In July, Neal and I were debating whether or not to come out to Utah for General Conference in October. The Denver Temple is closed right now, and so we wanted to go to the temple. We also have lots of friends and family out there. When we found out that Neal's mission was having a mission reunion the Friday evening before Conference, it sealed the deal.
We almost weren't able to go. Some financial things happened, and we were pretty sure we were sunk as far as going out to Utah. But we prayed, paid our tithing, and really hoped we would be able to go. We knew we wanted to go for righteous reasons, and that Heavenly Father would bless us for those desires. To make a long story short, we were blessed financially, and we were able to come out for the weekend.
We left Thursday night after we both got off of work (at 10:30 pm) and arrived in Utah at 6:30 am Friday morning. We were able to go to the Mount Timpanogos temple (after sleeping for a while), and that was wonderful. It was a great spiritual recharge, and we both feel great after attending!
We went to Neal's mission reunion that night, and it was GREAT for Neal to see all of his old mission friends, and great for me to meet and get to know them better. It was also fantastic to see and hear from his mission president, President Bullock, and his wife, Sister Bullock. We chatted with so many different people, and learned that so many people are doing well. Neal's "son," Adam, just got engaged, and it was wonderful to meet his fiance. We also found out from Trevor that UVU has a program very similar to the degree Neal wants, so we're going to investigate that.
Saturday morning we attended the morning session of Conference. The spirit there was wonderful. I was sad at first though...President Monson didn't walk in with the other members of the First Presidency. I was so afraid that we wouldn't get to see him! About halfway through the session though he walked in. I was so excited! It was amazing to be in the same room as the prophet. It was wonderful to hear him talk. How exciting to have new temples announced too! I remember how we felt when the Fort Collins temple was announced...I can imagine how the people in the areas announced today feel. The second session was awesome too. I loved all the talks about the family. It always brings a feeling of comfort and peace to hear the general authorities encourage us about families in this evil world.
During the afternoon session on Saturday, we hung out at my aunt's house with my cousin, Hannah, and her new-ish husband, Justin. Hannah made us delicious red beans and rice, which made me quite the happy camper. We then headed down to Provo to see some friends. Neal went to the Priesthood Session at the Marriott Center with his two best friends, Troy and Porter, and I hung out with my best friend from high school, Morgan. It was great to see her and go shopping with her. (It was also great to find a skirt like I wanted!) We talked and laughed and just generally had a good time. After the Priesthood Session was over, I hung out with Neal and Troy and Porter at a place called IceBreaker (I think?) They make super yummy shakes. They were CRAZY busy though! When we got there, they were on order number 42. When I placed my order, I was order number 99!! The onion rings that I got were delicious, but I wasn't able to get my shake because we had to leave. I felt so bad having to cancel the order; the manager was very obviously frustrated with how slow things were going.
Sunday was way fun. We watched the morning session at my aunt's house, and then went up to the Mount Timpanogos Temple to take pictures with Julianne and Kirk! This was the temple they got married at, so it was fun to see them there. We also went across the street where they took their engagement pictures and took some photos there. It was sunny, and quite beautiful out. I'll post some of the pictures in a different post. Then we headed down to Provo again where we met up with Troy and Porter to watch the second session. Neal gave me a foot rub, and that was honestly one of my favorite moments. He's getting pretty good at just doing things like this to make me happy. I don't usually have to ask anymore! Porter designed the Milligan Clan jolly roger after the last session, and then we headed back up to PG. We at dinner with my aunt, and then hit the road at about 7 pm.
The drive back was pretty good. The only super crazy event happened near Elk Mountain off of I80. There was a buck that was the size of a freaking small elk! I thought it was an elk until we got closer and I saw the way his antlers were shaped. He was just chillin', eatin' right along I80. I would have LOVED to see him in Craig, but he almost gave me a heart attack as I was going 85 mph down I80 at night! We laughed and goofed around most of the drive (Neal made the "woo-woo" sound every time we saw a train, and made fun of Jason Aldean most of the way...ask him about the tractor song). We ended up getting home at about 3 am. We passed out as soon as we hit the bed.
Our trip was so much fun! We enjoyed it immensely, and will hopefully be able to go back soon!
