Jenbaldo's Life

This summer so far has been intense and exciting. A true spiritual boost. We got out of school and the next week we started out with trek. It was a reenactment of the Pioneer Trek out west. We spent three days in families with about 12 people on the Marriott Ranch in Maryland. There were around 10 families, each headed by a "Ma" and "Pa". Mine were Brother Jack Rose and Sister Rhonda Rose. I also had an aunt and uncle. My family was normally first because of the way things played out and so we were able to go at a good pace for us. It doesn't seem like much, we only went 10 miles, but in pioneer dresses, men in suspenders and long pants, pulling a hand cart with EVERYTHING we brought with us... Its a lot of work. The first day we had two challenges. First we were all blind folded. Half of us had to touch the cart and the other half of us had to hold on to one another to be led in the right direction. The boys listened to our Ma and the girls all listened to our Pa. They told us where to step and how to go, what was ahead of us and how to overcome the obstacles. The next challenge was a little bit after. It was the Women's Pull. The day's theme was "have great courage" , and our next challenge definitely made us need courage. In the Women's pull, only the women could touch the cart. They had to push and pull. We were allowed to talk to each other, but the boys were not allowed to talk at all, and we were not allowed to talk to the boys. The boys, in their silence did everything to help us. They removed rocks from the path ahead of us and pushed rocks behind our wheels in the steep parts of the hill. They had to be told continuously to not touch the cart. They saw us, struggling and wanted so very much to help us. Our "Ma" and "Pa" reminded them that it was our challenge. The second the Women's Pull was done, our brothers told us to take a break and they took over the cart. Might I add, they never looked happier than when they took over for us. It was precious! In addition, the weather was at all extremes. The first night it POURED! I woke up in the middle of the night soaking wet, my sleeping bag soaking wet, all my stuff all wet, and my clothes all wet. Of course it was still pouring and so changing would just get my dry clothes all wet. So I tried to fall back asleep, when I woke up, me and my friend Kristina, went to change out of our soaking wet clothes. To our surprise, we were among only 5 or so people to get soaked all night. Just our luck! Too bad we didn't appreciate the rain. The next day was HOT! The sun made everything worse and packing up everything again, it seemed like our hand carts got pounds and pounds heavier. We pushed and pulled and pushed some more. The second day the theme was "Faith To Conquer Fear". It was as I said... HOT! I thought I was going to die! Every moment we had to push on, keep going. There were times when I didn't think I could go on, but then someone would yell for help, and without a second delay, everyone who was getting tired would run to their aid. We would pull back if we were going down a hill, or push as hard as we could if we were going up a hill. At one point we came to a river. We were told the following "You may see this bridge but for the next while you must pretend you cannot see it. The men need to carry each woman across the river, then come back for the handcart. Don't get your sister's wet." My "Pa" carried my "Ma" across first. Might I add, it was PRECIOUS! Then one by one we were carried across, our brothers trying so hard not to slip on a rock or get us wet. One of my brothers, Alex Howe, carried me across and gently set me down on the other edge. Finally all the girls were across and the boys went back across the river and pulled the cart through the semi-deep water. Then we all got back to the cart and helped get it to base camp. This is where our "permanent" camp would be. We finally got there and we set up camp. We made our fires, and set up our tents (plastic sheets, wood poles and metal stakes... not much of a tent), and began to cook lunch. These meals were far from real meals but they were at least food. A game we all liked to play was Red Rover. During the process of playing this game, we had many injuries. One guy got hurt twice, he ended up with a concussion. I got punched in the eye and broke a blood vessel in my foot. It was so much fun though. We also had time for some pioneer games. The first was taffy pulling. We made molasses taffy, and it was actually really good!! Especially compared to the food we had been eating! Then there was stick pulling and don't kick the log. Then there was seed spitting (I won!!). We then did skits where we were given the following props to use. A bonnet, some leaves, A Book of Mormon and we had to say "push and pull". Ours was pretty lame. Dracula was having a party and Big Foot and the Lochness Monster were missionaries and brought him a Book of Mormon. It was pretty much insane. Lastly, we had a bunch of relays. My partner and I tied for first in everything except for one game when our competitors pulled me back so they could win. Oh well! That was really fun!! That night we had a dance where we learned the Virginia Reel. It was pretty awesome. We had dinner and then went to bed. Mind you, even with my sleeping back laying out to dry all night, My clothes were still damp and my sleeping bag was still soaking wet. So I laid down on a thin plastic sheet, using my poncho for a blanket and rested my head on by bag. It must have gotten around that I was absolutely miserable because 30 or so minutes after laying down I heard someone calling my name. Someone, though I still don't know who, had brought me a wool blanket to use. Little blessings for not complaining. Oh yeah, here's the deal. Me and my young women's president who was one of the ma's, started a club called the no complaining club. So after a while we had at least 30 members, where NO ONE in the club could complain. If you did, you were to apologize and then say 10 things you were grateful for. It turned out that every time you even thought of something negative you started saying "I am grateful for this hot weather so I don't have to be in the rain. I am grateful for my brothers who help us with everything. I am thankful for my ma and pa who love me and care about me... etc." It got so I had an AMAZING experience at Trek. The next day the theme was "Work With A Might For A Cause That's Right". That morning we cooked our breakfast and had personal study time. Our parents had written each of us a letter and we were given time to read it and our scriptures and write in our journals for at least 30 minutes. Then we all gathered together for Testimony Meeting. I finally got up the nerve to bare my testimony and the words just flowed out of my mouth. It was absolutely wonderful!! We all got back with our families and started the last stretch on the trek. With about half a mile left, I had a terrible heat stroke followed by what we think was somewhat of a panic attack. I had boys and girls surround me helping me to the best of their abilities. One boy sat behind me and let me lean against his legs to support myself. They poured TONS of water on me and fanned me until a car came. Then the same boy picked me up like "craddle" style and put me in the car. The drove me up to the end and up an iced towel on me and nursed me back to health. We all had lunch a while later and Trek was over. It was amazing how three days as a pioneer could strengthen my testimony so much about every little thing.

