Week 3 - First Real Missionary Experience

MONDAY - Memorial Day

I love Memorial Day! It is when the weather is finally nice and everyone doesn't have to work. I woke up early and went hiking with friends from the ward in Portola Redwoods State Park. We hiked about six miles, and it was awesome. Redwood trees are huuuuuge!! It blew my mind when I saw them. I loved walking in nature. I of course got my token mosquito bites and dirt covered new shoes. Totally worth it. We hiked up summit trail, and I was expecting this beautiful view because the hike was pretty strenuous, but then all of the sudden the trail just starts dropping downwards. Because the trees are so massive, we could only see a little bit of blue sky which was different than the rest of the hike where you just see big trees. It was slightly anticlimactic. While hiking back, Tim wanted a deep explanation about why my name was Kitt. I began to explain to him when I was born and then said, but it is actually short for Kittricia and my grandmother's name was Kittricia...I was going to through a few more comments, but then when I started lying about my grandma's name I knew I was in trouble. ;) I then said I was joking and then no one who was listening knew what to believe anymore. They all believed my grandmother story.

I didn't take this, but hopefully I can get some pics for proof soon :)

Later that day, we had a ward barbecue and pool party. I love swimming, the sun, people, and food so it was a great afternoon. I enjoyed playing billiard pool and then jumping in the actual pool. I of course joined a fierce game of three up with all the guys that were the only ones swimming. But, as soon as they decided to get out of the pool to jump and catch the ball, I bowed out. I was not up for getting jumped on. I was grateful for the fun activities and friends to do things with.

When we were getting ready for bed, Sue said, Kitt are you married?? I laughed super hard and said no. She said she realized she had asked me if I had a boyfriend, but realized later she should probably have asked me if I was married because Mormons have to get married when they are super young. I laughed even harder and said that we have the choice of when we get married and who we marry and we aren't forced to do any of it. She was surprised and relieved about that. She then asked if Mormons had to marry Mormons. I again explained that it is a choice, although it is always better if you marry a person in the same religion. She quickly agreed.

TUESDAY
Work went really well and I was able to find some good information and profiles for our hiring manager. I might as well just tell everyone that I am a professional online stalker...that's basically what I do all day, stock people's skills and profiles...talent acquisition is just the code words. I went to institute with my ward when I got home from work. We had another bbq and a lesson about scripture study. I played volleyball afterwards and got home around 10:30. My roommate had a friend over and I talked with them for a while. I eventually went into my room and Sue hollered in and said, Kitt I got a lot of wine we can party it up! She caught herself and proceeded to ask if I drank. When I said no, she said okay I will never ask you again.

Once her friend left, she apologized for asking me. She was so worried I would be offended. I told her she shouldn't be offended at all and she should feel free to ask me any questions she wanted. This opened the door for the next hour of Gospel discussion. She said she was looking things up online about our religion because she wanted to learn more and figure out why I was so dedicated to what I believe. I jumped on the opportunity and asked if she wanted to see some dependable sites that would actually depict what we believe. I showed her mormon.org and lds.org. She said she wanted to read the Bible, so I showed her that she could download it and she could watch Bible videos...which, she thought was awesome.

She didn't know where the Bible came from, so I explained to her where it came from and the lives that were sacrificed to translate it into English. Luckily, I had gone to institute and learned about the history of the Bible again...blessings. She then asked why we are different than Christians. I explained our belief in the Godhead and in the Book of Mormon. I said we also believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. She said she totally understood that it could not be translated directly from Hebrew so we are in the right for believing that. By that time I pulled out my quad and had the smaller Book of Mormon out that I just recently started reading and marking. I told her that if she ever wanted to read my materials, she was more than welcome to. She acted excited, so I said she could have my small Book of Mormon. She was shocked and kind of refused to take it because she didn't want to take something that was mine. I told her that I had another and pulled out the Book of Mormon that I used my freshman year to take notes in class. She saw it and asked if she could have that one. I agreed, because if she reads it, it's worth giving up. Sue said she would read it by the end of the summer! I explained that as she had questions, she should feel free to ask. I really hope she does read it. I want so badly for her to feel the Spirit of the book, even if she doesn't fully convert. I also told her that she could come to church and I think she will come to institute next week so she can play volleyball afterwards.

I was so grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony. It was fun and I was so excited when I finished at about midnight. It was definitely worth staying up for and practically falling asleep at work the next day.

