REJOICING ALL WEEK!

There are many things I have been rejoicing over this week!

RS RETREAT - EAST BAY 3

Last Friday and Saturday we had our first RS retreat. Mom and Dad were so kind to let us come crash their place. They were willing to serve and help the whole time, for which I was very grateful. There were nearly 40 of us there!
We had 43 set in stone to come and another 5 maybes, but 40--for a retreat we didn't tell them too much info about?! Amazing mercies! Bishop through the whole prep time and actual event, was such a great supporter. When ever I feared what I was doing with the girls or what direction I was taking them, he was cheering me on. I have an amazing Bishop and his family...they are equal to his amazingness! (ha, is that even a word? Well for my purpose, it is now!! ha ha)

The enrichment board really stepped up and did great things! I was so proud of them! We had a stroll to the knoll Sat morning and Camila gave a great devotional! She asked us to feast upon the words of Christ. Other then being really cold because of all the wind, the girls were all troopers!

Meg and Karen taught us how to do bracelets so we could remember to be unified - with Christ - (The bead in the bracelet) in our center. They did a great job making our bracelets a symbolic tool to look at! I was impressed with the girls for getting their bracelets done. They all looked really good!

Citlalli had us do some different dances from our cultural backgrounds. Latoya started with a little Jamaican love- That was a lot of fun to see her moves. Then we had April show her hoop dance! She was really nervous at first but as she continued on her dance, her confidence grew.
How true that is for all of us. At first we start with something we are very nervous. Our Church attendance, a relationship, a calling... but the more we dive into the "whatever", The more our confidence grows! I was moved by how graceful she danced. It is defiantly in her blood! She did an awesome job teaching the girls the moves.

We had two gals with us that had just recently come in from Venezuela. I don't think they have ever been around the LDS culture but they jumped right in and showed us how to really move! H

There was a time, when almost every girl was out on the dance floor. Just dancing away. I jumped on a chair to get a better view. I was overcome with emotion. So many different cultures coming together as one! All I saw was a sea of love. I actually had to jump off the chair because the emotion was so overwhelming. Oh if other groups of people could have just been in the room with us. They would have felt it too. We were "one" that morning! No "ites" among us. It was beautiful!

Citlalli left us with a beautiful message about how we are all needed. God has a place/role for each of us. And when we come all together, he can work his masterpiece through us. The spirit was beautiful.

Then it was a little secret sisters out on the porch before leaving home.

DOWN I WENT!

As we were all in the cars, getting ready to go sing happy birthday to a 95 year old... I ran to check on the empty seats in a car--and as I was running I caught a big dip in the cement. And then just like the movies, it was slow motion as I tried to get my footing under control. NOPE-! I was going down. I hit the pavement and thought, "oh that hurt". My camera which has served me faithful for 4 years, bounced and rolled and stopped dead! Literally dead. Sad. I quickly rolled over to my back. My leg was in major pain and I could not feel two of my fingers. Thank goodness this happened in front of girls and not boys! Ha ha, it was embarrassing enough. All the girls told me to take it easy. I turned over and got right up. I tried to shake everything off. I went back to the car limping quite bad. My leg started to shake almost uncontrollably. I thought I was going to pass out. I breathed for a min and then got in my car. My fingers had turned purple on the ends. And I actually bumped them once and thought I might faint from the pain.

The rest of the day was hard to move from the blow of my leg. But let me tell you what a miracle happened! Nothing looked out of order on Sunday Monday or even Tues. I wondered why my leg hurt so badly , but there was hardly anything visible to my skin. Then Wed came!!! I was getting ready for work and I looked down at my leg... only to find the whole thing bruised! My foot is swollen, and is purple and black on both sides. Then all the way up my chin and my whole left side of my leg is one huge bruise. I am talking about 15 inches by 7 inch bruise! And it is for this cause I can not stop rejoicing!! NO BROKEN BONES! And although I can't feel the end of my pinky finger any more, there were no cracks, no breaks, not splits in my skin! Just one amazingly huge bruise!

My foot looks worse then my leg and my foot hasn't hurt for one moment! I don't understand the logistics of this miracle, but I know it is nothing short of a miracle. I now look at my leg and I rejoice seeing it so colorful because it just goes to show how much worse it could have been, and should be now! BUT IT IS NOT! !

