I flew into Phoenix on Thursday and was picked up by some friends of Sam Jones, whose marriage I was coming to see. I was staying with Scott Hinton’s Dad who was so nice that he gave me the keys Scott’s car, allowing me to attend all of the wedding festivities without causing a problem for anyone. On Friday morning I saw the Sealing, went to the luncheon, and the reception.
I saw mainly AJ Swartwood, and also Kirk Fairbanks, which was cool. I got to know AJ better as well. It felt like we were becoming new companions. Not much happened Saturday, but on Sunday at church I got to see two sessions of the Gila Valley Temple Dedication. That day I also made a birthday cake with some kid relatives of Scott’s who lived across the road. 
On Monday I hiked bits of the First Water Trail in the Tonto National Forest and almost died from a jumping cactus that stuck into my fingers so well that I spent maybe 20-30 minutes trying to get the all out, and then returning to a Wal-Mart to buy some tweezers so that I could get the remaining two out. They had gone in easily enough, but they were tough to get out. I turns out that most had gone in a centimeter or two. Ow! 
Tuesday I hiked Squaw Peak with Gary Hinton (Scott’s dad) and Jay.
Wednesday I left Mesa and was picked up by Ryan Porter in Salt Lake City. That night we went on a sort of triple date/ hanging out between 3 girls and 3 guys. I say that because Ryan was the only one who really seemed like he was on a date. We played soccer some and then had a bonfire and roasted mini-marshmallows for smores.
The next day Ryan went to work and I went to the Bountiful Temple with his younger brother, Rory.
That evening there was another date for Ryan and his friend Jake. I was just the third-wheel this time, but it was fine. We went to Salt Lake and ate pizza at Pie Pizza; then we went to the Planetarium and saw a U2 laser show that was okay. Then we went to the Olympic Fountains and took lots of pictures, and then we were still ready to do more stuff, so we went and hiked Ensign Peak and got a great view of the Salt Lake Valley at night. Silly me, I forgot my camera. The next day Ryan took me over to Dallin Erickson’s house. We talked some; I went to work at the UPS Store with him. Later we went around Ogden with his friend Jayden. We saw I-Fly. That evening we played with his brother’s airsoft gun, running around the yard and getting shot at from the porch. The next day we went to “Smith and Edwards” where there’s a lot of Army Surplus stuff among other things. Then in the afternoon we went hiking near Lewis Peak with his brother Eli and Brian Vause. We got to a ridge where we could see into the valleys on either side. There was still snow up there and we “skied” a little.
On Sunday we went to the Singles Ward. That was interesting. After getting home, we went to their Grandmothers’ homes in succession for one’s birthday and then for the birthday of a relative. That evening we looked at their genealogy in preparation for Memorial Day. The next day, we wanted to go hiking, but because of it being a holiday, our original destination was over-crowded. So Dallin, his sister Hannah, and I went to the lake in the Valley (Pineview?), skipped stones, saw the waterfall and the hot-pots in the canyon and basically just took a lot of pictures.
The rest of the day Dallin had to do homework, so I watched 2 movies: Pride & Prejudice and Avatar. Both are good movies. Tuesday and Wednesday were rest days; I mainly read my books. Wednesday after dinner, Dallin took me back to Ryan Porter’s home. Thursday I read some more and when Ryan got back from work, I helped set up for the camping trip we’re going to have over the weekend. We also bust up some wood and played soccer in the evening. Friday I finished the last of my main books. In the last couple days I finished 4 books. Yay! Then I went and met up with James Ford at his home. Again, I forgot my camera. We mainly just talked about how things were going and played some games. A girls he’s dating also came over later. I seem to be running into a lot of that… Anyway, I took a train back that reminded me of the Renfe in Spain. After finishing packing up everything I thought I might need for camping, we left, we being Ryan Porter, his brother and some friends. So, soon after we got there it started to rain and we had to set up our tents in a jiffy, start a fire in the rain, and cook our hobo dinners. Luckily, it wasn’t raining too hard. It all worked out great and we finished the night with a game of poker with starbursts to bet. Or so we thought. I turned out that the girls’ tent had flooded so we had to make room for them in our tent. That was interesting. Anyway, the next morning I woke up early as per usual with camping. The main things we did that day were to go swimming in the nearby reservoir/lake and hike. The lake was quite frigid, but it was fun. Then we wanted to hike a mountain, so we took the first trail that came to us, which happens to be the most consistently steep trail I’ve ever climbed. I think it was about 45-60 degrees sloped up, or worse; I don’t know. But to slip would’ve been dangerous. And when we’d almost made it to the top, the last little stretch was so dangerous that we opted to turn around. The going down was also tough. But in the end it was fun: a good story to tell.
