Afternoon Hike

Sabbath afternoon we went on a hike with friends.  It was a great day for a hike because it was warm--72 degrees outside.  We went on a hike called Steven's Trail.  If you go the whole way, it is 4.5 miles down to the American river.  We just went maybe a little less than half way.

Kelly and Stefanie

That's a train track up there...

...And there's the train!

Climbing rocks in the creek

A little further down the trail there is a small cave

A view of the American River

Panorama View

"Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;

and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains;

thy judgments are a great deep:

O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.

 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God!

therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house;

and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

 For with thee is the fountain of life:

in thy light shall we see light" 

Psalm 36:5-9.

A Day of Lessons...

God taught me some important lessons today for which I am very thankful!   I have been able to help a little bit with the outreach here, and although it has been a huge blessing for me, it can sometimes be a little discouraging.   Today was especially discouraging because it seemed like I and a few others would be the only ones helping with outreach today.  

But God showed me that sometimes we just need to be willing to do what He has called us to do, and work faithfully for Him to fulfill whatever duty we have been given.  We shouldn't be worried about how much help we are going to get, or be worried about how things will turn out for that day.  We just need to do our part willingly and faithfully, letting God take care of the rest.  

I am so thankful for this lesson!  It turned out to be a big blessing!  I was able to go with a group to help with some yard work, and although there were just four of us, we were able to get a lot done.

This lady needed a lot of help with her yard.

Michael trimming trees

Jessa!

Jessa and Me!

Finished!

The lady was so touched by our willingness to take a few hours out of our day to come and help her and her husband with their yard.  And for me, it made me feel so blessed, and so very happy to know that I had made a difference in someone's life--however small it was.   I have made a commitment to just be faithful and willing to do whatever God calls me to do, and not worry about anything else--because God is the one ultimately guiding us in our work.   I feel so very blessed! :)

School Blessings

School has gotten off to a good start for me, for which I am really thankful.  This semester, along with the General courses that I am taking, I am also taking an Intro to Teaching class.  This is to help me determine whether I want to do teaching as a career or not.  Like my teacher said, for this class, I'll either really come to love teaching, or I'll get really sick of teaching.  ;) For the class, we have to do a lot of observing in classrooms, as well as do some teaching.  I'm continuing to pray that God will show me which direction to go.

But, as of now, I am really enjoying that class.  We have to read through Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students.   I started reading it this afternoon--the first two paragraphs were so powerful!  This was a blessing to me, and I want to apply this to my life.  I hope it will be a blessing to anyone who reads this.

"Higher education is an experimental knowledge of the plan of salvation, and this knowledge is secured by earnest and diligent study of the Scriptures.  Such an education will renew the mind and transform the character, restoring the image of God in the soul.  It will fortify the mind against the deceptive whisperings of the adversary, and enable us to understand the voice of God.  It will teach the learner to become a co-worker with Jesus Christ, to dispel the moral darkness about him, and bring light and knowledge to men.  It is the simplicity of true godliness--our passport from the preparatory school of earth to the higher school above....To gain the higher education means to follow this word implicitly; it means to walk in the footsteps of Christ, to practice His virtues.  It means to give up selfishness and to devote the life to the service of God.  Higher education calls for something greater, something more divine, than the knowledge to be obtained merely from books.  It means a personal, experimental knowledge of Christ; it means emancipation from ideas, from habits and practices, that have been gained in the school of the prince of darkness, and which are opposed to loyalty to God.  It means to overcome stubbornness, pride, selfishness, worldly ambition, and unbelief.  It is the message of the deliverance from sin."  CT 11, 12

Back Home!

We arrived home late Tuesday night.  It seemed that all of our flights were delayed by at least 30 or more minutes.  But, when we finally arrived in Sacramento, the same group that saw us off was there to meet us--my family, and Brenna and Michelle!  

Now, I am just getting settled into another semester of school.  Classes began today, but thankfully I had only a couple of classes so I could finish getting settled from my trip.

Just because I am back from Panama doesn't mean that you won't hear from me on my blog again--I plan to keep it up the best I can.  :)

Headed Home!

We have finally arrived in Los Angeles!   Now we just have one more leg to Sacramento.  :)

LA

Panama Canal

This morning we went to Panama Canal--it was so interesting!  I remember studying about this in history years ago.  It was really neat being able to see the boats going through the different locks.  We were at the Miraflores locks. 

This boat was a cargo boat from Indonesia.

The red boat carries oil and gas--from London.

Tomorrow, we leave around 11:40am, and we will arrive in Sacramento around 9:30pm.  And then, school registration the next day!

Panama City

I can't believe that a month has gone by so fast!   It seems like only yesterday when we arrived.  I am so thankful that the Acosta family let me come and stay with them. :)

Yesterday morning we left for Panama City.  We drove to David, where we loaded our bags into their cousin's car.   Then we drove about 6 hours to Panama City--we will be staying with their cousin until Tuesday when we fly out.  

Today, we are touring around the city to see the Panama Canal, and a few other places.  

A New Year's Thought

Here's something I read for my devotions this morning I thought I would share as a little new year's thought.    I hope it can be a blessing to you--and may you have a blessed new year!

"Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious....O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard:  Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.  For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.  Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.   Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;  we went through fire and through water:  but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place....Come and hear, all ye that fear God,  and I will declare what he hath done for my soul....Blessed be the Lord,  who daily loadeth us with benefits,  even the God of our salvation."  Psalm 66:1, 2, 8-12, 16; 68:19.