Provo!

I didn't get finished putting pictures on this blog because they were not uploading.  So now I am way behind.
UTAH TRIP OVER CONFERENCE WEEKEND



I was in Provo from Wednesday to Friday and it was been a fun-filled, busy time.
I have loved being able to see so many people.
The only planned activities were a hike in the canyon and my mission conference.

In all the filler time I have been more spontaneous than ever before.  We went to see Elise's choir performance (which was was greatly looking forward to because my MTC teacher, Brother Vincent, is in the Singers with her so I got to see him and HUG him for the first time!)
Then we went out to dinner at a great restaurant called The Awful Waffle and 6th street Pizzeria.  They had SPECULOOS gelato!!!  Their pizza was delicious too.
At 8, one of my mission friends, Joshua Boatright got off work and he came to meet me at the restaurant.  Then he got a phone call from his friends who needed him at a kickball game or else they would have to forfit.  So I said, "I'll go with you!" It was really fun to meet some random people that I will probably never see again, but they were really nice and I had a lot of fun.

Then Josh and I went to pop in on another mission friend; and on the way home to Elise's complex, he said that Soeur Smith's sister lived in the same complex.  Soeur Smith was my trainer, btw.  So he gave me her number and I sent her the most random text ever.  It was something like, "hey, I'm your sister's companion and our friend josh gave me your number because he said you live in the same complex as my cousin, where I'm staying.  So if you want, I'd love to meet you. -Leanna Read"
random right?
well she texted me back 10 minutes later and she was excited, so I went downstairs and spent a lovely half hour or more with Hannah Smith.  It was beautiful.
On thursday morning Karen and I went out to breakfast in preparation to give blood, but the red cross didn't open until 1.  So we went and explored the BYU bookstore to fill time until we went to Elise's choir practice.    I got to see Alex Vincent again and he asked me if I was going to volunteer at the TRC.  I asked him about it because I hadn't known you could go just for one day.  So that became my plan.
After lunch Karen and I went to give blood.  I finished, but it got hard at the very end to endure when my chest felt light and hot (which it normally does much earlier).  But its all ok.  After a few icepacks and yummy juice I was just great!
Then Karen dropped me off at the MTC.  That was awesome!  I wasn't sure if I would run in to David.  My heart was racing like the whole time just knowing that he was probably in the building just five steps away from me.  Of course I WANTED to see him so bad, but I also knew that it wouldn't be helpful to him and I would have no idea how to play it cool.  I didn't see him, but it was TOTALLY worth it to be on the MTC campus again- it brought so many memories.  I had a huge mental battle over whether or not I could get away with exploring the campus.
Being able to speak french was awesome!  I could have volunteered there for the full three hours!
That evening Karen and I had dinner at a grill that didn't impress us.  She went home and I stayed on campus to see Josh's dance recital.  It was awesome to be at a BYU dance event.  There were SO many people- and about equal amount of boys and girls, which is shocking.  Dance is legit!  Everyone needs to do it!

I left and walked home before the end of Josh's event, but he made 5th place in the finals for his dance.  Go Josh!
At some point during that day (I really can't remember how it fit in the schedule) Karen and I drove up Provo canyon and up to a great lookout point of the city. Their smog doesn't make for great, clear photos, but oh well.
Friday morning, after a GREAT breakfast at Kneaders (my new favorite bakery) Karen and I went BACK up the canyon, intent on taking pictures with the beautiful fall colors.
Actually, that's wrong- that wasn't the plan, but since the views were irresistable and all our stuff was in our car, we just changed into cute clothes (luckily no one was around- Karen ripped her pants, but still wore them for the pictures).  I have got to say, I am a pretty talented photographer with no tripod and a 10-sec timer.  Plus, I was frequently having to run 10 or more meters of wild, rocky terrain in heals- all within 10 seconds to get to my position.  Quite a scary workout.  I seriously almost fell into really cold water once.  Karen and I laughed a lot that morning.  Often, I wouldn't get there in time and we just got me in funny poses with awkward expressions.  But I am also a master at photoshop, so as long as we get good poses in some of the pictures, anything is possible.  One of these pictures is actually totally fake and I am sure you can spot it if you know what to look for.

We were very pleased with the photos.


After our canyon adventure we went to have lunch with Josh and another mission friend named Trever at the Red Robin.
Then, during some down-time I straightened my hair and finally got to relax.  But then Karen, Elise, Mike and I drove to a little river in Provo where we found some great places to take some photos.  This was something Elise has asked that I do for her sometime during this trip. I never turn down an opportunity to take a great photo- so thats what we did!  I think it is kinda funny now that Elise has red hair- the three of us are so mixed now.  And if my hair wasn't straight, we'd all have out Read curls.
 When we were done, it was time to go back to the apartment because I arranged my ride up to Salt Lake with Josh and my MTC teacher. Our mission reunion started at 6:30 and we left at about 5:15.
 It was a great car ride, but we hit bad traffic for a stupid football game and we made it to the reunion at 6:35.  Luckily they hadn't even started yet.
There were so many people there that I hadn't seen yet since being home. Many of them were a surprise to see. The best surprise was Mattie-June Smith, my trainer.  She lives up in Rexburg and I had NO idea she was planning on coming down.  I almost cried when I saw her, and the hugs we gave eachother throughout the night cannot be counted on all four of our hands.  4 of my companions were there.

One of the highlights of my night was something I was looking forward to since I knew I was going to the reunion.  I was pretty sure that the Thomases would be there.
They are the missionary couple from the Lyon institute. So in anticipation, I brought a plastic Kinder egg on the trip with me.  As I sat in the meeting I wrote a note to them and put it in the egg.  I found a sneaky excuse later to slip it into Brother Thomas' jacket pocket.  He never found it himself.  So when I sat down to talk with him I stole his phone out of that very pocket and proceeded to enter in my number.
By the end of figuring out his phone he finally felt around in that pocket and found the egg.  He laughed SO hard.  It was everything I could have hoped for.   I'm glad he didn't find it when I couldn't see his reaction.  It was perfect.
I can't describe how wonderful it was to listen to real french people (the Caussees bore their testimonies).  Frère Caussee is going to give the Nov. 4 CES broadcast and I am so excited.  His french accent is awesome.
Though the plan was to end at 8, we definitely didn't.  Karen picked me up close to 10 oclock with Kristen Nicholes.
Saturday morning, we ended up not going to Conference and instead watched it at the Nicholes and the afternoon at Spencer and Joanel's.  I got to meet the first great grandbaby on the Read side.  His name is Rhythm and he has the cutest head of hair, as you can see.  What an adorable baby!

At sunset we drove up with the Nicholes to see more autumn leaves.  It was chilly! But we had a wonderful drive.  Kathy had a delicious dinner waiting for us at home and after dinner we had some delicious desserts. Kathy made a cherry pie and Karen and I bought beautiful pastries from Kneaders.
Sunday morning Karen and I got up at 4 to leave.  It was early and FREEZING, but I am glad we left at that time- we made it home SO fast without any traffic. Yay!