Living mindfully and profoundly

Today there was an amazing CNN article "Finding faith in Disaster." I have to share one great thought by a Buddist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh:

"As we contemplate the great number of people who have died in this tragedy, we may feel very strongly that we ourselves, in some part or manner, also have died.

The pain of one part of humankind is the pain of the whole of humankind. And the human species and the planet Earth are one body. What happens to one part of the body happens to the whole body.

An event such as this reminds us of the impermanent nature of our lives. It helps us remember that what’s most important is to love each other, to be there for each other, and to treasure each moment we have that we are alive. This is the best that we can do for those who have died: We can live in such a way that they can feel they are continuing to live in us, more mindfully, more profoundly, more beautifully, tasting every minute of life available to us, for them."

I have been so moved by the outpouring of care and concern by local people here on Guam. The Chamorros on Guam, who were brutalized by the Japanese in the War, have collected funds, food and clothing to send with our military to Japan. Several thousands of dollars were collected in just one day. To me that is a full circle of forgiveness and love. It has been a highlight despite the dark days of disaster and fear. It is proof that we are all one family and all need each other. Why does disaster happen.... so people have an opportunity to truly behave like the Savior lifting and helping and thereby do as Hanh says, to learn to live more "mindfully, profoundly, tasting every minute of life."

Language of the Spirit

We had a really inspiring combined Young Women/Young Men activity this past week to teach the Youth about the LANGUAGE of the Spirit. The youth, around 25 total, were divided into 2 groups and sent into classrooms where 2 teachers spoke only in a foreign language to them. Steve, one of the 2 teachers, greeted the kids in Italian and the youth were just confounded. When Steve asked them their names or how old they were in Italian, the youth would respond with random answers that had nothing to do with the questions (notice the kid covering his face).

The youth were looking to me for help and answers, and I too would only respond in Italian.

Natalie was laughing because she could understand, but she was instructed not to say anything.

Steve then went on to teach the youth how to make Brownies in Italian, something he learned to do as a missionary in Sicily.
The youth started to get really excited because they heard the word "brownies," and they kept asking if they were going to eat brownies?

One sweet girl named Shyne, who we all call SunShyne, (next to Natalie with the black sleeves) started to get the hang of Italian by listening intently, she started figuring out what Steve was saying. Steve would say "forno" and SunShyne would say "Oh I get it, you put the Brownies in the furnace or oven. You are teaching us HOW to make Brownies." (Steve is pointing to her and saying "Si")

In the other classroom, Sister De Valle was speaking Spanish to her group (She was born in Puerto Rico)
Trevor and Brendan both speak/understand Spanish but they had to pay attention because her dialect was different than what they are used to. But after concentrated listening, they could respond to her questions about music in Spanish. The rest of the group just shook their heads with confusion.

After 10 minutes, I gathered them all to the cultural hall and asked the youth if they had difficulties understanding the languages, were they frustrated because they didn't understand, did they tune out?
There was a lot of laughing at the confusion and the need/ want to understand the foreign tongues.
I compared learning a foreign language to learning the language of the Sprit. How we have to practice, how we have to actively listen. I explained how making quiet time, with no ipod, Facebook or music helps us tune into the Spirit and hear and understand the language of the still, small voice. I shared an experience of how my dad was on a noisy tractor, and he couldn't hear my baby brother Dan calling for help when he was being squished in the corral by the tractor my dad was driving. My Dad could not hear my mom calling to STOP! But how my dad finally did "hear" the piercing voice, the language of the Spirit and my brother was not killed. I challenged them to listen after prayer, during the sacrament, when they were alone and not add background noise or media, and if they did, they would start to hear and understand the Language of the Spirit. They would recognize the directions, the peace and comfort. The youth were so quiet and attentive that I truly believe they felt the Spirit testify of this truth. It was one of those moments as a leader where you feel connected to something bigger than you and that these are truly Heavenly Father's valiant Youth that He kept for the last days to help usher in the Savior.

Of course, I had to laugh at the end, because someone asked if we were finally going to have those BROWNIES now. Nope-- we served them Banana Splits instead. Got to end with a spiritual AND a sugar high.

Temple Passports

10 years ago I launched Temple Passports as a small business

They are basically like a US passport, only you get a stamp when you visit any LDS temple worldwide. The Temple Passport holder gets to affix a sticker that looks just like a passport stamp. It allows you to keep a personal record of your temple service for posterity. Or for those who want to visit all 144 temples worldwide it can track your progress.

Well Steve just discovered a blog by a woman named Kristin Sokol who has created a knock off of my Temple Passport, only she calls it a UTAH Temple Passport. The only difference between hers and mine is she has concentrated on just temples in Utah and gives a description.

