4/7/14 - leadership council, pictures from kpalime hike 3/17/14



hey family,

good news!  i'm on a computer that can send some pictures so i decided to make up for the last couple of weeks.  this week has gone by pretty sneakily meaning i don't really remember what happened.  i am trying to think about some stuff to write and am pulling up blank.

i heard that general conference was this yesterday and saturday.  we can only hope that i'll be able to get the talks quickly.  if i have a couple minutes at the end here i'll hop on lds.org and see what i can skim through.  are there any top talks that i can read because maybe each week i could have time to read one or two if we have some time.  other than that mom you didn't send your moms patriarchal blessing.  or if you did i didn't get it.  could you try again?


i was looking through the talks you sent to me in the mtc and found the talk "give us our daily bread" by christofferson.  what an awesome talk!  i am continuously astonished by what a great selection of talks that was.  i've read it before but this time it spoke right to me and to my needs and how to improve.  i learned a lot.  but until now it's been in my suitcase forgotten.  i don't believe there are coincidences and it blows my mind how all that works out.

i heard once that someone in europe somewhere (pretty reliable exact facts to start this story off right?) got their patriarchal blessing and it said that he would have received the gospel a long time before if the missionaries at that time had been obedient.  god has everything planned out.  let's not miss the opportunities to fit exactly into god's perfect plan just because we're tired or prideful or etc etc blah blah.  why don't we just do it?  follow the spirit and we're so much happier.  it's so simple.  gods plan is beautiful.

we had our leadership council on this last saturday. it was a last minute change but a great meeting.  president talked about a lot of things that were really awesome.  the way he simplified and clarified simple but hard to answer questions was really awesome.  we talked about helping new missionaries.  he asked,  "what do new missionaries need to be able to adapt in the mission?"  we started listing off a whole bunch of stuff and he said yes but all these are only a means to an end.  he said a new missionary needs to feel the spirit.  so simple but as i've thought more about it - so true.  he also talked about humility.  he asked us how can we be continuously humble?  because once we think were humble were not so it's almost impossible to "see" progressing humility in ourselves.  he said reading scriptures continuously reminds us of our own nothingness as well as prayer.  and also he said journal writing helps us to be grateful for god and ponder his goodness, building our humility.  i love president weed.  he's such an absolutely amazing person and president.

well that's all for this week folks.  stay tuned for next week!  enjoy the pictures.  thanks for all your letters and love.  oh yeah i got benjamin's wedding invite on saturday..... about a month late..... thanks for the thought.

loves!

Elder Rybin



















p.s. these pictures are from last week's hike with the zone to kpalime . . . 

"back to kpalime it was great!  we went to a different water fall.  we are back late so i don't have time to load pictures but i'll send some next week.  the hike was a lot longer and harder this time though.  our guide was awesome though he was walking up these "man from snowy river" slopes in his flip flops, shorts and t shirt and not even breathing hard.  and we are all behind him dying to keep up.  i'm not dead though so that's good."