Traveler's Advice:Thou shalt and not...

23 years of traveling and having some good and bad experience with it, it always starts with what to wear, what to bring, and what not to bring. According to this picture above, I can not afford Louis Vuitton luggages. The good tip to buy a luggage that it is durable and solid color. Most of all, it should have wheels. I will explain more below. Always travel in style... aviod being looked at like tourist or rich socialite. Make them see you as daring and dashing adventurer or spy... My inspiration is Carmen Sandiego and Indiana Jones. I wish we live in an era when everyone could own fedora hat and trench coat. Nowadays, they are ridiculously expensive.



Don't bring or ever wear flowerly shirt enough to make you look like a flowerpot. Unless you are in Hawaii, but actual and authentic Hawaiin shirts that are cotton made, not silk.



Even don't bring flowerly skirt or long skirt. You can bring a short denim skirt black tights like what my cousin, Mischel, is wearing.




I know flower patterned skirt is nice but when you travel with comfortable shoe, it doesn't look nice.

My cousin, Mischel, gives a good example:



She is a better world traveler than me. She always travel in style.

Don't paint your nails black because you would go to a country that would judge you as Goth or weird rather than just a fashion sense.

Shoes are important part of traveling, because you can not bring too many shoes in luggage. It is maximum to bring two luggages for an international flight. So bring three comfortable but nice shoes. You need a rubber shoe, ballet shoe (for girls), nice walking leather loafers (for guys), and party shoe. Sandals are optional especially for warm place. Don't ever bring platform sandals. I am not big fan of crocs. I will show you examples below. The leather or cotton made thongs are better than plastic ones. Plastic ones makes it look cheap. As for rubber shoe, don't wear overly high top or bright or bulky sneakers. Be sure to bring boots when you are going to colder climate.

walking shoe you should avoid:

big white and bulky sneakers:


walking shoe you should try:




you could also try out mary jane walking shoe:




I am wearing this:



you also need a shoe is also good for walking but it is also nice. It is good for attending smart business casual events or etc. Like going to museums or nice restaurant. I suggest ballet shoe because it is comfortable and acceptable to social events.



high heels are fine but please no platform because you would never know there are some places that have uneven floors. Katie Holmes Cruise fell down walking in high heels.







Don't wear socks with your sandals.




For guys, bring nice walking loafers. This is what I mean:



You have to be modest with your clothes, and I know you are rolling your eyes. Most of you guys know that I am Mormon or LDS or member of cult... whatever. =) The thing is that there are other countries like India and Thailand expect you to cover yourselves before entering into their temple. I know it is hot but avoid going into extremes.

Avoid wearing spaghetti straps anywhere you go unless you bring thin cotton sweater or jacket or at the beach. You may look more like tourist rather than a world traveler.



Bring some jeans!

Bring jacket please even going to a warm place.

Please avoid bringing or wearing a shirt with cartoon and also that represents your country. It is underrated. Even though wearing a shirt said I love Hong Kong and walking around in that in Hong Kong is plain weird and cheesy. Please no offensive t-shirt even though a shirt that said like "I am with Stupid." It is good to be patriotic but it is too superficial. I'll you example and here is a man in France:



I went to visit Alexandra's House near Prince Building in Hong Kong, everyone were wearing their office wear looking very fine and great, but all of sudden I saw an American tourist wearing Southerner's Confederate shirt. You will never know that it may offend someone. Then, just wear it in your hometown. College shirts are better than that.

Anyway, that's all I can suggest. =) If you have any other questions, be sure to drop your comments. If you don't agree with what I am saying, please let me know. I am open minded with everything I can.

I mentioned luggage and of course we can not afford Louis Vuitton luggage. I suggest you to bring simple but nice durable bag that has one solid color with no pattern. I suggest black, blue, or maroon color. You should avoid bulky ones and also the ones you have to carry or drag it a lot. Buy or bring the luggage that would never have problem with zipper. For example, my dad bought really cheap luggage and then the zipper is bad and it fell open leaving the clothes all over the luggage claim. Make sure your luggage has wheels and easy to stroll along.

You will have a great time!

Traveler's Journal: A Brave New World...

