For the Strength of the Youth

I'd like to bare my testimony about the YM/YW organizations of the church and their activities.
I know with every the fiber of my being that they are so much cooler when you participate as a volunteer for the scavanger hunt and not because your mom made you.
And I know with all my heart that it totally rocks when they tell the volunteers that they can wear disguises if they want.

I also know without a shadow of a doubt, that they had no idea who they were talking to when they asked Mike and I to help out.

Our disguises:

The pictures don't capture the true awesomeness of our disguises, but really, they freakin' rocked! No one recognized us at all. At one point, Mike started getting up in one group's face and accusing them of "looking at his girl". Eventually a leader recognized him and started laughing, but before that I think one of the deacons wet himself.

That was fun, now what?

Dear Mark and Paul,
Thank you for the opportunity to work at The Insight Group. I have learned a lot during my time here and have truly enjoyed the experience.
However, the time has come for me to move on. This letter is to formally announce my resignation from The Insight Group starting today. I understand that this creates an extra work load for the office staff. Therefore, I am willing to stay at the Insight Group until the 23rd of December, providing time for a replacement to be hired and trained. I hope this will help in the transition process.

Again, I am grateful for all that I have gained during my time with The Insight Group. Please let me know what I can do to make my final time here a productive experience.
Best Regards,

Shaina Burgoyne

This is the formal letter I wrote to say I was quitting my job at the end of the year. (I thought it was extra generous of me to give them this much of a notice). I ended up not using the letter, but just saying all of it face-to-face with my bosses.

For as many times as I had daydreamed of that moment, I'm proud of myself for how nice I acted when it actually happened.

Maybe I can still save the big "lashing out and telling them what I really think of the way they run their business" speech for my last day. That gives me a few more months to perfect it.


P.S. Anyone out there hiring?

Mamma Mia! Mandate Voci!

Did you seriously think I was not going to write about the Saturday Morning session of conference? C'mon.

It was exactly 5 years ago this week that I entered the MTC to go to Italy. So for exactly 5 years I have been praying for a temple in that country.

I was so surprised to have that answer finally come this weekend when President Monson announced that construction will soon begin on the Rome, Italy temple. I was shaking a little I was so happy. (A temple near Mike's hometown in Philadelphia was a very nice bonus. It couldn't have been better if Pres Monson had asked us to pick the next two ourselves. I feel like we won the temple lottery).

Anyway, I had heard rumors of how close Rome was to getting a temple since I had started taking Italian 101 classes back in 2001. The rumors got more exciting when I actually got to Italy. My sources (the Italian Relief Society Network) told me that back in the 1970's a bunch of members put up the money to buy a parcel of land right in the middle of Rome, just to be prepared. Also:
- that President Hinckley had said that he hoped to announce the construction of the Rome temple at conference before he died
- that Italy just needed 100 more priesthood holders for the church to be big enough (or 1 more stake or 2 more wards or some qualifying number like that, it changed sometimes)
- that it would be built soon but the church has to pay for the all the power lines in that part of the city to be rerouted underground so the steeple can be built
- and my favorite was that the design and location had already been approved and it just so happens that when the sun hits the temple in the middle of the day the steeple and the angel Moroni will cast a shadow that will cut right through the middle of the Vatican.

Ok, so I'm sure most of that was exaggerated versions of some tidbit of truth. But what is true is how this will bless the people of Italy and a lot of Europe too. The members I worked with had to take 20+ hour bus rides to get the temple. It cost a lot of money, and they usually only had 1 trip per year scheduled. Rome is only 6 hours away.

The faces of all the members I grew to love kept coming to memory during the rest of the day. I couldn't help but picture their joy as they sat in their small chapels or rented out rooms that make up a meeting house and listened to that announcement. I wish I was with them. Maybe I can save up enough to be with them at the dedication...