We had a week off and then we were off to girl's camp. Monday morning at 6:15 we left for Misty Mount in Maryland. Its right next to camp David. Each day at girls camp there was a theme. Integrity, Honesty, Sharing the Gospel, Entertainment and Media, and Friends. We did little things each day to certify for each level. I was over both third and fourth year girls and so we had our certification split up. I also was the camp life guard so everyday for at least 3 three hours I sat at the pool to "guard" the pool. Luckily no one died!! ha ha. On Thursday we went to the lake nearby. The previous day had been missionary work but that didn't occur to me until later. At the concession stand there was this girl about 21 named Mandy. She asked us who we were with and we said "The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints.... Mormons". Then we started chatting about everything and decided to play some tricks on some other girls. I sat in the back and when a Mormon would walk up I'd wiggle my nose and when they'd start to order she'd stop them an ask "Are you a Mormon?" If they answered yes, she'd reply that she wouldn't serve them. Then she said just joking and we explained. This game, though at times a little harsh ended up a blessing. As we started toward our next activity I remembered that theme from the previous day "Sharing the Gospel". I ran over to a bunch of adults and asked them if anyone had a Book of Mormon. To my astounding surprise not a single adult had one. Not a single youth had one. I was with another girl and we were praying SO hard that someone would find one. Finally one lady said she might have one. We went to her car and not only did she have a Book of Mormon, she had a pamphlet with "Restoring the Gospel" on it. We went to the cashier, Mandy, and gave her the things. We told her a bit about the book and a little more about the church and then she asked if she could ask a question. We of course said yes and she asked us all about missionaries because she had a friend who was going on a mission. I felt this an extreme blessing because her friend had never told her of the gospel and now she could understand why he was on a mission and ask him questions. The door was open!! We exchanged screen names and now she will occasionally ask me questions about the church. I was asked to share my experience that night and what I didn't know until then was that the girl I was with had prayed that morning and the night for a missionary experience. Even though she was at Girl's Camp and there was a slimmer than slim chance of one happening... and guess what?? Her prayers were answered!! Camp was an AMAZING experience and my testimony grew sooo much more!!

