1. First day as a Freshman at Timpview High School!!!
2. Died on the hike to Mt. Fuji.
3. Returned home from the best youth conference ever!!!!!!!
well, the first option definitely could've happened if I stayed in Provo. the second obviously didn't happen. so that leaves the third.
when I first found out that I was going to Youth Conference in Japan, I had 2 thoughts in my head. the first one was: at least I'm not going on Pioneer Trek like I would've in my other ward. (for those of you who don't know, Pioneer Trek is a Utah Mormon thing where you dress up like pioneers, push handcarts, and march around the desert to get a "true pioneer experience." dumbest idea ever.) the second was there is no way I am going to Youth Conference with a thousand military kids I don't even know. you see, I am in the Tokyo First English-Speaking Ward, and while there are a lot of youth, they all decided to return home to the US for the summer, those stinkers. well, except for 3 girls and a few boys, but you get the idea. and only one other youth out of the entire ward would be going with me, and I'm not even that close to her, we barely even talk. none of the leaders could go either, which is why my mother acted as a "leader" for us 2 girls. that left all the military wards in the stake that aren't even close to where I live.
when I found out that we would be hiking Mount Fuji, the second tallest mountain in the world and one of the toughest hikes ever, I decided that trek didn't sound too bad after all. from all the people who have hiked Fuji before, they have had altitude sickness. dehydration. slipped on the rocks. heat exhaustion. extremely sore all over. and some people even die on that mountain.
Camp Fuji, the US Marine Training Camp our stake stayed at, was actually really nice. we had our own bedrooms with real mattresses instead of futons, our own bathrooms with showers, and a not-too-delightful cafeteria with American Food (which tasted an awful lot like school lunch). the older girls who got there first got their own bedrooms, but the people who arrived late, like me, had to get roommates. Mine was Sarah, the only other girl from my ward. and let me tell you, we are complete opposites. I am a neat freak, while she is more, not a neat freak. I spend all my free time listening to music or singing myself; she spend her free time reading. and while I was super excited for the dance, she was a bit scared. but we both enjoyed ourselves. and I made a ton of friends at the dance! there was a good balance of upbeat songs and slow-dancing. the upbeat songs I just enjoyed myself with the girls and didn't really dance, just jump around (until One Direction came on. then I went crazy.) for the slow dancing, it wasn't too bad except that all the boys were way taller than me. but they were nice, and they could dance, and we became friends. here are a few of em. (just a few; there's a ton more!)
this beautiful, sweet, funny, curly haired girl is Penelope! we hit it off right at the start. we met in the car on the way to Fuji, and we have eaten together, talked together, did workshops together, and stuck together the whole time! we had a ton of fun together, and isn't she just the cutest thing ever? I miss her guts already!
me and Sarah, my roommate and fellow wardie! we became good friends on this trip, and she actually reminds me a bit of Wesley with her sense of humor and her personality! (which isn't a bad thing!) we had a lot of fun as well and really got to know each other with sharing a room and everything. it was great!
Hasselhoff and Cousin Zach. they were always keeping us entertained! at lunch, Penelope didn't finish her Jello Parfait (which I admit wasn't that great), so one of them (I can't remember if it was Jacob or Zach), grabbed a spoon and mixed up the whole thing, added a ton of salt, grabbed a ton of boys, and dared them to drink it. but they didn't stop there. gradually, pepper, Tabasco sauce, and A-1 Steak Sauce was mixed in. the only one who got even close to drinking it was Jacob, who spilled one drop on his pants and freaked out. (I don't blame them, it smelled and looked pretty nasty.) Penelope was probably really grossed out by what the Hoffs turned her Jello Parfait into! but we still cracked up, because who doesn't love the Westhoff Cousins?
Hasselhoff modeling my glasses. mmmmm.
