21 June 2026
VOLUME 14 – NUMBER 647
Troy on trek
Troy
We went to Trek this week, and it was really fun. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but it was still a fun and spiritual experience. All the food was catered, and it was delicious. We had a bunch of devotionals and a lot of free time at the end of each day.
The first day was really easy. We trekked to our campsite and started setting up tents. My family was great. We had three girls and five boys, and two of them I knew because they were in our old ward (Oquirrh Point 2nd Ward). They were Austin Duncan and Hunter Lane.
On the second day, they told us that the hardest part of the trail was coming up after the women’s pull, which was a pretty cool experience. The hardest part was called Rocky Ridge, and it was all uphill with a bunch of big rocks. It was difficult, but not impossible. We just kept stopping along the hill, and every time we stopped, we lost all of our momentum.
Veidi on trek
After the hill, we continued trekking a little longer before stopping for lunch. We had sandwiches, and I don’t know where they were from, but they were really good.
At the end of the second day of Trek, we had to cross through a river, which was refreshing but also frustrating because I got my shoes and socks wet. After Trek that day, we had a couple of hours of free time, so I started making daggers out of wood.
The next day was easy but very hot. It was the last day, so we trekked to a parking lot where we had lunch and then left. Trek was a really fun and spiritual experience, and I got a lot out of it.
Kai on trek
Ashton
I had a good night at poker this week! It was my highest-scoring game ever and the biggest win of the season so far. I think I am now no longer in the negative. In our fake money tracker I think I have about $70, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I was down some $800 when I started the night, so we'll take it!
Emmett's birthday party was a lot of fun. It was at a splash pad/park, and we boys pretty much ran football routes the whole time with a QB, receiver, center (blocker), corner, and rusher. It was so fun.
I love summer and always forget about how fun it is to be outside doing stuff like that. We passed the volleyball around a bit, and that was really fun too.
Isaac on stake priests river trip
Isaac
This week, I went on a stake young men’s campout with our new stake, and it was a ton of fun. The first day, we drove to Idaho and went to Lava Hot Springs, where we rode tubes down the river. It was really fun and made me even more excited for the river trip that’s coming up. After that, we went to our camp, which was really nice.
We had really nice cabins that had electricity and lights. The food was really good, and we had pulled pork sandwiches the first night. We played a lot of volleyball down in the sand volleyball pit, which was pretty fun and reminded me how much I love to play.
The next day, we went to Jackson, Wyoming and walked around town for a bit. Then we went to the Tetons and went on a really nice hike. Some of the guys also went cliff jumping. After that, we went back to camp, played some more volleyball, had dinner, and then went to bed.
Isaac on stake priests river trip
The next morning, we had to wake up really early because we were going whitewater river rafting on the Snake River. The drive there was about an hour, and it looked like it was going to rain. Because of that, the leaders decided to rent everyone wetsuits, which were really nice.
Then we got on the river, and it was crazy fun. The water wasn’t too cold considering we had wetsuits on, and we went down some crazy rapids that covered us in water. After that, we headed out and drove back home.
Isaac on stake priests river trip
Keaton
Summertime is always quite busy for us. In the winter, we normally go skiing or snowboarding every Saturday, but now that the ski resorts are closed, we are left to find other outdoor activities. We decided to go camping for Hannah's birthday, and we found a pretty awesome place.
Except I think if I went back, I would probably try sleeping in a hammock instead of a tent. It was on the backside of the Wasatch Mountains, south of Park City and high above Heber Valley, which made for a beautiful view of the valley.
The problem with sleeping in a tent was that the area didn't have a very flat spot, so the entire night we were just sliding down the sleeping pad and getting crunched up into a ball against the wall of the tent. It wasn't ideal for sleeping, but we made it work.
Keaton and London at Via Ferrata
We played a bunch of board games in the morning, and I'd call the camping trip a total success. We didn't see a single other person and could only faintly hear some people on dirt bikes the night we got there.
