guyana note

had a skype meeting with ve'ahavta this morning. getting so so excited about going! learned more about what we'll be doing, who we'll be helping, and the culture, politics, history and economy of guyana. did you know that guyana is home to one of two "untouched" rainforests on the earth? that's where the indiginous amerindian people live, and that's where we'll spend our time helping. (yes, i may wake up to the sound of a howler monkey.) most of the population actually lives on the coast, however, where it's a mix of various cultures but predominatly people of indian and african descent (from the history of slavery and then indentured servitude when it was a dutch/british colony).

interesting, eh?

next thought-- anyone in the kent area have a pelican box i could borrow for the trip? (or something similar-- to keep my camera dry when there's a storm or in case my bag falls out of the canoe or whatever)

words of the prophets & to the anonymous young man

Words of the Prophets

(or other church leaders)

Some Church members feel weighed down with discouragement about the circumstances of their personal lives, even when they are making sustained and admirable efforts. Frequently, these feelings of self-disappointment come not from wrongdoing, but from stresses and troubles for which we may not be fully to blame. The Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to these experiences because it applies to all of life. The Savi

or can wipe away all of our tears, after all we can do....

Mercy and repentance are rehabilitative, not retributive. The Savior asks us to repent not just to repay him for paying our debt to justice, but also to induce us to undergo the personal development that will purify our very nature. The “natural man” will remain an enemy to God forever—even after paying for his own sins—unless he also “becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.” (Mosiah 3:19.)...

Life is a school, a place for us to learn and grow. We, like Adam and Eve, experience “growing pains” through the sorrow and contamination of a lone and dreary world. These experiences may include sin, but they also include mistakes, disappointments, and the undeserved pain of adversity. The blessed news of the gospel is that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can purify all the uncleanness and sweeten all the bitterness we taste....

...the Savior’s grace can bless us, beyond its compensation for our sins, in our quest for divine perfection. While much of the perfection process involves a healing from sin and bitterness, the process involves an additional, affirmative dimension through which we may acquire a Christlike nature, becoming even as the Father and Son are.

...while no other success of ours can compensate for our failures within or outside our homes, there is a success that can compensate when we cannot, after we conscientiously do all we can. That success is the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which can mend what for us is beyond repair. Perhaps, I thought, that holy influence could even do for this man’s son what it did for the younger Alma.

Bruce C. Hafen "Beauty for Ashes"

So I occasionally follow this blog. I don't remember how I got started on it. Seems like it has something to do with EFY or Hannah (Bush) Ryan. I don't always agree with Bro Jo's stance on things (mostly it seems like he makes general rules out of things that should be guidelines and with consideration prayerfully adopted or adapted to a person's individual situation. but that's a whole other discussion), but in this most recent post, I agreed with him 100% and my heart went out to the anonymous young man who sent the email. I ended up leaving a comment and figured I'd post it here.

missions are good but at this point, you absolutely need to be focused on repenting. many a young man has gone through addiction and served an honorable mission (i know some). many have also have not, but still turned out to be admirable men who married in the temple and are wonderful fathers and priesthood holders (i know some of those as well). if you don't go on a mission right away at 19 or even at all, it will be hard because at your age everyone asks about it. your bishop, close friends, and loving family can help you figure out how to navigate in an honest and dignified way.

my heart goes out to you. it is soo good that you chose to take this step and email bro jo. let your bishop become one of your best friends. i've had bishops i felt it difficult to connect with, but when i prayed about it the Lord eventually blessed me with the experiences i needed to know, trust, and truly love my bishop.

be completely honest with yourself- about your mistakes, the consequences, your future, and also your talents, skills, and gifts. pornography is definitely destructive to the soul, but satan would have you believe that it has taken over and eliminated everything else. this is simply not true. remember that you DO have righteous desires and cherish those. keep them in that special, sacred place in your heart and never, ever, stop hoping and having faith that through the Atonement and mercy of Christ, those desires will surely be fulfilled. focus on the repentance process, particularly using the church's addiction recovery program and other similar resources. this 12-step program will teach you how to utilize the Atonement in your every day life to overcome addiction, codependency, depression, self-hate, self-destructive thinking, and other unproductive habits.

the Lord loves you. i've no idea who you are, but i love you. my heart goes out to you and i sense that, like many who struggle with this same problem, you are truly a valiant soul who feels deeply, is intelligent and talented.

God bless.

