30 Jun 2024
VOLUME 12 – NUMBER 562
Family at Lehi Rodeo
The Lehi Rodeo is definitely one of my favorite traditions to do around this time of year, especially with the family. It's a lot of fun watching people tackle cows, stay on top of crazy bulls, and race on horses!
Taco's birria with the Munguia's was so delicious. Playing group games on the Nintendo Switch and crazy ball at the church as a family are always a blast, all of which we did on Saturday.
Down in Provo, London, Ashton, Cougar, and I all played pickleball one evening and got some frozen custards afterwards. Just enjoying summer!
All crammed in on ride to Lehi Rodeo
And with Independents Day coming up, BYU had a patriotic service on Sunday. Ashton and I went together and Matthew Holland, President Holland's son, spoke. It was really great. It deepened my love for my country.
Besides all that, I've been working a ton as a custodian at the MTC. However there's a big chance I'll only work here one week, because this Thursday I had my final interview for being a teacher at the MTC, and it seemed like it went pretty well!
Yaretzie and Yarima at Lehi Rodeo
This week has been so fun and busy. On Tuesday we were up at the church for Camp Esther, which is a camp for the older girls. We had mini classes about adult responsibilities. I enjoyed being with the older girls my age. We had Costa Vida for lunch.
After the day at church, I had to pack before Veidi and I left Wednesday morning for the rest of Camp Esther up at the campgound. I drove to Walmart to get our lunch and other things we needed for the week.
In the morning we had to leave around 7:00am to be there on time. When we got to the camp, the boys were still there, packing up after Camp Helaman. In the meantime, we went on a hike that took about an hour and a half. Once we were done, we headed back to camp, and the boys were gone.
Gloria and Veidi at girls camp
For the rest of the day, we stayed in the lodge because it was super hot. We had to wait until the sun was down to do our outside activities.
I enjoyed doing archery! President Grappendorf and President Simpson pinned their hats on the archery targets, and offered a prize to anyone who could hit their hats. In my last round, I got three shots and I hit President Simpson's hat all three times, one right after another!
The next day, we had the rest of the younger girls come up for regular girls camp. We older girls had “little sisters” assigned to us. I was the big sister for Gwendolyn Hays and Alison Eisert. Alison was the youngest little sister I had. She is very quiet and very shy around people, and she also has special needs.
Dad holding Mattias
On the last day, I asked Sister Chamberlain if I did a good job with Alison, because she had told me earlier that they had prayed about who would be the best older sister for her and they chose me. She had also told me that Alison was only going to be at camp for a few hours and was not going to make it the whole week.
Sister Chamberlain answered my question by telling me that I had made a huge difference with Alison because I made her change her mind to stay. That makes me feel so happy knowing that I made a difference in someone's life.
Jenny and Hermana Mungia making birrias
I’ve been super excited for Camp Helaman for a long time. Last year was so cool, and this year, as a member of the stake youth committee, I was able to help plan it. It turned out well and was a success, not only because nobody went to the hospital, but because the spirit was so powerful there. The way that young men connect at Camp Helaman amazes me.
One of my favorite games was called Save the Bear. To play, you place a stuffed animal next to a tree and make a circle around the tree. Nobody can touch inside the circle. Your team is given a single rope, and you need to get the stuffed animal out of circle. It was so cool seeing how everyone did it.
My zone was so close to winning. We almost halved the previous best time, but right at the end, a team member lost his grip and his knee tapped the ground, resulting in a loss. It was still super fun, and everyone had good sportsmanship.
Young men at Camp Helaman
I think that I got super lucky with my zone assignment. I knew a lot of the people in my zone, and got to meet a few more. They were just super energetic, and willing to feel the spirit, and I think that’s what makes a great zone.
Also, each zone made its own flag. In my zone, Jonas threw out the idea of a Batman-themed flag, so we drew a large Batman logo with a six in the middle. We wrote all of our names at the bottom, but instead of real last names, we replaced them all with Wayne. Our motto was, “We are vengeance, we are disciples of Christ, we are children of God… We are Batman!”
In the first devotional we sang Army of Helaman, and that was a great start to the spiritual side of camp. The devotional that stood out to me the most, was a ropes course where the rope represented the iron rod. We were blindfolded, and we walked along holding a rope.