Then some people took naps while I read another book. I’ve got lots of books I can read. Later we played soccer together. The final fire was fun with hot dogs and smores as we used up the rest of the wood. The stars were also really beautiful and I saw some shooting stars and some satellites. Sunday morning we packed up with some intermittent light rain and got ourselves cleaned up for church. Monday afternoon we played some golf. I wasn’t great, but not bad either. We just did the driving range and I could generally hit it straight, but only about 150 yards or so. That evening I also went shopping with him and a girl and then we ate at Café Río. Tuesday I went down to Provo and had dinner with my mission president and his wife, Pres. & Hna. Farnsworth. We had the lovely lasagna that she used to make us on the mission. Then they gave me drive-by tour of BYU, because he teaches there and used to be the vice-president there. They gave me the number of Ryan Boyce, my second companion in the mission field, who I didn’t realize was in Provo. I gave him a call and that very night I got to see him and his fiancé. It was really sweet. They’re a great couple.
I stayed the evening with Gene and Karla Gammon, my brother-in-law’s parents, as I will the next couple of nights. The next morning I went to Pres. Farnsworth’s Book of Mormon class. That was fun. It felt like I was in Zone Conference again.
Then I met up with a friend of mine from North Carolina, Anna Shoemaker, who happened to be in town and we ate lunch together. Then I took a bus to Sandy where I was going to be picked up by Bryce Sansing, another mission companion, but unfortunately, something happened with his car or something and we had to re-plan for the next day. So I just had fun in Barnes & Noble. That evening I met up with Ryan Boyce and his fiancé again at a place called Guru’s Café in Provo because her brothers have their own band and they were playing there that night. They were really good actually; I was quite impressed. They’re called “The Brocks” and you can find them on their Facebook band page. Anyway, the next morning, Thursday, Bryce Sansing picked me up and we ate breakfast together at IHOP. One of the coolest things about meeting up with all these companions again is to see how fast we reconnect and remember things about each other. It’s so… natural. There’s nothing awkward about it. Anyway, we talked a lot about all the stories we ought to read and write and such, then we went back to his home, saw his horse (very cool) and played Super Smash Brothers Brawl until he had to go to work. Oh yeah, and he was able to give me a shirt that I had bought and accidently left in Spain. Sweet.
Anyway, he dropped me off on the way to work at the same Barnes & Noble that I’d been to yesterday where I began to read “The Hunger Games” and found it so engaging that I couldn’t put it down until I had to leave because I thought that there was going to be something else going on at 7 in the evening. But on the bus I received the call that nothing was happening after all, so I stopped off at a Barnes & Noble relatively close to the Gammon’s home, finished reading the book (it was amazing) and then walked home in the wind. Friday morning the Gammons gave me a ride to the bus and I started on my way up to Holladay where I’ll be spending the next couple of days with Nick Coons, my Spain MTC companion. With him we mainly talked about our missions, since he went on his mission to Barcelona (though he spent most of his time around Valencia).
On Saturday I met up with Scott Hinton and we went down to Orem to visit Jonathan Ogden, where we played Band Hero and similar games.
Then Scott and I went back up to Holiday to visit Royce Porter’s Reception and we saw Ryan Porter there, too. They aren’t related.
Sunday after church, Nick Coons took me to a Hostel that I’d found in Salt Lake City. That same evening while walking around Temple Square, I saw one of my dorm mates, Ding, who’s from South Korea, talking to the sister missionaries, so I pitched in and bore my testimony. Later the same sister missionaries talked to me to get Ding’s address if he was interested in knowing more, so I did. On Monday I went to the Salt Lake Temple in the morning. Afterwards, I looked more around Temple Square and went up to the observation deck of the office building. The sight was magnificent.
Then I spent the rest of the day finishing the sequel to “The Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire”. Also very good. I also wandered around the Olympic Fountain area called “The Gateway” Tuesday was a similar day, except that I went on a tour of the Conference Center, which is quite impressive.
And Wednesday I flew out to New Jersey for my family reunion. Life goes on as normal. But the secret is, all that isn’t that abnormal. I don't quite consider my life "normal". Welcome to my world.
