oh the places I'll go...

An excerpt from one of my FAVORITE books that speaks to me right now...



"You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted.  But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out?  Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing."



Lately I feel a little like I'm in The Waiting Place...waiting around for a yes or a no from all my job applications. Still waiting for answers about teaching positions in Kazakhstan and upstate New York...

(from my visit to the Sacred Grove...amazing)

Meanwhile I fill out more and more applications. I have a skype interview on Friday for a postdoc position at Harvard! Cross your fingers for me!!

I've never been one that enjoys The Waiting Place. Whether it be a strength or a weakness, I like to ACT, to feel like I am moving forward. This time around it's rough because I don't know exactly what I am moving forward TO. I know I will likely be moving far away, but who knows where? I know I will defend my dissertation in June and graduate in August, but beyond that, it's dark. As a speaker in sacrament meeting put it a few weeks ago, I am in the "Holy Place of Uncertainty." Will I find the bright places where boom bands are playing? Or will I grind on for miles across weirdish wild space? Will the streets be marked? Will the windows be lighted? Should I turn left or right?

As much as this time is uncertain, it is also holy and sweet. It is a time to trust the Lord and have the faith that if I do all I can, He will open doors for me. Recently some of my favorite verses of the Book of Mormon are 2 Nephi 4:33-35. Nephi's prayer to the Lord resonates with me:

"Wilt thou make my path straight before me!...O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever...Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen."

My path is clear because I will trust in the Lord forever.

In the meantime, I plan on having the best summer! I look forward to spending time with family that are close by. I may not be so close in a few months so I need to eat them up!!

Also on the list: partying it up with Steph! She was the angel I needed after the mission. We have lived together for 2 1/2 years and plan on ending this era with a bang!

Secret confession...I've already teared a couple times thinking of leaving my family, roommates, ward friends, lab friends, and high school friends that are still around. So for now I'm not thinking about it!!

WELCOME SUMMER!!

Lent

Let it be known that I, Liz Gibbons, will be giving up the snooze button for Lent 2013. That's right...when I set an alarm, I vow to wake up at the time I planned rather than sleeping for 5 more cycles of 5 minutes at a time (which isn't restful anyway). Hopefully, this will give me more time in the morning for scripture study and exercise and help me prepare for Easter. So from now until March 30, I will be super responsible. I'm pretty excited about it.

today

Today I am grateful...

(1) to have my mom here from Russia!
(2) for my fat curling iron
(3) that baby Ivan got to come home :)
(4) for our new mounted punching bag in the living room
(5) that I got to watch my mom experience an American grocery store for the first time in a long time (she was in HEAVEN)
(6) for Philippians 4:6-12 and2 Nephi 4:33-35
(7) that Steph has a new desire to document all the crazy things we do with her new video camera
(8) for my birthday itunes gift cards...which were spent in about 4 minutes

Prayer of the children

I just returned from a FABULOUS day in Salt Lake. Annie, Abby, Ryan and I went to the Kurt Bestor concert at Abravanel Hall (we used to go every year when we were young and thought it'd be fun to revive the tradition!), ate dinner at Zupas, and headed to Cummings Trees (once again a tradition! Dad used to get his tree there when he was a little tyke) to pick out our gorgeous Christmas tree!! I must say, today really filled me with the Christmas spirit! We also watched "Scrooge" while we decorated the tree. Favorite. So grateful to have sisters nearby. :)

Honestly, one of the most powerful moments of the day for me was the song "Prayer of the Children" during the concert. He dedicated it to those involved in the shootings in Connecticut. It was really powerful to me. It reminded me that Christmas is all about hope...the hope that comes through Christ and His Atonement. I was hit with the reality of all the heartache that exists in our world. BUT this season we celebrate the miracle that Christ can heal all. My heart and prayers are with the victims and families of victims in Connecticut!

Grateful

Today I am grateful for...

*Technology! It connects me to the people I love :)

*FAMILY far and near

*Fantastic Roommates

*Good friends that are always there when I need them...whether it's to fix my car, listen to me, or just enjoy life with me!

*A great ward!

*Prayer, the scriptures, and Latter-day revelation that invite the Holy Spirit and bring peace. Here's my recent fav:

*My best friend and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is as real to me as all of you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (or as we say in my family, Happy Thanksgibbons!)

Roadtrip to Barnaul

We took a short roadtrip this weekend to visit the saints in Barnaul, Russia. We took the missionaries there to dinner including an amazing senior couple serving their 5th mission! (This is their 3rd to Barnaul.)

Sunday, we attended church with the branch there. Here is a picture of us with one of the members in front of the church building. It looks like some kind of bunker or bomb shelter from the outside, but inside it seems like a familiar church. They'll have a brand new building to meet in in a couple weeks, so I'm way excited for them! I got to play the piano for sacrament meeting, and my dad even called on me to bear my testimony. I had a translator, but I said one sentence in Russian and felt cool haha. I love how the church is the same wherever you go, and I admire these saints so much for their faithfulness!

YSA Conference in Krasnoyarsk, Russia

After a red eye flight from Moscow to Novosibirsk, I didn't even spend one night in the mission home before we were off traveling! We took an overnight train to Krasnoyarsk for a tri-mission YSA conference. It was my first time on a train! We were running late and had to lug a bunch of luggage up and down like 4 flights of stairs to get to our track, but we made it! I slept in a private coupe and felt like I was on Harry Potter. The countryside was gorgeous...especially a stretch of hundreds of beautiful dachas (Russian summer homes) with beautiful gardens. I tried to take a picture, but since we were on a moving train...it didn't work out too well, sadly.

The conference was held by a beautiful lake!

The highlight of the conference was definitely the baptisms of two amazing girls from Kazakhstan in the lake. One was planned, and then the night before, my parents and I were able to teach the other girl and she decided she was ready as well! Words can't describe how amazing the whole experience was. I felt like a missionary again...and there is no joy quite like it. We had over a hundred people walk to the beach with us and witness the baptism.

  

There were dances every night. The first night was disney themed. I had a blast dancing with my Pops! I think everyone was impressed with his moves. He's a rockstar.

I loved meeting these wonderful members in Russia! They were all so so sweet to me and so patient with my Russian, even translating for me :) It made me so grateful to have so many amazing members my age in Provo that I get to see all the time. These members only get together like this once a year. They all live thousands of miles apart and some ride trains for 3 days to get there.

Here's the whole group! 

And another overnight train home...