Oh, and let's not forget this lovely picture of Jarrod and me. Attractive, I know, right?
me, Penelope, and Sarah!
me, Penelope, Sarah, Zach, Jacob, and Jarrod
me at some workshop.
on the second day, we only had 2 workshops! one of them was that the leaders pretended to be investigators, and the youth were the missionaries and we had to answer their questions about the Book of Mormon. the second one I really don't remember but I posted a picture of it. but we did have a water balloon fight, and I got nailed in the back by my own mother! oh, how I love water balloons. we were also split into "families". our family was called the "Zions", and our motto was to eternity, and beyond! our flag had the city in the clouds on it, and the ladder leading up to it- the stairway to heaven! it was great, and we had so much fun- especially at mealtime. the Hoffs kept on trying to get me to scream at table salt (long story), and there was the mutilated apple that got stuck on my fork (another long story-- I shouldn't eat with boys!) and when I was putting my dishes away, I couldn't get the apple off the fork. finally, I pulled it off, but it hit the dishwasher person in the face! I felt so bad, even after apologizing a thousand times!
Wednesday was the death march. before I even got to the first station, I couldn't breathe. altitude sickness was really kicking in. and I had a mini panic-attack. Sarah, my hiking partner, however, was hiking backwards. but we made it to the next station just fine! Sarah decided that I was going too slow, so she hooked up with some other youth and did just fine. Mom and I were lagging behind, going as slow as ever. my only motivation was that everyone would be at the top, cheering for me. I wasn't even supposed to make it up because of my stupid feet. and the trail was super rocky. and I had all those symptoms listed above, but I didn't die. by the time I got to the 8th station, I was pretty much done. I couldn't make it any farther. but I decided that I was close enough to the top that I could get there. and I did!
but no one was there. and I was extremely exhausted, dehydrated, and I couldn't breathe. so I cried. and cried. and cried.
Brett and me before the hike
Hikari and me at the top!
even though I was very proud of myself to be at the top, I thought to myself, what is the reason for hiking this? sure, it's a good view, but is it really this pretty? I couldn't breathe. I was dehydrated. I am still in a lot of pain. was this even worth it? why the freak did I do this?
the way down wasn't much better. tons of rocks got in my shoes, and sure, there was this nice little rockslide, but it killed my feet. I fell down a ton. and I was feeling like crap. but Mom and I did it together. and we didn't make it back in time with the rest of the group, but they were all waiting for me with pizza. and everyone was sunburnt except me. which is a big accomplishment. and we survived! and that's all that counts.
come at me, bro.
I was pretty worn out, and by the time I woke up the next day to the reveille on the trumpet at like 5:30 am, I actually fell back asleep. then, mom woke me up like an hour later, and then the cannons went off. I had to get myself out of bed, eat breakfast, have a contest with Penelope and the Hoffs to see who could blow on a napkin and make it sound like a brass instruments (another really long story), and get to testimony meeting. that was the most spiritual part. I bore my testimony first, and I actually cried. I didn't say anything too significant, but I talked about how I didn't really want to go to youth conference, but my father gave me a Priesthood blessing that i would be able to climb Fuji without any problems and that I would be able to make new friends, and it worked. I just needed to have faith and do my part and pray. and that I knew that the Spirit was there because I felt genuinely happy, not some feeling you get because you're happy. but really, happy. after bearing mine, all the other testimonies strengthened mine even more. sure, my testimony went much better in my head than it did when I said it, but it went pretty well. a few quotes from different youth (I won't say names):
"Hiking Fuji is like life. There's some easy parts, and some hard parts where you can barely breathe. But the Lord will always be there to guide you, so that you can make it to the top."
"Holding onto the ropes on the trail is like holding onto the rod. You have to let it guide you to get where you need to go. And don't let go!"
"Did you know that the word 'impossible' says 'I'm possible'?"
"Sometimes you need to say to the mountain in front of you, come at me, bro! and believe it!"
"In the words of Doctor Phil, no matter how hard you flip a pancake, there's always two sides."
all in all, it was a legit youth conference. I made so many new friends. my testimony has been strengthened times 10. I hiked the second tallest mountain in the world and I got to the top and I didn't die! and I'm pretty proud of myself! goodnight everyone! and the Church is true!
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