After we were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1976, my wife and I honeymooned in the California Redwoods. Early in that trip, we stopped at the REI store near Berkeley and purchased some great camping gear, including a matched pair of down mummy bags that are still in good shape today, except that we have lost one of the stuff sacks. In my college days, I ran around with friends who bore testimonies of The Book of Mormon and Kelty packs. Among that crowd, a visit to an REI store (there were very few of them in those days) was almost a quasi-religious experience.
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During the intervening years, my wife and I haven't done much camping. We are more inclined toward books, international travel and the fine arts. I have shopped at REI a time or two, but for the most part I considered the outdoor adventure phase of my life pretty much over. Then I was called as a Bishop.
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One of my major responsibilities is to shepherd the youth of our ward. It is not enough to just see them at Church on Sunday. I need to be with them on activities. The reason the LDS Church is such a strong supporter of the Boy Scouts of America is because a young man in extreme circumstances - rappelling down a cliff, say, or midway through a fifty mile hike, can often feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The outdoor adventure part of scouting offers Church leaders a wonderful environment for influencing boys. (I am chagrined to admit that even after more than fifty years as an active Mormon, I had to go to Woodbadge to finally learn this fundamental concept.) So, as a Bishop responsible for guiding dozens of young people, I need to spend quite a bit of time in the next few years hiking, camping, backpacking, canoeing, etc. After decades of neglect, I lacked most of the gear one needs to sleep, cook, hydrate, shelter, paddle or ambulate in the wild with some degree of comfort. So, I tracked down my REI member number which required a phone call to the Seattle area. My number from the '70's was still valid, and boxes of REI gear have been arriving on my doorstep ever since. I'll soon be outfitted like a K2 summiteer, but with a prominent middle-aged spread. As a friend of mine likes to say, "I once had the chiseled look of a Greek god, but then my metabolism went north, my appetite went south, and things just sort of spun out of control."
