A little Hey Hey from the VA

People in the Ward

Brian, shelby, Me

Becca, Me, Lori

Now comes the Virginia life. So I left on Thursday August 12 and drove from Idaho Falls, through Wyoming, Montanaish, and Colorado (Denver). There I picked up Dad at the Denver Airport and we drove to Kansas that night. We stayed in a hotel and that night there was the biggest lightning storm ever! It was so loud that it woke both of us up. It was weird. The next day we drove to Charelston, West Virginia. Then we got up the next day and drove a 5 or so hours to Roanoke. In all it ended up being something like 32 hours of driving. It was definitely a LONG drive, but we made it! There was a little hiccup with the car, and we thought we might have to get it fixed, but we both prayed about it and felt like we’d be okay, which we were. The next day was Sunday so I went to the Singles ward where Dad, being the wonderful Dad that he is, talked to everyone, particularly the guys-and showed them where I lived and told them all about me. I was only slightly embarrassed when I heard that he did that.

The ward initially seemed really small and sparse. Everyone was really friendly and nice, but I don’t think any amount of friendliness could have made me feel super comfortable. Change is hard and awkward and scary and just not fun. I was surprised at how well I could act confident and social when I felt so out of place, which I’m sure was a huge blessing, not just a coincidence. After church they had a munch and mingle in the cultural hall, so I had a chance to sit and talk with a bunch of people and get to know people better. Everyone was seriously SO welcoming. I had mentioned in Relief Society (because they asked what I still had to buy for my apt) that I needed a fan because it was so hot and humid here. Afterwards one of the girls, Han (she’s asian…thus the cool name)said that she had an extra fan in her trunk and she gave it to me. Who does that? I was just really impressed.

That day I met a guy from BYU Ben Craugun…I was excited that there was someone else there that came from good ol’ P-town. He had just started at the new Medical School in town (Virginia Tech Carilion Medical school). I pretty much just went around the room and talked with almost everyone there…there were only 30 people, so it wasn’t that hard, but I was proud of myself for talking with everyone an just putting myself out there.

Monday night we had scripture study at the Bishop’s house that again I probably wouldn’t have gone to, except Ashley called me and asked if I wanted a ride. She really was an angel. All it took was a couple of rides to the activities and it made all the difference for me. Monday night was much better…much more normal crowd. There were a couple of new faces that I hadn’t seen at church and just the whole vibe of it was just much more comfortable. We had dinner with the 12 of us YSA and then we all sat around while the Bishop taught us about a certain doctrine. He’s a great teacher and it got me thinking about the topic. Afterwards most everyone stayed and played Crazy 6…or nertz or whatever you want to call it. Anyway, it was a lot of fun just being myself. Walking away from the night, I was actually shocked with how I behaved. Not that it was bad, I was just really outgoing and social and just myself. I feel like sometimes when I’m put in new and uncomfortable situations I clam up, but not tonight.

School Orientation started on that Wednesday with mostly just getting to know you activities and introductions to the program and what to expect and everything. I think their main objective was to scare us, which they did pretty effectively, but we talked to several of the second years and they told us not to worry too much. It is very doable. My class consists of 40 people 30-girls and 10-boys. I would say that 80% of them are either married, engaged or dating…the rest of us are single. The age range is 22 to 40. I sit next to the lady who is 40 she has 2 kids,one of which is 18 mo. She is Crazy if you ask me. First impressions…everyone seemed very nice and smart. I sat next to a girl-Kathryn who just seemed like the sweetest southern belle you have ever seen. She really is so nice. She actually gave me a ride to the convocation the following day because I didn’t know where I was going and she had a GPS system. Anyway, we’ve become friends. I also met Katie . I randomly called her over to Kathryn and myself because she was sitting by herself and it just seemed sad. Anyway, it wasn’t an intense conversation or anything, but after that we have just become good friends. She actually reminds me a ton of my good high school friend Jamie Dahl and for a second I thought she was maybe a member, but she’s not.

