It started at 8:05 in the morning. I blindly searched through the sheets with my face still in the pillow to answer my buzzing phone. It was my good friend Mr. Dubes letting me know that he was just around the corner to pick me up for his softball game that I instantly but momentarily regretted saying I'd go to. But alas I grabbed the first pair of pants and shirt my fingers touched and managed to be out the door before 8:10. Upon arrival to the field I ran up to my dearest friend Ms. Dyer,also on Mr. Dubes team, and who was a second reason I wanted to go to the game. And boy was it a great one. However the thing about BYU intramurals is they make up ridiculous rules that make no sense. For example, in softball, if you hit the ball over the fence, it is an automatic out while the rest of the world and all humanity would consider it a home run. So despite the Grizzlies hitting the softball over the fence twice, they lost by one lousy point. Which leads into MY point of the story that unless you win, BYU intramurals are incredibly unfair. And this concludes the first part of my day.
The next part of my day is a bit more exciting and I remember it because I was a bit more awake. Some friends and I drove up to Alpine to fulfill one of the items on our bucket list... sliding rock. Sliding rock (which is deceivingly titled) is a small natural water fall that people hike up to and slide down. Some might call it a natural water slide, however I feel it is too scary looking to be called a natural water slide. I would rather call it, the water fall-with-no-obvious-(but possibly hidden)-jagged-rocks-in-your-path-as-long-as-you-go-the-right-way slide. Nevertheless we all survived with only a couple stubbed toes.
Now the real reason I wrote about this day and the real reason I might remember it even before I remember the names of my own children:
It was 5:30 when I arrived at the White residence to pick up Mr. and Mrs. White. Mrs. White's parents had invited us all to Deer Valley up in Park City to enjoy an evening of music and natural flora at the Utah Symphony. The Utah Symphony plays every night for two weeks or so during the summer. Each night the symphony highlights different styles and themes of music. July 31, 2010, it was Broadway. Any girl or grown man who was there would agree with me in that by the end of the night we all wanted to be Broadway divas.
If only Broadway knew what they were missing out on... we'd be rich.
However, this paramount part of my story, the reason that I wrote this story at all, it all took place before it began. The physical layout of the concert was arranged so that the audience sat comfortably on a grassy hill of the ski run while the stage was set up at the base. Naturally, since we would be sitting on grass and be hungry at some point, Mrs. Anderson assembled gourmet picnic dinners for us. In each picnic sack was a classic thirst quenching glass bottled drink. I may have you know that since Christmas I have not voluntarily had any soda. So when I saw that my good friend Mrs. White had a lemonade, I was quick and eager to trade her for my Dr. Pepper. Now you can only imagine that after such a long, tiring, and almost life-threatening day, just the idea of ice cold lemonade was enough to make me go weak in the knees. Being the lady I am, I gracefully rushed in opening the bottle, poured the heavenly liquid into a plastic cup and gulped it down like freedom. It wasn't until I had consumed more than half the cup did I realize the interesting taste of this lemonade. And once I paused in my gulping, I caught my first wiff and decided to read the bottle label. Alas this was not gourmet lemonade but in fact was what one might call "hard lemonade" ... I drank it. And I didn't just sip it, oh no, I gulped it down like there was no tomorrow. My heart sank; I felt my liver already crying for mercy. My life was over. Now on behalf of Mrs. Anderson, I must say that she was completely unaware of her shady purchase, for she testified that she was certain none of the picnic drinks were alcoholic. Although I consider myself a very mature person who knows how to handle any situation no matter how unpredictable, I am still mentally, spiritually and emotionally working on this one.
What a day right? Nope, STILL not over! Not even 15 minutes after my surprise binge, Mrs. White leans over to tell me that a man close to the edge of the field has an unmistakable resemblance to our beloved apostle President Uchtdorf. "That IS President Uchtdorf!!" I responded without squealing like a small child. My heart beat harder and faster and my hands got clammy as I watched this spiritual giant cross the front of the stage and take his seat front and center. Now I believe that if Heavenly Father has something He wants you to do or take advantage of, most often He will give you a couple chances because you don't always hear the first hint. However, occasionally, the hint is a scream saying that you will never get this chance again! Get out there and go do what I've given you! From whatever experience that I cannot remember, I somehow had enough courage in me to stand up, walk down, stand in front of this man and say... "Hi. I just really wanted to meet you." Sure these may not be the words I (or even he) would have preferred, but somehow President Uchtdorf understood everything that was going through me at that point (except the beverage I hope) because he put out his hand and said how great it was to meet me.
When we first spotted him!
President Uchtdorf is in the black coat walking beside a man in a white coat
... I know they are very small.
President Uchtdorf is in the black coat walking beside a man in a white coat
... I know they are very small.
As I've relieved this day through my writing, it is only when I think about shaking hands with a man of God do those same emotions of complete humility and love come right back to me. I just have to say that an undeniable divine power exists on the world today and I am forever grateful and amazed that I can both experience and be apart of it.
July 31, 2010. What a day it was. Once again, thank you life.
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