Reunion

A few of us had a mini high school reunion today.  There were five of us, with some bringing significant others and/or children.  As always, it's neat to catch up with things in the past as well as plans for the future.

For the past, I didn't realize that one of my friends, Debbie (we were in marching band in high school and also at the University of Florida) dated a KKPsi brother in the UF band.  I never would have pieced them together. Very revealing.

For the future, we're planning a high school band reunion at Bruce's "Taj Mahal" house here in Jacksonville, in August.  It'll be a cookout, with a bouncy slide for the kids.

I'm thankful that we can still be friends through the years and create more memories.

Rush Limbaugh

Love him or hate him, Rush Limbaugh does provide conservative views in all kinds of tones: with humor, illustrations with absurdity, but more importantly, with sound logic.  Yes, he's very logical.  

I've listened to him since the early 1990's.  I use to be concerned that he would be the only conservative talk show host out there that can get the message out there to beat the disease called liberalism, but thankfully there are a lot of other talk show hosts that have followed in his footsteps in local and national news: Sean Hannity, Neil Boortz, Michael Savage, and Andy Dean, to name a few.

I'm grateful for Rush, for his views of traditional morality, and the idea that we can be great as individuals, and that we don't need the federal government to be the answer for all problems in the world.

There's a war out there with ideas, and I'm glad these men are out there being the voice of reason, and it's up to us to carry the charge so that conservatism will prevail in the United States, and in this world.

Bookstores (Wednesday, March 28)

I'm a big fan of bookstores.  It's a great way to pass time.  Being at the Orange Park Mall a lot lately, I'll usually go to the Books-a-Million store there.  

My favorite sections are technical section of the magazine rack, or the Business/Finance section.  But one day, I even decided to look for a crockpot recipe book...I'm getting all domesticated.

Although we read mostly from our computers, phones, ipads, etc., there's still nothing like having a physical book in your hands.  

Walmart Lady

So here I am hobbling up to Walmart (see yesterday's blog), and right before I get to the entrance, I've been eyeing a lady, about my age, in Walmart attire squatting while taking a smoke break.  We caught each other's eyes a few yards back, and she proceeded to greet me with all smiles.

"Hi sweetie, how are you doing? You look really nice in your outfit.  Sorry to see your foot that way.  Hope you get feeling better."

I'm not sure if it was her southern charm, or her accent, but obviously her kindness just really made my day...and I told her that.  "Thanks for your kind words."

Thanks for making my day, Walmart Lady.

Walking Boots

Back in 2003 when I was living in Roseville, CA, I tore my Achilles tendon playing flag football .  The surgery to repair it went well, and so did the physical therapy.  

Every once in awhile my Achilles tendon would swell up and I'd have to put on a walking boot again to stabilize it until the swelling goes down.  

Well, it's swelling up again...and I pulled out my boot to wear.  On the one hand, I hate hobbling around in it even though I'm getting a lot of sympathy looks.  

But on the other hand, I'm grateful that I have this medical tool to help me with the healing process.  

Bonding Time

Just had a great time "working" on the farm to day with my dad and brother.  I know it's a Sunday, but I looked at the work as giving service to my family.

I spent most of the time raking the leaves around "The Tree" in the backyard.  And then I helped my brother stain the patio that surrounds "The Tree".

It's these moments that I'm thankful for my family, and that we can do these things together especially that we all live in the same city.

FICCA Saturday, March 24

I had a chance to go with my Dad to a FICCA induction.  Yes it was another Asian event (see yesterday), but more specifically the Filipino Civic and Cultural Association of Jacksonville Florida.  I saw some people at this event that went to the Night of Asia last night.  One of the ladies I spoke to yesterday (Audrey Hill of We Filipinos Inc) was the keynote speaker for tonight's event.  


It's a testimony to me of the the Filipinos in the United States that want to keep passing along their heritage along to their children.  I am a first generation US born Filipino.  In the keynote speech, Audrey noted that it takes three generations to be completely removed from your roots.  We hope to keep it going.


Although I am an assimilated citizen of the United States, I have an innate desire to remember and pass along the Filipino heritage to our younger generations.  And these groups give me an avenue to pursue.  


On another note, I had a fun time with my Dad and the guests at the table.  I also had fun watching my Dad get a little tipsy from the cash bar.  He seemed more more loose, more like a friend and less like a father.  And there was a funny event at the parking lot, but I can't disclose it here.  

Night of Asia

Tonight I had a chance to go to a neat fundraiser event called the "Night of Asia".  


