{Boise}

Yay for another exciting week. Let's recap:

Girl date with Lesh on Monday to Zupas. Always a good time. We had college day at our school so a bunch of utah colleges came and gave little presentations. It was really helpful and beneficial and ah I can't believe I'll be going to college so soon but I'm so excited for all the adventures soon. Scared, yes. But mostly- excited. And. Go Aggies. Utah State is looking really great. 

 Um. I got a letter. Like from Thailand. Ah. Best day ever. Logan even sent me a talk and he knows I love talks and he sent me a Thai pass along card. Everything is cooler in Thai. Even the cute elephant stamps are way cooler than any stamps we have here! I'm so proud of him. 

 Selfie. I never take selfies but Tuesday was a good hair day and I was proud of myself for getting ready. Totally selfie worthy. 

 Austin got answered to HOMECOMING from Abbie Foster. With an uncut pizza. Obviously this was our solution to the problem. 

The upcoming pictures are super blurry but they make me laugh. Sequence of events as we tried a meat pie. It's been on mine and Lesh's bakery bucket list for the longest time and we finally decided to check it off the list. We were starving and desperate. So. Meat pie it was. It wasn't even that bad. Dewey thought it was the nastiest thing ever so Lesh and I must have been really really really starving because we ate almost the whole thing.

Classic day at work.

There are lots of pictures ahead. We went to Boise as a cross country team to run in the Bob Firman invitational. Sorry the pictures are out of order. It was seriously such a fun trip. It was so fun because I got to get to know people that I normally don't get to talk to. We had so much fun. 

 Ethan, Emily, me, Mary, Halea

The whole crew.

 Jackie :)

 Only on a 6 hour bus ride would this occur. Thomas was sitting on top of Connor who was sitting on top of Daniel. Connor is screaming in pain, Daniel is just laughing, and Thomas looks extremely satisfied in the torture he is inflicting. Classic bus ride moment. 

 When we stop at Target and they have crazy hats. 

 Face swap is always entertaining. And disturbing.

 Trevor Bursatch (aka Buttscratch) was going a little stir crazy. Hence the creepy cow mask. He named himself "Expired Milk." Classic.

 When Jackie gets a hold of your phone when you're in the shower. There were many more gems like this one in my camera roll. Jac and I got a room to ourself and it was fantastic. It was so nice to get to talk to her about life and just hang out together. I really love Jackie and I'm so thankful she's been in my life for so long. 

 This is a pretty accurate depiction of our friendship :) 

 Mary!

 There was a contest on instagram where you put #racedayselfie and tried to get a funny picture with racers in the background. These were some of our better attempts. 

 Crazy Connor. This kid is so fun. He makes me laugh and is so much fun to talk to. He did so fantastic in his race and was a little excited. "You can just call me "Cen Arsell" It's like Ben Saarel and Connor Arnell mixed."

 So I didn't get any pictures with Ruby, Buttscratch, or Daniel even though Jac and I were with them like 90% of the trip. Somehow I just have these weirdie pictures of them on the bus. It was so fun getting to know them. They are so sarcastic all the time. I never know when they're joking and it's gotten to the point where I just assume everything they tell me is a lie. Some great moments with them: when they put salt in my water at dinner and I didn't even notice, when Ruby beat me in pocket tanks 3 times in a row, when Ruby told me he got a 19:28 in the race just because he wanted to pretend he was faster than me, Trevor and Ruby's magic tricks, when they stole Jac's phone and sent crazy snapchats to everyone in her contacts (super embarrassing), taking Split Pics with them, Trevor's mullet, crazy Daniel at dinner "Mmm broccoli soup. That ought to be artsy fartsy." or "I bet it smells like flowers", Ruby's Fruit Leather throw up "That wasn't fruit leather." There were just so many good memories made.

This is Mary at the gas station we stopped at. She plugged in her phone and started watching the BYU Utah game :) That's a true fan right there...

The Split Pic photos. Seriously too good.

The race itself went really well, too. Last year I got a 20:14 and 57th place. This year I got 19:32 and 32nd place. Improvement, hallelujah! It's such a fun course and I gave so much effort- it was a good race! 

I love cross country so much. I had such a great weekend with my team and I'm glad my parents got to tag along too.

Now for a few quotes for the week:

"Most omissions occur because we fail to get outside ourselves. We are so busy checking on our own temperatures, we do not notice the burning fevers of others even when we can offer them some of the needed remedies, such as encouragement, kindness, and commendation. The hands which hang down and most need to be lifted up belong to those too discouraged even to reach out anymore.

Since the Most Innocent suffered the most, our own cries of “Why?” cannot match His. But we can utter the same submissive word “nevertheless …”

-Neal A. Maxwell

I really liked these quotes because there have been a few times this week where I've been really discouraged and my heart was just hurting. I'm so thankful for people who offered "needed remedies" for me by standing by my side and giving me advice. I'd especially like to thank Alesha cause she got me through a really rough night this week. Often times the ones that need the most help are the ones that seem the happiest on the outside. May we all strive to "get outside ourselves" and focus on others.

"To the extent that you are continually praying every hour for The Lord to direct your steps, he'll tell you what to do, what to say, and what not to say, he'll bless you and prosper you in your relationships with others." -Gene R. Cook

This was in the talk Logan sent me and it was perfect for me because I read this right after praying for help with my relationships with others.

"He will try you again and again until you know that you are able and will serve him at all costs." -Gene R. Cook

I certainly fall short in so many things and there are so many times I feel like I can't quite do anything perfectly right but I try so hard to be willing to serve God. I'm so thankful for all of the missionaries that really do serve God "at all costs." Am I willing to give up everything I have for the will of my Father? I definitely need to keep working on it. Thankfully I have so many good examples in my life.

That's all for this week, folks. Thanks for reading.

Love, Kenzie