This one's For You, Kyle

This week's been pretty busy. Thursday I took a sick day and I didn't leave the house once. By the end of the day, I was getting really antsy to do something. Friday was better though. I went on a date with a really cool girl that I knew from my freshman ward. We went with a bunch of people all the way to West Jordan to do a corn maze and a haunted forest thingy. We had a lot of fun, but I was disappointed in the haunted forest. Everyone else thought it was scary though, so maybe I've just lost my imagination. It's hard to be scared when you remember that all the monsters are just guys in costumes, and they aren't even allowed to touch you. Well, I take all that back, the guys with chainsaws that came out of the corn field were pretty scary.

Anyways, I was having a conversation about money with my roomate, Kyle, the other day, and I decided to make that the subject for this post. Before my mission, if I ever wanted to buy something, I would usually just do it. Now that I'm officially poor though, I don't have that luxury. So instead, whenever I want to buy something, I do the next best thing - I just write it down. The idea is that whenever I look at this list, it will remind me to work hard in school so that one day I can actually afford these things. Here's a sample of what's on my list:

1. 22 inch widescreen monitor - OK, my roomate says it's excessive, but I think taking notes and doing my class reading at the same time on a tiny laptop screen is really frustrating, and having dual monitors would help so much (and movies would sure look better on a bigger screen, too).

2. Invisalign braces - To fix my crossbite.

3. Dave Matthews Band Anthology (guitar tab edition) - I love playing Dave Matthews on the guitar, and sheet music would really help.

4. 8 gig MicroSD card - So that my phone can hold all of my music, and not just a sample.

5. French Cuff Shirt with Cuff Links - What can I say? They just look better.

6. Don't Mess With Texas T-shirt - I used to think Texas pride was stupid, but now I think its kind of funny. I like to pretend like I have it.

7. Body Sculpting Bible for Men - Um, enough said. Just want to make sure my workouts count.

8. Practical Idealists: Changing the World and Getting Paid - My career goal for the past couple of years has been to do something that would make a lot of money while helping people in poorer countries. I didn't know if that was possible, but then the other day I stumbled upon this book while stickering at the bookstore. Too bad the library dosn't have a copy.

9. Wreck This Journal - Another one I stumbled on at the bookstore. If you're ever at a bookstore, flip through it (or click on the link to see what it's about). Basically I have this recurring fear that I'm losing my imagination, and this book is probably one of the best creative outlets you can find.

Let's all do the Reggae thing!

I decided that the last post was awkward (good thing no one actually reads this, right? except for you). So here's some reggae for you. This is a radio station created exclusively by me, so you can be guaranteed it's good.

you might have to make a pandora account to listen to it, but it's totally worth it (and they don't spam you)




http://www.pandora.com/stations/d39eeb488f62d7b8a7e7969abfa6816c3d02505b8421c31b#





A little music lesson, this station actually has two styles. The first is reggae, which is the most chill music on earth. The second is dancehall, which is what reggae-loving people listen to when they want something more upbeat and dancable (hence the name). Enjoy!

Right now I'm working on making the perfect 80's station, but it is currently too much Phil Collins and not enough Men Without Hats. It needs a little more pop feel to it. I'll post a link when I'm satisfied with it.

On a Lighter Note...

My last post was really serious, so I'll be sure this one is different.  So what's going on in my life right now?  Here's a travelogue of exciting events.  

Monday - Family Home Evening - I think we played flour tag this week - we threw socks full of flour at each other and if you get hit twice you're out.  Basically a sissy substitute for paintball.  But, who likes welts anyways?  I had fun.

Tuesday - No life... whatsoever.  Class, study, work, home, and then I watched Lost.  I am in season 4 right now.  It is so good!    I was shocked when I found out that Michael was still alive and suicidal- and that he was a spy for Ben on the freighter ship.  I was shocked when the freighter people held Ben and friends hostage at the barracks.  Ben's daughter was held at gunpoint, but Ben claimed he wasn't the father and let her die rather than give himself up.  (He didn't think they would do it).  I was shocked to find out that in the future Jack ends up with Kate, raising Claire's baby (it was interesting to find out how Jack ended up going crazy.)  I was shocked that Jack and Claire's dad, Christian (their relationship was also shocking in a sort of Luke and Leia Skywalker sort of way) was there in the cabin when Locke and Ben went to get answers from Jacob.  So is he really dead?  I thought Christian was a drunk who died in Australia, but his empty coffin was on the plane when it crashed, so does that mean he is really alive, or was that just a vision in the cabin?  I'm so confused.  Anyways, the moral of this story is, don't get sucked into tv shows.  Now after I watch the season finale, I have to wait until february for the new season to start up, and then is it really worth it?  I think my life would have been just fine without it.

Wednesday - Went to the gym.  I think I'm finally seeing results.  Went to class, went to work.  Went home, more Lost.  Worked on my speed reading.  I started last week at 350 wpm, and on my latest test, I got 937.  Not that I understand anything at that speed - but I haven't gotten to the comprehension drills yet, so I'll be patient.  Also practiced the guitar.  Right now I'm working on The Best of What's Around by Dave Matthews Band.  I can play it, I can sing it, but it sure doesn't sound good together yet.  I realized on Wednesday that maybe I'm going over the top with this self improvement stuff.  Right now I'm working out every day, learning to speed read, learning to cook, learning to write cursive, learning guitar, and studying Conversationally Speaking (a great social skills book - I recommend it).  But, I enjoy it, so I'll keep it up for now.  

Thursday - I was driving on empty all day - I have this thing where my gas tank has to last for a month, no matter what kind of driving I do (and this last month involved a Salt Lake trip).  Finally I gave in and filled up - two days short of a month.  My social life for the week began today.  I had a great blind date with a cool girl.  We (along with an old mission buddy and his girlfriend) cooked dinner together and then carved pumpkins.  Their's was great - a scary cat thing.  Ours was sort of a ghost that was graduating from college (because he looked like he was wearing a cap and gown).  But, we carved a star in the back, so when we lit them up, ours projected a cool star on the wall, and their's didn't.  Take that!  It was a way fun date.

Friday - Physical Science was my only class.  I didn't have time to do my laundry, so I bought a new pair of garments so I could postpone it a day.  Is that lame?  I was supposed to go camping that night with a bunch of people, but that got cancelled.  So what do you do on a friday night with nothing to do?  Grocery shopping... with your roomate!  Really lame.  But then we went to a foreign film on campus - Run Lola Run.  It's probably my favorite foreign film.  Lola's boyfriend lost a sack with 100,000 dollars on the subway, and he only has 20 minutes before his crime boss shows up and kills him for not having it.  He calls Lola and says he is going to rob the grocery store to get the money, but Lola says "sit tight, I'll figure something out".  20 minutes to get 100,000 dollars and get it to her boyfriend.  And she starts running.  It is a way intense movie.  I recommend it.  

Saturday - Rumor has it that the American Fork Deseret Industries is better than the Provo one (rich contributors and no college students to pick through the selection).  So after breakfast at Devon's apartment, we drove up there to check it out.   I got a really nice perfect fitting suit jacket to go with some of my slacks, plus two really nice shirts for 5 dollars each.  Is it worth the trip though?  Probably not.  The Provo DI is just as good.  After that, I cooked lunch.  This coming week is hamburger week - each day I am going to cook a burger in a different way (I'm trying to broaden my cooking horizons).  Saturday was Guacamole Monterrey Jack burger day.  It was pretty good.  After that, I went to play tennis with an old mission buddy (I really should have gone with a girl instead, but I didn't know who to ask).  The racket makes all the difference!  With my new Babolat racket, I was able to actually hit the balls in, and I won my first set since high school.  Saturday night, I determnined that I must do homework (lame, I know) but I did take a quick 20 minutes to go to the hottub and relax.

Sunday - Church.  Our apartment was assigned to set up chairs in all the rooms, and I freaked out when none of my roomates could come early for that, but luckily there were other people there to help.  The meetings were amazing... especially Gospel Principles.  The spirit was so strong as we talked about sacrifice.  I know it's something we all must do.  Funny, it seems hard, but every sacrifice we are asked to make ultimately benefits us and brings us closer to God.  I love the basic principles of the gospel.  After church was Bleu Cheese Burger time.  Nasty!  I try to like bleu cheese but I just don't.  Then I took a nap and went to the temple to meditate and read scriptures and call home.  And then I came home, and did boring stuff, and now I'm here, typing at my computer, and I really need to go to bed so I can wake up early enough to make it to the gym in the morning.

