Ensign State Of Mind

Aloha family a me friends, "Come over her...Don't be scured...Go down de road. Up de country...See her hur and how she curs bout it...Mah Sistahs!!!" For the sake of it, I don't think I'll ever get over Bermudians accents and the people. This place just cracks me up every single day. And "if your phonebook listing inclues your nickname because no one knows your given name, you must be Bermudian", holds so true as we go out and see our friends around the island...Flesh, Country, Grapes, Skins, Bootsie, and Foxdog. Given names? Don't ask me. I got no idear.  But really. Names are so so important. This past Saturday prior to the baptism starting, Sister Pennock and I were cleaning up seaweed from the cove and we hear some noises from the water. We look up and see a giant blue parrot fish right in the cove and super close to the shoreline!! I look at my companion and I'm like "This is a hoailona (or sign in nature). It's gonn...

Sister Pennock and I at the start of our crazy Valentine's day by a moon gate on Cambridge Resort and Spa  Aloha Family a me Friends! This week... Cut  5  onions without crying at Meals on Wheels  Heartattacked  5 (x2) people's homes on Valentine's Day Found  5  Indian men to teach (Indians are scattered Israel fyi)  Walked  5  too many miles on Valentine's Day (mightve killed my companion haha) 5  (minus 1) friends that I taught got baptized in Harlem and India this weekend And roughly ate  5  loquats a day  ...5555555 as my brother would always say since that translates to "hahahaha" in Thai. Well what a week :)  Additionally we have found this book that talks all about being Bermudian and it said something I thought was applicable: "If your favorite fruit is a loquat...from someone else's tree, you must be a Bermudian". Haha I guess Sister Pennock and I are halfway there with a...

Royal Naval Dockyard Round 3!  Aloha family a me friends! Ohana. Isnt it about...food?! *Wait* Family. Isn't it about time?  There we go that is what the commercials used to say. Family family family. The more that I have been here in Bermuda, the more I have learned that God never will place us in comfortable situations but He will never leave us alone. He speaks to us in different ways and many times its through the people around us Just some casual weekly planning hike down to the beach  across from our house Word spreads fast on an island but I know word spreads even faster when it's between family. Bermudians. Members and non members. Male and female. Nice ones and angry ones. They are all family. I have witnessed this especially these past couple weeks as I have seen the Bermuda branch come together as three members of our branch had their mothers past away in this past month and many many many members going in and out of the hospital....

Aloha family a me friends! Lehi states: "And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit". ( 1 Nephi 8:12 ) Likewise this past weekend, I became desirous that my Bermuda family should partake of my dear Sister Dunne's delicious, man-slaying, mouth-watering chocolate chip cookies that are "desirable above all other" cookies.  Luckily, she had given me the ingredients necessary and the temperature and time so that I may make them myself. I mixed everything together. Put the correct amount of each ingredient but to my surprise and frustration, they were nothing as I had before. Good enough to give out but definitely NOT the chocolate chip cookies I had desired. These cookies did not reach the potential they could become.  if you're wondering what I did on my year mark W...

Sister Pennock and I Aloha family a me friends! New transfer. New companion. New year. New me.  Lots of news happening over here and with my year mark coming up this upcoming week (say whaaat?!), I feel like this is more of a New Year type of dealio than January 1 was for me (lol missions are odd k).  I've been out for a year? I've been in Bermuda for three months already? Life is weird. So often as people we can be hard on ourselves. We will often look at what we are not. We want and expect ourselves to run the full marathon, without doing the mile by mile trainings.  I will often see the 10000 and 1 things that I know that I am not. At times, I will admit, I am too hard on myself. More often than not, as humans, we look at what we aren't instead of acknolwedging all that we are.  Nevertheless, we aren't perfect and neither does our Father in Heaven expect perfection today. In fact, perfection is pending. As Jeffrey R. Holland eloquently put i...

Aloha ko'u ohana a me ko'u hoaaloha,  Miracle Line. Tuesday morning. President Teuscher: "In this mission, we have a tradition of making week 6 the BEST week of the transfer"  Baptism Pictures!!!  Meet Jamie! Love her! And lemme tell you. I can testify to what President Tesucher said is true. It was another bomb diggty week for the books. Ending this transfer and week off with three friends on baptismal date, eight souls at church, and two new peeps to teach. And not to mention, eating many many many meals with members. Furthermore...I testify that the key to people's heart (well at least mines) is food. And maybe just maybe we had so many people at church because we had a potluck for Sister Howells and Elder K and because we had a General Authority come speak to us.  But we will give everyone the benefit of the doubt and know that they all came to truly remember our Savior and refocus on Him. Elder David Buckner, a member of the Sev...

Aloha Family a me Friends, "Two times four is half of sixteen! All for the...(not warriors)..LORD! Stand up and lean!" Nope not a cheerleader but I am on the Lord's team for sure ;)  Some things never change in this universe. Like the fact that 2 + 2 = 4 or a^2 + b^2 = c^2 or that a circle is 360 degrees and the list can go on and on. We may change but the one constant variable of life is God's love.  Never gets old God loves you.  He loves you and every one of His children. He knows us and answers our prayers. As we were sitting in district council this past Tuesday, we get a call from a member saying that she would verbally kill her brother to the point that he would commit suicide. Within five minutes, all six missionaries on the island were at her door. Seconds after she was pleading with God to give her a sign. And lo and behold her sign was as she exclaimed while sobbing on the phone to many people "SIX missionaries! Son of a bi...