Well, with my days so very numbered I've been forced to be actually preparing to leave. (Also, I've been reading Harry Potter almost nonstop so if my writing's a little melodramatic that would be the reason.)
Haha there's not a whole lot to say. I guess, for anyone who is preparing for a mission or just wants to improve themselves generally, I just have a bit of advice.
The Lord knows what he's doing.
He knows you, and He knows where He needs you.
It doesn't matter if that's Auckland, New Zealand or Cleveland, Ohio.
Be there, where you need to be, with a pure desire to serve and love Him.
You'll be good.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
"It's been one week..."
Well, three.
The first week was pretty well the same, we worked - slept - couldn't sleep - until about Wednesday. Wednesday we got home from work, and shortly after got a call from Sister Call asking if we wanted to go with them to Quincy the next day. We both had to work so we called our manager and asked if she needed us or if we could go to Quincy. Just as a background, Quincy is where the saints went after they got kicked out of Missouri. They were waiting for direction as to where to go next, but Joseph was in Liberty Jail so they hadn't heard from him. The people of Quincy took in all the saints and housed them till they got an idea of where they were going and how much money they needed to get there. Anyways. They had plenty of housekeepers so she let us go to Quincy! In the morning we went to this old house that was converted to a museum because it's still mostly original furnishings and structures and whatnot. It was BEAUTIFUL. Grandma and Mom would have thought they had died and gone to heaven. After that, I had the best burger in the world at Steak n' Shake... And holy MOSES it was fantastic. President and Sister Call are the best.
They invited us to go to the Nauvoo Pageant with them as well later that night, so we did. At first we thought it was just going to be the same quality as the missionary plays (which I do love) but with families in them instead. I was so dead wrong. It was amazing!! I cried like the whole time! It was so good. It just talks about the Saints' experience here in Nauvoo, as told by Parley P. Pratt. He talked about... Well okay. It was basically like we were sitting there and chatting with his spirit and watching his memories. It was really sooooooo good. They talked a lot about how it was so hard for them to leave their city, but that they just had to take a leap of faith into the darkness. Which really made me cry, because that's exactly what I'm doing by going on a mission. Anyways. As the pageant was going, they would "build the temple" bit by bit and, at the end after Joseph Smith was martyred, they finished it singing Praise to the Man and The Spirit of God. Obviously, everyone's crying by now. So then they talked about how the city was mostly destroyed, and then eventually we rebuilt the temple. Right on cue, the temple lights up and you can see it perfectly from the pageant stage.
The following Saturday we helped with costume check-in for the pageant. It's insane the system that they have to make sure everything goes perfectly. Which it does, every time! Saturday after pageant families come in and turn in their costumes. Then we sort them out, take out any hems made, wash the seams, and they're taken to different homes to be washed by Monday morning for the next family to come and pick them up. So that was fun.
The next day we went and taught primary. We didn't know we were going to be needed, but one of the teachers didn't show up so we had to pull out a lesson as we were sitting in primary. It turned out to be pretty good though. We taught CTR 5, and I'm starting to realize that I LOVE that age. It kind of makes me want to switch back to a double major again and get a certificate in elementary education. I love kids! They are so fun!
Later that night we went to the Trail of Hope for a little vignette that the young performing missionaries put on. There are about ten of them that stand by some of the reader boards along the trail of hope and they tell excerpts from the journals of the Saints. It was really good, a really good Sunday activity. We also got to talk to a lot of people in line, and it was fun to get to know others.
The following... Tuesday? Or Wednesday? One of the two... I realized that I still needed to defer my enrollment. Well, okay. I have known that I need to do that for a while. However, I've been putting it off for a while now because a) I don't want to stop going to USU because I LOVE LOGAN and b) I think it makes the whole mission thing real, and I wasn't sure that I wanted it to be real yet. However, I couldn't just let my account sit there. So I finally got online and looked in my email for directions on how to defer. It was so easy, just said that I was taking an extended stay for religious purposes (it then asked for a description, and I wrote that I was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). I put which semester my deferment would start and which semester I would be enrolling in again. Aaaaaannnndd..... Cue the tears. Yeah, I was crying. And not like, some tears rolling down my cheeks, quiet crying. No I'm like sobbing. Haha I'm such a freaking baby. But really, I had a good reason for that one. I am so going to miss USU.
However, the next day (or same day... It was a Wednesday.) I started calling to make appointments for my mission papers. I got my physical scheduled and called the dentist to make an appointment there. So she only had an appointment this Friday, and then didn't have anything after that until OCTOBER. So I just made it for that Friday, and I wasn't sure what I needed from the dentist or if I needed to start my papers before I went. So I called my bishop after I made my appointment to see if he could answer these questions of mine, and he found out for me that I don't even need another dentist appointment because my last one was within six months of the day I turn in my papers. After which, he said that I should consider starting my papers anyways so that I have plenty of time to do any unexpected requirements they might need like immunizations or whatever. So... I said okay. And there I was with no dentist appointment but the opportunity to start my papers. I was really excited!
We also had Dallin H. Oaks come and stay at our hotel with his family this last week! Kenz and I were so excited! So we were freaking out and nobody could figure out why these two 20 year old girls were losing it over this old guy coming to the hotel, which then gave us lots of MISSIONARY OPPORTUNITIES to explain who he was, how the church is organized, and why it's such a big deal that he was coming to our little hotel. It was really cool. I talked to him, but just for a second. Kenzie really got to talk to him for a while though! And then before he left, he came down to the front desk and left me a ten dollar tip because I cleaned his room that day. He wrote on the envelope "To Kaitlin - From Oaks room 246" HAHA. Yes I did get a tip from an apostle.
Before he left I thought it would be funny to play a joke on some people... So I texted my mom after I talked to him and said "So I'm at work, right? And Dallin H. Oaks comes up to the front desk and we're talking, and as we're talking he asks if I'm excited for my mission and I say yes, and he starts saying "Yeah, you'll love Colorado. It's a beautiful state and the people there are so amazing and the members will just take the best care of you..." I didn't know what to say so I just kind of played along but now I don't really know what to do... I'm really freaking out..."
She. Lost it.
Haha she sent me like 10 texts in a row. I was just like "Actually, that was a joke. He just said it was nice to meet me. Gotcha!"
Haha. Anyways. I also did that to my grandma, she thought he was just joking around with me, and then I did it to Mary and she kinda freaked out too haha.
I've been very happy here lately. I know I haven't been very good about posting every week like I told myself I would, but I've been so happy. It's getting to the point where I don't actually know how I am going to leave Nauvoo... Like, it has already been almost three months that we've been out here and I'm going home in only four weeks. I finally realized something though that I think I've needed to figure out for a while. For the first few weeks here, I wasn't that into the pioneers. I looked around and saw everyone here that practically worshipped them, and I tried to feel the same way... Do you know what I mean? How so many people just focus on the pioneers and that's their strong point in their testimony and that's like all they talk about? Well I wanted that kind of love for them and I wanted to be able to be like "Blah, the Pioneers, they're so great..." And I just wasn't feeling it. Like I admired and appreciated their sacrifice and their hard work in building up the church and grabbing a hold of it so quickly, but I wasn't developing the kind of love for them that made it all I want to talk about. Then, we went to the pageant again yesterday. There were PROTESTORS, by the way. So that, plus the pageant about the saint's and their lives, and just the general feeling that I've had lately, I realized that I don't want to worship the pioneers and they don't want to be worshipped. The pioneers were ultimately just another group of voices to say that God lives, He loves us, and He has a plan for us and a Son who died for us. Just like Moses and his people, Noah and his people, Adam and Eve, the Nephites, and all of the other people in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Yeah, the pioneers had the faith to move mountains and they had to endure a lot to prove it. But they didn't do what they did so that we could remember them forever and worship them and want to be like them. They did it so that we would remember WHY they did it, worship our loving Savior, and want to be like them in regards of their unwavering faith.
Which is what will make leaving Nauvoo easy. I want to get out on my mission and be another voice proclaiming the Gospel to the world.
The first week was pretty well the same, we worked - slept - couldn't sleep - until about Wednesday. Wednesday we got home from work, and shortly after got a call from Sister Call asking if we wanted to go with them to Quincy the next day. We both had to work so we called our manager and asked if she needed us or if we could go to Quincy. Just as a background, Quincy is where the saints went after they got kicked out of Missouri. They were waiting for direction as to where to go next, but Joseph was in Liberty Jail so they hadn't heard from him. The people of Quincy took in all the saints and housed them till they got an idea of where they were going and how much money they needed to get there. Anyways. They had plenty of housekeepers so she let us go to Quincy! In the morning we went to this old house that was converted to a museum because it's still mostly original furnishings and structures and whatnot. It was BEAUTIFUL. Grandma and Mom would have thought they had died and gone to heaven. After that, I had the best burger in the world at Steak n' Shake... And holy MOSES it was fantastic. President and Sister Call are the best.
They invited us to go to the Nauvoo Pageant with them as well later that night, so we did. At first we thought it was just going to be the same quality as the missionary plays (which I do love) but with families in them instead. I was so dead wrong. It was amazing!! I cried like the whole time! It was so good. It just talks about the Saints' experience here in Nauvoo, as told by Parley P. Pratt. He talked about... Well okay. It was basically like we were sitting there and chatting with his spirit and watching his memories. It was really sooooooo good. They talked a lot about how it was so hard for them to leave their city, but that they just had to take a leap of faith into the darkness. Which really made me cry, because that's exactly what I'm doing by going on a mission. Anyways. As the pageant was going, they would "build the temple" bit by bit and, at the end after Joseph Smith was martyred, they finished it singing Praise to the Man and The Spirit of God. Obviously, everyone's crying by now. So then they talked about how the city was mostly destroyed, and then eventually we rebuilt the temple. Right on cue, the temple lights up and you can see it perfectly from the pageant stage.
The following Saturday we helped with costume check-in for the pageant. It's insane the system that they have to make sure everything goes perfectly. Which it does, every time! Saturday after pageant families come in and turn in their costumes. Then we sort them out, take out any hems made, wash the seams, and they're taken to different homes to be washed by Monday morning for the next family to come and pick them up. So that was fun.
The next day we went and taught primary. We didn't know we were going to be needed, but one of the teachers didn't show up so we had to pull out a lesson as we were sitting in primary. It turned out to be pretty good though. We taught CTR 5, and I'm starting to realize that I LOVE that age. It kind of makes me want to switch back to a double major again and get a certificate in elementary education. I love kids! They are so fun!
Later that night we went to the Trail of Hope for a little vignette that the young performing missionaries put on. There are about ten of them that stand by some of the reader boards along the trail of hope and they tell excerpts from the journals of the Saints. It was really good, a really good Sunday activity. We also got to talk to a lot of people in line, and it was fun to get to know others.
The following... Tuesday? Or Wednesday? One of the two... I realized that I still needed to defer my enrollment. Well, okay. I have known that I need to do that for a while. However, I've been putting it off for a while now because a) I don't want to stop going to USU because I LOVE LOGAN and b) I think it makes the whole mission thing real, and I wasn't sure that I wanted it to be real yet. However, I couldn't just let my account sit there. So I finally got online and looked in my email for directions on how to defer. It was so easy, just said that I was taking an extended stay for religious purposes (it then asked for a description, and I wrote that I was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). I put which semester my deferment would start and which semester I would be enrolling in again. Aaaaaannnndd..... Cue the tears. Yeah, I was crying. And not like, some tears rolling down my cheeks, quiet crying. No I'm like sobbing. Haha I'm such a freaking baby. But really, I had a good reason for that one. I am so going to miss USU.
However, the next day (or same day... It was a Wednesday.) I started calling to make appointments for my mission papers. I got my physical scheduled and called the dentist to make an appointment there. So she only had an appointment this Friday, and then didn't have anything after that until OCTOBER. So I just made it for that Friday, and I wasn't sure what I needed from the dentist or if I needed to start my papers before I went. So I called my bishop after I made my appointment to see if he could answer these questions of mine, and he found out for me that I don't even need another dentist appointment because my last one was within six months of the day I turn in my papers. After which, he said that I should consider starting my papers anyways so that I have plenty of time to do any unexpected requirements they might need like immunizations or whatever. So... I said okay. And there I was with no dentist appointment but the opportunity to start my papers. I was really excited!
We also had Dallin H. Oaks come and stay at our hotel with his family this last week! Kenz and I were so excited! So we were freaking out and nobody could figure out why these two 20 year old girls were losing it over this old guy coming to the hotel, which then gave us lots of MISSIONARY OPPORTUNITIES to explain who he was, how the church is organized, and why it's such a big deal that he was coming to our little hotel. It was really cool. I talked to him, but just for a second. Kenzie really got to talk to him for a while though! And then before he left, he came down to the front desk and left me a ten dollar tip because I cleaned his room that day. He wrote on the envelope "To Kaitlin - From Oaks room 246" HAHA. Yes I did get a tip from an apostle.
Before he left I thought it would be funny to play a joke on some people... So I texted my mom after I talked to him and said "So I'm at work, right? And Dallin H. Oaks comes up to the front desk and we're talking, and as we're talking he asks if I'm excited for my mission and I say yes, and he starts saying "Yeah, you'll love Colorado. It's a beautiful state and the people there are so amazing and the members will just take the best care of you..." I didn't know what to say so I just kind of played along but now I don't really know what to do... I'm really freaking out..."
She. Lost it.
Haha she sent me like 10 texts in a row. I was just like "Actually, that was a joke. He just said it was nice to meet me. Gotcha!"
Haha. Anyways. I also did that to my grandma, she thought he was just joking around with me, and then I did it to Mary and she kinda freaked out too haha.
I've been very happy here lately. I know I haven't been very good about posting every week like I told myself I would, but I've been so happy. It's getting to the point where I don't actually know how I am going to leave Nauvoo... Like, it has already been almost three months that we've been out here and I'm going home in only four weeks. I finally realized something though that I think I've needed to figure out for a while. For the first few weeks here, I wasn't that into the pioneers. I looked around and saw everyone here that practically worshipped them, and I tried to feel the same way... Do you know what I mean? How so many people just focus on the pioneers and that's their strong point in their testimony and that's like all they talk about? Well I wanted that kind of love for them and I wanted to be able to be like "Blah, the Pioneers, they're so great..." And I just wasn't feeling it. Like I admired and appreciated their sacrifice and their hard work in building up the church and grabbing a hold of it so quickly, but I wasn't developing the kind of love for them that made it all I want to talk about. Then, we went to the pageant again yesterday. There were PROTESTORS, by the way. So that, plus the pageant about the saint's and their lives, and just the general feeling that I've had lately, I realized that I don't want to worship the pioneers and they don't want to be worshipped. The pioneers were ultimately just another group of voices to say that God lives, He loves us, and He has a plan for us and a Son who died for us. Just like Moses and his people, Noah and his people, Adam and Eve, the Nephites, and all of the other people in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Yeah, the pioneers had the faith to move mountains and they had to endure a lot to prove it. But they didn't do what they did so that we could remember them forever and worship them and want to be like them. They did it so that we would remember WHY they did it, worship our loving Savior, and want to be like them in regards of their unwavering faith.
Which is what will make leaving Nauvoo easy. I want to get out on my mission and be another voice proclaiming the Gospel to the world.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
I don't wanna taco bout it.
This is how we feel about Warm River being this week.
So we don't talk about it.
This past week was kind of crazy, work-wise. On Monday, it was just me, Kenz, and one other housekeeper. I guess I got dubbed "in charge"? Anyways. Monday we ended up staying till about 5. We weren't supposed to work the following three days, but then Vicky asked if we would come in Tuesday because the Manor wasn't even close to being done and we had a group coming in there Wednesday.
So Tuesday comes along and, after quite a few hours of stressfully trying to organize people into their respective places to clean the rooms they had been assigned, and then Vicky and Mary having to come over and whip everyone into shape (because we had a large majority of them standing around in the hall talking with things still needing to be done), we finally went home sometime around five. That day was nuts. I still get stressed out thinking about it.
We had the next day off though, and we were able to sleep in... Do nothing... And go catch frogs! Remember the creek I talked about that we found while we were riding bikes? We hung around there for forever looking for frogs. Every time we found one, we'd sneak up on it and right as we were about to catch it they'd jump into the water and disappear like under the bank or something. Finally, after about an hour of walking through the creek and stalking these frogs, Kenz got one! We had brought our coworker's daughter with us as well, she hangs out with us from time to time. She's like 11 or so but she's really mature. She's very polite and nice. She's a joy to have around!
The next day was the fourth of July. In celebration, we grilled hot dogs and made home made oreos with red, white, and blue frosting in the middles. I had to go into work for a little bit to greet incoming groups, but after I got off we went to the Nauvoo State Park and hung out with one of our coworkers and his family. These guys are AWESOME. They were so welcoming. It was so nice, cause they were just so "Just come hang out with us!!" Like, everything they talked about doing they invited us to come with them. It was a really comfortable setting, and although it wasn't going with our families and friends, it was probably about the best thing we could have asked for.
They lit off the fireworks across the river in Keokuk. It was cool to be able to watch them from across the river, and not only could you see them but you could see other ones farther down the river. And we were right on the bank of the Mississippi, too. It was a really neat memory to be able to have; sitting on the bank of the Mississippi river and watching the fireworks with friends and family.
The next couple days were just working. Although, last night we had our friends (FRIENDS!) Natasha and JaRee over. They're the two girls that are our age that are going on missions in the fall. They will also be going to Chicago with us, so we planned that out for a couple of hours and then we played games for a bit. We actually had people over in our apartment! Huh!
Church today was jam-packed with visitors. We had people sitting clear to the back of the gym, and then some. The pageant starts this week, so mostly those visitors are families that have come to be in the pageant.
Still don't know what the pageant is about.
The second counselor made a comment about there being a lot of beards though, so take that for what you will.
My class jumped from three kids to twelve. This is the third and the last week that I'll be teaching the 9 year olds, and you know what? I'm alright with that. I've missed sunbeams!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Don't let the bed bugs bite!
Well, the day after I posted my whiny post was the first day I heard a customer express concerns about bed bugs.
***DISCLAIMER*** There were no bed bugs!! This guy was an EFY counselor my age who had never seen chigger bites before and didn't have any other explanation. No bed bugs. AT all.
We were worried at first, though. That is the WORST thing you can hear for a hotel. So they sent me and another girl I work with upstairs (I was at the front desk) to check it out. So I went up and looked every way that I knew how (not like I'm a bed bug pro or anything...) but I couldn't see ANYTHING. At all. And with the bites this kid apparently had, there would be something very visible there. So we asked to see his bites and we're both like "Yeah. Those would NOT look like that." I guess bed bugs leave little scabby marks and these were like swollen mosquito bites. The counselor just kept looking at me like I was an idiot, cause he was so convinced that that's what it was. I did not like him.