I was born in Northern California and bred in Southern California. My family moved to small town of Whittier to be close to a school called Oralingua School for Hearing Impaired. It is an aural and oral training school for the deaf. It was my mom's decision to be trained to be prepared for real world. I had a nice childhood there.

We lived in a small blue apartment in southern part of Whittier. I lived in this apartment for about 20 years (1985-2004). I started schooling when I was about three. I started to learn to speak and listen. It was hard training for me because I was forced not to read lips or anything like that. I had to focus to listen the sounds and try to understand it. I stayed there from 1985-1994. I left the school when I was 11 years old. I started going to mainstream school (regular school leaving me the only deaf there) when I was around 10 years old. It was a public school and I liked it a lot. Actually this school had a lot of troubled kids. There was a fight started. One scary memory was when I was fourth grade and it was a rainy day which forced everyone to stay and hang out in cafeteria room. Something startled someone and there was a food fight. It went from food to folding chairs flying in the air. I had to hide under the table. Later on they started to turn the table over and even threw it in the air. It lasted about 20 minutes when one of teacher blared loud and nerve racking sound a deaf could ever hear. Everyone did stop. I was in the corner with my friends to wait for the whole thing to stop. Everyone even though they were not involved this incident had to write 1000 times, "I will not throw tables, chairs, and food in the cafeteria." I can not remember the rest. Actually it was one of my most interesting experience.

I lived in apartment and it was hard to make friends. It was not a permanent place to live. They all lived to pay the rent every month. Kids from Oralingua school are not from Whittier. They are from all over places in Los Angeles. It was not that easy to make a lifelong friend to live near by. That's one lesson I learned that living apartment is not best thing to raise your children. Everyone comes and goes. I rarely go out because we lived near Whittier College and we have seen students going wild on streets. My mom, one time, was walking along the street and all of sudden there was a dog running after her.

I love the old town of Whittier. My favorite place is Mason's Bakery. I had a thing for cupcakes and heart shaped cookie with red cherry in the middle. I revisited this place about few months ago and the bakery is still there. I bought my first American Girl doll from cute toy store, which was no longer there. I still remember Rocky Cola Cafe and they had great chicken tenders. This town is very unique and vintage like. They still have old fashioned 2 dollars movie theater. I still remember the Dunkin Donut at the corner near blue church (Whittier Christian Church-Disciples of Christ's church). It is still there. They still have great hot chocolate. I remember my brother and I being so nervous to pass by the funeral home. We were like holding our mom really hard walking pass by it. Sometimes we had to run really fast. The whole neighborhood looks the same but people are different.

My neighbor who has a house right next to our apartment is like a uncle to me. He always made a beautiful garden my family loves to take picture of. He is now suffering from Alzheimer. It was sad. He is a great man. He is still alive. His son and family are taking care of him.

Living in a small place made my family closer more than ever. It was also a place where I decided to get cochlear implant instead of learning sign language and emerge into a deaf culture. I wanted to continue to listen and talk. I remember my mom fighting for everything I should become to get the best opportunity in this real world. Before it was my mom and now it is my turn. I remembered coming home feeling loopy after the operation and then being able to hear few months later. I remembered hearing my neighbor's dog barking for the first time. Sounds came alive to me and I was never the same again.

Whittier is my first and most loved hometown. I love being there. I've never been so humbled living in this humble small town I learned to love.

My journey continues...the next destination is Hong Kong

Almost all the shops were open on Christmas day!

Merry Christmas and God bless you all!

- Tiny Tim (Christmas Carol)

Sorry it is belated. My family and I wish you Merry Christmas!!! I love Christmas. I walked around Causeway Bay in Hong Kong to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with people around. It was such a busy street and I have never seen anyone so happy to be with their family and friends. It was a great night. I miss my friend back home in US.

My family and I celebrated on Christmas Eve at the restaurant. It was an office party. My grandfather's employees came with their family and kids. It was fun Christmas party with weird music. It was like they use Christmas music which was suppose to be soft, melodic, and smooth, and they turn into fast tempo driving my brother crazy. There was a lucky draw and the prizes turned out to be full of toys! When they brought up pink Malibu Barbie's mini car, I was going for that for my friend's sister. Anyway, I lost to 5 year-old kid. The party so far went well and everyone went hope happy except my brother who has some ringing in his ears and some nightmares because of the music.