So I created a Temple Passport blog. Can I ask you to please go visit the new Temple Passport blog (link on the right with other blogs), so it gives me more hits and allows search engines to find Temple Passports.

Thank you!

P.S. if you don't have a Temple Passport, I will send you one

Bleed to love you

Slang for the boondocks or jungle is the "Boonies." Many things on Guam get the prefix "boonie. For example: boonie dogs (a wild or abandoned dog), boonie bees (strain of the African Killer bees that never stop stinging you --they never die-- you just have to outrun them), boonie cars (cars that are so rusted and encrusted with red dirt you wonder how they still work) and boonie stompin (hiking through the overgrown jungle). And Boonie stompin is where our story begins....

This is my good friend Nan Osborne. She has the body and energy of a 15 year old, and she makes everything that much more enjoyable. (Don't you love her soccer socks?! She used these to keep from getting cut by sword grass).

One morning at 6 am, Nan decides we should climb Mt. Lam Lam before all the Catholics on Guam climb it for Good Friday. So we get the kids out the door for school and climb in her Expedition and head South. It is not hard to find the tallest Mountain on the island for it rises 1,334 feet above sea level, but to find the entrance to the hike takes a super sleuth or the willingness to stop and ask a few locals on the way, where the trailhead begins. (School kids all over the island like to tell visitors that Mt. Lam Lam is actually the tallest mountain in the world, taller than even Mt. Everest (29, 035 ft), if you take into account the Marianas trench that sits right off the shore of Guam, which makes Mt. Lam Lam 37, 820 feet)
Nan, her new friend Lori Boss from Japan, and I finally find the trailhead, after circling around a bit. (The trailhead moved from when I was last here 4 years ago.) We couldn't have know that this would be the pattern for the whole day, chronically lost syndrome.... There is always something so thrilling about the beginning of a journey, the anticipation of adventure is a natural high. When we came to our first clearing, I couldn't help but be grateful for the cool breeze and sky so blue and endless that it seemed like a glimpse of eternity. It was one of those moments as a woman when you feel so happy that you can't contain it, and the joy leaks out your eyes in the form of tears.

After drinking in the view, and we headed back into the jungle to finish the climb.
This grass is razor sharp. You have to walk with your hands in front of your face at times so it doesn't cut you.

We came across the Madonna of LamLam hidden in a small limestone forest
Many people climb here to lay rosaries on the crosses, light candles and pray to Mary and ask for blessings of health. On an island where diabetes is rampant and exercise is neglected, the climb probably does as much good as the prayer. But usually it is family members climbing to pray for family members who have had both feet or legs amputated by the disease.
Despite large spiders and mosquitos, this is a nice quiet grove to lay out all your troubles and worries to God.
After we cleared the limestone forest we headed up again to climb to another plateau covered with crosses. The crosses are so unexpected, and that coupled with the climb takes your breath away.
Down below, we could see Fena Lake Reservoir. It covers 200 surface acres and is filled with Bass, Tilapia, catfish and mosquito fish keep it healthy and a fresh source of water for the island.
No one is allowed to fish or swim at Fena as the Navy protects it.

Why are there so many crosses here on the mountain? Local families from numerous villages climb LamLam every year to do the "14 Stations of the Cross" (a pilgrimage that originated in Jerusalem to follow the footsteps of Christ to the cross ). Individuals and families repeat this trek -- many on their knees, in wheelchairs, or on crutches to get a better feel of the pain and sacrifice of Jesus. There is one family, the Cruz's, who built a 500 pound cross that is 11 feet high and spans six feet in width (made out of Aga wood, known for its strength and durability), and they carry it up the mountain every Good Friday.

After walking up the sharp limestone and being cut with cane grass, I was feeling grateful that all we have to do as members of the church is kneel down to pray by our bed, in our closets or in our heart to invoke the ear of Heavenly Father. Our sacrifices aren't bloody knees, but time, talents and means (At times, painful sacrifices if you consider a week of KP & bathroom duty at girls camp, eating bugs at Fear Factor Youth conference, and chaperoning LOUD Stake dances until midnight)
On the way down, I noticed the pretty, wild ground orchids that dotted the trail and wondered if they sprung up where someone stopped and shed tears or bled along the way.

Well if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, after we descended, we decided to go onto Sella Bay to the ocean.

