The Adventure of Nothing over the Past Few Days (with animal pictures!) · 11:56am Jul 20th, 2020

First, some background info. There's a person in our church ward who's deaf and single that needed to move and had basically no money. She had sent ahead most of her stuff to her new home in Illinois, but before the final things could be packed, COVID hit the country. Her stuff was stuck in the Stake President's garage for months and months as a result. So my dad and us kids helped out with her final moving boxes and furniture and stuff. She was finally going to get the remaining stuff!

We packed everything into a cheap moving truck that was basically a titan of a vehicle. Dad had little experience driving a truck this big before, and he was going to drive it across the country. And I was going to be coming along with him.

Now, the rest of the family had planned to visit another former ward member who had divorced her husband for the second time and had taken her children to her sister's place a few hours away from the deaf person's new residence. We'd meet up with them after we helped her move, and then all go back home on Sunday.

Me and dad struck out on Friday morning. We towered above everyone else on the highway, so that was kinda nice. But the seats couldn't be adjusted and there wasn't much breathing room. Regardless, I liked it a lot. Dad was cheery and fun. We listened to Attack on Titan music and Two Steps From Hell. I was able to watch two movies I had wanted to see for a while: Mad Max Fury Road and The Terminator. My stomach didn't feel so good, though. I have a problem with vehicle sickness if I stare at a book or screen for too long. I ate a few gyros from Arby's. (which were bombastic, by the way) We drove all day, spent the night in a cheap hotel, listened to a surprisingly convincing video explaining how Donald Trump used memes to help get elected, and first thing in the morning we drove into Normal, Illinios.

Yes, that is the real name of the town. A suburban paradise of mazelike white homes with green backyards.

We unloaded everything in 90 degree heat (Fahrenheit for you foreign dudes) and spilled the empty bag of mini donuts we were having. We then headed to Shnuck's (I dunno, a grocery chain) for some supplies and noticed a half dozen antique colored convertibles and trucks assembling right beside us. At least 25 old people. I suppose it was some frat club gathering. I admit, the scenery and tranquility of Normal is to be commended.

Now to rendezvous with the rest of the family. We drove the truck all the way to the rural home through a road full of giant white windmills. I always imagined they were designed by Apple. Minimalistic, monochromatic, mesmerizing. Anyway, their home was great.

Namely, the animals. There were at least a dozen eager dogs, and the more I discovered, the more light my chest felt. My dopamine levels were higher then than any other time in the past few months. I loved playing with them all. Apparently the family was breeding animals to sell, but some dogs were theirs to keep. Plus the horses. I counted about nine of them. I patted a few down, brushed their sides, stroked their chins, spoke to them about complex political topics. None of them were very talkative, which was a surprise. As far as equines are concerned, they should be able to talk, right? There was also a pig kinda lumbering around doing whatever. Her name was Bubbles. Not because she had a bubbly nature, she was just round.

Their family has a small pond in the back and gets all their water from an underground well. The water can be drunk, but it tastes brackish, so all their drinking water is from water bottles. They have multiple couches! Our house only has one for eight people. We used them to watch Spaceballs. As enjoyable as the first time I watched it.

We also saw the comet as it got late with some binoculars. With the naked eye, the key isn't to look directly where you know the comet is. You look slightly to the side. It looks like a punctuated white smudge. The tail was really impressive. My parents were comparing it to Haley's Comet.

Our family slept in tents on their lawn and packed up on Sunday morning. Before we left, we had a brief service where I broke and blessed the sacrament for all of us. Dad spoke and gave a good analogy of the windmills and our receptiveness to the spirit. On our way here, some of the windmills weren't spinning even though the air was blowing. They had been turned off. For the analogy, dad said he didn't understand why anyone would turn themselves off from outside influence. (Quick anecdote, the translated word for spirit in the Bible is the same as the word for wind) The wind is always blowing. The spirit is always there. It's up to us to turn on our receptiveness and make full use of our potential to recieve the wind, recieve the spirit. Otherwise, we're just sticking out of the ground doing nothing. And through the spirit, we can convert it into power. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no spiritual power.

So right as we were leaving, I trailed a shoe full of poo into the car. We fixed it as best as we could, but the poo was still weighing on my poor heart.

We drove home on an eight-hour drive, buying gas but no food since it was the Sabbath, listened to speakers talk about how we can improve and sustain our lives to have better meaning, and came home late last night.

And I promised you pictures. So here you go. Some have my face in them.