Missionaries!

Last summer I thought I was done saying goodbye to my friends while they left on their missions.  I was dead wrong.  In the last month we have said goodbye to Zach and now to two more.  Last night we said goodbye to one of our friends, Stephen.  He is leaving for summer semester and we won't see him before he leaves for his mission.  He is going to Boise, Idaho and couldn't be more excited to serve.  He will do awesome!!

We also said a temporary good bye to Brock.  He is going to Guatemala in a few weeks and since he lives in Idaho Falls we decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to go to his farewell.  So excited for him.  We got him and Stephen both journals with their names engraved.  We also got Brock a Spanish hymn book (also with his name on it), a t shirt of the Guatemala flag with a message from each of us and a key chain with the flag on it. Like Javi told him, "Guatemala better be ready for the big white man!"

We had a little bonfire for him last weekend.

Speaking of Javier, he will be the last good bye to missionaries (I hope, because I am sick of having to say goodbye to people. But it is SO good that they are going.)  He just started his papers and is so stoked!

I am excited for all these guys and I can't wait to hear all the stories they have.  They are/will do amazing.  One thing that has been pointed out to me in the last couple months is it isn't where you are serving but what your assignment is.  It is such  a good mindset when getting callings because certain places aren't as popular as others.  When Stephen got his mission call everyone kind of laughed but Javi pointed out to him that he is going on a mission and that alone is one of the greatest opportunities.  I have kind of been thinking about that lately.  For the past few years I have been wanting to go help somewhere in another country and do some service.  I have been kind of stubborn about it and not understanding why it wasn't working for me.  Hearing these guys talk about their chance to serve the people in Boise, New York or Guatemala makes me feel guilty for wanting so badly to go out of the Unites States.  I have had many chances to serve and they have helped me grow in many ways.  I haven't started yet but when my background check clears (which it will, promise) I am going to start volunteering at the Women and Children's shelter.  I eventually want to join the Rape Crisis team.  Also starting in September I will be volunteering once in awhile at the hospital.  I am really excited and will not longer complain about not being able to travel and help somewhere else.

Zachary S. Scoffield

I absolutely HATE saying goodbye to people.  Especially when I have seen them pretty much everyday for the past four months and I have to say goodbye for two years.  I have had many friends go on missions but I have never been this close to someone that was outside of family leave.  Yesterday was our last day to see Zach before he headed into the MTC (which will be a brutal 2 months because he will be a mile away from us still).  We had a nice small bonfire planned for last night with our little group of friends for a last hang out.  Zach had errands to run so he wouldn't be down until 7.  I was at Junior's at around four when the door opens and in walks Zachary.  Junior and I were so excited.  He had been in Fresno packing for the last few days. What a great surprise.  We met and talked to his parents while he showered.  They are so sweet and I could tell they were having a hard time letting him go like we were.  We had a great time at the bonfire and took plenty of pictures, but it seems like we will still not have enough to hold us over for two years.

Zach will be a fantastic missionary and the people of New York better know that they are lucky.  I will miss him tons!

Good luck Zachary!!!

Catching up before it's too late

Saturday night we headed back up to the Bottomless Pit. It was a huge group of people but still went well.  We had a bon fire going (thank goodness because it started snowing and it was freezing) and had lots of stuff to burn.  We even found a free couch that looked way sweet when it burnt.

Marissa and I went to the guys' ward (my freshman ward) to hear Zach talk. When we were moving to sit down by the bishop's wife she says, "Oh Javier! You have some cute girls with you today! It is refreshing to see such pretty faces!" I love her! haha She asked us if we were in the ward and I said I was in it last year. She just freaked out saying she knew she knew me but couldn't remember if I was in the ward now or in the past.  She asked who was older out of Marissa and I and couldn't believe Marissa was 3 and a half years older than me.  Throughout sacrament she made the funniest comments. Zach's talk was awesome and he made our whole row cry when he "sweated out of his eyes."  It was awesome to see the bishopric again.

