27 July 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 619
Isaac and Will Grappendorf on river trip
This week was the friends river trip! I had a ton of fun! My favorite part of course, was the river itself—surprise! The ride there was really nice, and then once we got to Dinosaur Inn in Vernal, we all went swimming. After dinner at Cafe Rio, we chilled in our rooms for the rest of the night and went to sleep.
The next morning we were able to sleep in, and then we had some delicious food from the motel buffet. Then we headed off and reached Flaming Gorge Dam in about 45 minutes.
Once we got there, there wasn't any water coming out of the faucet, so Will and I, grabbed all the water cubes, and took the van to go fill up the all the water. I think we did it pretty fast, we were done in about 30 minutes.
Rafting on friends river trip
Once we got back to the rest of the group, we all finished setting up the rafts and started rafting. I will say that, not that the family trip wasn't fun, but there were water fights right as we got started, and they never stopped, and everyone participated in them, which was awesome!
After a while we got to the first campsite and setup and went to sleep. The next day was Red Creek Rapid, which was a lot of fun, like always. I decided to run the cameras up and down the trail so that everyone got footage going down red creek, which I think was worth it.
Cliff jumping was also a lot of fun! Packing up actually went really fast, and we were out and on our way home. I had a lot of fun, and I can't wait for the next one, wink. wink.
Water fight on friends river trip
This week has been so much fun spending time with friends and family. There was a lot of work to this, so thank you, Dad and Isaac for making this possible.
We left on Wednesday afternoon and headed down to Vernal. We stayed in the hotel, and I shared a room with Yaretzie and Sofie, which was really fun. Later that night we went swimming for a bit. I only swam for a few minutes before I got really cold.
On Thursday we got to the dam. The water is always the worst part—so cold—when you first get in, but after a while you’ll get used to it.
Gloria and Yaretzie
On the first day I had Ethan as my Gilligan. He did pretty good. I feel like I kept getting him out of his comfort zone just by getting him in the water. After a little while we started to do water fights, which are always the best part of going on the river.
When we stopped at a boat ramp, Dad wanted us to swim through a rapid without our rafts, and then lay back on our back and kind of sit in the water with our feet in front of us.
He said it was good training in case we fall off in a rapid, but it was also pretty fun. I always thought that it would be scary cause I’m afraid of water sometimes, but that was the highlight of my trip, because I tried something new.
Setting up girls’ tent at Cow Pie Camp
Setting up camp was pretty easy. The girls had their own tent, and I feel like we always went to bed early.
On the second day, I had Yaretzie as my Gilligan. She was always the one that wanted to get into the water fights. I was like: “No! I don’t want it right now,” but she would always say, “Yes! Let’s do it! We also went down Red Creek Rapid, which is always pretty scary to me.
On the third day I had Nash. He was an okay Gilligan, but he did not want to get in any water fight. He would always wanna stay either in the back or in the very front, and I was fine by that!
Stopped at Little Hole boat ramp
We had another river trip, but this time it was with friends. Honestly, this was the best river trip I’ve ever been on! I had such a fun time on the river with everyone.
As predicted, we had quite a few water fights—I don’t think we went ten minutes without one! My favorite highlight was when Riley and I did a “special ops” mission. We secretly hopped off our rafts and swam—or trudged—through the water to sneak up on Red Beard (Brother Danielson) and Propwash (President Grappendorf). The attack was perfect—they were totally surprised and outmatched by our on-ground troops, haha!
Another favorite highlight was listening to many of President Grappendorf’s millions of stories. The nights weren’t bad, and the setup was easier than I thought it would be. I’m really grateful for that.
Thanks, Dad, for all the tireless weeks of preparation you put into this trip. I know, at least for me, it was absolutely worth it!
Dad rafting on Red Creek Rapid
Last year Isaac started asking for a second river trip this year—a friends trip in addition to our annual family trip. Despite the doubling of planning and work, I said yes.
We ended up inviting Adam, Riley, and Ethan Danielson, Derrel, Will, and Gideon Grappendorf, Sophie Zimmerman, and Nash Horner. From the family, Isaac, Kai, Gloria, and myself came (Veidi could not come because she was recovering from a serious toe wound).
It was a great trip! When it was all over, and we were unpacking the truck, Adam Danielson came up to me and said, “Thank you for the opportunity of a lifetime.” I hope it was a great experience for all our friends. Isaac, I’m glad I followed your advice. As for next year…let’s cross that bridge when we get to it!
Relaxing at Stone Fly 2 campsite
It’s hard to explain how much planning and preparation goes into such a trip. Managing all the different pieces of equipment, rafts, meals, packing lists, not to mention all the extras that we have added to the tradition over the years, like name plates on each raft, ranks and pins on each hat, water cannons for water fights, and last year we introduced radios on each raft.
I also seem to always find random “river trip improvement projects” that add even more time and energy—my own fault! This year, after struggling to keep radios and cameras charged on the river, I decided to create a waterproof electronics case for the front of my raft. It is large enough to hold a large battery pack and all of our electronics.
I tried it out on this trip, and the prototype worked pretty well. However, I didn’t have time to attach a solar panel on the top, which I will take care of before I put everything away this year.
Friends river trip
This week is the Friends and Family river trip. We already had a river trip last week, and since we’ve had so few dogs lately, it’s been really nice to have a big break from all of them.
Quinn and I played a lot of football. Quinn is getting better—he can throw really far now, and he isn’t afraid of the ball anymore, which is cool.
