October 13—El Rancho

Today one of the members of our ward took us out to her ranch!!!!! Nona and Oldie, I was thinking a lot about you and about all of the mountain men you have known in your lives. I was thinking about your stories about your acquaintance who lived in his cabin, a hermit, and about Nona’s cousin who built his log cabin by himself.  Because she built this house herself!!!!

 It was so much fun to go out in nature and I felt so happy.

Also wearing pants was cool haha. I love wearing skirts, they’re so comfortable, but it was cool to wear pants for the first time in almost 6 months haha!!!

Here are some pics of the road trip…

…which wouldn’t be complete without a pitstop.

These tortillas are made by hand and cooked on a giant round stone :DD

Lately, I have been thinking about prayer. I never understood before the effort that is required to really communicate sincerely with God in prayer. I was reflective and grateful when I prayed, but here in the mission I have been studying the scriptures and found that when people prayed in the scriptures, MAN THEY PRAYED. That's why they got such amazing results. 

Remember the story about Socrates? A man came to him and asked him to help him acquire knowledge. Socrates said, Yes of course, meet me on the beach at 6 am. So at 6 am the guy comes out to the beach ready for some transcendental knowledge. Socrates says, We just need to go out in the waves a bit. The guy thinks, Okay... So they go out. And suddenly the guy's head is underwater and he's choking and gasping and scared. He tries coming up for air but Socrates seems determined to drown him. At the last moment, Socrates lets him up. What was that?!?!?! And Socrates says, What did you want more than anything when you were underwater? AIR! 

...When you want knowledge as bad as you wanted air just now, you will find it.

I invite you to change your prayers. To offer them with all the energy of your heart, mind, and body. Why was Alma the Elder's prayers answered with an angel scaring the pants off his son and turning his son into one of the greatest prophets of all time? He must have wanted it as bad as Socrates' student wanted air. He must have "wrestled in mighty prayer." It is only through this kind of prayer that we become one with Divinity. Prayer is not about changing God, it is about changing me. Offer your prayers as if Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were sitting right there next to you: be focused, be sincere, beg them for spiritual eyes.