Urban Poly Princess

I went to my cousin Noe's house on Sunday to borrow her musubi maker since I left mine in Logan-the whole reason why I wanted to make musubi is BECAUSE I bought a case of spam over a month ago. Of course I leave the spam, Aloha Soy Sauce AND musubi maker. Sooo I get to buy that stuff all over again in SLC. Noe's musubi maker was HORRIBLE. It's a double-maker so it's SUPPOSED to be faster BUT I had to cut the rice in the middle which kept falling apart FINALLY I went to an Asian store that sold the musubi forms. It would've cost about $2 in Hawaii BUT I had to spend 6.99-of course I didn't have cash on me AND I had to find something else to buy since if I used my card I needed to spend at least $10. I made 30 but they were GONE by the time I made my plate. ANYWAY-Noe and I were talking about the weird things in our family. I related a story that's had a huge impact on me. The last time I saw my dad's youngest brother was about 3 years ago in Provo. He was a mission president in Papua New Guinea and a stake president twice. When I lived in Tonga one of my friends gave me a pig for my birthday. Alright I was 10-what did I need or want with a pig? I was gracious especially when my dad told me it was a significant AND valuable gift. Did I visit my pig or treat him like a pet? NOOO-It was allowed to wander in our yard which in Tonga was huge enough to create a grass tennis court when we wanted. Our neighbor at the time ate the pig. Everyone knew it was my pig. It's pretty sad that he and his wife were hungry enough to actually kill and eat it. Later I heard my uncle beat him up because of it. My dad's brother Kingi lives in Provo. He and his youngest brother Lehonitai had dinner at my brother's house. We were sitting there talking to him and I brought up the pig incident to see if we could hear more about the story. He said he was holding a "torch"(flashlight) when he asked my neighbor if it was true he ate Pua's pig. He said he didn't wait for an answer and brought the flashlight up to his face. He talked about how the blood ran down his arm. He and my other uncle just laughed. My brother and I were in shock and changed the subject as quickly as we could. Later when my brother and I were discussing it later when he said that's why it's good we don't judge people and that people will be judged according to their knowledge and understanding. George met this Samoan guy who served under my uncle Tai in Papua New Guinea when he was mission president. He worked in the office. One day a missionary from somewhere here went to see him since he was feeling homesick and didn't want to work. The Samoan missionary said my uncle physically threw him out of the office and told him to go and work. I believe my brother. Noe's husband Brent heard us discussing this and couldn't resist saying that we had the scriptures and how people could learn from that. He quickly left the room however and I think he regretted saying anything. Brent was raised in Clearfield with very traditional LDS parents. My uncle wasn't raised the way he was AT ALL. My grandfather was sent to New Zealand from Tonga to attend school when this was extremely rare. This allowed him to teach high school in Tonga AND send his children to school out of the country. My dad's oldest brother even went to BYU-Idaho. My uncle Tai was a twin. The youngest twins were spoiled very much. Tai's twin died when he was either 11 or 12. My dad told me after this happened the spoiling became even worse. If he didn't want to go to school after this my grandfather let him stay home. My uncle is the only sibling to serve a mission in my dad's immediate family. He did not like a transfer the mission president gave him so he contacted my grandfather who told him to leave his mission and come home. My grandfather was also a bishop. Despite this he would hit my grandmother. My dad used to walk over an hour with his mother to her home village when this happened. My dad told me all of his brothers have hit their wives. He never did because he hated seeing his dad do that. He always told me when I get married that I should work at all my problems EXCEPT if someone ever hits me. Once he interferred when his dad was hitting his mother but my grandmother talked to him and told him to NEVER do that. Sooo this is how my uncle was raised. There is no way he would see physical violence as wrong unless someone specifically told him this. His role models were violent. Scripture is filled with violence. I don't think it supports Brent's comments. Ammon cut off arms. Nephi chops off Laban's head to get the brass plates. Hitting someone pales in comparison to that. I was hit as was my brother although my mother jumped in to interfere all the time with that. I had friends that couldn't sit down after being physically punished. I never had bruises but I've had many friends that have. Many Polynesian families could get charged with physical abuse. That's a whole other issue. My family is goofy and crazy but I love them all very much. I appreciate the variety in my life that has allowed me the chance to consider diverse angles to everything. Things are never as simple as the surface, there is always so much more.