Balmer, Hon

About two weeks ago Kurt got called by the stake presidency asking him to meet with the stake president the next evening and to bring me along. Our ward was just about to be split and so we expected a big calling for Kurt. I was so nervous the whole next day and thought I must just be nervous for Kurt. When we finally got to meet with the stake president he told us who our new bishopric would be in the new ward (that's when Kurt started breathing). He then said he was giving our new bishop the authority to give a calling and asked him to come in. Our new bishop is our neighbor who we asked to watch Gooch while we went to Baltimore. He continued to extend a calling to me to be the YW President. I was in shock that the calling could be for me and kept saying "no, no, no .... are you serious?" thinking he was just teasing me. I've wanted to serve in YW, but never as the president. I pray that I am the leader needed at this time.

Kurt and I just got back from a week long trip to Baltimore. I had a recreation conference there. Luckily we were able to spend time with Kurt's brother, Bret, and family in Virginia. They took us to a really fun place called Cox Farms where we meet up with a bunch of other fun Johnson cousins. I milked a cow, slid down lots of fun slides, rode on a hay ride, got dizzy in a cornudrum (corn maze) and drank lots of cold apple cider.

After a fun couple of days in Virginia with Bret, Shannon, Marissa and Derek we headed back up to Baltimore for the conference. Besides going to classes I got to see Ft. McHenry, Babe Ruth's birthplace, Orioles Stadium, the ESPN zone, the Italian section of town (yummy), Baltimore Aquarium, Science Center, Loony's Bar (to watch BYU lose to TCU), and the Inner Harbor.

Although we had such a great time. I'm very glad to be home and grateful not to live in such a crazy place as Baltimore. I was in culture shock the whole time.