Update

So I am just sitting here at Whit's work, The Crepery while she is making some delicious crepes for the people of Logan pondering life. School is almost over, and I definitely have end-of-semesteritis. I just want it to be over. I really am practically done. I do, however, need to write a 5 page paper in my Brazilian Literature class that I haven't started yet. Its due next Friday so I am starting to gather information and trying not to procrastinate it any longer. I am done with all my other projects, so basically I just have to go to my classes this last week to get the points, and then I will take my finals the week after. I only have to take two finals. One in psychology (which I am dreading) and one in my Life Sciences class. That one I should do good in. But my other classes don't have finals. Just the final paper I will work on, and my creative arts class had a final paper but it was only two pages on what I learned this semester in the class. So in all it should be fairly painless. Only half-way painful.

We went and saw Inception again last night in the dollar theater and once again, I was blown away. I have been thinking about it off and on today. It was just as good the second time. I love that movie. We went on a double with my roommate Quiz and Whit's friend Tori.

We are now officially less than a month away and things are starting to get super hectic. But we are on top of things in general. Almost there!

Working man

Wow its been quite some time since I have updated my blog. I guess I have not been as motivated to do it as I have been in the past. I need to get into a better rhythm.

The good news is that I not only started working at the wonderful Kmart, but I also finally heard back from that Allstate guy and I started last night there. I am doing calls to try and get people to give us information for free insurance quotes, and based on the leads that we get, the agents follow up and try to make the sale. I interviewed at a different company for pretty much the same position but he wanted me to call all my friends and relatives and try to get them to get quotes and eventually try and get them to his company. I did plenty of fundraising for baseball and I hate it more than anything. I was not about to do the same thing to help this guy get his work going. So I turned it down. This was early on in the semester. It would have been nice to have been working and making money, but not to call and pester my friends and family about a company that they would never switch to.

This place is about the same but he is already established and I am making calls on an automatic dialer system and its not bad at all. Last night I teamed up with the other girl that was hired with me. I started and actually got someone to give me the needed information, then she came over to my computer and we switched off. By the end, we both finished with 2 each. It was fairly simple. So it will be a good thing I think. At least for the next month to help me save up a little. I work again at Kmart tonight and I hope it goes alright. I am actually kind of stressing about how busy it will get there for the holidays, but I feel pretty comfortable with the system, so it should go pretty well.

Whit is a two job girl now. She not only works at the said company that fired me (haha) but she just started working at a place called The Crepery as a crepe maker. It is a really cool job, and the crepes are so delectable. The place is inside a little house and they share the space with a coffee shop, but she only gets like one little corner of the house. But it is a fun little business. I spent Monday with her while she worked because when its calm she can just relax in the booths. Her bosses are really laid back. So hopefully we can both handle the workload and successfully not fail our classes this semester. I am only worried about my Psychology class. But it should work out. Tonight I have to register for next semester, and I have no idea what to do with my life. I am pretty much completely done with my generals, so its time to pick a major and move on. I just don't know what to do. Its frustrating.

But all in all, life is good. Things are starting to fall into place. We'll see how this goes.

Pumpkin Walk

So I have been a super slacker, but I will post a bunch of pictures from the Pumpkin Walk that we went to this week. These were so cool! They were all made from just using pumpkins. It was super cold and we kinda got a little lost and cold getting back to our car, but in all it was way fun. Enjoy

"Hiss! You're never around when I need you!" "Coming... Coming."

Pumba's mouth is the best part

Up

Thought this was funny

Alice In Wonderland

Horton

Monsters Inc.

Spongebob

Finding Nemo (from the inside of the fish tank)

101 Dalmations

Snoopy was awesome

Charlie Brown

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Toy Story

Me and Whit

Expecto Patronum!!

Fim.

Meiosis Square Dance

This is what I learned today in college. :)

Playoffs are in the air

Its crunch time. There are only 4 regular season games left. All of the playoff spots are set, except for the NL West and the NL Wild Card. The Braves currently have a 1 1/2 game lead on the Padres. I am starting to freak out. I'm excited. They better make it.

I LOVE this time of the year!

Western Who?

So in case you didn't know, my last post I talked about my job. I had to remove most of the post. Here's the scoop:

So I got a job at a phone survey place. I went through orientation where I learned about company policies and such. I had to pass a test at the end to make sure I learned what I needed to for the job. Which is funny since I was practically nodding off the entire time.

