Living Legends- Four Corners Tour

i was basically pretty terrible at taking a TON of pictures, but i did take some pictures. bus rides were sooo long, and some people became super duper irritating, but overall, it was an amazing tour. i'm so grateful that i was able to go, and i think it is helping me to become a better team member, a better friend, a better person. here are the brief points and highlights of the trip. if you want the detailed version... call me! :)

DAY 1

we met at the rb at SIX IN THE MORNING!!! i sat next to truman chun on the bus. :) don't we look SOOO awake at 6am?! haha.

because of the early departure i basically didn't sleep the night before. i did laundry and cleaned and packed and things like that, so that i would be able to sleep on the bus. by the way, bus sleep is just marginally better than airplane sleep, partially because we were on a nice charter bus. :) see? and of course... polys were in the back! ;P

we drove to blanding,ut. we drove and drove and drove. after sleeping for a while, we just kinda ate and talked and tried to occupy the time with music, and funny faces. yeah, that's the president (dan corotan), and two of the three section leaders (kanani corotan and stephen freeman) there... haha!

we finally arrived in blanding. we had an outreach at college. it was basically a kcc of both the suu and another college nearby. we only had to do auana, which was nice (for us, because it's easy), just like we always do for outreaches.

our first show was later that night at the high school. we spent our time waiting and waiting. we set up our things, talked to each other, took pictures, ran through dances to adjust to having the substitutes on tour, practice with a much tinier stage, and then we got to eat dinner (there was a super ono dessert that was like pound cake and strawberries. it was absolutely amazing). that they provided. basically... this is what we do after we're all unpacked... haha!

on tour we always stayed with host families. our host mom was an older lady (kupuna kine old), named caroline lemmon. she was really sweet, and she let us sleep in a KING SIZE bed! :) it was great, and super comfy, and AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL feeling after so much time on a bus. i was partnered with sharona eskeets. :) this was the picture we took before we went to bed.

DAY 2

met at 7 to get on the bus. basically it was another super early morning. we had breakfast early, and our host mom provided breakfast. almost everything was homemade! the bread, the juice, the salsa, the jelly! it was so great! today my bus buddy was josh meha. :)

we left early drive through monument valley. i guess it's something special, although i felt like we were sleeping through a lot of it. we did make a stop so that we could take pictures. :) this is a "most of the poly girls" picture. :)

after that stop, we made one more stop in new mexico (this picture is of the stop, with the native section leader, stephen. funny story: this rest stop only had ONE bathroom). before we finally got to gallup, nm. when we finally got to gallup, we set up all of our lights and things and we got ready for show. it was nice because truman's sister who used to be in living legends lives in gallup, and she ate dinner with us. we had mexican food (enchiladas).

the show was at 730p, in a really nice auditorium. there were a lot of polys in this audience. they were a lot more lively than the first one -- the first audience was a lot less energetic and enthusiastic. after the performance i found out that it's basically a cultural thing, that natives, especially navajos don't really shoe much emotion. but anyway, we had lots of fun, and i inadvertently met my host family after the show when we go out into the audience to talk to the people. :) this is me and chris ah sue after the show (i'm in my auana costume, and he's in samoa).

after we changed and put everything away, i left with host mom, ivona lambson. she's from western samoa, and she requested that she have poly girls, preferably samoan. the journey home took an hour and a half because we had to make a few stops and they lived 35-40 minutes away from gallup (going 75 mph). i felt so honored that they wanted so badly to house us that they were willing to drive that far to pick us up and take us back. it was good fun, and i think i was the most comfortable with this family than all the others. it was almost like home! :) the four of us that stayed were me, kaisha ho ching, momi quereto, and sepi ika. this was the one time that i was actually sad to leave a host family.

DAY 3

today we had to meet on bus at 8 (haha... getting better, meaning later, although that day, because we stayed 35-40 min away, we still had to wake up early). we left for a flea market that was in gallup, and i bought legit navajo jewelry! :) aren't they pretty??

we drove all the way to holbrook, az. because i had basically a lack of sleep, and because the flea market was windy and cold, i got back on the bus, and slept. yup, this is basically how i was all the way to arizona. haha! even better... today i didn't have a bus buddy! :)

when we finally got to holbrook, we stopped at wigwam motel. remember cars, the movie? yeah, think of the cozy cone, and you've got the wigwam hotel. that's why they have old cars out front. it really is the story of cars... holbrook got passed by with the interstate, and it is just a small room for one with a bathroom in it! it was cool... and it made me happy, especially because i like cars so much! :) this is me and kaisha in front of one of them.

we had a couple outreaches while the tech crew was setting up the stage and the lights and stuff. after our outreaches we finished setting up all of our props and things. one of my friends, paulo lopez, taught me how to set up his aztec crown. it's a lot more complicated and time consuming than you might think... hence the face of concentration/ in the middle of asking "is here ok?" in the picture! :P after setting up our props and things, we had dinner, but i wasn't feeling good (as in my tummy was really, REALLY hurting) so i didn't eat.

the last show of our tour was at 7... HALLELUJAH!!! not that i was tired of doing the shows, in fact, i just started getting the hang of them... but just that i had a killer stomach ache, and i really just wanted to go home and sleep it off. this picture is of the "opener family." at the very beginning of the living legends show there are three families (one from each culture) that start and then the spirit lady sings the opener song. i'm in the poly family, and so we took a poly family picture. :) that's truman, kanani, dan, josh, and me.

when i finally went home, i was excited to sleep, but our host family, the parks, wasn't super welcoming. our host mom was very nice, but i didn't feel comfortable, or like she was comfortable with us in her home. it was just kinda awkward. but she was nice. i stayed with amber singh, and it was... a hectic night.

DAY 4

met on the bus at 8 because we had to go to indian wells branch, which was about an hour drive away. it was a long time. i had to give the devotional on the bus. i shared a little from president eyring's talk "opportunities to do good." i encouraged them to remember to be grateful for the opportunities to spread the gospel and bring people to christ.

this branch that we went to was actually on the rez. we went to do a morningside during their sacrament meeting, and it was one of the most spiritual experiences i had. it was... AMAZING! there were more of us in living legends, than there were actually members there, but the spirit was there, and i feel like i was able to help in some small way, to let the members know that god loves them, and he is aware of them. we were in our fireside dress, and i was proud to be representing byu and the church (with truman, and keoki leong).

after sacrament, we had to leave in order to make it back to provo at a decent hour. we changed on the bus, as we were waiting for everyone to make sure they made it on the bus. and this picture... oh, no big deal... it's just how us polys are all the time! hahaha!

we left the rez, and then we drove all the way until moab where we stopped at mcds for dinner. we each were given a little bit of cash to be able to get something to eat. it was so nice to be able to stand up and move around and not be stuck on a bus. this was before we left to go back to provo (mcd's didn't have a working bathroom so we went to burker king to pee. :P sarah nielson- from the latin section- came with me, kaisha, and sepi).

we drove all the way home from moab, and we got home at 945p. we unloaded the bus, and my secret pal had these earrings delivered to me! isn't that sweet (it's basically secret santas over the tour). they bought it from the flea market. :) one more pair to add to my collection.

WHEW! *wipes forehead* that was intense. there's still a bunch of stuff that could fill in details if you want, but like i said, if you wanna hear details, just call! ;)

i'm excited for the next tour! :)