Mountain

So I am deciding to start off with my group message today. This week has been crazy. One night, while we were in our furthest area (bukid or out in the middle of nowhere), Macatcatuit, there was a black out! It was really cool because there is literally just fields everywhere and a few houses so we got to see the stars suuuuper suuper clearly. I made empanadas again...they were really good. I took them to Zone Training and they seemed to be a hit! So...the mountain i climbed...was a literal mountain...and it was terrifying...it was actually like 2hours ago. I still have dirt all over my face/back/ hair/ legs/ arms...etc.. so here's the story:

For our zone activity we went hiking. It started off great. But eventually we all got spread out (Not with our companions!!) so we stopped to wait for them. after about twenty minutes we called them before we started our climb up the mountain.. (we had hiked really far in but we all wanted to hike up the big mountain!).... When we called they said they were already half way! So we were like "Ok!...they must have found another trail... we'll meet them up at top!"....that was NOT what happened. what we thought to be a trail turned in to what was clearly just forest/jungle. It was too late when we figured it out! Sister Scholl had climbed up a steep loose dirt-y climb, to the right was Elder Headman steadying himself on a tree, I was near Elder Headman holding on to a vine for dear life, Elder Kilts was right behind me waiting to help Sister Dalley up, then Sister Dalley behind him trying to dodge the falling rocks (A huge on ended up hitting her strait in the face.... It came to a point where Sister Dalley got to a point where she couldn't really make it up on her own so we had to help bring everyone up with finding a branch that wasn't covered in termites or thorns and pulling them up to us.. As we got to where there were vines and tree stumps we held on and looked down what we had just climbed up; there was no way we could get back down! (it was seriously strait down! i have no idea how we had made it up!) So we decided we could still make it to the top to meet our companions and the rest of the group. As we went further up, the harder it got; there were loose rocks and dirt, thorns, and steep climbs. When we got to the top, it was clear we were not at the same spot as the others. We decided to stop, pray, put alcohol on our arms and legs, and get some water in us. Then we started on the trek down. We all tried to stay super positive...we even talked about how the enabling powers of the atonement are so relevant here! We all helped each other. After a long, rough, tiring way down (mostly just falling and helping each other up), we finally found the trail. We were so happy! ALMOST BACK TO OUR COMPANIONS. It wasn't until I saw Sister Salem until i really was so thankful to have made it back. I learned a lot out of this misunderstanding and tailless hike. I will NEVER leave sight and sound of my companion. I don't think I have been so worried for her! I don't really know how to explain the details of this hike other than it was sort of terrifying but since we are servants of the Lord and  we all put our faith in him and in the atonement of Jesus Christ, we made it back safe. It was amazing because even though we kept getting hurt and tired and scared, we all stayed so positive and helped one another. We all enjoyed the beauty of the jungle around us and remembered the enabling powers of the atonement.

well thats my excitement for the week..here are some pictures

One is of the group where we stopped and prayed for guidance. One is the View while treking down, and one was a selfie of me and the mountain i just [literally] got over:)

Sister Kassidy Ariel Norman

Philippines Angeles Mission

F. Tanedo Street

Barangay San Nicolas

Tarlac City, Tarlac 2300

Philippines