Three days to party and loving it.

This is a three day weekend. The reason it is so is because the school planned a snow day. It is similar to someone planning a sick day a week in advance. But I am not complaining.

So if you are awesome you may have noticed some of the quotes from the original TV show, Get Smart on my blog. I love this show. It is cheesy, has very few extras, and is completely hilarious. I hope to grow up to be Agent 86 of CONTROL someday. The recent movie of Get Smart isn't as good. Okay, but not as good.

I love Sundays. There are the best. Except waking up, but I always hate that. I have mission prep, which will be awesome. My mission prep teacher was once my bishop and my home teacher and he is one of my heroes. Bishop Andrew Busby, for that is his name, is a very inspired man.

I have very good friends. I really think that one of the main reasons I have such a strong testimony of the church is because of my friends, brothers and parents. I will always appreciate their influences on my life. My friend, Skyler Drage, is another of my heroes. His story, at least from my point of view, is amazing, and I would like to share it with you. Here it goes:

Skyler Drage moved into my ward when we were both in Cub Scouts. I remember the first time he came to scouts with my friend, Henson Walker. I remember looking at him, his face, and thinking how much of a punk he must be. I must admit, I was hast to judge, but I was not incorrect. He was annoying, obnoxious, and worst of all, he didn't always go to church. Even though he got baptized, I did not like Skyler Drage.

Now know at this time that he moved into our ward when his mother married an inactive member. Their marriage was, and still is, a rocky one, and after about a year and a half, Skyler moved away. I remember being so happy he was gone. I thought how nice it would be to go to eleven year old scouts and not have to see him. As I type this, know that I really want to go back in time and slap myself at this point.

Skyler moved back about the time we were twelve. He went to church more often. He always went with Henson, and rarely did I ever speak kindly of him. He started going to school together. He and I saw more of each other. As he went to church, he grew in the spirit. As he grew, we grew closer. After a while, I started to think he was alright. I actually considered hanging out with him.

I remember actually thinking of hanging out with him. About this time, he started to get interested in receiving the priesthood. I remember the specific time he asked Brother Hawk, our scout leader, if he could find out what he needed to do to receive the priesthood. We were driving home and he was in back, behind Brother Hawk. I was in shotgun, and I think Henson was there. I was proud of him.

He was passing the sacrament. He was doing fast offerings. He was my friend. The year we turned 13, March to be more precise, we started hanging out. We played Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was starting to think of him as a true friend.

He grew in the spirit, but this time, we all did it; we did it as a quorum. Skyler started out behind but passed up most of us. We were all together. Skyler now almost always came to church, when he wasn't in Magna with his dad, that is. When he came, he came with Henson's family. His family didn't support him, but the Walkers did. Skyler, Taft, Henson, Chris, Kooks (Jake), Trevor, myself, Chaz, Aaron, Cooper, Seth, and David. We were liken to the Army of Helaman. With our growth spurts spiritually, we became more than friends. We were brothers. I can't imagine any single one of those guys I don't trust with my life.

We became teachers, and we had BW and BS heading us up, so why worry? Skyler and I became best of friends. He became the quorum president. Then something happened: Henson ate the steak. Not this may not seem like anything big, unless you know that Skyler's mom's husband owned that steak, and that steak was the tipping point to throw the marriage off track. So Skyler moved. 

He didn't move too far, just far enough away to not be in our ward. I wasn't too surprised when he still went to church, even though he went to a different ward. He didn't have the support of our quorum nor that of the Walker family, but he went to church anyway. He had grown from a punk kid who I did not like, to an amazing man with whom I hope I will always have contact with. He had grown into a person I hope to be. He has grown to be a follower of Christ. He is not perfect, but he is still pretty great. He is one of my greatest friends and someone I am not worried about spiritually.

Left to right: Chaz, Chris, Taft, Jacob (above), Skyler (below), Jake (above), Wyatt (me)(below), Henson (above), Trevor (below).

So I hope you like his story. I may be off a little with details, but overall it is true. I hope this doesn't make him all embarrassed.