Hank Smith

Jorja loves Hank Smith. She has listened to all his CDs several times. She has read his books. She has watched his videos. I love it. I love that she looks up to someone like this instead of a random celebrity who might not have good values. Sam knows how much Jorja likes Hank Smith. She is also his editor. Sam got the ball rolling on a Hank Smith fireside for our stake. It was recorded and might become a CD. How cool would that be if Jorja could own a CD of his and know he was there when it was recorded? Sam says sometimes Hank likes to do them a couple of times before they are made into a CD though. The title announced in all the wards for the fireside was Guiding Principles for Teen Relationships. When we got there we saw that Hank Smith changed the title to 10 Tips for a Successful Teenage Social Life. That does sound more exciting! His tips were super funny too. Our entire family went to the fireside, plus Hailey. Jorja's friend Jaren sat by them as well.

Hank Smith and Julie Valentine (Julie is the stake YW president and did a lot to set up the fireside.)

Here are the 10 tips that were talked about. I will just write the tips, but there was lots of humor and explanation in between.

1. Personal Hygiene

2. Smile

3. Remember Names

4. Give Genuine Compliments

5. Be Grateful and Say Thank-You

6. Be Aware of Digital Facades

7. Know the Difference Between Casual Dating and Steady Dating

8. Have Boundaries

9. Pray for Friends (by name)

10. Develop a Friendship with the Savior

The fireside was a huge success. People all around me were laughing. It was funny to hear the McHenry's laughing, especially Andrew. Olivia Bradley was laughing so hard/loud. The Stake Presidency was laughing through most of the fireside. I think everyone was pleased. Yay!

We went up afterwords to meet him. Julie Valentine introduced me as Sam's sister-in-law. She actually pointed me out to him before the meeting began, but I was in the process of wrestling my phone away from Jorja. I gave a quick wave. Jorja was oblivious to that interaction and was quite embarrassed when I told her. She had grabbed my phone because I went to take a picture of her. She was positively beaming when he walked in. Anyway, we got to meet him afterwords. Mike said, "This is Jorja and she has a huge crush on you." Jorja did not appreciate that. He also told him that we would be going on the cruise with him. I asked him if he was doing seminars on the ship. (I already knew the answer though.) I told him that Jorja wants to be a public speaker and I asked if he could do public speaking workshops on the ship. He said that was a great idea. I just don't know if he will remember, but at least I asked when I had the chance.

Hank Smith and Jorja Smith

They had a lot of brownies for dessert. We grabbed some extra as we were leaving. Stockton made a plate for his friend Nate and brought it over to his house. Nate's is having girl problems and has been sad. I thought that was kind of Stockton to do.