On Christmas day, I worked a little to print out paper for my mom. It is like 50 pages. My mom always work on holidays. It was my half day. I went out to shop with my brother and my mom. We went to Kowloon side to buy some things for my brother's friends and a jacket for my brother. We ate at Cafe de Coral for lunch. We had vermicelli with roast duck in soup. It was every Hong Kong people's favorite. I highly recommend this dish if you come to Hong Kong. The place was packed like pack of sardines in can. It was crazy. We later went back to Hong Kong side and walked around Pacific Place in Admiralty. We had a nice dinner at Island Shangri La's Summer Palace restaurant. The food was great! My favorite dish is Peking duck. I never out grew my childhood favorites.

What I got for Christmas? It was a best gift I ever had. I was sad because I left everything in the States. My friends, my home, my car, and something I worked so hard to build. Now I am in Hong Kong and everything became new to me. Everyone was gone. Some went out of town for vacation, some moved away, some transfer their job somewhere. Some of the places were closed down because the rent is so high. I had to start my life over again. It just made me so lonely and my self esteem dropped. I was heartbroken. I am trying to heal myself. So that night, I wanted to walk home from the restaurant by myself instead of riding taxi home. I went from MTR (Mass Transit Railway) to walking to take the shuttle bus home. I didn't realized my mom was following me. She talked to me about what's was bothering me. She told me her story about when she was young. This story is very personal to tell. The whole point is that she taught me to be a fighter for something I love and never give up. She is trying to get me to count my blessing seriously. The way we think about life is different. I believe everyone has its own suffering and suffering itself helped them to become stronger. I felt that suffering is one of blessing people learned to become stronger. For her religion, suffering is more of what you had done in past life that made who you are today. She told me that her mother asked the Buddhist monk why a person so unfair is so blessed. The monk said that you cannot blame a person. It is part of Heaven's blessing to people to suffer and they will have a chance to have better next life. It taught me not to blame myself for being deaf. In my belief, suffering is whole different story to me. I believe it is something that brought us into a perspective about what's God is trying to make us become. I believe that He is trying to make us be like Him. The gift my mom gave me is her extraordinary strength. She fought everything for me. It is my turn now.

Merry Christmas and God bless you all!

Pictures are coming soon. I just can't find something to put the memory card in...

Traveler's Journal: My birthplace

Instead of making a list of places I went and making short comments, I decided to go one place at a time. As a traveler, it is not always about flying or driving one place to another. It is a journey that made me a world traveler. People usually say that traveling around helps them to see the world beyond the 'rosy' glasses. Lets start with where I was born. I revisited this place about a year ago on a road trip.

I was born in Castro Valley, California, to former Dr. Tommy Leong and Marian Pena. I was born in Eden Hospital. My mom had to go through 12 hours of labor. My brother was also born in this hospital two years later. Both of us were born in October. It was also during football season and my dad was big fan of former Los Angeles Rams (now they are St. Louis Rams). My dad is still die hard fan of Rams even though they moved to St. Louis, Missouri. My mom wanted to throw the ice chips at my dad because he just forgot to keep massaging her feet to comfort her while she was in labour. I love my dad for doing that so we could laugh about this instead of giving my mom painful memories about going through 12 hours of labour. My brother was born two weeks premature with cord around his neck. They named me Christina Dianna Pena Leong Mei Ling. Mei Ling is my Chinese name. My brother's name is Brandon Benito Pena Leong.

I use to live in Fremont, Milpitas. We lived in my dad's house when he was a bachelor. When my brother was born, we moved to bigger house across the street. It was a German style house and it has two stories. I think it was about five bedrooms and 3.5 baths. I had a little doll house and it was a great place to do hide and seek with my dad.

I went back there about a year ago to check out the shopping center my mom bought many years ago before I was born. Someone already bought my old house. We had to sell it to buy business for my uncle in the Philippines. We had to move to Southern California because of me. I became deaf when I was one-year-old. My parents decided to move to be close to a special school that would train me to listen and speak.

