June 24, the day I was born!

Through my dreams I heard them come in. I feel my warm covers pulled off, suddenly waking up from the chill. I feel my hands bound together and I go blind from the bandana covering my eyes. I have been kidnapped.

I am escorted out of my room and apartment and hear their laugh. I instantly know it is Erica, Shelby and Carly. I hear the car pull up and am told to crawl into the back. “Where am I going?” I say, “Idaho Falls” I am told. We drive around for about 10 minutes and the bandana falls off. I see we are in the middle of nowhere (which isn’t surprising, as it is Idaho), but not on the road to Idaho Falls. They see it has fallen off and immediately tell me to get down so they can tie it up again. We drive some more and we finally stop. I see through the bandana and see that we aren’t in Idaho Falls at all, but right back at Nauvoo House. “Where are we?” I ask again, not wanting them to find out I know where we really are, “Idaho Falls,” I am told again. I am escorted up three flights of stairs and into their apartment. The bandana is taken off and I see the girls smiling faces, “Happy Birthday!” they tell me.

Warm pancakes, fruit smoothies and homemade syrup are a great way to start off the morning. That combination with the company of good friends made it the BEST morning in a very long time! Thank you!

It was odd going to class in the middle of summer on my birthday, especially when it is a day I have never had school. Overall, it was a god day of school, but this was just the beginning of the day!

That night we went to the caves. After a long and bumpy dirt road we got there. After climbing down rocks into the cave, it is relatively flat. We walked past gratified walls and already lit glow sticks, signs that we were not the only people there. We splattered glow sticks and hid among the darkened rocks. As we exited the cave I looked up and saw the bright moon and city in the distance.

As we drove home, I thought about the year of changes ahead of me, especially the MTC and the mission. I am excited and willing to serve the Lord. My 19^th year of life will have a lot of ups and downs that I am ready and willing to face.