A Greater Testimony

I heard this story for the first time in my elders quorum meeting.A missionary by the name of Elder Stoeher shared this story with us.After he was done with the story there wasn't a dry eye in the room.Then I heard it again earlier this year in our gospel doctorine class.And the same thing happend again there wasn't a dry eye in the room.This story is one of my favorite stories of all time.I forgot that Elder Stoeher gave us copies of the story.I found it while I was cleaning out my scriptures.And this story just shows how much the savior suffered and it also shows how much he loves us.My testimony has grown much more since I heard this story.You guys might have heard this story but it goes like this

       This story begins in the year nineteen hundred and ninety seven in the seminary class of brother Mac. Bro. Mac had a bunch of donuts that he had gotten a hold of.As to be expected the kids hit him up for donuts. "Bro. Mac. Can we have a donut?"

"Yes as soon as we get class started." So they began to start class. They sang the song and gave the thought and then Bro. Mac read the scripture. It was John chapter 3 verse 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

        Brother Mac started to give donuts out. He started in the back corner of the room with the window next to a desk occupied by John. (now John was not an out going person, plus he was really skinny and not that popular.) Bro. Mac said "John would you like a donut?" Yea he replied. Would you do 10 push-ups for it? "Ok" so he drops and  dose 10 push-ups.

         Cindy would you like a donut? Yes

          John would you do 10 push-ups so Cindy can have a donut. Not expecting this John says umm... yea so he dose 10 push-ups

         Mary would you like a donut? Yes

          John would you do 10 push-ups so Mary can have a donut

          Dave would you like a donut? Yes 

          John would you do 10 push-ups so Dave could have a donut

          Jared woud you like a donut? Yes

          John would you do 10 push-ups so Jared can have a donut

          Brody would You like a donut? No thinking that if he answered no John wouldn't need to do push-ups.

          John would you do 10 push-ups for a donut that Brody doesn't want. Bro. Mac placed the donut on the corner of his desk.

          Jennifer would you like a donut? No

          John would you do 10 push-ups for a donut that Jennifer doesn't want. Bro. Mac placed the donut on the corner of his desk.

Then brother Mac got to Jason. Now Jason was the captain of the football team popular and all that.

          Jason would you like a donut? Yea but I'll do the push-ups. Bro. Mac said Ok you have a 1,000 to do. Jason looked at him and said "I can't do that many push-ups" John, will you do 10 push-ups so Jason can have a donut?

          Sena would you like a donut? No, but he doesn't need to do the push-ups. John would you do 10 push-ups for a donut that Sena doesn't want. By now John was struggling on the push-ups beads of sweat started to form on his face. His skin color had changed from white to bright red.

Bro. Mac continued on.

          Crystal      yes

           Lisa         no

           Misty       yes

           Rob         yes

           Clint        yes

           Nick        no

As John continued to do push-ups. You could tell every push-up was more and more agonizing. His body began to shake.

           Bro. Mac continued on 

           Amanda   no

           Aaron      yes

As the class watched John was nearing the end.

           Alison would you like a donut? Yes as tear ran down her cheek.

           John would you do 10 push-ups so Alison can have a donut.

           Brenda would you like a donut? Yes as tears ran down her face.  

           John would you do 10 push-ups so Brenda can have a donut.

John had finally finished. His weak and frail body struggled to stand from doing well over 300 push-ups as he staggered to his feet. Eric a classmate not in the church had just come to the door. He was running late. The class had noticed him and blurted NO! don't come in. For fear that John couldn't do 10 more push-ups Eric stopped.

           Then a small voice whispered from the back corner of the room. No it's ok let him come in. John got down on the floor and began to do the 10 push-ups. The push-ups that he had done before had taken its toll on his body. He began to cry as he did the last 5. As he finished he staggered to stand up and noticed that everyone was watching him and not one person had a dry eye in the room!

   

           That day Bro. Mac's class had gained a greater testimony of the Savior.

Mahalo nui loa and Faafetai tele lava to the Ohana

We are grateful for this family blog.  Our parents raised us to be proud of our polynesian heritage but to always remember our eternal heritage.  That we are all children of our Heavenly Father and someday can be together as a family forever.  Dad passing on mom's birthday 11/29/2011 has just confirmed to us that they are with one another and that someday it will be our turn. The three things we most remember about our dad is that 1. You want it, you got it toyota. 2. Never give up cause when one closes another opens 3. Get an education(of course his kids still working on that).