It was only supposed to be a 1.5 mile hike (each way) and we thought, easy enough.... famous last words....
We got off the trail accidentally and wandered down unmarked hills and waded down streams, when we were only supposed to cross them. At one point we thought we could just follow the Sella river to the ocean, until we came across a waterfall that was too steep to climb down.
We looked around and realized we were REALLY lost, and it would get dark in a couple hours and our husbands were off island, and we had no one to come rescue us or GPS to guide us back and we were out of water. If you haven't been been in the jungles of Guam, it seems funny that you could get lost, but tourists and residents have to be rescued quite frequently. (A Japanese soldier named Sgt. Yoki actually lived in the jungle on Guam for 28 years after WWII, and no one found him)
It came to me that we needed to pray. I knew that we weren't too lost for God, and that I didn't need to bleed for him to hear me (though I already had a huge lump on my shin from falling).

We bowed our heads and I prayed for peace to replace panic, for a clear mind, for safety and most of all for us to be able to know which way to go to find the trail again.

We closed the prayer and Lori said "look up, you can just barely see the crosses at Mt Lam Lam." We knew that was the direction we needed to be headed. We slid down one mountain on our backsides, so we wouldn't Jack and Jill tumble to our death to get to the river below. Nan had removed her soccer socks after the LamLam hike, but she laid down razor grass for us and was bleeding all over the place on her hands and knees. When we got to the river we tried several times to find a place to climb out but everything was so overgrown I was afraid we would get turned around again. I said a prayer inside to ask for guidance once again, and I felt a prompting to go right through this one overgrown area. Well, wouldn't you know it, we had to climb a bit on our knees because it was so steep. Then, even worse it led us into these massive web of giant banana spiders. Lori is deathly afraid of spiders so we searched for a stick, and I wound up the webs as best I could and moved the spiders and plowed through. When I felt the residual of sticky web hit my face, I wanted to turn around and give up, but I took a deep breath and kept pressing forward. At one point when my face was getting really scratched up, I turned my back and pressed forward (backwards). I was basically flopping myself onto razor grass so dense and high (several feet over my head) in order to lay it down so we could move forward. The church song "Press forward Saints, with steadfast faith in Christ" never had more meaning to me. When we finally got to a clearing, we celebrated because right there before us was the red dirt trail!

We arrived back to Nan's Expedition, bruised, cut up and bleeding, not too unlike those on a pilgrimage to Mt.Lam Lam. While we went to work using Nan the Nurse's first Aid Kit, I couldn't help but think about God hearing our prayers-- not because we were bleeding-- but because we prayed in faith. I sent a silent heartfelt prayer heavenward. The story ended well for these chronically lost Boonie Gals. And we thought, well maybe we should have just climbed Mt. Lam Lam on our knees-- might have been easier!

Next boonie adventure: kayaking to CoCo's Island. This time though, we are getting a guide!

Still Standing

People were bit worried here because of the Tsunami warning. We get earthquakes all the time, in fact we had a 7.3 on the Richter scale when we lived here in 2004 that knocked out power out for a week. (There was even an 8.6 earthquake back in '93 but that still didn't do too much damage) Because of the plate tectonics Guam rests on, we slosh side to side and don't have the breaking devastation like California, New Zealand or Japan. Tsunami's though are a worry for those living along the coastline.
We do have cliffs and a large reef to slow down high waves, and the Marianas Trench, which because of its depth, is supposed to strip some of the energy of a Tsunami.

Roads were closed along the beach and everyone clamored to high ground. We are blessed to live up on a cliff so we didn't have to move to a safe spot. Poor Steve couldn't even make it home from work because of the road closures. Everyone was just at a standstill traffic jam on the roads.
The kids and I grabbed the video camera and phones and went to go see what the ocean was doing. The warning was the Tsunami was to hit at 7:09pm. It gets dark here at 6:30 so the visibility was limited. At 7:50, we breathed a sigh of relief that the Tsunami probably wouldn't have the magnitude to do great damage.

The next morning I went down to the beach to do my Saturday morning run. It was closed to swimmers but there were a few diehard fishermen on the beach. The surf did rise higher by three feet during the night, and it littered the shore with broken coral and big sea cucumbers.

Now our greatest worry is the RADIATION from the exploding nuclear power plants in Japan. We have been told it poses minimal threat, but I have still been trying to get Potassium Iodide to prevent radiation poisoning. Problem is, I can't find it anywhere here and can't get it online. It all seems to backordered until the end of APRIL!! If anyone knows how to get some at their local drugstore, PLEASE let me know!

In the meantime, we restocked/repacked our 72 hour kits and try to be prepared the best we can and have faith that we will be protected.

To dive for....