I got home on Friday afternoon and early Monday morning I headed off for Southern Virginia University for EFY: Especially For Youth. The theme this year was "Power In Purity" relating to D&C 121:45. "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall they confidence wax strong in the presence of God". We had a challenge to be three sticker boys & girls. You could achieve this by memorizing the scripture above, the main song, and a quote by an apostle. The three stickers went on your name tag. I was the first Three Sticker Child and I was pointed out at our meeting the first evening where our Session Director, Brother Austin, had me stand up in front of everyone. It was embarrassing but it was cool that my good work was noticed. The day started with us getting there around 12 or so. We registered, got our room key and our t-shirts, CDs, etc. We also had an opportunity to sign up for talent show try outs. We went up to meet our room mates. Mine ended up being a girl, Julie Carver, who had been in my group the previous year. Then we met our Counselor, Lizzie, and the other girls in our group. We all bonded really close. We found obscure connections between each person and ourselves and we all became great friends. After getting to know each other we met our guy counselor and our boys. By then it was 4:45 and DINNER TIME!! So we ate with our company and then had family night. Family night started with brother Austin giving a little lesson on "Becoming". Becoming like who? Like Christ. 3 Nephi 27:27 (become even as I am). That lesson was AMAZING and I took atleast four pages of noted in that lesson. Then we split up and played various games with our company. When that was done we set some goals that we each individually, and as a company, wanted to accomplish. There are some awards given out at the end, and we wanted to get all of them. Of course, every group does. The first is games night, the winner of games night, aka the team who wins the most games. Unity award: The most unified. Spirited award: The most spirited. Water award: the team that drank the most water (you had to do a water dance for the health counselors every time you drank water if you wanted the points). The Service award, Tootie Pop award, and lastly the SPUNITY award. This is the award EVERY ONE wants! Its the most spirited and unified of everyone! The next day we had our morning devotionals (three of them) then we had breakfast, personal study time, and then we went to classes. There were two classes, then lunch, then two classes. The classes I attended were by John Hilton the Third on the Scriptures, a different Brother Hilton (the other one's like 2nd cousin or something) on Building Your Testimony, Answers to Commonly Asked Questions by John Hilton the Third (again), and lastly a class by Brother Bingham (his daughter was actually in my group :P). We then had free time. During free time and lunches, if you so chose, you could be part of the musical program. Each time you would learn hymns and songs in different ways and practice them. You also had the opportunity to audition for solos, group numbers and duets. I was lucky enough to get one of each!! I was SOOO excited when I found out because I in NO way expected it! That evening I had my audition for the Talent Show. I auditioned but I wasn't too sure I'd make it. The judges looked so... straight faced, and like... not impressed. I walked out and there was a group of kids from my ward and my stake and my company all cheering. It made me feel better even though I wasn't too sold on the idea of me making the show. That night we had a "dance instruction" time where we learned some line dances and the cha-cha and waltz and then we had a dance. It was SOOOO much fun! Although I only got asked to dance once, by a counselor, the last song. Oh well. I had fun and that's ALL that matters!! That night I also met up with my friend Katrina who actually goes to college there, she popped in the dance for a couple minutes to say Hi and to see all the kids that use to be in her old ward (my current ward). The next day we had more classes and my journal continued to fill up more and more, till it got filled. Joy! There were more musical rehearsals and thats when I found out I had gotten the solo. That night was the "Banner and Cheer-off" competition along with games night. Our company decided to win. So we beat everyone at every game, but what I was happy about was not that we won, but that our entire company was there cheering on the other teams as they finished the race or completed the challenge. That made me proud :) After our evening devotional with our companies, we had pizza night. Each company had pizza night with their gender. Like the girls had one in their dorm and the boys in their's. The 3rd floor girls had a dance party too. We practiced all the line dances, and even learned some more!! Thursday was the Spiritual day where we dressed up in sunday dress and did various spiritual things. First we split up into genders, and the young women were with my favorite SARAH!! She had this activity and it was really good! Then all the sudden during the activity I started feeling really sick. Dan (the health counselor) came over and took my temperature and all that fun stuff and advised me to get some rest. He walked me up to my room and got my number, he called me 15 min. later for my order (what I wanted for lunch). Lunch consisted of a couple of fries and a sprite. YUM!! I slept all through lunch and missed the musical rehearsal. Then I got woken up by Dan a couple hours later to take me down to the talent show rehearsal. It was right before the talent show. I was absolutely miserable and still felt awful, and NO ONE had a clue on what was wrong with me. The whole talent show I felt awful. When it was my turn I went up there and just sang. I got a whole heck of a lot of people cheering and a standing ovation. Tight, i know! It made me feel happy, but it didn't make me feel any better. I Felt TERRIBLE by this point so I walked to the back where Dan and Emily (The health counselors) were and I talked to them for a while. They told me all they could do for me was help me get some sleep, cause they had no clue what was going on. So I went to my room and slept. My counselor woke me up when it was time for the musical program and I went down there. Everyone in the program had to stand in front of everyone else, but I felt so sick and was so weak, I had to sit next to them in a chair. I only stood up for my solo. Moments after the program ended we had testimony meeting. I felt worse than I had all day so I bore my testimony first (all the BCs and FCs and HCs all stayed to listen) and then Emily helped take me toward the lobby. On the way she asked me if I wanted a blessing, I said that would be wonderful and she called up Chris and Keith and they met us in the Lobby. Keith said an opening prayer, then Chris and Keith gave the blessing. The blessing was wonderful and gave me such comfort. Chris and Emily went and got me my dinner (consisting of crackers-- saltines, and a ginger ale!! yum!!), while Keith and I just talked. Then we all talked for a bit and then Keith and Chris left me and Emily. We talked for a while, I got sicker, "fun stuff" happened (if you know what i mean) and eventually I went to bed. Friday I woke up just as sick and Emily brought me toast and a ginger ale!! Yess!! I got that for lunch too!! Then I decided you never feel better then when you're dong service so when it was time for the service project (around 2:30) I hobbled downstairs to help out. After like 5 min I was awful again so I finished what I could and then I went to see Emily. After a while I got dressed up for the banquet and went down for that, of course I felt awful and in no way was going to eat all that food. So I went to the lobby and sat in front of a fan there. Not 10 minutes later was I having some strange heat stroke/panic attack/who-knows-what and they had to clear everyone out of the area. They almost called 911, and thought my parents were going to have to come get me... My counselor (Baden) was on crowd control and Dan and Emily helped take care of me the whole time. Eventually they moved me to an air conditioned room where no one could interrupt and I was able to slightly recover there. I had a nice heart to heart with Emily and Dan and I ended up promising them that I would have fun at the dance that would be held that night. We said a prayer that I'd be alright and I went and had dinner (a tiny bit of mashed potatoes, toast and some yummy ginger ale!! woot woot!!) with the BCs, FCs, Director and HCs. It was a lot of fun and I was feeling a bit better. We went to the dance and I tried to have fun, I did but I still had a LOT of fun!! I didn't let me being absolutely sick hold me down!! :D By Saturday I still felt sick but was able to manage and went home early that morning. On the way home the wheel (not the tire, the WHEEL) fell off our car, so we were stuck 30 min out of Buena Vista in the middle of a random small hick town for 4 fours. My friend Matt's dad took the car into a bigger town while me and four other kids were stranded with a CVS, KFC, and Wendy's, a Dollar General and some liquor stores. Matt, Me, Kelly, Robbie (cousin robbie), and Aubrey (from my EFY group who was hitching a ride to DC) hung out there while the car got fixed. FInally we were all good and we went home. It was an adventure, spiritual experience, wonderful journey... all to strengthen our testimonies, make good friends, and learn and grow!! There is not ONE thing I can say that made my experience negative. It was simply AWESOME! :) I loved it!

