Trev & Jamie

I spent the first part of the week prepping for a YW activity. Still working on the part where the YW are in charge, but that's mostly because they're being flaky right now. But they weren't the only flaky ones, which is how we ended up being in charge of this week's activity anyways. So we got some gifts together for some families as well as all of our incoming and less active YW. And we delivered most of them, which was nice to get the girls to do. 

My work had our cookie bake-off on the day that it snowed super bad and also Roger forgot to put gas in his truck and the gas cap froze shut and also I had to go to a bunch of sketchy places. So I was late. But I still got a plate of cookies and won third place - receiving some decorations, a candle, and a gift card. And it's always nice to hang out because I like these people. 

I had a sweet one-on-one boxing class with Felicia because all the Gore employees are out of town apparently. But it was the perfect mix of conditioning and punching, so I loved it. 

Rachel has been planning a favorite things party with a $5 limit (where you bring 3 of the same gift), so it was nice to hang out with a bunch of older ladies. I contributed reusable hand warmers and received a hair towel (that someone donated because they don't have hair...), Elantris (a Brandon Sanderson original), a card game, and a hair trimmer. And snacks. 

My surprise for Roger when he got home. 

Jake and Mama Fish picked me up for the airport, which was super nice of them. The security man tried to take my elk meat and Roger sent a bag of snacks through the scanner for me and waved through a window. My Phoenix flight was delayed for a few hours and then Mama Sama was too tired to pick me up so Trevor did. Which I felt a little bad about since he was the one getting married. But it was good because I had to educate him about the term 'clapping cheeks'. 

Lauren and I had a sleepover and I was almost warm enough. The chins picked me up for breakfast at Tru Religion in my own vehicle (after braving a locking seatbelt and a snow tornado to get it here). We were all glad Greg stood in the cold to save us a spot. Trevor and I locked knees in a phone booth to get coloring supplies and Violet fed me all her unwanted fruit. The Chin paid for premium OJ and we all had our fill and more. 

Instead of lounging, Greg, Chin, Mama Sama, and I went to Reid Moon's bookstore to get Dad his Christmas present to himself - a Bible page from an original Bible. Kelly got a free half page (you're welcome) and the manager told Lauren that she was mad because the James 1:5 page is supposed to be 2-3x the price we paid and they forgot (you're welcome again). #spiritualgifts

Them.

The coolest part (and you're welcome x3 for this) was that Reid showed up, I happened to know him, and he happened to think it was worth his time for a chat. Dad only threw out any possible connections they might have (Roney, Proctors, Lauren, Area 70 stuff, you get it). He got to touch lots of old church books and only cried a little. Then Mama Sama came in with the winning question - Reid's absolute favorite possession - Dimick Huntington's coffin cane. 

The short version is that temporary coffins were made to transport Joseph's body back to Nauvoo for a burial. Then the mob was coming, so they ended up not getting the nice coffins in time, so the ones at the ceremony were filled with rocks. Emma asked for a plank off of the original coffins before they finished sealing them up and replaced the plank. She then split this plank into 12-16 long pieces of wood and gave them to the people that had Joseph's back the most (not necessarily apostles or whatever). 

Dimick Huntington is the guy that rowed Joseph upriver on the Mississippi after he escaped from another jail, until his hands were cut to the bones. He made Joseph a pair of boots at no cost. He never asked Joseph for anything, but he did ask Emma for a lock of Joseph's hair when preparing the body. He got a strip of wood, which was made into a cane, and the hair was placed in a glass section at the top. 

The coolest part about this cane came later. Heber C. Kimball spoke about the coffin canes later and about how special they were. And then he said this: "The day will come when there will be multitudes who will be healed and blessed through the instrumentality of those canes, and the devil cannot overcome with those who have them, in consequence of their faith and confidence of the virtues connected with them." And then he showed us letter upon letter of stories testifying of the truth of those words. And then we touched them. 

And we were almost late to Trev and Jamie's wedding. I did have time to brush and pull some sticks out of my hair (not even an exaggeration unfortunately). And then we had a chill ceremony where Trevor's foot fetish was revealed, took some pics, and ate some grub. It was too cold to play games, so we went back to the Provo House. Two games were played in six hours and I avoided both. We had a nice chat and catch-up before Lauren and I headed back to her place. We chatted some more and she even fed me before I drove back to Flag.

The car is good, being home is better. And knowing that I have a little more clearance and snow capacity is really nice. And Roger made me some steak and shrimp and we had cider and that's his whole grocery trip for this week so pray for us.