Back Home?

To all those avid subscribers out there-all one of you, I apologize for the lack of me blogging. I've been busy and so here is my first scattered shot at letting you into some of my world.

It's been a wild ride. No other way to say it. It was incredible and such an experience, you don't even know. I'm struggling with the fact that, whoever you are, you don't know. You can't really connect with this last part of my life. Not to say you're not intelligent or anything. But I realize few people have volunteered 5 months of their lives for a non profit, living out of a van with 3 other people-one of which is from a war torn country. I was married to those 3 people for that time, actually I saw those people more than a married person see's their spouse. It was rarely a happy marriage either. I visited a mix of venues, high schools, colleges, churches-88 total. I planned 32 of those. I cold called about 120 venues total, and that's a lot of rejection. I spoke to over 11,000 people. I empowered them to take action and let their voice be heard to bring to light a terrorist group wreaking havoc in central east Africa. I met kids that were jolted awake to a world outside their own. I met people that loved us after meeting us 2 minutes earlier. I met amazing people. The most amazing people I've ever met.

I've experienced something that few people do. I've gotten perspective. I've seen the world through so many lens's that I'm blown away at how little I know. Through getting more knowledge I realize I know nothing in the grand scheme of things. I've been humbled. I've been broken. I've been loved by people that became my family.

I'm terrified that I can't share this experience with the world. I've learned so much. So what do I do now? Act like it never happened? Talk to you and carry on like I never left? I want to apply everything I've learned, I've grown, but you weren't there with me-you and I aren't on the same page.

Your life hasn't been a standstill either though. I want to learn from you. I want to hear your stories, but I haven't been here. I've been gone and you've been living life and learning and growing. Can we put our lives together? I want you to understand, truly see and understand my life and I want to hear your story.

Maybe you do understand. Maybe you can say "I know exactly what Spence is talking about". I hope you do. I don't want to forget the last 5 months, I want to share them with you and re-live them and continue learning.

How I see it

I am constantly amazed. Im traveling all across the pacific northwest and I have a perspective I've never had before. Every night someone in any given city opens their house to us to stay in. Every day we go to a school where people have put in valuable time to empower youth to make a change in our world. Every screening we witness excited people see their hard work come to fruition, marked by an Invisible Children van pulling up. What is this massive network I'm a part of? This extended family that I never knew existed. I never cease to be amazed at peoples love and openness towards people they've just met. I love being a part of this. I can't believe I'm privileged to be a part of it. I am so blessed to be able to participate in this revolution of people who care about others before themselves. I love what I do and I can't wait to see where it'll take me!

Moses Lake, Washington

We drove overnight from Boise to Moses Lake, Wa. A 6 hour drive in the middle of the night, over a mountain pass, and at one point slid across two lanes because of ice, but we didn't crash and made it to our screening on time! We met an amazing contact-Miles Hanson (and family). They were so nice and Miles was a ton of fun. Over the weekend we dressed up in a Nacho Libre costume, drove around the sand dunes, and went ice skating for FREE! Our time in Moses Lake was amazing and I'll never forget it! Video

Boise

We spent a week in Boise, Idaho. We had some amazing screenings. One of which was a screening to an alternative schools where kids came who had been kicked out of regular school or had trouble with drugs, problems at home etc. It was a screening I was really looking forward to. The school was maybe 150 and it was a low income area and we knew that we wouldn't make a lot of money. But that's not what Invisible Children is all about. We want people to see what's going on in other parts of the world and just see what conditions other people have to face every day too. A teacher came up to us after we had screened to the school. He wouldn't stop telling us what an impact we had on the school. He said how the film "subdued" them and how it completely got their attention. How it kicked down barriers and kids shared in class how they feel and what they thought-a rarity for that school. Hearing that made my day. It made me happier than having a record day in sales. We met these kids through the film and then I got to talk to so many. I feel so privileged and honored to be a part of this incredible organization.

We also had a little free time and it just so happened all our host homes had trampolines...video.

