Today was an early wake-up at 6:30 a.m. We gathered together at the meeting hall and then hiked up Table Rock, which was roughly a 40 minute hike. This is the first time I’ve gone on an early morning hike, so it was a pretty cool experience. Luckily, the trail was not muddy and the weather was perfect! On my way up, I got to talk with Jacob, a brother living in Boise. I didn’t realize how much people could enjoy hiking— he goes hiking once a week and had already hiked up the trail that we went on twenty times! It was really nice to talk with him, to get to know his interests, and to hear a little about his experience in the church life at Boise. After the hike, we went on a campus tour. There was a big “B” that we took a whole group picture in front of. Then, a few brothers spelled out “Bell” with the “B” and took a fun picture with our dear brother Bell. We also got to see Boise State’s blue turf field. It was pretty cool.
— Joe C.
For lunch we went to a place in Boise called the Fry Company. They had a large variety of different potatoes for their fries. The different types of potatoes included russet, gold, purple, red, and sweet potatoes. There were also a large variety of dipping sauces, the most interesting of which was the blueberry ketchup. I split a bison burger with Ruiyu and split the different types of fries with other brothers. After lunch we split into various groups to explore the downtown area of Boise. I went with a few members of my small group to go shopping for souvenirs. We eventually met up at the Capitol building and in the front of the building was a large bell that we rang. We went in the building and even went on a small tour explaining the past representatives of Idaho. One interesting thing about the building was that there are 3 different types of marble shipped from around the world to build the floors and the walls. However, some of the pillars are fake marble and the guide told us that if we put one hand on the fake marble and one hand on the real marble, the real marble would be cooler. Afterwards we needed to head back to the meeting hall as we were behind schedule. Freeman and I decided to branch off from the group and ride a motorized scooter. We rode on a one person scooter together trying to squeeze our feet on the small foot rest. It was really fun trying to balance and ride across the campus on a scooter meant for one person.
In the afternoon, we went to an arcade place that had laser tag. Twenty people went and we split up into two groups for two separate games. One game was brothers versus full timers, and the other game was sisters versus sisters. In my game we really wanted to beat the full timers so we had a strategy meeting and discussed what to do. The game was a lot of fun as we bounced back and forth shooting one another. During this time from lunch to before dinner, I felt like I was blending and getting to know everyone in Berkeley much better.
— Larry W.
As we returned from the Idaho State Capitol Building today, some other brothers and I decided to stay at the meeting hall for some rest. During this time, we joined the saints to set up the room for dinner and got to know many of them. Fellowshipping with the saints in Boise really allowed me to see the oneness of the Body. I met a sister named Elizabeth and her son, who are both coincidentally also visiting Boise. They joined us for dinner! I also got to know a brother named Dean, whom I first heard about this morning from the tour guide working in the Capitol Building. I also got to talk with a brother named Titus, who shared with me his experience of hosting the Sacramento brothers last year for their spring break trip, learning the song “fill my spirit up,” and also baptizing several brothers on the trip. At the dinner table, I also got to meet brother Nick, who was on the same team as brother Larry in the Full-Time Training. He shared his story of following the Lord’s leading, moving thirty-six times across different states, and serving in many localities. Though often I was just telling the saints about my life or listening to them talk about their experiences, it was just so joyful to fellowship with them. After dinner, we got the opportunity to thank the saints in Boise and share what we enjoyed from this trip. The sharing was wonderful, and brother Titus concluded by sharing about the importance of companionship, using the example in Luke 10 of the Lord pairing up seventy disciples two-by-two to preach the gospel, accelerating the casting down of Satan. After returning to our hospitality, brother John showed us his guest book which included every visitor that had stayed in his house since the 90s, and even had the previous visit of Berkeley students in 2000. We thanked him for the warm hospitality and then went to sleep early to prepare for the long ride the next day.
— Stephen Z.
