Travel Log: Colorado Springs, CO to Roseville, CA (04/17/15)

The travel from Colorado Springs, CO to Roseville, CA was a long one. Its unfortunate that I did not get much pictures out of it.

I woke up early at 1:30 A.M! I actually don’t think I slept too much from the night before. After I woke up I got ready and we left the house at around 2:10 A.M. During this time in Colorado it was snowing fairly heavily so we had to drive slow. Normally it would take just about an hour to get to Denver. However, at our speed it took us an hour and a half to get there. During the drive it was dark and foggy. The fog produced from the snow flurry made the road seem claustrophobic. It also made the surrounding area look like something from Silent Hill. It was a quiet drive with not much people on the road besides from snow plows and cars that got into accidents previously. When we got to Denver it took an additional half hour to get to the airport. Its odd on how far the airport was from the rest of the city. The airport itself had a huge piece of land to itself with only a few other commercial buildings in the immediate area. Also, when driving to the Denver airport there are two terminals to look out for. There is the East and West terminals that have different airlines assigned to each. American Airlines was in the East terminal, which thankfully we turned to. When at the terminal I went inside and checked in at the kiosk. When I did, it didn’t print out my boarding pass like it was supposed to. The lady at the desk was helpful and was able to print my boarding pass and give me directions to where I should go. I then went towards my gate and on the way was the TSA security check area. Interestingly, they said that the TSA area was closed until 4:30 A.M. I was surprised as well as the other people who came by. I thought that the TSA was a 24/7 operation. Oh well, I waited until 4:40 A.M when the TSA security check was operational. The line went fairly fast and thankfully I was near the front because the line for the security check became immensely long. While I was at the security check it was interesting when they wiped my palms with a small piece of cloth. I wonder what that was for? Oh well, afterwards I headed to my gate. The terminal itself was huge and had a small food court. Most of the stores were closed except for the McDonald’s. When I went to my gate I sat down and read a bit before I went inside. Once inside the plane I got a window seat near the back. Initially my row was full until the lady in the middle moved to the other aisle. Before the plane flew out we had to do a De-Icing thing because ice was building up on the wings. The De-Icing process consisted of two trucks hosing down the wings of the plane with some sort of liquid. After this process we went on our way. It was initially very turbulent which was actually kinda scary. But it leveled out eventually and was a fairly straight flight to Phoenix, AZ.

Phoenix itself reminded me a bit of Albuquerque, NM due to how flat and dusty it looked. It was also surrounded by a desert looking area with some small mountains around the area too. Sky Harbor airport was packed when we got there. Also, when we landed I had less than an hour before I had to board my connecting  flight. Because of this I had to rush over since I noticed that my gate was far from my landing gate. When I got inside I walked towards my gate. On the way I got distracted by a gift shop since I wanted to get some postcards. I believe I ended up with four postcards of Phoenix, AZ. I then got to my gate. I noticed that the gate was not open and I was hungry so I decided to get something to eat. Right across was a local pizza joint that sold two cheese pizza slices for one price. They also had these interesting breakfast pizzas made of eggs and sausage for toppings. I ended up getting the two cheese pizza slices. The pizzas were real good and it was unfortunate that I had to eat the pizzas real fast to get to my gate. When I finished eating I went to my gate and it was still closed. So I rechecked the information and I was looking at the wrong gate. Thankfully the real gate was still boarding and I got in on time. I still had the window seat and I sat next to a guy who sorta looked like Ali G. The flight itself was fairly good and we got to San Francisco in an hour and a half from Phoenix. The guy who looked like Ali G is from Albuquerque actually. He said it was his first time and San Francisco and was excited to check it out. I feel bad for never getting his name.