World Cup Stats

Montanna

We screened to two colleges in Montana-both of which put us up in hotels! It was really nice and all of us took three showers just because we could! At University of Montana it was snowing while we were unloading but once we got inside it had stopped snowing. One highlight is that I took my first legit freight elevator and I figured it out by myself! I promptly got lost in a maze of hallways shortly afterwards though. Anyway-Montana makes you crazy. Video

Location:Missoula, MT

Salt Lake City, Utah

Tonight the destination was Salt Lake City. We're staying with the Burchett's. They're an amazing family. They've hosted roadies for years and know everything about IC. Mr Burchett cooked us up some amazing burgers and Mrs Burchett asked us a bunch of question but not in the annoying way. Then there is Emily-she's an awesome senior in high school with an incredible history with IC. She is one of 3 golden ticket winners. First off I didn't know that IC had a golden ticket contest but it as you can imagine 3 golden tickets were hidden in bracelet videos and she found one of them and the reward was a trip to Uganda! She shared some amazing stories tonight and she's one of the most genuine people I've met. This family is hilarious and they joke around and have fun like no family I've seen but it's clear that they love each other. Theres a lot more that could be said but bottom line is-this family is awesome and fun and I wish they would adopt me.
Salt Lake City....Mormon Conference Center

Guess it didn't work for you

Night Two: Las Vegas
Today was the drive from San Diego-ish to Las Vegas which was happily free of any complications. We had some fun, mailed home some packages at the post office, had In-N-Out and I tried on some boots that weren't mine. Sadly they fit all too well.



Then we drove down Las Vegas Blvd. As usual it made me sad to see all the advertisements aimed at immediate gratification and the people populating the sidewalks and buildings living for self gratification and our obsession with money. But this time it shocked me just how blatant it was. "Get lucky in here-the pleasure pit". 2 Timothy 3:1-2 "...in the last days people will be lovers of self and lovers of money..."

But the night had yet to unfold into a pleasant evening. Tonight was my first actual host home encounter and it was so much fun. It really sunk in that I'm going to be staying in 40+ different peoples homes over the next 70 days and it's overwhelming and reassuring that so many people believe in us and what we're doing. The family is great-Tina and Gilbert and their kids Christian (who is in Uganda and we skyped with), Dakota (wasn't able to be home), 10 year old Peyton (named after good old number 18) and the cutest 8 year old girl-Liberty. The family was so nice and we even hung out with Peyton and Liberty and gave them their spelling tests. A couple quotes from Peyton: My brother went to Australia and held a Koala, he also saw a Kangaroo and it kicked his camera out of his hands.
Peyton: My friend has a golden retriever and it humps all the guests at the house. One time I came in and it jumped on me and his mom came in and took him off me.
Peyton: I love spelling!
Me: Can you spell Phonics?
Peyton: P H O N E X.
Me: Guess it didn't work for you.

These kids are amazing. Their family is amazing and my generalization that citizens of this country don't really care is starting to be challenged and I couldn't be happier.

Location:Vegas Baby (reference to Sara Barellis

Night One: Dan Jones House

So I'm gonna try to write quick updates and thoughts of each day here on my blog.
So here goes the first one.
We spent the night in San Diego-and it was launch day at the office (amazing, incredible, emotional, exciting, busy, hectic) then on to The Jones house for the afternoon/night. Here's the view from the house.


Now let me tell you about a particular Jones:
Dan Jones. Nice. Genuine. Hospitable. Considerate. Just a few aspects of who he is and if you know him at all you know just how mild those words are in comparison to who he is. Then there is Boone, cute dog with lots of love and a desire to chew up anything when unattended. While there he tore apart stuff from an grocery bag to a laptop case to a hose. He really is the cutest thing ever.


His parents are also super nice (they did let the 8 of us stay at their house and fed us 3 meals). So here's to the Jones, and especially Dan Jones, a man in the runnings for nicest man alive. Thank you.