WEDNESDAY
As we were sitting around, Susan out of the blue asks if I want to work when I have kids. I said I'd prefer not to, and asked her. She said, family comes first always. She proceeded to tell how her mother gave up a career to be home with her and I told her about my mom doing the same. It was a great conversation and I was grateful for her strong example and conviction to family.

Also, I got to work outside for about an hour. I was freezing at my desk so I just picked up my computer and headed outside. It was wonderful!

THURSDAY
I had a good lunch with Jen and Kathy. They were able to give me a couple pointers when searching for candidates and I enjoyed learning from them. We went to a delicious Taiwanese food place. They didn't eat their fortune cookies...I was appalled! I ate mine and Kathy's...that's the best part about eating at Asian food restaurants.

FRIDAY
This could be called sugar Friday. I definitely got my fix for sugar this day. I couldn't believe it! I got to work and there was breakfast...awesome! I loaded up on fruit and a mini burrito and donuts...like any good second breakfast eater should. We had a meeting with the entire global acquisition team! It was a neat experience. We had people listening in via phone and people in Salt Lake and other locations on live cam. We heard from the VP of HR and then the president of marketplaces. It was an inspiring meeting and reminded me of how lucky I am to be working for a company that is so value driven and focused on customers.

During lunch, we had an intern lunch with these fantastically rich and delicious cupcakes...imagine the best cupcake you've ever had and add goodness and you have what I had. There were three different kinds...of course I had to eat the chocolate mousse one and then grab the birthday cake and another chocolate one for the road...I physically thought I would die if I ate another one right then or even later that day. I finished them on Saturday afternoon.

I had a date with Surfer boy. He made us a three course meal. A gourmet salad that he put together before coming home from work, then a noodle/zucchini/squash/goat cheese casserole, and finally a bowl of vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries and pieces of chocolate. The goat cheese a little hard to get down, but the entire meal was quite impressive. He said he loves to cook, that's fabulous because I definitely wouldn't put cooking under my love category of hobbies. I do it because I love to eat healthy and delicious food. After dinner we went to a show. It was at a play house in Los Altos called the Bus Barn Theater and we watched a show called "Company." I don't think the tickets were very cheap and it was a pretty good show. And, I am positive we were the youngest people watching the show by at least 30 years...there were a lot of old people...probably locals who buy their season passes. I was laughing so hard when I saw the demographic and how much two tall, white, blonde kids stuck out.

The show was funny because it was about a guy who is in his mid-thirties and only has married friends and is trying to figure out if marriage is for him or not...I began to realize oh, young single adults around the world struggle and make fun of the same things we do in Cougarville. I thought for a minute we were almost back there...but, some of the humor wouldn't be acceptable for the crowd there. They had a little gathering afterwards with cheese and wine. We went to check it out and Surfer boy got some cheese and cookie. I was so stuffed I passed. It was a fun evening and I was impressed with the effort and planning he put into the evening. My guess is we'll do something again.

SATURDAY
I did laundry in the morning and I had the funniest moment for laundry ever...check out this pic. I didn't realize that canvas would shrink in the wash!!!!

The one on the right is the one that I washed...significantly smaller...

I was disappointed. I think Sue will let me have hers that isn't small because I loved having the big bag and she doesn't really care. We soon headed out to the grocery store. Before we left, I said alright, we're off for an adventure. Sure enough we were! We just bought too much stuff...they don't give you grocery bags here and by the time we were done shopping, we had too much to carry home...so, this is what we did.

Sue waiting at the stoplight so we could cross. 

Right on yo.

We may have just rolled it into our apartment...for convenient unloading...

I pushed Sue back to the grocery store in our empty cart.

I was laughing so hard all the way to our apartment with a grocery cart full of food and then going back pushing a little Asian in my basket. I will never forget it. People probably thought we were crazy and maybe we were. We just borrowed the cart and pulled it into our house, no big deal. 

I played at the park in the afternoon with Trevor and played cards and watched an episode of Psych. It was fun, although he talks too much...even Sue agreed with me.

SUNDAY
Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I went to a game night that night with Kelly and her future hubby, they were so nice to come and pick me up. I didn't even have to ask, Josh just asked me if I wanted to go. Roommate #2 arrived also. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her. She is from China and goes to Berkeley. She seems pretty cool, although I really haven't talked to her much.

This week has been fun and full of adventures, as you can see. I hope enjoyed reading it...I know it is a very long post. Thanks for caring.

Peace out.

the tall girl