Vegas: Korean BBQ

Today we left for Vegas in preparation for our church history trip tomorrow! It was a busy day! I had two interpreting jobs today, plus a hair appointment, and Josh was scheduled at Pizza Factory from 9:00 to 4:00 and hadn't even started packing. Jenna was just arriving home from Girls' Camp today and hadn't started packing either. We were originally going to leave home tomorrow (at like 3:00 am) since both kids were working at Tuacahn tonight. But then Josh ended up getting work off since he was already working all day at his other job and didn't want to work a double shift. I don't blame him! Plus he needed time to pack! 

Jenna was also able to get off at the last minute and so we made a quick decision to leave today instead. That was a little stressful for the kids since Jenna had just gotten home from Girls' Camp and hadn't started packing yet and Josh wasn't getting off until 4:00 and still needed to pack too. But Rick wanted to get to Vegas in time to return some shoes for Josh that Rick had ordered online for Josh's mission. Rick had ordered two pair and they were both too big and so we had to return them and get a smaller size.

So we ended up leaving around 5:00 pm.  We drove to Vegas and went straight to a store called ECCO to make the exchange. Then we dropped off our stuff at the La Quinta and then went to a Korean BBQ. It was one of those places where they bring you the food raw and cook it on a BBQ thing in the center of your table. They brought out a few things, none of which I recognized. One bowl had kimchi. I didn't try it, ha ha. Josh did, but he didn't like it! I liked the meat and veggies though! They were delicious! I didn't like the salad -- it was very different and very spicy! (This picture was taken after we had eaten and so it doesn't show the food.) Jenna was a pro at using chopsticks. I definitely struggled!! 

After our meal we went back to the hotel. They only had one queen bed and so Josh took the couch bed and we had them bring in a roll-away twin bed for Jenna. We had to wake up a 3:30 am to catch the 4:00 shuttle, which was rough! So even though we drove the two hours to Vegas today we still had to wake up very early to catch our flight!!  

FSY: Jenna

(Written by Jenna): FSY was again one of the best parts of my summer. Although it is great to be able to feel the spirit by yourself, there is something different about going to a place where you can share God’s love, and the knowledge of the gospel, with everyone. The feeling is so much different than anywhere I’ve ever been. It’s a place where everyone is trying to become more like Jesus Christ and wants to be a true disciple of Christ. This makes it a great environment and an easy place to feel loved. I started out this FSY with my best friend Clarissa and I was expecting an exact experience from before and I was a little shocked when it didn’t turn out the way I thought. But I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Early on Monday morning, me and Clarissa drove to Cedar City to spend a week at SUU. We were super excited and were listening to tons of fun songs with my dad in the car. We checked in and dropped our stuff off in our room and then we left and got lunch at Culvers. When we came back we saw that there were two girls in the other room, and we walked in and said hi to them and started talking to them. It took a little effort, but I’m so glad that we talked with them because we clicked with them automatically and ended up spending the whole rest of the week with them.

After that, we went and met our company. All the girls were talking about how there weren’t that many cute guys in our company and that all the cute guys were in the other companies. But honestly, I couldn’t have asked for better young men to be in my company. We went down to orientation and got a big welcome to start out our week. Then we had dinner and we sat with our whole company. One of my favorite parts of the day is the home evening lesson and games. After that we had home evening goal setting, and we came up with some great goals for how we want our company to be like. After that we had quiet time and reflect and review of our day with the girls in my company.

The next day we woke up at 6:30 and got ready. It was kind of a challenge because there were eight girls and only one bathroom, but we made it work. We had a quick devotional and went to breakfast. One of my favorite parts of starting out my mornings at FSY is when we get to do gospel study. In gospel study you talk about a certain story and try to understand the meaning of it all together as a company, and then you go somewhere quiet individually and choose something to study in order to feast upon the words of Christ. After that we had our devotional and went to our classes.

Something that stood out to me in the first class was that the gospel isn’t “taught,” it is “caught.” So, if you’re not ready to catch what Heavenly Father gives you, then you will lose it and if there is anything good, it is from God. After classes, we went to lunch and had more classes. One thing I learned that day about revelation was that God will not answer all our questions because He does not want to interfere with our agency. He will help us the best he can without taking away our own choices. That night we had a dance outside, which was fun, but it was super-hot.

So far the week was going by so fast, and it was already day three. We woke up at 6:30, like we did every morning, and did a participation devotional after breakfast. We had our gospel study and talked about what it means to feast on the words of Christ. Feast is an interesting word because it means nourishment and a joyful celebration so you’re not taking a little bit, you are taking a lot. So, related to the gospel you would be consuming all of the knowledge that you can. Some of the ways that you can feast on the gospel is to pray before you study, ask questions and take notes, and try to liken scriptures to your own life. Jesus Christ does not only care about the things that are gospel related. He cares about us and each little thing that matters to us also matters to Him. Not only did Jesus suffer for our sins, but He also suffered for everything just so He could know exactly how we feel so he could succor us.

After dinner we had game night which was super fun. We played a lot of different types of games and we did our banner and cheer. Ours wasn’t very good, ha ha, but the games were still fun. I really liked rock, paper, scissors, jumping. After that we got locked out of our building, so we had to wait a while, but then we were able to get in and we got pizza, and I got a whole entire gluten free pizza to myself and it was really good. Then we had RNR and some of the things about taking it home that I wrote was that I’ve really been thinking about how I can include others when I go home and I need to keep up with my goals and try my best to give the Lord the effort He deserves, Also, when I return home I will share my testimony and my standards more freely and  I want to stay different instead of just going back to my old habits. Then we got ready for bed and went to bed.

