By: Norberto Betita
 |
My parents: Millan Guhiting Betita & Francisca Mangle
Gasta Betita |
In line with our scheduled Millian Guhiting Betita and Francisca Mangle Gasta Betita grand family reunion, I would
like to share Chapter 5 of my written personal history, “Turning the Heart.”
This is to enliven and pep up our family’s desire to know and remember our
ancestors and search for the records of others of our forefathers who are not
yet known. This is also aimed to allow some of our distant relatives on both
sides to connect our ancestry and together join our search for those of our
forebears who are already beyond the grave, that my family can help perform
saving ordinances for them in the House of the Lord with their permission.
Family records in the Philippines
are very hard to find, but now more are already available at familysearch.org
for free research.
Chapter
5
“Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
“And
he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi
4:5-6).
“…For their salvation is necessary and essential
to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us
cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect”
(D&C 128:15). As it is further written, “…It is sufficient to know, in this
case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding
link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children…” (D&C
128:18).
The
Lord declared from Mt. Sinai, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (
Ex. 20:12.)
Until I came to understand better
the value of our eternal relationships with our forefathers did I begin to
develop a yearning desire to leave for my children and posterity a record of my
family as far as my personal knowledge and family history research can provide.
The conditions of today seem to be
in common with that of Noah’s era when the Lord speaks of smiting the earth
with a curse, and the flood happened as to cleanse the earth. As it is declared
by prophets after Noah this curse might be repeated if we fail to turn our
hearts to our ancestors and our children. The Lord warned: “Behold, I
will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
“And he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi
4:5-6).
In the light of the restored gospel
and the restoration of the keys of the sealing power---the power which binds
husbands and wives, and children to parents for time and eternity---by no less
than the Prophet Elijah, I am, therefore, dutifully constrained to search out
and turn my heart to my ancestors that they may be provided the opportunity to
receive the saving ordinances of the gospel which they do not have the
opportunity during their lifetime.
MY ANCESTRY AND ORIGIN
My paternal ancestral origin was
traced from my Great-grandfather known only as Anco Arreza of Cantilan Surigao
del Sur, estimated to have been born sometime in 1850. There is no known record
of his marriage except that of his children: Jose – 1870; Dominga – 1872;
Rafaela – 1874; Cornelio – 1876 and Juan – 1878. Records of their birth are all
estimates. Their death records are also not available. For unknown reasons the
family name was changed from Arreza to Betita.
The family name Arreza is popular
among Whites and Hispanics while Betita is popular among Asia Pacific
Islanders. The family name Arreza in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur was said to be
of Hispanic origin. As to how it got to our family line was unknown. It could
be that it was through bloodline from intermarriages between Spanish
conquistadors and locals or are just being adopted by the local populace.
The origin of the family name Betita
which was later adopted by our grandfather Jose was unknown. However, we
believed that there may have been some family relatives who carried the same
family name and was eventually embraced by my grandfather.
Jose Betita---my paternal grandfather---migrated
to Anao-aon, Surigao del Norte together with his siblings and stayed in the
place until their deaths. He married Nieves Guhiting -1888 and begat Bernardo –
1907, and Millan – 11 October 1909-November 10 1994. Millian was to be my
father.
I do not have any memories of my
great-grandparents and grandparents because they were all dead when I was born.
My grandfather Jose must have been a farmer because he left for an inheritance
for my father and uncle pieces of farmlands. I was told though that my
grandfather was known in the community as a drunkard that he was nicknamed
“Dalan” (road) because whenever he was drunk he slept wherever he wanted and
usually on the road.
My maternal ancestry can be traced back
in Liloan, Leyte where my great-grandfather Catalino Luza Gasta – 1850 was
born. He married Felomina Marqueda Gasta – 1853 and begat Porferio Marqueda
Gasta – 1883. No other children were known.
Porferio---my maternal
grandfather---married Tecla Celino Mangle – 1886 and migrated to Anao-aon,
Surigao del Norte. In such marriage were born Teotimo – 1908; Mercedes – 23
September 1910-15 December 2002 (later married to Ramon Japzon); Pancrasio – 2
May 1916-26 February 1976 (married to Elvira Gesta); Fermin – 1919; Francisca –
9 March 1921-24 January 2004 (my mother); Felicula – 1923 (married to Julian
Lopez); and Policronia – 17 February 1926 still living as of this writing.
From the families of Anco Arreza
(Betita) and his unknown wife, then to Jose Betita and Nieves Guhiting Betita;
and from Catalino Luza Gasta and Felomina Marqueda Gasta to Porferio Marqueda
Gasta and Tecla Celino Mangle, spawned the Millan Guhiting Betita and Francisca
Mangle Gasta Betita family and increasing posterity.
