So today is now August 21, 2015. A little over a year ago I started my blog about my journey to serving a mission. I started this to explain that my bishop had told my dad that I might not be able to serve a mission because of my maturity. From then on, I decided to try to change and if you've been with me since the beginning or have at least read most of my blogs I believe that you'll notice a change in me. From my service at the bishop storehouse to my faith in church and my love for my family, I for sure, not to be cocky, have found a change in myself. And there are many reasons why I feel that way.
Let me start by talking about EFY (Especially for Youth) which is a weeklong church camp to come closer to Heavenly Father. The experiences I had and the friends I made are amazing. Taig, my roommate, was the coolest and funniest guy ever. Had such a fun time with him and I grew great respect for him after he opened up to us about his father. He knows how to stay strong during the biggest of trials. Next are my counselors, Branson and Jessica. Branson is so awesome and funny and Jessica was really sweet and nice. Had a great time with them both. I will never forget those two. Next is my company. Lincoln and Jensen, both really cool people and I love their example of being strong in the church. Next are Oliver, Pierce, and Tayte, I put them together because they all roomed together, all three of them were super nice and chill and were really cool. Nacho and Nick were really cool and have been fun to keep in contact with. Ari and Tristan, the brothers, I didn't get to know too well but knew them enough that they are spiritually strong and super fun to hang out with. The girls!!! Oh my gosh!!! I just loved the girls in my company because they were All so sweet. First off, Nicole was really nice, #1 street fighter in Idaho, that was a cool fact. Hope was really sweet and she knows Kemren Higham (and Pierce knew Kemren). Kelsee was really kind but I think she gave me a fake number. Adriana, I will never forget her obsession with dubsmashes because she would do like 20 a day with Branson. Sidnee (crud forgot how to spell her name) and Shayla were best friends and were really cool. Both were really sweet and fun to talk too. Izzy was a really good at drawing, I didn't get to know her too well but she has phenomenal art skills. Claire was super cool and nice and was great to get to know. Emily and Alexis were wonderful, I got to know both of them and they were super sweet. And Gwenyth, she's super cool and lives in Malaysia. It was nice to hear about her life and family. And then Noah and Beau, they were in the room connected to ours and I got to know them. Beau text me last night and I talked to him and it was just cool to talk to someone from EFY because I miss everyone so much.
The last night as we sang the EFY medley, we were swaying in a circle and I looked at everyone in my company and just thought to myself, this is my family. I've known them for 5 days but I feel like a family already. I later shared that with them and I love them. EFY really changed me in this year. Great experience and I'm stoked for HEFY in Fiji next year.
Well I can assure you junior year changed me a lot. My work habits grew worse and I knew that for senior year I needed to change. This year I'm planning on working better in my habits of doing homework and so I can excel in class. Friendships and bonding grew too because of junior year. I was able to get along better with my peers especially when I went to Florida with some of the leadership students for a conference. Bonded so well with Tuna, Nate and Carp. Such amazing friends and great people. The 6 days that I spent with them turned them into my best friends. The beginning of the school year I got 4 stupid referrals by October. After that I got 0 for the rest of the year. These allowed me to grow as a person. And I know I've changed for the better.
Well since I was originally planning on a week ago, I'm going to stop and post this. I'm hoping to post about what I am expecting out of senior year next. I also had a life changing experience the other day which I will share next post. But its 11:40 on a Friday night and I was at our first football game. And it's been a long day because of a certain game which I'll briefly talk about later. I just want to close with this. If you don't like the way you act or speak or etc now, then change it. If you don't love the way you are then become the person you wanna love. Don't do it if it's because other people want you to change. Carp, Natalie, Nate, Tuna, Brother and Sister Eisenhut and the other hundreds I have mentioned this past year are all examples of people who helped me change. And for that I am forever grateful.
Love you all. Goodnight on this beautiful August, 28th 2015 Friday night. I'm about to fall asleep typing this. Thanks for reading everyone.
Michael Skaggs