OH. Speaking of EFY counselors. Yeah, nothing happened with that kid haha. I saw him the next morning, but after that I didn't even see him till thursday... I was working the front desk and he came up to get his key reprogrammed. We talked for a little bit and I was convinced he was going to ask for my number or something with his whole "well we need to hang out" crap so I was prepping myself for that when he goes "Well, have a great summer! It was nice to meet you!"
Alright. Haha that was kind of... Not a slap to the face? But more like a bonk on the head... It didn't hurt, but I wasn't expecting it and I didn't like it haha.
Right after that though, another counselor that I'd been talking to a lot as well came in and was like "Uh, I have a really awkward question for you.... Do you guys have a plunger I can use?" I just laughed and Danielle went to get him one. Before he walked out he goes "Well, you need to come to Utah State..." and I was like "Well we should be like facebook friends so we can hang out when I go down there!" Anyways. He just asked me for my number. So that was good, a little bit of an ego boost after the last guy bonked me on the head.
But the story with the head bonker gets better.
So the whole group left saturday. The kids all left at like 6 in the morning and the counselors stayed for a few hours after. Obviously, we got started on the Manor as soon as we could because it was a disgusting mess and every room needed to be cleaned. We go walking in right as the EFY counselors all do to get their things packed up. I do need to explain a few things though. First of all, I have the creepiest way of remembering people and things about people that I don't need to remember. Second, this especially applies when there are numbers involved which is great because people's most personal information involves numbers. Third, I work housekeeping and front desk. I have basically unlimited access, whether I like it or not, to who's rooming where. I think you can probably tell where this is going?
A few days before this, I think it was thursday again, I was grabbing towels and trash from the rooms in the manor. I had the whole first floor, which is all the guys. In one room, I was grabbing trash from under the desk, and I saw a key packet with this counselor's name on it. I obviously felt like a creep (even though it was kind of my job to be there) and hurried to leave. Later that night, when he came in to reprogram his key, he told me what room number he was in.
This is where all three aspects of me combine and kill me.
So Saturday he walks up to his room as I'm walking down the hall. His key didn't work again, so he asked me if I had a key that could unlock it. I was like "yeah sure" and go to unlock the door of his room WITHOUT HIM TELLING ME WHICH ONE IT WAS.
Bad. Bad bad.
I'm hoping that I realized what I was doing and stopped early enough for him not to notice before I asked which one was his. I don't think he noticed cause he was just really friendly and like "Oh! It's this one! I'm sorry, I probably should have told you that!"
Ahem.
By that point I was really ready for them all to just GET OUT but on top of it all the guys except for the one I had a crush on kept coming up and talking to me as I'm trying to clean the room I was in. Which, it's not like I wasn't interested, I just had 11 rooms that needed cleaned (that were nasty. By the way.) and I needed to get started. All of my coworkers were staring at me like "Really? Please get moving."
We also went to a vocal point performance one night that week. I think it was Wednesday? Maybe? Anyways. Kenz and I got all dressed up and looking really good. I had my hair curled and Kenz's hair was straightened. By the end of the night, hers was curly (well, wavy) and mine was frizzy and straight.
I HATE HUMIDITY.
I went to get layers in my hair a day or two before that and I asked the lady how I can keep my hair straight in weather like this and she goes "you can't. Your good hair days are gone."
Well, poop on you humidity.
We didn't talk to them after their performance for a few reasons. One being the fact that we had already been to like three of them and talked to them afterwards... Another being our hair... And the third being that all the EFY kids were there and they would be swarming them for like an hour afterwards. By that point I was kind of ready for them to get out too haha.
Friday, I went to Burlington with Danielle (a girl we work with). We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and the mall. I'm still pretty surprised at how different it is over here... Like I'm kind of sure we could have ordered alcohol and the lady wouldn't have even asked for ID or any nonsense like that.
Sunday we finally got our records transferred in. The second counselor read the ward business and was like "We have some new members to read in that we received records for... And I hope I say this name right..." I knew it was me haha. That's only been my entire life story.
After church Kenz and I were all bummed out cause nobody had invited us for dinner and we actually had to figure something out. So we ate, took a nap, and at around 5 we were invited over for dinner! By the Smith family again. They have a son who's on a mission with one of my really good friends from school. They both went into the MTC on the same day so they were in the same district there. Random, right? Haha but whatever. That's only the beginning of the random connections.
When we got there, her daughter and son-in-law were there again. She said that she also invited the sister missionaries to join us as well. When they got there, I thought a couple of them (there were three) looked really familiar. We get sat down for dinner and start small talking. When we told them where we were from, one goes "You're from Idaho? What part?" and I said Rigby and she goes "You're from Rigby?! Do you know Chris Parrett??" And I knew where I knew this girl from. She was Chris' girlfriend hahaha. She was pretty surprised to find out that, not only do I know him, but he was in my ward AND subdivision!
Then it turned out that another sister was in one of my classes at USU my first year. So we just had random connections all over the place!
After dinner the sisters gave a "lesson", but it was more of asking the Smith's on advice for how to get a more meaningful scripture study. Which was exactly what I needed. I'm trying really hard to prepare for my mission, and I really need to figure out what I can do to become completely committed and get really excited to serve. They taught us a method called the "brown sugar" method. It has five steps:
1) Find the scripture.
2) Read the scripture
3) Pick out a word or phrase that stands out to you
4) Identify why it stand out
5) Explain to someone else why it stands out.
This was really cool. We did it with a really short scripture and it was interesting to see what other people's takes on the scripture was. It just really helped to gain a more broad perspective on the scripture.
After we got back from their house we took our bikes out for a spin. We went down to the visitors center, pet oxen, and caught fireflies. Then we talked to our families. I miss them so much! We only have a little over a month left here... And I'm pretty ready haha.
***DISCLAIMER*** There were no bed bugs!! This guy was an EFY counselor my age who had never seen chigger bites before and didn't have any other explanation. No bed bugs. AT all.
We were worried at first, though. That is the WORST thing you can hear for a hotel. So they sent me and another girl I work with upstairs (I was at the front desk) to check it out. So I went up and looked every way that I knew how (not like I'm a bed bug pro or anything...) but I couldn't see ANYTHING. At all. And with the bites this kid apparently had, there would be something very visible there. So we asked to see his bites and we're both like "Yeah. Those would NOT look like that." I guess bed bugs leave little scabby marks and these were like swollen mosquito bites. The counselor just kept looking at me like I was an idiot, cause he was so convinced that that's what it was. I did not like him.
OH. Speaking of EFY counselors. Yeah, nothing happened with that kid haha. I saw him the next morning, but after that I didn't even see him till thursday... I was working the front desk and he came up to get his key reprogrammed. We talked for a little bit and I was convinced he was going to ask for my number or something with his whole "well we need to hang out" crap so I was prepping myself for that when he goes "Well, have a great summer! It was nice to meet you!"
Alright. Haha that was kind of... Not a slap to the face? But more like a bonk on the head... It didn't hurt, but I wasn't expecting it and I didn't like it haha.
Right after that though, another counselor that I'd been talking to a lot as well came in and was like "Uh, I have a really awkward question for you.... Do you guys have a plunger I can use?" I just laughed and Danielle went to get him one. Before he walked out he goes "Well, you need to come to Utah State..." and I was like "Well we should be like facebook friends so we can hang out when I go down there!" Anyways. He just asked me for my number. So that was good, a little bit of an ego boost after the last guy bonked me on the head.
But the story with the head bonker gets better.
So the whole group left saturday. The kids all left at like 6 in the morning and the counselors stayed for a few hours after. Obviously, we got started on the Manor as soon as we could because it was a disgusting mess and every room needed to be cleaned. We go walking in right as the EFY counselors all do to get their things packed up. I do need to explain a few things though. First of all, I have the creepiest way of remembering people and things about people that I don't need to remember. Second, this especially applies when there are numbers involved which is great because people's most personal information involves numbers. Third, I work housekeeping and front desk. I have basically unlimited access, whether I like it or not, to who's rooming where. I think you can probably tell where this is going?
A few days before this, I think it was thursday again, I was grabbing towels and trash from the rooms in the manor. I had the whole first floor, which is all the guys. In one room, I was grabbing trash from under the desk, and I saw a key packet with this counselor's name on it. I obviously felt like a creep (even though it was kind of my job to be there) and hurried to leave. Later that night, when he came in to reprogram his key, he told me what room number he was in.
This is where all three aspects of me combine and kill me.
So Saturday he walks up to his room as I'm walking down the hall. His key didn't work again, so he asked me if I had a key that could unlock it. I was like "yeah sure" and go to unlock the door of his room WITHOUT HIM TELLING ME WHICH ONE IT WAS.
Bad. Bad bad.
I'm hoping that I realized what I was doing and stopped early enough for him not to notice before I asked which one was his. I don't think he noticed cause he was just really friendly and like "Oh! It's this one! I'm sorry, I probably should have told you that!"
Ahem.
By that point I was really ready for them all to just GET OUT but on top of it all the guys except for the one I had a crush on kept coming up and talking to me as I'm trying to clean the room I was in. Which, it's not like I wasn't interested, I just had 11 rooms that needed cleaned (that were nasty. By the way.) and I needed to get started. All of my coworkers were staring at me like "Really? Please get moving."
We also went to a vocal point performance one night that week. I think it was Wednesday? Maybe? Anyways. Kenz and I got all dressed up and looking really good. I had my hair curled and Kenz's hair was straightened. By the end of the night, hers was curly (well, wavy) and mine was frizzy and straight.
I HATE HUMIDITY.
I went to get layers in my hair a day or two before that and I asked the lady how I can keep my hair straight in weather like this and she goes "you can't. Your good hair days are gone."
Well, poop on you humidity.
We didn't talk to them after their performance for a few reasons. One being the fact that we had already been to like three of them and talked to them afterwards... Another being our hair... And the third being that all the EFY kids were there and they would be swarming them for like an hour afterwards. By that point I was kind of ready for them to get out too haha.
Friday, I went to Burlington with Danielle (a girl we work with). We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and the mall. I'm still pretty surprised at how different it is over here... Like I'm kind of sure we could have ordered alcohol and the lady wouldn't have even asked for ID or any nonsense like that.
Sunday we finally got our records transferred in. The second counselor read the ward business and was like "We have some new members to read in that we received records for... And I hope I say this name right..." I knew it was me haha. That's only been my entire life story.
After church Kenz and I were all bummed out cause nobody had invited us for dinner and we actually had to figure something out. So we ate, took a nap, and at around 5 we were invited over for dinner! By the Smith family again. They have a son who's on a mission with one of my really good friends from school. They both went into the MTC on the same day so they were in the same district there. Random, right? Haha but whatever. That's only the beginning of the random connections.
When we got there, her daughter and son-in-law were there again. She said that she also invited the sister missionaries to join us as well. When they got there, I thought a couple of them (there were three) looked really familiar. We get sat down for dinner and start small talking. When we told them where we were from, one goes "You're from Idaho? What part?" and I said Rigby and she goes "You're from Rigby?! Do you know Chris Parrett??" And I knew where I knew this girl from. She was Chris' girlfriend hahaha. She was pretty surprised to find out that, not only do I know him, but he was in my ward AND subdivision!
Then it turned out that another sister was in one of my classes at USU my first year. So we just had random connections all over the place!
After dinner the sisters gave a "lesson", but it was more of asking the Smith's on advice for how to get a more meaningful scripture study. Which was exactly what I needed. I'm trying really hard to prepare for my mission, and I really need to figure out what I can do to become completely committed and get really excited to serve. They taught us a method called the "brown sugar" method. It has five steps:
1) Find the scripture.
2) Read the scripture
3) Pick out a word or phrase that stands out to you
4) Identify why it stand out
5) Explain to someone else why it stands out.
This was really cool. We did it with a really short scripture and it was interesting to see what other people's takes on the scripture was. It just really helped to gain a more broad perspective on the scripture.
After we got back from their house we took our bikes out for a spin. We went down to the visitors center, pet oxen, and caught fireflies. Then we talked to our families. I miss them so much! We only have a little over a month left here... And I'm pretty ready haha.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Faith
I was watching The Rescuers today, and I noticed the best quote that I want to hang on my wall!
"Faih is a bluebird you see from afar. It's for real, and as sure as the first evening star! You can't touch it, or buy it, or wrap it up tight, but it's there just the same;making things turn out right."
Today was hard. I got thinking about it, and I don't know what we're doing here. We came out here to make money, and neither of us have broken 1000 yet in savings. Which is frustrating and makes me feel like i'm just wasting time. I could be making just as much and be home with my friends and family! Be preparing for my mission and getting my mission papers done so I can leave sooner!
Anyways. After I threw myself a cute little pity party and was dying for someone to just talk to me, I realized that what I really needed was to talk to my Heavenly Father. After I did, and after I grabbed my scriptures and read for a bit, I got true comfort. I know I'm important to the Lord. I know He has a plan for me, and that for whatever reason I'm cleaning hotel rooms in Nauvoo. I have faith that everything will be okay. Now.... If only this stupid air conditioner above us would shut up so I could sleep. Tonight it sounds like a train, if you were wondering.
"Faih is a bluebird you see from afar. It's for real, and as sure as the first evening star! You can't touch it, or buy it, or wrap it up tight, but it's there just the same;making things turn out right."
Today was hard. I got thinking about it, and I don't know what we're doing here. We came out here to make money, and neither of us have broken 1000 yet in savings. Which is frustrating and makes me feel like i'm just wasting time. I could be making just as much and be home with my friends and family! Be preparing for my mission and getting my mission papers done so I can leave sooner!
Anyways. After I threw myself a cute little pity party and was dying for someone to just talk to me, I realized that what I really needed was to talk to my Heavenly Father. After I did, and after I grabbed my scriptures and read for a bit, I got true comfort. I know I'm important to the Lord. I know He has a plan for me, and that for whatever reason I'm cleaning hotel rooms in Nauvoo. I have faith that everything will be okay. Now.... If only this stupid air conditioner above us would shut up so I could sleep. Tonight it sounds like a train, if you were wondering.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Finally! Men!!
Sunday, after I posted that last one, we went to Sister Smith's house and had dinner. They were having breakfast for dinner, which would make the second time in a row that Kenz has been able to down her favorite dish! Woo! We had dinner with her, her husband, and her daughter and son-in-law. During the prayer, her daughter said "We're thankful that the sisters could be with us today..." And after the prayer her mom goes "You know these aren't sister missionaries, right?" Haha. It was funny. We might as well be.
After dinner we played a game called Dominion. It was kind of a nerdy game, but they were really into it so obviously we were really into it too... Once we got it figured out. At first I felt like being like "uhh... So you guys have like, Phase 10 or Uno or something?" But I stopped myself, realized I was in someone else's home in another part of the country, so I might as well experience something new instead of sticking to the same old.
This family was awesome. It sounds like they've had some hardships in their lives! But they're so positive and they all love each other so much! Sister Smith is in a wheelchair (I think she got paralyzed?) and Brother Smith just had brain surgery like two weeks ago. They don't even act like it's a bother at all. And they call each other babe, baby, sweetie, all this cute stuff. They were really a huge example to me. All the members of our ward have been. They are all very... quirky. I guess would be a good word. But, at the same time, I have never met a more honest, humble, and selfless group of people in my life.
Monday night, I really started to respect my manager. She needed our help getting things ready for an EFY group that is coming in this week so we all stayed like an hour late to help. One kid kept complaining, and once it hit 4:30 he was all "Alright! 4:30 time to get out of here!" And the manager heard him say it. So she comes out of one of the rooms and is like "Who said that?" And we all point to him cause he was making us so mad. She chews him OUT. Haha it was hilarious! Take that, sucker!! That night, one of my friends from high school and her friend came to stay with us. It was so exciting! We hauled some rollaway beds over, cleaned up our apartment, and waited patiently for our guests to arrive. The next day, we were able to get off at lunch and spend the rest of the day with them. We went to a bunch of the sites and had a blast, Marlayna and her friend Marissa were awesome. They're hilarious, and so much fun to be around. That night, we went to Sunset by the Mississippi and Vocal Point. I also met up with Jake and his family, and... Eh. You all know how that went down.
That night, we went to Annie's with his family for custard. Before we got sat down, the owner asked if we had found any bikes yet. We said that we hadn't yet, and that we were still looking. She told us that she had two of them available; a white one and a red one! And that we could come and pick them up whenever to borrow them. When we got there Wednesday night though, the white bike was not as pretty and Helen did say that the tire had to be replaced on it. Right after, another one called us saying that they had one we could use. We went out to look at it, and it turned out to also be red with a basket on it! So it was kind of meant to be. We took a quick ride around town on them, both of us shouting and flying down hills and laughing and.... Just being excited. I wish I could capture the emotion of that hour or so. Like, if you took a picture and it replayed the memory like a video in your head. I was so completely content in that moment. In that moment, life was perfect.
The next day, Thursday, we got off at like 11:30 and we were able to go on a real bike ride around town. We were attempting to find lake Horton via backroads, but we ended up at this beautiful little creek right outside of town instead. How we got there, I don't know... We were just riding along and then all of a sudden Kenzie veers to the right and starts flying down the hill saying "Kaitie there's a CREEK!" Anyways, we followed the creek for a while upstream. It had a few waterfalls, one really big one and a couple smaller ones. There was one point where we were just surrounded by green on all sides. This was another one of those "If I could capture everything" moments. It was such a joyful, peaceful, contentful, and humbling moment.
Friday we got off early again, but not as early as we had been. However, Kenz didn't have to work front desk that night so we went to Vocal Point! Again! This time, we got up closer to the front and we were sitting on the edge. Towards the end of their performance, they did a song that they invited everyone to get up and dance to. Obviously, being the insecure human beings that we are, we didn't dare move. Then a few girls got up and kind of started dancing, and the guys were like "come on! Everyone get up!" so some more people got up and I yanked Kenz up there and we started dancing. Vocal point came out into the audience and the one that I had casually "dibs"ed as my husband came and started dancing with me haha. After the show, I was walking past him and told him that he did really well and he was like "Thanks... Oh wait! You're the girls that I danced with huh!" and we stopped and talked to him for a bit. Seems like a pretty nice kid!
