Gnome spotting at the Salt Lake City Real Soccer Stadium!

Nepal Trip

Hi girls! Most of you have heard a little bit about my trip to Nepal, but my mom and I did a lot more than ride elephants.  This country is so different then America, and Baboo (my gnome) and I had many great experiences.   Baboo means "little brother" in Nepali.  Something cool about this country is everyone calls each other Brother and Sister.  There are different names for different age groups, and I think that is really cool!  

Well, one major difference in Nepal is the air quality.  A lot of dirt and dust is in the air, which is like a worst-case scenario of the Utah inversion.  It is also very humid, so we got sweaty really fast.  Next is driving.  The roads and traffic rules in Nepal aren't well developed, so we took a taxi or a tuk tuk.  A tuk tuk is a three wheeled vehicle that looks like it's been around for about 100 years.  It's hard to explain except is really bumpy.  It's only 15 rupees (about 15 cents) to ride, though.  Nepali drivers also act like they're in a race, so  it's always a adventure on the road!

Although we didn't have Nepali food every night, I thought it was pretty good.  Dhal Bhat, lentils and rice, is the main meal for most people, and although it didn't have much flavor, it was ok.  Some other food they had was rozma beans (delicious!), momos (kind of like dumplings), and rice pudding.  A funny thing is that my Grandma took us out to KFC and it was totally different!  My Grandma hated it because it had a weird spice but I thought it was actually ok.  

One of the first activities we did after touring the city was go to Royal Chitwan National Park.  This is where we rode the elephants.  We got there late at night so we stayed in a hotel.  It was really pretty, but we did find a toad and a June bug lounging in there!  Then we woke up early to ride the elephants. As we neared the place, he dropped us off.  We climbed up these steep stairs to a platform where and elephant was backed up against.  We had to step on his bottom and climb on to a basket!  The ride was awesome, and we got to see a real jungle.  Some creatures we found in there were monkeys, rhinos, deer, a crocodile, and some birds.  We had to be careful of leeches and luckily, none of us got any.  We asked the elephant trainer if he could take a picture with Baboo and he did!  Then we went to the elephant breeding center.  We saw elephant calves as young a three months old!  One was wandering around with no chain, and my mom wanted me to get close so she could take a picture.  As I went a little closer, it started walking towards me!  My mom, grandma, and I ran away, but my grandpa stayed still.  The elephant went straight up to him and nudged him.  We all laughed when my Grandpa ran away!  Then we bathed the elephants.  My Grandparents didn't want to scare us, so they just said the elephant was going to blow his nose on us.  We were surprised when we climbed straight on the back of the elephant with only a rope around his neck to secure us!  The trainer lead us into the water and started jumping up and down on the elephants back.  Then he'd say something in Nepali and he'd spray us!  It was so hot there that it felt so good, but when he dumped us into the water, I was a little scared!  He helped me back up, and then he sprayed us again.  This is one of the most memorable experiences on the trip.

Another thing we did was deliver the baby hats.  Thank you Beehives for helping me make them.  When we got to the hospital, we handed the big bag to the doctor and he said that we could deliver it to all of the mothers personally!  I passed one giant bag full of them in minutes, and I really felt the spirit doing this.  Although the hospital was way different than ours in America, I know that this was a holy place.

On Saturday, we went to church because this was the day that they worship.  I got to play the piano, and it was cool to see how many members they had compared to ours.  Their church boundaries were all of Nepal, and there were less than 80 people there!  I still felt the spirit.  It was cool because they said the sacrament prayer in Nepali for the first time.   Brother Ghimire from our ward had translated it and my mom and I got to bring it!  The rest of the church was in English, so I could understand it pretty well.  The two main religions in Nepal are Buddhist and Hindu.  You can tell the difference by the roofs (Buddhist is circular while Hindu is triangular) or that the Buddhist have the 3 eyes.  We got to visit some of each of the temples.  One of my favorites was Swayambunath, nicknamed the monkey temple.  It is called this because it is infested with monkeys.  We also saw bodies burning at Poshpatunath, and Bouda, the biggest stupa in the world.  This was cool to see how different people worship.

Another place we went is the youth hostile.  A faithful branch member owns this place.  This is NOT an orphanage, but a place for kids to go where there parents can't afford to send them to school or feed them.  They sleep, eat, and do their homework, and it's all run by volunteer work.  They all sang a song, and I took a picture with everyone in "grade 8".  It was a really cool experience.  One night we went to Rakeesh's house.  He is a man who helps my grandparents with their work.  We had another delicious Nepali dinner there, and we also met his brother, a famous movie star.  My Grandma says he's like the Brad Pit of Nepal.  He even took a picture with Baboo, and even though it was embarrassing, it was totally worth it.

I haven't written even a tenth of what we did, but I learned here that everywhere can be a holy place-- whether it's on an elephant's back, in a hospital delivering baby hats, or even at home.

