Waiting for Godot

This evening I went to see a play. The theatre was amazing! We didn't have the best seats, but I think that led to a more exciting evening.. I really felt part of it all by needing to lean over to peer down at the amazing actors. I don't think I really got the whole idea of the play.. but it definately had some interesting things for me to think about.

In an analysis of the play it said "Time is equivalent to what is announced in the title: the act of waiting", I find that quite an interesting statement. I guess we often spend a lot of time just waiting. However I feel that we shouldn't do this.. let us get on with life.. let us do what in the play they didn't do so well. Get on with doing something useful. I think this links in so well with the advice that Elder Oaks and again this weekend Sister Lund had, especially the Young Women in the church.. don't wait around for marriage, it may be the most important thing to do, but don't just wait for it to happen. Do something, and do it well.

Manchester YSA Convention 2005

What a great weekend! Haven't got time to write much more than that right now.. but yeah, it was great!

What a great day!

I just feel so blessed to have the Gospel in my life right now, and most especially to have met someone who is so excited to be learning about it. Tom is such a great person, he really wants to learn. It feels like we've known him for ages, but in fact it's been less than a week since we first met him. It's getting me even more excited about serving a mission.. it just feels so great to share such wonderful truths with someone who really wants to know about it.

John Travolta!

I think John Travolta is great! I've loved him in sooo many films.. I bought a DVD today for 97p from Tesco's called The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, I bought it because he was in it.. but I watched it, even though it was late, cos it was actually a really good story. I bought a couple of others too.. wonder what they will be like....

Couple at the Temple

Couple at the Temple
Originally uploaded by Hedgen.

Corinne and Ed are married! It was such a lovely day.. I'm so glad that I know the importance and beauty of marriage. Bishop Balloch said wise words at their wedding ceremony and I hope i remember them when it comes the time for me to be married. He talked of covenants, mostly those we make with our Heavenly Father, and then he spoke of the marriage covenant and of the importance of realising that with these promises we make, we can not rely on the other person to be perfect and make up what we don't do, we need to work together. We need to be odedient, and we need to be faithful.

Animation

My dad showed me a link to this page this morning.. Thought I would share my favourite on it so far.

Ammon vs the robbers

Hope you enjoy!

Meeting old friends and new

Tonight was really great! Andora taught a beautiful lesson about the Spirit, which was felt by all. It was Tom's first time meeting with the YSA in Bristol and he seemed to really enjoy it, it was a great lesson for him. He is so happy, it was great! Now I'm just waiting for this weekend. It's my friends wedding, so that's quite exciting! Can't believe it has come along so quick! I'm so excited to see all the friends who will be there :D

Imaginary Numbers

I was reminded today of a book I read at school, Fermat's Last Theorum by Simon Singh. I love this book.. it reminded me all about the amazingness of maths, just thinking about it today. I was looking forward to going home, and picking out some good bits to re-read.. but I've already packed it, and sent it home. Oh well.. I found lots of cool stuff to be looking at on Simon Singh's website. Why not take a look?

Perspective

Bliss
Originally uploaded by  Smaragd.

It's a very interesting thing, the way that we look at life. Everyone sees everything differently. I often see things differently to myself at a later stage.. however we still expect others to understand what we do see.. am I making any sense?

The most amazing thing, is that no matter how we see things.. our Heavenly Father knows.

Woohoo!

My mission papers are completely filled out, and in the morning I get to post them! I'm so excited to find out where I am going to serve!! :D

Layde Bay

Layde Bay
Originally uploaded by pjy.

I didn't know what to blog about today.. but I was looking at some flickr photos and this is taken quite nearby to where I live, I've never been there.. but isn't it beautiful! There are so many beautiful places in our world.

It was a lovely evening this evening. We had our Family Home Evening at Andrews place tonight, it was really lovely.

The 4 of us

The 4 of us
Originally uploaded by Hedgen.

OK.. so it isn't the best photo in the world, but we're all in it! Luckily it did stop raining long enough for us to take a few photos before we went home.

What a great day!

Off to the Temple

I'm leaving for Preston. It is going to be a great weekend! Next time I post a photo of Preston Temple it will be one of my own :D

I am soooo close to sending off my mission papers now!

Life goes on...

All taking photos
Originally uploaded by Hedgen.

I actually already blogged today before I went out, it was about obedience.. maybe I'll write something about that some other time. It's too late now to really think.. went to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this evening.. lot of fun.. We were all taking photos! :D

Crossing the roads

Crossing the roads
Originally uploaded by Hedgen.

