"...I was reminded that despite our best intentions and outward show, sometimes life is just plain hard. Through the process, the pipes of our souls occasionally get clogged up with muck—with mistakes, with heartache, with bitterness, with unforgiving. We don’t have to hide the “dirty basements” of our souls from Christ—He already knows what’s there. The Savior has given us the cleansing power of the Atonement, a gift that is available to each of us if we but humble ourselves—and trust our Savior enough—to take advantage of it. He is anxiously waiting for us to invite Him to help." -Heidi Camp
Sadly and reluctantly we had to depart from the peaceful dome of Sharon, Vermont. We traveled over to Boston and visited the Boston temple. Pictures began to be taken as the beauty of the Lord's house shone in the sun. Someone who I thought was my newly made friend asked me to take pictures of him doing random things like getting the Angel Moroni between his open mouth and his water bottle. But to much dissatisfaction, that so called "friend" couldn't even remember my name! I quit the job as photographer and walked away. My reaction, broke my poor friend's heart. He didn't mean to forget my name; we all experience brain voids at some point or another. As he continued to apologize to me over and over again, I only wanted to forgive. Especially owing to the fact that I couldn't leave somebody that fun-loving, appearing so glum. And I'm more than glad I did forgive him because we are now great friends; he is a joy to talk to and hang out with. Not only that, he is proud of the way he is, he doesn't care what others think, and his compliments are pure. He truly cares about people and how they feel, yet he will always be a little kid at heart and I know that I could have fun doing almost anything with him because he always seems to keep things interesting. The next morning, on Wednesday-July 14th, me and one of my roommates, along with a couple of guy friends, woke up extra early so we could go for a run. It had rained during the night and there was still a light mist in the air. The trees were so green and the beauty that surrounded us made me so grateful for waking up earlier to come and be absorbed by the magnificence of the natural beauty of the Earth. We noticed a path behind our hotel and headed through some weeds towards it; but blocking our course was a muddy river. We attempted to find a way around, but to no success. The conclusion was made that the only way across, was by going through it. The other three all crossed the river drenched from the water and mud. I started to run towards the river, and that final step before wading in, my shoe got stuck in the mud and my foot flew out. I hopped back towards my shoe and tied it on tighter. As I went at the river again, I took my first step in...and instantly sunk. I sunk into the mud past my knee, and was stuck. Everybody grabbed hands and pulled me out of the sludge. We continued on our jog, with legs covered in muck. It was a perfect morning though for running; there was a cool breeze, and light rain off and on. But it was still warm enough to wear shorts. At the conclusion of our run, we had to slip off our shoes before entering the hotel as to not trudge in a bunch of mud. Many attempts were made at washing the mud out of our shoes; all attempts were made in vain. Our tennis shoes were now ruined. But for me, with how good I felt after the run, with the weather we ran in, and the beauty of Poughkeepsie, NY, it was worth sacrificing a pair of shoes.
The rest of that day was spent in New York City, after much amusement in the hotel that morning as Bro. Eliason impersonated the girls on drill teams. Lindsey and I shopped and ventured out on our own that day; and there was definitely a different kind of spirit that was felt. I didn't like it one bit. As much as I love the Big Apple, it was hard to enjoy it after our many bouts of spirituality. I wanted to be back in the safety of the spirit. But I did considerably enjoy seeing The Lion King on Broadway. It was especially enjoyable sitting next to the one day famous, Jonny Walker [who I will also someday marry] with his enormous amount of excitement. Oh how I love Lion King! I could watch that movie everyday and I would never find myself mad "as a hippo with a hernia."
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