So I get hired, and go to training the next week. All is well. I ended up working 2 more full days, and then the next day I was scheduled to work. In between my classes, I wrote my last post. I explained about the job, what I did, where I worked etc. After one my next class I got a call from work saying they needed to talk to me. They told me to erase my blog post because it mentioned the company, and they said they had to talk to me when I got to work.

So I get there and talk to the manager or whatever she was, and she brought up again the fact that I mentioned the company in my blog and asked me why I did it. They have a very strict policy that you can't mention the company at all on the internet. I totally forgot about this. So, she told me because of that I couldn't work there anymore. I didn't even say anything negative or malicious but they had to follow their policy and I was fired. So. There's the rest of the story. haha

Needless to say, I am searching for a job once again.

Fun stuff.

Other than that, things are great. We started watching Lost from the beginning. My roommate Logan bought this super intense box set of all six seasons with other gadgets and special stuff. So we are getting everyone hooked on it too. We have nice little parties at our house on our new big screen that we all chipped in for $150. Whit and I will pay the others back so that it will be ours later. Its sweet. We have me, Whit, Logan, Quin aka Quizno, and Logan's friend Kylee. A pretty good crowd. It makes it fun.

We made Sloppy Joes yesterday and I couldn't resist.

Enjoy.

School and stuff

So I am sitting in Whit's Humanities class today. I was on my break, and I decided to go to her class with her for "moral support." Now I understand why she wanted me to go with her. This class is ridiculous! The whole subject of the class is the Bible. Not the King James Version like we use. It is based on the new international translation of the Bible that has the modern language. He claims that it is not going to be interpreted, it will only be used because it had a great effect on western civilization. I can't believe how weird it is. I feel bad that she has to go to this all semester long. Haha.

Anyway.

The first week of school is over, and I am now a professional at this school thing.... or something like that. I am getting the hang of my classes and my schedule. I am back to the situation where I have no free time anymore like earlier in the summer. I have school until around 3 or 4 every day, and from there I ride the shuttle home and hop in my car and head off to work until 8 or 9 or 10.

I really love it up here. I knew I would like it, but I really do like it here a lot. The school, the city, the mountains, the classes. So far so good.

Let's just hope that I can make it through the semester with good grades, and my sanity. Just a few more months. :)

The Pre-Engagement Post

Ok. Whit told me that after she did a post about her engagement experience, I had to do my side of the story as well so that we can compare the two. Granted this happened close to a month ago. But late is better than never, right?

Where to start?
We first discussed the "M" word in April at the end of one of my visits to Logan. We didn't really entertain the thought too much more for a while. Whit would drop occasional hints here and there on things that she liked, etc. At first she was pretty anxious from what she told me. She was almost expecting it to happen at any time. But when she realized that she might have to wait a bit, she stopped worrying about it. I didn't know about this.
She continued to drop hints, and joke about the fact that she didn't have a ring yet. Which was weird since we were starting to plan the wedding already and pretty much the whole ward knew that we were getting married. The news spread like the plague and I wasn't too much of a fan of that. I wanted it to be unknown to everyone else until that happened. But I didn't even know when I was going to pop the question. I was (and still am) dirt poor, and didn't know what to do.

Finally I decided to just talk to Kendall to officially ask for his permission to marry his daughter. It started out with just Kendall and I at the dinner table and I made some lame joke about how as my home teacher, he needed to help me with something. But we were both nervous so it wasn't too funny. But we got the business out of the way pretty quickly actually. I promised him that I would take good care of Whit, and that I loved her more than anything. By this time both Suzanne and Courtney had entered the room and were involved in the conversation. Haha. We talked about a bunch of other things for like 15 minutes which was nice. This was in the middle of July sometime.

