Mervlyn Kitashima, 2003 national mother of the year, addressed the BYU–Hawaii ohana on "emerging with your gifts" in the devotional held on Thursday, November 4.
Kitashima and Daniel, her husband of 33 years, have seven children and eight grandchildren. According to Daniel, Kitashima "has held all the positions in the community that deal with kids," as well as "all the positions in the ward that a sister can hold."
In April of 2003, Kitashima was selected as Hawaii's mother of the year. The following May, she was subsequently honored as the national mother of the year. In her own words, she is "a Child of God first, daughter to him, [and then a] wife, mother, sister in Zion."
Kitashima delivered her address Hawaiian style — "talk story." First, she illustrated her topic, "emerge with your gifts," with a description of the ohia lehua, the first plant to emerge from the barren landscape of a lava flow.
"For some wonderful reason, it has the stamina to break through," she said, producing a beautiful flower.
She compares this flower to our God-given gifts. "We all receive gifts," she said. Reading from the Doctrine and Covenants, section 46, she said, "For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
"To some it is given one, and to some it is given another, that all may be profited thereby" (verses 11-12).
She continued reading from the Doctrine and Covenants in section 58, verses 27-28: "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;"
Kitashima interpreted these scriptures to mean that "we all have something special to give." Furthermore, she distinguished gifts from talents, saying that "talent implies to me something that's mine ... Gifts imply to me that I give that away."
She told the story of Charles Plum, a U.S. Navy jet pilot during the Vietnam War, who one day met the man who packed the parachute that saved his life when his plane was shot down.
Using the parachute as an analogy, Kitashima explained that "everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day including a physical parachute, a mental parachute, an emotional parachute or a spiritual parachute.
"Who's packing your parachutes?" she asked. "Who has allowed you to be here? Who are the people, where are the places from which we emerge, that allow us to come, to gain, to emerge and to give?"
Kitashima proceeded to share some of her experiences, "in the hopes that perhaps you can think of yours because someone has packed our parachutes."
She spoke extensively of her grandma, who she described as "a very quiet little Hawaiian woman with a very gentle voice and a huge heart." Growing up, her grandma loved and cared for her tirelessly.
"My grandma had this wonderful ability to make a little girl feel loved," she said. "[She] packed a very important parachute for me, because she taught me how to love. She cared for me in a way that nobody else did."
Returning to the story of the ohia lehua, she explained that the ohia tree itself is gnarled and twisted, "perhaps for the work it had to do to break through the lava," but the blossom of the ohia, or the lehua, is beautiful.
"When you see the lehua blossom and you look at the tree upon which it stands," she said, "I hope you will understand the challenge of that tree to root itself below the lava, push its way through, emerge and grow and then produce this beautiful blossom."
Kitashima concluded by encouraging her listeners to keep that in their minds, in whatever they choose, and to know that someone packed their parachute. Above all, she reminded it is God that watches over us and that we must honor Him in obedience to His commandments.