A month has come and gone without an update on my favorite Elder, but in today's email he sent me a quote he used in a talk he gave a couple weeks ago, and voila, a new blog was quickly formed. Elder Scott wanted today's post to focus on the importance of mothers (awww) and his love for moms throughout the world. I am assuming he spoke in church on Mother's Day which made these thoughts even more special to me as I read the words he sent.
The quote he used in his talk was as follows, "Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children: '(Growing) up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood....Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure....Below any job you may have or hope to get.' She then adds: 'Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling'" ("Children,"Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 28).
This has actually been weighing on my mind quite heavily the past few months. I have the opportunity to teach some pretty fantastic high school age youth in my ward 5 days a week during the school year, and these are definitely things they have been hearing from their peers. What a blessing it is for me to know how central families are in God's plan, and that families can be eternally united when they are sealed together in one of God's temples. This is why it is vital we nurture and protect the family unit, and both mother's and father's play equally important roles in the love, care and nurturing of their children.
Later on in his talk Elder Scott said, "When mothers teach the gospel to their children they help their children to gain faith and prepare them to live righteously".....I absolutely love these quotes about mothers and believe them to be incredibly true. Mothers are sooooo incredibly important! Where would we be without them? Motherhood should never be a hobby, it's a calling that was decided before this life. It's an eternal calling, and the most important one that there is. A mother is vital. It's true, when mom's teach their children the gospel, they teach them to gain faith and live in a righteous manner consistent with the teachings of the gospel. They teach them how their family can be an eternal family. Mothers are sacred and should be treated with the utmost respect."
Finally he had these heartstring tugging sentiments to add, " I love you so much mom, you are the best, and I have so much love and respect for you. Thank you for teaching me how to live righteously through your example. I love you so much!!!!"
See, this child of mine sure knows how to make my heart swell with happiness. Since it's been over a month since my last update I'm going to include quite a few pictures. He is still serving in Caraz and absolutely loves the area. Having mountains nearby has been such a treat, and the beauty of the area is postcard picture perfect. It makes me want to hop on a plane and visit Perú tomorrow, haha, but that will have to be put on hold a little longer.
We're getting excited to see our sweet Elder in 3 short months so he can give us first-hand accounts about all of his adventures.
A few of the baptisms they had in the months of
April & May
P-day hike to a waterfall
Another p-day hike in the mountains
Some of the gorgeous views from the higher elevation
Yet another p-day hike, this time to a cave via a not so in tact bridge, lol.
Reuniting with a few favorites
His life revolves around these special and sacred teaching tools
He loves being a missionary in the Trujillo South mission!
I still don't know what they were harvesting in these photos. It's another one of those 'I've got to ask Kyler about this when he gets home' moments.
His old camera was dropped one too many times and a new one had to be purchased. He's been playing around with it, and sent some beautiful and some delicious looking photos he shot.
Today's activities included going to a llama and alpaca farm! Finally!!