Afterwards, I headed inside SFO and went into a gift shop. Inside I got four postcards. I then went towards the baggage claim and saw a small bookstore that sold similar postcards. I still got another postcard since I was the only customer inside and I asked about them. Afterwards I got to the baggage claim and got my baggage. On the way to the baggage claim I let my Aunt Maliz know that I was already there in SFO. She let me know that they were on their way and almost there. I then eventually got my bag. It wasn’t too long of a wait. When I got my bag I let my aunt know where I was which was near the Frontier baggage claim. During the interim not much happened except for a cute girl asking me what time it was. When my aunt got to the airport she parked at the Delta baggage claim which was a small walk from where I was. It was amazing to see my auntie Maliz after such a long time. It must have been about ten or so years! I also got to see my grandparents as well! Grandma Alice and Grandpa Donald! It was a blast and we quickly caught up on old times. It was unfortunate we did not have a lot of time to look around at this point since I had to go to Roseville right away. We headed out to Sunnyvale, CA from SFO. The drive was nice and it was crazy to see California all over again! I remember going through Redwood and Milipitas on the way to Sunnyvale. When we got to Sunnyvale my aunt got me an original chicken sandwich from Burger King which was awesome! Thanks! After that we headed to my aunt’s apartment place where I met bro Chris who would drop me off to Roseville. Bro Chris was a real cool guy and we quickly got along really well. I remember we made a quick stop to this plaza in Milpitas where I used to go to the dentist. We made a stop here so Bro Chris could set up his GPS in his car. It was interesting to see the dental clinic after such a long time. I remember back in highschool I got out of band practice early just to go to this dental clinic. So much memories you could associate with a place you’ve been to before! After this quick stop we were on our way to Roseville. Before we hit the first exit to enter the highway bro Chris mentioned that he lived near the mini-golf park. It was interesting. I remember during the entire ride bro Chris and I were just talking about different things. I can’t seem to remember much besides that on the road some parts of it looked straight out of Texas. Especially when it became just open plains with random truck stops. The places I remember most distinctly was Sacramento and Roseville itself. Sacramento is known as the “City of Trees”. It definitely had more trees than the previous plains area but I couldn’t really grasp why it was called the City of Trees. The downtown area of Sacramento had a lot of skyscrapers and for some reason reminded me of the downtown area of El Paso due to the similar highway that runs close to the central business district. Afterwards, we quickly made progress to our destination which was the chapel of Roseville. When we got there we parked near the pastoral house and then parked closer to the rest of the scan crew and the chapel. It was here when I met my brother after such a long time! It must have been ten years or so just like my aunt when I last saw him. We quickly caught up on old times and he introduced me to the rest of the scan crew. I also saw my Ate Erna as well which was cool since I didn’t see her for probably five or so years! I remember meeting bro Ronnie, sis Raquel and their daughter Rose. For the life of me I can’t remember the other scan bros I met at the time. Once here I got to eat with them. I remember eating a tortilla with this bean mixture with rice in it. It was particularly filling and I remember also drinking a lot of water as well. After eating and meeting some of the brethren I got my camera from bro Chris’ car and started doing some shoots. At this time I met bro Dan from Iowa! I originally met him in Wisconsin some fifeteen years ago! It was a blast to see him again and get caught up! Afterwards I hit the tent and met some of the incmedia brethren. It was interesting but I felt bad since I could not remember any of their names except for AJ. Actually at one point I told AJ the names of those I did met and I got the names all wrong. Oh well, you remember some and forget some. Afterwards I went around the chapel area.

The first area I checked was the basement area where I got to meet some more of the scan members. I distinctly remember meeting Nikki and a few others. I was actually surprised since they had a few sister scan members. I got to take a few shots of them before I headed to the upstairs area from the outside. Once here I met brother Reese who was a young scan member and cool too. I then got to take a few shots of the brethren in the area. Around this point some of the bem students started rolling in. When they did the first I met was Edmund from Wisconsin! It was nuts seeing him again since it was also fifteen years since I seen him last! We quickly caught up on old times and it was crazy to see him again! Later on Larry, DJ, and Francis came by. It felt like I was in Milwaukee, Guam, and Monterrey at the same time! During this time I also got to meet a lot of the BEM students including AJ, Journeyel, Matt, etc. We all got to chat it out before they had to go inside for their practice. Afterwards, I remember going back down to the food area out back where I first met my brother and the other scan members. When I got here I got some water and met a scan officer from Roseville named bro Ed. He was a nice guy and I got to help him carry a big vat of hot soup to the inside of the chapel. Actually at one point I burned my hand on the side of the vat. I actually wasn’t expecting it to be that hot but it was. When I helped him bring the vat inside I headed back towards the front of the chapel. When I got here I actually specifically remember seeing Francis and another brother outside so I got to take a few shots of them. I also remember meeting another scan brother named Edzel. He was a cool guy too. At this point I headed inside the sanctuary since I remembered that I should attend the officer’s prayer as well. When I got inside I noticed that they were about to pray so I prayed with them. This was actually the opening prayer and they were about to start the practice with the choir march. I got to see the march and the first sister I remember seeing during the march was sister Catherine of Roseville. At least I think it was her lol I stuck around inside for most of the practice but left to give room for more of the brethren. I stayed in the lobby area until the closing prayer of the officer’s practice. Afterwards, everyone headed towards the tent for another set of practice.