A few companies from Jacksonville pulled together to sponsor this event to help the victims of Typhoon Sendong in the Philippines.  It was a top-notch program that brought together the Asian community in Jacksonville.  I've never seen anything like this, and from what I hear, nothing of this magnitude has ever happened in the Jacksonville area.  And get this, they were able to put this together in 30 days!!!  


Even our Mayor Alvin Brown spoke to the group.  

There were some dances from Asia groups, an awesome martial artist, and even a lady that wow'ed us with her hula hoop skills.  

I met some wonderful people that night, a lady who works at Medtronics (one of the sponsors), a few people from GE Aviation, and some key members of the WeFilipino Inc organization.

It was a wonderful night.  I'm grateful for the generous people in this community to pull together for this cause. 

Katniss, Peeta, Gale

Happy 19th Anniversary

Today marks 19 years since I was baptized as a follower of Jesus Christ, and a member of His church.  That's almost half my life ago.  I cannot imagine NOT being Christian.

I've made a lot of decisions, both simple and complex, where I've relied on the direction of my Heavenly Father.  Even then, I've come to know that He allows us to make decisions on our own for growth and understanding.

I'm so thankful that I was giving an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ in this life, and for the blessings that have come since my baptism.

Tuesday March 20

Family History

Today I had a chance to revisit my family tree.  Since my family is from the Philippines, I don't have records of my family tree past my grandparents.  I spoke to my dad today and he confirmed that he didn't have a chance to ask his parents (both deceased) about his grand-parents.  And there are no records of them in the Philippines, or if they are, someone local would need to find them.  I do have some distant cousins that I hope could help with this endeavor.

Being a Mormon, we have a Spiritual emphasis to do Genealogy work.  With a help of a friend tonight, he showed me another website that I could use to research my family tree (ancestry.com).  I created my family tree, adding my parents and grand-parents.  As the names are added, the site then reaches out to archived data (census records, immigration files, ect) and tags possible references to the name.

I found the following, some not so significant, but others were "pretty neat":

• I found my old address at Gainesville, FL when I was attending the University of Florida.  It even had my phone number listed (before cell phones).
• I found a record of my mom "living" in San Francisco in 1970.  When I asked her about it, she told me that that was the port of entry to the United States when she entered the country for the first time.  She didn't live there though.  She lived in San Diego for a few months, but it was neat that her entry to the US was documented.
• The military scanned pictures of an 1984 ship yearbook and I found a scanned picture of my dad when he was on board the USS Yosimite in Mayport, FL.  He was DKCS and the picture depicted the personnel on the ship holding up wads of cash.  

But the last thing I found was of some significance.  I found my late uncle's listing on a Social Security Death Index.  His name is Marciano Paje.  I remembered that he had passed away in 2005 of colon cancer in San Diego.  I had a chance to visit him in 2000 when I was in San Diego for a Telemetering Conference as a BYU graduate student.

I haven't thought to enter his records into the temple so that I can do the ordinances for him.  (Click here if you want to learn more about this topic.) I put his information into my family tree in FamilySearch.org, and with permission from my father, I will be performing, or participating in, the ordinances for him at the temple.

This little exercise brought me closer to my parents, talking to them about their lives and about their immediate family.  My parents gave me permission to do the temple work for my grandparents in 2002, so I knew that my Dad would be OK for me to do the same for Uncle Marino, but when I asked my Dad for permission, and he said yes, I still couldn't help but well up in tears.

I'm thankful that tonight, I was able to "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers" (Malichi 4:6).

Sunday

I'm thankful that I have the Gospel in my life.  I really rely on God's guidance in my daily life.  I love that I can turn to him for repentance, because I am human and make mistakes on a daily basis.

I'm grateful that I can find peace through Him.  That He is closer to me than I sometimes think that he is.

I'm thankful for the manual He gave us through His prophets.  They're written in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and modern day scriptures.

He still gives us continuing revelation through prophets today.  I'm thankful for President Monson, for his guidance and he leads God's church through these Latter Days.

I'm grateful for the anchor in the shifting values that are here on earth.  In a previous blog, I was commenting on the decline of our country, the United States of America.  Things are going to get worse.  It was already prophesied in the Bible and Book of Mormon.  But the Gospel is true yesterday, today, and forever.  

And no matter how difficult life can and/or will become, the Gospel will be my anchor in these Latter Days.

I love my Heavenly Father.  I'm so thankful of His infinite love for me.

Luau (Saturday March 17)

My church hosted a Luau today...and it was AWESOME!!!

