That Skinny White Kid's blog: August 2012

Ever. Ever. EVER.
I only wrote three blog posts (including this one) this summer. You know, summer? That time when you have a crapload of spare time and spend more time wondering what you should do with this gratuitous amount of spare time that you have? Yeah, I blogged three times. The good news is that means this post will be extremely long, and I'll get to catch you up with a series of pictures and a wall of text. Are you ready kids? I can't hear you! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,

I live on my couch in my own house. I know, crappy segue, but it was the best I could do, and I love SpongeBob so why not, right? So, this is my biggest story from summer. I've been sleeping on my couch for about a month. Why you ask? Because my room is now occupied by a 17 year old Norwegian girl named Pia. My parents decided to take her on for a full school year, and they have to have their own room. So I've been sleeping on my couch for the past few weeks. It actually hasn't been terrible, except while I've been sunburnt. The couch is leather, so you know that thing where you skin sticks to leather if it's on it too long? Imagine that while you're peeling. Yeah. Gross, right? As well as painful. But honestly the couch is quite comfy, so I can't complain too badly.

And speaking of sunburns, I have had not one but TWO in the past week. In other words, me and the sun are not on speaking terms. He gets the kid this week, I get it next, and we'll just do that until Thanksgiving and Christmas when we can just fight it out. But seriously, it's bad. The first I got last Monday when I went to Sand Hollow with my friends. That one turned my back turned a nice hue of pink, then red, then blistering red. It was my first ever second degree burn! Who said the summer before you mission can't be exciting, huh? Well the second one I just got yesterday. I was refereeing and we get to wear these super-attractive shorts that don't even go to your knees, and the back of my knees got burned hardcore. So now I get the feeling I get to repeat steps 1-3. Whatever they were.

The next exciting bit of news is that I got the chance to spend what is probably my last week in Utah for two years-- well, aside from my 8 week stint in the MTC that I'll talk about in a minute. Sarah's friend Natalie came out and so Adam, Sarah, Natalie, and myself spent a few days in Cedar, then drove up to Brigham City for the temple open house, then went to a Real Game on Saturday night. We spent the night with my grandparents then went back up to Roy Utah for Adam's Dad's stake conference where Richard G Scott was speaking. It was a real privilege and treat to hear from a member of the quorum of the 12 apostles, as well as to walk through the temple, seeing as how I will be doing that soon. Then I headed back to Cedar, where I got the chance to stay the night with Kaleigh, Dani, Melissa, the Courtneys, and Megan. They were nice enough to let me bum it on their couch for a little bit. That was awesome, because I got to see almost everybody I wanted to one last time. We went to Sand Hollow, celebrated Dani's birthday, had a mini jam session where I pretended I had talent, and best of all just hung out! Being able to just hang out with everybody one last time before I leave was definitely a blessing before coming home and getting a nice bit of news.

Last but certainly not least is that good news: My mission call. I can't believe it's actually here. Ever since I was in primary I've heard about missions, and known how important they were, but it wasn't until January that this process became a real possibility for me. I always thought I would be a missionary, but it didn't actually happen until recently for me. I've really been praying and studying my scriptures and taking steps towards being able to go. And now that my call is here, I am SO excited to leave. I don't look forward to leaving my family, my friends, my lifestyle, my schooling, writing, blogging (what I do of it anyway), practicing my ukulele, and everything else that I enjoy that I'll have to put on hold for two years. But I know that the sacrifice will be worth it. I'm excited to serve the people of the McAllen Texas mission, and I'm excited to learn Spanish. I'm especially excited to go through the temple, to learn the entirety of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to bask in the happiness it brings when followed in exactness, as well as the opportunity to share it with others. Am I scared? Out of my freakin' mind. But for now my excitement is outweighing my fear, and I'll try to keep it there.

Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures of the things I've talked about. I hope that you all have had a blessed summer, and that I can keep catching you up until I leave in October. I also hope you'll keep me in your prayers and, soon, your letter list.