Washington Bennett living in Utah

"When Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment to 'love one
another; as I have loved you,' (John 13:34), He gave to them the grand
key to happiness in this life and glory in the next.
"Love is the
greatest of all the commandments--all others hang upon it. It is
our focus as followers of the living Christ. It is the one trait that, if
developed, will most improve our lives."
(Joseph B. Wirthlin, "The Great Commandment," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 30-31)
i just wanted to start with that because i think it's beautiful and profound.
so this last weekend was Juhannus aka the summer solstice. that is a huge deal in Finland so for the last 3 years a bunch of kids from my mission have gotten together for the weekend. it was 2 years ago this weekend actually that jason first developed a crush on me. who knew it would come to this! anyway this year we went camping up squaw peak. we were going to this amazing field that geof. and darla discovered and took us camping at. however there was some sort of mock battle going on up there so the field was completely filled with tents and there were cars lining the road for almost a mile. and lots of men in camo with their faces painted. it was insane! really creepy too actually. i wish i had taken pictures to show you. so we kept driving and finally found this tiny little spot that had a fire ring but not even any good space for tents. we made the best of it. we made finnish food (in the dutch oven no less) hung out and swatted misquitos. it was really fun. we had to set up the tents in the dark so didn't realize how uneven the ground was. we couldn't find our blow up mattress in the storage unit and in the process of packing all the food, firewood and camping chairs for the entire group, we forgot our therma rests. needless to say it was the worst nights sleep of my life. i kept praying for the sun to come up so i could just get up. despite all that it was really fun and a great way to say goodbye to our friends.