January First.

The first day of the year. Most years, I don't really do anything on this day.  And today I didn't really do much either but it was still really fun.

At one o'clock, my family went to have lunch at the towns country club. It was fun seeing some family friends and the food was great as always. At about one thirty I went home to change into some work out clothes but found that I didn't have a key to the house so I had to go all the way back (a long drive of 2 minutes) to get some keys. I changed into workout clothes and my cousin came to pick me up.

*Sunday night I went over to my cousins house to drop off some things that I couldn't take on the plane back to Utah. Her dad was going to drive them up for me and my sister. When I got to her house, the English speaking missionaries were there. Elder Ferlin and Elder Stommer have been over to my house a lot because my dad has....a calling in the church and has started attending church. It actually wasn't a surprise they were at my cousins house because they seem to be everywhere I am. Anyways, we were sitting in the living room for a while and then my cousin asked if I wanted to go play volleyball with the missionaries on Tuesday. I said sure, why not? Part of my brain said, "oh that will be sort of weird with just the four of us...is that legal?" And the other part of my brain said, "with ALL the missionaries in the stake? So, Elder Wilkey will be there? That will be awkward....is that legal?" I didn't express those thoughts and I left her house.

**Elder Wilkey is a missionary that is serving in the San Diego, CA mission and is currently serving in Calexico which is in my home stake. He went to SUU with me my first year of college. We went on one date and talked a little bit here and there. The first time I met (well really "hung out" with) him was when I did a photo shoot with him at the SUU rock wall. After I finished taking pictures, we sat and talked for quite a while about life, school, family, home, etc. I got to talking about why I am glad that I grew up where I grew up, the church in my home town, my ward/stake, how small it was, my family, etc. Then we started talking about his mission and future and I made a small comment about how weird it would be if he got called to my home stake. Well, he got his call to San Diego which doesn't mean too much because I live two hours from San Diego. So he left to the MTC in May. During the summer I wrote him a letter or two. One night I got a text from my cousin saying Elder Wilkey was in Calexico. My mind was blown. ***side story number three: Elder Wilkey's older brother Clark was my cousin's older brother's mission companion. Small world right?*** So I got excited that he was actually living all the things that I had told him about that first time we had a conversation. It was pretty neat. I have been home twice, not counting winter break, since I found out he was called here and haven't ran into him.

Back to today: My cousin picked me up and we drove to the stake center. Because we were going to the stake center, I knew Elder Wilkey would be there. We walked in and then I got super nervous because I wasn't sure if it was illegal for me to see him and I knew it would be weird for the both of us. It took me and my cousin about five minutes before we actually walked into the gym. We walked in and I avoided eye contact with him for a while until he caught my eye and waved. Then, after the game of basketball that all the missionaries were deeply into, he came over, shook my hand and said "what are you doing at my mission?" and I said "what are you doing in my stake?" We both were just joking around of course, because we knew the situation. Throughout the day, me and my cousin played volleyball and then basketball for about three hours with all of the missionaries in my home stake. Me and Elder Wilkey got to talk quite a bit in between getting in and out of the game "bump."

To say the least, it was really surprising, weird, crazy and fun. Now, let me just make things clear for everyone. I, in no way, am "waiting" for Elder Wilkey or like him or anything of that sort. He is just a really nice guy and easy to talk to. I think I just got really excited about seeing him because I like talking to missionaries, especially my friend missionaries, about life things which include school, home life, friends, etc. because they always answer whatever questions I have in my head or heart without even knowing it. Elder Wilkey has done that once when I was writing him. So I got really excited because I could actually talk to one of my missionary friends in person. It was refreshing and it was a happy three hours for everyone I think. All the missionaries are hilarious and fun to be around. I love missionaries, the gospel and the church. Even if Elder Ferlin and Elder Strommer think I am going to go inactive because I didn't go to church on Sunday.

So, that was how I spent my January first. I actually did something and it was really fun even though it may have been a small something.

Also, to anyone who knows Elder Wilkey, he says Hi!