STAY FAITHFUL, STAY CONNECTED, STAY COMMUNITY!: 4/22/2020, Page 2, Youthful Voices, Greta, Jared, Emily, Easter Gardens

YOUTHFUL VOICES

GRETA THUNBERG FOR EARTH DAY

We know Greta Thunberg as the teenager who speaks truth to power. In a Rolling Stone article, she is quoted as saying: “‘Either we choose to go on as a civilization or we don’t,’ said Thunberg with cold precision. ‘That is as black or white as it gets. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival.’”

The article writer observed: “[S]he is so small, and the world is so big. I wonder how she continues forward as the world pays lip service and not much else. For the first time, Thunberg softens.

‘I’m very weak in a sense,’ says Thunberg quietly. ‘I’m very tiny and I am very emotional, and that is not something people usually associate with strength. I think weakness, in a way, can be also needed because we don’t have to be the loudest, we don’t have to take up the most amount of space, and we don’t have to earn the most money. We don’t need to have the biggest car, and we don’t need to get the most attention. We just need to…’ Mighty Greta’s voice trails off as if she is lost in thought or searching for the right word in English. Then, she looks up, locks eyes, and smiles for the first time. ‘We need to care about each other more.’”

Stephen Rodrick, March 26, 2020

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/greta-thunberg-climate-crisis-cover-965949/

(accessed: Sunday, April 19, 2020)

JARED HAYASHI’S REFLECTIONS

By random selection (or so I am told) fate, and just a small dash of bad luck, Pastor Frances has selected me for this menial task (J.K, J.K, got you there, didn’t I, Pastor Frances?). Anyway, it is my pleasant duty to give you a second-by-second rundown/autobiography of what I have been doing these wonderfully boring weeks.

There are some people in the church (kids, actually) who would call me insane for saying this (I’m looking at you, Tabas and Katos), but who knows? With this quarantine, maybe they’re right. However, I’ll just go and say it in here. I am so bored that I wish that school will start again (within a week). The only reason that I have not gone completely insane is that online school has started, and some of my teachers are holding live meetings, so at least I am able to communicate with some of my friends.

Okay, time for you readers (sympathetic and unsympathetic) to hear about what I am doing for online school.

For GT/STEM, we were commanded to make a goal for the quote unquote “extended spring break”. Like usual, my brain instantly seized on the hardest and most downright insane goal in existence that is only 1% plausible. I decided that I would beat every single level at all 4 of their variations on my chess computer. The 4 variations are as follows: normal, aggressive, defensive, and high risk. Things actually started out quite good for all 4 of the level 1 variations. Maybe, I thought, I might actually have a chance for this goal! Level 2 was also fun. I plowed through the level varieties quite fast, too. Level 3 was moderately difficult, and I started to lose about 1 of every 2 games that I played. Level 4 was a bit annoying, and I started to lose more often, but I still didn’t get too upset when I lost. Level 5 was when things got annoying. I started to pound the table, and in the end, just to check to see if the computer can be checkmated, I resorted to god mod (being able to manipulate all of the pieces, so theoretically, I could make it so it was infinitely my turn.) and took away all of the computer’s pieces. When I checkmated the computer (after taking away all of its pieces), I started to know it was possible, so I finally finished all 4 of the level 5 versions. If I thought that level 5 was torture, level 6 was like listening to a beginner’s attempt to sing those Italian operas with those extremely high notes. I STILL cannot even beat ONE version of level 6. Level 6 is like attempting to find a bunker… in a maze made of hydrogen bombs, and all of the bombs will detonate in 5 minutes. I would be 3 moves from checkmating the computer, and then the computer pins my king in a random corner, and then takes all of my power pieces and pawns to add insult to injury. That was before they checkmate me.

Anyway, enough about me complaining. On to what I have been doing to attempt to keep myself occupied.

To entertain myself, I have been reading all of our books so much, it is a miracle that the spines are still keeping the pages in place. I also have been practicing my Viola (ABSOLUTELY NOT, DAD AND PASTOR FRANCES!!!!), and annoying my sister.

Weird stuff also is happening around here. About 3 days ago, I could have sworn that I saw a rodent eating my Easter garden resurrection kit seeds :( (there goes all of my grass), and yesterday at lunch I saw a bird walk on our lawn.