While everyone was headed towards the tent I got to take good shots. Around this time I also met Bro Louie who said he knew my dad. I think bro Louie was actually a minister so I greeted him and said farewell with as much respect as I could. Afterwards I headed inside the tent to see what shots I could take. When inside I took as much shots as I could and I remember seeing Jason’s dad there! I said hi and gave my regards to Jason’s dad. Afterwards, I headed outside and I remember seeing bro Rahmfeld from Corpus Christi! It was cool seeing him again and we got to catch up on old times. I asked him when the meeting is and he let me know it was as soon as the rest of the crew got there. A few moments later I got to meet bro IJ! It was cool and he introduced me to the rest of the crew. We all got acquainted quickly, at this point I remember meeting Macy, JP, bro Joseph, Leiel, and another sister and brother who for the life of me I cannot remember. Afterwards, we headed inside for our meeting with the STF crew. Before the meeting started we got to chat it out for a bit and I learned that a lot of the inctv crew were married. It was interesting since I thought they were all particularly young somewhere around the early to mid 20s. But eventually the STF crew got there and we started promptly. The meeting was similar to how it was back in Corpus Christi but with a different set of people and a different set of answers to the questions. After the meeting it was fairly late. When I got outside I saw that the food area was full of bem students. I remember my brother told me to get something to eat since we would be there a bit longer. And so I did. When I got to the food tent the first brother I met was Raul who was from Lubbock. We both knew sis Alyssa from the Lubbock so it was cool. We then parted ways so I could go get some food. At the start of the line I noticed that there were no plates so I told some of the bem students that we might as well use the cups. Around this time I met bro Saaj from Miami. He was a cool guy and had an interesting story. He was an accountant and was influenced to join the ministry after seeing a dedication/pastoral visit. It was cool, we eventually had to go on our way when he had to go. I then hit the food line with my cup. I remember filling it with rice, sinigang, and some chinese stir fry. I then got my water and I was able to sit with Francis and the other bem students. I remember meeting a bem student from Kawaii and I can’t remember his name. He was a cool guy though. I also met bro Israel from Atlanta. He was a cool guy too and was also the guy standing with Francis from earlier! We all got to chat it out. I remember a specific joke Francis made. He calls watermelon as “water-meh-lone”. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Eventually all the bem students had to leave.

At this point I remember going back to the food line to get something else to eat. I noticed that the salad platter was still full. So I tried it out. The salad was interesting it had a sweet dressing but there was some vegetable inside it that was incredibly sour. I also got some more sinigang to counterbalance the salad taste. I also got to make small talk with sis Madelyn of Roseville. She is very pretty and pleasant to talk to. I also got to help her dad bro Jesse get rid of the garbage. We all got along well before I headed out. I took a bottle of water with me. When I headed out I went to look for my brother to find out when we are going. I didn’t find him right away. But in the interim I sat in the front of the chapel since I was burned out. On the way to the front of the chapel I remember meeting Jaynard and his sister too. They are both from Roseville too! I then got to the front of the chapel and sat down for a while. Eventually I saw my brother and he said that there was still things to do at the chapel so he got me the keys to bro Ronnie’s car. I decided to head in to see if I could get some shut eye for a bit. i then had to use the bathroom and used it in the big portable bathroom. It smelled bad even though I don’t think much people used. Afterwards I headed back to the car and tried to get more shut eye before we headed out. When we headed out we got to the hotel where I changed and took a shower before I did my homework. I did my homework in the business center of the hotel. While I was doing my homework an elder lady came in to check her email. I had to help her a bit and it was cool with me to do so. Afterwards I headed back to the room to get some shut eye for the long day ahead.

