So this weekend, we went on an Area Government retreat to Park City. It was great fun and we only had to pay $15! We were up right close to the ski resorts and were staying in this super nice condo. Get this, right now, the condo only cost $250 a night, once peak ski season hits they'll cost around $1500 a night, Sundance Film Festival? They cost about $3000. I can't even imagine how much they cost during the Olympics! Anyway, it was way nice! Huge, with tons of beds, a hot tub, a pool table, everything!
On Friday night when we first got there we had time to do whatever we wanted. We made a couple runs to the grocery store, went hot tubbing, etc. The rest of the night was devoted to what's called "Johari's Window." It's an AMAZING thing! Since I was one of the few people there who'd done it before, I got to lead one of the groups in it. Basically, you have a big square on your paper that's divided into 4 sections. The first one is your "public" area, basicall stuff that isn't a big deal, stuff that pretty much everyone knows about you; personality, likes and dislikes, etc. The next one is the "hidden" area. This is the place for things that are important in your life, but that most people don't know. Maybe a few people, but it's really things that only you know. The third section is your "blind" area. This is where you put questions about yourself that you'd honestly like to know the answer to; 'what was your first impression of me?' 'what is my best quality?' etc. The last section is your "unknown" area. This is for the things that NO ONE (not even yourself) knows about you. Like, questions about what your future holds, etc. Now the catch to filling out this square is that you share it with everyone in your group. It's a group of people that you know can be trusted and there's no judging aloud. It's an incredible experience. Not only do you learn a ton about everyone else there, but you learn a whole lot about yourself as well.
On Friday night when we first got there we had time to do whatever we wanted. We made a couple runs to the grocery store, went hot tubbing, etc. The rest of the night was devoted to what's called "Johari's Window." It's an AMAZING thing! Since I was one of the few people there who'd done it before, I got to lead one of the groups in it. Basically, you have a big square on your paper that's divided into 4 sections. The first one is your "public" area, basicall stuff that isn't a big deal, stuff that pretty much everyone knows about you; personality, likes and dislikes, etc. The next one is the "hidden" area. This is the place for things that are important in your life, but that most people don't know. Maybe a few people, but it's really things that only you know. The third section is your "blind" area. This is where you put questions about yourself that you'd honestly like to know the answer to; 'what was your first impression of me?' 'what is my best quality?' etc. The last section is your "unknown" area. This is for the things that NO ONE (not even yourself) knows about you. Like, questions about what your future holds, etc. Now the catch to filling out this square is that you share it with everyone in your group. It's a group of people that you know can be trusted and there's no judging aloud. It's an incredible experience. Not only do you learn a ton about everyone else there, but you learn a whole lot about yourself as well.
The next morning we all slept in (Johari's Window takes a long time, we were going until 2 am!) and then had breakfast. Afterwards, we got to hit up the ever popluar Park City outlet malls! Yay for shopping :-) Haha I was walking around with a couple guys for most of the time so I found out a lot about guys preferences in girls clothing, and they found out girls preferences! I actually helped my friend Chris pick out a pretty sick Fossil watch, and then my friend Ryan was getting his girlfriend's birthday present and requested my assistance.
For me, the very best part of the whole weekend had nothing really to do with Area Government. There's a guy who I met when he was serving his mission in Tucson and he got home about 2 weeks before I moved up to school. He's from Salt Lake, but was happening to be in Park City for a ski/snowboard swap meet. So I got permission from Justin for KJ (haha not Elder Hawkins anymore!) to stop by. So he got there at like 10:30 Friday night, and ended up staying for Johari's Window and everything. It was so great to see him again! We were both worried it would be kind of weird to see each other after so long and in such different circumstances but it wasn't! It was totally natural! After he left we ended up texting until about 3 in the morning, talking about the night, his mission, etc. And... I'm going to his house for Thanksgiving! Haha I'm way excited :-)
So anyway, I think this post is long enough. I'll let you go now. Overall though, it was a great weekend and I wish every weekend could be like that!
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