SO a couple weeks ago, I headed out to Utah to visit Ethan and Rebecca. Despite my previous experiences in Utah, this trip actually proved to me that Utah is a TOTALLY FUN place! Maybe not where I should go to school, but you can have a lot of fun there. Conveniently, Mommy planned the week so it also fell on the Sunday when my mission President spoke at his home ward. Here are just a couple pictures from the weekend:
The Gwilliams, who actually recognized me at President and Sister Clark homecoming. I served with their son, Elder Gwilliam in Pskov for one transfer. Funny thing was he was my least favorite companion, but his family was SUPER nice...
Elder Woodheads family! On the flip side, he was one of my best companions. Together with Elder Eady, we were the threesome Assistants
As much as I don't like Utah all that much, it actually was kind pretty...
What can I say about Elder Eady but good things?
I don't think I've told President Clark, but halfway through my mission he was included in the "Man-Dog Club".
President and Sister Clark
Don't know what I was thinking with this one...
No offense to BYU, but after I chose Michigan over their music school, I kinda felt like I was on enemy territory. So of course I have to be packing my AK-Alexander...
It was SO STINKIN HOT in Utah, so we got an AC.
So I have to make one comment so this post makes more sense. So being in Utah was great. I got to meet Rebecca, catch up with Ethan, relax, etc. but there was still a problem. Since I was hanging out with Ethan and Rebecca I always felt a little like the third wheel. They were this married couple, and I was single (and very fresh off my mission, so you can imagine what thats like) and I didn't always know what to do with myself. Thankfully there was a plan...
A month before my mission ended, I had my last interview with President Clark. He was scheduled to leave the mission a week before I left, which meant that despite all the hours and travel and work we had done together, and the friendship we had cultivated over 9 months of time together, he would not be the one to I would talk to on the last day about the "last transfer" to find my "last companion". So when he started that interview saying "What questions do you have for me Elder Kennedy?", I asked him to give me all his input on my future.
While talking, the topic of marriage came up, and he asked me if I had a girlfriend (which I didn't) He then asked if I was interested in anyone. An awkward pause from me for a second, and he then asked if there was anybody in the MISSION I was interested in...
Now, don't get me wrong, missionaries should keep their eyes focused on the work at hand and away from elders and sisters they might be "interested" in. If you ask me that kind of stuff is just kind of sketchy. I can say though that as you serve, the nature of a mission forces out of someone their most inherent qualities. Kind of like how a trial by fire burns away the excess and leaves you just as you are. And honestly, I had noticed good qualities about some sisters in our mission. I knew who was a hard worker, who was dependable, who was flexible, who was positive and fun, and who really loved their mission. And while on my mission, I had noticed one sister in particular, Sister McOmber (or as she is now know, Niki McOmber). The funny thing about it is, I could only count three or four times we had BRIEFLY talked on my mission (about musical numbers, travel to zone conferences) and yet she had made a super sharp impression with me. To add to that, I knew President Clark really trusted her, that she LOVED music (first time I talked I met her was when she started playing a Mozart Piano Concerto after a church meeting) and I had heard something about her living overseas. Shared life experience what?
So to get back to the interview with President Clark, I mentioned how Niki had caught my attention and that I'd be interested to take her on a date. Of course, I was nervous and skeptical about telling him that cause telling the mission president you're interested in one of the sisters in the mission is pretty much the last thing you should do, but I figured if he asked, I would be honest. The craziest thing was that President Clark was ALL OVER it. He had only the BEST things to say about her, about how she's supportive and fun and has a strong testimony (to list some of the qualities). And not only that, but we spent the rest of the interview planning how I would ask her out on a date. In a million years, I never thought I would plan something like that out with my mission president...
Fast forward to Monday, my second day in Utah. I had been talking with Niki over Facebook for about a week now, so I figured I'd put my plan into action. I think it involved saying that I felt awkward being the third wheel with Ethan and Rebecca, and I was looking for someone to pair off with with Rebecca and Ethan. However I did it, we set up a date for Tuesday night. We ended up going to the BYU library, playing a scavenger hunt as couples against each other.
The point of the game is to take a picture with something in the library, and then send that picture to the other couple. They in turn send you a picture, and at the same time, you set off to find the thing the other couple took a picture with before they find yours. Hence the random pictures with random things.
Our expressions are meant to express anger we felt when Ethan and Rebecca totally cheated. Yes, you can take pictures with anything in the library, but taking a picture with something locked in a separate room only open to certain people who have a combination for the door? Yeah, cheating...
Funny thing was, as I'm dropping her off at her house, the door opens and I end up meeting her whole family, with a couple cousins and her grandparents thrown in. Considering it was the first date, that seemed pretty crazy, but thankfully, it went very well. Thank goodness for missions that teach you how to meet new people!
Short to say though, the date was awesome. There was no first date awkwardness, no awkward pauses, it was just fun talking, laughing, speaking Russian, making Russian jokes and getting to know each other. Haha and if none of that helped, the fact that she was equally or (dare I say) more competitive than me showed me I had to go on more dates. More later...
Wednesday morning, Ethan and I headed to Kneaders for unlimited French Toast. Unfortunately, my belly was still acclimating to American food, so I think I only got one piece down. Meanwhile, Ethan finished his, mine, and another piece...(:
On a side note, that night, as kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing, I decided to ask Niki out to a movie. And although Ethan and I had just seen it the night before, she wanted to see the 2nd Captain America movie, so away we went! That along with a couple games and watching fireworks for pioneer day under the threat of campus sprinklers showed me that I was actually legitimately interested in Niki.
Us on Thursday at Blue Lagoon. Or at least I think thats what its called...
Daily practicing at the student center.
Hanging out with the Utah cousins!
If I was a hipster, this would be my profile picture(:
Ethan, Rebecca and Shelby all needed to uh, take a little "break" at Blue Lagoon. Meanwhile, I felt like I was back at home in Russia(:
Friday we ended up going to the Aquarium, and of course Niki came along! I can't say I remember a lot from that, except that it was SO good to talk to her. We talked about all kinds of stuff: family traditions, what life was like in the foreign countries we lived in, what our respective schools were like and what we were studying, more jokes and comments about our missions, etc. I just remember, again, how relaxed I was and how easy it was to be myself around her. Good times.
Saturday... It was probably the best way to end this vacation! So we had seen signs for a free Concert with Train in Salt Lake City, so of COURSE we were going! We parked, had dinner, and when we got there 45 minutes before the concert, we were like 50 feet from the stage (by the end of the night, the entire street was packed about two football field lengths down the street). The concert itself was awesome! It went for like 2 hours, with great music. Add into that that Niki and Ethan and Rebecca were there, and I was happy.
(Some of this is written much later after this happened), but this still goes down as one of my favorite dates with Niki. Just so cool
A bag of apples we brought in case we got hungry. Actually, they helped us keep our spot in the crowd, and we left the concert with them in hand.
Gives you a slight perspective of what it was like to be there.
Do I look happy with that goofy grin on my face? Cause I was(:
Unbeknownst to me, Ethan took this picture before the concert, but it just sums up how I felt about Niki at the end of the week. We had an awesome week together, and its definitely not going to be the last time I see her. We're already planning visits during the school year and on weekends, so we'll see where it goes. I feel pretty good about her though(:
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