Embark: Youth Conference on the Snake River

Youth Conference in our ward is the best,

The. Best.

In 2015 we played with the general mutual theme (Embark in the name of the Lord) and used the expertise that we have in the ward to go run the Snake River in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  We have two families in our ward that own the equipment and have the knowledge to make this happen.  They held classes for the leaders who would be needed as boat captains, and they made sure to single me out.

I was told that the young women needed to see their leader doing something hard.  They needed to know that they could also do hard things.

And I agreed, though it terrified me.

I remember on my turn captaining down the river, we hit the Snake River Monster, and my little raft was cruising, and I was pulling on my oar with all my might.  It took full body pressure to push that oar and steer that boat.  The last thing I wanted was to slam against the large rock wall and have our raft pinned, or even flipped there.

And I pulled and I steered and suddenly... we were out of it.

And Chris, who had been teaching me to captain and has been doing rafting his whole life, and who had gone before me, stood up in his boat and yelled, "and that's how you do it!"  I could tell, even from across the river, that he was so proud of me, and that meant the world to me.

I was proud of me too.

We did two runs on two days for a total of four runs.  We gave devotionals before, after, and even on the river.

And every night around the fire we would ask the youth to apply the lessons of the river from that day, to their real life.

It was incredible.

On our way through Star Valley we stopped to see the construction site of the new Star Valley Temple.  We were each able to take a dedicated rock from the site, and participated from a presentation from the site missionaries.

This was also the year that we became obsessed with the game Signs, and played it endlessly.

As in, two years later I still know everyone's signs.

Snake River Rapids

On an evening that threatened big rain drops and loud thunder coupled with bright lightening (one can only hope), we stood in the driveway with our neighbors and loaded up gear and bags of clothes, and coolers of food.

We checked our cell phones for weather reports, not for our city, but for the neighboring state of Wyoming, and with high hopes of the simple partly cloudy skies we were being promised, we piled into the Navi and hit the road.

The heavy rain started and followed us up the canyon and around the lake and through the state border.

And when the sun began to set we saw a show that only God can put on.

We made hotel reservations in Alpine, Wyoming and let them know that we wouldn't be getting there until 11:30 at night.  Details like this are important when dealing with two-horse towns.  There isn't a Holiday Inn Express where the lobby is open 24/7 and the waffle maker is heated up for you in the morning.

It's a bit more simple and quiet than that.

It also means that even though you called and told them you'd be there at 11:30, and even though you pulled in at 11:27, the lobby is still going to be locked.

We didn't worry yet though, we had been told our room numbers and had been told that the doors would be left open with the keys inside for us.  There are no card readers in two-horse towns, just good old fashioned regular keys.

And trusting folk.

Until we go into the hotel and find our room numbers and find the doors tightly locked with no way for us to go in and put our exhausted heads on soft pillows.

The looks of tired women who are ready to just lie down in the hallway for the night:

The Man saw a key hanging out of  the door knob in the room next to ours and wondering if perhaps we had the wrong room number began knocking on the door and jiggling the door handle.

I can only hope that no one was in that room.

We weren't confident enough to enter even with the key in the knob, and I hope that no one inside was given nightmares from us trying to get in their door at midnight.

Our men went down to the lobby one more time and began banging on the lobby door.

What do you know, someone was hiding in there and opened up for them.

We got our soft pillows after all.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the only restaurant in town and headed up to the Snake River.

The day could not have been more perfect.

Brandon's favorite game:

 And it was kind of cold...

The Lunch Counter was pretty big, we felt the raft start to buckle and fold in half and we stalled for a quick second... and then we lunged through it.

We saw an Eagle soaring through the air.

Brian tried a few tricks...

But ended up in the water more often than not.

The Man had his turn "riding the bull" through the Lunch Counter:

Let it be known that I risked my life to let go of my hold to take that picture of him.

We rubbed elbows with greasy food and shakes at Rulon's Burger Barn, oh the cheese fires!

And though West's GPS search told us the drive would take seven hours ("If we have to drive seven hours we had better be in Disneyland!") we were happy to find out that it would only take us four.

If we get to try it again, maybe I'll take my chance riding the bull, but for now I'm just happy to say that I didn't get sunburned.

A HUGE thank you to our friends for inviting us along!  One of the greatest treasures in life is when you can be surrounded by good people doing good things.