"Be Not Afraid, Only Believe"

One thing that's great about my stake is that we go on many adventures. About a week and a half ago, the Laurels in our stake, along with our amazing leaders, went down to the San Rafael Swell to go rock climbing and repelling! On the car ride down, I rode with Sam and her mom, Melissa, Melanie, Alicia, Jessica, and Maria. All of us had gone to the same elementary school from Kindergarten to 6th Grade, and we were going down memory lane for most of the trip. It was so exciting to laugh and remember all our adventures as elementary students. When we arrived to our destination, Brother Fry was setting up courses to go rock climbing. He sure went high but it looked so thrilling and exciting! When it was finally my turn to climb one of the courses, I took a deep breath and started climbing. I loved it! This wasn't my first time climbing but I'm still new to it, so it was still a bit scary. Towards the top it got a bit challenging, and I had to use all my upper body strength to lift me onto the little ledge before I could repell. When I got on the ledge, everyone at the bottom cheered. It was so rewarding to make it to the top! After eveyone had their turn to climb, we had a wonderful meal of French Dipped sandwhiches, amazing salad, and fruit. Complete with yummy hot chocolate. We were all starving and Brother Fry told us he heard that girls can eat a lot, and boy, did we sure eat a lot! When we climbed back into the cars, we headed to our camping destination. Our awesome leaders already set up our tents for us, so we gladly set up our sleeping bags and got ready for bed. Before we went to sleep, we had a wonderful fireside (actually by the fire, too) from Brother Fry. He told us how rock climbing is a lot like the Gospel and Jesus Christ. I never realized how symbolic everything was, so it was neat comparing all the procedures in rock climbing to the Gospel. After the fireside, we went to bed and crashed when our heads hit the pillow. It had been a wonderful trip so far.

The next morning we woke up to little plip plop sounds on our tent. It was raining. We all put on our colorful ponchos and headed outside for breakfast. Luckily, there was a huge tent the Tooley's brought that was able to fit all 23 girls + leaders, so we could keep dry while eating our yummy breakfast of Costco muffins, sausage, bacon, and hot cocoa. When I finished my breakfast, I went outside and Brother Fry asked a few girls and me if we wanted to start repelling. Of course we did! We put on our gear and started hiking up to the repelling location. It looked a lot farthur down than it did while looking up, and a lot of girls started getting sick. We all encouraged and told each other that it would be okay and we could do it. When it was my turn to go, I was indeed scared. The beginning is the scariest part because you have to walk backwards on a little ledge and lower yourself with the rope until you are almost horizontal. At this point, you jump off the ledge and swing a bit until you are against the main wall of the cliff. This part was especially thrilling, but scary because I went upside down trying to jump. After this point, it was easy, and fun to repel down the 130 foot cliff. When the other girls found out what we were doing, and joined in, it was exciting to watch their reactions as they basically jumped off a cliff. Some girls cried, others seemed like natural repellers, and others screamed the whole way down. It took a lot of encouraging to get some girls to go, but each girl found it definitely worth it once they got to the bottom. The Stake Young Women leaders even went and it was fun to watch their reactions as they climbed down. It was so rewarding to reach the bottom and say, "Look at that! I repelled down that cliff!" After a few hours of repelling, we ate our lunch and relaxed a bit. Then Brother Fry asked us to pick up some trash around the camp. While doing so, I saw two objects race by my feet in a flash. I screamed a little bit, not knowing what it was, and about four girls came rushing over. I realized that I had just seen lizards! We wanted to catch one of the lizards, so while the four girls put their hands around the rock it was under, I lifted up the rock and it bolted out. Melissa tried grabbing it but when she lifted her hand, it wasn't there. Just teasing, I told her that it probably climbed up her sleeve. All of a sudden, Melissa started shaking and screaming. It had really climbed up her sleeve!! Everyone rushed over to help her get it out of her hoodie. It eventually climbed down her back and onto her shorts. By this time, the leaders had run over to see what had happened. Brother Fry thought it was a rattle snake so he was bummed to see that it was just a lizard. He told us he would put it on his ear like an earring. We all watched in anticipation as he tried to annoy the little guy into biting his ear. I think the poor thing was scared, because it didn't do anything but sit there. After our little adventure of encountering the lizard, we hopped into our cars and set out to see some beautiful pictographs. It never ceases to amaze me how the Natives were able to create such beautiful art on rock walls. We then went to a swinging bridge where we took a group shot, and even jumped on the bridge to make it shake. I was hoping nothing would brake and crash into the river below us. We were safe, and Maria even climbed up the supporters to hang like a little monkey! It was now time to go home, and the car ride was just as entertaining as the car ride down. I can honostly say I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in a car, or have been in a more entertaining and fun car ride than the ones I rode in for this trip. We all had a blast of fun at the San Rafael Swell, and many memories were made. Thanks to our awesome leaders, Sister Fennemore, Sister Mercer, Sister Esplin, Sister Tooley, Brother Fry, and other leaders, we had a safe and enjoyable experience. Hope I can go again sometime soon!