Thanksgiving Break

Me and the Purses before our awesome Thanksgiving meal.

I had a great Thanksgiving break! I spent Thanksgiving with the Purse family in Rexburg, ID. Before I left Utah everyone warned me that Rexburg is really cold and that Idaho winds are brutal. It was colder in Idaho than in Provo but we spent most of our time indoors and especially in the Purse’s “poor-man’s home theater,” which consists of a brand new projector and a wall that Brother Purse painted white to serve as the screen. We watched Super 8, Iron Man 2, X-Men First Class, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Captain America, and The Last Samurai. Judging by these guy-flicks, you’d think that I was in a house full of men, but actually the Purse family has four girls and one boy, all of whom are my age and older. There were also a couple of other boys there (a husband and a roommate) who tagged along like me. I had a great time with the Purses. I had my own room(!), I got to sleep in every day, I forgot to do any homework, I learned to make pie crust and sew buttons back onto my coat, and most importantly I reconnected with the Purses. They are an awesome family and they are great examples to me. Brother Purse is my dad’s best friend from BYU and they have kept in touch. They will call each other every few weeks and talk for hours. Brother Purse is really cool. He is a religion teacher at BYU-I and he especially loves to teach World Religions. He talks a lot about Buddhism and meditation and the things he taught me really resonated with me. One piece of advice that Brother Purse gave me is to enjoy the time that I have right now, as a freshman in college. He says that this is the most carefree time that I will ever have. Brother Purse encouraged me to think about what I am grateful for every day and to notice things like the snow on Mount Timpanogos and the sound of the bell tower. I will definitely take his advice and if anyone is reading this I encourage you to do the same. I can’t wait for next thanksgiving!