Hymns: Peace to Our Little Emma

Not too long ago, Alysha told me that she plays some of Mormon Tabernacle Choir songs to calm Emma down. I can't remember if it was her idea or I just decided to do it but I started singing hymns to Emma at night so that she would fall asleep.

I started with "I am a Child of God" and she loved it! She became very calm and started to fall asleep in my arms. Perhaps, it's just because she is tired. However, last night for some reason, she just started wailing! It was as if she was really scared/terrified of something. I just took her and do the same thing that we always do to put her to sleep: bouncing on the exercise ball and turn off all the lights.

She becomes more and more
Asian when she gets tired.

She was still crying and very fussy but when I started singing "I am a Child of God," she was calming down but still fussy. I continued singing hymns for a while and she fell asleep (not for long but she wasn't fussy anymore.) I think it is so cool that this little human would feel the Spirit and would receive peace from it. Some may argue that it's the sound of the song that she enjoys. I doubt that. I don't enjoy my own voice when I sing so I don't think she is enjoying it either. However, it really is the Holy Ghost that she feels when I sing and I feel it too.

"The singing of hymns is one of the best ways to put ourselves in tune with the Spirit of the Lord." -Elder Dallin H. Oaks-

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

New Job, New Path

I was going to write about how I got this job that I have now but it was too long so I am going to make it really short and sweet.

I worked at the Intermountain Medical Center for about 11 months. I wanted to become a radiologic technologist; however, I didn't like the idea of working and going to school full-time when we were going to have a baby. I didn't want to miss anything. I didn't want to miss our little Emma growing and learning new things. I wanted to be there to experience and enjoy all of it.

Thus, I began my search for a new job. At times, it was frustrating, disappointing, discouraging, and depressing. However, I knew I had to keep trying: trying to find the right job, right career, and right path. For a while, I wanted to go into business management and perhaps get a degree in MBA. I guess that wasn't what the Lord had in mind for me.

After many interviews and sending off lots and lots of resumes, I was offered a job as an imaging scheduler at TOSH. It would be a desk job and would pay a little better than the job I had previously. I thought that I would just stick with it until I find something better. During that time, however, I also had an interview at BYU as an office specialist.

While TOSH was deciding whether they wanted to hire me or not, I had an interview at BYU on a Tuesday and a few hours after the interview, they invited me to a second interview the next day. During the second interview, I met with an assistant dean of the department and learned what I could do to move up in the department. I thought that this would be the best opportunity for me to get more education and have a stable career. I really wanted this job.

However, something that I feared would happen happened. TOSH offered me the position as an imaging scheduler. I really wanted that job at BYU but I wasn't sure I was going to get it. I decided that I would tell TOSH that I would accept the job and then if BYU offered me their position, I would just call them back and reject it and take the job at BYU. (This is exactly what I did with the rad tech assistant position (my previous position) almost a year ago now.) And that is exactly what happened.

BYU called and offered me the position that I have now. It is salaried with great benefits. I love, love, love working at BYU. I love the people I work with, the environment I am in, the possibilities, and everything. Perhaps, I am so "infatuated" with this job because it's something new; however, I don't think I will regret the decision and regret not going into the rad tech program.

Just to tell you a little about what I do now, I personally deal with all the off-campus people wanting to have a luncheon or a meeting at BYU (everyone else has their own responsibilities) and we all basically reserve rooms on campus for events. It is a desk job; however, it is never boring...except when we have finals since we can't schedule anything during finals. Thus, I am writing on my blog.

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

The Book of Mormon: Of God or Of Satan

I was studying for a lesson I will be teaching this Sunday to the young men in our ward and I came across this talk by Elder Tad R. Callister.

He talked about how his great-great-grandfather had studied the Book of Mormon to know for himself if it is true or not. However, the way he approached this self-discovery was worth mentioning. He told himself that the Book of Mormon is either "written by God or the devil, and I am going to find out who wrote it."

Elder Callister goes on and says in his talk that "...there is no middle ground. It is either the word of God as professed, or it is a total fraud." No middle ground! It's not possible form God or maybe the prophets wrote it; it's either from God or not. Simple as that.

We don't to wonder whether it could be from God or not for days, months, or years. We have to decide right now whether it is from God or not. If you are still struggling to find the testimony of the Book of Mormon yourself, I would invite you to read it, ponder every word of it, and pray. Elder Callister's great-great-grandfather read the book twice in 10 days to find out for himself. How willing are you to find out for yourself?

To end, I would like to quote this scripture:

"But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
"And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
"And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" (Matthew 12:24-26)

 Would Satan publish a book that is against him and invite people to do good?

I know the Book of Mormon is true and it invites everyone to do good and to believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It is of God. I know it, and you can know it for yourself as well.

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

"The Tongue is Fire"

For one, hello everyone. Kyoo is back! ...well, kind of. I finally got a desk job where I might be able to update the blog once again. Also, I will be working on updating my wife's and my new blog so we will see how much updating I will be doing.