The food was GREAT.

The dances were good too.  It was a typical Polynesian type performance.  The men did a Haka dance (I spoke about in an earlier dance but it was the boys that eventually performed.  The woman did a traditional luau dance with grass skirts.  They even got members of the audience to learn some quick dances.

One of the MC's (of Polynesian decent) showed how to open a coconut with a rock, or was it a shell?  Pretty impressive.

What a fun night.  Thanks for putting on a good activity for all.

Life Cycle of Empires (Friday March 16)

I know what your thinking...you asking "Huh?"

The topic seems pretty random, but I can explain.  One of my friends posted the following sticker on her Facebook wall.

That started quit a stir on her wall, with the conservative people wanting "free agency" or the decision do to do good instead of government forcing it upon you, and the liberals stating that these entitlements (like planned parenthood) allow them the liberty to pursue happiness.

Among the discussion, I became a little disappointed in the thought process of how people think, and I started thinking about the decline of past civilizations as well as America.  I did a Google search about it and came up with a wonderful article on how America's destiny is in line with the life cycle of previous empires.  You can read the article here.

The author reveals the following key points that have attributed to previous empire's decline and how America is showing those same symptoms:

1) The decline of sexual morality.

2) The increased economic and political power of women.

3) Many foreign immigrants settle in the empire's capital and major cities.

4) Irresponsible pleasure seeking and pessimism.

5) Government provides welfare for the poor extensively.

The article is very good and well thought out. I hope you have a chance to read it.  I'm grateful for the people who have researched the history of previous empires and nations, so that we can see the patterns that made them great...and not so great.  

We've heard the saying "history repeats itself".  One of my favorite variations is "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  I feel that even if we know our past, collective human nature still guides us to the similar outcome.  

Problem Solving

You know that saying about sometimes people talk to you just to be heard, not that they want you to solve their problems?  Well, tonight wasn't one of those empathy nights.

A friend of mine was in some kind of bind, and while we were listening to his concerns with empathy, something just told me to go directly into solution mode.  That was exactly what he needed.  And to be honest with you...I've already spent a lot of time on the "understanding" part. ;-)

I'm hoping that it'll help him with his situation.  Sorry I can't divulge for personal reasons, but I'm glad that we were there to help him formulate a plan.  And it also made me more thankful for my situation.  Kinda puts things into perspective.

Thunderstorms, Wednesday March 14

Florida experienced a very mild Winter this year, with Spring time weather coming quickly.  Even at times it seems like Summer weather, with the inside of my car reaching over 100 degrees parked out in the Sun today.

But today there was an afternoon thundershower...more thunder than shower.  I was thinking "Is it July already?"  The rumble of the thunder was a welcoming sound.  I'm not a big fan of showers, but the mighty lightning and thunder fascinates me.

Thanks for the change of scenery, God.  :-)

Doctors

So I had a doctors appointment today to check on something that's been bothering me for a couple of weeks.  I'm amazed at the competence of my doctor, and doctors in general.  The wealth of knowledge that they have, and the specialties, is mind boggling, and humbling.  And of course the best doctors have good bedside manners, and usually are understanding and sympathetic.

Thanks, Doctor, for checking on me today.

Small Towns

Today I had a chance to visit MacClenny, FL, a small town just West of Jacksonville.  I don't know what it is about small towns, but the people are usually the nicest, laid-back people in this state and country.  They take time to get to know you, not too busy to chat with you.  Not sophisticated to add that level of barrier in between you.

 Sometimes I wish I can either "tolerate" living in a small town, or import the friendliness into the bigger cities.   And what I mean by tolerate is that I'm sure I'd get bored pretty easily since there won't be much to do other than to drive to the city.

Thanks for being a good example of human kindness and decency.

Devotional

I had a chance to share a music devotional tonight in the Starke Ward (that's an LDS congregation), and it was well received.

Although there was a little section during my presentation where I shared my conversion story, I mostly told the stories of how I became a piano and trumpet player, and how that was  intertwined in my life before and after I became a Latter Day Saint.  I had a chance to play some of my favorite pieces, both secular and Spiritual.

I've been a performer for more than 28 years, but today I did something for the first time in public.  I sang and accompanied myself on the piano...at the same time. I've never done both simultaneously.  Fortunately, it turned out well.  I saved this vocal/piano piece for last, Rob Gardner's "Peace I Give Unto You".  It's part of the musical "He is Jesus Christ", where Peter is a witness part of Jesus' Atonement, from the Garden of Gethsemane, to His raising on the cross.  The chorus section of the piece is from New Testament in the Bible, John 14:27.  I love how Rob is able to incorporate scripture into the song.

