The Spill and YSA conference

Sorry for the long time between posts. I’ve had a lot of fun and unfortunately a pretty bad fall. The fall happened while I was going 20-25 mph on my road bike. My tire got caught in a crack, nay, a small chasm in the pavement and that was the end thereof. I am here to testify of wearing of one’s helmet. Without my helmet I’m pretty sure that I would have permanent brain damage. Luckily a passerby took me to the hospital. Luckily Duke was three minutes away and I had enough sense to insist that he take me to student heath rather than where he wanted to take me; the ER, yikes.

While the doctor was looking me over he asked me, “Start at one-hundred, take away seven and keep going.” I quickly responded, “100, 93, 86, 79, 72, 65…” by the time I made it to 44 he said enough and concluded I had no concussion or other mental damage. He also asked if I’d be getting back on the road bike. After I responded to the affirmative he shook his head. Would you expect anything else from me? I experienced the oft-repeated response of many cyclists after a bad fall; “I’ll heal. How’s my bike?” I am happy to report that the damage to my bike and body was all cosmetic. The bike shop realigned a few components and it was good to go. My body had a bunch of road rash as well as a rather deep abrasion on my hip. Not too shabby for going down on asphalt doing 20-25 mph.

This weekend we had a YSA (Young Single Adult) conference. We had a great turn out with people driving from as far away as Atlanta to attend. Friday we played games, had dance lessons, but mainly just socialized. Saturday morning we were split up into teams to do various service projects. Our team spread mulch on one of the many trails running through the Duke Forest. In the afternoon we had several workshops that we could choose to attend; I attended one on humility and one on the commonalities between Mormons and Jews. We then had Elder Gibbons (our area seventy) talk to us. The spirit testified that he was indeed a general authority; it was awesome!

I hope to have a more insightful\inspirational post next time. Until then…

Dirve for fun.

I have had two weekends to tell of. They were full of fun and driving long distances to have that fun. First, two weeks ago I drove up to northern Virginia where my mother was visiting from Utah. Due to the brevity of the trip, my mother was convinced that she would not be able to see me; and I encouraged her in that mentation. On Wednesday, immediately following my class, I started the long drive up to my brother’s abode in Virginia. I arrived at approximate 10 PM and thoroughly surprised my mother; it was quite amusing. Sadly, we only could spend one day together. It was a very special day as my niece was turning 14 years old. I said good-bye when we went to bed. When I awoke she was gone.

The next afternoon we all drove down to Virginia Beach. At this time, we were experiencing 85 degree weather; of course, the beach sounded fun. When we got there, fog hid the ocean from view and the temperature was a lot closer to 45 than 85. The next morning we scouted out Atlantic Avenue surveying the shops as well as the beach. While we waited for the temperature to rise we visited the aquarium in town. It was actually a pretty cool aquarium with different exhibits and a large variety of very interesting aquatic creatures. After spending a few hours there we went back to the beach where the water was slightly warmer than the mountain lakes I’ve become accustom to. Subsequently, most of our fun was had in the sand. Mike and I were buried, into the same hole, up to our necks’. It was a blast! Later that night we went to the priesthood conference, during which the Easter bunny visited. After watching Duke demolish West Virginia we went to bed, woke up, and drove to our respective homes.

I watched the NCAA final at my friend, Zach’s house. We had a few people over including Zach’s parents. What an exhilarating finish, it could have gone either way. God shed his grace and Duke won. Pandemonium followed on campus complete with a huge bonfire. Naturally, I elected to stay off campus as I am clearly above such silliness. I believe that is why one word explains the feeling I had after the game, anticlimactic. It was, however, fun the next day whe we welcomed the tam back.

This weekend I went to a YSA (Young Single Adult) conference put on by the LDS church at property the church owns in the middle of North Carolina; it was approximately two hours away. Being in North Carolina, the property had a plethora of trees. The property included a large mess hall, several cabins, and a small lake. My friend and I left early Saturday morning arriving just in time for the service project; landscaping. We improved the entrance to the camp by raising flowerbeds, weeding, laying sod, and planting a good number of perennials. We then had ‘spiritual training’ where we participated in two different workshops and heard the area seventy speak. The messages were well thought out and very good; the Spirit was definitely there. We then had 'physical training’ where we participated in a variety of events, the highlight of which was an obstacle course in the woods. We had a dance that night following dinner. The next day (today) we had an awesome Sacrament/testimony service. It was a spiritual uplifting weekend. My favorite part was connecting with a friend and meeting new people.

That’s all.

"It is impossible to live without failure. Unless you live so cautiously that you avoid life - in which case you fail by default."
--J.K. Rowling