I don't know what it would be like if we never moved. Looking at my birthplace and leaving it became a symbol of sacrifices my parents had made. They had to give up normal life and beautiful house so I could be able to speak and listen. It was no turning back for my family.

My dad's uncle, my grand uncle Don and auntie Ewing are still in San Jose. Whenever i visit San Jose, my family and I stayed in Embassy Suites. It was a nice hotel. I had a great memories there especially the breakfast buffet. It was so much fun!

I am going to end this now... next destination: Whittier, California

Finally...

Finally, I am still not married. Just kidding. It is just I am back in Hong Kong and wondering who I could call. I made a mental list of who is in Hong Kong and what they are doing here... I tried to think of my church buddies but they are all married and one of them just had a baby.

Here is my travel journal written and sealed by a World Traveler...

December 16th, 2007 (LA TIME)
10pm- First class- seat 4A PAL (Philippine Airline)

Yes, I was in the FIRST CLASS! My mom and I combined our frequent fliers and it upgraded us. My mom wanted me to stay in economy class to toughen me up. Here is a lesson I learned, first class is really lonely. Everyone fell asleep too soon or they have own TV to watch with earphones on their ears. The food is awesome... the best plane food I've ever eaten. I cleaned the plate and it left me feeling like a princess. Anyway, there was no one to talk to. In economy class, it could be hard to sleep or sit, but you will make friends easily. WE could talk to relieve the distraction and help us to sleep. I am totally deaf and I am not as annoyed as everyone else to listen baby crying. My advice is ride in international airline when you are going to international places. That is what I learned from my brother. He flew by United and got a bad service and never gotten something to drink.

I was reading the book called "Thirteen Tales." It was a good book. It has great way of describing what is going on. I was so engrossed in it to find out what's a truth in it. I actually wished I have not known the truth. It is painful. It is really interesting. I dozed off in middle of the book. The plane ride was awesome, no bumpy ride. I didn't watch TV at all. I just read the book. We arrived in Guam, USA, to get refueled. I want to go get out and see the place. It was like 4 AM in the morning, and I woke up felling great! That was great about being in first class. We arrived in the Philippines about 6AM in the morning. My mom and I went to business lounge. I quickly got some free food and drinks. I got really awesome Filipino porridge. It was so good! I laid down and tried to finish the book. I also had a time to write to my friend who is on her mission in Missouri. My mom and I waited for 3 hours to get a flight to Hong Kong.

My days in Hong Kong just began...

December 18th, 2007 (HK time)
8am- my mom's office- secretary table- Hong Kong China SAR

I went shopping with my brother to buy stuff for his friends. We went to Causeway Bay and we just thought the stuff there are too expensive. We are kinda crazy because we still think HK dollars has same value as US dollars. Anyway, we ended up buying a cook book for his friend who wants to become a chef. He was trying to be a librarian before. Anyway, we went to Time's Square, and saw all wonderful Christmas decorations. To me, there is a problem, the color doesn't really got into Christmas spirit. It was driving me nuts. Purple for Christmas, I could say ew. I am not a big fan of purple. I like lilies as a color but not bright and shiny purple. Yellow, navy, and brown are my favorite colors. I just thought Christmas could be either green and red or blue and white (winter wonderland). Everyone asked me if Hong Kong people celebrate Christmas. They do but I don't see nativity around. My parents want me to go to Macao to see the place and get some ideas for buildings in China.

December 19th, 2007
My family and I woke up at 5AM trying to get a boat to Macao. By the way, I finished the book and brought the book Odessa gave me, 'Twilight," by Stephanie Meyer. We arrived in Macao around 10AM in the morning. We started visiting Wynn, then MGM Grand. I gambled first time and didn't like it. I won some money and lost all to one sneaky slot machine.

