TO LEAVE A LEGACY OF LOVE, FAITH AND SERVICE

By: Norberto Betita

Lety at the Temple Patron House

Surviving the many abysses and caverns in the long winding mortal journey of each passing year is such a glorious blessing, especially as one attains a milestone---enduring decades of living---in an atmosphere of perpetual challenges, while at the same time enjoying the marvelous opportunity to feel the love of God and His divine succor.

Such is the feeling of my dearest Letty as she now ponders about her eternal adventure through life. Indeed, reaching such a highpoint of life’s lengthy stretch fills her heart with deep and abiding gratitude to God, family and friends who are behind her during the long-drawn-out journey. As in an undetermined finishing line of life’s enduring race, she’s now about to cross the seventh decade of her mortal marathon.

As she now reaches the heights of her ascending trek of 70 years to her eternal dreams, she looks far back to that once upon a time when as a child she lived in a farming community, enjoying the beauty of nature, delighting on carabao rides while her father tugged the animal towards the farm, planting rice in a deep miry rice field, panning for gold, and dreaming for a much better life. Positive in her childhood vision, she pursued her elementary education with greater passion and zeal, and thus was accelerated by one year. However, the cruel hands of adversity struck its terror as to have her father suffer from a debilitating injury that lasted for so long. At an early age she became the errand girl, while her mother cares for her ailing father in the depths of affliction. She would sometimes walk several kilometers crossing the waist deep river carrying her purchases from town.

Letty 2nd from left with siblings- early high school

Her dreams came to a halt and her high school education was postponed. But her faith and courage was never shattered. Luckily, after three years of stunted educational and academic growth, a secondary school was established right at their Barangay’s doorstep. She grabbed with gusto the opportunity even just for the two years equivalent of high school education that it provided. Then with zest and deeply held conviction for the value of educational advancement, she ventured to find odd jobs in the city with her relatives and thus proceeded to complete her secondary education by herself.

Determination and courage continued to open for her opportunities to pursue a secretarial course in college as a working student, leaving behind her ambition to be a nurse under the shadow and gloom of forgotten dreams. It was during those times that we became more acquainted with each other as classmates. Such acquaintance eventually came to a point of an awkward unwelcomed relationship, even by friends, instructors, and family. While such dark side of the relationship somehow obscured our vision for a lasting and steady connection, yet it never barred Letty’s in-depth and profound faith and trust on the straggler looking man beside her. We stood together in that little square of fondness that walled our love for each other against the sarcasms and skepticisms that were thrown against us.

Junior's Prom with his brother 

Eventually, we were able to settle all odds and decided to take the unsupported trail of an immensely difficult beginning of a marital journey and partnership. We tried to cross and overcome every pitfalls and potholes along the path to the wider thoroughfare of success. Each passing day was a challenge and each succeeding year provided increasing level of improvement. Yet along the qualifying state of personal attainments there lies the unvarying wave of adversity that barred even the relentless efforts to level up. However, we are ever grateful to Heavenly Father for the feelings of joy and contentment that there is always enough for our daily needs after we give of our offerings to Him.

The same faith, courage and determination, and getting accustomed to each other while intently nourishing the warmth of family love and affection, sustained us together against the harsh realities of a penurious beginning of family life and the foundational requirements of marital consistency.

Letty 30 years ago

About a month of her 41st birthday, she gave birth to our fifth child. Yet beyond the rigors of raising and rearing five children, in between their births, she mothered two more foster daughters. And finally at age 50, she again accepted a mothering responsibility of a 5-month-old foster daughter as part of the family. All five of our children and two of our foster daughters earned college degrees, except the one who surrendered her future to personal independence after high school graduation.

While shaping the personalities and character traits of our children and influencing their cognitive skills and abilities early on, making of them priceless family jewels, she felt so much gratitude that her efforts were never wasted. She felt so abundantly blessed from all the sacrifices she made for the growth and development of our children and foster daughters. She felt immeasurably grateful that all her efforts brought about a colossal transformation and refinement in her motherhood competency and her divine virtue of womanhood.

