40 Years!

We celebrated our anniversary yesterday with a drive down to South Padre Island. It definitely is a place for people who love the beach and all that goes with that as well as those who like to fish. We were hoping to see dolphins and sea turtles but after spending about an hour in the hot sun, we gave up. We did go to a 'hospital' for injured sea turtles and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about them. The turtles are usually found by people on the beaches who then notify this agency who nurse the turtles back to health and released back into the ocean. The turtles are given names and most of them have lost one or more flippers due to predators (sharks), boat propelers, fishing net, or born without them. Some of them are permanent residents of the facility because they would never make it on their own. Their was an article in todays paper that asked beach-goers to watch where the Kemp Ridley turtles are laying eggs because they need to be moved to a safer place as only 1 or 2 out of 100 hatching sea turtles make it to adulthood. This is the only place where they allow people to watch when the sea turtles hatch and head for the water. It really was fascinating to learn about but way too much information to try to remember all of it.

It was another full week of job seekers and inspecting missionaries apartments and résumé writing. We may be tired by the end of the day, but we are never bored. Listening to the sad experiences of people and trying to give encouragement and hope is harder work than working in my garden. People seem to require more than simple watering and weeding. When we are able to talk about the hope that Christ can bring to their lives, we feel more encouraged in what we have to offer them.

The talks in Sacrament meeting were on Faith and I felt very uplifted by being there. I was reminded to look at trials as a polishing and refining rather than the 'dings and gouges' I often think they are doing. Sheri Dew expresses that, "Challenges that tax our faith are usually opportunities to stretch and strengthen our faith by finding out if we really believe the Lord will help us." Relief Society was on Charity and I feel that we tend to define charity as something we do or feel. These words of Sister Dew teaches us that it is so much more. "Charity is the word God uses to describe the character, nature, and very essence of His Son. Charity is who the Savior is. So when we plead for the gift of charity, we aren't asking for lovely feelings towards someone who bugs us or has injured us. We are actually pleading for our natures to be changed and for our character to become more and more like the Savior's." I am so grateful for the gospel and feel as if I have only begun to learn.

With love,
Los Averys