Day of the Dead

In Mexico, they celebrate Day of the Dead. We don't in the United States, but that doesn't stop me from remembering November 2.

2012. I got up early in the morning and grabbed my tent and my bag and walked up to the Eyring. It was annoying walking up with all that stuff. I crammed my stuff in one of the geology vans and noticed our professor's Antarctica bag. We eventually loaded into the vans and were on our way. I rode in the van the TA was driving and our professor, Jani Radebaugh, was riding shotgun. She would periodically get on the walkie-talkies to point out things on our drive, such as faceted spurs near Spanish Fork, cinder cones near Delta, and some alluvial fans. I sat in the back near my classmate Cameron. At one point Jani asked if any of us had had field camp. I didn't know that in the geology department, "field camp" means Geology 410; I thought it meant 210, the class that I took just this summer. I started going off on how I wanted to take it but didn't know if I could, when in fact 410 has never been a class I have intended to take. Michael Arnold (the TA's brother) kept asking Jani questions. We got off in St. George to have lunch. While we were driving through St. George, another van put "Call Me Maybe" on the walkie-talkies. We stopped at a stake center across from the St. George temple, and I remember thinking about how it didn't feel like November there. Michael and I went into the temple visitors' center to use the restroom. The volunteers asked about us, so we explained we were from BYU. While we were at the visitors' center, the others had put out our lunch--lots of sandwiches and lots of chips. Then we got back in the vans and continued driving. I think we stopped at a gas station near Vegas. On this trip, my classmate Trevor was playing music from his iPod via a device that "broadcast" to the radio; he played Imagine Dragons, and it was the first time I had heard them. I liked them, and I didn't know they were local until Trevor mentioned it. Eventually we made it to the park. Jani was pointing out desert varnish (I think) and told us how the area had once been used to mine Borax. We drove up a steep hill, and when we got out at the top, Jani said, "Welcome to Death Valley, everyone!" Some people said jokingly, "Oh, is that where we are?" They had never officially told us where we were going, but many of us had heard it from other people. We were at a place called Dante's view.

She pulled out a diagram and told us that the deposits we were seeing had been on one of our assignments. She told us why Death Valley is so hot: It's in the basin and range province, so rising air loses its moisture, then comes down into the valley really hot. We took pictures there, and some classmates were having a conversation with some French tourists (in French, of course). Then we went over to the Stovepipe Wells campground to set up camp. There were lots of tents. I took mine out to go set it up, but I was trying to find a good spot, since we couldn't go past the camp boundary. Trevor invited me to sleep in the tent he was in, so I decided to do that. I brought an enormous tent for nothing. Jani went around to tell the other campers that we were college students, but that we didn't drink, although we might sing (but we didn't). I think one of the TAs asked Jani if we were all geology people; there were also some geography, earth and space science, and, of course, English language. I went over to the nearby gift shop to see if they had any candy corn or anything I cared to buy, but they didn't, at least not for those prices. I wanted to get a new hat (since mine was small), but I didn't like theirs. We had a dinner of hot dogs, and someone had brought J-Dawgs sauce. There was a kangaroo rat scurrying around, and we saw a grasshopper (or something) fly into the firepit and get roasted. One of my classmates, Rachel, asked me if I was a grad student, since she hadn't seen me, but I explained where I sat in class and explained I wasn't a geology major. Then that night some of us went to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, just for fun. I took a flashlight. We all took off our shoes and played in the sand. I didn't want to walk as far as some of the others went, so I just stayed around some others, but I didn't know any of them, so it was like I was by myself. I had my flashlight on lantern mode, but then someone wanted to turn it off, so I did. It was a beautiful evening, lots of stars and a bright moon. It was fun to lie there and look up at the sky, occasionally jumping off the dune. Then we went back to the vans and drove back to camp and went to bed.

2009. Elder Tamblyn and I went to the Families Forever LDS bookstore. I wanted to get another Cherie Call CD. I knew I liked "Somebody Else's Shoes," so I wanted to get The Ocean in Me. When I went to check out, the owner told me she had a new one, if I wanted to listen to it, but I knew what I wanted. (That turned out to be a good choice; I like The Ocean in Me more than Grace, and it's more fitting for missionaries.) I remember thinking that "One Good Woman" seemed kind of fitting for Thanksgiving, and "More Than Enough" was kind of weird. (Now it's my favorite.) I think we went to Dairy Queen, but they didn't have anything in season, so I didn't have anything. Then we went to Lewis-Clark State College for email.

2008. I remember going tracting after church, and no one was home. Someone in a yellow house didn't answer. I think someone mentioned it being football or something that stopped people from answering or being home. Here is my journal entry for the day:
"Exactly one year ago I was at the temple for the first time, complete with my slightly black fingernails before going to El Matador with the family. 

"Today few people were home. Not a single person answered as we tracted, although we know one person was home. No one had us for dinner, and it got dark early, so we didn't know what to do.

"I bore my testimony today, which is a lot easier in a branch. Elder Love implied he might be leaving and worried everyone. I don't want him to go." 

2007. I remember reading Boyd K. Packer's pamphlet "Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple" before I had to leave to go to the temple. I eventually got dressed, and we went to the temple. Also getting his endowment that day was Ben Poulsen, whom I knew from high school. In the celestial room, my mom said we would come another time when our fingernails weren't black, since we had polished them for Halloween and not everything had come off. Afterwards, we all went to El Matador for dinner. After dinner, we took my cousins to our house. I was listening to the Corpse Bride soundtrack; Jesse recognized it. We got talking about how I can see sounds and I said I liked the blue songs on the soundtrack more than the orange songs, and Jesse didn't understand why I would like those songs better. When we got to our house, I showed them my Jack Skellington jack-o-lantern. After they left, I talked with my parents about how the next day we would be going to Nevada to help my cousin April pack up some stuff.

2006. I think my parents went down to Fillmore, since my grandma had just died. Sue and her sons came and visited Preston and Ya-ping. As they were leaving, Allie pointed to her rotting jack-o-lantern and said, "My [pumpkin's] mouth's having issues!" Sue found that hilarious.


2004. My chemistry teacher, Mrs. Duffin, drew some red and blue stars on the whiteboard with a note that said, "Vote today! If you are 18 (and registered)".

2002. We woke up in our Taiwan hotel rooms and got ready for the day. We went outside, and I remember looking up at the palm trees and thinking, "Wow, we're really in Taiwan!" We drove somewhere (maybe to get breakfast) with Donna, our tour guide, and we passed David (Elder Melville) and his companion talking to someone by a gas station. Then we went and talked to him. It was the first time we had seen him for two years. He was amazed at how much taller I'd gotten. I think that he invited my parents to go to teaching appointments that night--my dad to his appointment, and my mom with the sisters. My sister and I stayed at our hotel and watched TV.