Looking back on my blog, I've found that I had a lot more to write about than I thought when I first started! The blog has given me a chance to keep writing and continue to flex and exercise my writing muscles. It was something I had to work to keep up with, but I think it was worth it.
I think the hardest part about the blog was trying to decide what to write about. I'm not one to really post or make a big deal about my opinion, so as opposed to rants or loud arguments that seem to be very common among most blogs, I decided to post about things I care about or things I've noticed/observed over the course of the semester. I found that it was easiest for me to write about spiritual things and the things I learn in church or at Institute. I found that I really loved sharing what I learn about the Gospel on my mission, so the blog became a good outlet for that.
If I decided to keep up the blog, I would want to continue to post about spiritual things, but I would also want to tell more stories about the things I experience or events that change my life. Although it can be a pain sometimes to write down all the details to my stories, it's nice to have it all written down in one place, like the narrative I wrote recently. I like this record and hope that it becomes useful or something fun to look at again when I'm older.
Thanks for reading!
Writing for Writing's Sake
Friday, December 5, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
#19 Health for Happiness
Today when I got home from work, the weather out side was so good, I couldn't help taking some time to go out for a run and get another couple of miles logged into my Nike app. I'm soooo glad I did, I don't know how many more days of good weather we have left to enjoy before the snow comes and decides not to leave.
I really love running; sure, I don't do it as often as I'd like, but I know how good it is for me. Not only does it feel good physically to be fit, it helps me out emotionally and spiritually as well!
On my mission, I didn't have very consistent exercise habits like I probably should have until the last area I transferred into. My companion ran cross country in high school, so that's what he wanted to do every day. Thanks to him, I set very firm habits of getting up and running almost every day for the rest of my mission. It continued to carry on, even after he transferred and I got a new companion. I'm really glad I kept up with it, even through the winter months.
While I was in the field, I studied the Missionary Handbook every day and would often ponder over the wisdom and reasoning behind each of the different rules, why they were important enough to make mandatory for each servant of the Lord. I knew there were benefits to exercise, but wondered why I had to get up early to work out, even though my primary mode of transportation was a bike (and rode my fair share of hills, too). I came to understand the reasoning behind this rule after I read this article in the "Liahona," a magazine produced by the LDS church. In the article, Elder Adrian Ochoa explains that our spiritual, emotional, and physical sides are all connected, and that strength (or weakness) in each area has an effect on the others. As I continued to run, I noticed a different in how awake, happy, and full of the Spirit I felt during the day. I knew that the reason the Lord wanted His missionaries up at 6:30 am exercising was to make sure that they'd stay happy and healthy on a regular basis. This understanding helped strengthen my belief in the commandments as a method to living a happy life, not just rules to "keep us from having fun."
I'm glad I have a healthy body and want to keep it that way. If you feel sad or need a pick-me-up, I would recommend a run, some weight training, or a good amount of time spent doing yoga. It's all good stuff, and it'll make you happy, that I can promise you.
Enjoy the good weather while you can!
I really love running; sure, I don't do it as often as I'd like, but I know how good it is for me. Not only does it feel good physically to be fit, it helps me out emotionally and spiritually as well!
On my mission, I didn't have very consistent exercise habits like I probably should have until the last area I transferred into. My companion ran cross country in high school, so that's what he wanted to do every day. Thanks to him, I set very firm habits of getting up and running almost every day for the rest of my mission. It continued to carry on, even after he transferred and I got a new companion. I'm really glad I kept up with it, even through the winter months.
While I was in the field, I studied the Missionary Handbook every day and would often ponder over the wisdom and reasoning behind each of the different rules, why they were important enough to make mandatory for each servant of the Lord. I knew there were benefits to exercise, but wondered why I had to get up early to work out, even though my primary mode of transportation was a bike (and rode my fair share of hills, too). I came to understand the reasoning behind this rule after I read this article in the "Liahona," a magazine produced by the LDS church. In the article, Elder Adrian Ochoa explains that our spiritual, emotional, and physical sides are all connected, and that strength (or weakness) in each area has an effect on the others. As I continued to run, I noticed a different in how awake, happy, and full of the Spirit I felt during the day. I knew that the reason the Lord wanted His missionaries up at 6:30 am exercising was to make sure that they'd stay happy and healthy on a regular basis. This understanding helped strengthen my belief in the commandments as a method to living a happy life, not just rules to "keep us from having fun."
I'm glad I have a healthy body and want to keep it that way. If you feel sad or need a pick-me-up, I would recommend a run, some weight training, or a good amount of time spent doing yoga. It's all good stuff, and it'll make you happy, that I can promise you.
