Oh man oh man, where to begin.. Maybe I will start with the first day in June 2012 where I saw this broken backed lamanite (literally) standing under the pavilion at the stake center. I remember asking my mom If I had to go to youth conference that year and not being particularly fond of her answer when she replied "you don't have to.. You get to!" If I was Raven Baxter and could see the future back then, there's no way I would have EVER even breathed a negative word about Youth Conference. I've never been so grateful because not only did I leave there with a stronger testimony, but I also came away with my lifelong bestfriend - Jaden Cole Russell.
That day in June 2012, we all sat at the stake center bright and early waiting to be told what group we would be in for that week. That's always the scariest part of events like these.. Yeah sure you can have fun with anyone you're with, but by golly I think we can all agree that it makes it a lot easier when you get put into The fun group. You know that group.. The one that everyone wants to be a part of. Yeah that one. So while sitting under the pavilion that hot summer day, little did I know that I was about to be assigned to the fun group. Okay well maybe it wasn't actually the fun group.. Maybe it was more like the normal group with that one way chill person that made it the kinda maybe wannabe but not quite there yet but still fun fun group. I was told to go to a designated spot where my team would gather, and sure enough one by one they showed up, and one by one I realized I didn't know anyone. YES WOW COOL SWEET these were my fellow prisoners for the next week. Let me clarify thought that these were my thoughts THEN when I was young and foolish and not very kind. Anyways, I remember seeing a tall attractive boy come over to where our group was and the first words that I ever said were "hey are you in this group?" And he said "yep." And there ya have it folks the beginning of something new. *insert high school musical song here. The first activity that we did as our tribe/group/crew/$quad was the infamous game of 2 truths and a lie. I literally have no recollection of what anyone said including myself except for when Jaden said "hi, I'm Jaden Russell.. Blah blah blah... I have a broken back right now, blah blah blah", and naturally all of us voted that as a lie. I mean c'mon that's ridiculous. Preposterous really. But nope. He literally was back broken (and dressed as a lamanite hence the "back broken lamanite" reference earlier). And that was the first thing I learned about Jaden Russell.
I would be lying to you if I said that I could remember everything we did and everything that happened at youth conference.. Sadly I do not, but I do remember a lot and while the following will most likely include inside jokes you won't understand, try not to feel too left out.
One night the "myster gang" (Vanessa Torres AKA v-myster, Jademyster, and myself starring as mikmyster) snuck out of our tents and went to the big pond there and 'attempted' to steal the four wheeler. We pretended like we were spies, like what you do when you're 5, and sporadically did somersaults, ninja jumps and dramtically ran into the bushes when we heard noises. Oh yeah did I mention we were kinda weird? Well little did he know that one of the bushes Jaden jumped into was actually a bush of potion ivy.. LOL that's what he gets for breaking curfew rules. Psh karma.
The skit was definitely on the top of the list as the most memorable things that happened there. We starred as the narrators and made our debut as Vern Greengrass and Eunice Garfield. But you can't forget about ninja angel.. He made the show. Definitely the playmaker. (Sly HSM reference)
We were lucky enough to have our tribe set up right by the horse shoe pit, so I bet you can guess what we did for most of our time there. We played allll day the first day and when the sun went down that night, we covered the horse shoes in glow in the dark bubbles and continued playing with only minor injuries, nbd. It was all fun and games until we realized we were being hustled by pufferfish over here and then we just played to lose. Still fun tho.
Being a tad obsessed with baseball, OF COURSE Jaden had to bring his mitt to youth conference. I mean c'mon, you can't just leave your baby in the car. (Really don't leave your baby in the car.) Sadly we didn't have a bat, but never fear, nature is here. We ended up playing baseball with a tree branch and I'm pretty sure it was more fun like that. Since Jaden had a broken back, he had to wear a hard back brace the whole time, but sometimes it came in handy. He put the phone he secretly brought but didn't bring in the front of his brace and would play music while we played catch.
Our tribe leaders were seriously the bomb and they let us stay out late one night as long as we stayed close. So all of us got a huge blanket and layed down and looked at the stars. We all laughed and talked forever, it was definitely one of the best parts of that week. Oh, and that night I saw my first shooting star ever. So bam, even better night.
Testimony meeting was when I realized that jruss was more than just a funny guy that was good at horse shoes. Not only that, but he had a strong and unshaking testimony of this gospel. When he stood up and bore his testimony and apologized for his "eyes sweating" before he even started, the presence of the spirit was so strong and that is a time I will never forget.
I could go on for pages and pages of all the spiritual experiences that were had at youth conference (ya know the actual reason for going to youth conference) but we can save that for another time.
Once youth conference was over, I thought it was one of those "yeah we had fun and became good friends but don't continue to be friends outside of this" kinda thing.. But mikayla was wrong once again. It was good because that school year Jaden was going to be a Senior and I was starting my Freshman year at the high school and it worked out like a miracle because that was the last year freshman would be at the high school. If I would've stayed at the junior high, I wouldn't be writing this right now, so I thank my lucky stars. Some might think it's weird that a senior and freshman could be best friends, and me thinking about it right now, it would be kinda weird if my best friend right now was in 8th grade, but for some reason it just wasn't weird. He was 3 1/2 years older and a flippin senior and I was just this lil high school baby, and yet it wasn't weird. We made this super insane handshake, and did it everytime we saw each other without fail. The best thing was to watch peoples reactions to how totally sick it was. We also had seminary at the same time so we got to walk to and from there and some of the best conversations were had on those short walks. We texted everyday and I knew I could trust him with my life. From creepy pictures in biology to tear filled 2 am phone calls, it was easy to say that Jaden was my rock that year. I don't know what I would have done and am so thankful I had him to lean on and to be able to genuinely call him my best friend. I've never been good at trusting people but Jaden was definitely an exception. There wasn't anything I felt that I couldn't talk to him about and no matter what he was there for anything.
Fast forward..
The January after he graduated was when he submitted his mission papers and it just didn't seen real ya know? When he received his call to the Quito, Equador mission and the day countdown began, it still didn't seem real. But it was and I couldn't have been more thrilled, happy and proud of that decision!
2 days before he was scheduled to leave, we hung out for the last time and what better to do than to play golf? Sloan came too (whooped our trash) and then it was time to say goodbye forreal. We pulled up to my driveway avoiding the HUGE elephant in the room the whole car ride, and then it hit. We got out of the car and hugged for the very last time. I looked up and saw tears rolling down his face and then it was all real.
The next night was when he was set apart as a missionary and also the night I received the last phone call. It was short sweet and ended "...thank you for being my best friend. Love ya Mik, goodbye."
When the first email came that Wednesday it was the happiest and best gift ever. We emailed every week without fail and it was amazing to see the progress he was making week by week! He was allowing the Spirit to change lives and being the missionary I knew be would be.
In the end of June, I remember getting an email from him on Thursday instead of his P-day which was Monday. I read it and was in shock. He said that he was back in Kentucky and to send him my number so he could call me. Whaaaat? I was more confused than anything else.. It was out of the blue and sudden and I just didn't understand. I sent him my number and when he called I maybe, possibly, may have cried a little. In the most humble way, he explained that he was to come home for 6 months and then could go back out. I listened and didn't ask too many questions mostly because I didn't know what to say. With the mission age change, so many missionaries had come home early and that was hard to see. So when Jaden came home, it was so much harder because it hit home. I've only had one cousin serve before, so I didn't really have a taste of missionary work until this. Anyways to sum it up, at first it was really hard, I wanted to be angry and sad, but then I realized how wrong and selfish I was being. Being home, Jaden was learning and growing so much and had never been happier and then I'm over here wanting to be mad. Oh boy. I'm grateful though that I realized how wrong I was so instead of being angry, I could learn from Jaden and have my testimony strengthened. Every time I would ask him how he was doing he would reply with "I've honestly never been happier." I really just didn't understand this. Here's this boy I've never seen so excited to serve that has been preparing to go on his mission for years, go and then come home and be told that he needs to wait 6 months be happy. I literally didn't understand until he explained to me that he was now using The Atonement more than ever and truly applying it in his life. He constantly bore testimony of how the gospel makes you truly happy and brings lasting happiness. Just through his example of facing hardships and going through the tough things he did, helped me so much. It helped me to be more humble and to realize what's important in life. It helped me see that there's a bigger picture and that I need to trust in The Lord. I don't think he will every fully understand how much he helped me by just living the standards and doing what he knows is right. I think that being an example is one of the greatest ways to teach and bring people into Christ.
Fast forward again..
Side note: A little while before Jaden left on his mission, him and his family moved to Kentucky.
So this past week, he came out here to Utah for the first time in 10 months and just last night I was able to see him. Wowow I was so so excited and couldn't wait! He's staying at his Grandmas house and so I went over there at about 9:00 to visit. I can't even explain the joy I felt when I finally saw him. Such a wonderful thing. His MTC teacher from Mexico named Rodo who had also become one of his greatest friends was also there. He served in the Salt Lake City mission so he was visiting his mission and also staying with and visiting Jaden. It was incredible to actually talk face to face about everything that has happened in the last year. For those 2-3 hours we literally talked about missions and the gospel the whole time and it was amazing. I never realized how hard a mission really is and I still don't, but hearing about both of their good (and not so good) experiences gives a little insight of the mission life! It was so cool.
The weirdest thing was that he is a man now. Like no little guy anymore. He was already 6'3" but has grown even more and is not a baby anymore. Also it's funny because the age thing like I said was never weird but then again that was high school.. It was weird talking about how he's almost 20 and here I am a 16 year old Junior in high school.. HA! Well, because I'm still in High school and it was a school night I had to cut the convos short and go home. It definitely wasn't as sad saying goodbye as the last time and I think that's partially because I didn't really realize that I wouldn't be seeing him for another 20 months. Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that he is going back out in February or maybe as soon as 2 weeks! Haha there's so much to say and I've probably forgotten the most important parts and maybe this doesn't even make sense but I'm trying here. So yeah that was that, and now we will be back to emailing before we know it and if will be just as great!
With this huge novel I just want to share what I have learned most about this experience. Well actually there's a lot of things but I've come to realize something really important recently and I believe that everyone should try and implement this in their lives. That is to not see people for their sins, instead see them as Heavenly Father sees them. Love them unconditionally no matter what they do and let them know that you support and love them. I think in the end that's really what matters. Our whole mission here on earth is to become like Christ and in doing this, you can. I am so blessed and grateful for the opportunity to have met Jaden and am forever thankful for the impact he has had on me and the friendship that he has given me.
Well this is up to date in the tale of 2 best friends.
Lastly, enjoy this picture with a 10 month difference! It's proof that we are not the same as last time we saw each other.