We ended up staying at Venetian. I just developed several blisters on my foot and bad case of breathing. Almost everyone is from Mainland China and they are known to smoke excessively. I could not breathe. I could not last in middle of smoking air. I wanted to faint. My family were fine with it. I decided to stay in hotel room and sleep while my family gambled on their own. When I woke up, my parents brought me down to gamble first time. I started with 500 HK dollars (45 US dollars) and ended up winning 5000 HK dollars (454 US dollars). I played 'Game War' and I was darn lucky. Anyway, the truth is, I don't really like gambling. It was fun making money but it is just weird. It is like a shortcut and I am never satisfied with it. My brother made the most money and treat us a dinner.

December 20th, 2007
10AM-green sofa- Macao- hotel Venetian

My family and I enjoyed Chinese fast food lunch. The roast duck was awesome. I played Game War for a while and made 2000 HK dollars. I never want to play again. I just left to sleep and wait for my family. We got home around 6pm eating Portuguese egg tart. It was so good. Never ever leave Macao without eating the Portuguese egg tart from Lord Stow.

December 21, 2007
5:30am- my mom's office- secretary table- Hong Kong SAR

I went shopping with my brother. We went to Tai Koo Shing, and he finally gotten what he wanted for his friends. We both got haircuts from La Coupe. The hairstylist is awesome. She managed my hair to have more volume and turning my hair into 5o's style hair. It is huge mushroom hair. It is more like an Afro with straight hair. I like her because she is so particular and well groomed with my hair. I did not get a chance to take picture of it. I like it because it made me look goofy! I finally bought Christmas gifts for Amber and Robin. I actually left their gifts in the US by accident. I am shipping their gifts soon.

Celebrities watch:
Hong Kong Chief Justice Elaine Leung in Prince's Building, Central
- she saw me and my new hair, and I think she likes it.
HK politician, Martin Lee- Shanghaiese restaurant- Melbourne Plaza, Central
- He did not get a chance to see my really neat hair. My hair is terribly noticeable. It drove my mom crazy.

I finally get to see my cousin's baby picture. Her name is Chloe Ann Sanders. She is so cute. She has dark skin with one cute Afro hair. Her dad is African American and her mom is Chinese. She was born on the day I left for Hong Kong.

Chloe Ann Sanders

I finally finished the book Odessa gave me. It was good, but love stories drove me nuts.

Rest your tired eyes and have a good day outside... smell the roses and listen to the birds..
Pictures are coming soon.

Places I have been to...

Places I have been to...

Hong Kong

- I lived there for almost nine years. I use to go to school which stood right next to Jackie Chan's office. My classroom looked over his office. It was so cool! 

Macau

- Really fun place to go. They have the best Portuguese egg tart from Lord Stow. It is like another Las Vegas but it is smaller. 

Manila, The Philippines

- My mother's hometown. she grew up there since she left China. All of my mom's relatives and friends lives there

Tagaytay, The Philippines

- I love the golf course there!

Taipei, Taiwan

- Business trip- and it was so much fun! 

Shanghai, China

- Went on a tour there and it was really amazing. They had the most beautiful Kadoorie's garden. 

Beijing, China

- Spent like 2 months there visiting Beijing Olympics site. It was awesome. 

Dalian, China

- Business trip

Fukien, China

- My mom's birthplace and childhood home. I went to her childhood home but it was burned down. 

Tokyo, Japan

- Went on tour and Tokyo's Disney is classic.

Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan

- I was girls' basketball team manager. I had a blast there. It was funny when we arrived in Japan, we had to drive on right side but when we arrived in the naval base, we had to drive on the left side. 

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia

- did service there to meet and play with the orphans... we did some music and activities. It was awesome. I love it. One of the most memorable memories was walking through the manhole to see where people sleep during harsh weather. It was a humbling experience. 

Rangoon, Burma/Mymnar 

- My father's birthplace and hometown. He left there when he was 25 with a paper or visa to go to America. He had no passport or anything. His house is now US embassy's library. I went there and it was really nice but sad. 

Bangkok, Thailand

- we went to visit my cousins, Ayek, Apeng, and their families. Food is so awesome there. 

Hanoi, Vietnam

- Did service there and it was so much fun. A lot of people mistaken me to be one of the girls from Vietnam. By the way, they know more American pop stars than I do. 

New Delhi, India 

- did tour there and it was the best place and best experience I've ever had. It was so humbling and beautiful. Everywhere you go, you feel like you are creating music in your head. 