So Saturday we went to Lake Horton and sat on the dock. We were there for like, an hour and a half? I AM FRIED. It takes me like a whole day to get this burnt at home! What in the world, Nauvoo! It almost scares me, like I legitimately believe I might get skin cancer just from that one sitting. Kenzie had to work at the front desk at 3 (I know it sounds like I never do that, but really I do.) so I was unproductive. Well, I kind of tidied up. I skyped Kam for a bit. Talked to Mary, and her sister Hannah, and while I was talking to Hannah Kenzie messaged me on facebook and said she needed my help at the front desk for a second. I thought I'd be there like, fifteen minutes, so I just kept my hair in the french braid it was in and went in looking the way I did. After she cleaned the room that wasn't clean for a guest to check into (ugh), I was talking to Mike the maintenance guy and it started getting really busy again. After that wave got done, we had like five minutes and then all the counselors for the EFY that's coming in this week came to check in. So we were pretty busy with that, with there being only two of us and apparently the hotel hadn't planned on that many counselors coming so a good three-fourths of the keys weren't even made. THEN. As I'm checking all these people in, in walks a guy that was in one of my classes last semester. I had a HUGE crush on this guy and I hoped like every day that he would notice my existence and sit by me and talk to me but he never did. But, me being the creep I am, after he told me his name I was like "Okay. Uh, did you go to Utah State?" and he was kind of like "Uh, yeah..." and I'm realizing that that sentence came out of my mouth and I was trying to smooth it over with a "You look vaguely familiar, did we have a class together?" instead of saying whatever my head was thinking. Anyways, he seemed pretty cool with it. I was like "I think you were in one of my classes last semester." and he goes "Really? Which one?" And I was like "I don't know... I had like Physics 1200, FCHD-" And he's like "YEAH! I was in two FCHD classes! Were you in 1500 or 2400?" and I said I was in 2400 and he was like "Yeah cool! Wow, that's way cool that you recognized me! You have such a good memory, how weird is it that we had a class together and now we're randomly at Nauvoo together? Weird!" But I kind of stopped paying attention at that point and shooed him away because there was a gigantor line of people behind him waiting to be checked in and I'm just drooling over their co-counselor. I was way excited, except I felt like I looked like crap cause I hadn't showered all day and I was sure my makeup was running and I look like a baldie cause my hair is french braided back. So I was a little discouraged about that, and then a couple hours later my manager came in and was like "Wow, you look really pretty!" So I felt a lot better about that.
Today was amazing. There were so many good things about it! First of all, Kenz and I got to church and sat on the metal chairs at the front of the gym, back of the overflow. After a while, a girl came up and sat next to me and started talking to me. I asked if she was a counselor and she was like "yeah!" and I was like "Oh! I'm one of the girls that was at the front desk last night." She totally thought we were just some more counselors. She was way nice though. Then, that kid came and sat in the row in front of us but a few seats down. After sacrament meeting the guy sitting next to him turned around to us, introduced himself, and was like "Man you girls could fit right in! Might as well come over and help us out!" And I was like "Yeah! Just get us some red shirts and we'll be over as soon as we're off work!" Just joking around, and then that kid from USU turns around and is like "Hey! So good to see you again! You better be coming back to Utah State next year, now that we know each other we have to hang out!" And I was like "uhhh.... I don't know if I'm coming back yet..." Which, yeah it's a lie, but I want SOME chance of getting his number. Anyways. He was like "Well why not?! You have to come back! We need to hang out!" And started accusing me of betraying USU and I was like "Whoa whoa! If I leave, it's because I'm going on a mission! I would never transfer from USU!!" And him and another guy who is also going to Utah State were like "Ohh. Well if you're going on a mission then that's okay." But it was kind of funny cause then there were like three other guys after the really cute one that were like "Oh hi, I'm ______ what's your name?" Proooobably just cause they knew we were available. I don't think they can hit on the co-counselors.
Later that afternoon, there was a huge broadcast on missionary work by the first presidency. It was amazing! I cried like nine times! It's just so overwhelming to realize that the Lord has something so great in store for me in a few months. I'm really very excited to get out there and teach the gospel!
After that broadcast, Vocal Point did a big devotional. Which was also amazing. They said at the beginning "I know you're not here to see Vocal Point, you're here to be fed by the spirit." And I realized that they were right. I showed up that afternoon, not just to see Vocal Point and be able to talk to them, but to hear something that I felt like I needed to hear. And I did!
Earlier that very same day I had been scared about missionary work. This is a year and a half commitment! I'm putting my friends, family, and education on hold so that I can go live some place I don't know with people I've never met all by myself. It's scary! Plus, what if I'm not a good missionary? What if I do more damage than good, or what if I do nothing at all? What if I just "hide my light under a bushel" instead of "displaying it on a candlestick"? I was so overwhelmed with these fears during the broadcast. I couldn't shake it, this mission thing is kind of a big deal. But during the Vocal Point devotional, they said a lot of things and sang a lot of songs that really touched my heart and made me recommitted to going.
First of all, I'm pretty sure the theme of my mission is going to be a line from Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
"Here's my heart; oh, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above."
I really want this time of my life - and every time of my life, really - to be dedicated to the Lord and His work. Because lately, I've been gaining a testimony of just how important this work is. I even think about Christ, and I become so overwhelmed with Heavenly Father's love and His plan that He has for us. I can't even express how I feel about the importance of the Gospel, there's just no overstating how paramount it is. I've said "it's a big deal" three different ways now and I STILL don't feel like I have sufficiently expressed my point.
Second, and somewhat along the lines, my time is RIGHT NOW. It is no coincidence that the age was changed when it did. One of the guys was talking about how at the MTC they sing Army of Helamen, but they change the words to "We ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth" instead of "we WILL BE." How amazing is that! It's my time to get out there and Heavenly Father has given me that opportunity.
Finally, and the best part, the last speaker talked about how sometimes we get amazing opportunities that we may feel weird doing or we feel like we're not doing well at. He likened it to getting fitted for a tux that everyone has to wear to this amazing thing they're going to. Mind you, this guy is like 6'10" so he probably has a lot of issues when it comes to clothing. He's like "And every measurement they take they're like, 'ohh...' 'uhh...' 'eeeehhh...' and then you come out of there with the sleeves too short, the bust too wide because they had to try and make the sleeves fit, and then you're wearing different pants than everyone else's... And you start comparing. Because 'wow. I look so dumb in this, and that guy looks amazing, and that suit fits him perfectly, and that other guy looks BETTER oh no...'" He then said "You've forgotten something though. You're at this amazing occasion! You're dressed to be there! You were invited to come and you're so busy comparing yourself to others that you forgot you're at this party!" He said that it doesn't matter how the suit fits, as long as we're wearing it. Likewise, it doesn't matter if you don't feel completely comfortable being a missionary. You're there. You're serving the Lord. And, most likely, the people around you are looking at you and saying "Man, that skirt looks perfect on her... Why doesn't mine fit like that..." or "Jeez, she's such a good missionary. I wish I could talk to people as easily as she does" And I'm looking back at that missionary like "Dang, she is so perceptive. How is she so perceptive to those members and investigators and everything that everyone ever needs?"
Do you get my point yet?
I'll be fine out on a mission. I'm representing my Savior in a good cause and in a good way with His name pinned to my chest.
I'll be okay.
After dinner we played a game called Dominion. It was kind of a nerdy game, but they were really into it so obviously we were really into it too... Once we got it figured out. At first I felt like being like "uhh... So you guys have like, Phase 10 or Uno or something?" But I stopped myself, realized I was in someone else's home in another part of the country, so I might as well experience something new instead of sticking to the same old.
This family was awesome. It sounds like they've had some hardships in their lives! But they're so positive and they all love each other so much! Sister Smith is in a wheelchair (I think she got paralyzed?) and Brother Smith just had brain surgery like two weeks ago. They don't even act like it's a bother at all. And they call each other babe, baby, sweetie, all this cute stuff. They were really a huge example to me. All the members of our ward have been. They are all very... quirky. I guess would be a good word. But, at the same time, I have never met a more honest, humble, and selfless group of people in my life.
Monday night, I really started to respect my manager. She needed our help getting things ready for an EFY group that is coming in this week so we all stayed like an hour late to help. One kid kept complaining, and once it hit 4:30 he was all "Alright! 4:30 time to get out of here!" And the manager heard him say it. So she comes out of one of the rooms and is like "Who said that?" And we all point to him cause he was making us so mad. She chews him OUT. Haha it was hilarious! Take that, sucker!! That night, one of my friends from high school and her friend came to stay with us. It was so exciting! We hauled some rollaway beds over, cleaned up our apartment, and waited patiently for our guests to arrive. The next day, we were able to get off at lunch and spend the rest of the day with them. We went to a bunch of the sites and had a blast, Marlayna and her friend Marissa were awesome. They're hilarious, and so much fun to be around. That night, we went to Sunset by the Mississippi and Vocal Point. I also met up with Jake and his family, and... Eh. You all know how that went down.
That night, we went to Annie's with his family for custard. Before we got sat down, the owner asked if we had found any bikes yet. We said that we hadn't yet, and that we were still looking. She told us that she had two of them available; a white one and a red one! And that we could come and pick them up whenever to borrow them. When we got there Wednesday night though, the white bike was not as pretty and Helen did say that the tire had to be replaced on it. Right after, another one called us saying that they had one we could use. We went out to look at it, and it turned out to also be red with a basket on it! So it was kind of meant to be. We took a quick ride around town on them, both of us shouting and flying down hills and laughing and.... Just being excited. I wish I could capture the emotion of that hour or so. Like, if you took a picture and it replayed the memory like a video in your head. I was so completely content in that moment. In that moment, life was perfect.
The next day, Thursday, we got off at like 11:30 and we were able to go on a real bike ride around town. We were attempting to find lake Horton via backroads, but we ended up at this beautiful little creek right outside of town instead. How we got there, I don't know... We were just riding along and then all of a sudden Kenzie veers to the right and starts flying down the hill saying "Kaitie there's a CREEK!" Anyways, we followed the creek for a while upstream. It had a few waterfalls, one really big one and a couple smaller ones. There was one point where we were just surrounded by green on all sides. This was another one of those "If I could capture everything" moments. It was such a joyful, peaceful, contentful, and humbling moment.
Friday we got off early again, but not as early as we had been. However, Kenz didn't have to work front desk that night so we went to Vocal Point! Again! This time, we got up closer to the front and we were sitting on the edge. Towards the end of their performance, they did a song that they invited everyone to get up and dance to. Obviously, being the insecure human beings that we are, we didn't dare move. Then a few girls got up and kind of started dancing, and the guys were like "come on! Everyone get up!" so some more people got up and I yanked Kenz up there and we started dancing. Vocal point came out into the audience and the one that I had casually "dibs"ed as my husband came and started dancing with me haha. After the show, I was walking past him and told him that he did really well and he was like "Thanks... Oh wait! You're the girls that I danced with huh!" and we stopped and talked to him for a bit. Seems like a pretty nice kid!
So Saturday we went to Lake Horton and sat on the dock. We were there for like, an hour and a half? I AM FRIED. It takes me like a whole day to get this burnt at home! What in the world, Nauvoo! It almost scares me, like I legitimately believe I might get skin cancer just from that one sitting. Kenzie had to work at the front desk at 3 (I know it sounds like I never do that, but really I do.) so I was unproductive. Well, I kind of tidied up. I skyped Kam for a bit. Talked to Mary, and her sister Hannah, and while I was talking to Hannah Kenzie messaged me on facebook and said she needed my help at the front desk for a second. I thought I'd be there like, fifteen minutes, so I just kept my hair in the french braid it was in and went in looking the way I did. After she cleaned the room that wasn't clean for a guest to check into (ugh), I was talking to Mike the maintenance guy and it started getting really busy again. After that wave got done, we had like five minutes and then all the counselors for the EFY that's coming in this week came to check in. So we were pretty busy with that, with there being only two of us and apparently the hotel hadn't planned on that many counselors coming so a good three-fourths of the keys weren't even made. THEN. As I'm checking all these people in, in walks a guy that was in one of my classes last semester. I had a HUGE crush on this guy and I hoped like every day that he would notice my existence and sit by me and talk to me but he never did. But, me being the creep I am, after he told me his name I was like "Okay. Uh, did you go to Utah State?" and he was kind of like "Uh, yeah..." and I'm realizing that that sentence came out of my mouth and I was trying to smooth it over with a "You look vaguely familiar, did we have a class together?" instead of saying whatever my head was thinking. Anyways, he seemed pretty cool with it. I was like "I think you were in one of my classes last semester." and he goes "Really? Which one?" And I was like "I don't know... I had like Physics 1200, FCHD-" And he's like "YEAH! I was in two FCHD classes! Were you in 1500 or 2400?" and I said I was in 2400 and he was like "Yeah cool! Wow, that's way cool that you recognized me! You have such a good memory, how weird is it that we had a class together and now we're randomly at Nauvoo together? Weird!" But I kind of stopped paying attention at that point and shooed him away because there was a gigantor line of people behind him waiting to be checked in and I'm just drooling over their co-counselor. I was way excited, except I felt like I looked like crap cause I hadn't showered all day and I was sure my makeup was running and I look like a baldie cause my hair is french braided back. So I was a little discouraged about that, and then a couple hours later my manager came in and was like "Wow, you look really pretty!" So I felt a lot better about that.
Today was amazing. There were so many good things about it! First of all, Kenz and I got to church and sat on the metal chairs at the front of the gym, back of the overflow. After a while, a girl came up and sat next to me and started talking to me. I asked if she was a counselor and she was like "yeah!" and I was like "Oh! I'm one of the girls that was at the front desk last night." She totally thought we were just some more counselors. She was way nice though. Then, that kid came and sat in the row in front of us but a few seats down. After sacrament meeting the guy sitting next to him turned around to us, introduced himself, and was like "Man you girls could fit right in! Might as well come over and help us out!" And I was like "Yeah! Just get us some red shirts and we'll be over as soon as we're off work!" Just joking around, and then that kid from USU turns around and is like "Hey! So good to see you again! You better be coming back to Utah State next year, now that we know each other we have to hang out!" And I was like "uhhh.... I don't know if I'm coming back yet..." Which, yeah it's a lie, but I want SOME chance of getting his number. Anyways. He was like "Well why not?! You have to come back! We need to hang out!" And started accusing me of betraying USU and I was like "Whoa whoa! If I leave, it's because I'm going on a mission! I would never transfer from USU!!" And him and another guy who is also going to Utah State were like "Ohh. Well if you're going on a mission then that's okay." But it was kind of funny cause then there were like three other guys after the really cute one that were like "Oh hi, I'm ______ what's your name?" Proooobably just cause they knew we were available. I don't think they can hit on the co-counselors.
Later that afternoon, there was a huge broadcast on missionary work by the first presidency. It was amazing! I cried like nine times! It's just so overwhelming to realize that the Lord has something so great in store for me in a few months. I'm really very excited to get out there and teach the gospel!
After that broadcast, Vocal Point did a big devotional. Which was also amazing. They said at the beginning "I know you're not here to see Vocal Point, you're here to be fed by the spirit." And I realized that they were right. I showed up that afternoon, not just to see Vocal Point and be able to talk to them, but to hear something that I felt like I needed to hear. And I did!
Earlier that very same day I had been scared about missionary work. This is a year and a half commitment! I'm putting my friends, family, and education on hold so that I can go live some place I don't know with people I've never met all by myself. It's scary! Plus, what if I'm not a good missionary? What if I do more damage than good, or what if I do nothing at all? What if I just "hide my light under a bushel" instead of "displaying it on a candlestick"? I was so overwhelmed with these fears during the broadcast. I couldn't shake it, this mission thing is kind of a big deal. But during the Vocal Point devotional, they said a lot of things and sang a lot of songs that really touched my heart and made me recommitted to going.
First of all, I'm pretty sure the theme of my mission is going to be a line from Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
"Here's my heart; oh, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above."
I really want this time of my life - and every time of my life, really - to be dedicated to the Lord and His work. Because lately, I've been gaining a testimony of just how important this work is. I even think about Christ, and I become so overwhelmed with Heavenly Father's love and His plan that He has for us. I can't even express how I feel about the importance of the Gospel, there's just no overstating how paramount it is. I've said "it's a big deal" three different ways now and I STILL don't feel like I have sufficiently expressed my point.
Second, and somewhat along the lines, my time is RIGHT NOW. It is no coincidence that the age was changed when it did. One of the guys was talking about how at the MTC they sing Army of Helamen, but they change the words to "We ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth" instead of "we WILL BE." How amazing is that! It's my time to get out there and Heavenly Father has given me that opportunity.
Finally, and the best part, the last speaker talked about how sometimes we get amazing opportunities that we may feel weird doing or we feel like we're not doing well at. He likened it to getting fitted for a tux that everyone has to wear to this amazing thing they're going to. Mind you, this guy is like 6'10" so he probably has a lot of issues when it comes to clothing. He's like "And every measurement they take they're like, 'ohh...' 'uhh...' 'eeeehhh...' and then you come out of there with the sleeves too short, the bust too wide because they had to try and make the sleeves fit, and then you're wearing different pants than everyone else's... And you start comparing. Because 'wow. I look so dumb in this, and that guy looks amazing, and that suit fits him perfectly, and that other guy looks BETTER oh no...'" He then said "You've forgotten something though. You're at this amazing occasion! You're dressed to be there! You were invited to come and you're so busy comparing yourself to others that you forgot you're at this party!" He said that it doesn't matter how the suit fits, as long as we're wearing it. Likewise, it doesn't matter if you don't feel completely comfortable being a missionary. You're there. You're serving the Lord. And, most likely, the people around you are looking at you and saying "Man, that skirt looks perfect on her... Why doesn't mine fit like that..." or "Jeez, she's such a good missionary. I wish I could talk to people as easily as she does" And I'm looking back at that missionary like "Dang, she is so perceptive. How is she so perceptive to those members and investigators and everything that everyone ever needs?"
Do you get my point yet?
I'll be fine out on a mission. I'm representing my Savior in a good cause and in a good way with His name pinned to my chest.
I'll be okay.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Father's day.
Welp, this past week has pretty much been the same as the others haha.
Sunday night we went to the devotional that the BYU dancers put on. It was amazing! Completely unfair that that huge group of people could dance, sing, and play some sort of instrument. Spread the love, guys. It was really good though. Our friend that we made at the dancing thing (Cody) was there and came to talk to us afterwards. He said we should add him on facebook, so we did... Aaaaannnd now they're gone and we'll never see him again. Haha. But at least we're facebook friends, so that's cool.
The rest of the week was full of working. We're starting to work more of the front desk, although we're still mostly in housekeeping. Which I actually really like. I feel like it's perfect. I think they're giving us five days a week housekeeping, one day of a full 8 hour shift at front desk, and a couple four hour shifts after we get done with housekeeping.
Our one crazy manager did get fired on Wednesday. I guess that's good news!! I was at work the next day and our cool manager that everyone actually likes says something about having to run things by herself now and I said "By yourself?" and she goes "Yep. She got fired." I was like... Trying not to smile? Trying not to show how pleased this made me? Haha. It was good.
