Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Four families are now nine! We had a big group marriage ceremony a few days ago. And that’s exciting and all. Problem is we don’t have 9 tents. We have 6. So…yeah. Privacy isn’t really a thing in our current situation...

…But Jael’s great. We’ve only known each other a couple weeks, but I feel like this is gonna work out great. In fact, I guess this is an upside to this whole “flee to the wilderness” thing. I don’t know if I’d have ended up with Jael had we stayed in Jerusalem, and I like her a lot better than any of the other options that Mom and Dad were considering for me. So, there’s a silver lining to this cloud.

Now, it would be a bit more convenient to start a new family not in the desert. But Jael’s a good sport, and we have a good time throwing in just a dash of snarky commentary to help make desert survival a tad more enjoyable. I’ve been thinking of some DIY ideas of how I can improve the camp and make things a bit more homey feeling for the two of us. In my next post, I’ll blog about it:

5 Mind-Numbingly Awesome Ideas to Turn Your Desert Nomad Camp into a Luxury Suite!

I'm sure it'll look just like this by the time I'm done.

Make Me a Match

Being in this small of a dating market makes for some interesting interactions. We have five single guys, and five single ladies. And we all have to match someone. If Dad and Ishmael just went down the list matching by age, I’d be with Orpah, but she’s not my type at all. Luckily, like I said in my last post, she and Sam seem to be fans of each other. Also, Dad and Ishmael seem to be taking into account how everyone interacts in the arrangements they’re making. So that’s a good sign. Laman and Nephi both made their moves for their desired lady-folk quite quickly. I’m a bit less gung ho, and have never been great at the wooing game, so from the moment we headed back to get Ishmael’s family, I figured I’d get last dibs.

But I gotta say, this is actually turning out really well. Jael’s a lot of fun, we have very similar personalities, and she knows how to rock a wimple and crisping pin combo. Oh, and none of my bros are going for her, so I think I actually have a chance getting an awesome wife. Laman, Sam, and Nephi seem to fit well with the girls they’re cozying up to, and even Zoram seems to be a good match for Salome. Although, those two are on again off again—a lot. I think they’ll settle down over time though.

Anyway, Dad, Mom, Ishmael, and Jehosheba are making plans for a big group wedding soon. I told Dad it seems weird to be doing a wedding out here in the boonies with no one around. Can’t really do the big celebration. He said something about how that’s what made this arrangement so nice. Less time worrying about unimportant stuff, and more time to get him some grandkids. Jael was sitting next to me when he said that. He’s kind of awkward, but I guess when you get older you don’t care.

I don't think we'll have enough guests to fill out the reception

My "Hard" Heart

After getting reamed out by Dad yesterday, Laman, Sam, and I tried to do a bit better to get back in his graces. We put in extra effort around the camp to help everyone get well-situated, especially Mom. Nephi disappeared, and near the end of the day, when Laman and I were making some traps for game, he showed back up. He said that he’d been praying to God to know if Dad was right or not, and that his heart was originally hard like ours is, but that God had softened his heart, and he now believes Dad.

"Hard like ours?!" I know it was his attempt at trying to relate to us, but the kid’s got the social graces of a blacksmith. Dad knew what he was doing in keeping Nephi out of the trading business. He’d have offended all our trading partners on the first caravan trip.

Anyway, my heart isn’t hard. I want to do what’s right, and this just isn’t it. The scriptures are filled with prophecies about how the Lord will protect his people. Why in the world would we abandon the covenant people? And now with Nephi to encourage him, who knows what Dad will believe and do next?

Nephi Story

Okay, I’m posting again sooner than I planned, but I just have to share this story. Ishmael, one of Dad’s business partners, dropped by today. He wanted to talk to Dad about something but wouldn’t say what. He looked a bit nervous. Hopefully it’s not anything that will get in the way of our journey to Egypt.

Anyway, that’s not the funny part. The funny part came while Ishmael and I were visiting. Nephi returned home after finishing work for the day (he works for Hiram in his smith shop), and he was pretty filthy because smithing isn’t exactly the cleanest occupation. Now Ishmael brought his son, Hoshea, and two of his daughters, Zilpah and Rebekah, along with him. Upon entering the house, Nephi looked over at Ishmael’s family and went beet red. I’m not sure whether Zilpah or Rebekah was the cause, but it was clear he’s totally crushing on one (or both?) of them.

Hoshea invited Nephi to come sit with them, but the only open spot on their couch was between Zilpah and Rebekah. Nephi stammered out something along the lines of, “Uh, I don’t want to get dirt all over the ladies.” Hoshea responded, “I’m not asking you to lie with them, just come sit next to us!” Everyone laughed except Nephi whose eyes shot wide open and face went another three shades of red deeper than I thought possible. Nephi then practically ran out of the room mumbling something about how he had to go. Hoshea and Zilpah laughed even more, Ishmael jokingly said, “I guess there goes my future son-in-law,” and Rebekah was now blushing a little bit too.

Timeline of Nephi's face

After they left, I tried talking to Nephi to find out which of Ishmael’s daughters he has his eye on, but I think he’s still too embarrassed by the whole thing to talk about it. Poor kid. He’s a good kid too, but he’s very direct and doesn’t always know how to comfortably handle social situations. He’s not too adept at taking into account other people’s emotional reactions to his statements, and so I wonder if he also struggles to handle his own emotions. He’s nearly finished apprenticing for Hiram, so I’m sure marriage is on his mind, and the combination of infatuation, shock, and fear were probably too much for his brain.

Anyway, I really need to get back to work. I’ve almost got Dad’s records all cleaned up, and he’ll probably be arriving sometime today.