Location:El Cajon, CA

Blind Concert

Today was an amazing day! We got our van assignments and PNW is van #10 cd player, automatic locks, armrests. The works. It was a crazy day of taking out rows of unused seats and loading merch. Every day we're doing tasks that make me think: "we're really gonna do this. I'm really gonna go help stop a war". Awesome.
Tonight was a concert a couple blocks from the office and it was in a super small venue-something completely new to me. The band is The Tree Ring. They're amazing. Check them out. I had never heard a single song before tonight. First a band opened for em and they were a small band from Portland and they were super awesome. One of them played a saw-yes, an old fashioned wood saw with a violin bow. It was amazing.


The tree ring was so amazing and it was just so personal it was amazing. Seriously-go check em out.

Birthday

I got to get my picture with Kristen Bell! (dream come true)



And then after a full workday I had dinner at a pizza place in Little Italy which was delicious then Yogurtland with plenty of gummy worms!

Location:San Diego

19.99

My last day of being 19. My last day of being a teenager. Tonight I asked myself-what have I learned?

No simple question but I'll put just a fraction of my thoughts into text for you to try and unscramble if you wish.

My first thoughts to that loaded question? I've learned a lot. In fact I've learned so much I realize I don't know anything. What I have learned is the importance of education, history, listening to advice, patience, dedication, hard work, others and of course Christ in my life. A lot of these I've learned the hard way. I've had to experience pain, anger, heartbreak, fear, disappointment, bitterness and self doubt. However without the bad there wouldn't be the good. So what else have I experienced? So much. Joy, happiness, fellowship, adventure, friendship, best friendship, laughter, trust, a relationship with my Savior and I've experienced being myself and not being ashamed of it. I love knowing that I don't know anything about life and it's such a relief-I don't have to have it all figured out cause I know the one who's got it all figured out.

One of my biggest struggles has been finding out who I am. I'm proud to have found who I am, a guy who can't keep a straight face. One thing that I've always remembered is that when I was just a kid (I still am, I know blah blah blah) it was always pointed out to me that I was always smiling. For some reasonI didn't like that and for almost a decade I tried to be a "serious" guy who was smarter and "better" than others due to some misguided understanding that just being nice was lame.

After a long trip of trying to find who I am, I discovered it. I am just a happy guy. Even though the bad days come I will choose to be joyful about everything I do have. At the risk of sounding like a Thanksgiving dinner table, I'm thankful for: my relationship with my Savior Christ. For my family that deeply loves me and I deeply love. For my friends and all I've learned from them. For my life from the seemingly simple-breathing, feeling, tasting, etc to the complex-reasoning, emotion etc. I don't have to be better than anyone else, I won't be better than anyone else and no one else is better than me.

So who am I? Gods child, perfect and unique, happy to be here, learning even more about who I am and what else I'm doing here on earth as I live this short life and ready to experience the next 20 years.

Location:My Brain

Money buys food, not happiness

Before I became an Roadie with Invisible Children I had a job. Let me rephrase that-I had a "great" job. I was paid well to not do much work. I always felt like the amount of money I made to spend on myself or "excess" money I made, directly translated to my level of happiness. Now to be clear I was happy and I intentionally took time to realize just how blessed I was. However I was dreading the day that I would move on from that job and subsequently say goodbye to all that "spending money".

Well that day has come for me to quit my job and is now lies in the recent past. What hasn't been left in the past though is my happiness. It has stayed with me and has even multiplied. This has caught me completely off guard. As I said before, I thought that whatever excess money I have=happiness. I have been quickly and pleasantly by educated by life.

Just to run the numbers...after taxes I made roughly $18,000 last year ($346 a week). Savings=$0. I spent it all. For the two weeks I've been in California I've spent $65 total ($32.50 a week, all on groceries). I'm very proud of the latter. As you can see this is a HUGE change for me. If I did my math right that is more than a 90% cutback in spending.

Walking back from Vons tonight I realized just how happy I am. I'm working more and getting paid nothing but I'm somehow so unbelievable happy. I get to love my "Ugandan/Congolese brother" as I would love myself and for that I am extremely fulfilled. With this fulfillment also comes happiness that I never expected would be so enduring, hard working and constantly growing.