I thoroughly love this piece.  I can really feel the Spirit every time I listen to this song.  I'm thankful that I was able to share this piece.  This is my true calling for the talents that I have, to share the Gospel.

The First 48

I've been watching that show off an on for quite sometime.  I'm back to watching it again today.  For those of you who don't know, it documents the first 48 hours from a homicide for investigators to find clues to who the killers are.  And if they are not able to find the killers within the first 48 hours, then their chances of finding them are cut in half.  

I'm actually amazed at the work investigators do to solve these crimes.  I commend the people that come forth to help with the investigators.  I'm also equally disappointed in listening to the suspects deny any wrongdoing in the interrogation rooms.

But nonetheless, I am thankful for the people that protect us, the police, investigators, etc.  They are professionals in every sense.  

Plan of Salvation

I had a chance to go out with the full-time missionaries tonight to teach a young Filipino couple about the Plan of Salvation.  It's been awhile since I've been out with the missionaries, so it was a fun visit.

I'm thankful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, and how it gives me a guide me to make Eternal decisions in our temporal mortal lives.

Reset Button (Thursday March 8, 2012)

Today was a long day and I didn't have a chance to have much of a break.  Towards the end of the day, I was exhausted.  And I was "mad at the world", so to speak.  Not that I was mad at anyone.  I think being overwhelmed with the various tasks I needed to accomplish, not having a good piano practice, etc, I was feeling ornery.  So I just vegged in front of a TV and then went to bed early.  I didn't return anyone's phone call, barely texted.  I just didn't want to be bothered.

I'm just glad that I can go to sleep and hit the reset button.  I know that I will feel better tomorrow.  :-)

Sunflower Seeds

I have a fun time planting sunflower seeds at my dad's farm.  I need them to bloom sometime in May so that we can use it for a church activity.  We'll see....it takes 75-90 days to bloom.

I had a good time, driving my dad's little tractor to haul some compost from one end of his 5 acre plot of land to the area that I was to prepare for planting.  He instructed me to weed and till a small section, dig holes so that we can fill the hole with compost and water, then poking tiny holes with our fingers before filling them with a couple of sunflower seeds each.

Now it's a waiting game, allowing God's creation to happen in His time.  It's kinda cool to know that we are the tools in preparing His masterwork, but after all is done, it truly is His miracle to make the seeds grow into a beautiful sunflower.  I'm sure we can go into a Spiritual discussion right now, but I'll leave it as a rhetorical statement.

I'm grateful for the time I spent with my dad, that I can work with nature, and that both gives me peace and happiness in what I sometimes feel are difficult times, relatively speaking.

Music (Tuesday, March 6, 2012)

Today I was preparing for the musical devotional this Sunday.  I am planning to share my testimony and music for a special evening church event.  I went through a few piano pieces and found four that would be perfect.  Without giving the titles, here are the genres:

• One classical piece by Clementi that I learned when I was 13.
• One modern piece by Jim Brickman
• An arrangement of one of my favorite church hymns
• A vocal/piano arrangement of a piece composed by Rob Gardner and is in "He is Jesus Christ"

I wanted to share how I had developed the gift of piano playing before I was baptized, and how I am now using my talents to help with church services.  I'm so thankful that I can worship God through music and that I can be an instrument (literally) to others by providing uplifting and Spiritual music for them.

Bluetooth

It's been about 4-5 years since I got a bluetooth earpiece for my cell phone.  Back then, the device was in it's infancy, and I wasn't all that impressed with it.

Fast forward to today.  My friend Eric uses it all the time.  I was hanging on to the ineffectiveness of my bluetooth experience that I never really wanted to get a new one, until now.  I bought one the other day, and in just two days, I've been overly impressed with the improvements of the bluetooth earpiece design.

I'm not really going to get into details.  I just want to thank the engineers for their advancement in their development.

I'm thankful for my new tool...the bluetooth earpiece.

Receiving Thanks

Today I was back at piano duties for church services.  I rotate with another lady every other month, although after speaking to her today, I will be playing for the next two months since she will be out of town in April.

After church service today, a note was passed to me while I was playing postlude music....and it just made my day.

I'm thankful that this lady took the time out to send me a personal thank you note to me.  Looks like they were visiting from Arkansas.  I'm fond of people from that state.

Such a little act of kindness, but what a powerful effect on me.  It makes me think about making sure that I tell people how much I appreciate them, daily.