Monday night we went with them to Brother Quist's (one of the counselors in their ward) house for FHE. I love their family.  We played Beatle's RockBand, had a Q&A with Junior (really cool), held their frog (made me miss the ones that are on our sidewalk in the summers), whooped Zach in arcade basketball and had brownies and homemade ice cream (we had it last year and on the way up to his house I was hoping we had it again.)

He wanted to take a shot at carrying Junior. 

His wife pretty much had a heart attack thinking he was going to ruin his back. 

We had a game last night. First round of tournament and won! They only had four girls on their team and two of the girls were super nice. One of them was on our team last year and she is the sweetest.  I don't know when our next game is but I am excited!

I am definitely sad about the game tonight. I will miss Jimmer.

I went to Oedipus the King with Preston (the guy I went on the triple blind date with).  It was an interesting play and a fun night.

Four day weekends start...now!

First of all, I am TOTALLY finished with Exploration of Teaching!! I was up until 3:30 Thursday night/Friday morning finishing my packet that I of course procrastinated on doing. But, it's done. Thank goodness!

We lost out of the Dodgeball Tournament. Boo... We played the number one seed our second round. SO messed up. Here is the team:

MaryBeth, Liz, MVP, Marissa, Stacey, Marci

(Chris, the photographer, didn't get the best part. Our hot pink socks.)

We went to the men's volleyball games this week again. After the game Friday night we went up the canyon to have a mini bonfire. Or like Stacey likes to call it, a campfire. Here is half the group:

Everett, Zach, Pepe, Crazy Lady, Javier

We also went with Stacey, Fuzzy, Junior, Brock, David and Maddy.  It was super chill so it was a good night. 

We slept in until 12 and missed the beginning of the basketball game. But we got to see Davies' dunk and Jimmer's pissed  off face followed by his super loud yell of excitement.  It was good. I went shopping with Stacey and Pepe for a bit... 3 hours. I got two skirts, a belt, vans and some earrings (that were $1.50 each!!).

I am in LOVE with these.

We then met up with Javier, Junior, Nick, Marissa, Zach and a girl named Brittney.  We ate way too much, of course.  We then came back to our apartment and played Settlers (which was my best game so far and still lost), ate brownies (I had pretty much half the pan, and it showed in my hyperness/crazy annoyingness/stomach ache) and hang out with Aaron, Chris, Stacey and Javier. By the way, they were not nice and recorded my heavy breathing after I fell asleep on the couch.

Stacey went to church with us and afterward we went to Fuzzy and Nate's for waffles and eggs. Nate eats his eggs with ketchup, too! Everyone thinks I am weird for doing that. But, he eats it with French Toast too which I don't know if I would be able to do that.

We went over to Javier and Junior's to play some card games, learned magic tricks from Brock and Zach and watched the hypnotist video of Javier. SO great.

I don't have class tomorrow... Everyone else does. I need a job or else I am going to become REALLY lazy.

Jimmered

First thing- for those of you who don't know what WinCo is: Go here. 


Second of all- BYU beat the Utes. That's always a great thing.  The beginning was kind of scary but it worked out in the end.  Abuou was awesome though.  (Just like his arms.)


We went to a bonfire last night with Mike, Fuzzy and Stacey and a bunch of other people that knew Fuzzy.  It was up in Heber and really fun.  We have hung out with some of the people before when we played games and dodgeball.  The people who owned the house fed us Taco Soup and these delicious pretzel frosting things. SO good. We played ping pong, Jenga and watching The Buttercream Gang.  It was a bunch of fun.


After church today I was asked to give the lesson at FHE tomorrow night. And guess what else? It is combined with another group. Yay for me... Anyone have ideas for a topic?


We got banana muffins in Relief Society, Orange bread and cinnamon rolls in Mission Prep, yummy sugar cookies from the bishopric and little teddy bears with suckers from the men in the ward.  I have never really cared for Valentine's Day but when I get goodies, I don't mind it so much.  


Oh! So, on the way up to Heber last night Mike was saying how he read about a blog about Jimmer and a girl acting like Michelle.  I checked it out and she is a girl that was in my ward last year.  It's a hilarious story so go read it here.