Afton (& Cousin Piper)

00:01 So as you. So we will resume. So my name is Afton, and I am nine years old on the date of November 26, 2022. So my first question is, tell me about the person who has the greatest influence on your life.

00:26 Okay. So like I said, the person who has the greatest influence on my life is probably my dad. Because a lot of things that he's passionate about in life, he's transferred over to me. Like the love of the outdoors. He taught me camping and taught me to love that. And then, like, his love for the Lord, he's taken individual time to teach me to spend time with the Lord and have a relationship with him as well.

00:58 Yeah, yeah. So my second question is, how did you meet Michael?

01:09 So I met Michael back in eighth grade. My family switched churches from my previous one to our current one, Hillside Church. And Michael is in youth group there. And we didn't know each other very well when we first started, But I eventually became friends with some of the other kids that were my age, and they had a Bible study that met every week outside of. They invited me to come join that. And so through that Bible study, I got to know Michael a lot better. Yeah.

01:53 Yeah.

01:56 That's how I met him. Were you wanting to know more of, like, how we got into a relationship or just how I met him?

02:02 Just how you met him.

02:03 Sounds good.

02:04 My third question is, are there any funny stories from your childhood?

02:10 There's a lot of funny stories from childhood. I was a very stubborn child, or so I've been told. And the terrible twos were real for me. I've been told that I spent a whole winter mad at my mom because she couldn't clean the snow on the side of the road. And I was a neat freak and wanted everything to be really clean. Also, my parents had to teach me to play in the mud. I did not naturally do that on my own. And one time my mom said that. I went up to her and said, you must listen and obey. I want treat. I have to listen, but I do not have to obey, and there will be no treatment. Also, I made my family call me Clementine for a full week. And I wouldn't respond to any other name because I wanted that to be my name. She was my favorite character from a TV show. And this one. This one's really mean, but it's kind of funny. I was little, and I got mad at Isabella. And so I went into my room and I put on my shoes with little heels came out, and I stomped on her foot as hard as I could with them, and then I took them off and went and put them back in my closet. Yeah, those are some stories from when I was little.

03:58 Those are funny. My fourth question is, what's one of your favorite childhood memories?

04:28 One of them is I had a really good friend named Laurel, and she and I spent, like, all of our time together. And one time my parents went on a trip somewhere, and so I was staying with Laurel, but Laurel was going on a camping trip with her uncle to. It's called, like, J.R. mangy or something. State park, all the way up north in Minnesota. And so I got to go with on the camping trip. Nice. Yeah. And there was, like, a big waterfall there that they say, like, they don't know where all the water goes. It just, like, disappears down into the earth. And they sent, like, ping pong balls down it to try to find. But we hiked to that waterfall, and I just had a lot of fun on that trip, like hiking, getting to hike with her and camp with her. And I remember we stayed camping, and the last day we were there, it was like in the middle of the week, so there wasn't very many other people camping there. And we had our bikes there with us. And so we decided to play captured flag on our bikes. So we were like, biking all around the campground, like, trying to find each other's flags and take photos. So that was really fun.

05:58 Yeah. I heard there's this waterfall where the winds are so strong the water actually comes up instead of going down. I watched, like, a YouTube video, and it looks pretty cool.

06:12 That does sound cool.

06:14 So my fifth question is, if you could relive a memory, what. What would it be?

06:42 I think if I could relive a memory, I would relive. The summer of 2020 was my first time going to the Boundary Water, which. Do you know what the boundary waters are?

07:03 Yeah.

07:04 Yeah. So we were canoeing there, and then you carry your canoe and all this stuff through, and I went to the Boundary Waters with my dad and then my friend Anna and Ashley and their dad, and it was a really fun trip.

07:18 Yeah, that sounds like a fun trip.

07:23 I think I would relive that.

07:24 Yeah, that sounds like a fun memory to relieve. My sixth question is, how did you feel when Michael proposed to you?

07:40 I was really excited and happy. I was a little confused to what was going on because the whole proposal did not go very smoothly, but I was happy and excited and. Yeah, I mean, I had been waiting for it to happen for a long time.

08:12 Yeah, I don't like Surprises. So, like, like, like it's hard to, like, wait for birthdays and stuff. So, like, if, like, whenever I get proposed to, I think it'll be like, I'll kind of be like, surprised because I don't like surprises. So I'll be like, kind of mad surprised. Like, I don't like surprises. Why? So my. Yeah. My seventh question is, when you're scared, what do you do to help?

08:53 When I'm scared, like, really scared and worried, what I do to help is I pray. And just talking to God and telling him what I'm worried about usually calms me down and brings me peace because I know that it's all in his hands and he has control over it all. And, like, whatever happens, I know he's gonna use for good. So I can trust that no matter what. Okay.

09:26 Yeah. My eighth question is, what are your hopes for this country?

09:41 That's a really big question. My hopes for this country? Well, my biggest hope, it's not something that I think will ever actually happen, but I hope that this country would, like, everyone would come to know, like, Jesus and. Yeah, well, like, because it would be nice to have a really peaceful, like, country and people who got along and like, actually cared about each other and had value for all life.

10:25 Yeah.

10:26 But the only. I know that the only way that can happen is if, like, people have Jesus in their heart. Otherwise there's no reason to not serve yourself.

10:41 Mm. Yeah. What are you most grateful for?

10:53 This is going to sound very redundant, but. Most grateful for the fact that I have Jesus in my life and how he's been working inside of me and growing me and that he chose to sacrifice for me and make a way.

11:12 Mm. Yeah. What helps you get out of a bad mood?

11:22 Ice cream. Ice cream. Get out of a bad mood. I love ice cream.

11:28 Me too.

11:31 What's your favorite?

11:32 Mine is, like, mint chocolate chip, but it has to be from Flap doodles because, like, it's not too minty, but not too, not that, like, not too minty. But most ice creams aren't that minty. But then the chocolate chips aren't. Are like, like perfect. Like, like, like a great square of like, chocolate. What's yours?

11:59 Sounds good. My favorite flavor is it's also from an ice cream shop. It's called Scoops here. But it's raspberry based ice cream. So the ice cream is pink and tastes like raspberry and there's chocolate chips in it.

12:19 Yum. Thank you for the interview, but that's all I need. I finished my questions.

12:29 Sounds great.

12:30 Okay, bye.

12:33 Hi. Good to see you.

12:40 That is the end of the recording from Afton Whipple