Friday I had a day off and Kenz had to do housekeeping. It was the least productive day I've had in a long time... I slept forever, sat around and watched TV forever, talked to Mary forever... Yeah. By the time I finally was showered and ready it was probably like 6:00 haha. I did get to order a couple things online, so that was good. Hopefully they come soon.
That night I was suuuuuper prepared. In bed, lights out, ready to sleep at 11:00 on the nose. But, of course, the one night that I get to bed at a decent time my brain won't shut off. To start off, I got a call from a lady in our ward at around 11:30 offering us some bikes (YES!!). So then I get ready to go to sleep again, and I was so wound up. I felt like I could run laps around the apartment. Also, I was dying of heat. In shorts and a thin t-shirt. Which never happens! It's always freezing in my room. Finally, around midnight, I get a notification from facebook saying that my friend Kyle had commented on something I posted to Mary's wall. Which, of course, starts this whole conversation in which we tagged Mary as many times as we could and then ended it by saying five things we each liked about her. She gets on right after Kyle lists his, and so SHE starts commenting on everything too. Which was awesome. Because I miss hanging out with Mary and Kyle, and that whole thing was kind of like the three of us talking together again.
So then I put my phone down. By now it's like 1:00, and my brain finally feels ready to go to sleep. I probably laid in bed for another half hour or so though before I went to sleep. THEN. On top of going to sleep at 1:30 and having to be up at 8, I had awful dreams about tornadoes all night long! I'm terrified of tornadoes! And that only amped it up even more! And THEN, I wake up late. And as I go stumbling out of my room with a grand total of 20 minutes to get ready, Kenz is like "It's a thunderstorm!" and a huge clash of thunder goes off. I'm just standing there like a deer in the headlights, trying not to cry. Because I've read the signs of tornadoes. And a thunderstorm is just the first step.
Anyways. I didn't die.
Saturday night we agreed to watch a couple of our coworker's daughter's friends. Well, her friend and her friend's sister. Her daughter came too, so that was fun. We just went up to the restaurant and ate, and then we tried to go to the last BYU dancer's show. Well. We walk outside, and it's raining. Hard. And, the wind is blowing. HARD. It was like somebody up there had a fan on high power and they were dumping buckets of water into it every couple seconds or so. Awful. And I'm terrified, because now this has to be a tornado. I mean, the wind is a sure sign! But we did make it down to the visitor's center for the show, even though we had to watch a projection of it and not the live thing... Whateverr.
So that was the gist of Saturday.
Today.
We both taught primary again, this week I taught Sunbeams again and Kenz taught Valiant 8. Which was awesome! I only had ONE kid, again, and it was the same kid... Haha. Anyways. Also! We got invited to din din again! But not by the Call's, by a lady in our ward! I think her last name is Smith? Something with an S.... Idk. But she's in the Relief Society presidency and she's the one who put the little ad in the newsletter for the ward for our bikes. How kind of her!!
Onward... To Fazhas day.
On facebook, I only posted that my dad was a good dad and that I love him. But I want to add, now that I'm thinking about it and seeing everyone else's gushy posts:
I look up to my dad a lot. I find myself doing things because he does them, or hoping that what I do and say will impress him or make him proud. I quote things or whatever cause I want him to look at me and say "Yep. That's my girl." He always knows just what to say when I'm frustrated and upset, and I cry every freaking time I get off the phone with him because he's just so tender about the way he says "Okay. Thanks for calling me. I love you, bye." And I just want to hug him.
I love my parents so much. And I'm sad that I had to miss both Father's day AND mother's day. But, I know that what I'm doing is so right. And as much as it kills me to leave for a year and a half on top of these three months here, I know that my parents think and talk about me with that ever-so-coveted smile and say "Yep. That's our girl."
Gosh. Dang. Dad, if I don't call you today, it's because I will probably cry the entire time I'm on the phone with you.
Sunday night we went to the devotional that the BYU dancers put on. It was amazing! Completely unfair that that huge group of people could dance, sing, and play some sort of instrument. Spread the love, guys. It was really good though. Our friend that we made at the dancing thing (Cody) was there and came to talk to us afterwards. He said we should add him on facebook, so we did... Aaaaannnd now they're gone and we'll never see him again. Haha. But at least we're facebook friends, so that's cool.
The rest of the week was full of working. We're starting to work more of the front desk, although we're still mostly in housekeeping. Which I actually really like. I feel like it's perfect. I think they're giving us five days a week housekeeping, one day of a full 8 hour shift at front desk, and a couple four hour shifts after we get done with housekeeping.
Our one crazy manager did get fired on Wednesday. I guess that's good news!! I was at work the next day and our cool manager that everyone actually likes says something about having to run things by herself now and I said "By yourself?" and she goes "Yep. She got fired." I was like... Trying not to smile? Trying not to show how pleased this made me? Haha. It was good.
Friday I had a day off and Kenz had to do housekeeping. It was the least productive day I've had in a long time... I slept forever, sat around and watched TV forever, talked to Mary forever... Yeah. By the time I finally was showered and ready it was probably like 6:00 haha. I did get to order a couple things online, so that was good. Hopefully they come soon.
That night I was suuuuuper prepared. In bed, lights out, ready to sleep at 11:00 on the nose. But, of course, the one night that I get to bed at a decent time my brain won't shut off. To start off, I got a call from a lady in our ward at around 11:30 offering us some bikes (YES!!). So then I get ready to go to sleep again, and I was so wound up. I felt like I could run laps around the apartment. Also, I was dying of heat. In shorts and a thin t-shirt. Which never happens! It's always freezing in my room. Finally, around midnight, I get a notification from facebook saying that my friend Kyle had commented on something I posted to Mary's wall. Which, of course, starts this whole conversation in which we tagged Mary as many times as we could and then ended it by saying five things we each liked about her. She gets on right after Kyle lists his, and so SHE starts commenting on everything too. Which was awesome. Because I miss hanging out with Mary and Kyle, and that whole thing was kind of like the three of us talking together again.
So then I put my phone down. By now it's like 1:00, and my brain finally feels ready to go to sleep. I probably laid in bed for another half hour or so though before I went to sleep. THEN. On top of going to sleep at 1:30 and having to be up at 8, I had awful dreams about tornadoes all night long! I'm terrified of tornadoes! And that only amped it up even more! And THEN, I wake up late. And as I go stumbling out of my room with a grand total of 20 minutes to get ready, Kenz is like "It's a thunderstorm!" and a huge clash of thunder goes off. I'm just standing there like a deer in the headlights, trying not to cry. Because I've read the signs of tornadoes. And a thunderstorm is just the first step.
Anyways. I didn't die.
Saturday night we agreed to watch a couple of our coworker's daughter's friends. Well, her friend and her friend's sister. Her daughter came too, so that was fun. We just went up to the restaurant and ate, and then we tried to go to the last BYU dancer's show. Well. We walk outside, and it's raining. Hard. And, the wind is blowing. HARD. It was like somebody up there had a fan on high power and they were dumping buckets of water into it every couple seconds or so. Awful. And I'm terrified, because now this has to be a tornado. I mean, the wind is a sure sign! But we did make it down to the visitor's center for the show, even though we had to watch a projection of it and not the live thing... Whateverr.
So that was the gist of Saturday.
Today.
We both taught primary again, this week I taught Sunbeams again and Kenz taught Valiant 8. Which was awesome! I only had ONE kid, again, and it was the same kid... Haha. Anyways. Also! We got invited to din din again! But not by the Call's, by a lady in our ward! I think her last name is Smith? Something with an S.... Idk. But she's in the Relief Society presidency and she's the one who put the little ad in the newsletter for the ward for our bikes. How kind of her!!
Onward... To Fazhas day.
On facebook, I only posted that my dad was a good dad and that I love him. But I want to add, now that I'm thinking about it and seeing everyone else's gushy posts:
I look up to my dad a lot. I find myself doing things because he does them, or hoping that what I do and say will impress him or make him proud. I quote things or whatever cause I want him to look at me and say "Yep. That's my girl." He always knows just what to say when I'm frustrated and upset, and I cry every freaking time I get off the phone with him because he's just so tender about the way he says "Okay. Thanks for calling me. I love you, bye." And I just want to hug him.
I love my parents so much. And I'm sad that I had to miss both Father's day AND mother's day. But, I know that what I'm doing is so right. And as much as it kills me to leave for a year and a half on top of these three months here, I know that my parents think and talk about me with that ever-so-coveted smile and say "Yep. That's our girl."
Gosh. Dang. Dad, if I don't call you today, it's because I will probably cry the entire time I'm on the phone with you.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
I win...
Wow. So it has been over a week since I blogged last? I am very sorry Mom and Grandma, since I know you want the day-by-day... But I think on this one I MIGHT have to paraphrase.
Friday we got paid. We went to Keokuk and replenished our turkey and cheese sandwich supplies. When we got back, we were able to babysit for a lady that we work with. We just hung out with her daughter and her daughters friends for the night. It was definitely interesting... I don't know if it's the Gospel or if times have just really changed since I was that age (8-10) but it was weird. You would have thought these girls were like 13-14 with how they were acting. One of them kept texting her "boyfriend". Another one kept sassing her mom on the phone. You know? Just stuff like that. It made me grateful for who I am and how I was raised! But we had our friend Natasha come over that night too. She seemed just as shocked as we were by how they were acting...
Obviously we had a pretty busy week that week. I mean, we did something every night! So what did we do saturday? Just hang out at home. Can't socialize any more than we should, right? So we just watched some supernatural, I think we went on a run, and went to sleep.
Sunday we went and had dinner at Natasha's house. Her family was gone for a few days so we joined forces and had dinner together and watched a movie. We ALSO planned out a trip to Chicago! We're going to go the first, second, and third of August. We want to go to a Cubs game, go to THE BEAN! And some other stuff too. I think we'll end up meeting up with Landon for most the time so that a) we can avoid the dodgy parts of town and b) know what there is to do. But I am SO EXCITED TO GO! That's going to be my prize at the end of the summer for making it through all this time of doing nothing. I am so excited haha.
The rest of this week was kind of a blur. I worked every day, monday through saturday, and even got to start at the front desk. Which is so much fun! I love talking to guests and helping them. I just love talking to people in general buuuut.... Yeah. I really enjoy it. Except for when there's nothing to do... Then it's really bad haha. By Saturday I thought my knees were going to give out from under me and that my tendons in my ankles were going to snap. I should prooobably get some inserts for that...
This past week and this coming week the BYU folk dancers are in town. On Friday, we went to see one of their performances. And these guys were really cute! So we talked to a couple of them afterwards and got to know them a little bit. We went to the temple and talked to some people on the phone for a little bit, and on our way home we saw that Annie's Custard was FULL of the BYU dancers! Right then and there we had a large hankering for some custard... The line was like out the door so we were standing on the steps outside of it and one of the guys that we had talked to was sitting on the bench outside so we talked to him for a little while longer, totally acted like we were already on our way for custard and didn't just come to get it because we saw that they were there....
We went to the show the next night, too. They usually do a two hour long performance when they go places, but since they have the missionaries doing Sunset on the Mississippi right before their performance they split it up into two different nights. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday shows are completely different from the Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday shows. ANYWAYS. So we went to Saturday's show. We talked to one of the guys that we had talked to the night before (uh. Super big crush on this kid.) During the show we kinda acted like these guys were our best friends, just because they were the only guys our age that we had made somewhat friends with? Haha so it was fun talking to him again.
Don't mind my not looking at the camera. But the guy on the right is named Cody, and he's the one that we talked to on Saturday. The one on the left is named Will and he was the one we talked to at Annie's.
Then we overheard somebody talking about BYU football players. So we turn around, and there are these two guys, that had been there the night before, and one of them is married to a dancer on the team. When Kenz hears that these guys are BYU players, she's pretty well in love (with the single one, anyways). She was going to kinda talk to him, but she never did get a chance, so on the way out I told Sister Call that she thought he was cute (cause Sister Call had an entire conversation with this guy about the South; he served in Georgia) and she sat there and told Kenzie that she would regret it forever if she didn't talk to him so she needed to just go talk to him! So we finally got her to come up to him and ask for a picture with them. We ended up talking for about 15 minutes or so. We think he was going to ask us to do something cause he kinda had the "well we should do something" tone of voice, but he asked his cousin when they were leaving the next morning and they were leaving at like four cause they wanted to go to Adam-Ondi-Ahman and stuff. We didn't exchange numbers or anything, but I told Kenz that she needs to add him on facebook in a couple weeks..
.I love this picture because I look tiny compared to these huge football players.
In this two-day timespan, I also made a very important decision. I've been agonizing for months about whether or not I need to go on a mission. I'll have finally convinced myself that I needed to go, and then the fearful part of me would say "No, maybe I should stay home... Maybe a mission isn't right for me... Maybe..." But then I also couldn't convince myself to absolutely do one thing or the other. Finally, probably about Monday, I was like "Alright. I'm just going to go back to school." So I started thinking about what classes I could take or whatever. Over the next couple of days I planned on it, and it just felt wrong. Not wrong in a "you would be making the worst mistake of your life" kind of way, but in a "your life would be so much better if you decided to go on a mission" kind of way.
So I'm going on a mission.
I told that to Sister Call and President Call and they were both really excited. Later in the show Sister Call leaned over to me and said "Just think about it: You will never have this moment in your life again."
Which at first I was like "Uh. Okay."
But after I was thinking about it some more, I kind of started to panic about it. It felt like my seconds were slipping away, and there I was not enjoying every single one of them. But that then made me realize how blessed I was to be there in Nauvoo. When I look back at my life in years to come, I will be so grateful for the opportunity I had to come here and learn to love Nauvoo.
Also, I got to teach Primary again today. I have this little guy in Sunbeams that I adore and he adores me!
Anyways. We're going to the Call's for lunch in about ten minutes and then hopefully a devotional with the Folk Dancers!
Friday we got paid. We went to Keokuk and replenished our turkey and cheese sandwich supplies. When we got back, we were able to babysit for a lady that we work with. We just hung out with her daughter and her daughters friends for the night. It was definitely interesting... I don't know if it's the Gospel or if times have just really changed since I was that age (8-10) but it was weird. You would have thought these girls were like 13-14 with how they were acting. One of them kept texting her "boyfriend". Another one kept sassing her mom on the phone. You know? Just stuff like that. It made me grateful for who I am and how I was raised! But we had our friend Natasha come over that night too. She seemed just as shocked as we were by how they were acting...
Obviously we had a pretty busy week that week. I mean, we did something every night! So what did we do saturday? Just hang out at home. Can't socialize any more than we should, right? So we just watched some supernatural, I think we went on a run, and went to sleep.
Sunday we went and had dinner at Natasha's house. Her family was gone for a few days so we joined forces and had dinner together and watched a movie. We ALSO planned out a trip to Chicago! We're going to go the first, second, and third of August. We want to go to a Cubs game, go to THE BEAN! And some other stuff too. I think we'll end up meeting up with Landon for most the time so that a) we can avoid the dodgy parts of town and b) know what there is to do. But I am SO EXCITED TO GO! That's going to be my prize at the end of the summer for making it through all this time of doing nothing. I am so excited haha.
The rest of this week was kind of a blur. I worked every day, monday through saturday, and even got to start at the front desk. Which is so much fun! I love talking to guests and helping them. I just love talking to people in general buuuut.... Yeah. I really enjoy it. Except for when there's nothing to do... Then it's really bad haha. By Saturday I thought my knees were going to give out from under me and that my tendons in my ankles were going to snap. I should prooobably get some inserts for that...
This past week and this coming week the BYU folk dancers are in town. On Friday, we went to see one of their performances. And these guys were really cute! So we talked to a couple of them afterwards and got to know them a little bit. We went to the temple and talked to some people on the phone for a little bit, and on our way home we saw that Annie's Custard was FULL of the BYU dancers! Right then and there we had a large hankering for some custard... The line was like out the door so we were standing on the steps outside of it and one of the guys that we had talked to was sitting on the bench outside so we talked to him for a little while longer, totally acted like we were already on our way for custard and didn't just come to get it because we saw that they were there....
We went to the show the next night, too. They usually do a two hour long performance when they go places, but since they have the missionaries doing Sunset on the Mississippi right before their performance they split it up into two different nights. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday shows are completely different from the Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday shows. ANYWAYS. So we went to Saturday's show. We talked to one of the guys that we had talked to the night before (uh. Super big crush on this kid.) During the show we kinda acted like these guys were our best friends, just because they were the only guys our age that we had made somewhat friends with? Haha so it was fun talking to him again.
Then we overheard somebody talking about BYU football players. So we turn around, and there are these two guys, that had been there the night before, and one of them is married to a dancer on the team. When Kenz hears that these guys are BYU players, she's pretty well in love (with the single one, anyways). She was going to kinda talk to him, but she never did get a chance, so on the way out I told Sister Call that she thought he was cute (cause Sister Call had an entire conversation with this guy about the South; he served in Georgia) and she sat there and told Kenzie that she would regret it forever if she didn't talk to him so she needed to just go talk to him! So we finally got her to come up to him and ask for a picture with them. We ended up talking for about 15 minutes or so. We think he was going to ask us to do something cause he kinda had the "well we should do something" tone of voice, but he asked his cousin when they were leaving the next morning and they were leaving at like four cause they wanted to go to Adam-Ondi-Ahman and stuff. We didn't exchange numbers or anything, but I told Kenz that she needs to add him on facebook in a couple weeks..
In this two-day timespan, I also made a very important decision. I've been agonizing for months about whether or not I need to go on a mission. I'll have finally convinced myself that I needed to go, and then the fearful part of me would say "No, maybe I should stay home... Maybe a mission isn't right for me... Maybe..." But then I also couldn't convince myself to absolutely do one thing or the other. Finally, probably about Monday, I was like "Alright. I'm just going to go back to school." So I started thinking about what classes I could take or whatever. Over the next couple of days I planned on it, and it just felt wrong. Not wrong in a "you would be making the worst mistake of your life" kind of way, but in a "your life would be so much better if you decided to go on a mission" kind of way.
So I'm going on a mission.
I told that to Sister Call and President Call and they were both really excited. Later in the show Sister Call leaned over to me and said "Just think about it: You will never have this moment in your life again."
Which at first I was like "Uh. Okay."
But after I was thinking about it some more, I kind of started to panic about it. It felt like my seconds were slipping away, and there I was not enjoying every single one of them. But that then made me realize how blessed I was to be there in Nauvoo. When I look back at my life in years to come, I will be so grateful for the opportunity I had to come here and learn to love Nauvoo.
Also, I got to teach Primary again today. I have this little guy in Sunbeams that I adore and he adores me!