Church of Christ Chapel Dedication: Roseville, CA (04/18/2015)

Today was a long and exciting day down in Roseville, CA. I remember waking up around 2:00 A.M to get ready to go to the chapel. I got dressed and got my camera ready. After my brother Randy and everyone else got ready we headed down towards the chapel. I believe we left the hotel around 2:45 A.M and got to the chapel at about 3:00 A.M. When we got there it was still pitch black, but the scan officers were already there and even some brethren too! It was nice to see a great amount of people come early with us as well. My brother and bro Ronnie were helping coordinate the scan officers. I was taking pictures of whatever I could. It was so dark, however, that it was difficult to get any decent shots. I wanted to get shots of people going in and the scan officers doing their thing. During this early morning session from 3:00 A.M to about 5:30 A.M it was fairly easy going. I met one of the scan officers named Angel from Fresno. He seemed like a nice kid trying to do his best to help the rest of the scan efforts. Not much else really happened during this time. There were even some parts during this time where I found myself pacing the area waiting for something interesting to photograph.

When it was about 5:00 A.M things started to pick up. I remember seeing brother Seraphim come around this time; it’s always nice to see fellow HI brethren around. Also around this time a lot of the other choir members came but they could not go inside until later. This gave me a chance to take shots of them standing near the front of the chapel. At about 5:30 A.M the other inctv members started coming in. I remember meeting a sister from Mountain View named Francesca. She was pretty and also an inctv officer. We also met up with Macy, JP, and that one other sister. We all waited a bit for IJ and the rest of the crew since it was difficult to get inside. But eventually one of the nicer scan members helped us get inside. But for some reason, the scan guy who gave us a hard time still gave me a hard time to get inside. Oh well, eventually we all got inside and we met up inside the meet up room down one of the halls. Inside I saw an old friend from Monterrey. It blew my mind to see Jumay after ten or so years! We quickly caught up before our meeting began. For my meeting I met up with the other photographers (Jeff, Noel, Nelson, bro Joseph, and the other bro) and sis Joanne. During our quick meeting sis Joanne gave us instructions on how to set our cameras while also helping me set up my camera. We also got our assignments during this short meeting. I was to be assigned the basement area during the sermon and anywhere beforehand. After this short meeting, the bigger meeting started and we got final instructions before we prayed. After the prayer all of us photographers went outside and started. Jeff coordinated with me to make sure that we got a good idea on how we will cover the basement. We went to the basement and Jeff gave the laydown on how the basement would be covered. Afterwards, we went on our separate ways to get shots of the brethren and surrounding. By now it must have been 6:00 A.M with the officers prayer around 7:30 A.M. I believe my first few shots were candid shots of brethren. It was also around this time when I met bro Aldrin of Sacramento/Guam! He’s the brother of bro Harold which was very interesting. He was also working at the translator booth. I let Jeff know that the translators were outside since we thought that the translators would be inside. I then went back to the translator booth and Aldrin helped get me a translator. Afterwards I headed inside the tent. At this time the tent was full of the bem students and a few others. I got to say hi to a few of them, particularly Edmund and AJ. It was legit seeing them since I would have a hard time later saying hi after the event. The shots I got inside the tent were of the rows that I found full. I remember at one particular occasion I took a shot of a full row and a sister says “oh that’s a good shot”. I replied “yeah it is! are you inctv too?” I asked because she noticed the kind of shot I was getting was lining up the row of brethren. The sister said no but I’m sure she knows a thing or two about church photography. Afterwards, when I left the tent area I headed up towards the chapel since I noticed it packed full of brethren already. I got a shot of the brothers side that was full. Around this time I got to talk to bro IJ for a bit about inctv in both the Colorado region and California region. Afterwards we went on our way. I think I went down by the parking area to see if I could get some interesting shots of the brethren coming in. I remember actually going up to a van with brethren coming out and I recognized one of the sisters as sis Dimple. It was interesting and also I noticed a drone floating about. It was interesting but why would you need a drone flying about? It was then around this time where we had to go to our spots since it was almost he officer’s prayer. Jeff and I met inside the basement and he took his position up near the front of the sister’s side while I got up near the front on the brother’s side. We both got a few shots of the brethren.