My summer has been special to say the least. Every minute has been a time to grow and learn. I have made so many new friends and my testimony has grown 400%!!

This week was adventurous.

Last saturday I went to an 8am basketball game. We were winning nearly the entire game. We had 4 players they had 11. They won after two more players hsowed up in the last quarter.

Then I rushed over to my highschool and participated in an 8 hour dance marathon to help raise money for the competition I will be competing at in Disney World this spring. The trip costs between 500 and 600 dollars.

After dancing for 8 hours (and at the end tying for 2nd in the limbo), i rushed over to one of our ward's buildings for a dance I planned.

I am the co-chair of a commitee, the dance committee. We planned a multi- stake dance where we invited 3 other stakes and expected at most 100 or so people. By about 10:00 (the dance went from 8:00-11:00) there were over 25o people representing 8 DIFFERENT STAKES! It was an INCREDIBLE turn out and I was glad to have such a heavy burden off my chest!

Then we had a 3 day school week where we took our semester exams. WHAT a joy!! :P
Thursday and friday were off because of teacher work day's. Monday we had a 2 hr delay because or EXTENSIVE ice and snow. For virginia... that's bad. It was a BIG disappointment that we didn't get school off. For those of you in utah, i know you get multiple feet of snow and still don't miss school... but let's face it. This is northern virginia, where our grading scales our harder and our superintendint is softer.

Thursday I relaxed, and then my best friend slept over and we watched some "scary" movies.
Friday was boring till Robbie came over! That was fun. For those of you who don't know who robbie is:

Robbie (Robert Timmins Smith) is my cousin on the smith side. His father is Robert Smith who is my mom's younger brother. He is getting baptised tomorrow at 6:00pm at the centreville stake center.

He came over and we watched an intense/ kinda scary movie and then he slept over and then I went to bed.

Today was an adventure. I woke up at 9:55 (wanting to wake up ATLEAST at 9:30) and rushed around to gather my things. Our basketball game started at 11 and we had to be a half an hour away a half an hour before the game started. We rushed over and began our warm ups. Throughout the WHOLE game more and more players kept showing up. No one was on time. We had TONS of players. It was cool except I only got to play for 3 min. the entire game. I was really bummed. During the 3 minutes I played some exciting stuff happened. I made a great steal by standing behind the girl from the other team who had the ball and whispered "anna, right behind you" so she handed it right to me! The a few sconds later, some girl pushed me over and now I have VERY sore legs with wood burs up them and a HUGE bruise and a VERY swollen knee. It was worth it. I had fun!

Then I went to work after not working for a few months. I work at Keith's Driving School. It was awesome. There was 4 of us there and there was hardly any work to do so I went in the back and filed a little.

At 7:20 I got picked up for a dance. We went to the "Oakton Dance" down at the oakton stake center where they invite all the stakes twice a month to attend a dance. I went with a couple of my best friends and we had a blast!!

Well... its 12:41 and I am out.

This is Jenbaldo way over in the field of the springs!!

Jenbaldo's Life

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Thanks Nat :)

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Rest of My AMAZING Summer!!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Spiritual Aspects of My AMAZING Summer!!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

January 20-27, 2007

Church #1

School #1

What Could You Never Live Without?

Jenna Baker

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