College Correspondent

Retail Stores and Dating: A Metaphor for Milleniels

Last Saturday, I went to the temple in the morning as part of our ward temple trip. Afterwards, we had Zupa's catered to us. And, in a fateful move, I picked up a leftover one to bring home.

Dad had just gotten here, and came over to my digs, checked the place out, and we headed to UVU. Tanmarie and family were just finishing rock climbing, and we went with them to the bowling alley. I'm proud to say, I was top score, with 140.

Dad and I went up to American Fork, and I met Sis. Young, and we talked with her for a couple hours, before heading back to meet up with the Bach's, who were just arriving, for dinner. Dinner was at Terra Mia. Dad and I split a pizza and their Texas sandwich. The pizza was okay, but that sandwich ----> 10/10. The restaurant had a live two-piece jazz band playing as well. It was a fun place. We (Tanner, Nora, Dad, Matt Stone, and I,) proceeded back to their apt. and we played some games.

Sunday morning, I played host, welcoming the Bach's, Dad, and Matt for burritos and apple pie. The perfect combo. We then went to Tanmarie's church, and witnessed Nora's blessing. She was a champ.


Dad had to leave after, for the long trip home, and I gifted my Zupa's sandwich to him. With apparently aged mayonnaise. Alas, I knew not.

I went with the Bach's to go to the dinner party being held, and for about 45 minutes, we took a nice tour of Provo, including the industrial area, before deciding we better get the real address, and we made it for a delicious soup and salad event, with ice cream+ cookies.

It was wonderful to have everybody visiting, and many memories were made.

Monday was the return to school.

The death of retail stores, with the rise of online markets has been heralded. The advantage of course, is that the middleman is cut out, and thus the markup passed to the consumer is less. Blind dates are like retail stores. So, deciding to employ the same technique and cut out the middleman, I signed up for Mutual (think Mormon tinder) and went on two dates this week, with people from it.

The first, Rayann, is from Wyoming, served a mission in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is studying elementary education. Interestingly, she pointed out that we both have five brothers and one sister. Wednesday, coincidentally Valentine's Day, we went to the BYU wind symphony, who enthralled us with various pieces all based around the theme from the hymn, "Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow." We have a second date set for this coming Friday.

And on Saturday, I doubled with cousin Kaleb, and we went bowling. I set him up with someone from the ward, and we had a blast. With Kaleb there, it was much easier to be natural. My date, Megan, served a mission in Salvador, Brasil, and we know quite a few of the same people. As we arrived to BYU's bowling alley, she disclosed that she had previously taken a bowling class, and at that time was scoring in the 170's. Luckily, that was a few years ago, and I upheld my honor, winning both games (albeit barely) with scores of 132, and 146. After dropping Megan and Shelby off, Kaleb came over and we had dinner and ice cream. It was nice to hear about his mission and catch up. We'll be back at it again.

Of course, I also admit I don't really shop online, and thus my Mutual saga has now come to an end. I appreciated the experience, but its not me, and I'll stick to old-school.

Friday, I continued my temple streak, going to the Provo one. After, I walked to BYU to watch the movie "Black Orpheus" which is supposed to be  a Brazilian masterpiece. Having heard so many good things about it, I admittedly left very disappointed. The film was so sad, and even a little dark. My roommate Derik, picked me up, and we headed to UVU's institute for a dance. A singles awareness dance. It reminded me of a giant stake dance. And also reminded me that I never liked stake dances.

Another highlight from Saturday was with Tanner. We went golfing at Eastbay. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed getting out and playing. On the first hole, I dumped my three first shots into the lake. Finally, on my fourth try, I stayed on dry ground, and the rest of the round went much smoother.

Today in church I played the organ. It went well until the last verse of the last hymn, when I must have been in cruise control because I lost my place, and let the ward sing a capela for one bar, before joining back in to finish the song with them.

Our choir is singing "Cumorah's Hill" for a fireside, and one piece contains the line,

How can we hope to see His face, when we never could see His hand?

I know that as we look for, and recognize the daily blessings and miracles in our lives, we will be better prepared to return to our Maker, and we will experience more joy in our journey to Him.