This entry is long, so I'll just get right to it. Love you all!
Sunday, July 25, 2021
10:18 pm
It's been a good, busy week since I last wrote. Highlights:
Last Saturday (the 17th) Spencer had a parade in Goshen with the bagpipe band. It was my favorite parade I've ever been to. We pulled our van up at the end of the street, opened the back, and watched as they and 15 other participants walked past. They threw candy that my kids happily collected, and we drove back home. Best parade ever.
Last Sunday Julie took the kids to Cory Clay's mission homecoming. She said it was really good. It's amazing that Mark's friends are starting to return. I had a full day, including meeting with Joseph Ober about serving a mission and my monthly stewardship with Pres. Brinkerhoff.
Monday morning we left for the Aaronic Priesthood encampment. I felt like it was a great success. We had 16 young men and 7 adult leaders. We stayed at a family property that Reid Heiss has access to in Grover.
Monday we set up camp and then hiked to Hickman Bridge. It was an easy two-mile round trip hike. The bridge was a cool overhead formation. Rhett Hert got stung a couple times by some bees that weren't happy that we disturbed their nest under a rock.
Tuesday we hiked to Upper Calf Creek Falls. That was also two miles, but more strenuous as there was a very steep part as you drop down into a canyon. The falls were pretty, and most of the boys loved diving into the cold water. We spent about an hour at the water – long enough for a couple boys to get sunburned.
Wednesday was our long hike – six miles in Sulphur Creek. Everyone got wet, as there were some sections that required wading in water that was nearly chest-deep on an adult, and that some of the smaller kids had to swim. Everything came back stained a deep orange-red. I was really proud of the boys – everyone made the hike, and the ones who were nervous about some of the obstacles overcame their fear and succeeded. We stopped for ice cream on our way home. It was expensive and only mediocre, but the boys loved the treat.
Thursday we packed up in the morning and then headed to Little Wild Horse Canyon. The very first time I hiked it I was blown away by the slot canyon. It is still one of my favorite hikes. We went about 1.75 miles up before turning around. We intended to go to Goblin Valley, but there is now a $20 per car charge to go in, which would have totaled at least $60 for our group, if we consolidated cars as much as possible. Since we were already running late, we decided to make sandwiches on the tailgate of Chase's truck and head for home.
It rained on us every day of the trip, sometimes quite heavily. Fortunately the tents kept most of the water out. The kids all got along well and include each other in their activities. The horseshoe pit and cornhole games were both being used almost nonstop. We also had people playing Pit, Uno (several versions) and taught a bunch of people Cover Your Assets. Several people were hooked. Food was good too.
We started each day with a brief devotional and a question for the boys to think about during the day. In the evening we had a longer devotional focusing on a part of the Aaronic Priesthood Quorum theme. I was really happy with how that went.
One highlight of the trip was when I was hiking with a small group on Tuesday that included Braxton Johnson. As we were discussing the priesthood, he asked if he could be ordained a Deacon if he attended Church regularly. I assured him that he could, and that I would love to help him do that. I mentioned that to him mom after camp, and am eager to help make something happen.
The only downer from our trip was finding out on Friday, the day after we got home, that one of our participants tested positive for COVID that day. Praying that he did not pass it on to anyone else. As a precaution, today we asked the Elders Quorum to take care of all aspects of the sacrament, and will do so next week too. It was neat to watch these older brothers take care of the sacrament. Many of them have not done so in years; I could tell they appreciated the opportunity to do this again.
Friday I spent most of the morning getting working through a week's worth of emails. I identified a couple frustrations that I need to work on with my staff. That evening we had a cookout at dad and mom's house. Steph and McKay & family were there, along with Denise and Charles and their daughter Stephanie (not to be confused with my sister) and her husband Peter and their son Franklin.
Yesterday Spencer marched in the Fiesta Days parade in Spanish Fork, this time playing clarinet with the Springville marching band. We made it just in time to see his group march past. Then we came back home and played a game of Uno Flip that I bought for Julie for her birthday. It was a long one, but fun. In the afternoon I went back to SF with Spencer to watch Mike perform in a talent show. He did a standup comedy routine; I think he was happy with it. Then we played Settlers of Catan. Spencer won, with Isaac and Neil close behind; I got clobbered but enjoyed the process. At nighttime Julie took everyone except Nathaniel to watch the fireworks in SF. I stayed home to bathe Nathaniel and put him in bed. Then I ironed shirts for Sunday, took a shower, and got to bed before midnight. It wasn't as early as I had hoped, but was early enough that I wasn't totally exhausted today.
Today was long but good. We had Ward Youth Council today, and Bro. Heiss and I agreed that this was one of the most effective versions of this meeting we have had. Still trying to understand why that was the case. I visited with several people about serving in the temple, renewed some temple recommends, and counseled with several individuals who are struggling with a variety of challenges, some of which are acute. The gospel of Jesus Christ and His atonement have the answers to all of our problems and challenges, but sometimes learning how to apply Jesus' atonement in our lives is a challenge. The problem is ours, not His.
Ministering and Thankful: Pretty much everything above. I feel drained but happy. I am especially happy that I got to know the young men better, and they got to know me and the other members of the bishopric.
More later…
Here are some photos from our trip. Google attached them as links since there were so many/too large. @Mark Payne please let me know if you can't access them.
