Disneyland in September

Up late with Ash listening to music and laying on the couches. I have a few new toys (this and this to be more specific) thanks to a great job at the MTC and so Ash is kindly giving me favorite tunes to ameliorate my iTunes library while I try my best to beat her high score on Fruit Ninja, otherwise known as The Most Addicting Game in the World. I realized that I haven't given this blog a good update in quite a while. Every time I went to post something, I realized I still hadn't written a word on Kilimanjaro so I'd give it up as a good job and check my email for the 30th time that day. Now that I've finally tackled the Kili posts, I can returned to the blogosphere in good conscience. It's good to be back, everyone.

Today I'll attempt to explain our September trip to Disneyland.

Ali, Julia, Lawanna, Kirsti, me

Shortly after coming back from Africa, my roommates and I (sans Ashley who had to work) decided to take our dear friend Lawanna to Disneyland. I haven't explained much of Lawanna's situation yet so here is the condensed version: I met Lawanna in my ward back when I moved in over the summer. She is from Arkansas and joined the church about 4 years ago. Before her conversion, she led a pretty rough life on the streets of Little Rock. She was put in over 70 foster homes and has had some really difficult experiences. When she met the missionaries, she was introduced to the idea of a loving God which essentially pulled her out of some tough spots. Life didn't get easy for Lawanna as soon as she joined the church-- quite the contrary. She moved out to Utah to escape some bad situations and soon after getting here she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's been fighting it hard for a long time now and is now in stage 4 but she's still strong and is facing this battle with more courage and strength than I've seen in any person. She's only a few years older than me and deals with decisions and problems that someone much older would have difficulty with... and she does it alone. She doesn't have any family or support from home.

Because of her upbringing, she'd never had the opportunity to go to Disneyland. We decided to remedy that. It was an incredible experience to say the least. We had miracle after miracle come our way and were treated extremely well by all who talked to us and found out more about Lawanna. She has the gift of attracting good people who instantly fall in love with her. She also has the most giving heart and is constantly looking for people to serve despite her trials and challenges. She is a really amazing example of what the Atonement can do for a person.

Lulu and me

We flew to the Long Beach airport Wednesday evening. We had park-hopper passes for three days and we went all three days. We had to take it slow and be careful because Lawanna's health is fragile. But SHE isn't fragile and she wanted to see as much as she could. The employees of Disneyland were incredible, particularly one named Karen. She just happened to be the one helping us and is a breast cancer survivor herself so her heart really went out to Lawanna. She gave us all the hook ups, including a green light pass, meaning that we walked on to every ride without waiting so much as a minute. She got us reservations at the best restaurants, private tours, arranged meetings with the characters, and got us tickets to events. We were treated by gold, which was all we could have dreamed of. Nothing than the best for Lawanna.

Lawanna loves Tiana the most because she's black and from the south. Disneyland employees arranged a private meeting with Tiana just for Lawanna. 

Buzz especially liked Lawanna

I love this picture. Lawanna and Belle look like old friends catching up. 

We spent most of our time in Disneyland but also went over toe California Adventure. We rode the Tower of Terror three times. It was Lawanna's clear favorite.

The expressions in this picture of us on the Tower of Terror are priceless. I especially love Ali and Julia on the right and how they're looking over at Lawanna's terrified face. She was clutching my arm and screaming louder than I've ever heard anyone scream... in my life.

 We also took her to Newport Beach. She hadn't ever stuck her feet in the ocean before so we needed to make that a priority. We took some good pictures at sunset.

Ali, me, Julia, Lawanna, and Kirst

 We ate some incredible food. We got reservations at both the Blue Bayou and Ariel's Grotto, two of the greatest restaurants I've been to. The Blue Bayou is actually inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride so we could see the people float by on the boats as we ate. Ariel's Grotto had amazing desserts.

The highlight I think for all of us was when Karen got us tickets two nights in a row to World of Color, this amazing water and light show at California Adventure. Danny and Taryn (my brother and sister-in-law) had just gotten back from Disneyland when we decided to go so I called Taryn for suggestions and she said that this was THE must-see. I didn't know what to expect exactly. We sat down as it was getting dark in front of this huge lake. All the lights in the park turned off and they began this show that used huge fountains, lasers, lights, fire and other effects that absolutely blew my mind. I've never seen anything like it.



They somehow had figured out how to project scenes from Disney movies on to mist. They used parts of a bunch of different movies. The best part by far was when they played part of the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack and fire started shooting everywhere. It was about 30 minutes of constant smiling and continuous disbelieving laughter. Incredible. I found this clip on youtube that give you a partial idea, although I've got to say that the real thing is much better.



We came back early Sunday morning in time to go to church that day. We were all really sad to come home but none more so than Lawanna. She was coming back to more chemo treatments and doctor visits. She is in pain a lot of the time (though you wouldn't know it, she's pretty tough) and the idea of leaving "the happiest place on earth" was rough for her. But we came back and have had some good experiences since. More on those later.

I'm so glad we went. When I met and starting developing a relationship with Lawanna over the summer, something happened to me that I can't quite put in to words. She's changed my life forever. She is a truly inspiring person and I love her the same way that I loved the Italian people on my mission... with my whole heart. I can't really describe what it is about her that inspires such love and loyalty. She's just one of the most beloved and treasured people on the planet, I'm sure of it. I would do anything for her. And the truth of it is that my friendship with her is selfish on my part. She teaches me and blesses me more than she knows. Julia, Kirsti and I all work as coordinators at the MTC so she comes in often and we use her as object lessons and use her to teach the missionaries how to teach effectively and she is amazing with them. She has helped me see the world from a completely different vantage point than I've ever had. She is like a sister to me. Seeing her so happy in Disneyland gave me a small glimpse of what this life is all about.

Ali, Kirsti, Lawanna and Lizzie walking down Main Street

BEST. DISNEYLAND TRIP. EVER.