An early memory I have as a family was when we went to the Laie, Hawaii temple to seal Eric to us. Nei,Eric and I were waiting in a waiting area in the temple.  We were all in white and Eric was screaming cuz mom and dad were not with us, but when we were finally able to come together with Dad and mom I felt peace and Eric stopped crying.  Someday I know this scene will happen again.  We will be reunited with them again on the other side.  I look forward to that happy day.

My dad may not have been a perfect man but I realize that none of us are perfect. What I will always remember most about him is that when I got divorced he not only was a grandfather to my girls but a father figure who loved them. He was there for both their births, graduations, school plays, school projects and just there for my girls. Besides being papa he was dad especially to my Niue. They laughed together, played together, talked together, sang together and when my Niue was about to get lickens my dad shielded her. I will be forever grateful to him for the love he gave my children when they needed it. He taught me that family is important, that when the world and friends leave you behind family will be there. My parents are together forever now. They had their own birthday celebration and we weren't invited...When I told a friend about my dad passing on my mothers birthday she said, "How romantic." I never looked at it that way. They will be buried in the area Eternal Love at the Valley of Temples. Those that know my parents story would so understand. As an adult I understand the love they have now. 

Thank you Dino for this blog and to both you and Teura for your love and support.

A HUI HOU

                                            Uncle Aiva and Aunty Nei together again <3

To Our Filiaga and Malufau ‘Ohana,

Our love and prayers are with all of you at the passing of your beloved father, grandfather and our uncle. We will miss him for a time but, we know that he is now with his eternal companion on the other side of the veil and is so happy to be free from the pains of his mortal body and this frail existence. You have all worked very hard to care for your parents/grandparents in their darkest hours of need, giving of yourselves unselfishly. You have all been a great example to the rest of us, as we have watched you work and serve your parents so diligently. Here is a poem that reminded me of all of you.......

I Have Not Gone

You think I've gone, that I am dead, and life has lost its will,
But look around, I am right there, living with you still
I watch your tears, I feel your pain - I see the things you do
I weep as well, each time you cry, my soul, it lives with you
 

It gives such joy to hear you laugh, and do the things you do
And when you smile o'er by gone days, I smile right with you too
For we're still one, just you and me, one mind, one soul, one being
Walking forward into life, though only you are seen
 

And in the stillness of the night, when the pain it really starts
Stretch out a little with your mind and draw me to your heart
For I am always right in there, always by your side
For you have been, all my life's days, my joy, my love my pride.

Author unknown 

Never forget how special you all are to your parents/grandparents. You certainly all are their joy, love and pride. They will continue to be with you and watch over you, for you are their greatest treasure. Remember, they can do more for the family on the other side of the veil than they were ever able to do here. Last of all, your parents/grandparents will tell you this one day for themselves but, until then they would want me to tell you "THANK YOU" from the bottom of their hearts for being their doctor, nurse, pharmacist, chauffeur and more.....you have all made them so happy and proud:)

May the words of this song bring all of you great comfort..............Love Dino

The song sung at President Gordon B. Hinckley’s funeral entitled “What Is This Thing That Men Call Death” was indeed a poem written by the prophet. Nobody knows when he wrote it, but when Janice Kapp Perry’s niece was fighting cancer, she asked permission from President Hinckley to print the poem on her funeral program. She received a nice letter from the prophet’s secretary saying she was welcome to do so and he told her he would remember her in his prayers. She then asked her aunt to set the poem to music and when that was done, Janice sent a copy to President Hinckley’s office for approval. 

He died soon after, but it seemed the poem and the music was not meant to go with him to the next life but to stay here on earth to comfort many more souls. 

What is this thing that men call death?

What is this thing that men call death?

This quiet passing in the night?

ʻTis not the end but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light

O God, touch Thou my aching heart

And calm my troubled, haunting fears

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change

With recompense for vicʻtry won

The gift of Him who loved all men

The Son of God, the Holy One.

Please post your thoughts, feelings, and fondest memories or stories of Uncle Aiva:

I miss Uncle Aiva so much and I hope the family love him. I know you miss him. 

