My chance to retreat

Last weekend the Relief Society had a retreat in Pinedale, AZ. We were lucky enough to stay in someone's cabin. Now these people's version of a "cabin" is my version of a "dream home." I posted a few pictures to get an idea. There is a huge great room/kitchen/eating area, 6 bedrooms, 2 bunk rooms, 4 bathrooms, a TV/movie room complete with 3 couches and "movie seats", and a game room including a pool table. It even has a central vacuuming system. It sleeps 27 people I believe--all on beds. Plus there are cribs, toddler beds, etc. It was a BEAUTIFUL place. We had a great time playing games, talking, eating, staying up late, getting spa treatments, listening to speakers, making crafts and going on a photo/nature walk.

Check out the picture of the kitchen!! I love what they built into the end of the counter. It's a bunch of candy behind glass with a sign in red letters above it that says, "In case of emergency break glass." Yes, it's real candy. What a cute idea!

I loved the photo/nature walk. We have 2 women in our ward that are fabulous photographers. You remember Mary who took our family photos at Thanksgiving--she's one of them. Anyways, they taught me all sorts of stuff. Check out my picture of the "cabin" we stayed in. See how I framed it with the bars of the wrought iron fence. Also, I love the picture I took of the sunflowers. I like how the flowers are clear and the barn in the background is slightly blurry.

A less active lady from our ward came and did spa treatments on all of us. It was great that we could get her to come out and meet a few of us sisters in such a fun way. What a nice thing for her to do. You can see me in the picture getting my lips treated for dryness and getting softened. (Won't Jerel be glad to see me!)
We had a great lesson on President Holland's talk about speaking with the tongues of angels. This was one of Jerel's favorite talks (and mine too). Amy (you can see her in the picture with me) did a wonderful job speaking. I really felt the spirit and had a renewed goal to be a better person. I liked how she began her talk. She started by reading great quotes from many different people. We had to guess who said them all. There were quotes from past presidents, prophets and even people in our own ward. She then asked us to think about what quotes people would remember us by. How will people remember me? Another great point that was brought up was how we are representing the Lord to our children by what we say. When you call a repair place, for example, your first impression is based on the person who answers the phone. Depending on their knowledge and how you are treated, you then decide whether you want to use that repairman. That person is representing the company. So how am I representing my Heavenly Father to my kids. Do they think that He will be harsh and impatient with the mistakes they make because they see me act that way? Or will they see great love? Just a few thoughts--as I said, I left feeling committed to being a better person.

What a great weekend!