Enjoy the good weather while you can!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
#18 This Year's Special Christmas Video Message
Recently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has made a greater effort to spread the important message of the restoration of Christ's Church through social media and other more easily accessible means. This year, the Church has put out a video about Christmas and what we should focus on this year during the holiday season, as we should every year. You can watch the video here.
What really stuck out to me in this video was the simplicity in which it carried the message of Christmas Spirit and to help remind us of what gifts are truly important. The reminder that the first Christmas gift was given by God to us was significant in helping me remember that we give gifts to remember that great sacrifice God made for us.
I also like how it was similar to the style of the Easter video, "Because of Him," produced by the Church earlier this year. The various shots depicting Christ's life and the ordinary people affected by the life of Christ helps tie the two ideas together and show how passages of New Testament scripture still have solid application to our lives today. I like the modern, fresh feel to timeless ideas and teachings that make my life better every day.
I hope that everyone gets a chance to see this video and considers how they'll celebrate Christmas differently this year. I'll still give gifts, but I'll better remember who gave the best gift to us all.
P.S. Oh, and this is another one of my favorite Christmas videos. The message is similar, but I love the way it's done. Give them all a view, and don't forget to #ShareTheGift
#17 My Most Excellent Thanksgiving Break
I had a great Thanksgiving break this past week! I had a lot of fun and got the chance to spend some time with some great people! This has been my first Thanksgiving since being on a mission, so I was excited to relax and eat some real turkey this year.
Last week on Tuesday, my girlfriend and I rode down to Las Vegas together with some of her siblings and friends and made it down that night to spend a few days together at her parent's house. After a few hours in the car, playing games like "Twenty Questions" and "Smurf," we finally made it into the valley and could see the lights from the city and the downtown areas marking our destination. We haven't been down there since the end of June, so it was nice to be back and to spend time with her family again.
On Wednesday, her brothers wanted to go riding out in a nearby dried-out lake bed, so we loaded up a trailer with ATVs, a dirtbike, and a Polaris, and made our way out before noon. I quickly learned how to drive the Polaris, but did get the chance to learn how to ride a dirtbike. It turns out that there's more to it than the pros let on when it comes to something as simple as making the bike go. After a brief explanation of the controls and functions of the bike, I went right ahead and made the rookie mistake of giving the bike too much gas and went flying off from where I started. Realizing the danger I was thrown into, I tried finding the brake by stomping with one leg, while trying to keep my balance by sticking my other leg out. Luckily, no one could see or hear my expressions of surprise and fear because of the helmet I was wearing.
Thursday was the big day! I got to help with some of the preparation, play some volleyball, and was seated to as much food as I could handle, surrounded by my girlfriend's family by 2 pm. After eating more than I said I would allow myself to, her family held a ceremony to celebrate her mother for recently getting her PhD. We got the chance to hear poems, speeches, and musical numbers from her children and family members. That evening, a group of us headed out to walk downtown and to see some of the huge, well-known hotels on the Strip. We saw large numbers of people all around, some shopping, others walking around like we were, but still saw tons of people sitting in front of slot machines like it was any other day.
The next day, a group of us went on a small hike around Red Rock, then later met up with some family members for lunch. After that we walked around some stores to see all of the different Black Friday deals at a brand-new outdoor mall. That evening, I had the chance to take some fencing lessons with my girlfriend and her entire family. We had a great time wearing the equipment, learning the forms, and then getting paired up to start fighting each other! I had a lot of fun and thought I was getting pretty good at it until we started up a relay match. They had me fence last, so I had too many points to make up before the other team finished us. I still had a great time and learned something COOL.
On Saturday morning, we all went to a culinary school to do a gingerbread house decorating activity! I can't remember the last time I've done something like that, so mine came out looking more like a dragon than anything, but that didn't bother me. We had to make the return trip home later that day, but not before making her family and some extended family a huge Japanese lunch. My girlfriend and I made curry with rice and a TON of pot-stickers. We enlisted the help of her siblings to assemble the pot-stickers, which is actually a fun activity and makes the cooking go faster. With that, some salad, and leftovers from the days prior, we all sat down to one last feast together. After the meal, we packed up and headed home, another car ride full of jokes, games, and Mad Libs.
I had a really great time in Vegas! I learned a lot and got to know my girlfriend's family a whole lot more. We're pretty tight now!
Last week on Tuesday, my girlfriend and I rode down to Las Vegas together with some of her siblings and friends and made it down that night to spend a few days together at her parent's house. After a few hours in the car, playing games like "Twenty Questions" and "Smurf," we finally made it into the valley and could see the lights from the city and the downtown areas marking our destination. We haven't been down there since the end of June, so it was nice to be back and to spend time with her family again.