Vancouver, Canada

- Went to visit my dad's sister and her family there. Awesome Chinese food there!!!! wish they have some in California

Juneau, Alaska

- Did a tour there and it is so beautiful. Best time to go  there is summer. 

Pennsylvania, USA

- Tour (info will come later)

Washington D.C.

- Tour (info will come later)

Virginia, USA

- tour (info will come later) 

Las Vegas, NV, USA

- road trip

San Jose, California

- My birthplace (actually I was born in Castro Valley which is north of San Jose)

San Francisco, California 

- Driving there is just... giving me high blood pressure. 

Church talk: Greater Kindness

I thought about putting my talk in this blog spot because there are some people could not understand what I was saying. I was either mumbling, reading too fast or not pronouncing right. 

My talk went okay. I was so nervous there. I felt like shouting at the microphone. I kept on moving or shaking my right leg behind the podium. I use a lot of hand gestures. It was to help me remember or state something non verbally. 

News of the day: Katie Lutz got engaged today. 

Garrett and Mark did a great job. Mark gave really lighthearted and funny talk. Garrett's talk is very profound and wonderful. It was a joy to hear their talk. 

Sacrament Theme: Greater Kindness 

Not too long ago, my friend and I were talking about our religion. She told me how she admires my "Mormon" friends, but what bothers her is that we have too many rules. I didn't know what to say at first. We were in the car driving at that moment. I looked around and told her that California enforce a law against drunk drivers so people could have a peace of mind. I also realized that it is not only about you but you protecting others. 

In the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2:17 said, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Service is kindness in action. Do you have your favorite super-hero? I usually like Batman. I like how he brings justice in disguise. You see him once then he disappears. You guys are way better than that. You are real. People don't really see you as individual when they found out that you don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea, or ever swear. You've got to believe that first thing they would ever assume that you are member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Henry B. Eyring said, "I promise you that if you'll use your gifts to serve someone else, you'll feel the Lord's love for that person. You will also feel his love for you. And you will be preparing for times you will be called to serve people and to love them."

Any greater kindness can be known and unknown, but they both count. Let me tell you again that you are a super-hero. Because of your great courage to follow the Words of Wisdom, you lowered many car accidents, less traffic, unwanted pregnancy, broken homes, and even lowering medical and government bills. And most of all, you let many mothers to have peace of mind and see their children grow. This modern day revelation made by Prophet Joseph Smith is the greatest blessing to all of us even to non members of the church. I have so much love and respect for Prophet Joseph Smith even though we don't worship him. We should remember him and his kindness. He became the defender of truth and eternal life, and died for it. What a great blessing to be member of the Church because of Brother Joseph's love for our Savior. 

During last month General Conference, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin pointed out, "In 1840 the Prophet Joseph Smith sent an epistle to the Twelve where in he taught that love is one of chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with love of God, is not content with blessings his family alone, but ranges through whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race."  I thought about President Spencer W. Kimball saying that "Missionary work is lifeblood of the kingdom. When the blood stops flowing, the kingdom stops growing." Missionary work brings greater kindness, which brought everyone closer to their Heavenly Father to find joy and peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ. David O. Mckay said, "Every member is a missionary." I love what President Eyring pointed out that "you are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as his voice, your hands to lift is the same as his hands." You may think your kindness is either small or nothing. No! You changed someone's life. I remembered that I was inactive for 6 months and Odessa Stevens showed up at my doorstep and gave me a ride to the church every Sunday. She still calls me to make sure I have a ride. She actually thought it was just nothing but it changed my life tremendously. 