Genealogy

I had a chance to volunteer for a Genealogy Conference today.  At first I thought I was going to just sit around a not do anything, but it ended up being that I was at the right place when there was some assistance.  Most of it was helping the attendees find their rooms, making photocopies for the teachers, and making the everyone feel welcomed.

One highlight is finding a guest teacher on the side of the church building trying to get in.  I just happen to be on that hallway to open the locked entry way.  She told me that she was a teacher for one of the workshops and wanted to know where to go.  I led her to the registration booth and jokingly said "I found this teacher on the side of the road...how can we help her find her room?"  She laughed at the joke and everyone carried on to assist her....all smiles and laughter.

I went to a couple of workshops and they were quite informative.  One class was about getting started with Genealogy, which I need to help further my research.  I only have up to my grandparents, with the rest of my lineage records in the Philippines.  The other class I went to discussed special objects and signs on tombstones.  The guest lecturers were very captivating and funny, the the information they gave was very revealing.  People really do go in depth on how to remember their loved ones.

Keeping a record of our ancestry is very fascinating.  I wish I had more passion about it.  In our generation, we have the technology to capture our lives in video and digital pictures, which makes it easier to pass along to the  future generation.  Comparing that  to the adventure to research our past, the records, pictures, diaries, etc., may be hard to come by.

And of course, there's a Spiritual side of genealogy work, which makes this very important.  I'm grateful for Genealogy research, and for the people who are passionate about this.  I hope to be that energetic someday.

Ballroom Dancing

One of my good friends told me that she was at a ballroom dance with her children.  How cute is that?  Back when I was at BYU, I took a few dance classes, which included social, ballroom, latin, folk, and Irish dances.  It's the thing to do, and I thoroughly enjoyed dancing.

I don't get to do it as much nowadays, but I do appreciate knowing what I know and that I can still dance a little when I get the opportunity.

Last week, after a business networking meeting, one of the business owners that owns a dance studio invited a few of us to go practice dance.  It was a lot of fun, although I forgot some of the advance steps.  My favorite is still the Cha-cha, although I did Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, and a few other.  Quite a neat atmosphere.  I wish I had time to take dance lessons, but I don't, not right now.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that I enjoy this activity, and I hope to do it again more regularly.

Missionary Work

I'm thankful for missionary work.  Tonight, I met with a recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we exchanged our conversion stories.  One thing that I am amazed about her is that although she's been a convert for under a year, she is a missionary leader for her congregation, and she is not afraid to "open her mouth" to share the Gospel to anyone and everyone.  Wish I could be as bold and persistent.

During the discussion, I started to remember something we learned as a missionary, called the commitment pattern.  It's a teaching method used to guide the discussion so that the person that is learning about the Gospel could make a commitment to a certain principal, whether it would be to read the Scriptures, to pray, to obey God's commandments, to be baptized.  

I had to dig deep into my memory banks to recall the commitment pattern:

• Build relationships of Trust (BRT).
• Help others feel and recognize the Spirit.
• Present the message.
• Find out  their understanding.  
• Invite them to commit to the principle being taught.
• Follow Up on the commitment.
• Resolve any concerns.

Some people affectionately call it the Manipulation Pattern.  But in actuality, when done correctly, it allows the "investigator" to know the true Gospel principles that are being taught by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And when the confirmation comes from God, that's when the true conversion begins to take place.

I'm thankful that I served a two year full time mission for my church.  I was assigned in the Los Angeles, California area from June 1997 to June 1999.   I didn't realize how much I did and still rely on those experiences, in both my Spiritual and secular life.  

There's a neat story in of itself as to how I ended up deciding to go on a mission.  I'll save that for a rainy day.

Pep-Boys (part 2) - February 29

As I was driving down US-17 in Fleming Island, my "Check Engine" and "TCS" lights came on.  I decided to stop by the Pep-Boys to have it checked out.  There's a tool you can connect to your car that can read the error "codes".  Each shop has that electronic tool.  Pep-boys can read the codes for you at no cost.  I called the other shops and they charged anywhere from $60 to $85 to diagnoses the "Check Engine" light.

Ends up that my TCS, or Traction Control System, is malfunctioning.  That's the system that helps prevent my car from slipping the wheel on a wet road when starting from a stand-still.  More of a convenience instead of a necessity.  It has to be repaired by the dealership.  I'm not going any time soon.

But I am thankful that Pep-Boys read the error codes from my car at no cost.  Thanks :-)