I just want to tell you that it is absolutely beautiful here. I am reminded so much of home with the sea so close. Also, whenever we drive somewhere there are beautifully green hills. I attached some pictures so you will understand some of what I am talking about. I think you will all have to just come visit sometime to understand in its entirety the beauty here. I will admit there are also a lot of places of seemingly nothingness. I also attached some pictures of our drive to have tea with some members; there was very little around (hence the sheep and so forth).
We had trainings this week. It was wonderful as usual. We discussed working with members, becoming and having a change of heart. They were all insightful messages and have caused me to further evaluate my life and where I am at. We also talked a lot about our upcoming hike to Mount Snowden. We each had the opportunity to make a declaration of who we want to become. As we hike, the plan is to keep that thing in mind, and once we reach the summit to rededicate our service. What an opportunity! I love the symbolism that goes behind the hike we are doing. Also, I know there will continue to be fantastic sights to see, not to mention I like hiking and the outdoors. We will be hiking on the 14th of August, so you can look forward to seeing some pictures in a few weeks.
On the way back from trainings, we had quite the excitement. We got stuck in traffic. A truck had an accident on the highway, and what should have been a two hour drive ended up being a five and a half hour drive. Let's just say that Sister Orr and I got to know each other even better. It is nice to just have time set apart to chat and get to know one another better. We have only been together ten days, and she is probably one of my companions that I know the best. Sister Orr is from Idaho and has two older sisters. She studied at BYU-Hawaii before her mission. She was an education major, just like me; however, she was studying English and theatre. (On a side note, there is a sister that just entered the mission who studied math education at BYU. We had a very exciting conversation about it all at BYU; some of your loves and interests just never die no matter where you go). Sister Orr is very hard working, sensible and easy to talk with. She has a bit of a sweet tooth as well, so we get chocolate and ice cream from time to time. She's great!
We also had sisters' conference this week. I had the opportunity to give a training on urgency. It was wonderful to be able to study and learn about urgency myself. Usually, I would think of urgency as it applies to finding (speaking to everyone). As I studied, I realized that urgency applies to a lot more. It applies to about every aspect of our day--finding, teaching, meals, studying, etc. Urgency is a "What's next" attitude. Who's next to speak to? Who's next to call? What's next to study? What's next... I always love being given assignments because it seems that you learn more in preparation that people probably get out of what we say or teach. The scripture that I felt particularly went along with it is Helaman 10:4-5. In these verses, Nephi is commended for his unwearyingness in declaring the word. He does not fear the people around him (fear and love cannot coexist). He is blessed by the Lord. I know that as we are urgent, the Lord blesses us very much and we suddenly have more to give than we seem to have started off with.
That is all for now. Hope you all have a lovely week!
Love, Becca
p.s. Here is a description of the photos:
1. Picture from our extended car ride :)
2. Picture from the car ride. At least there was a pretty view for some of the drive.
3. Driving to the members' house.
Here are the pictures from the sisters conference. Hope you like them.
The first is with President and Sister Preston.
The second is with the assistants (they are the only elders that get to attend sisters' conference).
No comments:
Post a Comment