When you are surrounded by water, swimming is mandatory and scuba diving is, well, icing on the cake.
You only have to be 12 here to get certified. Natalie and her friend Isaac Hales passed the written test in flying colors.
So they went to do the next step, to pass off the diving requirements 30 feet down.
Because of the Tsunami and high surf that churned up the ocean floor, their teacher Jenn Cornielson took them to a protected cove called "Out house beach" that is behind the Piti Power Plant.
At this dive site you can actually find 1944 coke bottles that were thrown off naval ships. (We have 2 of these bottles.)
The kids were happy that there were no stinky outhouses anywhere or any candy bar shaped debris floating about. Jenn did tell them that if they pee in the ocean here, they will immediately get colder. Natalie didn't try it out, even for science :o)
Once again, they passed all the tests and now will finish their last class off a dive boat out in the middle of the ocean.
Natalie was fascinated with all the sea life swimming right next to her, the angel, parrot and trumpet fish. I love all the colorful fish here as well. I got to thinking, the only body of water I was in at Natalie's age was a the dirty drain ditch behind our farm, and the only fish I saw was the fishsticks from Schwan's. Some girls have all the luck....

February: when the worst turned out to be the BEST

As a hopeless, helpless romantic, February is usually my favorite month because of Valentine's day and Steve's Birthday. This year? Uhmmm no.... I had to think like Betsy Tenn Boom from the "Hiding Place" and find a way to be grateful for the fleas.... (Betsy and her sister Corrie were sent to a concentration camp for hiding Jews in their home. Even with all the horrors around them, they always said grateful prayers despite losing parents, lack of food, mistreatment and even for the fleas that bit them all night, because the fleas kept the guards from coming in and molesting them.)

So remembering those 2 sisters, I learned to say grateful prayers for all that we thought went wrong in February....

Even though it is dry season, we have had torrential rains this year. And after the rains, fierce winds (not our gentle Trade winds) have whipped us around. One morning after I took the kids to school, I hear this awful crash (different that the previous 2 crash sounds I heard, which were the shelves ripping out of the wall). This time the crash was the wind knocking the basketball hoop onto our car.

It dented the hood and left scrapes all down the front end and bent the antenna
And insult to injury, underneath the hoop: 5 nasty Guam toads that came at me for moving their home
But I learned to say thank you to Heavenly Father, because the falling basketball hoop didn't break the windshield, and those toads ate the Boonie Bees that attacked me when I was trimming the shrubbery.

One of my favorite foods in Salmon. You would think being in the Pacific, I could get good Pacific Salmon. But no, out here at restaurants you get the pasty white, bland Atlantic Salmon.... so after being deprived for months of the fish I wanted and need for my health, I grumpily tried something new and went for the Ahi Tuna smothered in Pesto at Proa restaurant for Steve's b-day. I was looking at the concoction the waiter set in front of me like "Sam I Am" turning his nose up at "Green Eggs and Ham." But do you know, when I finally surrendered, and tasted it, I realized it was the best thing I have ever eaten! Steve, not a big fish fan after getting sick on seafood as a kid, took a taste test and had to agree that it was AWESOME!

And they gave us this Italian wanna be gelato (ice cream) with violet infused olive oil on the side to dip the ice cream in, and I thought 'this is going to end bad'... with me vomiting at the table with the chef watching. But I had to repent and send a thanks heavenward for giving me a small taste of Italy when I have been so homesick for Italian food.

Then, Steve announces we are going to a "Sweet 16" party in Asan at a Village Community Center for his secretaries daughter. The idea of sitting for a couple hours outside with people we don't know in the sweltering heat had everyone complaining.
The kids tried a myriad of ways to get out of it...they had homework, they wanted to go with friends to movies, they needed to go out with the missionaries to do splits, they needed to finish merit badges--yah right.
Well the party they dreaded surprised them: the 'knock off' sodas were better than name brands; the roast pig and homemade tamales were amazing; the dj played great music, the guest gifts from the Philippines a nice surprise and the feisty winds made the evening pleasantly cool as we watched a cultural night of kids riding carabao and a young Chamorro girl glide into the shoes of a young woman according to Spanish tradition.

Then there was Trevor's birthday party. Ever year the sad truth is, we plan a party for his b-day and it rains and spoils everything.

Trevor was sitting by the pool looking at the dark clouds blowing in and thinking out loud: "Yep, it's gonna rain for my birthday"
And a few drops did fall... but then the wind picked up and pushed the clouds away,
and a rainbow came out over our houseand then Trevor got the best gift that heaven can summon -- a golden sunset for his 18th b-dayand that night a full moon out his bedroom widow that glowed despite the heavy clouds that moved in.

And though Trevor was troubled that not all his friends could make the party because of unforeseen events that conspired,
it left Trevor enough German chocolate cake, ice cream and pizza to gorge on before he had to get his wisdom teeth yanked out and couldn't eat anything for 2 weeks.

And the best thing for this incurable romantic, was 3 red roses and a funny endearing poem to remind me that I am loved and to be grateful for all the "fleas" that actually are gifts from heaven.
Ok, February is still my favorite month, calamine lotion and all...