Yes, I still am like an old women every time I kneel to say my prayers and I wont' lie, my leg is in awesome pain when touched, but if I don't touch it, I am fine! And my purple/blue swollen ankle and foot- I can jump on it and not feel a thing!!! that is amazing! God is soo good!! :D

BIRTHDAY SONG FOR MICKEY

My mom and dad had visited a friend's mom that was 95 years old. She was just a couple cabins down the road. They told me how great it would be if I would take my girls over to see this woman. I wanted to go, but the thought of making them all come - (after leaving the cabin a little over an hour late) seemed more then I could ask them to do. So I took my car load and motioned for them to keep driving. But one by one, their cars all stopped at the house and we ran up to go sing happy birthday to Mickey, this 95 year old woman none of us had ever met before. I was over come with gratitude for such kind girls! But then to see her face....she could not believe so many people who didn't know her would sing her happy birthday. Her emotion was visible and she cried as each girl climbed the porch to give her a hug.

I imagined if I had nearly 40 random girls at my porch singing to me I probably would have had the same reaction. Many of the sisters commented how that was their most favorite moment of the whole retreat--seeing this woman be so touched.

There is so much to do for the "one"! There could not have been a more filled sister in the gospel anywhere on the earth! I am surrounded constantly by God's elect. And His tender mercies. Oh to the parents that had such an inspired assignment. Oh to the girls that, although we had gone over time with our retreat, were willing to stop, sing, and then hug a complete stranger! I was surrounded by leaders all weekend. And the love was consuming.

To top the night off, we had an amazing stake conference. I must admit, my spiritual/emotional/physical pools were quite exhausted but I was thankful the Lord helped me in the meeting. Afterwards, Bishop invited all he could grab to go out for dessert. He and Becca ended up buying a few of us dinner (we had not eaten a meal since noon and we were all quite hungry.) This was such a choice moment for me. I have been able to study how Bishop and Becca are towards each other, and have heard their inspired insights about their thoughts with marriage (although Becca would just claim it is the normal way to be :) ) But here 3 other girls were able to learn from Bishop Larson and Becca. It was a very choice moment. My cup runneth over and I am going to need to switch to a bucket soon!

Rejoicing all week! Can you blame me?!

WE ARE TO DREAM!

As one last thought, I listened to this talk from Elder Holland. I freaked out because it is the first time in all my studding that I have heard an apostle talk about dreaming/setting our own dreams.

“God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.“ God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.” Jeffrey R. Holland

After reading it, I was filled with a new resolve to keep dreaming for a marriage that is centered in Christ and service. And keep dreaming that I can overcome/lay aside all sins that so "easily doth beset" me.

I got home late from the office last night and as I pulled open my scriptures to read one quick verse I opened to Alma 7:15. I wept because I know that it was not chance that I read the verse. And again when I woke up, the verse was the only thing on my mind.

Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

Beset means=attack on every side/harass/surround. And that is surely what my sins do! Alma says to lay them aside every sin "which easily doth beset [me], which doth bind [me] down to destruction..."

That verse was for me. Now, lest someone read this and think one of two different thoughts, 1.)how can Bryndi have such heavy sins--oh bad thinking. I am human and have some ugly weaknesses I am pleading to over come. 2.)And no they are not the type of sin I would need to confess to a priesthood holder, nevertheless, they are things that easily beset me and I want to LAY THEM ASIDE--every one! And I only can do that through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I don't fully understand how it all works, but I am moving forward with faith.

SO--I AM A DREAMER! I dream for a day when I will hook up with someone who will let me be myself around him. I dream for the day when I can be sealed in the temple. I dream for the day when I have children to teach about Christ. I dream for the day when my kids will first show signs of applying the gospel to their life. I dream for the day when I am down in size. I dream for the day when I will have conquer my un-orderly habits. I AM married. I AM fully in love with my spouse. I AM a mother. I AM down in size. I AM a teacher of Jesus to my children. I AM an orderly homemaker!

There is power in I AM! I AM a layer down of all (my) sins. Thanks for teaching me this concept dad.

I AM A DREAMER!