at that vulnerable time.

   My mother’s empathy has always been part of my nature, as I have watched her care for others my whole life. My mum used to care for the elderly at Avalon West Health and Rehabilitation. I don’t know how she did it. Every time I went there, I was scared to enter the building. My mum would always have stories to tell about working there. However, every time I saw my mum work with the elderly, she was so loving and kind and friends with nearly every person there. Empathy is probably my most favorite christlike attribute that I’ve received from my mum, as I am able to “bear another’s burden”.

Moroni 7: 47

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

   Thank you, mothers, for nurturing us and guiding us into becoming more like the Lord. You all hold a huge place in our hearts. I’d like to bear my testimony that I know this church is true. I know that God knows and loves each and every one of us, so much so that He would sacrifice His Beloved Son to atone for our sins, and I know that mothers play a very important role in teaching children about the gospel. I say these things in the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen.