La Gran Aventura Day 50: The Liahona

Monday, January 29, 2024

I slept on an air mattress last night. Maybe I didn’t inflate it well enough, but it was not comfortable. Hopefully River can get feeling better today, or I will just have to get used to this.

I’m going to disappear and get a bunch of work done today. Top of list: sell the Sequoia and get bank accounts for the kids.

I’m reading in the Book of Mormon in chapter 16. Lehi has this preparatory time where he has to send his sons back for the plates and then again for the family of Ishmael. Then, when it is time to really head into the desert, the Lord sends him the Liahona. What is our Liahona?

Combine that with what we talked about yesterday concerning the guidance of the Spirit. Our Elders quorum lesson was great. We talked about the talk by Elder Eyring about the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. It dawned on me that we often expect that if we are following the Spirit it will lead us down an easier path. Nephi teaches that the Liahona led them “in the more fertile parts of the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:16). But I was thinking yesterday: if the purpose of life is to grow, and we only grow through resistance, then the Holy Ghost would not be doing us any favors if it only led us down the path of least resistance. In fact, we should expect that the Holy Ghost will lead us down the path of most grown -- the path of most resistance. And we see that in Nephi’s journey. They faced all kinds of trials and troubles, even when the Liahona was working for them. So even if we are led by the Spirit on this trip -- which I believe we are -- then we have to expect trials. And the bigger the struggles, the more growth we can hope to have if we take the Savior’s hand. One of the key differences between Nephi and his brothers is that while they complained and looked for every opportunity out of the difficult times, Nephi accepted and was grateful for the blessings of the Lord -- even in the hard times.

In the morning today I had a good talk with Matt Bell on the phone, and then Betty, Alicia, Ian, and I went for a walk down to UVU.

When we got there, Ian said: “I recognize this place. Specifically that wall!” I thought that was the most random thing, but it turns out they filmed a part of an episode of Random Acts right in front of that wall. We walked to see the window of the history of knowledge. It’s amazing! Then we walked to Walmart and then back to the house. It was good to get out and breath some air and stretch our legs.

  • Distance Hiked Today: 6.11 km/3.8 mi

  • Distance hiked on trip: 75.54  km/46.94 mi

La Gran Aventura Days 48-49: Funeral in Clinton and church with friends

Saturday, January 27, 2024 and Sunday, January 28, 2024

On Saturday the kids stayed home and rested while Betty and I went up to Clinton, UT to attend the funeral of the daughter-in-law of one of Betty's dear friends, Shelly.

After that, we went to visit Betty's other dear friend: Mónica.

On Sunday we attended church at the Lakeridge 1st Ward. It was fun to see so many friends in that Spanish unit, including Betty's friend Lupita from Empalme, and Carlos and Reyna Aburto.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxed as some of the kids are still a bit under the weather.

La Gran Aventura Day 47: Bridal Veil Falls to Home

Friday, January 26, 2024

This morning I went and took some pictures of the Orem Temple during blue hour. Afterwards, we went on our longest hike yet: 7.6 miles. And River walked the entire way :)

In the evening Betty went out to dinner with her friends.

• Distance Hiked Today: 11.42 km/7.09 mi

• Distance hiked on trip: 69.43 km/43.14 mi

La Gran Aventura Day 46: A Cold Hike up the Canyon

Thursday, January 25, 2024

After lunch we hiked up the canyon. It was freezing and tough, but I know we'll be grateful for these days in the future.

• Distance Hiked Today: 5.04 km/3.13 mi

• Distance hiked on trip: 57.01 km/36.02 mi


La Gran Aventura Day 45: Timpanogos Temple

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

This morning we woke the kids up early, and they helped chop up nuts for the granola. It’s really selling well!

After that, we went to the Timpanogos Temple for baptisms.

I’m still thinking about what can we do to make the temple visits we are doing more meaningful. The thought I had today -- spurred by Alicia -- was to think about the people for whom we are doing the work.

When we got back, we visited with Diana and Marybeth. They are loving the granola.

In the afternoon, we sent Kimball, Ian, and River out to the street to sell granola. They were super cute, and they did a great job -- even if they didn’t have tons of clients. Alicia did an especially good job on the sign.

While they were out, Betty and I went to Winco, Walmart, and Costco to price out ingredients for salsa and granola. Costco won.

La Gran Aventura Day 44: Hiking the Y

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Betty has been hard at work on the granola, and we had a great day selling.

In the afternoon we hiked the Y. It was very snowy, and we had a great time sliding down.

In the night we listened to the BYU vs Houston game. It was a tough loss, but I’m proud of how they played.