Ava 

What I remember about Uncle Aiva was that when he and my dad would see each other they would call out and greet one another with, "Makasipi", and crack up. I never knew what that meant until I finally asked my dad about it the other day. He laughed and said that it meant cockeye . I knew by the way they always got a kick out of it that it must be something funny;)    

Dino

Whenever we came over to Oahu to visit, I remember Uncle always dressed nicely in his aloha shirt and slacks.   As soon as he would see us, he would always offer juice, the meadow gold carton juice in grape, orange, or fruit punch, and food.  We would never go hungry there at the Aiea house.  Even now, whenever I see that carton of juice in the store or anywhere, I always think of Uncle Aiva.

Lohi


I remember whenever  we would visit or stay at uncleʻs house he would always come out of the room with his lavalava on.  He would give us hugs and then ask if we wanted something to eat. If there wasnʻt anything to eat he would always order pizza. After dinner there was always the good ice cream for eat (Haagen Dazs). I always remember the goodies Uncle would bring home and leave all over the table. My favorite was the twinkies.
Kana

                                                               

Say Something Nice

Have you ever watched 19 kids & counting?  I really like that show.  Whenever I watch it, I'm inspired and I want to be better.  In one particular show, I remember the mom and dad (Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar) talking about how every night they go around the room and each person will say one nice thing about everyone else there.  After each compliment made, everyone would clap.  They said that clapping after, multiplies that compliment by the times however many people are there.  For example, for the Duggers, a kid would compliment their sibling and everyone else clapping, making that 1 compliment 20xs (2 parents + 18 kids) more powerful.  I thought that was pretty amazing.

Receiving compliments are fun to get.  It makes you feel good about yourself AND it boosts you confidence.  giving compliments are also fun to give.  It makes you focus on what you admire about the other person (and maybe not so much on the bad stuff :) and it makes you feel good that you made that other person happy.

I thought that this was a VERY awesome thing to start with my own family.  We decided to do it at the end of the day, right before saying family prayer.  Me and Cam thought that that would be a perfect time to do it because sometimes, we get overwhelmed with the kids.  Seems like they're not listening and not doing what we want them to do and everyone ends up being upset.  This should NOT be the feeling while saying family prayer.  Instead of it being a time to actually talk to Heavenly Father, it ends up being just a check off the "things-we're-suppose-to-be-doing" list.  I figure that saying something nice about everyone in the room would break whatever bad feeling or anger that is being felt and we would have a nice family prayer.

I've been wanting to do this for a while but actually just started doing it about 2 weeks ago.  I have already been seeing a difference.  Na'u LOVES it!   The very first time we did it, it was just me, Cameron, and Na'u.  Iwi was on Moloka'i.  I went first and we all clapped.  Then Cam went and everyone clapped.  When it was Na'u's turn, she was a little shy and didn't know what to say.  So, I whispered to her something about Cameron for her to say and then Cameron did the same thing for me.  She was HAPPY that she contributed.

Here are some different comments that have been made thus far-

Daddy-I like your smile.  I like how you take care of Na'u when she's sick.

Mommy-I like that you cook for us.  I like your long hair.

Na'ulei-I like how you share your toys.  I like how you help with Loli'i.

Iwi Boy-I like how you are learning your colors.  I like it when you're nice to your sister.

Loli'i-I like your gummy smile.  I like that you are eating all of your food and vegetables.

Now, after doing this everyday for the past 2 weeks, I have already seen a difference.  Just yesterday, Na'u at breakfast, asked if she could say something nice about everyone.  I told her sure and she did.  Last night, she wanted to go first AND again after everyone had a turn.  You can tell that she likes to say nice things about everyone else.  She is even the one to remember to say something about Loli'i because most of the time he is already sleeping in his crib by the time we do it.  Iwi doesn't quite take part in it just yet.  We try to whisper something for him to say but with his limited speech, the compliment doesn't make out :).  I'm sure though that one day soon he will.

I know that there are things that we need to work on but I know that doing this, pushes us in the right direction of being kind to one another and recognizing how special the other members of our family are.  I think that you all should start this.  I am sure that this will only strengthen our family relationships because family is what matters most.