My Weekend

What a wonderful weekend I have had! Technically, my “weekend” begins on Saturday afternoon when I finish work. What a relief that moment is! On Saturday nights we do what is called Campground Calling, which is simply walking around in two’s telling people about the up-and-coming Sunday services we put on in the amphitheater down the way. In total, it takes the nine of us about three hours to hit every sight available in the campgrounds. So far, I’ve enjoyed campground calling. Though I feel very Mormon doing it, it is fun to meet people from Minnesota and all around the world. The night is topped off with a campfire over at the Fishing Bridge gas station, eating smores, talking with friends, and this Saturday, eating fresh marinated and grilled elk meat. So good.

Sunday morning was spent worshiping throughout the Lake Village area. Since I was a late arrival, it was my turn to preach. Yippee.! I preached on 1 Corinthians 13:1-3…the forgotten, necessary words on love. Everyone told me it was very good, so I’ll trust their word. Yesterday afternoon our team took out the row boats over at the Bridge Bay Marina. They are free to employees. Sadly, there was a restriction on the bounds for the day because of the winds, so we had to stick to the lagoon. The evening was topped off with final services at each location, followed by a rousing few rounds of Dutch Blitz. I smoked ‘em. J

Today… it was off to Old Faithful. Our team (eight of us) and four workers from Hong Kong and two from Columbia all made the trip over. The weather was beautiful, and the geysers were fairly active. I liked it more today than I remember liking it before. Then we made the three mile trek over to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which was absolutely awesome. Though the hike to get this view nearly killed us, it was definitely worth it! Afterwards, most of the group headed up to Mammoth Hot Springs for a fine feast with our host parents of sorts, but a couple of us headed back to Lake for the softball game we had formerly committed to. Though we weren’t sure at first if it had been the right decision, by the end of the game we were assured. I played the whole game (by default) at third, made a few great plays, a few bad plays, came out with battle wounds from sliding into second and home, and won the game 23-9. Good times.

And now… the thought of work looms overhead. I am not dreading it too much, however. I rather enjoy work, at least in the mornings. I play a game with myself… “How many rooms can I complete before lunch?” And after lunch, it’s simply… “Get them done by 3:00.” The day ends up going pretty fast.

These were potentially at one time trees and tree trunks before the geyser became active and took over the area. The different colors in the pools are created by various bacteria.

The water in the center of the pool is so hot, there is absolutey no bacteria present. This is "Sawmill Geyser". Far cooler than Old Faithful.

This is the Grand Prismatic Spring. The colors are so brilliantly spectacular!
And finally, the group of us that hiked to the top of the hill for the wonderful view!