By 7:30 A.M everyone was anxious for the prayer to start. It was not until around 7:45-8:00 A.M when they announced that there would be a thirty-minute break. In the interim I took the opportunity to get some shots outside of the scan trying to put up a banner. During this time I also saw bro Rod ad Ferdie! It was very cool to see them again and I almost thought that we were all back in HI 2011-2013. Afterwards, I also went to the portable bathroom area since I actually needed to use the bathroom. It was kind of funny because the lines for those bathrooms were incredibly long. I mean they were Disney Land long, at least for the brother’s side. The sister’s side not too much. I took shots of the lines since I thought they would be interesting and could be used to show a lot of brethren lining up for the chapel dedication. The brother’s were kind of laughing when I took the pictures. The sister’s line actually got into a group when I took a picture. It almost astonished me that they did so. Afterwards, I went back inside to the basement where we waited the thirty minutes. During this thirty-minute wait I got to talk to Jeff about photography and how he got into it. It was a very interesting story and my favorite part was when he showed me the different camera lenses and settings. It astonished what a difference lenses could make! The higher end lenses were weighty and had a greater depth than the stock lenses I used. The full-manual lenses also freaked me out. Especially since my camera did not have the screen viewfinder. Because of this, with the full-manual lenses, when I adjust the focus on the lenses I could not see the difference it made in my regular viewfinder! After this talk about photography they announced that there was going to be another 10-15 minute break. I believe around this time Jeff went outside to get more shots. Before he went at this point he offered to me some of his lenses. It was incredibly appreciable but I don’t think I’m ready to handle expensive equipment. Eventually, Jeff came by and let me know what I should take shots before the prayer and head out to the tent since the tent needed more people to cover it. And so we did. But before I went to the tent we still had a bit of time to wait before the prayer began. At one interesting occasion a bunch of scan started gathering outside to block our windows from looking out. Presumably it’s so that we could not see our executive minister walk inside. Ok, at this moment I was sitting on a small ledge right next to the windows. Out of nowhere when the brethren noticed the scan lining up they all ganged up on the windows. This effectively blocked me to the window area which was awkward since I was facing the crowd that was inches away from me while the crowd was facing the window. At one point one of the older brothers knocked on the window to get the attention of the scan to move. It was incredibly awkward with tensions higher then they should be. Eventually, the scan moved indoors to move the crowd out of the way. This also meant that I had to move as well. I got out of my spot and stood at the end of the line of the scan. At this point the brother who knocked on the window also stood right in front of the line of the scan. Oh well, can’t keep everyone’s curiosity at bay. At this point the officer’s prayer began promptly. It must have been 8:45-9:00 A.M when it did begin. When it did, I got my shots of every row singing the hymnals. I then joined in on the prayer. Afterwards, I left for the tent. Inside the tent I decided to wait until the sermon began. It was odd since my fellow colleagues were getting shots all over the place inside the tent. As far as I know we were to get the first five minutes of the sermon. I waited until the right time and got my shots in of different angles of the crowd and the TV with our executive minister on it. After the five minutes were over I listened to the sermon from the brother’s side of the tent near the side opening of the tent. By this point I was tremendously tired and so tempted to just side down and “close my eyes”. But I decided to stand and listen. It was kind of funny cause I actually still dozed off while standing. But since I was standing I immediately woke up since I felt like I was falling over every time I dozed off standing. I think the lesson ended sometime around 11:30 A.M.