The next weekend, one of the other coaches I used to work with at Momentum told me about the Via Ferrata in Ashley Gorge near Vernal, Utah. For those of you who don't know what a Via Ferrata is, it's similar to rock climbing in that you are on the side of a cliff.
However, the big difference is that instead of holding onto the rock to climb with a rope as your protection, you use preplaced metal hardware to hold onto, with a steel cable that you clip into as your protection.
London on suspension bridge
To avoid the crowds and the hot summer sun, we decided to get an early start and woke up at 4:30 AM. We started the hike up to the top of the route at 5:15 AM, and it took us a little under five hours before we were back at the car.
Overall, this was an awesome experience, and I look forward to doing it again in the fall once they open up the additional routes. The best part for me was the suspension bridge. Being hundreds of feet off the ground on a small strip of metal while taking in the beauty of nature was phenomenal.
I think this is a high-quality adventure full of exposure—think of being high up on a cliff—that is much more beginner-friendly than rock climbing, which is a more knowledge-, skill-, and strength-intensive experience.
Getting cotton candy from new neighbors
Veidi
On Sunday, we went over to get cotton candy from one of our new neighbors, and we brought Natalie and Braden’s kids with us. We went on a walk before we went to get the cotton candy, and it was a fun evening!
I also babysat Ellie, Charlie, and Ava at their house while Braden and Brook went on their run. I love babysitting them! We played for a little bit, then we ate and watched a movie called Goat.
Braden and Brook came back, and then we met up with the rest of the family at Emmitt’s birthday party, where there was a really cool splash pad.
Veidi and Quinn reading in back yard
Trek was also this week, and I loved my trek family. Everyone was really pumped up, and the energy was amazing.
After trekking, we would go to the river that was by our tent and get wet to cool ourselves down because it was so hot. We would dry off pretty quickly because the sun was out and dried our clothes.
We also learned how to square dance, and I had a fun time learning even though I kept forgetting some of the steps. Trek was so fun, and I had an amazing experience getting to know people.
Braden and Brooke after half marathon
Braden
Over the last few months, Brooke and I have been training for our annual half-marathon. We’ve decided to make it a tradition to run at least one every year. So far we’ve done the Timpview Half down American Fork Canyon. It has been a lot of fun to pursue this with Brooke. We were both shooting to PR from our times last year.
On race day, we both ended up beating our times from last year pretty significantly. We had so much fun and are looking forward to doing this for years to come.
Emmett’s birthday party
Kai
Emmett turned one this month, and Endia and Cougar set up a party for him. The party was held at a splash pad, which was a lot of fun. We had pizza for lunch, which I was really craving for some reason. Normally, I’m not too excited about pizza, but I always eat it, so I was surprised that I wanted it so badly.
We played a lot of football, running routes and throwing passes. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch any passes on my routes, which was rough. I have a lot to work on with that. However, I did get a few sacks on the quarterback!
It’s crazy that Emmett is already one year old! Happy birthday, Emmett!
Elders Hill and Torres with young men
Monte
Elder Torres is awesome! Yet another amazing companion has been added to the roster. The town of José María Morelos has no idea what's coming in these next few weeks.
Last week we were walking to a visit but realized that we were going in the opposite direction. I thought that maybe God was just directing us where we needed to go. Then we saw this family clearing the weeds in front of their house, so we offered to help.
We weeded and talked about the gospel, and they just kept asking question after question. They weren't lame questions, either—they were the kind that get your missionary side kicking into gear. In the end, they told us they were really surprised that we would stop to help them, especially because they didn't share the same religion.
Elders Hill and Torres with man
We explained that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that, when we were baptized, we made a promise to serve our neighbors and share the love of Christ with everyone. If that means helping weed in front of someone's house, then so be it.
