I NEED A HAIR CUT!!!

I have decided that I may never get to the beautician.  I may come home shaggy and long!  I really can’t ever remember my hair being quite this long in any recent time.   The humidity makes it extra wavy too.  I’m really not complaining.  Change is good.  Right???

There really has been no change this week other than my hair growing.  I continue with few missionary sick calls and no gathering in groups.  Daily routine of walking for exercise and of course eating.  So I don’t have much to share. 

Even the gulls mind the “physical distancing” rule

With COVID Alert Level 3, we found more people at the beach and more water activities

When the tide is out I can see the shells/sea life stuck to the rocks.

Previously there have been more white shells, but this week
I’m seeing additional shells and more black shells. 

I stuck my finger into this picture so you could get a perspective as of size.

Saturday the surf was rougher than usual and it was really windy.

There were numerous kitesurfers.  Fun to watch!

From Wikipedia:  “Kiteboarding, also known as kitesurfing, is an action sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding and sailing into one extreme sport. A kiteboarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite to be propelled across the water, land, or snow.  

Compared to the other sailing sports, kiteboarding is both among the less expensive (including equipment) and the more convenient. It is also unique in that it harvests the wind energy from a much larger atmosphere volume, comparing to sail size.” 

If you watch closely in this video, you can see a boarder being lifted completely out of  the water.

I saw several doing twists and summersaults but I wasn’t quick enough to capture them in a video.

It was also windy and raining on Sunday but on Monday it was beautiful.
The beach was littered with seaweed and large deposits of shells.

I was really in the mood for pulled pork so this week I have indulged.  I cooked the pork
in the crock pot and had some pulled pork almost every day for either lunch or dinner.

A new favorite snack. The beetroot hummus is really good with vegies and crackers.

No words needed here!

Monday was Sister Mayberry’s birthday so I made her some cupcakes.

I saw this post on FB and had to share.  Too cute for words!!

Each Thursday we have a senior sister area missionary study group.  We study talks given in general conference.  This week I led the discussion based on the talk given by Elder L. Whitney Clayton titled “The Finest Homes”.   I asked each of the participating sisters to share thoughts about specific topics discussed in the address.  Briefly, to some in the world, the finest homes are measured by the bricks and mortar and the interior furnishings.  From the Lord’s perspective, establishing the finest homes has everything to do with the personal qualities of the people who live there.  What matters is the interior design of the souls of the inhabitants, not the structure (home) itself.

We talked about how we can structure our lives to invite the Savior into our hearts and homes.  It was a wonderful, enlightening discussion.  If you would like to read or listen to this talk, you may do so here.

This has been a spirit filled week.  I have enjoyed studying the Come Follow Me lesson and Mosiah 7-10.  Sunday after the Sacrament, Elder and Sister Mayberry and Sister Lucas (my bubble) and I talked about trust. This is the Come Follow Me study section we discussed:

Mosiah 7:19–20
Note the examples that Limhi pointed to in order to encourage his people to have faith. What examples from the scriptures inspire us to “trust in God”? What does it mean to put our trust in God? (see also Mosiah 9:17; 10:19). What stories from our lives or our ancestors’ lives can we share to inspire greater trust in God?

In contemplating what it means to put our trust in God, I studied some scriptures along with some general conference and BYU Devotional talks.  One that touched me most was a talk given in October 1995 by Elder Richard G. Scott, “Trust in the Lord”.

Elder Scott says:  “It is so hard when sincere prayer about something we desire very much is not answered the way we want. It is especially difficult when the Lord answers no to that which is worthy and would give us great joy and happiness. Whether it be overcoming illness or loneliness, recovery of a wayward child, coping with a handicap, or seeking continuing life for a dear one who is slipping away, it seems so reasonable and so consistent with our happiness to have a favorable answer. It is hard to understand why our exercise of deep and sincere faith from an obedient life does not bring the desired result. 

No one wants adversity. Trials, disappointments, sadness, and heartache come to us from two basically different sources. Those who transgress the laws of God will always have those challenges. The other reason for adversity is to accomplish the Lord’s own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing. It is vitally important for each of us to identify from which of these two sources come our trials and challenges, for the corrective action is very different. 

