Happy Fourth of July!!!

The other day a friend of mine came back from the City of Orem court. She had a story to tell that is fitting to this occasion. She went to court to fight an undefined traffic violation when she was stopped by a orem cop as she drove back to her neighborhood. She owns a beautiful home south of happy Valley Orem,  Utah. She was questioned profusely why she was in the neighborhood and when she replied that she was going home, the cop, in condescension, said "Sure you are".  He asked why she was even in that neighborhood when she replied" I live here", the cop again replied , " Sure you do, how can you even own a house in this neighborhood."  That neighborhood in the south of Orem has expensive upperclass homes. She was told to get of the car, dogs came to search sniffing and found nothing.
She wanted to fight the citation that said " possibly speeding". What happened in court that day is another story.
My friend is a beautiful Samoan American Princess married to a responsible intelligent Hawaiian man and they are raising four kids in Orem, Utah. She is pregnant and will be having a baby girl in November. 
She is smart,  funny and hardworking. She loves everyone around her. She is nurturing and she serves others. I love her.
I thought about this and stepped back for a moment and watched my emotions played. I was a bit wonted. I wanted to be angry and appalled and uncomfortable but there was almost nothing. Like I expect these stories from time to time and more that often.
As much as I wanted to empathized with her and what she had to go through,  I am distressed with the fact that I know this happens ever so often in a community of people who claim to be have raised the bar on issues of inclusion and diversity in their practice of religious rights. 
This is the real story.  Me and my real expectations. and  almost corrupt  pessimism.
I feel I have the right to be scared,  defensive and unprecedented in encountering forms of racism and inequality.  I should have the right to fight this in a real forum and a nationwide symposium for all the world to hear. Not in a traffic court like I just run a red light.  Why,  because in all these years of humanity,  the wars we fought for oppression, slavery, colonialism,  and independence and sovereignty, we should be passed this ignorance.
Moreover, because we are a testimonial race who  gather stories of overcoming, we can do better in our day to day human interactions and exemplify what we were taught. That this self-centered lie that that eats our core and hinders us to achieve basic humanity to have the right to treat others as we would not want to be treated should not rule our lives.
This is my "fourth of July" contribution. I know that as the fireworks fizzle and the smoke creeps away on the ground we stand,  we can truly see that this earth that we stand on is on a lease and our borrowed time is best spent with true principles and integrity that will make our posterity stand in awe and gasp in disbelief that when one of their friends come home with stories like my friend's,  they will feel like its from an anomalous time capsule buried so many years ago and should have been left there.
Have a great fourth of July, let's all remember how this day came about.

My wise daughter told me that she likens trust to a rock. She gives a few away and if one is thrown back at her, she will think twice to give it back. Brilliant , I say. And very true. Then I thought to myself and looked back at my life and severely concluded that I have been “stoned to death”.

This overblown realization has led me in introspection and  really question where I base my faith and ability to trust. I may have been unable to get out of the way and be buried in the landslide of misgivings and disappointments but like the proverbial question of what came first “the chicken or the egg?” do I trust first or trust after the situation or person is worthy of the trust? And then, don't I really just distrust instead?

Call it pessimism if you will, but I just realized most of us are in a fault-finding mission of some sort and the  fatal wounds of disappointment and fractured existence are too real to ignore.

I concluded at one time that if I expect the least from those around me, I will never be disappointed but I am already disappointed and there's no need to raise my hopes. It becomes comical to a fault and Am I really saving my self from further disillusion?

But today, I walked out of my house and I cannot deny the renewed faith I have every time I see the sun shine or even the snow fall. I cannot forget the smiles of strangers who need the simplest affirmation of happiness. I cannot deny the words of love that I hear constantly over the phone from my family every time we hang up. I cannot ignore the impulsive glorious singing in the narrow hallways and bathrooms in my home. I watched the bursting colors as the day closes and marvel at the imposing mountains east of me. And I cannot close my eyes without a prayer of thanks that no matter my folly, trust and faith are two gifts I have with no recompense.

Yes, trust was given to me like a rock to keep me grounded and to keep me real. To help me understand that disappointment renews and redeems those who do not give up the inheritance of perfection and divine existence.

My wounds may be deep but they are healing. I will understand agony to gain courage. I will face disappointment to oblige second and third chances. I will welcome the crucial teachings of forgiveness for godly strength. And because I am mended I will keep gathering the rocks of faith along my way.

MY ROCKS OF FAITH

ZONE LEADERS!!!!

Micronesia Guam 

The letters are few and far between but the small droplets of news are so precious from this incredible young man who can not say enough about his missionary work. The other day we were surprised by a visit from two special friends who were Elder Malit's zone leader and an Assistant to the Mission President, both were very good friends of his. They gave us good news of how Elder Malit is just loving the people of Chuuk, gladly, more than he loves "SPAM" (which is mainstay in his island diet).

He is going to a year out in April and we know it is a bittersweet realization that all good things will and eventually, end. But when you do good and great things, all will extend to eternity.

He has been called a Zone leader since November and he is working hard and probably, panicking all the time that he is not doing enough. But, like he says, "how do you eat an elephant?" (not that you'll really eat one), ONE BITE AT A TIME!!! We love our Elder and we will still be anxious for the letters that literally comes by a boat! from his island to ours!

"GROUPS" of friends..

my husband, paulo, recently discovered facebook and the user friendly feature of creating "groups". he went amuck and with uninhibited dedication searched for his long time friends and acquaintances. i found him awake late nights and early morning hours to accommodate  different time zones  with friends on few parts of the world, skyping. yes, skype!! (i couldn't get him to open his own email at one time) and this computer illiterate novice is maximizing his keyboard time to unite friends from so many times and places.
its quite amazing and really, just fun!

places and faces can take us back to the best times when our lives meshed and twined. and in those segments we can find ourselves once again. our friendships truly define us. our friends make and unmake us. we keep those we seek and we seek those we want to keep. we cross boundaries of land and time. we make friends and we become one. we speak a certain language with inside jokes and rhetoric of sorts. we are bound because once in our lives we were touched simply by the hand of a friend.

have fun with the "groups" take only the best and forgive the least.

"the best of friends"

some few years ago!!

Almost thirty years ago, two young men trekked and trudged through the soil and puddles of southern Philippines to spread the true gospel. They live to tell the stories of survival in the unknown territories of The Philippine Cebu Mission. One is from Afton, Wyoming the other a Filipino from Northern Luzon.
They found friends and families and taught them of the gospel they live for. They planted the seeds of faith in many lives. They found the rewards of their labor as many families still grow in the church. They kept friends close to their hearts but most of all they kept each other. Once missionary companions, now friends forever!!
Thank you Alan and Paulo for your service to the Filipino people of Cebu Mission!

what is beyond this road???

this is what you find when you get lost!!