Lightning....

This weekend has been the best weekend of the year thus far. I have been deathly sick, but still I have learned so much about myself.

A friend that I met at a church dance about ten years ago was reunited with me this weekend. He found me on Facebook and I remembered him as the "nice, sweet brother type of guy," who I probably would never date. Well he filled out and lost the coke-bottle glasses he had, made those chunks of love into hunks of dove. His face is absolutely beautiful now. Sweet looking, nice-good Georgia boy. All you could ask for.

We started talking on the phone and all those years seemed liked days. We got to know each other again and then I invited him to come out to Vegas to "play." Well we made plans and as it came down to it, I was getting so excited. Then the flu hit me. Bloody flu! I was so excited and being sick was the one thing that that would ruin it all. But I sucked it up, took a lot of meds., used cover-up makeup to conceal the bags, and wore my cutest outfits to make up for my dreadful pink-eyed face. :)

He almost didn't come, but I begged. He wanted to I knew, but he also didn't want to risk getting sick. He took a chance and I did my best not to cough in his face.

I picked him up at the airport and it was like I had never missed a beat. It was so natural just to pick up where we left off. We had a lot to catch up on. We had only seen each other at the dances so we had a tiny connection to work with. But it was so easy with him. It felt so comfortable.

We did touristy things like going to the Hoover Dam, walking the strip, etc. He came to my school to see me teach, which was really cool. We were bummed because we almost took a helicopter ride next to the Hoover Dam, but it was too windy this weekend. He snapped pictures of everything. Everything except the most important thing to me in the world. I took him up by the temple because it is one of my favorite places in Las Vegas. It's the place where I feel the most peace in a city full of worldliness and sin. When we got there, there was an immediate peace and the wind blew softly on the palms. I felt like Heavenly Father was hugging me. I was sad my friend didn't share this same enthusiasm. He felt uncomfortable and I so wanted him to feel the level of peace I did. He seemed happy in his life and I was grateful for that. But it frustrates me when people settle for the happiness of this world. None of that stuff even matters. He is smart in so many ways. He's graduating with a Masters in April yet, he still lacks the knowledge that will help him for eternities.

We went to the Stratosphere and rode the elevator to the top. It was something I had been avoiding. I never wanted to go in this building. I always said on my mission I would avoid the strip. But he wanted to go and he was paying. So I went. I always felt like it was a world of sin. I imagined it as that tower from Lehi's dream. The "Great and Spacious Building". They had their fun and mocked those that were doing the right things. They laughed and danced and had no cares in the world. Well so I went.

It was an amazing sight. The city was filled with lights. I stayed in the observation lounge so long and just sat on the windows. My friend was freaked cause he thought I would fall right through. Whatever :) We walked out on the deck and the night air felt so nice. I was sad the deck didn't wrap around to the temple side. I so wanted to see the lights of the temple from the strip. It would have given me that same peace as earlier that day. I yearned for it.

I felt the Spirit even in that building. I looked at the beauty of what man had created. However, God created light and so I gave all the credit to him. It was the most beautiful sight and if it didn't cost 11.90 to ride that dumb elevator, I would do it once a week. Oh well.

I am so blessed with the knowledge that I have. I really take advantage of it sometimes. I've thought many times about whether it could work between my friend and me. He had so many of the qualities that I was looking for in a man. Actually he had all of them. Except one. I want to find someone who loves the Savior more than he loves me and will do anything to follow Him. Until then, I feel content to walk the world alone.