Called to Serve

Well, it came. After a lifetime of imaging my mission I finally have clear image of where and when. And so (drum roll please), I report to the Provo MTC on June 23 to begin my 18-month mission for the Norway Oslo Mission. That’s right. NORWAY. No joke.

My feelings on this? I think surprised sums things up pretty well. But, I love it. Honest. I’m so excited and I feel good about it. My semester in Chile taking on Spanish was no cakewalk, so I must admit that I’m terribly nervous about this Norwegian language business. I don’t know how to count to ten, or how to say “hello,” or even how to say “Jesus Christ” in Norwegian, but I do know the Lord qualifies those He calls. Entonces, me voy a Noruega. Woop-yeah!

Right: My brother Eli and I with my call. Surprised faces all around. Left: The "Where in the WORLD is Sister Stevens Serving?" guess poster. (Pun off of "Where in the WORLD is Carmen San Diego, and a sweet alliteration if you ask me.) The closest anyone got was Germany, and when I initially saw that guess I thought to myself, "you jerk! Don't guess anything in Europe!"

Hope they call me on a mission...

Badgers, guess what? I'm going on a mission! My papers are already in and I should be receiving my call sometime this week (Thursday?). I feel really good about this decision, and now it's just a matter of seeing where the Lord sends me. In the meantime, I've decided that it's kinda fun to see where everyone else can see me going. So, have at it. Leave your comments with guesses and I'll let you all know the official where when I get it.

Ode to Tarp Tents

When my little sister and brother-in-laws came up to visit for a week, pioneer trek became a family affair. I don't think it was raining when we started out, but after dinner we had to quickly get shelters set up because the clouds were threatening to pour out torrential rains. Fortunately, my wilderness survival skills came in handy. We rigged up a tarp tent using what limited twine we had from our sleeping bags and shoelaces (well, not really shoelaces, but that sounds more dramatic). Our little band chatted amiably and slept comfortably amidst the storm... Will rode down the next morning on his bike. He got home in time for work but was completely mud-splattered.

Iceberg Runoff

Sometimes life on the trek would go by fast. One brisk Friday morning I took a group of about six girls to use the “facili-trees” because heaven knows that girls cannot go to the bathroom by themselves. When you are using one bathroom bag between this many girls it takes quite a while to get through everyone; my point being that it took forever and we all arrived at breakfast late. We joined the end of the breakfast line and went about getting our food and such. You know; business as usual. It wasn’t until I went to brush my teeth that things got interesting. I must tell you two critical bits of information before I process with this story.

1. Every week Kitchen Crew would have fun labeling the juices and water insides the cambros. We had all sorts of names: Bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge (water), Strawberry Fields (strawberry juice, duh), and probably something like Kazaam at one point or another. This week in particular our lovely K-Crew decided to label one of the water cambros, “Iceberg Runoff.” Gross. The name made me think about that nasty brown slush that snow inevitably turns into on a beaten path. That being said, I avoided that water cambro the entire week.

2. I take good care of my teeth. On average, it takes me a good five minutes for me to finish brushing (mind you, this does include flossing and mouthwash). At Badger I looked forward to brushing my teeth. It may have been days since I had showered, but at least my precious teeth could be clean. I looked forward to that squeaky-clean, just-brushed-my-teeth feeling like you wouldn’t believe.

Okay, these points being said, I will finish this sad tale. After breakfast I walked over to the cambros to get water on my toothbrush to brush my teeth. I looked for the water cambro I’d been using all week, but it was not within my sight. Then my eyes rested on the “Iceberg Runoff” cambro. “Come on Abby,” I told myself, “you know it’s just water in there.” So I lifted the tab on top to pour water onto my toothbrush.

My original image of “Iceberg Runoff” wasn’t too far off. A brown liquid is what came out of the cambro. BROWN!!! I froze in place. What…just…happen…?...!....?

I had poured Hot Chocolate onto my toothbrush. Disgusting? YES! Apparently before breakfast that morning, K-Crew announced that they had switched out the cambros' contents, and “Iceberg Runoff” was now Hot Chocolate. The problem was that I was late to breakfast and 100% missed this valuable piece of information.

So, after a period of bewilderment and a few distraught yells, I rinsed off my toothbrush in real water and brushed my teeth. (I don’t think the rinse did much. It was like brushing my teeth in sugar. Yuck!) Oh, and I most certainly gave a Mr. Jason Lewis and Christian Lenhart a brief reprimand for making the priceless K-Crew announcement only once and at the beginning of breakfast. Christian just told me that’s why I should come to meals on time. Hummm!

One more thing. Jason : why on earth did you not just rip the “Iceburg Runoff” off the cambro altogether?!? I’m obviously traumatized by this horrific incident!

Sarah getting stuck in the Outhouse

During the week Sarah Bedke was GL, I think this was her week. I was sitting at the pavillion by the pond and someone came running up telling us that Sarah Bedke is stuck in the outhouse because she ran out of toilet paper. So we got a hold of WC and they couldn't bring up the toilet paper for a little bit. So there was about four of us there (I think it was, Abby, Megan, Sara Willie and someone else) we started giving her little bits of grass and leaves and sticks. If anyone else who was there remembers please add to the story, that was all I could remember.

Sentimental

I was sitting here in the Barracks at AIT being super excited that I only have one more month till I'm back at BYU-Idaho and with all the amazing people I know there when I looked on this blog for the first time. I almost started crying because of all the good memories that flooded back to me. Legendary times with amazing people.

Moth-zilla

Out all the moths I ever encountered during my summer at Badger Creek, there is one moth in particular that I will never forget, nor do I hope to ever meet again. It was on a dark and storm-less night...

My kids were tucked tightly away in their tents as I walked alone in the dark towards the light of the lofty lodge. I had left my backpack by the piano earlier that evening, and was now on my way to retrieve it.

Every camp I passed was silent and still. Every camp that is, except the last...

A girl at Camp Tipi, who had a history of anxiety attacks had started hyperventilating, and was now being escorted to the lodge for assistance. They reached the back door before I did, and headed inside. Not wanting to intrude, I waited outside with Abe and JP; talking casually about the day, and watching moths flutter fervently around the overhead light.

Suddenly, something substantially bigger than the swarm flew into the patio and under the light; casting a massive shadow onto the ground before me. My eyes darted around the ceiling, searching for the creature, but to no avail; it had vanished quicker than it's appearance.

"Did you see that?", I asked my friends.

"Yeah- what was that thing?" answered Abe.

"A bat, maybe?" replied JP.

Then without warning, out of the darkness something cuffed me the side of the head; knocking me off balance. I shouted in surprise, and as I recovered my balance and rose back to full height I came face to face with my aggressor...

It wasn't a bat. It wasn't even a bird...

It was a moth; specifically, the single-most gargantuan moth I have ever had the fortune of beholding in the flesh and living to tell about. It was so large, it was unnatural. It probably ate bats for breakfast. It was a massif among moths, most likely their original progenitor from ages past; the First Moth. No doubt just got out of millennial-hibernation, and decided to go out grab a bite to eat.

I've never seen it's equal; nor do I ever intend to, if I have my way.

holly is the best

remember that time when holly was the best...oh, wait that is ALL THE TIME

Moth-topia

Every Monday morning I would wake up freakishly early (5:00ish) to shower and get a jump-start on the week with some time to just hear myself think. NO ONE was up at this time and I'd make my way down to the Girls' Bathroom in the dark. Every week when I flipped the light switch on in the bathroom I'd get the heebie-jeebies real bad: it was like Moth-topia in there. So. Gross. Occasionally I'd think about Harry Potter during these times. In book one Harry lived in the cabinet under the stairs and it said he didn't mind spiders because he was so used to them. I used to think that was 1. disgusting and 2. impossible. But, over time I did kinda get used to the little buggers and I trained myself to not think about it too much.



Badger Moth, photo attribution goes to Abe. Thanks!

The Snap Cheer

I remember when Tammy Benson (Brother B's little sister came up to visit). It was a Tuesday morning--July 1st to be exact--and we became good buds. She liked to solve my 15-Puzzle toy, and we created set "verses" to the snap cheer that afternoon in the hammock. That Wednesday night I remember practicing the pattern over and over again with Megan, Max and Ashley (and I'm pretty sure Emily was there too) in the kitchen for at least 40 minutes. We used our reflection in the window as our mirror, and we practices so long that my chest was red and it was sore from hitting it so much. That was a great night.

what is this?

Well, as stated in the description of the blog, some of us were just talking about Badger Memories and we all realized everyone had their own experience at Badger, and we all created our own memories...imagine that.

So, we want to hear from everyone. Badger Creek is a funny thing - it brings 20+ people together in such a unique way, and we become instant friends in a short 12 weeks. We then are separated from those we love and friendships deepen or fall by the wayside, but we are all still connected by the time we spent at Badger. I would venture to say not a day goes by that one of us does not think about our experience there. The goal of this blog is to help us stay connected as a staff - especially as life takes us different ways. I hope you all will enjoy reading others memories and sharing some of your own. The posts may range from "laugh your head off" to "wipe a tear"...we want them all :)I love you all and hope you know that.

p.s. The blog is still under construction for now - so don't think it is ugly - it will get better - promise. Also, I was trying to invite everybody to be an author, but I only had school emails for lots of people and some of them are now graduated...if someone that has everyone's would let me know that would be awesome. Also, one of the features I have put on the blog is a blog list, where it shows if other blogs have been updated. If you have a personal blog let me know and I will add you to that list - then this one can be somewhat of a hub and we can get on and see how others are doing - RULE: if you look at someone's personal blog you MUST leave a comment - no blog stalking - j/k, but seriously (thanks Abe for that saying)
You are all awesome, and I love you :)

The Beginning

I remember when we all stopped at Wall-Mart to buy supplies and I was so excited. I was so happy to be finally a part of something that made me feel important. We didn't know each other for the most part. We had just gone to the temple and I secretly was worried that my hair would look crazy when wet because I hadn't had the chance to cut it. True to form, I was scrambling around before the time we were supposed to meet getting everything done. And I didn't even know what the ranch looked like!