Anyways, I was reading from James in the New Testament this morning and came across this very insightful scripture:

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." -James 3:6, 8, 10-

Out of all the body parts, Paul taught that the tongue is the one would defile our whole body. I don't think he meant that the tongue is the only thing that would defile the body; however, I thought it deserved some pondering.

"But the tongue can no man tame..." I don't necessarily think that we can't control what we say; however, it's something that everyone struggles to control and use. Before we could think about not saying something, it is already out in the open, completely exposed, no way of taking back, just...out.

And then Paul says that "out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing." How true that is! The priesthood holders give blessings, we pray for those around us, and we preach the word of God. Then, with the same mouth, we turn around and judge others, say negative things about others or about ourselves, and swear/cuss.

As I have mentioned multiple times in the past, I do not claim to be perfect. I need to be working on this for sure. What I am doing and hoping to do is to raise the awareness of all of us so that we ALL do our best to work on our weaknesses.

What I believe that could help us is changing ourselves, our very nature. If we didn't have any malice or bad intentions in the first place, we would not be "cursing" or our tongue would be "full of deadly poison." We must do our best to become, as we have heard many times, like Christ who would never let His tongue rule Him and defile His body.

To end, I found this quote by Brigham Young, who said:

"Let not thy tongue give utterance to the evil that is in thine heart, but command thy tongue to be silent until good shall prevail over the evil, until thy wrath has passed away and the good spirit shall move thy tongue to blessings and words of kindness.... When my feelings are aroused to anger by the ill-doing of other, I hold them as I would hold a wild horse, and I gain the victory."

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

A Permanent Resident

On February 5, Alysha and I headed to Salt Lake City at 7 in the morning. We were both tired and worried but as we listened to K-Pop, we were able to calm down.

Alysha was worried for days that she would say wrong things and that I would be sent back to Korea. I wasn't worried until I had a bad dream that morning of a car losing both of its right tires. However, we knew we could trust the Lord.

I always thought that the Lord would not permit me to stay in the US for this long and then send me back to Korea now, especially now that I am married to a girl who wouldn't be able to survive a day without me. Who will cook for her? :)

As we waited, we looked at other couples who were there for an interview. We looked way more prepared than others and most definitely married than one couple who waited without even talking to each other.

Our names were called. We were brought into a small office. The interviewer told us to stay standing to swear by an oath to tell the truth. Of course, we would. I don't remember much of the interview; however, I remember him asking us how we met. I asked him if he were a Mormon (because I saw him wearing a name tag with a BYU lanyard) and he replied that I should just tell the story but added that he's been in Utah for a long time. I felt instantly better.

As we related our story to him, he asked few questions here and there. We also had a lot of evidence showing that we are actually married. I remember telling him how its hard to find a job with BS in Psychology and then he pointed at his diploma from Weber State University and said that he got his BS in Psychology.

In the end, he told us that he believes that we are married and that he would approve the application for permanent residency.

We did it! After more than 13 years, I have become a permanent resident (kind of) of the US. I can stay in the US with Alysha!

I know that the Lord does not grant every wish that we have because He has a plan for us; however, I also know that we can always trust Him that we will feel peace and comfort when we try to understand His will.

"Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand." (How Firm a Foundation, Hymns, no. 85)

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

The Worth of Your Soul

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
"For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
"And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
"And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!" -Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-13-

When people read this scripture, they think about how they could bring others to Christ and how they would receive so much joy. However, there is one thing that people forget or do not realize: "the worth of souls" means everyone's worth, not just "others'." It means you! You are a part of that everyone. Your worth is great in the sight of God! Your worth, as well as others', is Christ. He has saved us with His life. He has redeemed us with His life. He has suffered it all so that we can reach our full potential.

What is your worth? What is your potential? How are you reaching your potential? Remember your worth! Remember your potential! You are to be a god(dess)! Listen to Elder Neil L. Andersen's warning: "In our weakened moments, the adversary seeks to steal our spiritual promises. If we are not watchful, our injured, child like spirit will retreat back into the cold, dark crust of our former bloated ego, leaving behind the warm, healing light of the Savior." Don't fall for Satan's lies. You know who you are: a child of GOD!

However, don't think that it is easy to achieve your potential. President James E. Faust has said:

"Your strength and identity will come from honoring your priesthood, developing your talents, and serving the Lord. Each of you will have to work very hard to qualify for your eternal potential... It will require all of your strength, stamina, intelligence, and courage." (General Conference, Oct. 1995)

You have to work hard but it will be so worth it.

How are you "qualifying" for your eternal potential?

Related Posts
Worth of Souls
Mending the Heart; Healing the Soul
Everyone Is a Child of God

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

What's Your World Like?

Hello, readers! I am back in business again after hearing from some of you and how much my blog has uplifted you. Thank you for your support!