On Wednesday, her brothers wanted to go riding out in a nearby dried-out lake bed, so we loaded up a trailer with ATVs, a dirtbike, and a Polaris, and made our way out before noon. I quickly learned how to drive the Polaris, but did get the chance to learn how to ride a dirtbike. It turns out that there's more to it than the pros let on when it comes to something as simple as making the bike go. After a brief explanation of the controls and functions of the bike, I went right ahead and made the rookie mistake of giving the bike too much gas and went flying off from where I started. Realizing the danger I was thrown into, I tried finding the brake by stomping with one leg, while trying to keep my balance by sticking my other leg out. Luckily, no one could see or hear my expressions of surprise and fear because of the helmet I was wearing.
Thursday was the big day! I got to help with some of the preparation, play some volleyball, and was seated to as much food as I could handle, surrounded by my girlfriend's family by 2 pm. After eating more than I said I would allow myself to, her family held a ceremony to celebrate her mother for recently getting her PhD. We got the chance to hear poems, speeches, and musical numbers from her children and family members. That evening, a group of us headed out to walk downtown and to see some of the huge, well-known hotels on the Strip. We saw large numbers of people all around, some shopping, others walking around like we were, but still saw tons of people sitting in front of slot machines like it was any other day.
The next day, a group of us went on a small hike around Red Rock, then later met up with some family members for lunch. After that we walked around some stores to see all of the different Black Friday deals at a brand-new outdoor mall. That evening, I had the chance to take some fencing lessons with my girlfriend and her entire family. We had a great time wearing the equipment, learning the forms, and then getting paired up to start fighting each other! I had a lot of fun and thought I was getting pretty good at it until we started up a relay match. They had me fence last, so I had too many points to make up before the other team finished us. I still had a great time and learned something COOL.
Okay, even though this is footage of me (on the right) getting my butt kicked, I promise I'm fierce with that épée.
On Saturday morning, we all went to a culinary school to do a gingerbread house decorating activity! I can't remember the last time I've done something like that, so mine came out looking more like a dragon than anything, but that didn't bother me. We had to make the return trip home later that day, but not before making her family and some extended family a huge Japanese lunch. My girlfriend and I made curry with rice and a TON of pot-stickers. We enlisted the help of her siblings to assemble the pot-stickers, which is actually a fun activity and makes the cooking go faster. With that, some salad, and leftovers from the days prior, we all sat down to one last feast together. After the meal, we packed up and headed home, another car ride full of jokes, games, and Mad Libs.
I had a really great time in Vegas! I learned a lot and got to know my girlfriend's family a whole lot more. We're pretty tight now!
Sunday, November 30, 2014
#16 Thoughts on Mitt Romney's BYU Forum
At a recent forum on November 18th, 2014, we had the opportunity to hear from Mitt Romney at the Marriott Center here in Provo, Utah as he talked about his experience running for President, the things he learned, and general advice he gave to his audience. He talked about a variety of topics, but I wanted to touch on the things about his address that struck me the most.
First of all, I was impressed by his great attitude! Romney has a great personality, upbeat attitude, and showed a very kind and generous attitude. He did a great job on his delivery of jokes and execution of his message. I liked how he made his religion a natural part of his address and how well it tied into the point he tried to make. He was very entertaining to listen to and left a good message with his audience.
I also liked how, even though he lost the election, he was able to share important things he learned from his run for Presidency. He explained that he learned more about how God works and how he won't always interfere with secular matters, but will make it so everything works for your good if you do what He asks. It's easy to confuse the idea, but Romney did an excellent job of separating the two expectations.
He also mentioned throughout his address about people he has come into contact with and the impact they've had on each other's lives. He frequently quoted the LDS hymn "Do What is Right" as he talked about angels who are "silent note-taking." From that, I understand that we're heavily watched and that our actions will be taken note of, so we need to live in a way that is acceptable and worthy of record. He said that "we're writing our autobiographies every day."
I'm glad Mitt Romney took time to come speak to us! It left a very good impression on me of what he's tried to do and how great of a guy he is.
#15 Social Media Missionary Work
Today in church for the third hour we had a special lesson put on about what was titled "Modern Missionary Work" and how to use the internet and social media to share the gospel and spread truth to everyone who participates. I honestly haven't done much since Elder Bednar's Education Week address, so I thought the content of the lesson was something I needed to hear.
We discussed first what was difficult about sharing the gospel with others, how it can be difficult, scary, and a huge time-commitment on our part. Then we discussed things we saw in social media from our friends and what we liked/didn't like about their methods. Some people in the group actually began the discussion by arguing that people should stop posting as often, that they didn't appreciate their news feeds being bogged down with multiple links to videos or status updates consisting of long passages of scriptures or general conference addresses. They argued that this becomes white noise and quickly ignored the more frequent it becomes. Others argued against it, saying that the more posts we get out there, the more voices bearing testimony, the better.
