Snow, Utah and the Year of the Goat

Dear Ones,

I guess its time for an update though I feel like nothing much has happened. So here is what I can pull out of the last several weeks:

Lessons for a Florida Girl: Its been quite snowy/icy here in the last couple weeks. I made the mistake of trying to pull my car up my steep driveway in the snow and then made the mistake of just parking it on the street where the snow plow came by and covered it with more snow only this snow was filthy and icy. Next came the mistake of trying to dig the car out of all that snow when I didn't have any gloves. I sat in the car after staring and my red, extremely painful fingers and wanting to just yell! Ok maybe I did yell....and I wondered out loud how anyone could live in this?! Last night I was driving the missionaries home because they weren't allowed to drive in the snow storm (why they asked the Florida girl to do this...I don't know but it was an extremely slow trip). I slipped and slid my way to their home and back to mine with no major incident thanks to divine intervention which stopped my car several times as I slide toward an intersection or guardrail. So did I learn anything? Yes don't live where it snows.

Lesson in surrendering: This month we got to choose our clinical sites (where we go for our first rotation type deal). Its a lottery to see what order we get to pick our sites in. I was hoping to stay in St Louis which would mean I'd need one of the first twenty picks. I prayed that if Heavenly Father wanted me to stay here that I could pick first. Turns out its good I'm not a betting person because I received one of the last slots. I miserably watched as all of my top 15 locations were selected leaving me with exotic places like Middleofnowhere Iowa or Delta UT. I looked at two of the 10 options remaining and prayed between two of them. I felt like I should choose Delta. Lets just say it was a little bit of a wrestle to accept that piece of information. After I chose Delta I had a week to go in and change my mind. And up until the start of the meeting a week later I was determined to change but I felt again that Delta was 'the place.' I surrendered knowing that He knows more than I do and that if I'm going to ask for His help I should probably accept it. So in May I'll pack my bags and head once again out west for a several months.

Dumplings!

Happy Chinese New Year - The Year of the Goat! I celebrated with my friend from China who brought me homemade dumplings! On my mission in Taiwan, we were encouraged to take traditions from our areas and during new years there are many traditions one very important one is the time they take to worship their ancestors. So to carry on this tradition, I went to the temple and worshipped with my ancestor by taking a family name through a session. No incense and no fire crackers, a different kind of alter, a different kind of prayer, and a different kind of spirit....but it truly made for a happy new year celebration.

Other than that class keeps plugging along and I feel like I never leave my basement classroom. Its spring break this week so I'll be taking off for warmer climates for a several days thanks to my folks! Life sure is sweet and about to get about 60 degrees warmer:) I pray all is well with yall!

-Me