Resources

• LDS Addiction Recovery Program (includes 12-step group locations and times and the 12-step book)
• Heart t' Heart a 12-step LDS group run by a couple experienced with the devestation pornography can bring and the joy the Atonement can restore. this group has many great resources.
• Clean Hands, Pure Heart book, written by Bro. Harrison of Heart t' Heart. he shares his own experience in achieving recovery from pornography addiction and has written this book as a guide through the 12 steps. (he and Sis Harrison have written other books as well-- I highly recommend them to anyone who struggles with addiction- whether it be their own or that of a loved one.)

I'm going to Guyana. Please help.

UPDATE:

my fundraising site is up!

I'm going to Guyana!

for two weeks. and i'll be camping. and hanging out with lots of sick people.

october 23-november 6.

i'm stoked.

[it's on facebook, too!]

What?

So over the past year, I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life. I took a CNA class- absolutely loved it. Then I worked for a few months with the school district, and in the spring decided to go back to the local community college. Spring and Summer quarters I attended part-time so if I had any migraine problems it wouldn't set me back in school. This plan worked excellently because both quarters I got a 3.9! Yay! Overjoyed, I quite happily signed up for Fall classes, ready to keep going.

And then there was that Sunday I sat in church and felt really strongly like something would come up this fall and I should withdraw from classes so I could devote myself to that opportunity. My thoughts were something like, "wha?!" So a few days later I took a big gulp and withdrew from my classes. Yikes! I thought and prayed about it and decided that hey, this would be a really good opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do-- go volunteer abroad!

I started researching various volunteer programs like crazy. After about a month of research I'd seen a few programs that caught my eye, but none of them occurring this fall. Then I got an email from Ve'ahavta. They told me that they had an upcoming medical trip to Guyana and were in need of a support person for their team and the information they had about me suggested that I might be a good fit for this role. The trip is scheduled to leave Oct 23, so would I please get back to them quickly about whether or not I'm interested? I took a weekend to pray about it and decided that this is something I really want to do and to go for it.

Well that's nice, Cassanndre, but what're you actually gonna do?

Well, this is so cool. Short answer: I'm going to be a support person on a medical team. My job will be multi-fold. Part of it will be to help our team leader logistically, make sure we don't forget anything on the little boats or airplanes (like medicine, tents, food, and other not-so-important items), and remind my teammates to stay hydrated and wear mosquito repellant. The other part of it will be using my medical skills and enthusiasm to learn by helping the doctors and nurses in the clinic. I will help with basic patient care (taking vitals, basic first aid, etc), triaging our incoming patients, and educating patients on things like hygiene, sexual health, diabetes, and preventative measures. I will also have opportunities to observe the doctors and nurses in action.

We will travel by "puddle jumper" (little plane), boat, canoe, and.... well, I imagine there will be a vehicle here or there :) We will be going to the rural Guyanese people who have less access to primary care and working with the local healthcare workers to meet the medical needs of each village.

If you want to know more in depth, check out the Ve'ahavta Guyana project information page.

You said "please help"... are you asking me for money?

Yes, yes, I am. I will be completely honest with you about this. And y'know what makes it great? I really don't have the ability to afford it on my own!

Are you crazy?

Yeah, maybe I am. However, I feel really strongly that this medical trip to Guyana is something my Heavenly Father is giving me the opportunity to do and it is something I really, really want to do. That's an understatement. I am enthused, excited, and committed to this trip. Worst case scenario here? I go to Guyana and am in debt to Ve'ahavta and arrange a payment plan with them to pay off the cost of the trip within the next year or so. I believe in working for a living as well as working to make dreams possible. I don't like the idea of debt and try to avoid it as much as possible. I feel strongly that if I do everything I can to prepare myself for this trip and take advantage of all of the resources available to me that I will be provided for- in whatever form that comes about. It might sound crazy to plan this trip on such short notice with such little resources of my own, but I am not ashamed of my situation nor my decision to go.

The cost of the trip is termed a donation (and thus is tax-deductible). It is typically $3,000 but because I'm awesome, Ve'ahavta has reduced it to $2,500 for me. What does this cover? This covers not only my personal airfare, food, in-country travel, insurance, etc. but it also helps cover the cost of the medical supplies we will be using and supplying the Guyanese people.

What do I get out of it?

Well, that depends on what you want out of it. If you want me to have a great time, expand my educational experiences, and help people- I promise you'll get that. You'll even get some people in Guyana who are healthier, happier, and more knowledgeable about taking care of themselves. Personally, though, I want to give back to the people who help me to go. I have a few ideas about this, and honestly, I can't think of one to make the single gift back to those of you who help sponsor me. So how about this? I'll give you guys a list of things I can do, and you let me know what you would like in return.