I've been labelling my photos on flickr and I am reminded of how amazing going to General Conference was. Wow! Conference was actually no different. The meanings of the messages, the Spirit, my involvement in Conference, however being amongst all those people, seeing the Temple as I walk out of the Conference Center, the amazingness of the Conference Center.. bumping into people I know. I loved it! This was my second visit, and hopefully I'll make it again someday.

The Lighthouse Family

I hadn't listened to The Lighthouse Family in ages. It made me happy to hear it again. I had a good day today! Nothing particularly amazing happened.. Just my ordinary life, but things made me smile more than usual. I love learning Spanish!

Cutest photo

Cutest photo
Originally uploaded by Hedgen.

All my neices are cute.. but this photo is great! I am so blessed to have such a great family around me. They are all such great examples to me. My parents, siblings, siblings-in-law, neices, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.. wow! so many people, and I can learn something from each of them. Family's are the BEST!

“Go Ye into All the World, and Preach My Gospel”

I am teaching the Sunday School lesson in my ward tomorrow. So, this evening I have been finishing off my preparations. I was going to put that it had been a while since I taught a lesson.. but then I realised that what I really meant was it has been a while since I've taught a lesson which wasn't for YSA or seminary. I've really enjoyed preparing it. I've studied a little off topic at times, but hopefully it will all go OK tommorow.

My attempt for an early night has failed miserably again tonight.. however the other morning, even though I was REALLY tired and no-one else was up early in my house, I did get up! And I will continue too.

In need of sleep...

I keep promising myself that I will get to bed earlier, so I really need to do that. I was reading the other day about Integrity being the opposite of honesty.. let me explain that one! Honesty is speaking the truth about what has happened. Integrity is speaking and making that be the truth. OK, maybe I didn't word it quite right.. but I know what I mean. We need to make and keep promises! Generally I think I'm quite good at this.. apart from when the promise only involves me. I can quite easily get up in the morning to study my scriptures when I am teaching a seminary class, or when I've arranged to study with a friend, or when I have some lesson or talk to prepare and that's my only time.. but when it's just study for me, I tend to justify that it would be better for me to have a little more sleep now and study later. Then later I'm really annoyed at myself. Maybe now I've recorded this, it may help me to keep to my promises! Goodnight.

I was listening to a speech by Elder Neal A Maxwell on my way home from work today.. It was a really good talk. Meekly Drenched in Destiny... I'll have to listen to it again a few times to really remember it all, but one thing stuck out to me.. and it wasn't the most important, but it linked into a blog I was reading the other day. I wanted to link to it.. but I can't find it. It was a poem someone had written called "1 or 3?" Anyway.. here is a quote from the talk;

"In that premortal council, wherein Jesus meekly volunteered to aid the Father's plan, He said, "Here am I, send me" (Abraham 3:27). It was one of those special moments when a few words are preferred to many. Never has one individual offered, in so few words, to do so much for so many as did Jesus when He meekly proffered Himself as ransom for us, billions and billions of us!

In contrast, we see in ourselves, brothers and sisters, the unnecessary multiplication of words--not only a lack of clarity, but vanity. Our verbosity is often a cover for insincerity or uncertainty. Meekness, the subtraction of self, reduces the multiplication of words."

So, after that.. what more have I to say? Goodnight.

Tornado

Found out today that yesterday there was actually almost a tornado near Bristol. Check it out. Glad I only got rained on, and not spun around.

It's weird how in life we often don't realise just how great things are compared to how they could be. I was reading today about empathy. Covey talked about how empathy is understanding someone intellectually and emotionally, not just having been through a similar experience. I was trying to think, have I ever really done this? Do I ever actually try to understand someones situation by being them? or do I only try to sympathise.. by linking it to something similar that I have experienced? or by imagining what it would be like if I went through a similar situation? Empathy really is an amazing thing to acheive and I guess we can never do it perfectly.. but we can try.. and we can know that our Saviour has and will empathise with me for every situation that I have or will ever be in. Amazing! That's why such comfort and peace can come from knowing what the atonement really was.

Rain

I got wet
Originally uploaded by Hedgen.

I got very wet on my cycle home from work today. It started as a drizzle, quite pleasent actually. I didn't have a coat, but I did have my waterproof trousers, luckily. I was also wearing shoes that let the water straight in.. I was cycling in puddles. Half way home it just poured out of the sky, I haven't been in that much rain in ages!