The summer immediately following high school graduation, Ali and I moved to Jackson Hole, WY, to work as housekeepers at a hotel called the 49ER. Ali went early and was promoted to work at the front desk of the hotel. I didn't get there until all of the good jobs were taken, so I was stuck with being a housekeeper, which was fine. I didn't care too much for the job- mostly because my supervisor, Cathleen, found joy in inflicting fear upon the housekeeping staff. She was a large lade who was angry at life and automatically disliked anyone who couldn't clean a hotel room as fast as the Latins could- i.e. 30 seconds or less. Needless to say, I didn't meet the requirements to be on her 'favorites' list. However, I eventually was able to find enjoy the job by having fun with the other housekeepers. At one point in the summer, I was the only housekeeper that spoke English as my native language. I still get a kick out of that fact :)
One experience that I had in Jackson really reaffirmed my faith and desire to keep the Sabbath day holy. I knew once I started the housekeeping job, that I would have to work on most Sundays. Cathleen forbade switching or trading. So I prayed that the Lord would help me to figure out a way to be able to get Sunday's off of work, to at least go to church. I couldn't figure out any way to get around working, however. Well, the Lord reminded me that He is a lot smarter than me, and He answered my prayers to be able to go to church quickly. The owner of the 49ER hotel, Steve, just happened to by our branch president. Well, he called me to be the ward organist. When he called me to the position, I told him that I would love to be the organist, but that Cathleen, didn't permit us to get off on Sundays, or switch anyone shifts. Well, since Steve was Cathleen's boss, he took care of it. I only had to work like one or 2 more Sunday's the rest of the summer. It was definitely an answer to my prayers, and reminded me to believe that "man doth not comprehend all of things which the Lord can comprehend"(Mosiah 4:9).
Despite my distaste for the job, I LOVED living in Jackson. Ali and I had SOOOOOOOOO much fun and made so many good friends. It was my first experience living away from home, and it was great. We were friends with many of 'the locals' who knew all of the fun places to go (waterfalls to jump off, beautiful hikes, lakes, hot springs, etc.) We spent most of our time with Ali's boyfriend, Jordan O'brien, and our friend Eric Johnson.
Eric Johnson was a tall redheaded guy who was completely inactive when we became friends with him at the beginning of the summer. Not only inactive, but didn't like the church, and thought most of the people in it were close minded and snobby, etc. To demonstrate his attitude, here is an example of one conversation- he brought up the subject of faith, so I was explaining why I had faith in the gospel, and he responded by telling me that my mind was strong enough to make up feelings and make me think that I'm feeling the Holy Ghost. That was his attitude toward the gospel when we met. Well, he chose the wrong group of girls to be friends with, because by the end of the summer he was going to church every week, and planning on serving a mission! He did a complete 180 degree turn around, for the better! I think our group of friends really sparked the flame inside him- He tells Ali and I, that we are the reason that he went on a mission, the reason that he had a testimony, etc. Needless to say, it was a very memorable and rewarding friendship and experience.
Living with Jackson with Ali was probably the funnest summer I've ever had. Ali and I dated a ton. The funny thing was, they happened to be all of the same guys. Here is how it seemed to work- Ali would get asked out first, (every guy in the ward was head over heels for Ali) then he'd realize that he didn't have a chance with her; so he would asked me out late that summer. I swear that happened with like six different guys. It was always fun to compare date stories and pickup likes after going on a few dates with the same guy. We had some good laughs about that.
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