6 April 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 602
Family on Ashton’s MTC tour
On Monday, for FHE, my ward came on an MTC tour, and some of the family in Provo and at home were able to come too. It was really special to share such a major place in my life with them.
We got some Denny’s afterwards, which apparently had some pretty negative effects on a lot of people the day after.
Braden and Brooke were planning on going to see episodes from The Chosen, Season 5 on Thursday night, but Brooke got sick, so Braden invited me to take her spot. It was great, and I’m excited for the rest of the season. Hope I’ll get to see the next ones in theaters as well.
After general conference on Saturday, some of us brothers and friends met up at the church to play basketball. It’s been a while since all of us played together, and it’s always fun whenever we get the chance to do it.
Ashton at his desk at the MTC
This week, I’ve been either sick or experiencing food poisoning, either from work or maybe from Denny’s. Most of the residents have been unwell, with severe diarrhea.
On Monday night, Ashton gave us a tour of the MTC, which was a great experience to see what goes on there. I enjoyed the large paintings they had. After the tour, we went to Denny’s, where the food was good and the service was great.
On Tuesday, London and I had planned a double date. And I was not sure if I was able to go because of how sick I was feeling, but by the time it was time for dinner, I was feeling a lot better.
Keaton, London, Riley, Gloria on date
We went to the sushi place called Sushi Yah—an all you can eat sushi restaurant. Riley and Keaton ate the most. We had two rounds of sushi with 10 different types of rolls. I couldn’t really eat much. I was not feeling the best, but it was really good.
On Friday, my coworker Brooklyn and I went to the temple to do baptisms. We had made a group of people that might wanna go to temple with us, but only the two of us were able to go. Going to the temple has been really good, because sometimes I’m not able to go with the family because of work.
This week was also general conference. I was only able to to listen to one session on Saturday, and Riley and I went in person to the Conference Center. That was a really fun experience, since I’ve never actually been in the Conference Center for general conference before. Riley really enjoyed it as well.
Family eating at Denny’s after MTC tour
I have been slaving away at school and work this week. I have an awesome district of missionaries at the MTC right now. I love them all a lot, and the family got to come in to my class during their tour with Ashton and say hi! It was exciting for me to have most of the family see me at work and get "a little taste of what I do every day of my life" (Nacho Libre quote).
Having dinner together afterwards at Denny’s was fun! A ton of the family got food poisoning though, But that's what we live for right?
Then, general conference was at the end of the week. After the sessions on Saturday we boys—me, Ashton, Luis, Christian, Braden, Monte, some of Luis's friends, and Gideon Grappendorf all played basketball!
Monte and Hazel
Y’all probably get tired of me talking about it, but I went on a date with Hazel this week. This time though, she was the one that asked me out.
If you haven’t noticed by now, our favorite place to go is Swig. I don’t think there’s been a recent date where we haven’t just gone to Swig to start. This time was no different. The plan was to get Swig, and then go to Nickel Mania. Luckily for us, those two locations are right next to each other. We had a blast just going around playing the different games there.
We came across Dance, Dance, Revolution where we heard the most bizarre song ever! It was called Wookiee, Wookiee in the Kitchen. We got a good laugh out of that.
We spent a few hours at Nickel Mania, and then we got our prizes. We had enough tickets to get her a little rubber duck keychain, and she told me to get a little pink rubber bear that I have named “Mr. McStuffins.” After that, the date was finished, so I drove her home.
Monte reading in his room
This week we were able to go on a tour of the MTC, which was really cool. I wasn't really expecting to like it, and I didn't initially want to go, but by the end I actually really enjoyed it.
After the tour, Ashton got Denny's for everyone. It was really good. I got chicken tenders with donut balls filled with cream.
Then the next couple days people started to feel sick, so we assumed it might've been food poisoning, luckily I didn't get too sick, and I was able to work the next day without feeling too bad.
Charlie and Isaac playing
Ashton wanted to take the family on a tour of the MTC. It was good timing, especially cause Monte's preparing to leave for his mission. The tour was pretty fun. We got to see the missionary cafeteria, the MTC laundromat—which is the biggest in the state—and the dorms and classes that the missionaries go to.
The testimonies shared on the tour were really powerful, and the whole tour itself was inspiring, and made me want to serve a mission even more.
After the tour, Ashton wanted to take us to a burger place that had half-off cheeseburgers. We ended up not going there because it was jam-packed, but we decided to go to a nearby Denny's. The food there was great. We had delicious sandwiches with donut balls filled with maple in the middle. I did happen to get sick after I ate those donut-balls, so now whenever I think about them, I wanna throw up.
Thank you Ashton for giving us the opportunity to go on the tour of the MTC, and than you for dinner, it was amazing!
Family on a tour in the MTC laundry
I was so excited to go on an MTC tour. It was so fun. After the MTC tour, we saw Caleb teaching in his class, and then we went to Denny's to eat dinner.
The next day everyone started to get sick, except for me, Mom, and Dad. Troy did not have it for a while, but then he got it. So it was just up to me and Mom to take care of the dogs.
Family on MTC tour
This week was another double dog week, and we beat our old record, which was 11 dogs. This week we got to 12! It was crazy, but we managed.
Ashton invited the family to an MTC tour, but me and Veidi stayed home. Dad let us watch TV and relax, so we could keep an eye on the dogs. Dad also got us a snack while we stayed home.
General conference was also very good. Ashton and Caleb came over, and they played a lot of Aquire with Isaac, Kai, and Monte. The general conference talks were very good, and I was able to get a lot out of them.
I also got sick this week. I don't know why, but so did almost everybody else. They think it was because of Denny's, the place they ate out at after the MTC tour, but since I got sick too, and I didn’t eat there, we’re not sure. I was sick for like two days but then I got better.
Family eating at Denny’s after MTC tour
I’ve had some exciting news at work. Over the past few months I have moved from mostly training current and future and foster parents to helping out with a new initiative that the governor’s wife is pushing called Care Communities.
Lately, I have been spending more of my time training organizations, usually Latter-day Saint stakes, on how to set up support groups to help lighten the load on foster parents.
Since I started working at Utah Foster Care about two and a half years ago, I’ve been working about 10 hours a week. Well, I just got offered a “full time” job working 30 hours a week on the Care Communities project. It was an honor to be chosen to go full time.
Arkin and I discussed it, and we decided to move forward. This will not only increase my pay, but now I will also be eligible for an amazing benefits package provided by Utah Foster Care for full-time employees. I can also work from home much of the time, and when I go in to work, children (and even dogs!) are welcome there!
Owen sleeping with Grandma