Kindness is the way of bringing strangers together together to become friends. The difference between love and kindness is that love is reaction and kindness is more of an action. I remembered my experience in Mongolia that when I first met the orphans, they were all over me hanging on me, clinging and holding me not wanting to let me go. I had to drag them back to the building against ten degrees below zero weather. They gave me warmth and kindness which gave me so much strength and joy to serve them. On the following year I went to India walking in the poorest neighborhood. I was so overwhelmed with its poverty and it just saddened me so greatly but until I met this little stranger who turned around me and gave me the biggest smile I've ever seen. I was so comforted by it. It strengthen and helped me to survive in this difficult experience. It gave me so much hope. India is a beautiful place. I wanted to go back there. They gave more than I gave them. Oh remember to smile even though you are facing in very difficult time. It helps many others to deal with their own. It is like carrying each other burdens without knowing how you have been through. Some people don't really want to talk about how they have been through. Smile is one of the most comforting thing to do. Kathleen H. Hughes said, "God knows the needs of his children and he often works through us, prompting us to help one another."  You are an instrument of Heavenly Father to serve others to bring peace to the world. 

Last Sunday I learned from Brother Jay Bradford talking about what is one of the sins anybody could have committed would be ingratitude. Then I learned so many things from Jen Gaskell's Relief Society lesson on Slow to Anger and Sister Mitchell's Gospel topic class about pride. I just thought what President Hinckley had said, "Why there is so much hatred in the world? I know that all of this is the work of adversary. He works on us as individuals. He destroys strong men. The kind of miracle can happen when there is kindness, respect, and love."

I am the only member of the church in my family. Being alone in something is no stranger to me. I have moved a lot. I have been the only deaf in high school and my own family. Kindness from others helped me to survive. I am deaf but I have never learned sign language. I rather speak and listen. It is a tough thing to do but I know I can do it. I remember the words of Mark Twain, "Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." My mother is a great example for greater kindness and sacrifice because without her, I will never have the confidence to speak in front of you. 

Jackie Robinson is one of my favorite baseball player and he is one of my heroes. He had overcame all odds to become the first African American baseball player to play in Major League. He went through all obstacles and prevailed without any act of violence. It was during the Year of Fire but it was also in the Year of Grace that Jackie Robinson tested America, and America was never the same again. He cannot be a hero without a greater kindness from his teammates and his manager, Branch Rickey. Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see the world." 

Jesus Christ is the great example of greater kindness to overcome the adversary in the world. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "Jesus, our Savior, was the epitome of kindness and compassion. He healed the sick. He spent much of His time ministering to the one or many. He spoke compassionately to the Samaritan woman who was looked down upon by many. He instructed His disciples to allow the little children to come unto Him. He was kind to all who had sinned, condemning only the sin, not the sinner. He kindly allowed thousands of Nephites to come forward and feel the nail prints in His hands and feet. Yet His greatest act of kindness was found in His atoning sacrifice, thus freeing all from the effects of death, and all from the effects of sin, on conditions of repentance." I remember few years ago being girl's basketball team manager in high school. It was one of the biggest responsibilities I ever had. I love the team so much but I am not good at showing it. I was trying really hard to make sure the team is hydrated and ready to play. I took care of medical kit and record the game. I learned so much from my team. They worked so hard and it was never individuals and they worked in groups. I remembered when we were in Japan, they struggled so much and they were covered with bruise and were so stressed out. I wish i could play for them. I love basketball. All I can do is help them off the court. I wish i could something more. But the girls were so wonderful. They carried each other's burdens, looked out for each other's backs, and always helped each other. They are even kind to their opponents. I was proud of them to be my team.  Most importantly, they won the best sportsmanship award. Being a manager is like being Christ's role. We helped them off court and let them do themselves by practicing our free agency.

I say in the name of the Jesus Christ, Amen. 

My Very First Blog!

Wow... I am here... doing my first blog It is going to be so cool. By the way, I didn't do much for Thanksgiving but actually I didn't do anything that has to do with "Thanksgiving." I took my mom and my brother a drive to count how many shops were opened. We ended up at Denny's and I gained about 5 pounds by eating big brownie fudge with giant ice cream. My mom secretly got some from my plate while I kept on slapping my brother's hand to keep him off from my delicious dessert. 

I have to go... to prepare a talk for tomorrow-- I am pretty nervous about it. I never really spoke in singles' ward before.... it is really weird for me. I found out that the next two speakers are two silly, crazy, and funny kids trapped in big, tall, and alpha male bodies. (Garrett and Mark). They are going to make everyone forget my talk. They are great speakers. They are the coolest and funniest kids I've ever known. =)