I am one lucky girl. On April 1st I was out and Eric called me and asked if I wanted to go and visit my very good friend Dawn in Salt Lake. It's been nearly 18 months since I've last seen her. At first I thought it was an April Fool's Day joke, but Eric was serious and in two days I was on a plane going to Utah!
It was a nice long weekend filled with fun and running into people I never thought I would! First, while waiting to board my plane I looked up and who was there but Dawnelle Hambly from my ward. I was so surprised, and even more surprised to find out that she was on the same flight to Salt Lake that I was! We had such a nice visit on the way there. It was fun to travel with a familiar face. Speaking of familiar faces, Dawn's husband picked me up from the airport and we met at the checked baggage claim. Who did I happen to see but my friend Audrey Schmidt from my old ward in Gilbert! What are the odds? Wait! It gets better! So, on a whim we decided to try to go to Conference. I was so excited to go and while we were waiting in line to get in, who came out with all of the translators but Arturo Alfaro! His twin brother is in our ward here in Frisco and Arturo and his family attend in our building as well. What made it even crazier is that the night before, Dawn and I were talking and I found out Dawn and Arturo served in the same mission in Venezuela! Talk about a small world! We got in and were seated waiting for Conference to start when we spotted the Barney's from our old ward in Gilbert! We were able to visit with them a bit and catch up a little before the session started. The session was great. I really, really enjoyed it. As we were walking out of Conference I saw and visited with Ramona Lines and her daughter Jaron. Rick and Ramona Lines have been good friends of my parents for many years and were in my ward in Safford. Jaron was a beehive when I was working with the Young Women, and she is all grown up now! It was nice to talk with them. Out of the many thousands of people that attend Conference, I felt so fortunate to be able to see the people I did. But wait, I'm not done yet! I think that this is the craziest story of my weekend! This one trumps them all. On the train ride home, an elderly lady sat in front of us and we started to visit with her. The topic came up as to where I was from and I said Dallas, Texas. She then stated she knew someone from the area and wanted to see if I knew them too. I was thinking, but NEVER would have said it aloud, "Do you know how many millions of people live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area?" She asked me if I knew anyone by the name of Rabe. HOLY COW! I DID! I was sitting across from a good friend of Rochelle Rabe's grandmother! THE Rochelle Rabe I sit with in Sacrament Meeting each and every week. THE Rochelle Rabe I am currently teaching to knit. I had a paper and pen with me and so she jotted down a little note for me to give to Rochelle to give to her grandmother here in Dallas. It was unbelievable.
Eric asked me later if I was disheartened after seeing all these people I knew from Arizona. Especially since we live in Texas and are far away the happenings there. I right away said no, but as I thought about it later, I thought about how I never would have known all these people if I wasn't willing to move to new places and try new things in the first place. I look forward to meeting new people and possibly living in new places as my life progresses. The Lord has blessed me greatly with many acquaintances and friends. I feel truly blessed.
After all of this rambling, my weekend was great. Dawn and her family are always a treat to visit. Dawn and I had a ball.
Not bad for a self protrait at arms length, eh?
A princess tea party!
I'm so glad I went!