If I can try to share what I've learned is that money really doesn't buy happiness and to be honest I don't ever want to have an excess of money that will make me forget where true happiness is found.

Location:House with 62 people

Samwise Gamgee

Sam: If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been.
Frodo: Come on, Sam. Remember what Bilbo used to say: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Right now I'm in Sam's position-today is equal to the longest time I've ever spent away from home. When I realized this my first thought was that it wasn't a big deal. I mean I'm 19, cmon, it's time I get out on my own. However today wasn't a typical day and I took a little time to really reflect what I'm doing with my life.

Yesterday I walked by a person asking for a donation to a cause of some kind-I didn't stop to look. I just did what I always do-I take a glance and then look away and avoid eye contact praying that the person doesn't speak up and say "would you like to donate to (blank)?" I walked on but realized I didn't feel the familiar guilt of feeling selfish. I'm ashamed to say my life has been very self centered. My goals in life have been for the most part always very extroverted-focused primarily on money and possessions. For example I've prided myself on how much money I make and what I have-"I have an iPhone" and "I have a Mac" and "I just bought a bunch of new clothes." Becoming a Roadie with Invisible Children has changed all that. My goals are now introverted-helping others, thinking of other before myself. Everything from just living with 62 people to ending the longest running war has made me change my goals.

"People with introverted goals are happier than those with extroverted goals" was what was said tonight in a training. And you know what-it's true. I'm so much happier-I can look at the person asking for my donation and instead of saying to myself "I wanna spend that money on me" I say to myself "I don't have any money to spend because I'm giving away 4 months of my life to ending this war." I get so much happiness about only being able to spend $60 a week on food when before I was only somewhat happy spending $150 on new clothes on impulse.

This brings me back to good old Samwise Gamgee and the Shire. This is the longest I've been away from home and I'm so happy for this experience. I've only been away for 8 days but I've learned in those few days what I could not in my previous years of spending money to be happy.

I do miss home already but I'm happy to sacrifice another 4 months in eager anticipation of what lessons I will learn.

Location:San Diego, CA

A week is already gone!

I've already been a week in San Diego working for Invisible Children and it's gone by very super fast! To say I've been busy is an understatement. We've been busy learning among other things-Uganda an it's history and the financials of the organization. But more important to me I've been learning a lot about myself. I've been learning about who I am as a part of a team. It's a big transition to go from working by myself to working-and living (we're all in one house)-with 62 people. I haven't had a quiet moment and it's unexpectedly very pleasant! Im in a huge diverse group of people and every one of them is awesome. Its so cool to be constantly surrounded by people who, though totally different and from different parts of the country, are completely united to end the longest running war in Africa. These people are really cool but I find myself in constant comparison to who I am or should I try to be like someone else. What I'm realizing is that I am who I am, and as elementary as it sounds, God made me unique and I bring something unique to the table. I'm finding that as cool as the other people are-I don't want to be them and I don't need to be. I don't have to be self conscious about who I am I can just be me.
What does a day in the life of a Roadie look like? Wake up at 7 in a room with 6 bunk beds and eat breakfast/brush teeth before leaving at 7:45.



After the 30 minute drive we pull up 5 levels to the top of the parking garage and walk into the office.



We start the morning off with Q&A. It's a practice question we would probably get on tour and we have to answer it in front of everyone at the office. I have yet to get a question but I'm sure that will change on Monday. After that it's either class or booking. We've had history class, public speaking, looks at different non profits (TOMS shoes has been discussed quite a bit). Lunch hour rolls around real quick and good Mexican food is only a few blocks away at "Taco Rey". After lunch it's back to the same until 7pm then another 30 minute drive home.



Dinner is a simple meal of ramen or eggs and toast.



Then it's either studying, a game, or a movie. Then a shower. There are 63 people in this house. Half guys. One bathroom. It's interesting to say the least. Then it's off to bed to do the same thing the next day!

Location:San Diego, CA