Monday, May 26, 2014

Letter to Richard - 26 May 2014 (end of first semester)

Dear Richard

Wow, but last week was a hectic teaching week! To get through our budgeted teaching during the year we should have 8 contact hours a week, and last week I had 15½… So a very busy week! And during that time I also managed to get through a number of things on my to do list, so it was a successful week, even if it was exhausting! I also managed to start getting back to gym more consistently, after April and early May which was a complete write off J And now that the semester is over I can have a bit more time to arrange my life :D One of the to do items was that I had to fill in a form that we have to do every 4 years as part of our performance evaluation, which will be followed up with an interview with our Head of Department this week, and then his comments get added and it gets sent off to the Dean. I must say it’s quite a challenge to put together a record of what I’ve done over the last 4 years. Thankfully I have kept my CV up to date with most of the details, so that did make things easier… But I think overall I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished, and I feel like I’ve grown A LOT as I’ve settled into my job. Compared to what I knew 4 or 5 years ago about how to do my job, I’ve come a long way!

This Sunday Andrew actually travelled to and from church with us! Except for conferences that hasn’t happened for most of our nearly 10 years of marriage! He went to Bellville, but at least we got to drive with him ;) We had our stake temple recommend interviews after church, with Pres Matzaluka, the 1st counsellor in the stake presidency. He seems like a really nice man, and Andrew really likes him, from their time they’ve spent together.

In the afternoon the kids decided to create their own cake for the activity for family home evening. It was Joshua’s idea, and they mixed Marie biscuits and milk together (we added sugar and some cinnamon) and then it got baked… It wasn’t anything amazing, but Josh and Hannah were so proud of it! We took it over to Granny and Grandpa to show them, and they were just bursting with excitement to explain what they had done and to share it!

All of the kids are absolutely in love with the music from The Sound of Music. We had Joshua copying the dance routine from the song “So long, Farewell”, and we have Hannah and Caleb who sing along. And they all just sit enthralled most of the time. So cool to watch them appreciating something like that!

My quote for the week actually comes from my lesson last week, but I finally got to post it on the YSA facebook group yesterday, and I know that it’s actually very relevant to a number of them right now… And I know that you’re applying this principle often J
Elder Boyd K. Packer said:
“Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counselled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counselled me to do.
“I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counselled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you’”
Good words to live by!

Have a good week J

Shelly

No comments: