Free Agency (warning it's a long one)

You Too Can Choose What Color 
of Cowboy Boots to Wear

Just over a week ago the executive secretary called Travis and asked if we would speak in sacrament.  To my shock and surprise he said yes. It was a stressful week on top of preparing to speak.  I put it off until last night. Travis was diligent in preparing his and had a first draft written last sunday. After a late night and little sleep we made it through.  Travis was nervous enough for the both of us. Honestly I think I was trying so hard to be calm for the both of us that I was not as nervous as I thought I would be. My talk was not a history maker but went well. If you are interested here it is, but be prepared that the ending is kinda weak.

Free Agency

Before I start my talk I am going to give you a little background on the Wight family.

• I was born and raised in Provo Utah. I graduated from the U of U and chose to not get what my parents would call a real job but instead become a river guide during the summer, which complemented the ski instruction that I did in the winter. I worked seasonal jobs full time for five years. I then went to back to school at BYU for a post baccalaureate degree in Special Education and taught in a Jr. High for three years before getting married and moving to Pinedale.
• Travis was born in upstate NY and was raised in Minnesota. He moved to Wyoming in 1997. He joined this ward almost seven years ago after getting baptized before he decided to finish his education at BYU.
• We met in September of 2005, on a blind date that I did not realize I was agreeing to go on. The date was a disaster at best. Travis chose to say maybe two words to me the whole night. I agreed to go on a second date after receiving a very convincing text message at 3 in the morning. Our road to marriage was a long and unique one. But we made it and were married in the Provo Temple in September 2010.
• Travis has been back in Wyoming since graduating in civil engineering last spring. I officially moved to Pinedale in the beginning of November.

Today I am going to speak on a topic that President David O. McKay once described as the “eternal principle of progress.” A topic that we all know very well, “Free Agency”.

In August of 2005 I got up early to start a long drive home. I had just finished up my fourth summer as a river guide in Idaho. I was going to leave the previous day, but decided to stay one more night because I had a friend coming into town that I wanted to see.

When I started my seven hour journey home I was prompted by the Spirit more than once to clean my windshield. As I was fueling up I went for the squeegee and found that there was no fluid. As I was inside the gas station the Spirit told me once again to clean my windshield. I looked for cleaner and did not see any. As I was paying the clerk I saw a bottle of windex behind the counter and once again the Spirit told me to ask to use it to clean my windshield. This time I did not even make an attempt at it, I just simply ignored it. As I was going out to my car the all too familiar voice told me to check my tires. So I got my gauge out and it did not work. The Spirit told me again to check my tires and ask the guys who were filling up to help. Well the guys had been trying to get my attention and I was ignoring them to the best of my ability. Plus one of them was wearing red cowboy boots and I thought that was cooky. So what was one of many attempts to guide me was ignored once again.

As I look back at that morning these are just a few attempts that the Spirit tried to protect and guided me. I am sorry to admit that there were more times that I am not going to mention.

• We are all given the freedom to choose, we may, in fact, make wrong choices, bad choices, hurtful choices. And sometimes we do just that, but that is where the mission and mercy of Jesus Christ comes into full force.

As I got on the road and drove out of town, I proceeded at a speed that well exceeded the limit. I had one more prompting from the Spirit as I went to pass a semi pulling a large horse trailer. I was told not to pass. I was half way along the side of the semi when I listened to the prompting and the semi braked as a large buck ran out. If I would not have made the choice to follow the prompting I would have hit the deer. It slowed me down for ten minutes or so before I picked up my swift pace and passed the semi.

I was about an hour out of Salmon when the sun hit my windshield making it difficult for me to see. With my cruise control set at 80 and my music keeping me company I reached over to the passenger side to grab a napkin and try and wipe off the film that was on the inside of my windshield.

As I looked up my car had pulled to the right due to a tire that was low. I was half on pavement and half on gravel. I panicked and pulled the steering wheel to the left. I lost control of my car and rolled it somewhere around two and half times landing upside down in a ditch that was covered in bushes. Which made it difficult to see my car from the road.

Heavenly Father did his best to guide me and keep me safe but I chose not to listen to the promptings that would have protected me.

• As God's children we have the power to choose; we had this ability even before we were born. In the pre-mortal life, Heavenly Father presented His plan, which included the principle of agency. Lucifer rebelled and as it states in (Moses 4:3) “sought to destroy the agency of man”. As a result, Lucifer and all those who followed him were denied the privilege of receiving a mortal body. All who have been or will be born on earth chose to follow Heavenly Father's plan.
• Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves. Agency is essential in the plan of salvation. Without it, we would not be able to learn or progress or follow the Savior. With it, we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2:27).

I chose to use my agency to make a string of bad decisions and with that came consequences. My first thought that ran through my head as I was strapped to my seat upside down was “How am I going to get home?” After a long summer I was ready to be home. I assessed what I could see around me which was not much because my car was packed with all of my river gear and on top of that my car was nestled into the bushes. I have no real concept of time when I look back at my accident. So I am not sure how much time passed while I was in my car but I could not get my seatbelt undone and I was not going anywhere. I decided to pray. As I said amen, I could hear voices outside of my car. The voices turned out to be the boys from the gas station including the one with the red boots. They helped me get out of my car and made the call to 911. They ended up waiting with me at the scene for over three hours while we waited for the police, tow truck and the paramedics (who I assured that I was just fine and I refused their offer to take me to the Salmon emergency room). My new found friends (the cowboys who had just finished the rodeo in Salmon) helped me clean out my crushed vehicle and wait by my side while the office wrote me a ticket for not maintaining my lane. They then drove me to Ogden, Ut where my mom and sister picked me up.

This experience is one that I reflect back on now and again and continue to learn and grow from. Most of the promptings I was given that morning I chose not to listen to. I had the gift of free agency which I exercised. I am grateful for a loving heavenly father that continued to watch over me the best he was allowed to after the choices that I made. This experience is something I continue to learn gospel principles from.

In this past conference President Monson spoke on the “three R's of Choice” and this past week we had a lesson on this in RS and priesthood. I am going to give you a quick reminder of what they are and touch on the first two of them. They are:

• The right of choice
• the Responsibility to choose
• and the result of choice

I hope by adding this it will only further support the message that I have already tried to convey.

When we talk about he right of choice it goes back to our pre-mortal life when we all chose this path. A path that would be difficult and where we are sure to stumble. I am grateful that the savior offered himself as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of all men. It is through the savior that it is possible for us to be successful in this life and return to our heavenly father.

Our right of choice takes courage. President Monson talks about that there is no middle or neutral ground. Lucifer and host will never abandon the hope of claiming your soul. That thought is a little scary, but our loving Father in Heaven has a plan and will give us guidance on our journey home. That guidance comes through prayer. I have a strong testimony of this and think it is one of the most beautiful gifts bestowed upon us.

• 3 Nephi 14:7  "ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find it."

I have been blessed with the opportunity to put this promise into action on more than one occasion and I know with all my heart that our Father in Heaven will give us guidance in making hard decisions if we ask.

• Joshua 1:9- ...be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
  Once again Agency is a privilege that God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves.

• Our Father in Heaven wanted our growth to continue in mortality and to be enhanced by our freedom to choose and learn. He also wanted us to exercise our faith and our will, especially with a new physical body to master and control. But we know from both ancient and modern revelation that Satan wished to deny us our independence and agency . Satan violently opposed the freedom of choice offered by the Father, so violently that John in the Revelation (12:7) described it as “war in heaven”. If Satan would have gotten his way, he would have robbed us of that most precious of gifts: our freedom to choose a divine future and the exaltation we all hope to obtain.

Agency can be looked at as both a blessing and a curse. In (Deut. 11:26–28.) It says, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse ;“A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: “And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God.”

I am grateful for the knowledge we have on the plan of salvation, for the ability we have to make a choice for ourselves, be it right or wrong. I am especially grateful for the atonement that will bring us peace after poor decision making and that gives a path back to our Heavenly Father.

The principle of agency is closely tied into the topic of accountability and the third R in president Monson's talk (result of choice) that Travis will dive into further. 

Our future is being fashioned by the decisions we make. I know if we trust the spirit when making decisions whether big or small, it will always but us on the path to happiness.

The right of choice … runs like a golden thread throughout the gospel … for the blessing of His children.” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, pp. 80–81.)

P.S. Wyoming is called the equality state because it was the first state to allow women to vote. It is also the first state to let a woman hold a public office and had the first woman governor. 

It's Time to Graduate.

The Return of The dreaded EGO

Thursdays have become the dreaded day.  What do I mean by that??? Well, I got to work today and there was a conversation going on about.... me. I am not going to get into all the detail of the conversation but to say my boss asked me to be part of the conversation and I thought it was a topic that was resolved last week and I wanted to cry. Basically one of the ladies I work with is terribly insecure and loves to create drama.

I was so angry with having to have this conversation again. And in fact I told her that I am not sure what the problem is because I thought we had this resolved and what was I missing. At one point when boss#1 and boss#2 were tying to give her a little therapy, I thought to myself "Self this sucks, why should I feel bad about the knowledge I have worked so hard for. And why am I putting up with this for the pennies I'm getting paid?" I also worked hard at holding my tongue because I wanted to call it as I saw it. We are not in Jr. High, this is not a popularity contest and it is time to graduate from that emotion level and move on to a place were we all work together.

Being a part of a ski school that is so very small is kicking my butt. I just want to go and do something I love.  I don't need to make best friends there, but a good working relationship would be nice. The conversation got cut off because it was time for us to go and teach. It was very difficult for me to switch into teaching mode. It is a good thing that I love the ladies in my class. It only took a few minuets of being with them for my attitude to change. They are a lot of fun and if they read my blog I would tell they how fabulous they are.

Thanks for listening to me complain for some reason I feel much better now.

P.S. The smallest town in the U.S. with a post office is Lost Springs, Wyoming. It has a population of 1 (No kidding) it is one of three towns that can claim this.

Wyoming is called the equality state, how did it get this name? 

(this is fun is it not)

I Will Learn How to Take a Good Photo, Dangit....

Reflection

I was raised to hold a pose for my father while he got the shot he really wanted. Travis comments that i know how to hold my fake smile well for a photo.  What can I say... I was raised to be a poser. It was not that uncommon that on a Sunday afternoon my dad would get out the slide projector and give us a world tour through his photography.  I think that is where I developed a love of photography.  Most of elementary school I wanted to grow up and work for National Geographic. Those dreams were shattered in the fifth grade when I entered the reflection competition.  I was so excited about my work that I entered four different pieces. I had butterfly's in my stomach as one of the ladies from the PTA called me out of my class (this is were my hopes were crushed). She handed me my entries and told me with little emotion that I was disqualified.  Just like that. She then walked away and left me to process the destruction of my dreams.  OK I know that was very dramatic but I did not really do much with photography from then on because I think I was too afraid to put myself out there. Well miss PTA lady, no more.  I am now 33 years old and I am over it.

Tonight I went to a community class on photography. It was kinda boring but informative. After the teacher showed us a lot of her work using different settings, I realized that I have some good photographers in my own family that I can learn from. For example, here is a shot of Landan's from Christmas...

My shot of Bell.

Although I think mine is cute it is not a great shot (taken with my old camera).  I am going to do my homework this week for my class and hope that I can figure out how to better use my camera. When I get lost I am going to call this guy...

or this guy.

P.S. The answer to the trivia question is -66F recorded in Feb 1933 in central Wyoming. Ladies, 0 degrees, come on. It has been colder than that in Provo.

New trivia question:  Where is the smallest U.S. town with a post office and how many people live there?

Sunrise

Looking out my front door

Travis is always talking about how amazing the sunrises are in Pinedale. I have not had the opportunity to see very many of them because I love my bed a lot and it keeps me there until after the sun has come up. At least it has most of the winter.  The other morning I pulled myself out of bed to check out what was creating all the different colors to come into my room and this is what I saw. Mmmm...amazing.

P.S. I am going to start Wyoming Trivia, please feel free to try and answer the question. (FYI My questions are coming from a book by Brian Day and was put out in 2008)

What is the coldest recorded temperature in Wyoming?

Are you Kidding Me????

Today was... Delivery Day. 

The old family room with the couch that I recovered.

When Travis and I got married (almost four months ago) we had a dresser and an end table between the two of us.  My very kind parents gave us some old couches, along with a dinner room set and bedroom set. (Thank you very much Mom and Dad).  Travis and I had to buy some appliances for our house and every time we went to RC Willy we would go and sit on the couches that we hoped someday would be ours. Well, that day came a lot sooner than I anticipated. He surprised me at Christmas with several lovely gifts one of which was our couches.  The ones we would spend a half hour or more just sitting on in the store. Did I mention that they are deep and yes we did test out the cuddle position in the store. There are some tests a couch must past and the cuddle test is a must. Any way it passed with flying colors and many strange looks from the salesmen.