Afterwards was the presentations. I got a chair and slept as much as I could before the first performance. All the bem students did the first performance. I distinctly remember seeing Edmund, AJ, Larry, Saaj, and DJ sing. I felt bad for not seeing Francis sing since he was at the other end. The performance was very good and sounded, as it should for essentially a hundred-man choir. The next performance was the gospel choir, which sang an interesting song. I felt bad for the first girl who sang since the mic didn’t work well at first. But after the first mishap the rest of the performance went well. The next performance was by the youth of Roseville I believe. They performance went well as well also. After all the performances was the meet and greet rush. I actually wanted to get out beforehand to get some shots. However, the exit was jam-packed and I was unable to get out. It was funny since the only time I saw our executive minister was through the screen of someone’s smartphone lol! Oh well, afterwards I was able to get out and take some shots. I then headed up to the front of the chapel where I met up with Jeff and a few of the others and we discussed what we should do next. We then remembered we got twenty minutes to take candid and organized group shots of the brethren. And so we did. I tried organizing a few group shots and they went well. Most of the group shots I took were candid. Basically, I waited for a group picture to form and then I would take a sneak shot at the group. I got these types of shots both inside and outside of the chapel. I remember also going inside the sanctuary to get these types of shots. After the sanctuary shots I went back outside to get more shots. While outside I heard that the scan officers were meeting for a final prayer. Hearing this I jumped on the opportunity to follow them to get those shots. When I entered the chapel I bumped into sis Salve and her mom from Guam! It was amazing since I did not expect to see them there! I then had to go downstairs for the scan prayer and meeting. I got some good shots in and after the prayer I was able to get the group shot of the scan. After this I then headed upstairs to get more shots before heading to the tent again. Inside the tent I saw that they were doing the performances again. This time I got to see Francis sing along with the rest of the bem students. After their performance I went on over to see whom I could say hi to since I knew I was going to leave soon. I saw Larry and sat next to him and we quickly caught up on old times. DJ then joined us also and for a second I thought we were all in Guam. Then my brother came by and also Edmund too. My brother let me know that we were leaving soon. We got some group pictures in thankfully so they exist somewhere out there. I then had to part ways with my bros. I headed back to the sanctuary to give my card to sis Joanne. We got to catch up again since we last met a few weeks previous at Corpus Christi. Also, while sis Joanne got the pictures from my card I said by to Jumay. We joked about how we would meet again in another ten years lol! Hopefully it won’t be that long until we meet again. We were also able to take a picture as well. Afterwards, I got my card back from sis Joanne and said my farewell to Noel and Nelson as well.

With Aaron and Jason!

When I left the sanctuary and saw Aaron Cunanan! When I saw him it freaken me out since I did not see him since HI! We quickly caught up on old times and he let me know that Jason was nearby. He gave Jason a call and we found out that Jason was just outside. I think it must have been about ten years as well before I saw Jason previously. We caught up on old times right away before I had to head out. Overall, the experience helping out INCTV and seeing the dedication in Roseville was amazing. I can’t wait for the next dedication!

Church of Christ Chapel Dedication: Corpus Christi (03/28/15)

Today was an incredibly long day that would stretch until the next. I woke up around 5:30 A.M to get ready for the chapel dedication. Before we left the hotel I checked us out. When I went to the front desk I saw Amber again with her mother and the maintenance guy who was also her brother. It was interesting, and I said something down the line “The whole family’s here” and we had a laugh about it. Amber helped me check out and get two blue bowls I used to get ice. At this point I believe amber was also about to finish work at 7:00 A.M. I also remember that brother from the previous night (Pascal) came by with his daughter looking for the breakfast place. I wasn’t too sure where the breakfast place was but I told him it was somewhere out back. Afterwards, my family and I left the hotel around 6:50 A.M and barely got to the chapel by 7:00 A.M lol! When we got there me and my sister went straight to the inctv meeting place. I first greeted Kristen, then Jessa, then Rahmfeld, then a few of the other peeps before we prayed. After the prayer I learned that I was to be assigned the side of the chapel with Aika. Aika said she was gonna help out with the camera people so I was solo on the side for a while until Pascal came by later to help. During the solo time it was a bit fun getting shots of different people as they arrived and shots of the chapel itself. When bro Pascal came by it was awesome since I was able to introduce myself officially. A funny story about when I introduced myself to bro Pascal is that I stepped on this very muddy part in the ground and my foot sank deep into the mud. I don’t think bro Pascal noticed but for a bit after I was trying to get the mud off through stomps and scrapes with the ground. From the time about 7:15 A.M ish all the way to 9:00 A.M I was taking shots in the side of the chapel. Not much things too exciting happened. I remember seeing a lot of people I met the day before. Specifically I remember seeing Pea and Francesca! Also around this time I went by the pastoral house to pick up my translator. On the way I met a sister named Sharon and I thought it was Sharona since it was pronounced similarly without the extra a in the end. I remember making a joke about the My Sharona song too and we laughed about it as well. After this meeting, I got to the pastoral house. Inside I met a brother from Arkansas and for some reason I can’t remember his name but he was cool. I also saw Alyssa Gaddi from Lubbock too which was awesome. While trying to get my translator I made a joke about giving them my Sam’s Club card for the translator. I quickly switched it out to my regular license lol After getting my translator I headed out and did what I could for the remainder of my time in the side of the chapel.

