https://grandmabloggers.com/2019/09/19/tribute-to-my-mother-in-law-luisa-olivia-kongaika/

The Best Gift to Give Your Grandchildren

https://grandmabloggers.com/2019/08/14/the-best-thing-to-give-your-grandchildren/

Do Not Judge the Beggar

International Peace Garden

http://hubpages.com/living/International-Peace-Garden

Where is it?

Recently we had a family reunion (my mother's side), and it was held at the Jordan Park in Salt Lake City. Part of the park is a beautifully planned garden called the International Peace Gardens. I didn't know what to expect, but I felt a sacredness and world unity about the place. It is located on the banks of the Jordan River and has been there since 1947.

The Purpose

Utah is made up of several nationalities. This garden was created to promote the general welfare of the communities in Salt Lake City.

The motto is "Community Service for Civic Improvements". Committees that contribute and maintain the gardens come from the United Nations, Utah Youth Village, Wasatch Youth Center, YWCA, University Hospital and others.

Symbolism

The gardens and structures in the International Peace Gardens symbolize world peace, the true spirit of democracy, literature, cultural heritage, brotherly love and the history of many lands.
They were the initiated by Mrs. Otto Wiesley in 1939. She acted as Citizenship Chair for the Centennial Celebration of 1947. She hoped to promote good citizenship by having foreign groups help with the beautification of the City. It was proposed and approved, however, it was stopped at the onset of World War II, before being started again.

Labor of Love

Each group was allotted a section of the garden for them to design, create and plant with their own funds. They were approved by the City Parks Director and each part was dedicated and then presented to the City who maintains the gardens.

The first country represented in the gardens was the United States. Others include Europe, Africa and Asia. Also, the Japanese gardens were added followed by 28 countries before space ran out. Festivals include the various groups dressed in their native costumes dancing and singing traditional songs. All of this is free.

The only other known peace garden in the United States is one on the Canadian border in North Dakota.

Peace

The day we visited there were several people visiting and enjoying this beautiful peaceful place. Over 20,000 people visit the gardens each year.

I hope more people will be aware of these gardens and share in their meaning and hope for peace in our world.

International Peace Garden

Where is it?

Recently we had a family reunion (my mother's side), and it was held at the Jordan Park in Salt Lake City. Part of the park is a beautifully planned garden called the International Peace Gardens. I didn't know what to expect, but I felt a sacredness and world unity about the place. It is located on the banks of the Jordan River and has been there since 1947.

The Purpose

Utah is made up of several nationalities. This garden was created to promote the general welfare of the communities in Salt Lake City.

The motto is "Community Service for Civic Improvements". Committees that contribute and maintain the gardens come from the United Nations, Utah Youth Village, Wasatch Youth Center, YWCA, University Hospital and others.

Symbolism

The gardens and structures in the International Peace Gardens symbolize world peace, the true spirit of democracy, literature, cultural heritage, brotherly love and the history of many lands.
They were the initiated by Mrs. Otto Wiesley in 1939. She acted as Citizenship Chair for the Centennial Celebration of 1947. She hoped to promote good citizenship by having foreign groups help with the beautification of the City. It was proposed and approved, however, it was stopped at the onset of World War II, before being started again.

Labor of Love

Each group was allotted a section of the garden for them to design, create and plant with their own funds. They were approved by the City Parks Director and each part was dedicated and then presented to the City who maintains the gardens.
The first country represented in the gardens was the United States. Others include Europe, Africa and Asia. Also, the Japanese gardens were added followed by 28 countries before space ran out. Festivals include the various groups dressed in their native costumes dancing and singing traditional songs. All of this is free.
The only other known peace garden in the United States is one on the Canadian border in North Dakota.

Peace

The day we visited there were several people visiting and enjoying this beautiful peaceful place. Over 20,000 people visit the gardens each year.
I hope more people will be aware of these gardens and share in their meaning and hope for peace in our world.