If you are suffering the disheartening effects of transgression, please recognize that the only path to permanent relief from sadness is sincere repentance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” 

He goes on to explain the corrective action needed to overcome this type of adversity.   

Again Elder Scott:  “Now may I share some suggestions with you who face the second source of adversity, the testing that a wise Heavenly Father determines is needed even when you are living a worthy, righteous life and are obedient to His commandments. 

Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov. 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain. 

This life is an experience in profound trust—trust in Jesus Christ, trust in His teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience. 

When you face adversity, you can be led to ask many questions. Some serve a useful purpose; others do not. To ask, Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer this, now? What have I done to cause this? will lead you into blind alleys. It really does no good to ask questions that reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather ask, What am I to do? What am I to learn from this experience? What am I to change? Whom am I to help? How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial? Willing sacrifice of deeply held personal desires in favor of the will of God is very hard to do. Yet, when you pray with real conviction, “Please let me know Thy will” and “May Thy will be done,” you are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from your loving Father.”

I have shared just a few thoughts from this talk.  I encourage you to read or listen to the talk in its entirety. 

As I contemplated trusting the Lord, I couldn’t help but think that unless I whole heartedly put my trust in the Lord, how can I access and fully understand what the Savior did for me in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross?   Unless I trust Him, how can I believe all that He can do and has done for me.

I know that my Savior lives.  I know that He has atoned for my sins.  He knows my sorrows, sickness, sadness, pain, and how I feel as I experience the trials that come my ways.  He is there for me to lift and carry and supply what I lack.  His grace is sufficient.

I have shared this poem before but it is one that I like to read often.   It was written by a missionary in the New York New York South Mission.  He had finished his mission before I arrived so I never met him personally.   I share it with you today.

“Holes”

by Robbie Pierce

I’d been in that hole for a very long time –

In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.

The shaft was above me; I could see it quite clear,

But there’s no way I ever could reach it from here.

Nor could I remember the world way up there,

So I lost all my hope and gave into despair.

I knew nothing but darkness, the floors, and the walls,

When from off in the distance I heard someone call,

“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!

Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder.”

This had never occurred to me, had not crossed my mind,

So I started to stack all the stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, the old sticks were my goal,

For some way or another I’d get out of that hole.

So I soon had a ladder that was really quite tall,

And I thought, “I’ll soon leave this place once and for all!”

Then I climbed up my ladder, it was no easy chore –

For from lifting those boulders my shoulders were sore.

So I worked and I climbed and at last had to stop,

For my ladder stopped short – some ten feet from the top.

I climbed back down the ladder and felt all around,

But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.

I went back to my ladder and started to cry.

I’d done all I could do; I gave my best try.

But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die,

And all I could do was to sit and think, “Why?”

Was my ladder too short? Or my hole much too deep?

Then from way up on high came a voice: “Do not weep.”

And then hope, love, and faith entered my chest,

As the voice said to me that I’d done my best.

He said, “Nothing’s the matter.  There’s reason to hope.

Just climb up your ladder; I’ll throw down my rope.

You have worked very hard, and your labor’s been rough,

But the ladder you’ve built is at last tall enough.”

I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord.

When I stood at the top, there stood the Lord.

I’ve never been happier; my struggle was done.

I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.

I fell to the ground; his feet did I kiss.

I cried, “What can I do to repay thee for this?”

He looked all around Him – there were holes in the ground.

They had people inside, and were seen all around.

There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark, and deep.

Then the Lord turned to me and He said, “Feed my sheep.”

Then He went on His way to help other lost souls.

And I got right to work, calling down to the holes,

“Get up!  Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!

Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!”

It now was my turn to spread the good word.

The most glorious message that man ever heard.

That there’s One who is willing to save one and all,

And we’ve got to be ready when He gives the call.

He’ll pull us all out of the hole that we’re in,

And save all our souls from death and from sin.

So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope:

Just build up your ladder; He’ll throw down His rope.

I love my Savior.  I love you my family and friends.