Take a minute

SOPHIE YOU WON!!!!!!  AHHHH I'M SO CRAZY HAPPY FOR YOU!  You will absolutely love being in student gov. at Brighton.  I miss it so much!  Congrats sis :)

Porter I'm so jealous of your prep time you're getting with dad for your mission.  Treasure every minute of it.  Also I got a kick of mom telling me about your experience cleaning out your room and finding old treasures.  We were weird little kids...

Isaac I finally figured out what frito means.  Frito elders indeed!

Barrett Erin and Lily have so much fun on your road trip!!!  Enjoy the paved roads for me.

Mom you are my hero.  Thank you for sharing your missionary experience with me.  If the members here were anything like you we would have so much more success in bringing others to the gospel.

Dad, it IS wonderful.  I love being a missionary.

 

So my area is huge.  Lots of little villages that take a long time in a bus to get to if you don't want to walk for hours to get there.  My companion and I decided to see how an old investigator was doing and it takes about 35 minutes to walk to her house.  We set off for the day and I found myself frustrated for very insignificant reasons.  I had just eaten, yet I was still hungry.  My hair was more frizzy than usual.  My socks kept slipping off my heel, my mosquito bites were bothering me, and my spanish/english dictionary seemed to weigh more than usual.  I was watching the ground as I walked, wishing the dirt road weren't so muddy from the constant rain and had less rocks so that I didn't twist my ankle every few steps.

 

As I was pathetically feeling bad for myself, I looked up and realized that I was walking in a beautiful place.  Layers and layers of Guatemalan mountains ahead of me, beautiful, bright yellow wildflowers to my right, a winding river to my left, the earthy smell of the jungle, and the sun casting a pretty light on the wet, colorful houses.  As I was looking down and feeling down, I was missing the beauty around me.  Family, you know me.  I'm the kid who stops every 5 feet to admire the flowers, stops to take a picture of a tree that really isn't all that pretty, and I could gaze at the clouds for hours.  I laughed at myself, wondering how I could have forgotten to look up and appreciate my surroundings.  My advice for this week is to take a minute and really look around.  We are so blessed and I don't think we really take the time to show our gratitude.  Today I am grateful for the mud on my shoes because it means I am working to bring others the blessings that I have as a member of La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Días.

 

I love you all :)

No Empty Chairs.

Hermana Yates