Answers

Several years ago, a friend posed some questions to me about my faith which at that time I was unable to answer.  I studied and searched for answers.  I prayed and pleaded with the Lord to help me find the right words to say - ultimately to no avail.  

Then my friend said these words, which have been in the back of mind ever since the experience - 

"You should not be afraid to ask questions about your religion, you should only fear not finding answers."

Those words were Satan's way in to shake my testimony.  It took some time and painful experiences that could have been avoided to return back to the path.

Still, every now and then I think back on that and how perturbed I was to not receive answers to some of my questions.  It is just one of the 'whys' in my life I had reconciled myself to not fully understanding.  

Today I was reading a masterpiece by Elder Maxwell - "Willing to Submit" and read these beautiful words - 

"Submissiveness also checks our tendency to demand advance explanations of the Lord as a perplexed yet trusting Nephi understood: "I know that God loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

So did a wondering but submissive Mary: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

Just as the capacity to defer gratification is a sign of real maturity, likewise the willingness to wait for deferred explanation is a sign of real faith and of trust spread over time."

The gospel is simple really - once we put our trust in Christ, who sees endless possibilities that we do not.  He knows the end from the beginning.  I am so grateful to be in His loving hands. 

{Girl on Fire}

It's probably high time I give a little synopsis of the wonderful week I got to spend with my Moanalua ward girls at Girl's Camp!

I don't think I can adequately put into words my experience as a youth with girls camp.  A common doctrine of our church is that a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel is built "line upon line, precept by precept."  The experiences that we have in this life as we exercise our faith is what gives us a testimony.  If someone asked me when I was converted to the church, or the moment I knew it was all true, I would say, "I couldn't tell you an exact moment.  But my first year at girls camp testimony meeting I knew it was something that I wanted in my life forever."

This year our theme was "Girl on Fire" - a kind of spin off of Hunger Games.  Each day as the girls got together to work on camp certification, or personal progress, or just go to the beach to hang out - I could feel the Spirit strongly and was so inspired by the youth of today.  

I also got to know/work with some women who are definitely the cream of the crop!  I love all these ladies very much - nothing brings people together more than the spirit (also camping). 

Here are two of our sweet girls cooking us a delicious meal!  

Heading out on our nature walk to pass off some wilderness survival skills for the girls.

Look at all those awesome ladies!

One of our youth actually turned 12 at camp, so we had some birthday festivities for her.  Her family brought up cake and ice cream and we had a dance party!  Also, her Dad played Samoan folk songs for us on the ukelele, loved every single minute!

Everyday we got to spend a few hours at the beach playing in the water.  Despite a few jellyfish stings, all went well.

The leaders put on a skit based off the hunger games - "The Capital knows best"  We had a little song written by Rachel, and wore outrageous costume jewelry.   It was quite the production. 

Rachel and Bryce up to no good here... we took oreos and replaced the frosting with toothpaste, to feed to the youth that evening.  It was a success.  Reactions started out as "mmm the minty kind!"  and then morphed into horrified gagging and screaming as they realized what they were eating.  muhahah!

Meet our friend, the lobster!  In response to a prank pulled on us leaders, we invited a little friend to camp to visit the tent of one of the perps.  It was wonderful!

My in-laws were heading to serve their mission in Apia, Samoa and got to spend a day in Honolulu.  It coincided with girls camp, so they were able to come up to Bellows and spend some time.  The girls all loved them (but who wouldn't??) and I was really grateful for the chance to see them before they left to go serve the Lord on their mission!

Campfire/talent show/skit/smores was a nightly tradition at camp!

Anais and I always took out the trash (okay not always, but a lot).  We became buddies!

Getting ready for some swim time!

A beautiful view of the area around where we were staying.

One day, when Rachel & I went to go shower, the girls snuck into our tent and hid our stuff.  They replaced it all with barbie clothes, and put up signs that said, "You have been barbied!"  It was quite the prank.. needless to say, I was very proud of them!

It was a great year and I feel so blessed to have been able to spend time at camp with these wonderful people!

{Maui Getaway 2013}

This past week Mike & I decided to take a little trip to Maui!  We didn't feel like battling the Oahu crowd on the 4th of July.  It is just pure craziness here!

Best decision ever.  This small trip was so relaxing and it was just what we needed. 

It only took about 20 minutes to fly over to Maui (consequently the same amount of time it would take to get downtown..) When we arrived we went to the rental car place and received the best news ever... 

Our car was a Nissan Juke!! I have been a Juke lover since I worked at the dealership in 2011, and I will one day have this car!! 

For breakfast we went to Caffe Kihei, a delightful little place that served the best Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes.  h.e.a.v.e.n. 

After breakfast we headed over to the Maui Ocean Center.  That place was amazing!

This little guy can't swim, but he has joints (little elbows) that he uses to walk around.

We saw tons of sharks!  Gallapagos, hammerheads, and tiger sharks.

They let you pet the starfish.  That was cool! 

We saw baby honu!  They only keep them there until they are 2 years old, and then they release them into the ocean.

This one was a personal favorite of mine.

honu crossing

There was a tube you walked through where you were pretty much surrounded by sea life!  It really startled me when the sting ray was swimming right above our heads.  

We took a drive around the island and I had to stop at this point because the water/view was so amazing. 

For dinner we went to the famous Duke's restaurant in Lahaina.  Meh.  Not the best I've ever had but it was okay.  Duke was a famous surfer so they had all sorts of surf memorabilia around the restaurant, and it was right on the beach so that was nice!

We headed over to the harbor to watch fireworks.  I love the little boardwalk style town of Lahaina.  While we waited we had Ululani's Shave Ice (best ever) and drank coke from glass bottles.

The next morning we drove the Road to Hana!! That has been on my bucket list since we moved to Hawaii.  And if you ever visit Maui - it's a MUST SEE!  

Mike letting the river of testosterone flowing through his body take control.

Saw this peacock showing off at the Garden of Eden Arboretum.  

This picture captures some of the view and the windy-ness of the road.  Absolutely breathtaking. 

Black Sands Beach - just before you reach the small town of Hana.

One of the many waterfalls along the way.

Another Black Sands Beach... Mike is just soaking it all in here.  

Absolutely uh-mazing.  

That night we went for a yummy dinner at Hula Grill.  It was also right on the beach in a fancy resort.

Saturday we went on a submarine tour.

This photo captures how picturesque Lahaina is... it's so beautiful.

This bad boy had a lot of sea life swarming around it!

Such a fun trip.  We loved it because we went on Atlantis submarines around Oahu for our honeymoon...  it was fun to revisit and see the marine life on Maui. 

We decided to drive up Haleakala Volcano Crater and see the views from the highest point on the island!

This was Mike trying to avoid being in my panoramic shot. : ) 

Beautiful and lush at the bottom of the crater.

Totally dry at the top.  Mike said it reminded him of Mars and that's totally an accurate description.  It is always humbling to stand on something so vast and feel so insignificant... yet knowing that to God you are more meaningful than all these creations. 

And then seeing a solitary little flower poking through these rocks, in the very harshest of conditions.  These small moments are when I realize what life is all about. 

On this day we went from 130 feet below the ocean floor to 10,023 about it!

After our crater adventure we stopped and got the BEST fish tacos around.  They were bomb. 

We had such a wonderful trip and really just relished each moment together on Maui. 

I can't wait to explore the next Hawaiian island.  So lucky we live in Hawaii!