Friday, May 31, 2013
Loving the hours.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Work is getting a little bit easier. Now that we're kind of used to how everything works, and now that there are a lot more people coming in, it goes by a lot faster and we're a lot more used to it. Or, at least, we were until we had three days in a row off... Well I had three days in a row off this week. Which really bothers me. We asked the manager if we could have more hours, she said she'd put us six days a week housekeeping, and I have three days off. Then I work tomorrow. And then I have another three. Yep... Doesn't make sense to me either. Actually makes me a little mad haha. If I don't get more hours after this, I don't know how this will end up working.
After work on this day, however, we did our normal routine of sitting around and I was finally like "Eh. I'm going to the gas station to buy a water bottle I can use at work." So Kenz came with me and after we left the gas station we were like "Uhh... Should we just keep walking?" cause neither of us wanted to go home. So we ended up clear on the other end of Nauvoo.... Like over by the Mississippi. We walked by the cultural hall and remembered that President and Sister Call would be in Rendezvous again that night. Sooo we went. And as we were waiting to go in, this really good-looking guy soo checked us out. First time in like a month that we've even seen someone our age that's available. Weeee were pretty okay with that.
As we're sitting in Rendezvous, we can hear this really violent wind tearing through Nauvoo? And Kenz and I are like "....We have to walk home." Then, as we go outside of the building, it's pouring rain. And we're like... "Sounds like we're going to spend the night at the cultural hall."
Luckily! We have our amazing President and Sister Call to save us AND take us to Custard after the play.
How kind. :)
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
I really think that we did nothing the majority of this day. However, as we were getting ready for "the day", our phone started ringing. Kenz answered and it was a girl we work with asking us to hang out! We were so excited! We were like dancing around screaming "WE HAVE FRIENDS!!"
We went on another walk. We were able to walk down to Horton Lake and hang out there for a bit. While we were there, I called and talked to Mary for like an hour plus the time walking back to the apartment plus a little while after I got there and then she had to go for a little bit. After she called me back and we talked for a bit, we ended up talking for like three hours and 15 minutes total haha. It's bad when we go for a long time without talking to each other cause when we finally get talking again we could talk for hours. When I come back we're going to be up for like three days in a row talking.
The girl we worked with got off at 11 and we just drove to Fort Madison to pick up her car and take it back to that another lady we work with can use it. AAAaaaaaNNNddddd that was about it. But it was more than we've done in a while so I'll take it...
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Okay. This day was the day that we really did nothing. Literally sat around until like 2 in the afternoon, then took a good three hours to get ready, BUT THEN we invited a friend from our ward to come to dinner with us at the restaurant for chinese night. We went back to her house, played a couple games, and then just talked for a bit.
We have friends!!! :)
Work is getting a little bit easier. Now that we're kind of used to how everything works, and now that there are a lot more people coming in, it goes by a lot faster and we're a lot more used to it. Or, at least, we were until we had three days in a row off... Well I had three days in a row off this week. Which really bothers me. We asked the manager if we could have more hours, she said she'd put us six days a week housekeeping, and I have three days off. Then I work tomorrow. And then I have another three. Yep... Doesn't make sense to me either. Actually makes me a little mad haha. If I don't get more hours after this, I don't know how this will end up working.
After work on this day, however, we did our normal routine of sitting around and I was finally like "Eh. I'm going to the gas station to buy a water bottle I can use at work." So Kenz came with me and after we left the gas station we were like "Uhh... Should we just keep walking?" cause neither of us wanted to go home. So we ended up clear on the other end of Nauvoo.... Like over by the Mississippi. We walked by the cultural hall and remembered that President and Sister Call would be in Rendezvous again that night. Sooo we went. And as we were waiting to go in, this really good-looking guy soo checked us out. First time in like a month that we've even seen someone our age that's available. Weeee were pretty okay with that.
As we're sitting in Rendezvous, we can hear this really violent wind tearing through Nauvoo? And Kenz and I are like "....We have to walk home." Then, as we go outside of the building, it's pouring rain. And we're like... "Sounds like we're going to spend the night at the cultural hall."
Luckily! We have our amazing President and Sister Call to save us AND take us to Custard after the play.
How kind. :)
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
I really think that we did nothing the majority of this day. However, as we were getting ready for "the day", our phone started ringing. Kenz answered and it was a girl we work with asking us to hang out! We were so excited! We were like dancing around screaming "WE HAVE FRIENDS!!"
We went on another walk. We were able to walk down to Horton Lake and hang out there for a bit. While we were there, I called and talked to Mary for like an hour plus the time walking back to the apartment plus a little while after I got there and then she had to go for a little bit. After she called me back and we talked for a bit, we ended up talking for like three hours and 15 minutes total haha. It's bad when we go for a long time without talking to each other cause when we finally get talking again we could talk for hours. When I come back we're going to be up for like three days in a row talking.
The girl we worked with got off at 11 and we just drove to Fort Madison to pick up her car and take it back to that another lady we work with can use it. AAAaaaaaNNNddddd that was about it. But it was more than we've done in a while so I'll take it...
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Okay. This day was the day that we really did nothing. Literally sat around until like 2 in the afternoon, then took a good three hours to get ready, BUT THEN we invited a friend from our ward to come to dinner with us at the restaurant for chinese night. We went back to her house, played a couple games, and then just talked for a bit.
We have friends!!! :)
Monday, May 27, 2013
The Great Gatsby.
Friday, May 24, 2013
We decided that we were tired of sitting around. We were trying to think of things to do and I suggested that maybe we should go see a movie? So we DID! We drove to Burlington and went to see The Great Gatsby. Which was AMAZING, by the way. Most of it. Parts of it were a little weird, in that I didn't know what was going on (if it was real, if he was imagining/dreaming it, etc.) but it had a really good plot twist at the end and now I just want to read the book.
So on our way back from Burlington we saw a Walmart. We decided to make a quick stop there and grab a few things so we wouldn't have to go to Keokuk until next week. We get there around 10:45, yeah? CREEPIEST THING OF MY LIFE. I am so not used to Walmarts being so scary! As we go walking in the doors, there was this group of guys standing right outside the doors staring us down like they wanted to rape us. I just felt like everyone was watching us, because I admit we looked a little out of place. Everyone looked kinda white trash/ thug life and here's these two pretty, nicely dressed Mormon girls bouncing in. Yeesh. It was creepy. So we got our stuff as fast as we could and GOT. OUT. It just never was like that in Logan! We could go at 1 in the morning and be completely fine! Ugh. Bless Utah. My parents are right, I am never marrying someone from outside of Idaho or Utah cause I'm never leaving Idaho or Utah. Unless they sign a contract or something saying they're cool with living there forever.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Holy Moses. So. Welcome to the worst day I've had while being in Nauvoo. We come walking in at about 8:58. Usually all the housekeepers are in there waiting for their daily assignments from the manager, Peggy. We walk in and all the housekeepers are in there, but they're being yelled at by our manager. So we're like trying to figure out what's going on and I guess she went in and checked a bunch of rooms that had been cleaned as check outs and there was a lot of stuff wrong with the rooms. After she gets done, she goes "Oh. And Peggy isn't with us anymore."
Yeah. They fired Peggy.
I was shocked.
And really upset. So on top of that, they have one of the new girls work with me. And she. Is. A bee-otch. She kept trying to boss me around and then she wouldn't even do anything to help. We had one room that we had to go back and fix, and everything we had to fix were things she swore she did or that I had asked her to do. It was funny though cause after all day of her snarky comments, one lady came in and was helping us. While she was sweeping, this other rude girl was like "you missed some dirt right there." And this other (super awesome) lady says "Well ya better get down there and pick it up then!" What was it, brat? Oh. Just a scratch in the floor. Shoot, looks like she didn't miss it.
I also got to talk to both my parents Saturday. Which is really what I needed, after that stupid day. After I got off the phone with my dad I just sat and cried. I miss my family a lot.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Sacrament meeting was INCREDIBLY full. It was all the way back to the back of the gym. They had to have another sacrament table in the gym to get everyone back there. There are just so many visitors!
We got to teach primary. We were with the CTR 4 and CTR 5 classes. They just combined them for that Sunday. That class was SO. DANG. CUTE. And they were surprisingly well-behaved? I hardly had to get after them for things. There was this little boy from South Africa there who was... Oh my gosh. A doll. He was absolutely darling. He had this black pinstripe suit on... Oh. Get on youtube and search a pep talk from Kid President. I swear, that kid from that video looked exactly like this one that was in our class. Anyways. It was fun, we got to talk to them about how you can communicate with Heavenly Father through prayer and how he'll always answer them. It was cute cause we were talking about Nephi after Laman and Lemuel let him go on the boat and he thanks Heavenly Father for everything he has. I said "What do you think Nephi prayed about after they untied him?" and silence. "Do you think he prayed for..... A million dollars?" The whole class "NO!"
"Do you think he prayed for a mansion?"
"NO!"
"A bunch of toys?"
"Sister Perrenoud. No."
I told them they were right, and when I asked if Heavenly Father would give those things to us if we asked for them they all said "No! We should only ask for things that He would want us to have and He knows we don't need those things."
SO. Cute.
There was one little boy there named Tanner. He had hearing aids, but besides that seemed fairly normal. I asked everyone in the class to tell me something really cool that happened to them that week, and when I got to him he kind of seemed really upset and frustrated so I figured he had a hard time with being put on the spot. So I said "That's okay, you don't have to say anything!" And moved on. A couple kids later I saw Tanner raising his hand and when I called on him he kind of quietly tells me that his grandma and grandpa came out to visit.
I don't know why, but that made me really love this little boy.
The bishopbric came over after church. Which was weird, we're not used to having people over... Also, we had both just woken up from naps so we're all groggy. Also, our apartment was kind of a disaster haha. Whoops.
That night, we went to the Sociable that the sister missionaries put on. It was amazing. I'm really starting to love the pioneers. Those sister missionaries have such a sweet spirit to them! And I love them because all the ones we've met saw us while they were performing and came running up to us afterwards and were just so excited to see us. Gosh, it's nice to know people!
Monday, May 27, 2013
My day begins at around 2:35 AM. I'm not really sure why, but I woke up thinking I heard a knock at the door. I sat there for a second, and then thought "I MUST BE LATE FOR WORK!" So I go flying out of bed and then I check my phone to see how bad it was. Yeah, it was only 2:35. I was like "Great. I've been asleep for like three hours." Then I remembered the knocking. I can't even describe how creeped out I was all of a sudden. I thought, "maybe someone was just coming to warn us about the weather." I check online and sure enough we're under a flash flood watch, but a watch isn't severe enough to come knocking on our door at 2:30... So I'm terrified. Partly because I thought someone was knocking at my door at 2:30 in the morning. Partly because I'm afraid I'm going to drown because I live in a basement apartment that's apparently known for it's flooding capacity. And partly because I got a SnapChat from Jake reenacting an episode of Wild Boyz that we watched together before we left Logan haha. The scene itself is just weird, they're sacrificing a wallaby to some Tazmanian Devils so they dress up like devil worshippers and stuff.
So I'm so scared that I can't get to sleep. Then I remembered Nephi, and what I had just taught my primary kids about prayer. I prayed that Heavenly Father would stop the storm and give me peace of mind. When I woke up the next morning, the storm was over and looked like it had been for quite a while. I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father.
As we're eating breakfast, I heard the knock again. I jump and go "Kenz! Did you hear that!" and she was like "hear what?"
Yeah. She didn't hear it.
I'm losin it.
I got to start cleaning rooms at the manor today. There's a group of youth in it right now, which would be more cool if they were closer to my age. They all just graduated high school.... Duuhhhmmmmbbb.
But as I'm cleaning, I was standing in the hall by my cart looking for something I needed and this kid goes walking by. I just said "Hi, how are you?" and we kinda started chatting. I said something about how I was just cleaning and how that's as exciting as my life was right then. He goes "Good job!" and I said "Yeah, well, I'm just a professional. So it's whatever." And he goes "Are you cleaning 519?" and I said Yeah, and he goes "Well are you cleaning it tomorrow?" and I said I wasn't sure but probably so he goes "okay! Well I'll be sure to leave you a thank you note!"
This conversation sounds so much more friend-ish than it actually was.
I mean, this kid was flirting with me. Bad.
So I get to his room and, lo and behold, it was NASTY. There was underwear on the floor, clothes everywhere, POOP ON THE TOILET, (Yeah. On the toilet. I don't know how the crap poop got on the outside of this kids toilet) and garbage. I was like "Yeah dude. That's super hot." So we'll see what tomorrow brings for me, ten bucks says he leaves his number.
After wiping poop of his toilet, no thank you. Before, maybe but still probably not.
The rest of the day wasn't too bad. They just had a ton of checkouts at the main hotel so I helped them finish those and got off at about 4:45. We got paid time and a half today! Woo!
We decided that we were tired of sitting around. We were trying to think of things to do and I suggested that maybe we should go see a movie? So we DID! We drove to Burlington and went to see The Great Gatsby. Which was AMAZING, by the way. Most of it. Parts of it were a little weird, in that I didn't know what was going on (if it was real, if he was imagining/dreaming it, etc.) but it had a really good plot twist at the end and now I just want to read the book.
So on our way back from Burlington we saw a Walmart. We decided to make a quick stop there and grab a few things so we wouldn't have to go to Keokuk until next week. We get there around 10:45, yeah? CREEPIEST THING OF MY LIFE. I am so not used to Walmarts being so scary! As we go walking in the doors, there was this group of guys standing right outside the doors staring us down like they wanted to rape us. I just felt like everyone was watching us, because I admit we looked a little out of place. Everyone looked kinda white trash/ thug life and here's these two pretty, nicely dressed Mormon girls bouncing in. Yeesh. It was creepy. So we got our stuff as fast as we could and GOT. OUT. It just never was like that in Logan! We could go at 1 in the morning and be completely fine! Ugh. Bless Utah. My parents are right, I am never marrying someone from outside of Idaho or Utah cause I'm never leaving Idaho or Utah. Unless they sign a contract or something saying they're cool with living there forever.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Holy Moses. So. Welcome to the worst day I've had while being in Nauvoo. We come walking in at about 8:58. Usually all the housekeepers are in there waiting for their daily assignments from the manager, Peggy. We walk in and all the housekeepers are in there, but they're being yelled at by our manager. So we're like trying to figure out what's going on and I guess she went in and checked a bunch of rooms that had been cleaned as check outs and there was a lot of stuff wrong with the rooms. After she gets done, she goes "Oh. And Peggy isn't with us anymore."
Yeah. They fired Peggy.
I was shocked.
And really upset. So on top of that, they have one of the new girls work with me. And she. Is. A bee-otch. She kept trying to boss me around and then she wouldn't even do anything to help. We had one room that we had to go back and fix, and everything we had to fix were things she swore she did or that I had asked her to do. It was funny though cause after all day of her snarky comments, one lady came in and was helping us. While she was sweeping, this other rude girl was like "you missed some dirt right there." And this other (super awesome) lady says "Well ya better get down there and pick it up then!" What was it, brat? Oh. Just a scratch in the floor. Shoot, looks like she didn't miss it.
I also got to talk to both my parents Saturday. Which is really what I needed, after that stupid day. After I got off the phone with my dad I just sat and cried. I miss my family a lot.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Sacrament meeting was INCREDIBLY full. It was all the way back to the back of the gym. They had to have another sacrament table in the gym to get everyone back there. There are just so many visitors!
We got to teach primary. We were with the CTR 4 and CTR 5 classes. They just combined them for that Sunday. That class was SO. DANG. CUTE. And they were surprisingly well-behaved? I hardly had to get after them for things. There was this little boy from South Africa there who was... Oh my gosh. A doll. He was absolutely darling. He had this black pinstripe suit on... Oh. Get on youtube and search a pep talk from Kid President. I swear, that kid from that video looked exactly like this one that was in our class. Anyways. It was fun, we got to talk to them about how you can communicate with Heavenly Father through prayer and how he'll always answer them. It was cute cause we were talking about Nephi after Laman and Lemuel let him go on the boat and he thanks Heavenly Father for everything he has. I said "What do you think Nephi prayed about after they untied him?" and silence. "Do you think he prayed for..... A million dollars?" The whole class "NO!"
"Do you think he prayed for a mansion?"
"NO!"
"A bunch of toys?"
"Sister Perrenoud. No."
I told them they were right, and when I asked if Heavenly Father would give those things to us if we asked for them they all said "No! We should only ask for things that He would want us to have and He knows we don't need those things."
SO. Cute.
There was one little boy there named Tanner. He had hearing aids, but besides that seemed fairly normal. I asked everyone in the class to tell me something really cool that happened to them that week, and when I got to him he kind of seemed really upset and frustrated so I figured he had a hard time with being put on the spot. So I said "That's okay, you don't have to say anything!" And moved on. A couple kids later I saw Tanner raising his hand and when I called on him he kind of quietly tells me that his grandma and grandpa came out to visit.
I don't know why, but that made me really love this little boy.
The bishopbric came over after church. Which was weird, we're not used to having people over... Also, we had both just woken up from naps so we're all groggy. Also, our apartment was kind of a disaster haha. Whoops.
That night, we went to the Sociable that the sister missionaries put on. It was amazing. I'm really starting to love the pioneers. Those sister missionaries have such a sweet spirit to them! And I love them because all the ones we've met saw us while they were performing and came running up to us afterwards and were just so excited to see us. Gosh, it's nice to know people!
Monday, May 27, 2013
My day begins at around 2:35 AM. I'm not really sure why, but I woke up thinking I heard a knock at the door. I sat there for a second, and then thought "I MUST BE LATE FOR WORK!" So I go flying out of bed and then I check my phone to see how bad it was. Yeah, it was only 2:35. I was like "Great. I've been asleep for like three hours." Then I remembered the knocking. I can't even describe how creeped out I was all of a sudden. I thought, "maybe someone was just coming to warn us about the weather." I check online and sure enough we're under a flash flood watch, but a watch isn't severe enough to come knocking on our door at 2:30... So I'm terrified. Partly because I thought someone was knocking at my door at 2:30 in the morning. Partly because I'm afraid I'm going to drown because I live in a basement apartment that's apparently known for it's flooding capacity. And partly because I got a SnapChat from Jake reenacting an episode of Wild Boyz that we watched together before we left Logan haha. The scene itself is just weird, they're sacrificing a wallaby to some Tazmanian Devils so they dress up like devil worshippers and stuff.
So I'm so scared that I can't get to sleep. Then I remembered Nephi, and what I had just taught my primary kids about prayer. I prayed that Heavenly Father would stop the storm and give me peace of mind. When I woke up the next morning, the storm was over and looked like it had been for quite a while. I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father.