When it was almost time for the officer’s prayer to begin a whole surge of people came my way and I took the opportunity to get shots of them coming in. Amongst them was the Florescas which was legit. I subsequently also saw Ranniel and Richard which was awesome too! We quickly caught up with old times. Around this time the SCAN also came by with ladders and these huge wooden planks in the shape of a big door with an oval shape on the top of them. The purpose was to use the ladders to place these huge planks over the windows of the chapel as to prevent excess light from coming in. A lot of people were looking up at the brothers doing the hard work and to be honest I sorta wished more people helped out than pointed and stared. It was egregious when I heard people cast doubts and said that the people going up the ladders were going to fail and fall. Oh well, as for me I did my part and documented the scene with the camera. It was then about time for me to go inside the chapel. For the inside portion me and bro Pascal were assigned room 3 & 4. I quickly scouted both rooms and got to use the bathrooms before the crowd came in. A funny story about the bathroom was that someone went into the guy’s bathroom. I knew it was a one person bathroom so I waited for him to leave. When I came in, lord and behold, the toilet was full of urine! In my head I knew something was wrong since this toilet was working yesterday. I used it and then noticed that the handle was broken off. I put it back in but it still wouldn’t flush. I was about to manually flush it from behind but another person really needed to use it. I told him about the situation but he was okay with it. I then went out and stopped a few sisters from going in. Thankfully I used it when I did cause around this time the crowd came in. With it came the disney land lines for the bathrooms. Afterwards, I went to my spot in room 3 and set up my chair in the middle at the back of the room to get a good vantage point of the room. At this point it seemed like the room was going to be only sisters, which I was cool with. I also saw Keren from Grand Junction which actually surprised me. That must have been at least a 22-24 hours drive! At this moment it was mentioned that there will be a thirty minute break. Afterwards, I went around to check how all the other rooms were doing and get some extra shots. While leaving the room I bumped into sis Rosanne from the other day. When I left the room I ran into Ranniel and Richard again and we all were able to meet sister Venise from Sugarland. At this moment I actually thought her name was Denise since that’s what it sounded like to me at that moment. She was super pretty and I wished I got to talk to her more. Afterwards, we all parted ways and I hit up some of the rooms to get pictures. I also saw a lot of the choir member sisters in the disney land line for the bathrooms and we all laughed about it. Then, I also headed upstairs to check those out. Those rooms were not as filled but to my surprise while taking pictures I saw that sister from Dallas I met with Mark a while ago. It was legit and she let me know that Mark was there as well. Around this time it was almost 9:30 A.M so I headed back to the room for the officer’s prayer. When it was time to pray I noticed our room was the only room sitting down so I let everyone know that we should be standing for the prayer. After the prayer the deacon came in telling us to give our offerings in an envelope into the offering box down the hall. I did as stated and on the way to the offering box a sister came up to me asking for the bathrooms. I warned her about the disneyland lines and she was about to talk away. But I looked back and the lines were actually gone so I told her to go there quickly before the lines swelled again. When I got to the offering box Alyssa told me her translator wasn’t working right. I told her to go and exchange it but it didn’t seem that she was willing to do so. I wonder if she ever got a working translator that day. Afterwards I headed back to room 3 and coordinated with bro Pascal about how we would switch off rooms during the first five minutes of the service. Actually around this time I looked inside room 4 and say Kathleen Oronguy from Oklahoma City! I was shocked since I didn’t see her since Onin’s wedding in Hawaii. Eventually, I got back to my seat in room 3 and the service started to begin. It started with singing then the processional march then a reading of the history of Corpus Christi. Afterwards was the main lesson from our executive minister. When it started we only had five minutes to take pictures during the lesson. I focused on getting the pictures from behind the congregation while focusing on the tv screen to show our executive minister. After getting shots from my room I switched out with bro Pascal and we covered each other’s room. Thankfully bro Pascal got the front shots since I didn’t get much of those. Afterwards I got back to my seat and listened throughout the rest of the lesson. Afterwards was the closing officer’s prayer. I closed the door to the room so we could hear the prayer but unfortunately the audio was cut off and we just couldn’t hear. Afterwards, I met one of the deacons in my room from El Paso. He was real nice and for the life of my I cannot remember his name I think it was Cecil or something like that.

