the retreat

This weekend we went to a little cabin in the Merced grove of giant sequoia trees for our staff training retreat! I work with some really awesome people. The whole interpretation department went together which is our bosses Emily, Meghan, and Andrew, and all the staff Corey, Jenna, Veronica, and I. It was crazy because the weather was COLD and snowy/rainy when we got there Friday. We kept the wood stove burning the whole time and I got to chop a lot of wood which was super fun. The cabin we stayed in was restored- it was originally the cabin that was the first entrance to Yosemite way back in early 1900's. We played a lot of games and got to know each other a lot better. Everyone is full of energy and a lot of fun to hang out with. We had some great conversations about deeper stuff, everyone was really open to sharing about their lives.
When we woke up Saturday morning, the sun was shining and it warmed up to seventy degrees yesterday!
Last night I went bouldering (finally!) with the guy I work with corey and his friends chris and zach who are both from Tennessee, and zach just moved out here from asheville so we had a lot to talk about. A big group of us hiked up to this place called the couch, which is a big rock outcrop above tree-line that you can see the valley and all the stars! It was awesome! we watched the moon rise then walked over to Yosemite falls to see the moonbow, which very rarely happens. It is when the full moon hits the lower Yosemite Falls mist and causes a faint rainbow across the falls.
Today is my day off! Brock is coming to the valley and we are hopefully going to get on a wall and go climbing today. Its super crazy this weekend because there are a million tourists here for memorial day. Its kind of insane the amount of people.
Megan, brock's best friend's girlfriend, who i randomly met here is looking for a roommate, so i'm still praying about whether I am where I need to be living. She lives in a quieter place over near curry village, so it would be really cool. Please pray for me on that...
I will update with pictures soon!

ADDRESS

(photo by becky legel)

if any of you loved ones would like to send me a letter or a package, please do! My address is

Rebekah Henderson

General Delivery

Yosemite Village Post Office

Yosemite, CA 95389

__ or for Fed-ex/ups___

Rebekah Henderson

Employee Services

9013 Village Drive

Yosemite, CA 95389

****Please let me know if you send something bc it is general delivery, I have to go pick it up within a week of it getting there or they will get rid of it

**food is really expensive here so if you feel led to send healthy snacks, I will not argue with you :)

great is your faithfulness...

(photos by becky legel, my awesome roomate)

for all you who want to know what has Really been going on the past week...

Finally! I could tell the sun was welcoming this early morning through the little gash in the top of the canvas wall of my tent cabin. But despite the promise of the sun's warmth, a cold draft interrupted my cozy state as soon as I unzipped the top half of my sleeping bag. "Woman up, bekah, you can do it" I said to myself, mustering up the fervor to quickly roll out of the bed, brace the biting cold, strap on my rainbows, tromp outside to the bear locker where I would fumble around with the heavy clips to finally get my tupperware box of shower stuff out from the big metal container, and dash through the kitchen to try to get a shower before all the morning shift ladies got in there. I plopped down on the toilet (you have to hold it for a long time when your bathroom is a cold walk away at night) with my heavy head in my hands"Oh Lord, I need you today. I need to know you are with me"

As I sat (feeling more relieved by the second) a high pitched but soft voice rose out of the steamy rushing of the shower across the room, "Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me," she continued to sing.

Tears came to my eyes, and I thanked Him. I thanked Him that I was not alone. That He is with me, and I am surrounded by people that love Him and know Him too, I just don't realize it yet. He is so much bigger!! I thanked him that this morning, his mercies are new and that He WILL PROVIDE all I need! This is so significant because when I got here, I was given the decision to live in Huff where pretty much everyone my age lives and hangs out, and its basically a crazy throw down party every night, its loud, and its where most of the people that climb and get out and do outdoors stuff are -or- to live behind the Awahnee dorms in one of three little quiet tent cabins with some quiet girls and a lot of older retired people. Of course I wanted to live where all the climbers and fun stuff was going on, mostly because I am scared to miss out on opportunities to do that stuff, but I also was nervous about how crazy it is over there and how everyone was basically like"yeah if you don't like to party and drink a lot, and you like to sleep at night, don't live here" So, my first couple of days here was agonizing over decisions (like i always tend to do), praying a lot and thinking a lot about what the heck I needed to do.