• a printed photo of guyana. your choice from my pictures of people and land. (since i am a photographer)
• a photoshoot of you, your family, your pets, whatever.
• professional editing or restoration of photos you already have.
• babysitting. (for an evening, a day, a few times a week, a month....)
• cleaning. with my special genetic-anal-retentive skills.
• a massage. (i have no training whatsoever, but i do have a reputation for awesome massages.)
• buy doTERRA oils from me at retail price (i believe i get 25% of your purchase). feel free to ask me about essential oils if you don't know about them or what might be a good fit for you. i love them. maybe i'll put a post regarding oils here on my blog sometime soon...
• caregiving. i am trained to be a nursing assistant. i can help you or a loved one in a number of ways, from personal hygiene and basic medical attention to preparing meals and rearranging furniture for greater accessibility. and many things in between.
• tutoring. i have extensive experience working with special needs kids. i also am a college student and can help with most subjects up to high school level. i took two years of ASL and can teach you basic sign language.
• anything else you can think of.

well that's nice that you can do stuff, but I only have a little bit of money. can I just get a picture or something?

Of course! And you know what, if 50 people donated $20, that would be $1000. Now, I probably won't be able to send an 8x10 glossy to each of those 50 people because that would get expensive. But if you want one, let me know and we'll make it happen. If you want an hour of tutoring or a small handful of photos edited, let's talk about it. If you want to just donate and you don't want anything in return, that's really sweet and I'll accept that, but please give me your address so I can at least send you a picture or something. Pretty much, I'm a reasonable person, and I expect that anyone who reads this is probably a reasonable person. Want to help me out? Let's talk and see what I can do for you!

I have more questions!

Okay, post them below, give me a call (if you have my number), or shoot me an email (cassanndre [at] gmail [dot] com). I will also probably come back and add more information as I think of things people might want to know/ I want to share.

I LIKE TO YELL!

Actually, I don't, but some people do. At least, that's what it sounds like when they write in ALL CAPS. It's a pet peeve of mine. My younger sister (bless her heart) likes to do it. Today I was thinking it would be cool to get her a cap that says "ALL CAPS" on it. I did a google search and while I didn't find that cap, I did find a few other fun pictures, here here here and here.

My favorite?

i'm a mormon

In a week, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will start here in the Seattle area a huge media campaign, known as "I'm a Mormon". This has already been done in other places, like NYC. There is a good article from the Huffington Post which was put out earlier this month about this campaign. There is also an article available at the LDS Newsroom. As a Mormon in the Seattle area, I've been asked to participate in this campaign by creating a profile on Mormon.org so that I can share with people what I believe and how I live my life. I am in the process of creating a profile and when I have a link to share I will post it here.

Why is the Church doing this media campaign? Good question.

1) to dispel myths and let people know what kind of people we really are

2) to share our love of Jesus Christ and help people better come to know Him

3) to direct people to mormon.org where they can learn more about us and Christ

What do I think about it?

I think it's awesome and I can't wait to get started! (Oh wait, I have started.)

Here's a teaser from my mormon.org profile:

Hi, I'm Cassànndrè.

student. photographer. educator. learner. biology major. dancer. reader. migraineur. flutist. volunteer. Mormon.

about me

I believe in miracles. I believe that we all have a happily-ever-after waiting for us, we just have to get there. I believe that I have the choice to be happy. When I choose to be happy, I see beauty everywhere. I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life, but it will involve having a family and helping people. I cry really easily. I don't like seafood. Or spinach. I'm shy, but I hear that I hide it well. I love to dance and I'm a different person when I play my flute. My little photography business is slowly expanding. I am an undergraduate biology major- at least for now. I believe that we need to have goals and make plans but ultimately trust God to guide our lives because nothing ever goes according to our plans. I'm grateful that He is in control. I'm Cassànndrè, and I'm a Mormon :)

how i live my faith

For a couple of years I wasn't able to work or go to school because of severe migraines. I read the story of a woman whom doctors couldn't heal and with faith sought just to touch the hem of Christ's garment (Luke 8:43-48). That story touched me and I wondered how I could do that. One day I was sitting in a religion class and the teacher said something (I don't even remember what!) and I decided that the closest I could get to touching the hem of Christ's garment was to touch the temple, because that is the Lord's house. I began to visit the temple every week....

for more, visit my profile at mormon.org.