  • Distance Hiked Today: 3.63km/1.9mi

  • Distance hiked on trip: 52.97/32.89mi

La Gran Aventura Day 43: BYU and Back

Monday, January 22, 2024

This morning Betty was up early again to make granola. It’s a high priority for us to get as much of this sold here in Utah as we can. This trip to Europe is going to be expensive.

While I was straightening up our room this morning I listened to an episode of the Faith Matters podcast in which Lisa Miller talked about her book The Awakened Brain. Lisa’s argument is that “individuals who cultivate a strong spiritual core are less likely to experience despair, addiction, and depression throughout the life course, and a spiritual core is correlated with growth and resilience after facing challenges.” Of course it made me think off the journey we are on and the things I hope we can all gain from more intentional sacred travel.

In the afternoon we took a long walk -- first to Grandma’s down in Jamestown and then down to BYU. We stopped at the creamery for some snacks, and we recreated an old family picture in the Bookstore.

River walked all the way there, and I carried her all the way back. When she is awake, it’s OK and I can throw her on my shoulders. When she is asleep, it’s not doable. She just gets too floppy. So I carried her for about three miles in my arms. It was hard work, and it’s not going to work for the Camino. We’ve got to figure something else out.

I’m feeling really worried about finances tonight. Wish there were something more that I could do, but I’m at a bit of a loss.

  • Distance Hiked Today: 15.39km/9.9mi

  • Distance hiked on trip: 49.34/30.99mi

La Gran Aventura Day 42: Orem Temple Dedication, and a Plan for Europe

Sunday, January 21, 2024

This morning we went to the dedication of the Orem Temple. Because there are so many people around here who want to participate in the dedication, they broadcast the dedication to the stake centers (regular churches) so that we could attend. The service was beautiful. President Nelson extended an invitation to attend the temple, and he extended promises to those who attend: increased measure of the spirit and increased ability to face the challenges of life.

Then Elder Kearon, our newest member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles spoke. He told a really powerful story about a little German boy who was separated from his family while on vacation in Paris with his family. When the frantic parents went back to where they had lost him, they found a woman holding a sign that said they had found Mattias, who lives next to the temple. Apparently, the boy didn’t know his address, but he knew that he lived next to the temple in Germany. It was a powerful message about staying close to the temple, and about our need to search for those who are lost.

Finally, Elder Christofferson spoke, and he said something that has really stuck with me. He said: “Being in church doesn’t make you Christian any more than sleeping in a garage makes you a car,” implying (of course) that our attendance at the temple on its own does not guarantee the kind of blessings that had been promised by President Nelson, Elder Kearon, and the members of the temple leadership who had spoken previously.

It made me think about this pilgrimage that we are on as a family. We have been attending the temple with more frequency than ever before in our lives, and the entire purpose of the journey is to move from holy place to holy place. But I want to make sure we are also paying attention to the right kinds of things and bringing the right mindset to the temple so that we can gain the things that we hope to gain from being there.

And speaking of temples and holy places. I have struggled for the past several months to know what we can and ought to do while we are in Europe during the month of March. Our real purpose has been to hike the Camino de Santiago, but we can’t begin that until April. So we’ve got a month. If we spend that time as tourists, we will run out of money in less than a week. So today as I was running through things in my mind, it came to me that we could do an LDS pilgrimage before we do the Catholic pilgrimage. We could try to visit all of the LDS temples in Western Europe before we do the Camino. With Eurail passes and the help of friends and temple patron housing, we can do it. It has given me a sense of purpose, and made me really excited for the trip. The temples in Western Europe are:

Paris, London, Preston, The Hague, Frankfurt, Dresden, Bern, Rome, Lisbon, and Madrid. I’m not 100% sure we’ll be able to make it to Preston and Dresden, but we’ll do our best :)

My two biggest concerns are housing and finances. This is not going to be cheap, even if we can stay with family and friends and temple housing. So tomorrow we’re going to really get started on selling granola here in Utah to make what we can.

The evening finished with a huge family dinner at my parents’ house. Betty made Mole, and she also made these amazing candied jamaica (hibiscus) flowers. We invited our Jonesville friends Chloe and Izzie Leonard to come as well. They are studying here in Utah Valley, and it was awesome to re-connect with Jonesville a bit. Betty’s dear friend from Empalme, Laura, also came with her kids.

The evening was peaceful. One of my favorite things in the world is when the lights in the house are down, and I can just sit with my kids and visit. This trip has been a whirlwind, and we haven’t had too many nights like this. It’s the best!