I (quite characteristically) seem to find an opinion near the middle: I think that we need to get as many people on board posting and sharing, but I think that it can be done in a more thoughtful, heartfelt way. There are tons of posts and shares out there that are done quite passively, posted with no comment or expressed reason. If each link or message shared were accompanied by one's testimony or reasons for posting, I think that, yeah, the number of posts would be reduced, but would be replaced by higher quality messages for others to pick up.
An even greater approach would be to find specific people to share a message with and send them something more personalized. Our teachers discussed how a good strategy to becoming a better social media missionary would be to find someone you're connected with online, get to know them better (the term they used was "Facebook Stalking" but I don't want missionary work to get creepy), and then simply follow the Spirit in deciding what to do next. I feel like there isn't much work for me to do out here in Utah with members surrounding me on all sides, but there are still those who need to hear the Gospel online and within an email's reach.
I've decided to give this a shot and make effort to get my testimony online for everyone to see. The Lord gave us the great gift of technology, it's time to use it for a greater purpose.
We discussed first what was difficult about sharing the gospel with others, how it can be difficult, scary, and a huge time-commitment on our part. Then we discussed things we saw in social media from our friends and what we liked/didn't like about their methods. Some people in the group actually began the discussion by arguing that people should stop posting as often, that they didn't appreciate their news feeds being bogged down with multiple links to videos or status updates consisting of long passages of scriptures or general conference addresses. They argued that this becomes white noise and quickly ignored the more frequent it becomes. Others argued against it, saying that the more posts we get out there, the more voices bearing testimony, the better.
I (quite characteristically) seem to find an opinion near the middle: I think that we need to get as many people on board posting and sharing, but I think that it can be done in a more thoughtful, heartfelt way. There are tons of posts and shares out there that are done quite passively, posted with no comment or expressed reason. If each link or message shared were accompanied by one's testimony or reasons for posting, I think that, yeah, the number of posts would be reduced, but would be replaced by higher quality messages for others to pick up.
An even greater approach would be to find specific people to share a message with and send them something more personalized. Our teachers discussed how a good strategy to becoming a better social media missionary would be to find someone you're connected with online, get to know them better (the term they used was "Facebook Stalking" but I don't want missionary work to get creepy), and then simply follow the Spirit in deciding what to do next. I feel like there isn't much work for me to do out here in Utah with members surrounding me on all sides, but there are still those who need to hear the Gospel online and within an email's reach.
I've decided to give this a shot and make effort to get my testimony online for everyone to see. The Lord gave us the great gift of technology, it's time to use it for a greater purpose.
Friday, November 21, 2014
#14 Thoughts on Writing the Narrative
Writing the narrative was a blast, actually! To be honest, I don't feel like I'm much of a writer, but I kinda enjoyed painting a picture to illustrate my childhood experience. It took effort, but not in the way the research paper did. With the research paper, It was frustrating to constantly have to interrupt my train of thought to reread my source material and have to cite it. I was glad I did my citations as I went along, but it interrupted my thought flow pretty often. With the narrative, however, I was able to free-flow write out my ideas, recount my memories, then go back later to fix and improve what I wrote. What's weird is that I enjoyed going back to make revisions. The paper became less of a homework assignment and more of an art project for me. It helped motivate me to carve out an idea and polish it.
Oh, and confession: I actually took this paper to the writing lab. I cared enough about it to get some feedback, and I'm glad I did. The guy I worked with helped me to be more descriptive and show with my words rather than just tell. I think it helped my descriptive language and helped me find a nice way to craft my introduction/conclusion.
When I started writing, I knew which story to write about, but had no thoughts on the central message, change, or thesis to my story. As I wrote and tried coming up with a thesis, I thought the idea of realizing the clairvoyance would be funnier and a bit more of a twist on the whole "Intuition" idea rather than just describing a new-found fear of birds. It was a bit of a discovery writing the paper I guess.
Yeah, it's weird! Never thought I'd enjoy writing a paper like that. I hope everyone else who read it liked it too!
Oh, and confession: I actually took this paper to the writing lab. I cared enough about it to get some feedback, and I'm glad I did. The guy I worked with helped me to be more descriptive and show with my words rather than just tell. I think it helped my descriptive language and helped me find a nice way to craft my introduction/conclusion.
When I started writing, I knew which story to write about, but had no thoughts on the central message, change, or thesis to my story. As I wrote and tried coming up with a thesis, I thought the idea of realizing the clairvoyance would be funnier and a bit more of a twist on the whole "Intuition" idea rather than just describing a new-found fear of birds. It was a bit of a discovery writing the paper I guess.
Yeah, it's weird! Never thought I'd enjoy writing a paper like that. I hope everyone else who read it liked it too!
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