As we're eating breakfast, I heard the knock again. I jump and go "Kenz! Did you hear that!" and she was like "hear what?"
Yeah. She didn't hear it.
I'm losin it.
I got to start cleaning rooms at the manor today. There's a group of youth in it right now, which would be more cool if they were closer to my age. They all just graduated high school.... Duuhhhmmmmbbb.
But as I'm cleaning, I was standing in the hall by my cart looking for something I needed and this kid goes walking by. I just said "Hi, how are you?" and we kinda started chatting. I said something about how I was just cleaning and how that's as exciting as my life was right then. He goes "Good job!" and I said "Yeah, well, I'm just a professional. So it's whatever." And he goes "Are you cleaning 519?" and I said Yeah, and he goes "Well are you cleaning it tomorrow?" and I said I wasn't sure but probably so he goes "okay! Well I'll be sure to leave you a thank you note!"
This conversation sounds so much more friend-ish than it actually was.
I mean, this kid was flirting with me. Bad.
So I get to his room and, lo and behold, it was NASTY. There was underwear on the floor, clothes everywhere, POOP ON THE TOILET, (Yeah. On the toilet. I don't know how the crap poop got on the outside of this kids toilet) and garbage. I was like "Yeah dude. That's super hot." So we'll see what tomorrow brings for me, ten bucks says he leaves his number.
After wiping poop of his toilet, no thank you. Before, maybe but still probably not.
The rest of the day wasn't too bad. They just had a ton of checkouts at the main hotel so I helped them finish those and got off at about 4:45. We got paid time and a half today! Woo!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Relief Society!!
So we live below an event center, right? When we saw this at first we kinda figured that it would be fine because it didn't look like they used it for much else besides storage and offices. Turns out that all the crap in there was actually some stuff that they had used for a garage sale a few days before we got there and they just hadn't cleared it out yet. Yeah, groups actually use the event center. This morning - on our day off, mind you - I wake up at 8 to the people singing Praise to the Man. Which is fine, one of my favorites, it's all good. Then I realize that they still had all four verses to sing. Plus I had a headache and stuffed nose. And achy back... Sheesh. After they sang, I could hear them all talking (after the silence of the prayer of course) and then they ALL decide to start moving around tables, or chairs, or something to really want to make me ticked! So this morning's wake up call was fantastic.
I had to go up to be trained for greeting groups anyways but I still didn't like being woken up earlier than I had to be.
I also finally got to do baptisms in the Nauvoo Temple today. Kenzie couldn't find her recommend so I ended up just going anyways... We looked everywhere for that sucker. Twice. And I know she brought it, cause I asked her on the way here and she showed it to me... So whatever. But. The temple was amazing! I just felt so peaceful in there. I always do. The temple worker took me over to the spiral staircase that goes all the way up to the top of the temple and I was able to look up all the way to the top. AMAZING. I wanted to go the rest of the way! I guess just added incentive to get my endowments taken out...
We had a relief society activity tonight too. I have never been more excited for a relief society activity in my life! Earlier today we remembered about it and we were like jumping around and singing "Yay Relief Society!!" The activity itself, however, was... Interesting. We got there and walked in and everyone that was in there just turned around and stared at us... And I mean everyone. So we just go "Uhh... We'll be right back..." and run into the bathroom haha. When we came back, there was a girl there that we work with! We were so excited! There was also that other girl named Natasha who's our age. She went to BYU Provo, which I normally would not be completely okay with but I'm desperate for friends soo... Haha I'm so kidding. She seems way nice. Really down to earth. She was like "I was hoping you guys would come!"
The other people in the ward, outside from our little table, are.... Interesting. To say the least. I don't really know how to explain it, it's kind of just something you have to experience personally. I just have to remind them that they all have testimonies and that they're all children of our Heavenly Father.
In other news, my behind hurts from sitting around so much.
Luckily that will change tomorrow. We won't go in until 11 because we have a group checking out at that time, but we also have people coming into all of those rooms like the next day so we need to hurry and get them all cleaned. So tomorrow will be long and crazy, and then hopefully we can do something with Call's. I haven't seen them in over a week and I miss them!
I had to go up to be trained for greeting groups anyways but I still didn't like being woken up earlier than I had to be.
I also finally got to do baptisms in the Nauvoo Temple today. Kenzie couldn't find her recommend so I ended up just going anyways... We looked everywhere for that sucker. Twice. And I know she brought it, cause I asked her on the way here and she showed it to me... So whatever. But. The temple was amazing! I just felt so peaceful in there. I always do. The temple worker took me over to the spiral staircase that goes all the way up to the top of the temple and I was able to look up all the way to the top. AMAZING. I wanted to go the rest of the way! I guess just added incentive to get my endowments taken out...
We had a relief society activity tonight too. I have never been more excited for a relief society activity in my life! Earlier today we remembered about it and we were like jumping around and singing "Yay Relief Society!!" The activity itself, however, was... Interesting. We got there and walked in and everyone that was in there just turned around and stared at us... And I mean everyone. So we just go "Uhh... We'll be right back..." and run into the bathroom haha. When we came back, there was a girl there that we work with! We were so excited! There was also that other girl named Natasha who's our age. She went to BYU Provo, which I normally would not be completely okay with but I'm desperate for friends soo... Haha I'm so kidding. She seems way nice. Really down to earth. She was like "I was hoping you guys would come!"
The other people in the ward, outside from our little table, are.... Interesting. To say the least. I don't really know how to explain it, it's kind of just something you have to experience personally. I just have to remind them that they all have testimonies and that they're all children of our Heavenly Father.
In other news, my behind hurts from sitting around so much.
Luckily that will change tomorrow. We won't go in until 11 because we have a group checking out at that time, but we also have people coming into all of those rooms like the next day so we need to hurry and get them all cleaned. So tomorrow will be long and crazy, and then hopefully we can do something with Call's. I haven't seen them in over a week and I miss them!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Cookies. Nails. Pinterest Relapses.
Monday, 5-20-13
I don't even know what we did.
Haha.
Oh yeah! We worked until 4:30. Peggy works us to death. But not really, she just wants to get her hours in. When we got home we were sitting around forever watching Supernatural when Kenz got a phone call from her dad telling her about some Tornado watch that we were on and we go outside and oh, it's raining and really windy... It's sad that we can sit in our apartment and not even notice that anything is happening. Seriously there could have been a tornado and we would still be sitting around watching Supernatural. It was kind of scary? I mean I've never been in a situation where anything bad might even happen. But, lo, and behold, we're alive! Nothing happened. I think we might have watched Seinfeld? But really. Nothing happened haha.
Tuesday, 5-21-13
Yesterday we worked until 4:30 again. However, this time, we had every room done before lunch so the four hours after lunch was spent doing random crap that had already been done like three times. Like I said, Peggy likes her hours. BUT... Good news.
I GOT A $20 TIP!!
Awhyeahhhhh.
Also, we found out that we are going to start being trained for the front desk.
After work we just went to Lake Horton and tried to sunbathe... But it was still really cold. So we left and went running instead. I talked to Mary on the phone for an hour after we got back.
I MISS MARY SO MUCH.
Wednesday, 5-22-13
Work went by pretty quick today. Once we got all our rooms done, Kenz started training at the front desk and I went and talked to another manager lady about being trained to greet the large groups as they come in when it's after five. So I would kind of be the face of the hotel, kind of give them an overview of everything, give them their keys and their restaurant cards, etc. So that should be fun. After that I took a little stroll into town, called Ma, and went to this bakery thing that I've been dying to go to since I got here. Sadly, it was almost exactly the same as what I had for lunch. Except they had pickles and lettuce.
Add to the shopping list for next walmart trip: Pickles and lettuce.
I got home and Kenz was already back, so we just hung out for a bit, slept a little, made cookies....
Okay. That's an adventure worth going into.
So we don't have a measuring cup.
Any baking ingredients.
A mixer of any kind.
Or a decent cookie sheet.
How did we fix our problems?
We have a stack of plastic cups from the hotel that they use to put into the guest's rooms, and on the bottom it says they're 9 oz. I figure there's 8 oz. in a cup, so... Right below the line, eh?
We cut the shortening into the cake mix, put the eggs in, mixed it the best we could, and then Kenz threw her hands in there and mixed it manually.
The decent cookie sheet problem was fine. We still have a cookie sheet, it's just ghetto looking.
Anyways. So now we're watching Baby Mama. Living it up, since we don't work tomorrow! Well for very long anyways. I get to be trained on greeting groups tomorrow. Whoop!
I don't even know what we did.
Haha.
Oh yeah! We worked until 4:30. Peggy works us to death. But not really, she just wants to get her hours in. When we got home we were sitting around forever watching Supernatural when Kenz got a phone call from her dad telling her about some Tornado watch that we were on and we go outside and oh, it's raining and really windy... It's sad that we can sit in our apartment and not even notice that anything is happening. Seriously there could have been a tornado and we would still be sitting around watching Supernatural. It was kind of scary? I mean I've never been in a situation where anything bad might even happen. But, lo, and behold, we're alive! Nothing happened. I think we might have watched Seinfeld? But really. Nothing happened haha.
Tuesday, 5-21-13
Yesterday we worked until 4:30 again. However, this time, we had every room done before lunch so the four hours after lunch was spent doing random crap that had already been done like three times. Like I said, Peggy likes her hours. BUT... Good news.
I GOT A $20 TIP!!
Awhyeahhhhh.
Also, we found out that we are going to start being trained for the front desk.
After work we just went to Lake Horton and tried to sunbathe... But it was still really cold. So we left and went running instead. I talked to Mary on the phone for an hour after we got back.
I MISS MARY SO MUCH.
Wednesday, 5-22-13
Work went by pretty quick today. Once we got all our rooms done, Kenz started training at the front desk and I went and talked to another manager lady about being trained to greet the large groups as they come in when it's after five. So I would kind of be the face of the hotel, kind of give them an overview of everything, give them their keys and their restaurant cards, etc. So that should be fun. After that I took a little stroll into town, called Ma, and went to this bakery thing that I've been dying to go to since I got here. Sadly, it was almost exactly the same as what I had for lunch. Except they had pickles and lettuce.
Add to the shopping list for next walmart trip: Pickles and lettuce.
I got home and Kenz was already back, so we just hung out for a bit, slept a little, made cookies....
Okay. That's an adventure worth going into.
So we don't have a measuring cup.
Any baking ingredients.
A mixer of any kind.
Or a decent cookie sheet.
How did we fix our problems?
We have a stack of plastic cups from the hotel that they use to put into the guest's rooms, and on the bottom it says they're 9 oz. I figure there's 8 oz. in a cup, so... Right below the line, eh?
We cut the shortening into the cake mix, put the eggs in, mixed it the best we could, and then Kenz threw her hands in there and mixed it manually.
The decent cookie sheet problem was fine. We still have a cookie sheet, it's just ghetto looking.
Anyways. So now we're watching Baby Mama. Living it up, since we don't work tomorrow! Well for very long anyways. I get to be trained on greeting groups tomorrow. Whoop!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
I Stand All Amazed.
Friday - May 17, 2013
Payday. Sweet, sweet payday. To start off, we went to work. There wasn't much to do and one of the ladies in charge wanted to be off early for something so we ended up getting off at about 2:30. We got our checks, went home and changed, and ventured into Keokuk for a good little Walmart trip. We ended up getting a ton of groceries aaaaannnndddd.....
Furniture.
So, this is the greatest purchase I think we've made yet. As I'm typing this, we're both reclining in our relaxing chairs. We also took them to Lake Horton and sat in them on the dock for like two hours reading. Puh-retty sweet.
Funny story about our Walmart trip...
So we were looking for some Home Defense spray, you know the kind that you spray around the edges of your house and it keeps bugs out? We looked all over Walmart for this stuff. We finally end up towards the back of the store in the camping/fishing/hunting section. The only associate we can find is the one behind the camping counter. So I come up to him and say "Do you think you could tell me where the home defense spray is?" and he goes "Sure. Right down that aisle and to your right." So I go over there and I'm looking for it and Kenzie comes up behind me and goes "Kaitie, he's thinking we want guns. We should probably go."
I had to double over laughing in the next aisle.
Anyways. We didn't do much that night after we got home, just unloaded groceries, rejoiced in our new stuff, and watched our shows; mine being The Office, hers being Gray's Anatomy and Scandal.
Saturday - May 18, 2013
Wow. I have been graduated for two years. I remember when I though high school would never end, and that I'd be stuck there forever... Anyways. Not that I care. Just thought it was interesting.
We only had a few rooms each to do, so we ended up getting off at noon. Woo!! What did we end up doing? Going and seeing the sights on the day that we had mostly off? Nah, we came home and relaxed in our lawn chairs! Watched some TV shows, took a nap, and then I took a walk into town and went to a couple gift shops and stuff. I found a necklace in one that is the exact same one that Mary has, so obviously I had to buy it so we could be twinners. I also purchased a key chain with the star window from the temple on it, aaaannnnndddd..... A PREACH MY GOSPEL! Woo!! I was walking around looking at the books and I saw it sitting on the shelf and I felt so strongly the need to get it. We'll see if that comes in handy anytime soon! I definitely need it. I feel like I'm eventually going to be asked some questions when I work in a hotel with mostly nonmember coworkers. Plus it wouldn't hurt to study it to prepare for a potential mission.
When I got home, Kenz was awake so we gathered up our belongings (aka our chairs and a book) and headed to Lake Horton. This is the day that we spent like two hours on the dock reading. Saw a giant snake that sent me running. I got to talk to Ally on the phone! I miss Ally so much. I just wish she could come with me here.
When we got home, we watched the finale of The Office. It actually made me cry!! I love that show so much. And they even brought Michael back. Kenzie said "Jeez Kaitie, it's more fun to watch you watch the show than it is to watch the actual show." Sadly enough, that isn't the first time someone has told me that haha.
We had a "girls night", as if we don't do that every other night of the week. But really, we watched The Vow, had root beer floats, and ate chocolate chip cookie dough. It was quite lovely! Aaaannnddd we watched them in our lawn chairs. Of course.
Sunday - May 19, 2013
Today has been amazing. This morning, we decided to try a family ward instead of the missionary ward. I figure that, this way, we can get a calling and possibly get my mission papers started. Plus we can start going to ward activities, like the awesome Relief Society one this week! Dinner, a service project, crafts, happiness, and gloriousness. The ward is suuuper weird though haha. I'll just say... They live up to the typical Illinois stereotype that I've kind of discovered. BUT. It was so testimony-strengthening because even though they may be a little odd, have their quirks, and may believe some kind of interesting things they all seem to have an unwavering love and testimony of the church. It just shows that the church is so the same anywhere you go.
We were probably going to try another ward at the end of sacrament meeting, but the bishop arranged for our records to be transferred in before we even had been talking to him for five minutes. So we will be in the ward and the bishop promised we would be put to work! Oh, also. The Sister Missionaries that have been teaching Herb from the hotel were there at church. When they found out who we were, they said "Oh! Herb has told us about you. He says we remind him of you two because one of us has light hair and one has dark hair. He also said that he wants to take his wife and go visit all the sights with you guys sometime, so be prepared for that!" Which made my day!! I love Herb! He is the sweetest guy I have ever met!
After church, we made a quick lunch and went down to the visitor's center. We still had not had an official tour of the visitor's center yet, so we found a couple of sister missionaries to take us around. They were SO NICE. One went to BYU-I and the other went to Utah State! Weirdly enough, the one that had gone to Utah State was in my Mission Prep class this past semester. Small enough world yet? But really. We ended up taking about two hours there at the visitor's center getting to know these sisters and having our testimonies strengthened. They would show us a statue or a display and then ask us personal questions, like "Have you had to sacrifice anything in your life?" Or "How has praying helped you become closer to God?" And I felt like answering those questions really made me strengthen my own testimony. I don't think I've ever opened up about things from my life like that to two people I didn't know before. But like I've said before, I love having discussions like that with people and being able to share in the joy of the Gospel with my sisters.
When we were walking through the Women's garden, they were talking about some experiences they've had on their missions and again I was trying so hard to decide if it was something I could do or something I felt right about doing. Instead of feeling stressed, scared, and frustrated about it like I normally do I had an overwhelming calm and I heard a voice say "You will know." Which was amazing. I need to remember that yeah, I will know eventually. It's going to be a while before I would even get out so I need to take a step back and not freak out so badly over it. Shortly after that experience, I shared with the sisters how back and forth I was about everything. They asked what I was doing to prepare for that revelation, and then they told me that eventually I would be able to know what I need to do. Patience is such key.
I am so incredibly blessed to have spent time with these sisters today. It's just yet another witness that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that he has so many things in our lives that can direct us to where we need to go.
Payday. Sweet, sweet payday. To start off, we went to work. There wasn't much to do and one of the ladies in charge wanted to be off early for something so we ended up getting off at about 2:30. We got our checks, went home and changed, and ventured into Keokuk for a good little Walmart trip. We ended up getting a ton of groceries aaaaannnndddd.....
Furniture.
So, this is the greatest purchase I think we've made yet. As I'm typing this, we're both reclining in our relaxing chairs. We also took them to Lake Horton and sat in them on the dock for like two hours reading. Puh-retty sweet.
Funny story about our Walmart trip...
So we were looking for some Home Defense spray, you know the kind that you spray around the edges of your house and it keeps bugs out? We looked all over Walmart for this stuff. We finally end up towards the back of the store in the camping/fishing/hunting section. The only associate we can find is the one behind the camping counter. So I come up to him and say "Do you think you could tell me where the home defense spray is?" and he goes "Sure. Right down that aisle and to your right." So I go over there and I'm looking for it and Kenzie comes up behind me and goes "Kaitie, he's thinking we want guns. We should probably go."
I had to double over laughing in the next aisle.
Anyways. We didn't do much that night after we got home, just unloaded groceries, rejoiced in our new stuff, and watched our shows; mine being The Office, hers being Gray's Anatomy and Scandal.
Saturday - May 18, 2013
Wow. I have been graduated for two years. I remember when I though high school would never end, and that I'd be stuck there forever... Anyways. Not that I care. Just thought it was interesting.
We only had a few rooms each to do, so we ended up getting off at noon. Woo!! What did we end up doing? Going and seeing the sights on the day that we had mostly off? Nah, we came home and relaxed in our lawn chairs! Watched some TV shows, took a nap, and then I took a walk into town and went to a couple gift shops and stuff. I found a necklace in one that is the exact same one that Mary has, so obviously I had to buy it so we could be twinners. I also purchased a key chain with the star window from the temple on it, aaaannnnndddd..... A PREACH MY GOSPEL! Woo!! I was walking around looking at the books and I saw it sitting on the shelf and I felt so strongly the need to get it. We'll see if that comes in handy anytime soon! I definitely need it. I feel like I'm eventually going to be asked some questions when I work in a hotel with mostly nonmember coworkers. Plus it wouldn't hurt to study it to prepare for a potential mission.