LUTE

My Husband Wrote Me A Love Song

Finding the Lost Sheep

Finding the Lost Sheep

You may have seen a recent video of fifty-five ducks on youtube
crossing a busy road. As these little ducks waddled in single file
across the highway, all the cars stopped and waited. Each duck was
considered important, and the drivers did not try to rush him or her or
find a way around or between them.

For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39

Each soul is precious in the sight of God. How can we assist Him in
His earthly mission, which is to help to bring to pass the immortality
and eternal life of every man and woman? How can we reach the so-called
Lost Sheep and bring them back to the fold?

I know the time of our life that we were the happiest is when we
concentrated on assisting in the Lord’s mission of finding His Lost
Sheep. For three years we had the exhausting but rewarding stewardship
over several hundred young men and women in the prime of their life.

My husband was called as mission president in Tonga when our two
oldest children were in high school and the younger two were in
elementary. So, as a mother, I had to learn to budget my time between my
own four children and the other Saturday’s warriors that we had
temporarily been given.

Finding the Lost Sheep

He Wrote Me a Tongan Love Song

It took a separation from my usually non-romantic husband to squeeze the sentiments out of him. We had been married about three years and had two beautiful children when I left him behind for a couple of months. No we were not fighting or anything like that. I had a health issue that I needed to check out. We lived in a small South Pacific Island Kingdom. I had given birth to our little son in Tonga, but had complications. My parents came to visit and I returned to stay with them for a while.

http://elayne001.hubpages.com/hub/He-Wrote-Me-a-Love-Song

A Kiss is More than a Kiss in Polynesia

I come from a family of hand shakers. My mother was given the official title of “hand-shaking Christensen” owing to her stance of giving kisses sparingly, especially to strangers. Coming from a Scottish and Danish background, you may better understand my dilemma when I moved to the South Pacific. Growing up, my grandparents on occasion kissed my forehead, but not much more, except one grandpa who used to kiss me directly on the lips.

Otherwise, when I was introduced to someone, I was taught to shake their hands and say “how do you do”, or “happy to meet you.” After I was married, I was adopted into a Polynesian society where kissing was given freely to all. If you did not kiss your friends and relatives, you were considered (ho’okano) or rude. In fact, if you did not kiss – you would most like get embarrassed in front of your peers. 

One father in Hawaii dropped his daughter off at school, and as she opened the door, several things fell out of the unkept truck. She picked them up hurriedly, returned them inside and slammed the door. The father asked for a kiss good-bye. She gave what is called “stink eye” (disapproving look) and sped on to her friends. So the father left his truck on idle, tooted the horn several times until she turned around and then he waved at her to her chagrin.

Another 13-year-old girl forgot a book in the car when let off for school. She turned back to get the book, but refused her Hawaiian father a kiss when asked. So the father would not give her the book. Several times he would hit the gas pedal and the car went forward a bit. The daughter, needing the book, would follow to catch up, but he would not give the book to her until he got his kiss goodbye.
In ancient Hawaii, the honi was the usual greeting in which two people greet by pressing noses at the bridge and inhaling at the same time. It is considered very honorable, and it represented the exchange of mana (spiritual power between two people) and ha (the breath of life).  This honi seems very unusual to foreigners who witness it.  Maori people from New Zealand call their kiss the hongi.

Artwork by Ruth Kongaika

When the Hawaiians saw that the white man only shook hands as a greeting, they started to call them ha ‘ole, which literally means without breath. They thought it was cold and distant.  Having been raised as an American, we are used to having our “personal space”. There is really nothing like that in Polynesia, since they are used to greeting with a hug and kiss, sleeping in the same room, and sharing everything, they cannot understand our need for “space”.

Some other countries, like France, kiss on both sides of the cheeks when greeting one another. Hence, French Tahitians do the same. So you need to be ever adept at determining who you are meeting to know whether you should shake hands, kiss with your nose, or kiss on both sides of their face. Some countries even do it twice on each cheek!  It can be rather confusing and embarrassing. Some say, just take the kiss and run with it!  It has taken me over twenty years to get used to Polynesian kissing and hugging, and now I am moving back to the cold distant mainland America.