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| My young family |
Our maternal great-grandparents and
grandparents were also of Spanish ancestry dating back to the colonization of European
Ferdinand Magellan in Leyte and during the Spanish colonial period from 1521 to
1898. They might have been the product of Filipino and Spanish
inter-marriages.
I am very close to my maternal
grandfather. During my childhood and youthful days I used to be at their home
helping fetch water or gather firewood for them. He was known among my siblings
and cousins as being a very strict disciplinarian and really applied the rod to
impose discipline even among his grandchildren. However, I always felt very
comfortable with him and my grandmother when I am at their home.
He related to me that he and his
colleagues studied under the shades of mango trees. Their teacher used to have
with him a whip on his table that whosoever got mistakes will get at least one
lash. He had an excellent command of the
Spanish language. Even a college professor in Spanish language who lived in
Anao-aon admired much his Spanish vocabulary.
My grandfather during his younger
days was an expert gambler---cards and cockfight. He used to show me how his cunning
gambling tricks and deception earned for him much money. Yet he honestly told
me that such dirty money never did build for him and his family even a comfortable
small house. He admitted that it was his daughter Policronia who built the
house for them. He always advised me not to be involved in such a dirty vice.
A story was told of him being
attacked by a fellow gambler at his back with the 2 x 2 lumber. Many thought
that he was hit as he laid flat to the ground. But he briskly arose and hit is
opponent with his brass arnis. He was an expert in the martial art of “Arnis de
Mano or Eskrima.”
He later turned to be a well-known
quack-doctor and spiritual healer in our town and in the neighboring
communities. I was told by my grandmother of an incident during my infancy when
I was sick and at the brink of death. He went to the shore right at the bank of
Anao-aon River and talked with the elements which were supposedly the carrier
of disease and asked them to flee that I may be saved. And I survived.
While Bible reading was strictly
prohibited by the church, he used to read the Bible daily at their home. He had
his Bible laid right at the center table of the living room where he daily sat
to read it by the light from the glass window.
On their backyard are several fruit
trees which he planted of which his grandchildren enjoyed during fruit season.
He loved animals. He raised chickens and pigs. He always had a dog and cats at
home. He said he loved cats because they seemed to be the only pet who always
prayed for his master to be rich, they always wanted to lie down on comfortable
couches and soft cushioned beds.
In our town there was a popular
hobby among teenagers and young adults where younger male chickens were
utilized for kind of cockfights. My grandfather always offered for me what he
believed was best for such petty gambling activity of youths from out of his
own chickens. However, he did not fail to remind me of the consequences of such
a vice. He even warned me to avoid and refrain as much as possible from
drinking hard liquors that leads to drunkenness. That was the very reason that
I grew up never being involved in such vices.
My
maternal grandmother Tecla Celino Mangle Gasta was very kind and humble and
very loving old woman. Her vision never changed even in her ripened age. She
still could hit a thread into a very tiny needle’s eye. She was such a small
woman. She was loved by the grandchildren. She was very generous. She was very
caring to her grandchildren. After each of my errands, she always offered me
something to eat or drink. They always have enough reserves because my aunt
Policronia always left for them a week’s supply of groceries, especially during
her assignment as a teacher in a far municipality.
With the help of my children and
grandchildren, we have already performed most of the doable necessary saving
ordinances for my ancestors for our families to be connected throughout all
eternity.
However, God has His own divine designs for His faithful children which are revealed in ways that are sometimes implausible. In 2010 Therese May commented on an lds.org post on Facebook about a convert from Africa who was very excited about his baptism. Then a Filipino returned missionary named Christopher also commented on the post. Surprisingly, the following day the same Christopher sent for her a friend request. Without even checking the profile of the man and other personal background information, she accepted and confirmed the friend request. She never even have the slightest impression that such a man would be a potential eternal partner, nor did she ever thought that their first chat will result to regular communications on Facebook. But from such a very unlikely encounter which to some might be just a glaring coincidence, was started the courtship and eventual long distance relationship which lasted seven long years.
Therese May is very much grateful to Christopher for persistently praying and most patiently waiting for their special day to come to pass. In her deep reflections and reminiscences of the event which brought them together from that most unlikely moment and venue for courtship where their eyes eventually meet and their words of love subsequently echo into their ears in tones of perfect and splendid harmony, she now recognizes God’s extended hands at work for her and Christopher. It was no coincidence, for as in the words of Elder Ronald A. Rasband, “Heavenly Father can put us in situations with specific intent in mind.” 