When I got home, Kenz was awake so we gathered up our belongings (aka our chairs and a book) and headed to Lake Horton. This is the day that we spent like two hours on the dock reading. Saw a giant snake that sent me running. I got to talk to Ally on the phone! I miss Ally so much. I just wish she could come with me here.
When we got home, we watched the finale of The Office. It actually made me cry!! I love that show so much. And they even brought Michael back. Kenzie said "Jeez Kaitie, it's more fun to watch you watch the show than it is to watch the actual show." Sadly enough, that isn't the first time someone has told me that haha.
We had a "girls night", as if we don't do that every other night of the week. But really, we watched The Vow, had root beer floats, and ate chocolate chip cookie dough. It was quite lovely! Aaaannnddd we watched them in our lawn chairs. Of course.
Sunday - May 19, 2013
Today has been amazing. This morning, we decided to try a family ward instead of the missionary ward. I figure that, this way, we can get a calling and possibly get my mission papers started. Plus we can start going to ward activities, like the awesome Relief Society one this week! Dinner, a service project, crafts, happiness, and gloriousness. The ward is suuuper weird though haha. I'll just say... They live up to the typical Illinois stereotype that I've kind of discovered. BUT. It was so testimony-strengthening because even though they may be a little odd, have their quirks, and may believe some kind of interesting things they all seem to have an unwavering love and testimony of the church. It just shows that the church is so the same anywhere you go.
We were probably going to try another ward at the end of sacrament meeting, but the bishop arranged for our records to be transferred in before we even had been talking to him for five minutes. So we will be in the ward and the bishop promised we would be put to work! Oh, also. The Sister Missionaries that have been teaching Herb from the hotel were there at church. When they found out who we were, they said "Oh! Herb has told us about you. He says we remind him of you two because one of us has light hair and one has dark hair. He also said that he wants to take his wife and go visit all the sights with you guys sometime, so be prepared for that!" Which made my day!! I love Herb! He is the sweetest guy I have ever met!
After church, we made a quick lunch and went down to the visitor's center. We still had not had an official tour of the visitor's center yet, so we found a couple of sister missionaries to take us around. They were SO NICE. One went to BYU-I and the other went to Utah State! Weirdly enough, the one that had gone to Utah State was in my Mission Prep class this past semester. Small enough world yet? But really. We ended up taking about two hours there at the visitor's center getting to know these sisters and having our testimonies strengthened. They would show us a statue or a display and then ask us personal questions, like "Have you had to sacrifice anything in your life?" Or "How has praying helped you become closer to God?" And I felt like answering those questions really made me strengthen my own testimony. I don't think I've ever opened up about things from my life like that to two people I didn't know before. But like I've said before, I love having discussions like that with people and being able to share in the joy of the Gospel with my sisters.
When we were walking through the Women's garden, they were talking about some experiences they've had on their missions and again I was trying so hard to decide if it was something I could do or something I felt right about doing. Instead of feeling stressed, scared, and frustrated about it like I normally do I had an overwhelming calm and I heard a voice say "You will know." Which was amazing. I need to remember that yeah, I will know eventually. It's going to be a while before I would even get out so I need to take a step back and not freak out so badly over it. Shortly after that experience, I shared with the sisters how back and forth I was about everything. They asked what I was doing to prepare for that revelation, and then they told me that eventually I would be able to know what I need to do. Patience is such key.
I am so incredibly blessed to have spent time with these sisters today. It's just yet another witness that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that he has so many things in our lives that can direct us to where we need to go.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Cleaning.
Wednesday 5-15-13
A DAY OFF. A day completely off. We have Sunday off, but we were pretty busy Sunday. So we had planned to go to the wagon ride a) because it was our day off, and therefore the only time we could and b) because President and Sister Call happened to be working the wagons (President as a teamster and Sister as a narrator) on the same day, and in the same wagon. Which has never happened in the 14 months they've been serving in Nauvoo. It was so much fun! It was fun to listen to the different sites and be on the wagon. However, I found out I'm REALLY allergic to horses. Bad. Anyways. So we were told that we need to get the tickets early so that we can get on the wagon, so we planned on waking up right at 7:30, rolling out of bed, and going to the visitors center for tickets. We get there, and I'm like "Kenz... There's President's truck. He's here, let's call and see if this is really necessary." So we call him. Long story short, since it's not really busy yet we would be fine to come in about 45 minutes before the time we want to make it on the ride. Grrrreat.
So we go back home and go to sleep for a bit.
Anyways, like I said, the wagon ride was fun but made me really sick. Lesson learned. Afterwards we went to the bakery, the family living center, and the family history center. We were able to see how they made ropes, bread, candles, and rugs in the family living center. Which was awesome! After we made the rope, the Elder giving the demonstrations said that a rope is like a family. Each thread is important and necessary, and held together in the ends like a family held together by a celestial marriage. If someone decides to break away, the family is weaker. If someone cuts the marriage bond, the family falls apart.
Then, he told us a pun. And I love puns.
Probably would be a good idea to read this out loud.
He says "Once there was a rope who was very hungry. He tried to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner, but the server said 'I'm sorry, I can't serve you. You're just a rope.' So what does the rope do? He goes behind the restaurant in the alley, ties himself in a knot, and frays the top of himself. He goes back into the restaurant where the same server says 'Aren't you that rope that came in before?' and the rope says 'Nope, I'm a frayed knot.'"
Bahaha.
Anyways. And the family history center was fun, just did us some indexing. We then went for some frozen custard (I lost count of how many times we've gone and we've been here a week), went home, hung out for a few hours, and went running. On the way back, we saw Call's with their son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids. Anyways, we ended up with more custard. Whatever.
Thursday 5-16-13
Today was back to the old grind. SO much cleaning. However, Peggy let us go on our own today which was nice. Things are starting to get busier. On Tuesday, she had Kenz and I do all the stayovers and checkouts and there was a grand total of maybe 10. Tomorrow, each housekeeper will have 7 rooms. That'll be a party. But anyways, just your average day of work. Oh. But everyone keeps quitting. Three girls didn't even show up today.
Riiiiiidiculous.
When we got back from work, you would never guess what we did. WE CLEANED SOME MORE! It all started when we talked to the maintenance guy at work who said he would come and look at our electric hazard sink. So we're thinking we should probably get the dishes out of the sink so that he can work without them. As we take those out, we're like "Oh. This needs cleaned, and this, and this..." before we know it, we are standing in a completely spotless apartment. Woooow. So when we got done cleaning, we went for a run down to lake Horton (which was beautiful, as always. We are both entirely in love with it.) and came home, showered, watched the last episode of the office EVER, ate dinner, and... Well now I'm going to bed. Well... Here's a picture of lake Horton for ya.
A DAY OFF. A day completely off. We have Sunday off, but we were pretty busy Sunday. So we had planned to go to the wagon ride a) because it was our day off, and therefore the only time we could and b) because President and Sister Call happened to be working the wagons (President as a teamster and Sister as a narrator) on the same day, and in the same wagon. Which has never happened in the 14 months they've been serving in Nauvoo. It was so much fun! It was fun to listen to the different sites and be on the wagon. However, I found out I'm REALLY allergic to horses. Bad. Anyways. So we were told that we need to get the tickets early so that we can get on the wagon, so we planned on waking up right at 7:30, rolling out of bed, and going to the visitors center for tickets. We get there, and I'm like "Kenz... There's President's truck. He's here, let's call and see if this is really necessary." So we call him. Long story short, since it's not really busy yet we would be fine to come in about 45 minutes before the time we want to make it on the ride. Grrrreat.
So we go back home and go to sleep for a bit.
Anyways, like I said, the wagon ride was fun but made me really sick. Lesson learned. Afterwards we went to the bakery, the family living center, and the family history center. We were able to see how they made ropes, bread, candles, and rugs in the family living center. Which was awesome! After we made the rope, the Elder giving the demonstrations said that a rope is like a family. Each thread is important and necessary, and held together in the ends like a family held together by a celestial marriage. If someone decides to break away, the family is weaker. If someone cuts the marriage bond, the family falls apart.
Then, he told us a pun. And I love puns.
Probably would be a good idea to read this out loud.
He says "Once there was a rope who was very hungry. He tried to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner, but the server said 'I'm sorry, I can't serve you. You're just a rope.' So what does the rope do? He goes behind the restaurant in the alley, ties himself in a knot, and frays the top of himself. He goes back into the restaurant where the same server says 'Aren't you that rope that came in before?' and the rope says 'Nope, I'm a frayed knot.'"
Bahaha.
Anyways. And the family history center was fun, just did us some indexing. We then went for some frozen custard (I lost count of how many times we've gone and we've been here a week), went home, hung out for a few hours, and went running. On the way back, we saw Call's with their son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids. Anyways, we ended up with more custard. Whatever.
Thursday 5-16-13
Today was back to the old grind. SO much cleaning. However, Peggy let us go on our own today which was nice. Things are starting to get busier. On Tuesday, she had Kenz and I do all the stayovers and checkouts and there was a grand total of maybe 10. Tomorrow, each housekeeper will have 7 rooms. That'll be a party. But anyways, just your average day of work. Oh. But everyone keeps quitting. Three girls didn't even show up today.
Riiiiiidiculous.
When we got back from work, you would never guess what we did. WE CLEANED SOME MORE! It all started when we talked to the maintenance guy at work who said he would come and look at our electric hazard sink. So we're thinking we should probably get the dishes out of the sink so that he can work without them. As we take those out, we're like "Oh. This needs cleaned, and this, and this..." before we know it, we are standing in a completely spotless apartment. Woooow. So when we got done cleaning, we went for a run down to lake Horton (which was beautiful, as always. We are both entirely in love with it.) and came home, showered, watched the last episode of the office EVER, ate dinner, and... Well now I'm going to bed. Well... Here's a picture of lake Horton for ya.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Been saying "Fitted Sheets" too much already.
Well, today was good. Sooo hot. It was pretty killer. And, humidity is not a myth. I understand now when people say the phrase "you walk outside and are automatically wet" because before Nauvoo I was picturing someone dropping a bucket of water on you or something. Kenz and I cleaned until we were pretty sure our knees were going to give out but we get paid for it and we live in Nauvoo so it wasn't too bad. After work was pretty chill; we went and got fudge from a place we've been dying to go to forever... And sadly enough I wasn't that impressed. It was kind of dry and they didn't have very many flavors. Plus I paid like four bucks for a tiny little square of it. Duuuuhhmb. After we downed our chocolate, we drove over to Horton Lake to spend some time sunbathing before the sun set. Which... Neither of us got burnt. And we were out there for two hours! But whatever. It was still absolutely beautiful and peaceful. The water was so still it looked like glass. We kind of want to just keep going back there... Like every day.
That was honestly my day. Haha.
That was honestly my day. Haha.
Monday, May 13, 2013
We're just really slow.
Monday, 5-13-13
So our gift made Peggy cry. Haha yes! She came in the first thing this morning and goes "Ya little sh**s, your dang card made me cry!!" As she was talking about it she kinda started tearing up a little bit. It was so sweet, I'm glad we did that. She told us today that she'd have to have us out for a barbecue. She goes "you can see all my animals. I even have a two-legged one!" and I go "Really?!" and she goes "Yeah. My husband." Haha. She's so awesome! So today Kenz and I were assigned an executive suite to deep clean before they started letting people stay in them for the summer. Since they're so expensive people that stay there will nit-pick them apart because if they complain about something they get 10% off, so it was our job to make sure they had no reason to complain.
Obviously, it took us all day. Which it really shouldn't have, it should have maybe taken half the day. I blame it a third on the fact that we're perfectionists and therefore take forever on anything, a third on the fact that we're new, and a third on the fact that we were together.
I felt bad but Peggy told us a few times to take our time, just make sure it's done right.
Hopefully we did well, I kinda rushed there at the end. Good news is we get to do it tomorrow too!! :) Tonight we went to see Rendezvous, the play that the Call's were in. They were so cute!! I died. Sister Call was absolutely darling in it. Also, we found out yesterday that one of the sweet maintenance guys we work with is really interested in the church. He's trying to get his wife to join it with him and won't do it until she does, but he wants to really bad. He and his wife were there with the sister missionaries tonight. Hopefully she softens up, he would make such a great member.
I already just love everyone here. I feel like I'm serving a mini-mission haha. "I just love the people here!!" Anyways. A picture of the Call's in their performance tonight...
At this point, Sister Call was refusing mental treatment. Like I said, I died.
So our gift made Peggy cry. Haha yes! She came in the first thing this morning and goes "Ya little sh**s, your dang card made me cry!!" As she was talking about it she kinda started tearing up a little bit. It was so sweet, I'm glad we did that. She told us today that she'd have to have us out for a barbecue. She goes "you can see all my animals. I even have a two-legged one!" and I go "Really?!" and she goes "Yeah. My husband." Haha. She's so awesome! So today Kenz and I were assigned an executive suite to deep clean before they started letting people stay in them for the summer. Since they're so expensive people that stay there will nit-pick them apart because if they complain about something they get 10% off, so it was our job to make sure they had no reason to complain.
Obviously, it took us all day. Which it really shouldn't have, it should have maybe taken half the day. I blame it a third on the fact that we're perfectionists and therefore take forever on anything, a third on the fact that we're new, and a third on the fact that we were together.
I felt bad but Peggy told us a few times to take our time, just make sure it's done right.
Hopefully we did well, I kinda rushed there at the end. Good news is we get to do it tomorrow too!! :) Tonight we went to see Rendezvous, the play that the Call's were in. They were so cute!! I died. Sister Call was absolutely darling in it. Also, we found out yesterday that one of the sweet maintenance guys we work with is really interested in the church. He's trying to get his wife to join it with him and won't do it until she does, but he wants to really bad. He and his wife were there with the sister missionaries tonight. Hopefully she softens up, he would make such a great member.
I already just love everyone here. I feel like I'm serving a mini-mission haha. "I just love the people here!!" Anyways. A picture of the Call's in their performance tonight...
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Nauvoo: First few days
Well, since I'm lazy and don't want to write in my journal this will be my "Journal" for mom to read when she can. She wants to know everything, so these posts are for you Mama Bear!
Wednesday, 5-8-13
Well, getting to Nauvoo was quite the adventure. After driving for 20 hours Kenz and I were about ready to jump ship. As we got to the Mississippi, we started shrieking and bouncing up and down and talking all high pitched. We pulled over and got a picture next to the "welcome to Nauvoo" sign. After we found where in the world we were supposed to be, we talked to our manager and got shown our apartment. She told us where we could locate the missionaries so I could find Call's. When we got to the visitor's center, we found out that they were on their P-day so they wouldn't be there till around 6:30. We went and ate at a place called Weber's Kitchen, which was delicious and super cheap. Probably one we'll be hitting up more. At 6:30, we got to Call's and parked a ways down the road from their house. They had just got back from groceries, so when they made their first trip in I walked up and waited by the back of their car. Then, as President Call came walking out, he kinda stopped and did a double take. "Well goodness sakes! What in the world are you doing here!" Haha. It was really cute, he gave me a big hug. When I told him we were staying for the summer he just grinned and said "Will you?? Really?" It was really cute. Then we came inside. McKenzie was the first one that Sister Call saw, so she had this look on her face like "Who... In the world..." and then she saw me and got all excited and gave me a big hug. When we told her we were staying for the summer she started tearing up... So sweet. She just kept looking at me and grinning and saying "Oh, the whole summer. I just can't believe it." It was great. We went on a drive with them and they showed us all the houses and sites and whatnot. We hung out with them till dark, came home, and went to bed!
Thursday, 5-9-13
We had orientation for work early in the morning. It was pretty interesting... To give you a picture of what orientation was like, there were three people there named Ashley, Beth, and Jack (names changed for the privacy of the individuals..). Ashley was looking at another girl and said "Now she looks like my cousin ____. Don't you think so Jack?" and Beth says "She's your cousin?! She's MY cousin! She's in jail with my dad right now!" and we're kinda like "Ohh.. Okay..." and then Ashley proceeds with "Really?! I went to jail with her that night!" Kenz just looks at them and is like "It's a small world..." Hahaha but really the people that we'll be working with seem to be pretty nice and good-humored. There's one lady named Peggy who mothers us like crazy, which I love because we definitely need it. It's so good to have people out here who know us and take care of us; them and the Call's and other couple missionaries we've met out here. After orientation Kenzie and I drew out a "Meal plan" which looked something like this:
Fri: Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Sandwich
Dinner- ?
Sat: Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Sandwich
Dinner- ?
....and so on for a week. But we ended up filling in the question marks and varying the cereal a little bit by eating bagels instead. We took us a road trip to Keokuk (cause that's the closest Walmart) and spent a good fifty bucks on groceries each! With stuff that we even forgot to get so that's on the agenda for this week's trip.
After we get back from Walmart, I'm sorting my room around (because I still hadn't unpacked because I still had no hangers) and I go to my closet and pick up a pair of flip flops I had put on the floor.
I scream and run.
Because there is a huge spider. Hooooolllyyyyyyy CRAP. It was nasty. So me and Kenzie sat and tried to figure out how to kill it forever. Finally she got it under a cup and drowned it in mousse. At this point, my bedroom is in shambles. My suitcases strewn on the bed so that I could kneel on the dresser, my bedside table in the middle of the room, my stuff thrown all over my dresser... Great. So to reward ourselves we went to Annie's Frozen Custard which is DELICIOUS. Best place to get ice cream in town, and most likely the least expensive. The lady who owns it is actually from Rigby. Small world, eh?
Friday, 5-10-13
First day of work. Holy moly. And it was a pretty good workout. Overall though, it shouldn't be too bad. It moves pretty quickly. I just hope that I can get faster at it so that when I'm doing 15 stay over rooms instead of 4 or 5 I can get it done before I have to clock out haha. And I just want to make sure I remember to do everything. There are a lot of little details that I forget a lot; the tracks in the fridge, restocking the plastic cups, getting a bath mat for the showers, making sure there's a full roll of toilet paper and an extra roll, all that good stuff. Of course, it might be good for me to be on my own because I think better it's just me and there's not someone else throwing off my groove. For WHATEVER reason. But they gave us like 3 days worth of training and we're already done. We actually weren't even going to start until Monday morning but since we finished orientation so fast we started and finished training before we were even supposed to start. Which makes me feel pretty good, Peggy says I learn fast and I'm a hard worker so she's not worried. I just hope I can keep it all straight. I don't know if they're as hard on you when a customer complains as they were at Smith's, but I'd like to avoid it all costs if they are. We were so exhausted after we got off work Friday that we sat in the car and slept for like ten minutes haha. Afterwards, I called President Call to see if he had anything for us to do. He invited us out to watch them practice their new play, so we did and afterwards they treated us to frozen custard. They are so sweet to us. And President is such a softie. We found out some interesting things about him today, as will come later...