I also played the piano for the choir in our Conferencia de Rama (Branch Conference). The choir did pretty well, and not to put salsa on my tacos, but I played pretty gosh darn well.
I’m not gonna lie, this week was pretty rough when it came to finding new people to teach. We quite literally talked with every person that we saw, and either they straight up ignored us as we tried to get to know them, or they were super Catholic.
Monte and Elder Torres eating pizza
We set a baptism date for Oscar on the 5th of July! Let's go! Double birthday gift—Oscar and I both share a birthday on the 5th! He's so awesome! He came to church for the second time all on his own again, and he loves it!
We're going to make sure that we work extra hard and help him be baptized. We also put another fecha with our friend Wilberth for the same day. He's really cool and wants to change his life around.
For P-Day today, Elder Torres and I made our way to Felipe Carrillo Puerto so that we could spend some time with our district to strengthen our bonds. It was really fun! We made hamburgers and played spikeball. We have a good district here in Zona Ramas.
Gloria and Hermana Rigtrup
Gloria
What a week. A little background first. I talked to my mission president a few months ago during my second transfer in the mission about something I had done during my first transfer. Since then he has been working with me to repent and be more obedient.
Then on Sunday night, I got a call from him and he let me know that I needed to go home and fix what I had done. That call was one of the hardest things I had experienced on my mission. I also had a call that night with my stake president, President Bradford, and with Mom and Dad.
Family swim the night Gloria came home
However, I’m trying to look at this with a positive mindset, because I know I have a good chance to go back and finish my mission. I will need to do my best to do my part, but President Bradford thinks that after two or three transfers, I should be able to go back on my mission if I follow through with the commitments he has given me. Mom and Dad have also helped me set goals.
It has been pretty rough, but I’m trying to have good days. I’m still trying to figure out life at home and adjust to everything. Thank you so much, family, for being there for me and showing me that you love me!
Mom and Emmett at birthday party
Joanna
So this week we went to Emmets birthday party. We played at the water park, we had lots of yummy food like pizza, otter pops and watermelon and cookies. Emma and I listened to music it was super fun jamming out to it.
Having the Smith Kids at our house was a lot of fun! We played lots of games outside. One of my favorite. games we played was Wild Girls. We would pretend to be in the wild and the tree would be our treehouse.
Family on neighborhood walking path
The treehouse was super dirty when we found it and then we would clean it up and it became clean and it was next to the water fall.
We were watching a movie and playing games. Then Dad came down in the basement and said to us, “Hey guys. There is someone that wants to see you,” the Smith kids taught it was their mom, but when we got upstairs It was Gloria!
I was so surprised. She looked different because of her bangs. She was crying, but it was happy crying. I was so happy to see her and we played a game.
Children taking a break
Quinn
Hey guys, the return of Gloria is kind of a fun story. The day before, Mom and Dad had a meeting with everyone except Joanna and the Smith kids and told us that Gloria was coming home the next day.
The next day, the Smith kids and everyone else were watching a show when Dad called us upstairs, and Gloria was waiting! Later, I told the Smith kids that I knew she was coming before they did. Then we discussed where she was going to sleep.
Dad and Braden at Christian Larsen lunch
Dad / Arkin
Mom and I have shared this with Gloria, but I just want to say again how much we love you Gloria! We all make mistakes. The most important thing is what we do when challenges and mistakes come.
For all of my children, I want to remind you that I know that Jesus Christ suffered for all of our sins and mistakes. He will forgive us when we repent, no matter how far, or how many times we fall.
Isn’t His grace amazing! Time after time, He continues to love us and encourage us forward, no matter how many times we lean on him. Remember what Mom and I always say: ”Whoever doesn’t quit wins!”
Gloria, your Heavenly Father is grateful that you chose to be honest, and you are choosing to do all you can to return to the mission field. I do believe that you will return stronger than when you left, and with a stronger connection to Jesus Christ as He helps you move forward!
Gloria teaching missionary lesson