Orewa Beach and Barbeque

Some of us girls getting ready for a jump on the beach

Monique (our fun host mom) and Kara at the barbecue with her family and this was the day that we went to a birthday part and there was lots of family and it was loud and so fun! It reminded me of the good old Parker get-togethers :)

Mini!!

Mini, Me, Mosiah

Hannah and I on a rock (which you can't see)

Here is the beach, and I took this while stopping by a couple that let Natalie Snow and Linda Jacobs (Dr. Jacob's wife) borrow a cell phone so we could get in contact with the rest of the group. By the time I took this picture we had walked both lengths of the beach searching for Dr. Jacobs and 14 girls (not very hard to find, especially since we are all American). The reason we weren't with them was because Natalie had picked me and Kara up and then got Linda and went straight to the beach. Little did we know that the rest of the group was waiting all along for us at the church building in Henderson! Obviously we all felt really bad that they waited for us for 45 minutes while they could have been enjoying the beach, but as Natalie told me as we continued on our walk, that you have to make the best of every situation and be happy. I confided in her how stressed out I can be, and she told me New Zealand is a perfect place for me to be so I can learn from the people how to let loose and go with the flow. We talked about making decisions and choosing to be happy and get the most out of every situation. She is right, I am not going to be here very long, and I need to play hard, study hard, and I'll add this, be happy! Sure, frustrations will come and they already have, but it's about enjoying the scenery, and learning from the experiences, keeping faith in the Lord, and not fearing when others disappoint us, or times get trying. I realized how fearful I am in this new country and the lack of humility I have to ask for the Savior's comfort (I got this realization while reading a devotional address entitled "Some Lessons on Fear and Faith," by Gregory Clark in May 2008) I highly recommend it to anyone who has times of doubt because it opens up a person's mind to how we can better put our trust in the Lord and how to recognize the symptoms of fear, and a lack of faith. One of my goals is to increase in faith while I am here.

Me in front of the beach at high tide-hardly had to walk at all to the beginning of the water.

Orewa beach!! So beautiful! And warm

Here I am with my roomie Kara in front of our school-the Henderson Stake Center.
Funny story about this is that this was the first time we walked home on our own, and it should have only taken us 35 minutes, but we got lost on a trail close to the Douglass Track, and we kept on backtracking until we finally came to a street we knew and that eventually lead back to our home on Sylvan Cres. It was a hot day and I was really irritated by the end of it all. We asked for directions twice and we still got so lost, one of the women we asked directions from was walking with Mini, the youngest girl in our host family, our little sister. As I look back now I was realized I didn't get the most out of the walk because I was so worried about getting home and gathering my bearings. I never stopped to notice the beautiful creek by the trail, or the many trees and bushes we passed. I just could think of how upset I was and hot and tired, in an earlier picture I described a lesson I learned about learning how to live the Kiwi way. By Friday I hadn't learned it still, and I doubt I am anywhere close to learning, since I have much to learn, but Saturday also taught me a lesson as we were at the beach (above).

Well, those are some pictures of our adventures so far, it was a very fun-filled, exciting weekend and week. Let's see what next week will bring...I think, more homework...ha ha. Love you all!