Afterwards, I left the room and checked on what everyone was up to. There were large crowds covering all the exits so I was searching for alternative ways out. While looking for alternative ways out I saw that sister from Dallas again was Mark. Mark told me that he was looking for his sister as well. I actually didn’t even know he had a sister. After we parted ways I met a brother from Kansas City, bro Ed. He was a cool kid and said that he was hitting up the beach when everything was done. I told him to give my regards to Hannah in Kansas City. Afterwards, I tried going upstairs to look for a way out. When I got to the other end I saw bro Darlo and Allen. I was also able to meet bro Ken. We were all at the flight of stairs near the art gallery. It was super crowded in this end as well. A few moments later Karen from Grand Junction joined up with us. During this time I was also getting shots of our executive minister amongst the crowd. After the executive minister left I went back upstairs and headed out the other way. When I got out the other way I went out the backyard and noticed no way out except through this opening through the building. Inside this opening was a storage like area that looks like a cross between a basement and a garage. Through this way I met bro Randy the son of the Talioaga from Austin. It was cool then I had to head out to check what was going on there. I headed towards the function hall for one reason or another. By this time it was the performances for our executive minister. I remember bumping into Venice for the last time. It was during this meeting when I learned her name was Venice not Denice. I then headed into the function hall to actually just sit down. I sat near the middle of the room and ran into that brother deacon from el paso again. I also ran into Keagan from Colorado Springs! It was interesting and felt like I was back in Colorado. Afterwards, when the performances ended I felt the crowd pushing out towards the side of the function hall. I took the back exit since nobody was using it. From there I headed upstairs to the sanctuary using the back door. Inside the sanctuary I was looking for sis Joanna so I could give my SD card to. I found out from Jessa that Joanna was outside. Because of this I decided to do a few shots in the interior of the chapel. I was able to capture some shots from the interviews going on. Afterwards Jessa let me know that I should take some shots outside and so I did. When I got outside I took basically random shots of different groups of people. In two occasions I got a group of people to pose for a shot. That was interesting. Afterwards I just did freelancing shots of anyone and everyone. At one point I went to the top of the stairs near the entrance of the chapel to take higher shots. During this time I met a sister for some reason I can’t remember her name but she was super cute. I asked if I could help take a picture for her and she declined but bro Mecko from Aurora said sure! I helped all the Aurora brethren get some good shots for their personal camera in the front of the chapel. It was a bit difficult to get the shots since there was a lot of people walking by blocking the view but I managed. When I gave the camera back to Mecko I got my camera I placed down in the mean time. Also, around this time I saw Francesca again and was able to say hi before she went back inside. Afterwards, I met bro Abe and he seemed like a cool guy. I forgot which locale he was from though. Afterwards I subsequently headed back inside the chapel. Inside I saw sis Joanne, Faye, and Shar! It was cool. I was able to turn in my SD card and talk to Faye for a bit. I also saw Kathleen from OKC again! Kathleen was doing her interview and Faye was up next. It was also around this time where I believe I was about to leave. I got my sister and we headed out. Before leaving I remember seeing Jessa again and saying “maybe bye”. How specific and true since we would leave the chapel and have to come back about an hour later. Overall, although the chapel dedication was exhausting it was also incredibly fun and exhilarating! I would do it all again if I could.