**Disclaimer: My digital camera died, and since I don't want to buy myself a new one I must wait until my birthday in September for a new one. Until then, I'll be making memories with a disposable camera, but unfortunately I probably won't post any of my own photos on my blog for awhile. I will try to find other images so my posts aren't too boring to read.
Today's photos are brought to you by
ribizlifozelek on Flickr.com**
As as member of my Singles Ward's Family Home Evening (FHE) Committee which plans group activities for every Monday, I have/get to be in charge of the activities once every couple of months. Ironically, this go-around I ended up with a hiking activity. Have I ever mentioned that hiking is possibly my least favorite thing to do... except maybe wash dishes? No, actually, I would rather wash dishes than hike. Walking is fine. Walking up a steep hill... not something I like to do.
Anyway, since Pioneer Day is on Friday, the idea was to hike Ensign Peak, and then have some people talk about their pioneer ancestors and/or what Pioneer Day means to them. Cool idea, right? (I wish I could take credit, but I didn't come up with it.) This prompted me to have to talk to a bunch of people on Sunday to find some who planned to come to FHE and were willing to prepare something to talk about for 3-5 minutes. By the end, I had 3 maybes, and 2 solid "yes"-es (I only asked maybe 6 people total -- it wasn't like they were turning me down in droves). I figured even if it was just the two I'd be happy. Meanwhile, it was really fun talking to all those people. I talked to some I hadn't in awhile, and reintroduced myself to others. Plus, I had randomly decided to sleep with pincurls the night before and wear my hair in Shirley Temple ringlets, and I'm not kidding, people were coming out of the woodwork to comment on it, especially the boys. It was really cool. I already felt cute and flirty because of the hair, so the sociality was a bonus, a very welcome one. I stayed after church for the Root beer Float social and had a lot of fun. I'm starting to feel comfortable in my ward, finally!
I made rice crispy treats Sunday night and asked some members of the committee to bring non-meltable treats. I had forgotten how good rice crispy treats are and how sticky they are to make! I also bought some water bottles, in case people forgot to bring their own. We met at the church building at 7pm, and by 7:15 there were probably at least 40 people there! I welcomed everyone, gave driving directions to Ensign Peak (which I had pulled off the Internet on Saturday), passed out the water, and reminded everyone of the break-ins at the church parking lot and not to leave purses in the car. A girl volunteered to give the opening prayer, and we were off!
On the way to Ensign Peak, I really started to worry... it's what I do best seeing as I have a lot of practice. Would people find the trail based on my instructions? Would we die from the heat? Would the "lesson" part work or would people find it boring? Would we have room for all of us at the top? I only voiced the first concerns, and the other people in my car assured me it would be fine. I kind of panicked when we arrived and I saw how many non-ward people were there, but worrying wouldn't fix that either, so I just said "Let's go!"
I mentioned I loathe hiking, right? Yeah, um, this was a hard hike. Even people who are hikers said that Brother F's assurances "it's an easy hike for non-hikers" was misleading. It is very short, but it's pretty much straight up a fairly steep hill. The rice crispy treats I carried in my messenger bag were light and didn't really weigh me down -- my quivering legs and gasping breath would have slowed me down even without the added weight. I really, really just wanted to go home, but I couldn't -- I was in charge of the activity and had to rally everyone at the top! I lagged further and further behind. Then, nearing the top, I saw that some of the girls had waited for me. They recommended I drink from my water bottle, took my messenger bag from me, and offered a lot of encouragement as we approached the top. They made it more fun for me, and since some walked behind me, I wasn't the last to the summit. I am really grateful for them.
A view from the top
There was a big group of hikers from various places at the top. I still don't know a ton of the people in the ward, so gathering them all together seemed daunting. Fortunately, one of the guys in my car, Brad, knows pretty much everyone and isn't shy at all. He did most of the rallying, and the group found a spot on the hill to sit. We even had a few people join us who weren't originally part of the group. Again, I thanked everyone for coming, and said I had asked two people to say a few things. While they were talking, I passed around the cookies and rice crispy treats, which seemed to go over well.
First, Charlotte talked about the pioneers, their struggles, and what we can learn from their examples. My favorite of her quotes was "It didn't matter who got here first. The point is that they got here."
Then, my cousin Bryce told a story about our mutual great+ grandfather Simon Dalton, who I had never heard of before. Simon joined the church with his wife in New York, but when he wanted to move to Nauvoo, his wife chose to stay behind. So, Simon took his two oldest sons to Nauvoo. He was a knife-maker by trade and part of the "whistle and whittle brigade". Basically, a group of men would walk around and whistle while whittling, hence the name. Whenever someone nefarious came to town the brigade would surround them, whistle and whittle, and basically creep the nefarious character out until he left. In my opinion, that's pretty awesome. How had I never heard of this before?
It was a short but good presentation. I said a prayer to close the meeting, and then everybody just hanged out at the summit for awhile. I read a couple of the plaques, talked with a bunch of friends, and enjoyed the sunset. Since we had left the church so late in the evening, it was nice and cool at the top -- really a perfect night to make the hike. I felt really grateful that it had all worked out so well. A lot of people said it was a great activity and we had a lot of fun. I was glad I'd made it to the top, and for everyone who helped me throughout the evening. I'd prayed a lot for guidance, peace, help, and safety, and I know that Heavenly Father gave me everything I needed.
Hooray for a great evening!
