Provo; A Land of Enchantment

A little Depth:

     Upon arrival into Utah Valley, I was taken back by it. I had forgotten what Utah had looked like and it had not been very long since I had moved from Salt Lake. In Salt Lake we lived in an apartment complex, so we were acquainted with our neighbors having never actually met with them face to face. Provo, was remarkably different. We were going to be living in a house. Not some shanty, not some house that had wheels slapped to the bottom of it, and not a house that had another house built onto it, this was going to be a real house. That was going to be a new experience for me, and I love new experiences.

     Well, I arrived on July third of '04. We rolled in driving our red Ford Focus, this was just my mom, my brother and I. I don't remember how I got there, like if my parents had met in the middle near St. George or if my mom picked me up from California, either way I know I pulled up in my mom's car. My sister wasn't there since she was able to go and spend the summer in Washington D.C. living with our stepmother's parents. She would arrive in the next month or so to our humble little abode.

  It was an amazing sight to see people out and about talking one with another. Everyone looking so cheerful and friendly, which let me tell you, does not exist in many parts of the world. Everywhere else is a very "my business, not yours" kind of world. So, at first I was hesitant to see if I would actually fit in, just going to watch the people for a while until I gain a confidence with them. I would watch my neighbors, and then hope to make friends at church with whatever other Mormons may exist in this town.

That was the plan I made. Avoid my neighbors and just make friends with any kids I meet at church, since in my experience there haven't always been a whole lot. Sunday then rolls around, and I pop on my Sunday's best all pumped and ready for this new ward that I would be going to. The anticipation for a bigger number of kids my age was killing me. I had heard that Provo had more Mormons than anywhere else I had lived, and that wasn't too hard to beat. Even in Salt Lake City there weren't boatloads of them around my neck of the woods.

We arrived at church, and to the defiance of all I had known before, the church was crawling with people. So many Mormons in one place was unheard of. Then, I started to recognize faces from all those that I had been watching the past few days. All of my neighbors were Mormons... It was a moment in time when I thought that I had moved into a post-apocalyptic colony where the Mormons had gathered together for safety... 

     That was a bit extreme, but in youth, we typically read ghost stories or stories of wars. Things that make us look towards the bleaker side of life. Even in the Book of Mormon, as a child my favorite stories were of the Stripling Warriors led by Helaman, and that was my favorite song too. Even to this day, one of my favorite people in the Book of Mormon is Teancum. There was just nothing about this guy that didn't appease to the imagination of a child nor of any guy that appreciates a good war story. So, back to Provo.

     There were young people, old people, quiet people, loud people. There were crying babies, there were crying women and men. There were full pews of people, and a gym full of people. It was a lot to take in, and my head was fluttering about trying to enjoy every moment. I felt as though this must have been a special meeting to have drawn in so many people, and so my head was looking about trying to prove to my mind that there are Mormons out there. I almost got whiplash from this fiasco, and people weren't really moving around a lot during sacrament. I must have looked like a dog that would pass out if it go too excited... This may be why nobody really wanted to approach me the first Sunday. I probably looked like a raving lunatic as I smiled at every person with my big awkward grin.

     That was my first Sunday in Provo, and from it I made quite a few friends. Maybe not on that specific day, but soon there after, as soon as I stopped looking like an idiot almost drooling because of smiling so much.