Another long commute…

100 Days of Camping Day #8

We are in an in-between stage of RV living.  We are not in a permanent location, and we are indeed living in an RV.  However, we are not location independent yet either.  We aren't traveling extensively, we bounce back and forth.  We've been to Wilderness Lakes in Menifee 5 times now, and this is our third time in Pio Pico.  We have moved our church records to the local ward in Menifee since we spend the majority of our time there.  We thought we would be there Sunday, but things changed and we are in Jamul.  Michael was the speaker, and I was part of a musical number, so it was important for us to go and be early.  So after arriving home at 3:30 am, we got up and out the door by 9 and drove an hour and 40 minutes to church.  Which is fine, it was our duty, and no one imposed these circumstances on us, it just happened.  Nevertheless, we are growing weary of commuting and are looking to actively eliminate them as we move forward.

Michael did a great job with his talk.  He talked about Doctrine and Covenants 4:6

"Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence."

Michael showed that these words are almost identically shared in D&C 11, and how both are a reminder of a biblical scripture the Smith family was very familiar with, found in 2 Peter 1.  In that chapter, God shows how these virtues are obtained in sequence, and that this is the path we diligently strive for as we make our calling and election sure.

"8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

​Michael did well.  The musical number I participated in was not as hot.  I was accompanying a lovely singer in the ward and we tried to spruce things up a little with a Sally Deford accompaniment.  In theory it would have gone well, except that we didn't have the time to practice it like we needed to, and the choir accompaniment didn't work for a soloist as well as I imagined it would when I looked at the music on my own.  In short, I failed her.  It went over okay though, she kept going, and I caught up and we ended on a happy note.  I just feel bad that I let the opportunity for something better slip through my fingers.  Honestly, I was running on fumes, and was emotionally a little unstable.  When I finally had the opportunity to tell her I was sorry for trying to cut and paste a musical number together that flopped, she instead surprised me with a plate of cookies.  I broke down in tears right there in front of her and accepted a hug.  What a sweet friend!  I get emotionally worked up over trivial things sometimes, and it was wonderful to have a safe place to let a little emotion out.  Plus the cookies were wonderful for the kids (and Mom and Dad, of course) during the long drive back home.

In Relief Society, they talked about being genuine, and how we sometimes put our best foot forward, or even put up a false front.  It got me thinking about how I present myself to the world in social media and the blogosphere.  On "100 days of Camping" day #1, I said that our life isn't anything more special than everyone else's, it's just different.  But then I proceeded to have a crazy, jam-packed week, which was fun to write about, but not something that happens all the time.  Most of our days are spent doing trivial things.  And we have a messy house, and all the joys that come with it.  So in contemplating what to even take pictures of today, Michael suggested taking a picture of our bed because if I am documenting our life in pictures, today was a day we all intended to take a nap.  And we did, including the kids.