We went to Saint George. It was the first time I'd ever really been there (I mean I think we drove through once when I was really little, but beside that). At first it was pretty freaky. I mean, the rocks are RED! I felt like I was on Mars for the first day, then the second day I realized that actually everything is really pretty. The palm trees were weird (pine cones with leaves on top), the plateaus were weirder (mountains with the top chopped off), and the heat was insane (at least twenty degrees hotter than home). But when you combined them all, it was actually quite enjoyable once you got over the overall shock of it.
We stayed in a hotel that wasn't terrible, but was FAR from five star. The second night, a kid named Landon found a cockroach in his bathroom. However, it had a pool, kitchen, and it was two kids to a room, so we had a good time (emphasis on the pool part)(and actually there were only four girls there so we ended up sleeping in only one room anyway)(and we never used the kitchen except at the end to take all the leftover candy and playdough).
The first day we unpacked then went swimming. My leader Sister Freebairn is going to email me a bunch of the pictures she took, so I'll post those when they get here. We did "mermaid hair", I pounced on Matt and wouldn't get off until faced with the choice of drowning or releasing him (which I thought was fun, but apparently Matt didn't for some reason. Sorry, Matt) and we fought over a raft that was in the pool (something I think we both enjoyed). Eventually we got out and went to see a Tuacahn play, Footloose.
Things I really liked about it: There were a couple amazing singers, the choreography was stunning, the music was fun, and it had a good plot and morals.
Things I really didn't like about it: There was some swearing, sexual content, and immodest dress (not bikini bad, but short shorts, bare midriff, and sleeveless shirt). Also, at the beginning one of the main characters was involved with a bad guy and they did bad things.
Overall, I don't regret seeing it, but I wouldn't recommend it.
When we got back, we went "straight" to bed (teheh), got "straight" to sleep (ahahahahah), and didn't talk about anything, let alone deep and important topics (wuahahahahahahahahahah!). And most importantly, the boys absolutely planned NO pranks on us, Landon did NOT stand outside our window with a gorilla suit on and he did NOT knock on our window and try to make us scream (WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!).
I have an interesting story involving sleepwalking and one of my friends, but I won't print it here because I have other things to write about. However, if you'd like to hear it, email me and I'll tell it to you. It's actually pretty funny.
The next day was AWESOME!!! We hiked the Narrows at Zion's National Park, but first we went to the Saint George Temple and did baptisms there. It was so cool. I learned some things about that temple that I didn't know, such as the fact that the founding fathers visited there. Then we hiked the Narrows. My friend Makelle and I were clinging to each other the whole time. Actually, I think mainly she was just holding me up, because I was the one who kept falling. I fell up to my neck four times, had about twenty medium falls, and I lost count of the small falls somewhere in the trillions. Also, if it weren't for several of the chivalrous young men in our ward, I know I would be halfway down the river, and probably would have accidentally knocked Makelle over in the process of my flailing limbs trying to pull me back up. Therefore, I am very thankful to them. Unfortunately, my falling wasn't helped by the fact that I had worn jeans on the trip so the insides of both my thighs were raw and painful. Ah well.
One of the talks on the next day was by a seminary teacher who made a great acronym for SPIRIT, trying to tell us how to make our spirits bigger than our bodies.
Scripture reading
Prayerfulness
Intelligent fasting (he told us he had had to get creative here)
Rest
Interesting exercise
Tithing
I really like his talk to us, especially since he involved Swedish Fish in it.
There was still some time left when we got back, so we went swimming again. We did synchronized diving off the edge, and Landon took the opportunity to shove me in early, which earned him some slaps and shoves and laughs. Also, another kid, Darryl, jumped in with all his clothes on, lost his glasses and his fluorescent yellow belt. Sigh, we all love Darryl.
All in all, it was a VERY fun first youth conference!
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