Let's start this again!

My wife and I were talking about how when she told her employer and co-workers that she is learning Korean and that she knows how to read but doesn't understand anything, they were very confused because they didn't understand how that could be possible. How is that not possible?

For example, can you read "hypothalamohypophysis" and not know what it means? Probably. If you know how to read a word in English and not know what that means, how is it impossible for someone to know how to read and not understand in another language? What about "avec"? Can you read it? Do you know what it means?

I do not believe that people are ignorant...actually I might think that a little bit. However, I do think that people are so attached/engulfed to/in their own world/paradigm that they have a hard time looking past what they know. If they were to take one step outside of their world and try to understand, they would be more understanding and patient toward others.

Think about it: when you see someone who asks a lot of questions in class, does he/she really understand English if he/she is not from the US or does that person really having a hard time understanding? Just because you understand it, doesn't mean everyone does. I am not saying that I am perfect at understanding or empathizing with people; however, what I am saying is that we need to look at our world, our paradigm and evaluate if we are trapped in our own world/box and are not willing to come out.

Even me talking about the story above about my wife's co-workers says that I am in my own world. However, if we were to recognize and accept it, we would be more willing to open up to others and at least try to understand other people's world.

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

Dear Readers...

I am so happy to read emails and comments from you! I didn't know how many of you read my blog and how much I can help you (in)directly!

It is true that I haven't written in a (very...VERY) long time but I hope to write more because I know that I can help and hopefully uplift some of you.

However, I might have to change my blog...to this (I still haven't decided whether I should keep this or not).

You may wonder why that might be. Well...I've gotten married. I know, I still can't believe I am married but I am! I got married on August 23, 2014 in San Diego, CA to a lovely girl named, Alysha (thus, the new blog is called Q&A). There's nothing on that blog...yet. We've been procrastinating for a while but we will update it...sooner or later. Until then, I will keep working on this blog.

Thank you, everyone for your support and your kind comments.

Sincerely,

Q

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More

Equality: Worldly and Godly

Disclaimer: this is my thoughts and opinions. I have written this with an assumption (out of many) that equality means people being and having the same things. Also, the example I used about many members of the LDS Church is just what I was thinking about when I decided to write about this. This does not mean that I am exclusively talking about this issue but about any general ideas about equality. Please be respectful of MY thoughts and opinions as I appreciate and respect your thoughts and opinions. If you wish to comment whether be positive or negative, talk to me face to face. Any posted comments will be deleted.

Equality, worldly equality, is man-made. There are many members of the Church (meaning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) cry out for "equality" in the Church by allowing women to hold the priesthood. However, what, I ask of you, is "equality"? Everyone being equal? What, then, is "equal"? Having everything the same? Being exactly the same? Then who decides what everything is and what it means to be the same? Can I decide? If I were to decide, everyone has to be poor, should only speak Korean, should be Asian, the same height, the same eye, skin, and hair colors, heck, they should all look the same. Oh, and because you can't be different at all, you all should be males. (I do not truly wish for everyone to be "equal" like this.)

God did create us equal. However, I believe that His definition of equal is different than ours, or our definition is so limited by man-made, quantified time and what we can observe. God sees and knows everything; therefore, in a big scheme of things, we all have the potential to have everything that God has and all that He (They) is (are). I do not think that it would matter what we would look like because we will have humility and charity to see past our physical appearances. There would be no judgments or envy. We would all be equal: in powers, possessions, glory, and even the priesthoods. Remember, we are all to be gods and goddesses and priests and priestesses.

Posted by Q K 2 comments

Read More

"Help Thou Mine Unbelief"

An excerpt from Thursday, March 6, 2014:

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
"And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." -Mark 9:23-24-

I believe in the Father and His Son. I believe that They are guiding me each day. I believe that They will provide a way for me to accomplish Their will for me. I don't fully comprehend or fully believe how or why things don't work out. I have doubts at times. However, this father of the child with a "dumb spirit" asked the Lord to help him believe more than he does, trust Him more, and draw on the powers of heaven. He has given his weakness to the Lord to be strong. Then what did the Lord do? He blessed this father for his humility, faith and honesty.

When we do our best, give our best to the Lord, He does not turn us away but blesses us. However, we must acknowledge our limitations and ask Him to help us do more, become more, or believe more. He does not expect us to be perfect on our own; He expects us to be perfect through Him.

Elder Holland gave a talk based on that story. He invited us to hold onto what we know when trials and doubts come. Also, we need to acknowledge what we do not know and should ask for help. There are so many profound concepts and quotes, and I wish to write some:

"...imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it."

"Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe."

All things are possible when you believe, even the increase of your faith. When you focus on what you know during times of concerns and doubts, the Lord can bless you with a sure knowledge and will enlighten you because of your faith. What you didn't believe, what you didn't know will become clear and sure.

Posted by Q K 0 comments

Read More