Saturday, 5-11-13
Work again, 9-4:30. Peggy stayed with me for the first like two hours and then told me I was pretty well off with what I was doing so I just worked on my own for most of the rest of the day until about lunch, and then Kenz came and helped me finish afterwards. During lunch, Kenzie and I ordered flowers for our moms for mother's day. We really miss our moms haha. It's hard to be so far away and not be able to just make a 2 1/2 hour or fifteen minute drive if we're in trouble. Lesson learned mom; I won't marry anyone from outside of like a three hour radius from Rigby.
After we got off work we came back to the apartment, ate an entire pack of oreos (yes, we do believe in a healthy diet), got changed, and hit the town.
By hit the town, I mean looked at like two gift stores, got myself a keychain, and got dinner at Webers again. Fried Chicken night :) we couldn't say no. 6 bucks for two pieces of fried chicken and two sides? Yeah. Done. There was this sweet family sitting next to us with four darling girls and a really nice dad. The mom and I think her sister seemed like brats though, wouldn't even look at us. The dad was like making conversation (cause the daughters kept making faces and talking to us) and he was way nice and seemed like a really cute dad to them. The two ladies didn't even look at the kids. It made me mad. Some people would kill for the opportunity to be a mother, and the ones who couldn't care less end up being fertile myrtles and just throw the opportunity away.
When we got back from dinner we drove around for a bit; found Lake Horton, found another cool boat launching (not boat docking, mind you) area on the side of the road, and then ended up at the end of the trail of hope making our nightly phone calls and watching the sun set. It's beautiful in Nauvoo. Everything is amazing. I am always amazed by the Mississippi. Who knew a river could be so dang huge?
Sunday, 5-12-13
Finally, a Sunday in Nauvoo. Think the spirit is strong on a normal day? Try the Sabbath. We went to the missionary ward this morning with President and Sister Call. Church started at 8, so naturally that was a joy to get up for. It actually really was though, I didn't mind in the least. Well, maybe a little when I woke up. But not after! The first song they sung was Press Forward Saints. Holy... Moly. Every one of those voices echoed powerfully throughout the chapel. I have found that one way I feel the spirit the best is with music... Anyways. Practically brought me to tears. But sacrament was good, I know I've said a thousand times how easy it is to feel the spirit out here and how often you do feel it... But the spirit was so strong! I didn't get bored at all. It was just really interesting. After church, Sister Call invited us for lunch. Fist pump. Fooooood! The sandwiches for lunch thing is already getting old haha. Not till 1:30 though, so when we came back we had a little snack. The day before we had bought Peggy a gift card for Annie's for Mother's day. She's in her fifties, married, and no kids so we wanted to get her something to thank her for being our honorary mom for the summer. She was so sweet when we brought it over, she goes "Yeah, today's been pretty good. Sure do miss you guys though." We're going to have to keep in touch with her after we go back.
When we got to Calls, I knocked and walked in the door. Sister Call goes "You know, there's a doorbell..." and I kinda felt bad like that had been rude or something and I was like "Oh, I'm sorry, that was probably really rude of me..." And she goes "Oh no that's not what I meant at all! I was just hoping you'd use the doorbell because nobody has before." So I was like "Alright, well we'll go back out and try again." So we go back outside and I ring the doorbell. She FLINGS the door open, grabs me by the arm, and starts going "Oh, Doctor! Doctor! Thank heavens you're here we're so happy you finally were able to make it!" I'm like... What in the world... Haha it was just funny. I'm thinking it was from one of their plays they're in because she was like "Well, you'll get it soon enough." It's about this point that I could smell the Poppyseed Chicken Casserole. My favorite meal in the entire world. Oh. My heavens. I about cried right then and there! I just looked at her and said "...Is that Poppyseed Chicken??" and she goes "Yes... Don't tell me you're allergic now..." and I was like "No I'm not it's just... this is my favorite meal ever!"
During dinner, Sister Call stops and goes "Oh! Look!" so we look outside and there's two deer, sitting right out in their back yard. Before long, a third one comes out and started eating some corn that President had left in the grass. The third one was pregnant :)
We got into a really good discussion about patriarchal blessings and the second coming. I love discussing things like that with people. It's so fun to find out what different people's opinions are, what they've been told, etc. Sister Call said that her... Grandson I think... got his patriarchal blessing and it said that in this life he would have the opportunity to greet the Savior in His fullness and glory. Wow. So powerful. It was a really cool opportunity to be able to talk with them like that, just as brothers and sisters in the Gospel.
After lunch, President's all showing us a bunch of things around his house and finally he holds up a necklace and goes "What do you think of this?" And we're like "Well it's pretty..." Anyways. Come to find out that he had given it to Sister Call for Mother's day, but she didn't like it, so he gave it to me. Then he says something about how he made it and I'm like "You made this? how in the world did you make this?" and he kind of gets a spark in his eye and goes "Ohh just come here, I'll show you." So we go downstairs and downstairs he has this entire table full of beads! And all other things to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings, watches, anything! I was DYING!! Here's my bishop that I've looked up to for years (not that I don't anymore, don't get me wrong) and he's got this closet obsession with jewelery making. Who knew, eh? He's actually pretty good too. He's got some cool beads. So we're pretty well welcome back anytime to make cookies or jewelery or to feed deer.
With the hour and a half or so left to look at sites, we went to the visitors center for a bit but the Sisters seemed annoyed we were there so we just left and are going to go next week when the Call's are in there. Instead we went to the blacksmith's shop and did the tour there. A family of three came in a few minutes after we did, and as we switched to the other room I heard the dad say "Is there an extra copy of the Book of Mormon I can get for my daughter? She wants to read it." I was like beside myself. I really felt like a missionary, even though he wasn't talking to me. That's one thing that really makes me want to go on a mission, I love hearing that somebody else is interested in the Gospel. I could talk forever about the church. It's in every part of my life, how could I not want to? So we talk to the group after the tour and it turns out he's a Pastor from Mississippi who just loves to learn about the Mormon church. We talked to him for a bit. I hope things go well with them.
We went and walked the trail of hope again. I called it the trail of tears for the longest time, just because that's what I was used to, but I want to start calling it the trail of hope. I feel like that was more of what the saints were feeling as they left. Sure, it would be sad to leave their friends and their belongings and the place that they had come to love so much. But they were headed to a new place with new opportunities where the church could prosper and they could focus on building up zion. I read one story about how a family finally had to use their expensive family heirlooms as kindling to keep themselves warm. It said in there that they then used the fire to warm themselves in their wagon for the rest of the night. For some reason, when I read that it struck me that they did away with their worldly items before they would even turn to the wagon for kindling because the wagon was an absolute necessity. This made me think of life, and how when life is dark and cold I need to throw out the things that really don't mean anything. Getting rid of those things will help me bring warmth back into my life, and with that I can just rely more heavily on my shelter, my support, and the carrier of my burdens, thoughts, and emotions; The Savior.
Wednesday, 5-8-13
Well, getting to Nauvoo was quite the adventure. After driving for 20 hours Kenz and I were about ready to jump ship. As we got to the Mississippi, we started shrieking and bouncing up and down and talking all high pitched. We pulled over and got a picture next to the "welcome to Nauvoo" sign. After we found where in the world we were supposed to be, we talked to our manager and got shown our apartment. She told us where we could locate the missionaries so I could find Call's. When we got to the visitor's center, we found out that they were on their P-day so they wouldn't be there till around 6:30. We went and ate at a place called Weber's Kitchen, which was delicious and super cheap. Probably one we'll be hitting up more. At 6:30, we got to Call's and parked a ways down the road from their house. They had just got back from groceries, so when they made their first trip in I walked up and waited by the back of their car. Then, as President Call came walking out, he kinda stopped and did a double take. "Well goodness sakes! What in the world are you doing here!" Haha. It was really cute, he gave me a big hug. When I told him we were staying for the summer he just grinned and said "Will you?? Really?" It was really cute. Then we came inside. McKenzie was the first one that Sister Call saw, so she had this look on her face like "Who... In the world..." and then she saw me and got all excited and gave me a big hug. When we told her we were staying for the summer she started tearing up... So sweet. She just kept looking at me and grinning and saying "Oh, the whole summer. I just can't believe it." It was great. We went on a drive with them and they showed us all the houses and sites and whatnot. We hung out with them till dark, came home, and went to bed!
Thursday, 5-9-13
We had orientation for work early in the morning. It was pretty interesting... To give you a picture of what orientation was like, there were three people there named Ashley, Beth, and Jack (names changed for the privacy of the individuals..). Ashley was looking at another girl and said "Now she looks like my cousin ____. Don't you think so Jack?" and Beth says "She's your cousin?! She's MY cousin! She's in jail with my dad right now!" and we're kinda like "Ohh.. Okay..." and then Ashley proceeds with "Really?! I went to jail with her that night!" Kenz just looks at them and is like "It's a small world..." Hahaha but really the people that we'll be working with seem to be pretty nice and good-humored. There's one lady named Peggy who mothers us like crazy, which I love because we definitely need it. It's so good to have people out here who know us and take care of us; them and the Call's and other couple missionaries we've met out here. After orientation Kenzie and I drew out a "Meal plan" which looked something like this:
Fri: Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Sandwich
Dinner- ?
Sat: Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Sandwich
Dinner- ?
....and so on for a week. But we ended up filling in the question marks and varying the cereal a little bit by eating bagels instead. We took us a road trip to Keokuk (cause that's the closest Walmart) and spent a good fifty bucks on groceries each! With stuff that we even forgot to get so that's on the agenda for this week's trip.
After we get back from Walmart, I'm sorting my room around (because I still hadn't unpacked because I still had no hangers) and I go to my closet and pick up a pair of flip flops I had put on the floor.
I scream and run.
Because there is a huge spider. Hooooolllyyyyyyy CRAP. It was nasty. So me and Kenzie sat and tried to figure out how to kill it forever. Finally she got it under a cup and drowned it in mousse. At this point, my bedroom is in shambles. My suitcases strewn on the bed so that I could kneel on the dresser, my bedside table in the middle of the room, my stuff thrown all over my dresser... Great. So to reward ourselves we went to Annie's Frozen Custard which is DELICIOUS. Best place to get ice cream in town, and most likely the least expensive. The lady who owns it is actually from Rigby. Small world, eh?
Friday, 5-10-13
First day of work. Holy moly. And it was a pretty good workout. Overall though, it shouldn't be too bad. It moves pretty quickly. I just hope that I can get faster at it so that when I'm doing 15 stay over rooms instead of 4 or 5 I can get it done before I have to clock out haha. And I just want to make sure I remember to do everything. There are a lot of little details that I forget a lot; the tracks in the fridge, restocking the plastic cups, getting a bath mat for the showers, making sure there's a full roll of toilet paper and an extra roll, all that good stuff. Of course, it might be good for me to be on my own because I think better it's just me and there's not someone else throwing off my groove. For WHATEVER reason. But they gave us like 3 days worth of training and we're already done. We actually weren't even going to start until Monday morning but since we finished orientation so fast we started and finished training before we were even supposed to start. Which makes me feel pretty good, Peggy says I learn fast and I'm a hard worker so she's not worried. I just hope I can keep it all straight. I don't know if they're as hard on you when a customer complains as they were at Smith's, but I'd like to avoid it all costs if they are. We were so exhausted after we got off work Friday that we sat in the car and slept for like ten minutes haha. Afterwards, I called President Call to see if he had anything for us to do. He invited us out to watch them practice their new play, so we did and afterwards they treated us to frozen custard. They are so sweet to us. And President is such a softie. We found out some interesting things about him today, as will come later...
Saturday, 5-11-13
Work again, 9-4:30. Peggy stayed with me for the first like two hours and then told me I was pretty well off with what I was doing so I just worked on my own for most of the rest of the day until about lunch, and then Kenz came and helped me finish afterwards. During lunch, Kenzie and I ordered flowers for our moms for mother's day. We really miss our moms haha. It's hard to be so far away and not be able to just make a 2 1/2 hour or fifteen minute drive if we're in trouble. Lesson learned mom; I won't marry anyone from outside of like a three hour radius from Rigby.
After we got off work we came back to the apartment, ate an entire pack of oreos (yes, we do believe in a healthy diet), got changed, and hit the town.
By hit the town, I mean looked at like two gift stores, got myself a keychain, and got dinner at Webers again. Fried Chicken night :) we couldn't say no. 6 bucks for two pieces of fried chicken and two sides? Yeah. Done. There was this sweet family sitting next to us with four darling girls and a really nice dad. The mom and I think her sister seemed like brats though, wouldn't even look at us. The dad was like making conversation (cause the daughters kept making faces and talking to us) and he was way nice and seemed like a really cute dad to them. The two ladies didn't even look at the kids. It made me mad. Some people would kill for the opportunity to be a mother, and the ones who couldn't care less end up being fertile myrtles and just throw the opportunity away.
When we got back from dinner we drove around for a bit; found Lake Horton, found another cool boat launching (not boat docking, mind you) area on the side of the road, and then ended up at the end of the trail of hope making our nightly phone calls and watching the sun set. It's beautiful in Nauvoo. Everything is amazing. I am always amazed by the Mississippi. Who knew a river could be so dang huge?
Sunday, 5-12-13
Finally, a Sunday in Nauvoo. Think the spirit is strong on a normal day? Try the Sabbath. We went to the missionary ward this morning with President and Sister Call. Church started at 8, so naturally that was a joy to get up for. It actually really was though, I didn't mind in the least. Well, maybe a little when I woke up. But not after! The first song they sung was Press Forward Saints. Holy... Moly. Every one of those voices echoed powerfully throughout the chapel. I have found that one way I feel the spirit the best is with music... Anyways. Practically brought me to tears. But sacrament was good, I know I've said a thousand times how easy it is to feel the spirit out here and how often you do feel it... But the spirit was so strong! I didn't get bored at all. It was just really interesting. After church, Sister Call invited us for lunch. Fist pump. Fooooood! The sandwiches for lunch thing is already getting old haha. Not till 1:30 though, so when we came back we had a little snack. The day before we had bought Peggy a gift card for Annie's for Mother's day. She's in her fifties, married, and no kids so we wanted to get her something to thank her for being our honorary mom for the summer. She was so sweet when we brought it over, she goes "Yeah, today's been pretty good. Sure do miss you guys though." We're going to have to keep in touch with her after we go back.
When we got to Calls, I knocked and walked in the door. Sister Call goes "You know, there's a doorbell..." and I kinda felt bad like that had been rude or something and I was like "Oh, I'm sorry, that was probably really rude of me..." And she goes "Oh no that's not what I meant at all! I was just hoping you'd use the doorbell because nobody has before." So I was like "Alright, well we'll go back out and try again." So we go back outside and I ring the doorbell. She FLINGS the door open, grabs me by the arm, and starts going "Oh, Doctor! Doctor! Thank heavens you're here we're so happy you finally were able to make it!" I'm like... What in the world... Haha it was just funny. I'm thinking it was from one of their plays they're in because she was like "Well, you'll get it soon enough." It's about this point that I could smell the Poppyseed Chicken Casserole. My favorite meal in the entire world. Oh. My heavens. I about cried right then and there! I just looked at her and said "...Is that Poppyseed Chicken??" and she goes "Yes... Don't tell me you're allergic now..." and I was like "No I'm not it's just... this is my favorite meal ever!"
During dinner, Sister Call stops and goes "Oh! Look!" so we look outside and there's two deer, sitting right out in their back yard. Before long, a third one comes out and started eating some corn that President had left in the grass. The third one was pregnant :)
We got into a really good discussion about patriarchal blessings and the second coming. I love discussing things like that with people. It's so fun to find out what different people's opinions are, what they've been told, etc. Sister Call said that her... Grandson I think... got his patriarchal blessing and it said that in this life he would have the opportunity to greet the Savior in His fullness and glory. Wow. So powerful. It was a really cool opportunity to be able to talk with them like that, just as brothers and sisters in the Gospel.
After lunch, President's all showing us a bunch of things around his house and finally he holds up a necklace and goes "What do you think of this?" And we're like "Well it's pretty..." Anyways. Come to find out that he had given it to Sister Call for Mother's day, but she didn't like it, so he gave it to me. Then he says something about how he made it and I'm like "You made this? how in the world did you make this?" and he kind of gets a spark in his eye and goes "Ohh just come here, I'll show you." So we go downstairs and downstairs he has this entire table full of beads! And all other things to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings, watches, anything! I was DYING!! Here's my bishop that I've looked up to for years (not that I don't anymore, don't get me wrong) and he's got this closet obsession with jewelery making. Who knew, eh? He's actually pretty good too. He's got some cool beads. So we're pretty well welcome back anytime to make cookies or jewelery or to feed deer.
With the hour and a half or so left to look at sites, we went to the visitors center for a bit but the Sisters seemed annoyed we were there so we just left and are going to go next week when the Call's are in there. Instead we went to the blacksmith's shop and did the tour there. A family of three came in a few minutes after we did, and as we switched to the other room I heard the dad say "Is there an extra copy of the Book of Mormon I can get for my daughter? She wants to read it." I was like beside myself. I really felt like a missionary, even though he wasn't talking to me. That's one thing that really makes me want to go on a mission, I love hearing that somebody else is interested in the Gospel. I could talk forever about the church. It's in every part of my life, how could I not want to? So we talk to the group after the tour and it turns out he's a Pastor from Mississippi who just loves to learn about the Mormon church. We talked to him for a bit. I hope things go well with them.
We went and walked the trail of hope again. I called it the trail of tears for the longest time, just because that's what I was used to, but I want to start calling it the trail of hope. I feel like that was more of what the saints were feeling as they left. Sure, it would be sad to leave their friends and their belongings and the place that they had come to love so much. But they were headed to a new place with new opportunities where the church could prosper and they could focus on building up zion. I read one story about how a family finally had to use their expensive family heirlooms as kindling to keep themselves warm. It said in there that they then used the fire to warm themselves in their wagon for the rest of the night. For some reason, when I read that it struck me that they did away with their worldly items before they would even turn to the wagon for kindling because the wagon was an absolute necessity. This made me think of life, and how when life is dark and cold I need to throw out the things that really don't mean anything. Getting rid of those things will help me bring warmth back into my life, and with that I can just rely more heavily on my shelter, my support, and the carrier of my burdens, thoughts, and emotions; The Savior.
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