I’ve also been working a lot on my project, which is the game I’m renovating. Right now, I’ve been focusing on the game rules and the digital part of it. I’m also trying to figure out what to do with the game board. It definitely needs to be remade so that a breeze doesn’t knock all the pieces off the board. I’m considering magnetizing it, but I’m not quite sure how to do that yet.
I also got the last Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, and it’s been an amazing series to read.
Will, Gideon, and Derrell Grappendorf
To start this week off, we had our multi-zone conference, where three zones meet at the mission home with the president and his wife. After P-Day ended, we got on a ferry and went to Playa del Carmen. We stayed there for the night with the elders from that area, and in the morning we went to the mission home in Cancún.
The conference started with a talk show called the MMC Talkshow (México Mission Cancún). The APs asked President and Hermana Witt some questions so we could all get to know them a little better. After that, we went to different rooms and learned three different ways that we can teach with the Spirit.
Next came our time to shine. Elder Larson and I sang a version of I Know That My Redeemer Lives. God definitely helped us a ton, and Elder Walker played the piano. There was no sheet music for the arrangement we were singing, so he made his own arrangement from a recording we sent him. Straight skills.
Missionaries at multi-zone conference
On our way to lunch a mototaxi pulled up, and the driver asked us to help the lady in the back. As she stumbled out of the mototaxi, we realized that she high, and she had a little daughter. I felt so bad for that little girl because she had to watch her mom do some wild things.
I think the lady was from the U.S. She kept saying she was a daughter of God. Then she went to kiss Elder Larson, so he pushed her away. That’s when she started getting upset. She started saying that we were false preachers and of the devil.
What came next I did not see coming. Out of nowhere, she turns around and straight up Moons us! No joke. Her daughter kept telling her mom to leave us alone, but then she started grabbing Elder Larson, so we dipped. I felt really bad leaving the little girl, but there were other people around who could help, and it started to get unsafe for us.
Monte making waffles at church
Now to end on a really good note. On Sunday after church, Elder Larson and I made waffles for our friends we were teaching who showed up, and also for the ward members. They really enjoyed them, and the purpose was to help our friends come and to help the members trust us a bit more.
We didn’t make nearly enough with our single little waffle maker, so next time we will have a second waffle maker and premade waffle batter. We are also going to make cards that say:
“Enjoy your waffle! If you want a second, bring this back with the name and number of a person who isn’t a member of the church who we can teach about Jesus Christ.”
Derrel Grappendorf in Swallow Canyon
After church, we went to visit Candy and her family. We had a really fun activity where we would choose a word and then find a scripture that had that word. It was so cool because Rosa (Candy’s sister-in-law) came out on her own and was eager to join the lesson. She found some really good scriptures.
Once we finished the activity, we asked if Rosa’s boyfriend was there, and he was! He came out, and we asked him about what we had taught Rosa. He said then proceeded to tell us everything we’d taught Rosa up to that point.
Yeah, that’s what we call SUPER POTENTE! We showed them a video about the church and then went on our way. I walked away from that lesson just fueled with the Spirit. I have high hopes and faith that they will be the next people we help get baptized.
Sunset at Cow Pie Camp
Troy and I played Gungeon with Cougar. We went to the park and did gel blasters and archatechs. For lunch, we had Wendy’s.
We watched Amazing Race and Survivor, and then we went to Lodestone. Mom told Troy and me to keep an eye on Joanna, so we were playing around while making sure we stayed in sight of her.
After that, Troy and I went on the red spinny thing, and then we went on the swings. Endia and Cougar took one of our kitchen sets with them so that Owen could play with it.
Kai and Ethan on Red Creek Rapid
The Hawaii trip has begun! I’m currently in Hawaii while writing this, so I bet this article and the next one will cover both halves of the week we are here. It is such a beautiful place on Maui, and I am so happy to be here.
Kind of a funny story: when London and I went to Costa Rica a while ago, we had an experience with zinc sunscreen that was not great. Especially for my skin, it doesn’t work well. Long story short, I ended up getting burned the one day we used it there.
Flash forward to this last week, and we went to Walmart to get some sunscreen. Everyone else got the rub-on type, and I elected for the spray. My motivation was simple: “Spray sunscreen never has zinc…”
Yaretzie and Gloria on Red Creek Rapid
We get to the beach, and I start with my face. I’m lathering it on because you can feel the power of the sun, and it’s only been about two minutes. I’m spraying my face with like three layers of protection. All of a sudden, London and her roommates start laughing hysterically. I look over and ask, “What?! What is it?!”
They proceed to take a picture, and to my astonishment…I am COVERED with a thick layer of zinc sunscreen. Again, it doesn’t rub in well, so it just ended up kind of sitting on my face. We had a good laugh and went to buy new sunscreen the next day.
It is so fun here, and I can’t wait to see what we do for the rest of the trip.
Ashton’s sunscreen mishap
First, we went to the park. Troy and Quinn played with the gel blasters while I played on the playground. After that, we got Wendy’s, and it was so good.
We watched Survivor, and then I played Mommy by myself. Later, Endia and Cougar came over, and I played with Owen. While he played with the kitchen, I played with my dolls.
Taking a break on friends river trip
This week was pretty simple! In the mornings, I worked. During the afternoons, I played the piano and worked on selling a housing contract. Then in the evenings, I worked again.
At work, I subbed for my co-teacher, so I got to spend six hours in class with my district. It was a lot of fun, and I grew a lot closer with them. Many of them showed serious improvements in their Spanish, which was awesome to see and be a part of.
A couple weeks ago, I heard Cougar playing River Flows in You on the piano, so I decided to dedicate myself to learning it. It’s coming along slowly but surely!
Rafting Swallow Canyon