Here is a lovely picture of the delivery boys (I told them this was going on my blog and maybe facebook). I was so excited I almost peed my pants. Not really but you get the point. After they brought in  our new couches I got them milk and cookies to go.  They asked if I would order something next month so they could come back. I told them to drop off whatever they had in the truck, preferably some side tables or a big tv.

Here it is!!!! The family room. I LOVE them. Travis and I cuddled right away and I hope there will be a lot more of that.

What's for dinner?

Dinner is Served

Ok here's the deal... I love to grow things that I can eat. The only plant that I brought into our marriage is a basil plant. My poor basil plant is a fighter. During the transition between single at my parents and married in Wyoming, my plant stayed at my parents. They were very nice to let it stay and water it (sometimes too little and sometimes too much). It was also left outside in some freezing temperatures.  You would think that it could not get worse for the little plant.  Not so.  During the move the pot it was in broke. Travis felt really bad and we went and re-potted it on our way out of town.  I am happy to say after two months in our sun room, the plant is thriving.  It was getting a little top heavy and I needed to cut it back. Mmmm... what to make that I can use my fresh basil in?  A margarita pizza...did I say mmmmm? 

Wouldn't you know it, the local store did not have any ready-made crust. This means that I was on my own.  It was the first time I have ever cooked anything that needed yeast.  I also made my own red sauce.  It was not perfect but not bad for a first attempt.  

The best part of the dinner was the flowers that my sweetie brought home to me.  He had to do some work in Rock springs and I asked him if he would bring me home some flowers (flowers are not easy to come by in Pinedale). I got more than I asked for.  He brought me home two dozen tulips and a beautiful plant, oh and a stuffed puppy. It put a smile on my face last night and again all day today.

Mush. Mush.

This is a little treat I came home to right after Christmas. I was excited to shoot it with my new camera in -20 degree weather. I love when people embrace the elements. It puts a smile on my face when I drive past this little piece of art.

Seriously... Chill Out.

Oh Dear, Not the EGO.

I have had many jobs over the years.  Some of them I have definitely been the grunt worker and some of them I have been on the higher end. Why am I bringing this up?  Well, I was thinking today about how in every job there are always egos that come out.  The ego has a strong roll in the ski industry.  I know this well because he has been my companion more times than I would like to admit and I thought I left him back at Sundance a few years ago. Today I found him there by my side (once again... not easy to admit).  I am not going to get too much into it, but I will say that I had a run in with some old and ornery ladies who wanted to remind me that I am the new kid in town.  I may or may not have had these comments thrown at me:

(Oh, I guess I should preface this by letting you know that at a small resort your job as a ski instructor can also include things such as shoveling snow, answering phones or just about anything else that would help make the mountain run more efficiently) 


Ornery lady #1: "Hey you, go answer the phone! My days of doing that are over."  (By the way, the sweet little dear doesn't even work there!)
Me: Ignore the mean lady and let the person sitting next to the phone answer it.

Ornery lady #2: "I am getting to old to be shoveling the snow.  This should be done before I get here."
Me: "Do you want me to shovel?"
Ornery lady #2: "No! You need to find your own job to do."

Super nice boss lady: "Wendy is gong to be in charge of our Ladies Ski Day program."
Ornery lady #3: "Well I have women that are coming just to ski with me, not Wendy."
Me: Stand there and pretend that this in not awkward.

(A few hours later. I tried to smooth things over)
Me: "There needs to be two classes, will you take the second class?"
Ornery lady #3: "I want to take the better class. I don't care if your Miss Level Three or not."
Me: (hold on because this is where it gets ugly) "Certification is not everything but it does mean something. Would you like to be a part of the program?"
Ornery lady #3: "Yes but I think that these woman want to ski with me."
Me: "Do you think they are going to have a problem with me?"
Ornery lady #3: "No, but I don't want to always have to take the beginning skiers, so I think I should have the higher skiers"
Me: "I don't know if you remember that I took 13 never-evers that were mostly kindergardeners and gave you a class that had 4 students who could all ski."
Ornery lady #3: "That's because you wanted that class, and I want this class."
Me: (dream on lady) "It sounds like we have a problem."

