Lots and lots of people :)

Adam

This last week was absolutely nuts we had Monday off though so it wasn't bad. we went up to Richfield and spent the day in Walmart....YAY!! we really are white trash.   
We had a huge youth conference and a family reunion come in and we had over 100 guests.  The Breakfasts were INSANE!! They went through 14 cartons eggs and they killed two full pans of french toast in SEVEN MINUTES.  It was absolutely insane, Nykele helped me cook french toast on one side of the grill while I cooked more eggs.  And that was the second morning doing breakfast, the first morning was pancakes and I was just way behind the whole time.  It sucked.  But the rest of the week was really nice.  After the youth conference left it quieted down quite a bit and we were able to get things done.  The only other thing that I remember happening that was exciting was a sheep got sick and they had to shoot it to put it out of it's misery.  I have tomorrow off yay!!! that means I'm blacksmithing all day tomorrow: )  So excited.


Nykele

Alrighty, so the week didn't seem as crazy for me. We have a set schedule now as far as who is in the kitchen when. I am in Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays then every-other Sunday for breakfast. Adam's new schedule has him working full kitchen days with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays:) Yeye!! Then Mondays off and the other days he's done at three.

To answer Lizzy's question (I attempted to answer earlier this week but the ipad wouldn't let me), Adam and I work with each other all the time. The kitchen is pretty small and there are only 3-6 people in there at one time. We each have our particular jobs that we have to do but we get the chance to give eyes to each other every now and then ;)  I am really glad that they have us in there so often together now.

For my exciting adventure of the week! - I helped with a rodeo that we put on! We do rodeos for the large groups that come in, this week we had one for the youth conference and one for a family reunion, I helped with the family reunion. Our rodeos are really all about the guests, they do it all. They do barrel racing, poll bending, fat fryer race (sitting on donkeys trying to get them to run, one person on and another pulling), roping, mutton busting (kids riding sheep), and calf riding (adults).  
And the calf riding is where the adventure began. We get the calves in the chute then had to separate them to get one set up for a rider to get on. When the one got in place we put a board behind it to keep him there, they try backing up so the board is right up against their rump and I stood on the board. Cows are funny little animals, in their nervousness they pee, all over! Then as soon as a rider sits on them (now let me tell you - each and every cow did this, some twice!) they would excrete dark matter all over the board I was standing on! The first time I wasn't looking so I didn't notice, missed my boots, thank goodness! So I started watching to make sure my feet weren't in the line of fire. THEN! It was the third riders turn, same process rider got on, cow pooped all over, and when the gate was pulled open... what did the calf do? He sure as heck didn't run out of the gate, no he whipped around with the rider holding tight and ran straight through the board I was standing on!! Took me out and barreled the rider into the other calves. I took a fall, somehow caught myself and didn't biff it to the ground, but pretty sure I ended up riding the cow for a second but I was holding onto the fence so he kept going past.  The best part was getting up and then realizing that I had cow poop smeared on my pants and a tad on my shirt. Hahaha officially initiated in with the cows haha. And I ended up with a wicked bruise on my knee. 

The family reunion group that was here were really great! Such a fun group. The kids were ready waiting at the buffet as early as fifteen minutes before a meal, they were hilarious. Some could hardly see over the counter but had their plate sitting and their eyes peering at what I was bringing out. When the meal is ready we ring a cow bell and yell, in as gruffy of a voice as we can, "COME AND GET IT!!!" Everyone loves it! Especially the French they always clap, laugh, and cheer. Going for the iconic.  
Back to the family, Adam and I at separate moments got into conversation with the Patriarch and Matriarch of the family and found out that they were serving IN GHANA when we were there! It was so wonderful to sit and chat about the people of Ghana and the experiences we had. The couple had come to one of our concerts and I can't help but wonder if we talked with them, wish I would have paid more attention to faces. I love the little reminders of our amazing adventure in Ghana! We learned so much from those two weeks. 

A cool experience from last week - Some nights we have a campfire and sing songs to/with the guests and have s'mores. Last week I did this twice and both times had the opportunity to talk with the guests about our standards and beliefs. During both occasions the few people were drinking wine, one of the times they offered us some, (I think that was my first time saying no to alcohol...hmm). We got to tell the guests that we don't drink. Their response both times... "What!? Never!?"  They were very surprised. One of the groups were European and had never heard of the church the other from California who lives a very different lifestyle. We then got to talk a little bit about why we live the way that we do.

 I have realized that this opportunity to work here could be my mini mission. We come into contact with people from all around the world, many who know about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many others who don't. We have the chance to show them who we are and let them see the difference in the way we live.     Tonight we gave the lesson in FHE (with other staff members). We talked about how we can show our faith so clearly here. Many are intrigued by the way we live. There is a chance that we can effect the lives of others. We have realized that we are here for a reason. I always wanted to serve a mission, but didn't have the opportunity. Here I have the chance to show what I believe in and talk to others about it. 

Alrighty, it is getting pretty late, we need to head to bed. 

I do have to write about a few other experiences at a later time - Our kitchen guest and a dinner I was in charge of.

remind me if I don't remember :)


Thanks all for the interest in our adventure here! We have pictures, we'll try to upload them soon!!!  LOVE YOU ALL!!