At 70 she lives on with an even deeper enthusiasm to give preeminence to God and family and in service to others. She just doesn’t want to be a mere spectator in the games of life played in the immense worldly arena, but to be a willing and active participant and contributor in her own little way. As a Relief Society President in the branch of the church she sees to it that the sisters in her care do not go hungry and naked and lacking in shelter. She feels not comfortable when she knows of a sister who is sick and destitute of the basic necessities and the spiritual bread of life. She promptly reports these concerns to her branch president, who thus draw from fast-offering funds of the Church to provide food and supplies for the needy members in accordance with inspiration and church policies. As a gospel teacher herself, she understood best the Old Testament teaching: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11).



She has the Lord Jesus Christ at the center of her life. She believes that, “As you and I walk the pathway Jesus walked… We [will] discover he is more than the babe in Bethlehem, more than the carpenter’s son, more than the greatest teacher ever to live. We [will] come to know him as the Son of God” (Thomas S. Monson, The Paths Jesus Walked, April 1974 conference); our Savior and Redeemer.

As a voluntary Religion teacher in the Institute program of the church, she’s deeply concern of the spiritual welfare of her students. But she gives them, as always, the privilege to exercise their moral agency.

I have written more about our love story, but as the journey continues to move forward to these times of need for a highly elevated level of marital intimacy as we reached the age of grey, and look into each other’s eyes with dignified confidence, we together found that love becomes even fonder and more affectionate. The words of Gordon B. Hinckley then echo: “How sweet is the assurance, how comforting is the peace that come from the knowledge that if we marry right and live right, our relationship will continue, notwithstanding the certainty of death and the passage of time. Men may write love songs and sing them. They may yearn and hope and dream. But all of this will be only a romantic longing unless there is an exercise of authority that transcends the powers of time and death.” (Teachings of the President, Gordon B. Hinckley, Chapter 10, The Marriage That Endures, Ensign May 1974, 24).

As she turns the wheel of life’s milestone beyond her 70th year celebration of mortal existence and more years of compassionate living, her eternal spirit continues to be significantly stronger and longing for an invariably sympathetic mobility to love and to serve. Yet her physical body seems no longer could cope the demands of her spiritual energy as to sometimes, by faith, just allow her faltering feet and frozen shoulder to be dragged by the power of the spirit within her to a continuing acceptably successful performance. She believes that, “An obvious parallel between life and a marathon is the necessity to run diligently and endure to the end.” ( Joseph B. Wirthlin, Running Your Marathon, October 1989 General Conference, churchofjesuschrist.org).

She loves what President Russel M. Nelson said during the last General Conference: “When we love God with all our hearts, He turns our hearts to the well-being of others in a beautiful, virtuous cycle.” (Russel M. Nelson, The Second Great Commandment, October 2019 General conference, churchofjesuschrist.org).

Her every longing and desire to serve God and our family, and others of Heavenly Father’s children in faith are indelibly embedded in the heart, upon which chamber are treasured the deepest feelings of love and the unwritten sacred pages of family memories and service in God’s kingdom that will forever follow the journey to an endless end.

In this milestone of her reaching seven decades of an enduring race through life, her best wish is simply to be able to leave a legacy of love, faith and service for our children to emulate and remember as she will be off, in God’s due time, to finally embark back into her heavenly home.

While her 70th birthday should have been a day to be elaborately celebrated, yet she desires, instead, to welcome another bough in the family tree which is due to arrive fresh from his home in heaven on or about the same day in Cebu City. She simply and humbly wanted to celebrate her life’s historic episode with others of our children and grandchildren who had been away from home for some time.

More than all the best wishes that my heart and thoughts can conceive on this her birthday, is my most sincere and earnest prayer that she will continue to be a beacon of motherhood and family love; of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; of hope and courage; and service to God and His children. May she be blessed with continued physical agility and stamina to provide enough power and exuberance to perform her ever persistent wish for a lifelong service in God’s kingdom, where she has her life consecrated to be used up and worn out enough to leave a legacy of love, faith and service to God and His children.