There were a few more today, but you get the idea. I think I almost ripped off the head of #3. It was a good thing that super nice boss lady walked in and did some empathetic listening to Ornery lady #3.  Then she stroked her ski ego and it was all resolved. Ornery lady #3 is now going to come and shadow my class, rather than teach a class. Then she wanted to hug me.  I think we need more testosterone and youth in our little ski school. I think I am going to start praying for it.

It has been a few years since I have worked full time on the mountain and gave up my position as the princess of the mountain and it is not that I want it back (although those were some great years).  I just want to ski and teach with people who love it as much as I do and want to pull their weight with a positive attitude.  Is that to much to ask for?

First Week at My New Winter Home

After spending ten years full time and three years part time at Sundance, I never thought I would find a new winter home. Life does not always go the way we think it is going to go and well here I am teaching at a new place. I spent my first two days doing organizing and paper work for the children's ski program.  It was great that they trusted me with the responsibility before ever seeing me at work. I feel like I have taught just about everything during my years at Sundance.  Well, today was proof that I had not.  After helping get everything organized for the program to start today, I wanted to take the beginning skiers. Wow. That about sums it up. Ok I will go into a little more detail. ‎

1 four year old 

4 five year olds 

6 six year olds

1 seven year old

1 eleven year old 

Cute but tough. 

Working at a little resort will keep me humble or kill me. I had high expectation on what I would be able to do with my class that grew from 7 to 13 with in the hour. To add to the pressure ALL the parents had a front row view of the total chaos. I am crossing my fingers that next Saturday's lesson goes smoother. 

The base of Whitepine

2010 What a year!!!!!!

Top 10 of 2010

I started 2010 out slow. My life in January of 2010 was full of middle school students during the day and paper work at night.  I had no reason to believe that my life in 2010 would end much different than it started. Boy was I wrong.  I had some major life changes and all for the good. Here is the top ten of 2010.

10. Made it through my first year as lead special ed facilitator (third year at Dixon Middle School) and was recognized by my peers for doing a good job.

My old Middle School Principal giving me a token of graduate. 

9. Went Cat skiing & Road trip to Targhee

Brook and I at Powder Mt.

8. Welcomed nephew number 10.

Anson at my wedding; only a few days old.

7. I hardly worked during the summer for the first time since high school and got to play with my family, a lot.

Steven and myself

6. Trip to NYC with Marianne.

5. Amazing 33rd birthday/ got engaged

The birthday cake was amazing and a lot more fancy than my wedding cake.
Thanks  Courtney, it was a very cool gift.

Travis asked me to marry me after a lovely dinner at Sundance.  

4. Moved to Wyoming

3. Bought our first home

Our dining room

2. Went to the temple for myself

1. Got married

Thank you Haley Warrner
for great pictures of  the big day. 

What I am taking with me from 2010 is that I get to wake-up everyday (for the rest of my life) to this face, mmmmm.....

I am looking forward to another great year full of surprises and I am grateful to have someone to share it all with.

Christmas Wrap Up (get ready, it's a long one)

Christmas this year was better than ever!!! Here are the top 5 reasons why....
5.  I did not work on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
4. Watching the Bennion kids open gifts on Christmas morning.
3. We (the Bennion's, Landon and the Densley's) went skiing on Christmas Day.
2. My parents decided to stay home and keep tradition.
1. I spent it with my amazing husband. Who spoiled me rotten.

So rather than saying a whole lot more I am going to let the pictures tell the story.

The Santa party made a reappearance this year.  

This was one of four tables at dinner.

Hannah and Portia took on directing the Christmas story this year and it was better than ever  before.  It included the musical talents of Taylor, Portia and Charles.

Christmas Eve dessert table. My parents go all out.

My stocking that I have had as long as I can remember.

The pillow pet was the big hit of the morning.  William scored it because he has a thoughtful sister who bought it for him.  You have to love the Christmas spirit.

This is my favorite picture of the day.  

Not bad for his fourth time on skis. He must have had a good teacher.

Samuel wanted in on the games.

It really was a Christmas to remember.  Thanks to the Bennions for making the drive and Landon for making the flight.  The only people missing were the Strongs, but they were there in spirit.

Last but not least thank my Mom and Dad for all the work they put into a very magical Christmas party.  They really go above and beyond.  No one can do it quite like them.