July 22, 2018
Hi Jon. It's exciting you're leaving the CCM soon. I don't know which day but maybe it will happen before you get this. If not, enjoy the remainder of your time at the CCM. When I was in the MTC it got really old really fast but after I left I realized that it's one of those places that once you leave you never go back so it's actually good to just enjoy it for as long as you can.
I've been sending you pics so this all might be redundant but I spent almost two weeks in Grand Teton National Park. I car camped for the first week, hammocking some nights but mostly on my cot in a tent because these crazy lightning and thunderstorms would roll through nightly between 2am and 4am and I didn't want to be caught out in my hammock in all of that. The first night I stayed in my hammock and when the rain started at 2am I had to run to the van and then set up my tent in the rain. Not fun.
During the week I visited all of the major sites to see, did some 4-6 mile hikes, and kayaked and paddleboarded at all the best lakes. Then on the weekend I did a 40 mile hike starting on Saturday and ending on Tuesday. I had a really spiritual experience on Sunday morning when I was at a really scenic place called the Death Valley Shelf overlooking Death Canyon and I knew I wasn't going to be able to attend any church meetings that day or take the sacrament so instead I said like a 30 minute prayer and just had an Enos type of experience where I felt the spirit really strongly and felt like Heavenly Father really knows me personally. I work hard to get to church meetings every time I can but there have also been times where a Sunday morning in the middle of the wilderness all by myself with nothing but solitude has made me feel even closer to Heavenly Father than I sometimes do in a church building with 300 other people.
Remember in Sequoia National Park when I peed and that deer licked the ground? Well in Grand Teton National Park I'd pee on the dirt or on a rock with no animals in sight and then 3 minutes later a few marmots would appear out of nowhere and start licking the exact place I peed. When it was on dirt I swear they actually ate the dirt! This happened time after time every single day. I don't know where these marmots even live or how they knew I peed somewhere - probably by smell I guess. It was crazy.
On day 3 of my 4 day hike I set up camp on this cliff overlooking an incredible view and there were some clouds so for the first time I decided to set up my tent AND my hammock. I dozed in my hammock until evening but then the rain started and I got in my tent. For 2 hours there was torrential rain and wind and the spot where my tent was became a lake or at least a big puddle. I was mostly dry inside but when I touched the bottom of my tent with a finger or a toe it felt like a waterbed mattress because there was water under me and all around me. For the whole 2 hours in my tent all I could think about was the time you and I got stuck in that storm on the Kaweah Gap and we put up our tent, got inside, and then basically went to sleep for the night at 3pm. I also thought about that time last summer in the High Uintas with Maddy where we were in that rain and hail storm and didn't even have time or place to set up tents so we just huddled by ourselves hoping not to get hit by lightning. Fun times. Sometimes I forget just how many of most important memories of my life have you in them. I know we had a lot of good times but it's the hardest times that I remember the most for some reason and you were there.
This week is the July 24 Pioneer Day holiday and then I'm headed back up to Jackson Hole to kayak with Chris and Skylar for a week. Our plan is to kayak 100 miles and we'll see if that's even possible but it should be epic.
I'm so proud of you. Leaving the CCM and hitting "real" Mexico is going to be super hard. Don't ever even for one minute get too discouraged about your language skills. Just do everything your mission president asks of you and keep studying hard. It's not your work it's the Lord's work. If He wants you to teach then he'll give you the words. Don't think you have to do it on your own - that's not the way it works. Just work hard and put yourself in the right places and miracles will happen.
Love ya,
Dad
I've been sending you pics so this all might be redundant but I spent almost two weeks in Grand Teton National Park. I car camped for the first week, hammocking some nights but mostly on my cot in a tent because these crazy lightning and thunderstorms would roll through nightly between 2am and 4am and I didn't want to be caught out in my hammock in all of that. The first night I stayed in my hammock and when the rain started at 2am I had to run to the van and then set up my tent in the rain. Not fun.
During the week I visited all of the major sites to see, did some 4-6 mile hikes, and kayaked and paddleboarded at all the best lakes. Then on the weekend I did a 40 mile hike starting on Saturday and ending on Tuesday. I had a really spiritual experience on Sunday morning when I was at a really scenic place called the Death Valley Shelf overlooking Death Canyon and I knew I wasn't going to be able to attend any church meetings that day or take the sacrament so instead I said like a 30 minute prayer and just had an Enos type of experience where I felt the spirit really strongly and felt like Heavenly Father really knows me personally. I work hard to get to church meetings every time I can but there have also been times where a Sunday morning in the middle of the wilderness all by myself with nothing but solitude has made me feel even closer to Heavenly Father than I sometimes do in a church building with 300 other people.
Remember in Sequoia National Park when I peed and that deer licked the ground? Well in Grand Teton National Park I'd pee on the dirt or on a rock with no animals in sight and then 3 minutes later a few marmots would appear out of nowhere and start licking the exact place I peed. When it was on dirt I swear they actually ate the dirt! This happened time after time every single day. I don't know where these marmots even live or how they knew I peed somewhere - probably by smell I guess. It was crazy.
On day 3 of my 4 day hike I set up camp on this cliff overlooking an incredible view and there were some clouds so for the first time I decided to set up my tent AND my hammock. I dozed in my hammock until evening but then the rain started and I got in my tent. For 2 hours there was torrential rain and wind and the spot where my tent was became a lake or at least a big puddle. I was mostly dry inside but when I touched the bottom of my tent with a finger or a toe it felt like a waterbed mattress because there was water under me and all around me. For the whole 2 hours in my tent all I could think about was the time you and I got stuck in that storm on the Kaweah Gap and we put up our tent, got inside, and then basically went to sleep for the night at 3pm. I also thought about that time last summer in the High Uintas with Maddy where we were in that rain and hail storm and didn't even have time or place to set up tents so we just huddled by ourselves hoping not to get hit by lightning. Fun times. Sometimes I forget just how many of most important memories of my life have you in them. I know we had a lot of good times but it's the hardest times that I remember the most for some reason and you were there.
This week is the July 24 Pioneer Day holiday and then I'm headed back up to Jackson Hole to kayak with Chris and Skylar for a week. Our plan is to kayak 100 miles and we'll see if that's even possible but it should be epic.
I'm so proud of you. Leaving the CCM and hitting "real" Mexico is going to be super hard. Don't ever even for one minute get too discouraged about your language skills. Just do everything your mission president asks of you and keep studying hard. It's not your work it's the Lord's work. If He wants you to teach then he'll give you the words. Don't think you have to do it on your own - that's not the way it works. Just work hard and put yourself in the right places and miracles will happen.
Love ya,
Dad
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