And that's a (typical?) week in my life.

Death

In my mission (the West Indies), a lot of couples either have qualms about getting married, or have to get divorced from a previous spouse first, and thus have a lot of trouble getting baptized.  Two families in particular that I grew to love had a real struggle dealing with these issues. Maybe it's weird to blog about this, because it involves death, but I feel like I should get it down on paper (eh, type).   

 First there was Brother Traore in St. Vincent.  He had a testimony of the church, and loved it with all his heart, but he refused to marry his wife of 8 years, unless God showed him a sign.  Well, my last couple weeks in St. Vincent, his health was really deteriorating, and he was having severe breathing problems and heart problems, causing him to be in and out of the hospital every day getting hooked up to machines. 

Elder Bishop and I visited him one day and he was sleeping, so we decided to leave a pass along card with a note on it.  I set it next to his bed with the note facing out, but Elder Bishop said "no, let's flip it over so when he wakes up he sees the Temple."  So we left, and in the meantime Bro. Traore in his dream was pleading and asking "where are all my friends?  Why have they forsaken me?"  He then says he saw a bright light, and when he woke up, it was a picture of the Temple, right in front of him on the nightstand.  He got his answer and he knew he needed to change his life.  

Well, turns out you can't marry someone without a birth certificate (he's from Sierra Leone and doesn't have one), unless you have connections.  The only preacher who would do it for him would only do it on the condition that Bro. Traore got baptized into his church, not ours.  So I left St. Vincent to go to St. Lucia, and Bro. Traore and the branch were all working together to make the marriage happen.  But, his condition steadily declined and he died - no baptism.  

Fastforward a year later to Point Fortin, Trinidad.  We met a really nice old couple, the Dyer family.  At first we didn't think much of them (we weren't sure if they understood what we were sharing), but they read the pamphlet together.  They came to church every week.  Brother Dyer drove us around to visit his children and share the gospel with them.  Their problem?  Brother Dyer needed a divorce from his wife of 30 years ago so he can marry his current wife.  The Dyers grew to become one of my very favorite families of my entire mission.  Brother Dyer was extremely old and fragile (84 years old), but he was as active as he could be.  If he was too sick for church he would insist on at least driving Sister Dyer there.  

I remember distinctly when we first talked about baptism with them, the look of pain in Brother Dyer's eyes when we found out that they weren't actually married and explained to him that he couldn't get baptized yet.  Divorces in Trinidad take an extremely long time, and there was no telling when they could get married.  My last day in the mission I was a little bummed about not having had any baptisms in Point Fortin, but our visit with them changed my perspective.  They cooked Shrimp Creole for us (Sister Dyer is an amazing cook!) and Brother Dyer told us his usual stories of his days at sea (he had been a boat captain his whole life and always mesmerized us with his heroic tales).  And then, at the end, Brother Dyer spontaneously bore his testimony.  "The sea", he said, "belongs to no man, it belongs to Christ.  For years I've stayed away from churches because they are man's, but now I know that this church belongs to no man, it belongs to Christ.  I can feel it in me."  And that was the last I heard from them.  

Now it is four months later, and still no divorce or baptism.  They have been working hard trying to get the divorce to go through, but with no luck.  Last week, Brother Dyer was hit by a drunk driver.  Yesterday, he passed away.

At first these things really bummed me out.  Why do the people I teach who really want the gospel have to die?  Well, I've come to terms with it, and I think it is probably for the better.  Both Brother Traore and Brother Dyer, I'm sure, will receive the gospel in the next life, probably much quicker than they could have here.  I know for certain that Sister Dyer (who's sister has since been baptized) is going to get baptized as soon as possible, and that she is going to work on his paperwork for the temple.  

Although these incendents appear tragic, I think somehow, they are for the best.  I know Heavenly Father loves us.  He has a plan for all of us.  He has established His church today to strengthen us and bring us to him.  I am grateful for the gospel in my life.  I am grateful for the association I was able to have with these two wonderful gentlemen, and for the lessons they taught me.

  

               Traore Family

                          Dyer Family