Vicissitudes and Victories

A Long Overdue Update on My Life

I figured that I finally have some time tonight to update everyone about my life in the last few weeks. Many of you know that I have been dating a girl named Ashley very seriously over the past few months. She has become the light of my life and the wonder of my world. My life revolves around the love that I feel for her and the beauty that she brings to me. She is good and sweet and just plain wonderful, and I am completely in love with her.

There will be much more about Ashley in this email, but I also wanted to tell everyone about my experience as a volunteer Especially for Youth counselor in Ogden from July 9-14 and again from July 16-21. It really was a truly great experience. I had always pictured the EFY program as a sappy cum-ba-ya-fest--much more about emotion and flirting than a genuine spiritual experience. Yet I was sorely wrong in my judgment of the program. From the first moments that I participated, I realized that EFY exists to help the youth of the church know that spiritual things can be fun and fun things can be spiritual. So often we try and compartmentalize our lives between these two different areas when we should make a place for both in our lives.

I had the opportunity to teach 14 and 15 year old boys about the first vision, I taught them about the atonement and about faith, I taught them about commandments, and about the Abrahamic covenant. Most of the boys just loved hearing and coming to understand these doctrines and principles. The boys are so malleable at this age and their lives truly change over the course of one simple week. One boy named Beau just looked lost, sad, and skeptical when I first met him. Over the course of the week, a new light came into his eyes, and by the time we got to the testimony meeting on Thursday night I could tell that he had felt and recognized the Spirit in his life. I could even tell the spirit was sanctifying him. He gave the closing prayer to end the program that week, and as I walked back with him to where his parents were going to pick him up, I knew he was changed. He talked enthusiastically about scripture study and about going on a mission. He knew his Savior loved him, and he knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet. For the local programs in the Northern Utah Area the EFY participants sleep in their own homes which allows the church to offer the program at the cost of only $55. I was very impressed at the quality of counselors that volunteered to work at these EFY sessions. They were people willing to give up weeks of their summer to serve the youth of the church. I made good friends, and I have come to look up to many of these friends. I even got to sing at some of the firesides. I am constantly amazed at the marvelous work and a wonder that is our church.

At the same time I was working as a counselor I was separated from Ashley--even though I was staying at her parents' home in Hooper, Utah. It was the longest time that we have been separated in our five months of dating, and in the separation we came to more fully realize our feelings for one another. The weekend after my first EFY session, we decided to get engaged. We are constantly haunted by my impending exodus to the University of Illinois in the middle of August, and we decided that we needed to figure out what to do so that we can be together. After finishing my second session, we spent the Pioneer Day weekend making plans, ring shopping, and spending time with her family. On Wednesday I went up to Pocatello to search for a car, and I also secretly detoured down to Ogden to buy the ring that she liked. I told her that car shopping had taken much longer than I expected, when I was really preparing to propose that night. When I arrived in Logan I went to her house for dinner. Subtly I asked her if she wanted to see my tuxedo over at my house (We had previously discussed using my own personal tux for the wedding and just renting matching tuxes for our fathers). I spent the first few minutes cleaning my living room--I wanted the right ambiance to pop the question. I then retired to my room and put on my tuxedo. I also put the ring into my pocket. When I came out, I asked her how she liked the tux. She said she liked it very much. I then asked her if she thought it would be appropriate for the reception, and she said yes. At the same time she was wearing Sunday clothes and I asked her if her clothes would be appropriate for the reception. She gave me a very enthusiastic "no," reminding me that she would be wearing her wedding dress. I then stated that I had something that she would need for the reception and took out the ring. As I knelt down, I told her how much I loved her and how much I wanted to be with her for the eternities. I then asked her to marry me and she accepted as I slipped the ring onto her finger.

We have decided to be married in the Logan Temple on the 21st of November. I have a week off for Thanksgiving, and I will fly out for the wedding. We will have an open house in Rexburg on November 18 and a reception in Hooper, Utah on the night of the wedding. We will then pack up our things in a Uhaul and head for Illinois. We hate the fact that we will be separated for three months while I pursue my PhD, but we are happy to be able to start the eternities together as we kneel at the altar of the temple and become full partakers of the Abrahamic Covenant and our Savior's atonement.

I spent the last week in Island Park with Ashley and my brother David and his wife Val. We had a great time and were able to see a show at the Playmill as well as spend a full day in Yellowstone Park. This weekend I am traveling to Stanford University to present a paper at a conference there. I am excited for the professional experience, but I am also quite nervous to be presenting my work to a group of professional historians. You now have the skinny on the whirlwind story that has been my life this summer. I wouldn't trade the experiences I been able to live through for anything. I am happy and safe and content. I am also thankful to all those who have helped me get to this point in my life.

posted by Joel @ 1:04 AM