But here is the kicker

The day I was traveling here (friday), the Lord gave me this verse time and time again... Isaiah 30:15

"only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength..."

So as I knew what I needed to do, but I was just not wanting to be confident in God's provision, trusting that He will provide me with the opportunities to meet people and go out and do the things I love, especially if I was obedient in coming to him in a quiet place and resting in Him!

I am living in the quiet place, and I have met a lot of cool people here and all around.

Last night I had a crazy awesome conversation with two girls about religion and God, and why it seems to make no since to believe in only one thing. It was a beautiful conversation that lasted about 2 hours. I pray that the Lord will keep it going throughout the summer as my friendship with them grows. I pray that they will know the truth and the truth will set them free.

Also, my neighbor Tikka, came over and talked to me tonight. She noticed the books that were stacked on my shelf. Turns out she is a Christian and has done the Kay Arthur study that I am doing right now...her two roomates are two older retired ladies that she told me also know the Lord....WHAT THE HECK? why I don't trust His goodness, I don't know...its ridiculous.

"your ways are higher than my ways, and your thoughts are far beyond anything I can imagine..." Isaiah 55

"the lord works out all things to the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purposes" romans 8

its about the business: the facts

(photos by my sweet roomate becky legel)

Today is Wednesday! The third day of training. Today was mostly classes about how to treat our guests. I didn't realize how huge of a company DNC is. They own/operate a ton of huge venues like stadiums, casinos, airports, and other national parks and resorts. I am working for a powerhouse of a company, which takes good care of their employees and there are a lot of opportunities with them in a lot of crazy cool places around the world. We had to learn our purpose as a DNC employee "to create special experiences one guest at a time." I understand now why the people at Chic-fil-a always say "my pleasure" to you. Its just good hospitality, and that is the nature of this business.

Yesterday's training was a lot more fun. We got to go on a hike up to Columbia point, which is about half way point of the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. The falls are just raging with huge amounts of water! Along the hike, our boss led us in a few discussions about the crazy history of Yosemite from the Native American peoples that settled here first, to the first white men, the crowd that came to explore/exploit in the gold rush of '49, John Muir (who is the freaking man btw) and how it eventually became a National Park. I felt really inspired by how John Muir's passion for this place ultimately saved it from total exploitation. Did you know that the man ALONE drew up the boundaries for this park because He had walked and explored them himself. (the park is about the size of the state of Rhode Island) Pretty Incredible. I learned that John Muir built a little cabin at the base of Yosemite Falls and he made it so a part of the creek would run right through his home. I am excited to read more about this fascinating man that was so in tune with the wilderness, yet so influential in the societal realm that He was able to ensure this wilderness was protected by the federal government.

To sum up what I learned the past two days:

1. I have a lot to learn...Yosemite has a PACKED history

2. the NPS and all of the park partners including DNC interpretive services (us), Yosemite Fund, Yosemite Foundation, Yosemite Institute, and Sierra Club all work together on interpretation in the park, and have come up with 13 interpretive themes for Yosemite that I get to build my talks around

3. Make eye contact with guests, smile, use their name at least 3 times during your interaction, dress neatly and professionally, use words like "my pleasure" and "how can I serve you" .....haha oh the business

starting it off...

My start has been a little crazy...I guess a little overwhelming trying to figure out where the best place to live is and all. But, I think I made a good decision. Its really cold and rainy right now, which is kind of a bummer. But, I still got to do some good exploring around the valley today. Brock and Amelia got here around 5 and brought me my stuff and we got to hang out for a while! That was so encouraging and really fun to know they are going to be here. Pray that Brock finds a job in the valley!

God provides! I was so lonely these past couple days, but my roomate that moved in with me is my co worker. Her name is Jenna and she is really cool. She is from this area, and knows a lot about it. I'm hoping we will get to go on some cool adventures!

Still on East Coast time, so I'm really tired tonight...short first post! But more to come...