Let the Mountains Be Our Teachers

“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than [one] seeks.” – John Muir

I am absolutely certain that you can learn every important life lesson there is to learn just by spending a few hours outside each day. And not just outside in your backyard. I’m talking outside in the mountains, in the forests, in the canyons, in the deserts, as far from civilization as you can get, and sometimes you don’t even have to go that far to find yourself in these places. Thirty minutes north of SF, across the Golden Gate, you’ll find yourself among the majestic redwood forests of northern California. My good friend Spencer and I spent our last Saturday in this heaven we call California at Muir Woods, named after John Muir, a naturalist that helped establish the National Park system.

We spent a good three to four hours here hiking around. The lower boardwalk area where you see most these giant redwoods can get pretty crowded, especially on the weekend. But there are several hiking trails that branch off from the main path that see considerably less traffic. These I would recommend, because these are where you get to really experience nature and the peace it brings. You can hear yourself think, and when there is no noise to crowd out your thoughts, you begin to discover the amazing lessons nature can teach you.

I have Spencer to thank for this post; he kept a list of what we were learning and was actively searching for additional insights. In those few hours, the mountains and the redwoods taught us six lessons:  

1. Pain and trials bring opportunity for growth. When one of those magnificent redwoods crashes down, it causes a lot of destruction to the surrounding area; however, that destruction brings the opportunity for new life and growth. It allows sunlight to reach the plants on the forest floor and the remains of the redwood provide nutrients for the new plants and shelter for animals. The forest grows in a new way.
2. Trials make you stronger. We saw several trees with scorch marks on them, indicating that at some point in the near past a fire must have run through the forest. As the redwoods heal from the burns, their plant material and bark becomes thicker around the burn marks, making them even stronger than they were before.
3. Strong, close families enable all members to better reach their potential. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. We noticed that the redwoods grow together in clumps. You rarely see a redwood growing by itself, and if it is, there will soon be others around it (and by soon, I mean years and years later, but when you live to be 2,200 years old, that’s soon). The root system of a redwood is very shallow in proportion to its height, yet it can reach such heights because the root systems of the surrounding trees intertwine and weave together while spreading outward. They help each other reach the heights they achieve.
4. Don’t quit at 90 percent. Spencer and I hiked to the top of this trail and enjoyed a beautiful view of the valley and the distant ocean. On our way back down, right near the top, several people were making their way up and most of them asked us how much farther the top was. They seemed ready to give up and turn back and miss the incredible reward they had waiting for them at the top.
5. First you must have faith that the path will get you there, but then you must actually walk the path to get there. We trusted that the trail we were taking would bring us to the destination we desired, but what good would that have done us if we didn’t actually walk forward on the trail? We would have gone nowhere. It was acting on our faith that enabled us to find what we were looking for.
6. Sometimes perceived setbacks are actually the way forward. There were many points on our hike where the trail began slopping downward, even though we knew that we needed to go up. But that didn’t mean that we stopped at the first downward turn and decided that the trail must not be the right one because it wasn’t going up like we knew it needed to. Even though we were going down instead of up, we were still progressing forward to our destination.

Our view from the top. Definitely worth it.

Those Simple Days

At the request of my dear Uncle Ken, I present to you this blogging update. Actually, I’m glad he asked me to do it, challenged me really. There’s been too much time between posts lately and every time I sit down to write, I remember how much I love it. And if you don’t believe be, I’ve got 21 journals to prove it.

Well, I’ve been in California now for over a month and I loooooooooooooooooooove it. Love, love, love, love, love. I think I love it even more knowing I’m missing the worst winter Provo’s had in years. Sorry friends! It’s gorgeous here. It’s warm here. It’s fun here. Did I mention that I love California?

In spite of all that love, I miss Provo. I really do. I miss those beautiful mountains I’m blessed to see every morning. I miss the closeness of everything there (traffic is a nightmare here – only thing I can’t stand). Most of all, I miss the people. I miss all the amazing people I had to leave behind when I set off on this adventure. This experience has taught me to appreciate the simple blessings of friendship and love I enjoy when I’m there, and I think that’s why we go through experiences like this. I get to learn about gratitude for three months. And I can go to San Francisco, and the Oakland Temple, and the Jelly Belly Factory, and Malibu while doing it. :)

Life Lessons: Happiness

Oh yikes. I was thinking back on everything that happened this past semester and thought: shoot, I’d have to write 20 posts just to cover it all. And that’s just not going to happen people. I’ll admit I kind of forgot about updating y’all on my life’s crazy adventures. I also have to admit that I’m not really sad about that. I was too busy just enjoying life to write about it. And you know, I think that’s a pretty darn good reason. Thanks for understanding. :)

As the title suggests, I learned a lot about happiness this semester, and it’s been the most wonderful life lesson I’ve learned so far. Seriously, these past four months have been the best months of my life. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friendships; I finally have purpose and direction in my life; I’m in the number one Masters of Accounting program in the United States; I signed an internship offer with Ernst & Young in San Jose; and I’ve met one incredible man and his equally incredible family. I don’t mention all these things to brag about the blessings in my life. Instead, I want to show how blessed and joyful and happy your life is when you allow God to be part it. That’s not to say I haven’t had my fair share of trials and challenges. Let’s be honest, sometimes life just sucks. But knowing the Savior and understanding His Atonement gives you a whole new perspective on the purpose of those challenges and empowers you to endure them with a smile on your face. I promise you, even when you’re facing challenges in your life you can be happy.

Why? Because that’s what the Gospel is all about. It’s the pathway of happiness through this life. From my own experience I know that is true. I look back on my life (as short as it’s been so far, I know) and the times when I have veered from the Gospel path I have been considerably less happy. For two years I didn’t know what my purpose was. I felt lost and generally alone. There was no motivation to better myself. For two years I pushed God out of my life. Sure, I went through the motions and put on appearances for the sake of others, but not because I really felt it in my heart or even believed it in my mind. I wasn’t a bad person. I didn’t seek out bad things. But I wasn’t letting God or the Savior be part of my life either and I wasn’t happy.

Steering back onto the Gospel path, allowing the Savior to heal those wounds, and not fighting God’s path for me anymore has brought inexplicable joy back into my life. That, my friends, is the secret to happiness. No matter what comes your way, you can sail through the good and the bad with joy in your heart. God’s path, His Gospel, His plan of happiness is how you will find happiness both in this life and the life after. What is His path? What is the purpose of His path? What is the end goal? Nothing short of perfection. His path is one of ultimate perfection. It’s the way to become like Him and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And the best part about it? We don’t walk that path alone. We can’t walk that path alone. Both God and Christ are right there on either side of each of us, helping us reach the perfection and state of happiness they desire for every one of us. It’s a life-long pursuit, even an after-life pursuit, and one that brings purpose, direction, and happiness to my life as I develop personal relationships with God and my Savior.

To sum up: happiness is not an end goal in itself, but a natural by-product of a much greater end goal. As I strive to follow His path, I’ve found that happiness naturally follows. We aren’t meant to know all things in this life. Sometimes I find myself asking why, because I can’t see the end from the beginning. Sometimes it takes a great amount of faith to walk that path, but I am putting my faith in Someone who never fails. Things always work out.

This post went a completely different direction than I originally intended (think: long post about what I did this semester, rather than what I learned), but as I looked back and reflected on this semester, and this entire year, this is what I thought about. Like I said, it’s the most wonderful lesson of my life so far, and I look forward to learning and progressing toward even greater happiness that is to come.

Canyoneering, with guns...

Ohhhh, the joy of Labor Day. We get into the first week of school and we’re already ready for a break. Thank you workers of America for being so awesome that you deserve a holiday. And it’s always one of the most fun weekends of the year. Freshman year I floated the Provo River, the next year I went to Bear Lake for jet skiing, and last year I went up to Park City with my fam. This year we topped them all, yet again. A) I got to spend it with one of my best friends. B) We got to spend it in the mountains. What more could you ask for? And just like every other year, it was super last minute on my part. Candice’s friend Adam already had everything planned and Candice was going with him and a bunch of his friends. I jumped on board Saturday night. I don’t know what it is about that weekend, but it brings out the spontaneity in me.

After scrambling around Sunday after church (mostly on my part), we left at 5:30 for Zion’s National Park, down in southern Utah. There were eight of us in two cars.  Our car listened to this incredible fireside called “Conversion of a Catholic” by Bill Carpenter. Hoooooly cow. If you want a big dose of feel-really-good-about-the-Gospel-and-about-life-and-miracles, look that talk up. Wow. So we were feeling pretty great when we stopped to stay the night. On the side of the road. In the middle of nowhere. There was this nice little dirt lot off the side of the highway we were taking over to the park. Someone set up a little tent, another slept in their car, and the rest of us laid out a tent to use as a tarp and slept under the stars. It was a perfect night and you could see everything. I love the sky, especially away from all the light pollution. Then it really comes alive. We talked for a while, just soaking it in. I can’t help but fall in love with the earth, over and over again, every time I get to spend some time with it. I know that sounds kinda cheesy, but it’s so true. I always always feel rejuvenated after an outdoor adventure, even if I’m physically exhausted.

We woke up around 6:00am to head into the park and pick up our pass at 7:00. Then we piled everyone into one car and drove up to the trailhead of Orderville Canyon, which is actually outside Zion’s but you hike down into Zion’s. So for those of you who are wondering what the heck canyoneering is, according to Wikipedia it is “traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and/or swimming” (I didn’t know “scrambling” was an outdoor activity of its own). You only take one car to the trailhead because you just hike down the canyon. If your hike includes some rappels, which ours did, you can’t get back up, unless you brought some trad gear. Eleven miles was enough of a hike on its own anyway, even though this downhill was much nicer to us than Timp.

We started the hike around 8:30 and finished around 5:00pm. So a good eight and a half hours spent in one of the most beautiful places ever. Canyons are so majestic. You’ve got these beautiful rock walls towering over you on either side. The red rock plus the green trees plus the blue sky equals perfection. None of my pictures do it justice. It’s just something you have to experience. We probably hiked a good five miles before a stream started forming. We did rappel down into some nasty water the first time. I went down barefoot so I didn’t have to get my shoes all yucky (I knew I should have bought those chocos…) and I sank into about six inches of mud and who knows what else on the bottom of this pool that went up past my waist. So fun though. There were two rappels total, neither of them very high. We hiked down waterfalls and swam through some parts of the now river and eventually hooked up with the Narrows, one of the sites in Zion’s. It was a super nice hike. It was the perfect temperature the whole way, thanks to the shade. The water was nice and cool, but not cold, and it was fun to play in. We saw this big owl and mountain goats and lizards and frogs. Such a good day. All I know is my future family is going to looooooove these kind of adventures, because we’re going to be doing a lot of them.

The yummy water we got to rappel into.

The girls.

Once we made it to the Narrows trailhead there was a free shuttle to take us back to the visitors center so we could get the other car. Now the only problem was that we had put basically all our stuff in this car. And there were eight of us. I don’t know how we did it, but we fit all of us and all of our stuff in that car and made it, without incident, back to the car at the trailhead. We didn’t get back until about 1:00am and I didn’t get to bed until 2:00. And as always, 8:00am class. That also seems to happen every Labor Day weekend. I’m seeing a pattern here. But it’s worth it every time.

In other news, this past Friday I went shooting for the first time! That’s right, real guns. I was so excited. And it was so fun. Our (whenever I say “our” or “we” I’m usually referring to Candice and I) friend Jarren is in the Army and he has a .22, .45, and some military rifle. He brought a couple friends and the five of us went out to Lincoln’s Point with an old microwave that needed to be destroyed. And destroy it we did. Now that I have most of my rock climbing gear, I think I’d like to buy a gun next and add shooting to my collection of favorite hobbies. Not kidding. A concealed weapons permit will be in the works soon. Creepers, you’ve been warned.

Other than that, I’m now two and a half weeks into another semester. Meaning I only have twelve and a half more to go. Yes, I’m already counting down. Habit. I actually really like all my classes so far. I feel like I’m learning useful, real-world things. It’s less conceptual, more practical, and a whole lot more interesting. Plus I get to go hangout with my friends in class all day. Gotta love it. It’s going to be a great semester, I just know it. Life is so great and I am so thankful for everything and everyone that is a part of it. I’ve never been so happy in my entire life. I have nothing to fear or worry about. I know my life is in good Hands.