Walking

Tonight, after work, I was walking home and decided to take a detour.  So I took my shoes off and began to walk, from campus, to the ocean.

I don't know what it is but since coming back to hawaii, back home, I have felt this desire to never take it for granted, to not waste a second, to enjoy the beauty of it all.

As I was walking on the beach towards my house, I began to look at the stars and I just felt overwhelmed, overwhelmed with gratitude.  I do not know what I did to deserve this, who am I to be so blessed, but I am blessed.  I am living the most beautiful life.  I have a wonderful family, incredible friends, and peace of mind.   I know why I am here,  I find comfort in knowing that God is aware of me, in every moment of everyday and knowing that as long as I strive to do his will, he will place me where I need to be.

I am grateful.

I have come to a conclusion over the last 2 years and that is, that the Beatles were right, all we really do need is love.

When you think about it, our whole goal for this life and forever is to become like god, a god who loved us so much that he gave his only begotten son so that we could receive eternal life, a god who forgives us constantly, a god who in return only asks that we follow him, that we love him, and that we love one another.


"to love another is to see the face of god".

He asks us to love, so that we can become like him.  So that we can put aside ourselves, for once, and focus on that which is more important, on others.  So that we can learn to give and to share. He wants us to love so that we can grow, so that we can turn to another and trust in them, confide in them, give all of ourselves to them.  And so that we can in turn take that trust and love which has been given to us and cultivate it, strengthen it, allow it to grow.

I want that in my life,

I want to love another with all my heart.

I want to share with my best friend all my thoughts, feelings, fears,

all the things which bring me joy and all the things which bring me sadness,

I want to be able to give all my trust and all my care to him.  I want to love him.

I want to always put him first, and I want to see him smile everyday.  I want him to feel the love i have for him and the excitement i feel for him everyday.  I do not want to let a day pass by where he doesn't know how i feel. 

And I want to feel that in return.

Its something that we all want and something that we all deserve, to be loved and to love.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

Just Obsessed

HOME

Im finally back home!  I made it to the island on Wednesday and all I can say is it feels like home.  As soon as I stepped off the plane and felt that humid air, I just knew, I never wanted to leave this place again.   Every time I leave the island and come back, I fall back in love with it even more.

Its something so sweet, the relationship I feel with Hawaii, its where I grew up, where I experienced so many of the youthful exploits, where I lost myself and then found myself again. Im so grateful to be here, experiencing this place again, to hear the ocean as I fall asleep, to feel the sun on my skin, to get pounded at pounders, to meet knew and beautiful people, to allow myself to enjoy the pure joy that comes from being home, because home is where I am.  I cant wait for the adventures which await me.

Merry Christmas

Ive been pondering a lot lately on Christmas, the true meaning of it all. So often in life we get distracted by the glitz and the glam of it all, the lights, hot chocolate, the presents....but when it all comes down to it the most important is the gift given to us out of love by our heavenly father... 

16 ¶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (New Testament, John, Chapter 3).

God gave us his son so that,  through it all, through all the distractions we could look to him, turn to him, follow him, and have everlasting life.  

Im so grateful for my savior, for the special day many years ago when he was born and i celebrate it with joy in my heart.  

The Paper Kites - Featherstone (Official Music Video)

Im a year and a half behind on my music so a few days ago I decided to jump into it and found this sweet band...im loving them these days

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Tuesday October 30, 2012

Hey Mommacita!

 

Thanks for filling me in on everything...man, I cant believe it, time has really started to fly by the last two weeks, its so wild!

I can't believe that I will be home soon, and that we will all be together for the first time in a long time!  I'm excited. And I'm a little nervous as well ha ha, but I guess that comes with the mission, right?

 

As for the storm...nothing really happened, just lots of rain and wind, we still went out and worked and saw lots of miracles because of it...Angel and Lissette now have a date for baptism - the 25th of November.  It's kind of sad for me that I won't be there to see this one through, but I know that God will take care of them.

I think, momma, that this is going to be the hardest part about leaving the mission - that I won't be able to visit, to teach and to see these people.  I love them so much, they have become my dearest friends.  It makes me think about something that Matty told me right before I left... there was a point where I called him, freaking out saying, "Matty, I think I want to come back to Hawaii"...to which, in Matty style,  he calmly said "Rachel, you can't"... He told me that before this life I had made a promise.  I had made a promise with my greatest friends, in the pre-existence, that I would come down and find them, that I would share with them the gospel.  He said that if I didn't go, I would be denying them the gospel and breaking my promise - I would miss out.  Man, I am so grateful I came, because I can truly say I have met my greatest friends. I have been so blessed because of it.  I will forever be grateful for it, for this time, for all the it has given me, for the friendships I have made, for the growth I have received.

 

I am excited to get to hang out with you momma, ahhh, alone time with momma, lets just cuddle and watch movies ha ha...as for after the mission, I haven't really thought too much about what to do, I think I'm going to  need to go to Utah for a bit though at some point... so... road trip?

 

Well momma, I love you, I will write you one last email next week... I'm going to send a package home to you tomorrow with some books and stuff...but yeah, love you tons!

 

Cubo

Raquel

 

PS:   HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA WALLY...and thanks for the letter, love you papa and granny jo see you soon.

Monday October 8, 2012

Dear Sweet Momma---

 

Oh Africa, it just sounds buck wild.  I hope that you know how grateful I am for you, I am grateful for your willingness to always go and help those who are in need, grateful for your patience and perseverance...I just love you so much.  I'm excited for when all of you get home, so you can be able to enjoy in those comforts of home, not to mention all the American candy you want without having to travel to the embajada. 

 

As for me, this week was pretty sweet...I'm just kind of really tired to be honest.  We are just trying to work until we drop, which is the best way to work.  There truly is no feeling more satisfying than that of being exhausted in the work of the Savior.  The days when I am exhausted are the days when I know that the Lord is proud of me, and I hope that even after my mission I can stay that way, just doing God's work, serving others, being more focused on the eternal things than on the worldly things. 

 

I've been thinking a lot lately about that scripture in Mosiah... that the natural man is an enemy to God and will forever be unless he puts off the natural man and becomes as a little child, meek, humble, submissive.  I love that concept.  When I think of little children, I think of sweet human beings, who love all they meet, they see the good before they see the bad, they trust, they give, they help others, they are sad with those that are sad, they walk with those who ask them to, they are patient, they laugh, they listen to the counsels of their father, they try anything and most the time they do it with out questioning why, they walk and they go, they have faith and they are willing to learn, they can hear and feel the Spirit and they trust it.

 

Momma, that is what it is all about, I am excited to come home and be with you all but at the same time I am so nervous because I know that that's when the real test will begin.  When I will have to apply all the things I have learned out here.  When I will actually be in the world having to put off the natural man, finding the way to balance it all.  I hope and pray with all my heart that I can be as a little child, that I will always remember the things of eternal value instead of those of the worldly.  Something that Elder Holland or President Uchtdorf said I think, was that once we start this journey, we cannot look back but we must look forward and go.  Mom, I can not look back to my past, but I must go and always be a disciple of Jesus Christ because that is what is most important.  I know this Gospel is true, I have been blessed with that knowledge and testimony and will forever have the responsibility to share it and live it.  I'm grateful for it, for my Savior and for my family.  I am excited to be with you all and to begin the rest of the journey, the rest of my mission.  I love you.

 

Cubo

RR