Day four I had the participant devotional so I shared a scripture and a conference talk about how our body is sacred and my thoughts on it and then we went to breakfast. I finished the Book of Mormon gospel study. This was an incredible day for me, it was just a day that was solely based around the spirit and God’s love. First, we had an activity which was really cool. We learned the importance of the Book of Mormon and then when we split off into our own groups, we all chose a different part about how the Book of Mormon was translated and some of the reasons of how it couldn’t have been made up.

After that activity, we went to the devotional which I really enjoyed. Some of my notes were: As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I have my own unique role. Listen to hear the songs you can’t sing. Be joyful with other people’s talents, instead of being jealous. Following stereotypes, you lose who you truly are and why God made us all unique and different. The importance of needing to share our talents with the world and use the gifts that God gave us to help gather Israel.

After that we had lunch and the variety show which was super fun and we had free time. I think that I just got Chick-fil-A and then we had a short little discussion on testimonies and went to the musical program. I really enjoyed the program. It’s definitely one of my favorite things throughout the week because I feel the spirit so strong through music. After that, we had our testimony meeting and I got up and shared my testimony and I was shaking so hard. We also sang the FSY melody, which is definitely one of the most powerful times throughout the week, because it makes me feel my purpose and why I came to this earth as a daughter of God to do my part. I love singing together with everyone and having all these children of God bearing their testimony through music.

The last day of FSY was definitely one of the best, but also was really hard. We started our day like normal, but had a little “sharing the gospel activity” instead of classes, which was kind of hard, because as much as I love my company, sometimes it was hard for all of them to focus and then we sometimes couldn’t feel the spirit. But it was still really great. Then we went to watch the “taking it home” showcase and my company wasn’t in it at all, ha ha, but it was still fun to see. During free time a guy named Josh asked me if I wanted to come listen to him sing with his counselor, so I did ha ha and he almost wanted to go to swing dancing class with me, but I got away hee hee after that.

We took some pictures that were really cute, and we went to the dance. This dance was so much better than the dance on Tuesday because everyone knew that this was the last day FSY so they wanted to make the best memories and just give it their all, so everyone was in a good mood and having a good time. I got to swing dance with a few guys and as soon as the dance was over, we had the taking it home message and we sang the FSY melody one last time and I’m surprised I didn’t cry this time.

After that we went to our company spots and tried to have a taking it home message with our company, but I was honestly disappointed that it wasn’t a very spiritual experience for me because no one was paying attention, and everyone was goofing off. But we also got to run through the sprinklers so that made up for it after that we went to our dorms, and I was not ready to say goodbye to our roommates, Liv and Eden, so we decided not to. We were planning on staying up all night, but it didn’t work out that way, so we only stayed up till like 12:40 but still it was nice to have some extra time with them and we had so much fun calling people.

I don’t think there’s anything on this earth that makes me as happy as going to FY because you meet complete strangers but become friends so fast, it’s incredible, and it’s filled with the spirit everywhere you go.  I really want to live my life like that. I’m so happy for the opportunity to go this year!

 

One thing Jenna didn't mention in her write-up is that at least 8 different boys asked for her phone number. Heaven help us! She has already gotten together with friends with met at FSY a couple of times since being home! 

Jared: Graduation from Utah Tech University

 Jared graduated from Utah Tech University with his Bachelor of Science in Business Management last December. He was offered a full-time job teaching Seminary last August, before he had even graduated. He was able to talk to the Dean and make arrangements to take his last two classes online so that he could take the job (which turned out to be in Saratoga Springs). The classes were NOT online classes, but he was able to get special permission to take them remotely. He graduated in December with high grades (Summa Cum Laude). 

The graduation ceremony for Utah Tech University was held on May 3, 2024, but Jared chose not to participate in the ceremony.  I can understand that, after all he had been living up north for almost a full year. But I said I still wanted some pictures to document the event. So we borrowed Jase and Ellen's cap and gown and diploma cover in order to take some pictures (which is why the diploma cover says "Dixie State University" instead of "Utah Tech University," because the name of the University changed right after Jase and Ellen graduated in 2022). 

Ellen also let him borrow her 2024 tassel from her recent graduation with her master's degree from SUU last month (which is why his tassel is black and not white). Afterwards I thought I should have had him also borrow all of the candy lei's that I made from Josh's graduation, ha ha! So, there you have it -- Jared's graduation pictures!! 

Jared and Hallie are engaged!!!! 💗

Jared was very excited to propose to Hallie (as you can imagine, ha ha!) He had written this darling book that featured their love story and had his good friend, Jake Brown, illustrate it. Jared and Hallie typically went to her house every Sunday and so he arranged to have Hallie read the story to her nieces and nephews on one of those Sundays. The story goes through how they met, dated, fell in love, and ends with Jared proposing to Hallie as she is reading this very story to her nieces and nephews! It was so creative and I cry whenever I look at the pictures!! We love Jared and Hallie and are so excited for them to start this new journey together!! 

It is always tricky trying to propose with kids around, ha ha!! 

And here are the darling illustrations! I will have to see if I can get scans of the book itself. If so, I will add that later!