Paul's Temple Night

We were able to have a really special night out to go through the temple with my great friend Paul for the first time. Paul's always been an awesome guy from the first time I met him. He and Tim became fast friends through their ward at church and it wasn't long until Paul was backpacking through southern Utah with Jeff and I. Now a full-fledged member of theBRIGADE, Paul took his biggest step yet... going through the temple.

This is just my observation, and I hope it's not sharing anything too personal, but theBRIGADE crew took a trip to Grand Gulch last summer. After a couple of days, Jeff developed some lingering pain in his foot that just wasn't feeling any better. He asked for a Priesthood blessing and Tim and I were able to administer to him. This was prior to Paul receiving the Priesthood, so he just observed as the blessing took place. After we were finished, I felt very distinctly like something more than just helping Jeff had happened that night. The next day, Jeff's foot felt miraculously better. And looking back now, at least in my opinion, Paul was different from that day forward too.

Like I said in a previous post, 2011 was a huge year for theBRIGADE. Amber and I welcomed our second son, Tim got married to Tay, Jeff got married to Maren, and Paul received the Priesthood... and ended the year by going to the temple. And the best part was that we were all there to celebrate with him and honor the occasion.

We always talk a lot about being hardcore (which we are), snowboarding, backpacking, exploring, camping, surviving, and stuff. But truth be told, THIS is what theBRIGADE is really all about: bringing out the best in each other and progressing to be the best we can be. We've grown so close to each other and have created eternal bonds that can't be broken. Even though Paul isn't blood, he's still our brother. I'm so proud of him and so stoked that I could be a witness to the great man that he's become. Now let's go camping!