Virginia Hurricane!!!!

Don't worry. We all survived. :) Okay so we didn't really experience a hurricane, but it sure looked and felt like one. Yesterday just after Josh had left to go help a new couple in the branch move in, and just as I was leaving to go pick up some sister missionaries a storm attacked. The power was cutting in and out as I was walking out the door and limbs and leaves were whipping me as I ran out to the car. On the way out of town I was passed by about 3 cop cars, 2 fire trucks, and one ambulance. It was crazy. The drive out to the sisters was interesting in itself, as I went the whole way driving 20 on the freeway. It was pretty exciting. However, it wasn't until I got back into town and was heading over to help Josh finish up the move that I noticed how much damage the storm had done. GIANT trees had been blown over. (I tried to take pictures as I was driving. These were the best I got.) The picture of the biggest tree is actually just around the corner from our house. It was amazing that it didn't hit any of the expensive houses it was growing next to. These were just a few of the trees that fell. Others blocked off streets entirely and there were many poor cars that had suffered giant limbs falling on them. I'm so glad ours was not one of them.

Hi!

Youth Conference - Palmyra 2010

This last weekend, Sydney and I had the wonderful opportunity of going to Palmyra, NY for our stake youth conference. Sydney is in the primary, but since there weren't any of the young women leaders who were able to go, I talked them into letting Sydney come with me & take their place. Eric & Raul, 2 of my young men, were able to go. The journey started at 5:20am when we picked up Raul, Eric, & Rinda (one of the young women) from their houses. The buses left the Stake Center at 6:30am on Thursday morning & it was a long drive up to Palmyra.


Thursday was dedicated completely to driving. We had 4 giant buses filled to the gills with youth & leaders. We were lucky enough to have a bus that was equipped with Wi-fi, so the ride up was much more tolerable.

We arrived sometime around 5pm & got settled into the dorms at Hobart College. As you can see from the pictures, the campus was beautiful! After some pizza, it was off to a short devotional & a rockin' dance!



Raul & Eric were both great on the dance floor. Rinda earned the nickname "Dance Machine," because she did not leave the dance floor once during the 2 1/2 hour dance. Raul proudly danced with 11 different girls!



After the dance we headed off to bed to rest for a fun filled Friday touring church sites. On Friday we visited; The Smith Farm, The Sacred Grove, The Grandin Printing Press, The Hill Cumorah, & saw the wonderful Hill Cumorah Pageant.











As I said before, the night ended with the Hill Cumorah Pageant which was SOOOO good! They do such a great job. We hiked up to the top of the Hill Cumorah & really just had a wonderful time there. Rinda Deju, on of our young women who came on the youth conference got to see here older brother there who is currently on his mission. He is in the Rochester, NY mission & has been working at the visitor's center. Not too many people get to visit their brothers on their mission, but things worked out just right. Rinda was so excited to see him. Elder Deju is currently the only missionary serving from the Richmond Branch, so we were also very excited to meet him as well.

After the pageant, we headed back to the dorms to get to bed. Saturday morning we got up bright and early at 5:30am & headed to the Peter Whitmer farm for a testimony meeting. It was at the Peter Whitmer farm where the church was officially organized.




It was a wonderful trip & such a blessing to get to see the actual sites where it all began. The feeling in The Sacred Grove was incredible. It was so quiet & peaceful. Sydney noticed that there were many trees there that were possibly old enough to have been there when Joseph prayed & saw God & Jesus Christ.

I would highly recommend this trip. Having grown up in Utah, I never was really excited about visiting church sites. (I mean...most of my ideas of "church sites" came from the Pioneer Village portion of Lagoon. BORING!) This trip has changed the way I look at the history of the church. It has made it much more real. Much more tangible. The pageant was really spectacular & so well done. You won't be disappointed.

One of the most entertaining parts of the whole trip are the ridiculous Anti-Mormon people who show up almost every night & day to stand on the streets with their signs & megaphones. I could hardly believe it. One guy at the pageant was dressed up in a devil costume. I just don't understand. If they truly believed that we were wrong, that the Mormons were complete frauds & that Joseph Smith just made it all up, why stand there each night & tell us that we're going to hell? Why try to make an awful spectacle & say ridiculous things through a megaphone? Is that what Christ did to those who had gone astray?

We really enjoyed the trip & can't wait to go back. It is absolutely worth it!

Long Time...No Post = LONG POST!

So, it's been awhile since our last post, & I thought I'd get back into the swing of things. Summer has been so wonderful! It's sad it's almost over. I start school again on July 26th. Too soon for comfort. We had a wonderful visit from my family (Mom, Dad, & Katelyn) in mid-July & we did just about everything. We drove up to NYC to pickup my family from the airport. (the plan was for them to flying to JFK & the fly out of Richmond, allowing us to spend time in both places for cheaper!) We had so much fun.

Syd & I embarked on our journey around 11pm on the night before our visitors arrived in NYC. (They were flying a red-eye & their plane landed at 5:10 am.) It was an awesome drive & we pulled up right as they were getting ready to call us.

Not being able to check into our hotel until 3pm, we started touring NY only to find that there isn't much open at 7:0am. Either way, we walked around & saw a few things. Don't forget Strawberry Fields, John Lennon.

Then the drama began. Our hotel decided to play secret police & noticed that we had 5 travellers (max in a room is of course 4). After a lot of drama, I had to pretend that I was going to go stay in another hotel so that they would allow my dad to check in.


The beginning of a long day in an empty Times Square


I believe I love this picture.


We went for a freezing cold swim at the pool at our apartment, since they wouldn't let us check in, but they would let us swim.

Underwater cameras are awesome!



Then it was back on the streets to see Mary Poppins on Broadway! It was so much fun!






Then we went back to the Hotel to sleep! (All 5 of us. Sh...don't tell). The next morning we got up & headed to see the Statue of Liberty & visit Chinatown & such!


For those lucky enough to cram into the back seat, my ingenuity paid rich dividends. I created a beautiful entertainment center for them to enjoy watching movies on. Please revel in my "redneck-ness."



After a day in New York, we headed on out to Washington D.C., where we stayed from free in a sketchy Motel 6, with a free voucher from when Kaylene & Jim (Sydney's parent's) came and visited. There was a mouse in that room, so they rewarded us with a free night's stay. No mice this time.

After all that driving, we just wanted to get something to eat & go to bed. I thought this would be easy, but I was wrong and ended up driving around for almost another hour just looking for somewhere suitable. We finally found Moroni & Brother Pizza Restaurant. We are doing the Book of Mormon Stories dance if you can't tell. The pizza was good too!


The next day we toured all the D.C. monuments & such. It was a lot of fun, but pretty toasty!




Then we finally made it back to Richmond. Our little pup found a new best friend in Katie!

We went to the branch on Sunday & then headed right back out to Virginia Beach for a few days. The weather was wonderful & we all got pretty burned, but it was a blast!






After a jam packed few days, my dad had to go back home for work, we just sat around and took it easy. We ate some good good food. We had a picnic on the James River for Katelyn's birthday (which we somehow forgot to take pictures of). We went to the Virginia State Capital. What didn't we do? It was so much fun. Thanks to my family for coming & visiting & being awesome & fun! It was a great vacation for us. Even though it was ultra hot!

Sorry for the long post, but it's been awhile, & there's nothing like pictures to tell about a vacation.