Monte’s flag
While we were going along, someone gave us a gallon jug full of water, which resembled our burdens. Right before we finished, our bishop asked if they could take our burden away.
Then we removed our blindfolds, and we were given a folder. Inside was a letter from our parents, and it was super emotional. We were instructed to write a letter back, and then we went to a testimony meeting.
Like last time, testimony meeting was very spiritual and emotional for a lot of the young men. It was definitely a highlight for me.
I’d like to share my testimony here. God is real, and Jesus is my savior. He died for me, and took my sins upon him. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and he did translate the Book of Mormon. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Ashton making broccoli salad
For several months, we have been planning to have the Mungia family over again for dinner. They had promised to make tacos birria. After learning about the new Spanish stake and moving out of the 5th Ward, we felt like this would be a great way to do one last thing with our friends.
So this Saturday, they came over, and we had an unbelievably delicious meal together—The Mungias helps us make tacos birria and Jenny helped the children make Grandma Sharon’s receipe for broccoli salad. We are sure going to miss seeing the Mungia family each week!
Tacos birria
This week some of the adult children came over. and we all had dinner with the Mungia's. Then we played crazy ball afterwards. It was really crazy! We played at the Wakefield chapel, because we had less people, but it was still just as fun.
There were a lot of close calls, and the games were really close. I had a really fun time, and I love to play crazy ball!
Isaac’s zone at Camp Helaman
This week I went to camp Esther. The first day we got all of our stuff packed up and loaded into the cars, and when we got there we went on a hike. We took the wrong trail, so that was fun and tiring.
Then we had lunch and got our tents set up. Later, we made bracelets, and then we did archery. We also had a devotional at the end of the night and it was super good and spiritual.
The next day we had all of the younger girls come up to camp, and each older girl had a couple of girls we were assigned to. I had a fun time with the ones I was assigned to, and they were around my age.
Tacos birria with the Mungia family
I also felt more confident talking to others, which was really scary at first, because I am not really social, but once I got out of my comfort zone and got used to talking to others, it was a lot easier for me to have a good time.
I had a great experience at girls camp, and I was so happy to make new friends. I am grateful for the experience I had to get out of my comfort zone.
Family eating tacos birria
Isaac and Monte went to camp Heleman this week, and Gloria and Veidi went to girls camp, so it was me, Kai, Quinn, and Joanna at home with Mom and Dad.
We played Laser Tag with Kai, me, and Quinn. Me and Kai were trying to hunt down Quinn with two lives each, while Quinn got 25 lives. He hid, and we were trying to be careful, because he could pop out any second and get us out.
We both won many, and then we decided that we would all be solo and go against each other. I was able to win won one, but it was mostly Kai that won.
Then when the boys came back and the girls left, we were able to get treats for one night. I played Fortnite with Kai, while Isaac and Monte went to the store to get treats.
Boys playing video games
On Sunday when I got up, I got dressed and had breakfast. I went with Dad and Veidi, and we went to pick up Gloria and Monte at the 5th Ward. Then we all went to church.
After we came home and had some lunch, we watched The Chosen. Dad made biscuits and gravy for dinner, and it was good!
Dad making biscuits and gravy
Brooke and I have been trying to find opportunities to do fun things with Ellie to help her feel special. We’ve started doing movie nights once a week after Charlie goes to bed. We’ll do popcorn and other treats just for Ellie, Brooke, and me.
So far we’ve watched Lion King and Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2. Ellie seems most excited for the popcorn every time we do this.
Movie night with Ellie
Work was busy this week. We had an event for all of the supervisors and admin specialists (those who work behind the scenes) to build connection between areas, and as a way to say thank you.
One of the assignments I had was to make refried beans for everyone at the event. London helped me by letting me use her apartment, since she has all the cooking stuff. It was a ton of beans! Very delicious though, when you add almost two pounds of bacon to each bin—ha ha!
Later that night I went with some friends downtown to watch the NHL draft party (we have a new pro hockey team in Salt Lake City). It was weird walking into the arena and having ice instead of a court. It will be exciting to go to some of those games even though I’ve never really been into hockey before Utah got a team.
Saturday played lots of crazy ball with the kids, four square, laughing games, and tacos birria—so delicious!
Ashton and friends at NHL draft party