Trip to the South!

Yesterday Jon and I went on a trip down south! Originally, we were going to go to Vernal for my friends Wedding Reception and then go to the Vernal Temple to take that off of our list! But upon further and probably more focused looking on her invitation I realized that the reception was on Saturday... the 13th... and yesterday was the 18th... so I missed it by five days! I felt so bad! But I wouldn't have been able to go anyway because Nunsense was still running. So we decided that we would go to Levan, which is where his 4th great grandpa Jacob Hofheins founded and is buried and then we would go around the state park and go to Manti to go to the temple there and then come home. It was a fun little day trip that we planned. :) Well, on Wednesday, I went to get my temple recommend out of my bag, and it wasn't there. I was so freaked out for a bit because I had no idea where it would be if not in my bag and not in Jon's suit jacket which I had already checked. Finally, my mum told me to call the last temple I'd been to, so I called the Salt Lake Temple that we'd been to two weeks previous. And after being transferred about four different times I finally got in contact with the main desk and my relief was so great when the man on the other line said, "Boy, do I have some good news for you! It's here." I thanked him and then mum and I left right then to go down and get it. So then I was finally ready to leave for our trip down south the next day.

Jon and I set our alarm for 8:12 so that we could leave at 9. And that was probably the hardest thing for us! Keep in mind that we both start school next Wednesday and our first class is at 8... in the morning! I'm scared... anyway, we got ready and then got in the car to leave for our little adventure! We stopped at Maverick and Jon went in and got drinks while I filled up my little car with gas. We then got on the freeway and headed south on I-15. Our first stop was in Levan Utah. Now for people who don't know where that is, it is a very small town just past Nephi, which is a small town past Payson... actually all of those towns are very small. Anyway, so we stopped in Levan and took pictures (which I'll post later) and then proceeded to go to the cemetery. We searched that entire place and couldn't find Jacob Hofheins grave! We knew he was there because there was a memorial on the grounds for members of the Armed Forces who were buried there. And Jacob Hofheins was a veteran of the Mexican War, according to the memorial. We also know that he was a Captain in the Mormon Battalion. But with the help of the grounds keeper we finally found his grave and took pictures by it too. An interesting story about our families is that my distant great grandpa Antonio Salazar was living in Colorado when a wagon train came in that was being led by a Captain of the Mormon Battalion, and that Captain is the one who gave him the Book of Mormon which eventually led to his conversion and the conversion of his family that has been passed down to me. And while reading through Jacob Hofheins journals we found out that he was leading a wagon train to Utah, and fell ill in Colorado about the same time and area that my grandpa was in. So we don't know for sure, but we think that it may have been Jon's great grandpa to give my great grandpa The Book of Mormon, and in doing that may have played a huge role in Jon's and my marriage. So it was really exciting to see the grave of the man who may have introduced the church into my family.

After we had been to the cemetery, Jon and I got back in the car and made our way to the Manti Temple! It was beautiful, and we had such a good time! Jon and I served as the Witness Couple and every new room that we went in took our breath away, everything was so pretty and it was so hard to imagine the Saints who built the Temple so long ago spending that much time to make it so beautiful! The paintings and carvings and etchings were so exquisite and they all seemed so perfect! Later, after the session we were given a little tour by a member of the Temple Presidency and he gave us a lot of interesting facts about the temple and the people who built it.

All in all, yesterday was a very fun experience and we had so much fun with each other and spending all that time together. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and are so excited for when we get the chance to do it again!

Another thing that is really exciting is yesterday I got a call from Clearfield City and because Andrew had to move so suddenly, they no longer had someone to direct the October Show. And so I put in my resume and they called yesterday to tell me that I got the job! I am so excited! This will be my first full length show that I will be directing and I'm really nervous but very excited! I have a lot of people who are rooting for me and so hopefully I'll do a good job. I have a meeting on Monday about all the particulars and then we will have auditions on the 10th of September and hopefully start rehearsals the Tuesday after. So STOKED!!