Friday we still had orientation…I didn’t know that we could orient so much on one thing, but I guess they thought we really needed the help or something. That afternoon we did a ropes course with the class. It was one of those team building activities to develop trust and get over the whole personal space issue. We all got pretty close…yup. My favorite part of the whole thing was the actual ropes course part. They blind folded us and they led us down a hill and to this ropes course. The only directions were to find your way out and raise your hand if you need help. It didn’t take long for me to get lost and frustrated enough to raise my hand. He pulled me out and whispered, ‘take your blind fold off’. As I looked back to see where I had come from I noticed that what I thought was an elaborate ropes course was merely a ropes square. It was a pretty profound lesson for me both educationally, but mostly spiritually. Here we are in life, trying to find our way out on our own, when in actuality there is absolutely no way to get out on our own! We need help! It was even more interesting to watch my other classmates struggle around the square trying to figure it out and the leader kept saying, ‘raise your hand if you need help’ and they would completely ignore him. One time one of the guys even responded, ‘no, I’m going to figure this out on my own.’ He was also the guy who spent an extra 10 minutes by himself in the box because he wouldn’t ask for help. That must be how God sees us here on Earth. We are all wandering around, trying to find our way back to him and all he says is, if you need help let me know…but in our ignorance we think that we can do it on our own and so we don’t ask for help. In reality there is absolutely no way we can do it on our own. All it takes is for us to raise our hand, even if it is just barely in the air, and he is right by our side showing us the way. Anyway, I thought it was a powerful message.

This past week/weekend has been a blast. Wednesday I was planning on watching a movie with a new friends here, but right before she came over I got a phone call from a guy in the ward. Anyway, when he finally came out with it, he wanted to know if I wanted to come over and watch a movie with him. I didn’t know what to say and so I kind of paused for a second, which he might have taken as I didn’t want to go, anyway he quickly followed up with the fact that there was a group coming over to watch the movie. I told him that this other girl and I would come over. Later that night I found out that Ben (the guy who had called) had wanted to invite a couple of guys over (Brian and Justin) and when he had invited them, Brian suggested that he invite me. Maybe I’m a little conceited but I was really flattered that they would single me out. I don’t even know these people, so I thought it was neat that I was the first person he thought of to invite.We watched Last Song, with Miley Cyrus in it. It is a cute, sad, chick flick and I’m pretty sure that all the guys there hated every second of it, but I loved it-so whatev.

Friday night we played capture the flag in the dark. All I can say was it was intense AND there are huge spiders here…not a fan of that! I had a couple of run-ins with them…no bueno! One awkward conversation from the night went something like this…’Betsy, eat some of my brownie.’

‘No thanks, I’m good, but that was really nice of you to offer!

‘No really, I’ll feel offended if you don’t eat any.’

In my head I’m thinking, do you realize that you just slobbered all over that brownie and now you are offering it to me. Gross! ‘ Haha (polite/awkward laugh) No I’m good.’

Then he just stared at me till I finally said, ‘Okay Ben I’m gonna tell you an interesting fact about me….I’m a germaphobe.’

He kind of gasped…seriously gasped and then said loudly, ‘A germaphobe?’ I started to laugh because he was making it sounds like this awful disease…it really isn’t that big of a deal. I don’t know whether the other conversations at the table were just waning or Ben’s voice is just super loud but several people around me were like, ‘what you’re a germaphobe?’ I just laughed and reiterated the fact that it wasn’t a disease.

Anyway, so a minute later once that had died down, Ben said, so I have a question for you…how did you kiss being a germaphobe? AHHhhh. I was proud of the fact that I just took it in stride and pretended like I wasn’t completely mortified that he just asked that. Anyway, I just responded that you just kind of get over it…not that I would know, but I kept that part to myself.

So I've had a full two weeks of classes now and things are looking pretty good. I'm enjoying most of my teachers and I'm really enjoying the subject material. I took my first test (medical terminology-so it was kind of a fake test because it doesn't count for a grade, you just have to keep taking it till you pass) and I passed the first time...which was a wonderful surprise. I also did my first history and physical on a classmate...it was weird. I felt like I was playing dress up. I'm sure the reality of it will come with time, but for right now, it's just weird.

Friday night I went to the Salem Red Sox game with the ward. We had a little tailgate before hand and then we had seats in a box...suite thing. I have no idea what the final score was, or even what happened in the game-clearly I'm not a baseball person. It was fun to be with the group, but as I was driving home I just realized that I just don't feel like I click with the group that was there. Everyone is super nice, but just different than me. On the flip side, I know that all it takes is one person and really one conversation to change my perception...so I'll keep talking and being friendly and I'm sure I'll eventually find someone I want to be good friends with.