Guess which bird:

a. Rooster	b. Turkey	c. Peacock
d. Albatross	e. Penguin	f. Toucan
g. Sparrow	h. Peahen	i. Ostrich
j. Eagle	k. Pidgeon	l. hummingbird
m. Hawaiian owl	n. Ground owl	o. Blue jay
p. Bald eagle	q. Golden eagle	r. Common raven
s. Vulture	t. Mallard	u. Snowy owl
v. Emu	w. Osprey	x. Woodpecker
y. American kestral	z. Peregrine falcon	aa. Common blackbird

If you guessed peacock, you would be right. We were insanely surprised when we saw it walk in front of our lawn. Sadly, we didn’t see the peacock raise its fan, but it was still huge. (I don’t blame you if you got it wrong, there were 27 choices. Still, good job if you guessed it right.)

Anyway, since I tried to keep this journal/autobiography/quarantine notes thing short, it makes sense that OBVIOUSLY, it is 3 pages long. (happy now Pastor Frances?? You’d better be.) So, with that said, this is Bravo 6, signing off. Destroy this device after reading. Just Joking. :)

Stay safe, everyone. Don’t die, or else I will kill you when church gets back into live services at the sanctuary. Oh, come on, don’t you know me? Of course I won’t kill you.

Anyways, it bears repeating. Stay safe.

Jared Hayashi. (author, writer, and editor) :)

EMILY MURAKAMI’S REFLECTIONS

Emily at home. Eat quickly Emily! Your Mom and Dad are looking for that bag!

Emily in the Quad at U of W encircled by cherry blossoms.

Hi! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! When I initially came home for spring break, I was supposed to return to Seattle at the beginning of April for my last quarter of the school year. However, with the progressions of COVID-19 around the whole country, the University of Washington has moved all classes online till the end of the school year. I have since been at home with my parents "going to school" online, which is definitely an experience.

A large majority of my classes already had online components, such as class websites, established before this pandemic so transitioning to online hasn't been too difficult. For lectures, I have either pre-recorded videos that I watch at my own pace or live zoom meetings. I think the most interesting part of this quarter will be my organic chemistry lab class. Since everything is online, it's a little hard to have that in-person experience of mixing chemicals and carrying out experiments, but my professors are working hard to ensure that the class content is to the best of its ability.

The one perk about going to school from home is that I get to sleep in! Well, except for one 5:30 AM class I have once a week :( But other than that, school from at home hasn't been too bad.

I do miss going out of my house, whether it be in Seattle or here on Oahu. From walking around my campus going to classes to getting food with my friends to going to the beach, all these things are starting to feel a little foreign. While this current situation has been going on for a couple weeks now, it still sometimes feels unreal. I occasionally forget that if everything was normal, I would be in Seattle at school and wouldn't have to stay home. And while this is starting to become the new temporary "normal", the change is still a little daunting.

However, throughout all the difficulties we are facing in our community and around the world, I do seek comfort in knowing that God is right by our side through everything. Through every obstacle and seeming defeat, God has transpired many more miracles and is planning an even more astonishing feat at the end of this pandemic.

And while I am stuck at home, I can see these amazing works of God around the country and even the world through a YouTube segment I watch and want to share with all of you. It's called "Some Good News" and is hosted by actor John Krasinski. In his videos, he just shares stories of good news from people all around the world that he has found on various social media. From recovery stories to silly but heartwarming stay-at-home activities, there is nothing but joy in these videos. And these stories are living proof that despite these challenging times, we remain resilient. With the presence of God and the love and support within our community, despite not being able to physically be with one another, I know we will be able to not only endure these times, but thrive until long after this passes. I can't wait to see everyone at church hopefully in the near future!

Here is the link to the YouTube channel of "Some Good News" for anyone who's interested in watching the videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOe_y6KKvS3PdIfb9q9pGug

MORE EASTER RESURRECTION GARDENS

The children and youth remain so grateful to the adults who made this Easter fun despite sheltering at home. Auntie Gwen who made the carrot bags that were filled with goodies. Uncle Ron and Auntie Sharlene who supplied the potting soil and grass seeds. Auntie Kathy and Uncle Vern who provided the kits of 3 bamboo crosses that add so much depth to the gardens.