~Lauren

Hiking In Snow

Yesterday my dad and I went hiking up at Brighton and we saw Dog lake, Lake Mary, Lake Martha, and Lake Catherine(shown in photo). Normally I would turn down any hiking trip, but I was peer pressured by my gnome(Paris from the movie Gnomeo and Juliet haha!) so I went. At some times I wanted to just give up because it hurt to move uphill but I kept on going mostly I was going to reward myself with food:) There were a lot of snow patches which I thought was going to be impossible to cross, but I realized that other people made paths with their footsteps which was obvious many people used them. I was thankful for the steps in the snow because otherwise I could have been sliding down the mountain! While walking we talked about the book of Revelation, and I remember in seminary that the things talked about in the book are either absolute or symbolic(like a dragon with 7 heads is just gonna appear on the earth, its symbolic). Which led me to think if the Iron rod is either absolute or symbolic, although I didn't get my answer I related it to the snow patches. I knew I had to step in the marks but I didn't have to, I could have stepped really low and accidentally slipped and fell. The people in the scriptures either could stay close to the Iron rod or go to the building and fall off a cliff. The same is in real life because we can either choose the right or the wrong, and just because we have free agency it doesn't mean we can just do whatever. Well the hike was beautiful and it was crazy to think that it was once underwater! and Paris had fun too:)

~Kaitlin:)

Gnome sighting !

Just Some Inspiring Words to Share!

I love a good quote, and this is one I'm glad to know. Elder Holland is an incredible speaker, who is always inspiring me with his words. Found this on Pinterest (of course), and thought it was a good share!

YW across the country

Young woman across the country. 

We are currently 6 months and 3 days into our journey across the United States. While we have been traveling we've had some amazing experiences, especially with church. 

For me, personally I have been amazed going from place to place seeing different wards and how they compare to our ward back home. Its incredible to see the major differences depending on where you go. For example, in the last couple of weeks in February, we were right outside of Austin, Texas. We were visiting some friends of my parents, the Law's, who soon became close friends of ours. While we were there, we attended church with them 3 times in our 2 1/2 week stay and got to get to know the ward a little better then the others that we visit. It was an incredibly welcoming and friendly ward, with over 60 youth! 40 of which were the young woman! That was one of our favorite wards. We had some amazing lessons and made many friends. About a week or so later we arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana. I absolutely loved New Orleans! It was amazing to see so much different culture and lifestyles while we were there. When Sunday came, we found the nearest church, which took about 45 minute to get to, probably due to our navigation skills.. But once we arrived, we went through sacrament in some-what aw of just looking around and seeing how different things were. We had just gone from a ward of 60 youth, amazing friendly people, spiritual talks, and heart warming conversations, in a beautiful building.. to a ward that contained around 75 people, 3 youth9one young woman, 2 young men), half of them wearing sunday dress, some of the speakers swearing in the middle of their talks, and in a building that was not as clean, and in the ghetto- not exactly what you would expect. This really opened my eyes and gave me new perspective.
I am extremely grateful for the amazing blessings that we have living in utah. We are constantly surrounded by friends and family- most of whom share the same standards and beliefs that we do. That makes it much easier, especially on us teenagers, for making the right decisions. We are also so blessed to be in walking distance of a temple, let alone having 3 right around us! Im so grateful for this experience to really be able to appreciate what I have. I can't wait to return home to our family-like Founders Park 2nd ward back in Utah.
-Avery :)

Going to Cedar City With faith

So a while back I went to Cedar City to visit my Grandma Karla, who is basically known as the best granny EVER!  When  we went down there it was when there was a bunch of fires in Utah and was super dry.  It hadn't rained for a long time ( maybe just a couple of weeks) and there was actually a fire going on really close to where we were.  There is this place called stout canyon where I have a cabin and so it was also pretty close to it also.  I had prayed a couple of times about the fire, but I'm entirely sure that I had faith.  So when we got to cedar city I prayed and prayed and prayed.  The next couple of days I woke up hoping something would happen, on the third day I woke up thinking it was the middle of the night because it was still kind of dark outside. Then I went upstairs and found everyone up there just like normal days.  I went over to the window and I saw it raining like  CRAZY!!!!!
I think I am pretty sure that my prayers were answered, and I know that if we pray to heavenly father for any particular purpose he answer them.
                                                                          ~Bri, yeah yah!
                                                     

                                           

Al Fox

Here is a link to that girl's blog that we heard last Tuesday.   http://alfoxshead.blogspot.com/
Definitely check her out, she has some great messages!

Hospital Visit

One of our sweet YW was staying in the hospital after an intensive surgery. She has been so courageous as she has taken on the this trial. I had the chance to go visit her in the hospital a few times and some of our very caring girls joined also. I'm always amazed by the thoughtfulness and admire each one of them for their love and support towards others. As we try and live the gospel if we don't remember anything else the one thing we should continually strive for is to be more like Christ. His example shows us the path to true happiness. When we shape our lives around him it seems that everything else just falls into place. Living a Christ like life in no ways excludes you from trials and personal heartache but when our heart is turned to him, are trials will be bearable and our heartaches can be overcome.

Go Blaze

Had such a fun time last Saturday night attending the arena football Blaze game with the Young Men! Thanks to Brother Farwell for arranging the tickets:)