Moving Forward

It seems another week has gone by already. I believe more and more the old folks who say time flies. Blink too many times and you will blink yourself to heaven!


We had a rather productive week. Austin is yet again filling his brain with words I can scarcely pronounce and pathways that seem impossible to memorize while Eden is growing ever bigger and continues to be my best bud 24/7. Eden and I had our normal week of playing, going to the swimming pool, and whatnot, but Saturday was a treat. Even though Austin didn't have time for it, He came to the beach for a little bit and got to throw around a frisbee and football for an elders quorum activity. Eden and I, of course, crashed that party. The place we went is called Timothy Beach, also known as 'The Strip.' I'm sure what comes to your mind is much like Austin and I were expecting. Instead, what you find is a line of hut-like restaurants made mostly of bamboo and palm leaves. I am nearly positive they all have the same ending as the little piggy who built his house of straw when the storms hit. Nonetheless, those restaurants are quite popular- one, the Shiggidy Shack, serves full, all-you-can-eat lobsters and is supposed to be pretty good. Volleyball courts line the shores of Timothy Beach. We hardly see anyone play, but we hear that there are tournaments with hundreds of people every Friday night. We might just have to venture out one of these days. Until then, you can count on seeing people losing their minds and drinking in the ocean. Is that not a dumb idea? Yet it's the thing... I am constantly grateful for the commandments- in this case, the Word of Wisdom- especially when I see people make fools of themselves and tempting fate.


Anyway, we came to the realization that Eden does not know what to do with a telephone. Rightly so, Eden thinks that a telephone is for eating, taking pictures, and looking at. We acquired a play telephone that goes with Eden's walker and she had no clue what was going on when we put it to our ear and said, "hello, hello?" To her, when we say hello it means wave and look for someone to smile at. The only way we talk with our phones is through FaceTime or Skype. We are already witnessing a new generation and being outdated by our kids!


It has been raining a fair amount lately- not enough to stop the water rationing or end the drought, but we are grateful for every bit. Plus, it cools things down a bit. Eden and I got caught in a big rainstorm on our way to visiting teaching. We sat in the back of the car and watched it pour around us. It was quite lovely until the rain became so hard we had to roll up the crank windows. Then it got so steamy hot inside the car you'd have thought we were in a steam shower. Oh, St. Kitts. And tell me this... since when does a rainbow appearbefore the storm? It was pretty anyway.


Eden and I walked to Seaglass Beach and back on Tuesday. I say we walked there and back because the water was rough and the tide was high so we didn't hardly get wet. On the way home, we ran into some locals- one of which was our neighbor friend. I asked them about the ocean and when the tide comes in because I can't seem to pinpoint the best time to go. They explained to me that St. Kitts doesn't really have a tide. The ocean's behavior is mostly dependent on the storms and weather. I guess you really just have to pick the right day, not necessarily the right time. Most of the time, you can tell from afar if the water is calm or choppy- even from our house. In talking to these locals, I found it hilarious that Denzel- our friend, who is normally difficult to understand- became my translator. As difficult as he is to understand, the others there must have been speaking in tongues! Whoo wee! They were spouting off all this jibber jabber and I couldn't even pretend to understand what they said. I tried to nod and show that I was listening and then Denzel would say, "do you know what he said?" Heh, no. Not even one bit! Thankfully, he became my Urim and Thumim. Everyone here keeps telling me that we are going to have a little boy in a year. I don't know what they know that I don't. We want lots of kids, but none here!


Let's see… Eden and I caught a lizard in our house this week – that was pretty exciting. The fast little bugger tried to get away and scampered across the floor, but it was no match for us! We caught it in a clear glass and then left it for Austin to come home to. It was enough for me to know that it wasn't going to run freezing in my house, but I didn't want to touch it and I for sure didn't want it getting loose.


Thank you for all your advice regarding my Daniel study! I'm excited to go tomorrow and hopeful that I will have more of an opportunity to bear testimony of what I know. Most of the study is done by watching an hour long movie- it's not exactly a discussion. The lady preaching almost quoted the 10th Article of Faith word for word, but had no clue. I wanted to say, "YES! The kingdom of God IS literal. It's on the earth and Zion WILL be established as a new Jerusalem here! just like it is being built in our hearts and in our stakes. Christ is coming to reign personally on the earth. He is coming!!" It about killed me when she was talking about all these philosophers and scholars who are well studied that have hypothesis about the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream concerning today. She said we didn't have to agree, but that we would be discussing the different thoughts by these educated people. I'm thinking, WHY? Why hypothesize when we KNOW of a surety. Why trust your own judgment when you can trust the prophet who gets the answer straight from God?


On another note- I taught Sharing Time in Primary today and it went really, really well. I can empathize with mom now when she said she had the kids captivated! It is so motivating to feel the kids learning such pure doctrine and to know that they are learning by the Spirit. I suppose I felt accomplished because I figured out how to teach by the Spirit. We talked about repentance and how no one is perfect, yet we are trying to "Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him." We talked about how each of us has sinned and in so doing, we are the ones that put the holes in Jesus Christ's hands, feet, and side. It is because of us that he Atoned and was crucified YET it is for us that He did it so we could return to Him. They learned how to apply the steps of repentance: feeling sorry, asking for forgiveness, righting the wrong, and not repeating the sin. It was awesome. I am loving Primary. For one, I feel like I am making a difference; but also, I learn the gospel in its simplest and purest form. Sometimes, I amaze myself with the things the spirit speaks out of my mouth. It's really cool.