My Dad finally told me to start thinking of a time period when I would like to do it. I got a lot of opinions on what to do, and finally settled on the idea of doing in over the 24th of July weekend when I would be at a family reunion with all of Kendall's side of the family at a cabin near Strawberry Reservoir. That was about a two weeks away, so on one Saturday, my Dad drove down from camp, and he took me to a place that he had just thought of. He had been thinking and the impression came to go to J.P. Lee Fine Jewlery in Draper. He compared it to Oceans Thirteen where they had the group of men that shook Sinatra's hand. He said: "This guy shook Grandpa Butterfield's hand." I loved that. Apparently Grandpa had been doing business there for years, and so had my aunts, and some of their children. We went there and got treated like gold. I picked out a ring, but it was a little different than the one that I had in mind, so he told me he would custom make the ring. The problem is that it would not be ready for two weeks. This was the 21st of July. I was hoping that it would be done in a few days, but he was going out of town for a whole week, so it would take an extra week to get done. (on Aug 4th)
So we went to the family reunion, and that whole two weeks I was super ornery at the fact that I couldn't get the ring yet. Any time that any of her family joked about it I was super sensitive because I was still upset that it was in the works and I couldn't talk about it.

But the day finally came and I picked up the ring after work on Aug 4th, and waited for Whit to get off work so we could drive up to Logan. The rest of that story can be found here or here again
Thats pretty much it I think.

We're Engaged!!

I'm terrible at updating. But, I do have something very worthwhile to write about.
I'm engaged!! After about 8 months of dating I finally got a ring and popped the questing. Granted it seemed as if it was a formality since we had already started planning the wedding and set an appointment at the Draper Temple. But it was good to finally get it done.
I had to do orientation at school on Thursday Aug 5th, so we went up the night before, and met up with Whit's friend Parker and her boyfriend Kris. We went up Green Canyon in Logan, and made a bonfire and sat around the fire for a while. Parker and Kris got up and left, so we were just by the fire, and I dropped to one knee and asked. I had planned it out with Parker, but Whit was still suspicious. She was surprised, but not really. Oh well, I tried, right?
Wednesday was also my one year mark since being home, so that also made the day even more special.
So, now we just have to make it through four more months and we are there!
It was also good to get registered for classes and take care of other school things.

I will post pictures of the ring later.

Hey howdy hey

I finally have some time to do an update on here. I have just been working all day everyday and when I get home I dont have time, or I dont feel like it. But I got today, tomorrow and Saturday off, thus giving me some extra time to do some of the things that needed to get done. So this will be my attempt at an update.

I am basically a slave to my job. :) I have been working at Hadco Construction for close to a month now. My crew is working on a new highway that will connect Redwood Road near Camp Williams to the freeway.


I am working on building the bridge that goes over the Jordan River.

I am basically just the helper boy. I hold up the metal panels, I shovel gravel, I move long metal straps and bolt them into the wall, and I have run the big roller to compact the dirt a few times.
Last week I spent 5 1/2 hours on it just rolling away. But I actually enjoyed that. It was a good change of scenery. But it is going well. I am just always tired and since I work from 6:00-7:00 everyday I don't have time to really do anything but relax at home with Whitney. We have become kind of boring because she works long hours baking cookies too, so we are both just tired and content to pretty much do nothing. :)

We made a quick trip to Vegas to see baby Eli get blessed. That was really fun, but really quick.

Last weekend I went to Whitney's family reunion spectacular, which was like a retreat at her Aunts huge house in Lindon. The whole family was there and it was intense. I had a really good time meeting her extended family, playing games, laughing and things, riding in a limo, and just being with Whitney. They are a little intense, but I survived. :)

Now its the World Cup and I am so excited to watch it! I hate that the games are in the morning though because I work. Thank goodness for DVR.

VIVA BRASIL!!!

I wear a hardhat (who'd have thought?)

I started a new job this week. Kendall got me a job for Hadco Construction, and I am a laborer. I started Tuesday and I have been working overtime all week. I get there at 6:00, and I usually end up leaving around 7:00. Its really tiring, but luckily I am working right close to home so I don't have to worry about much travel time. I don't know anything about construction whatsoever, so this is all foreign to me, and I am slowly catching on. My first day was super long. It rained all day, I worked a long day, and I was completely clueless! It was funny, but also really frustrating. But I am starting to figure it out. We are working on a section of a new highway being built from Redwood road near Camp Williams, to I-15. We are building the support walls for the overpass, and building up the dirt to keep it stable. I will try and get some photos up later to help understand. But it has been good despite all the work, and the guys that I work with. (A little rough around the edges to say the least :) but I like most of them) They even taught me how to use the big compression roller thing that compacts the dirt. Its cool. I am getting the hang of it. I didn't think they would even let me touch a machine for a while, but I'm not complaining. I'm just glad to finally be making some money.
I donated platelets for the first time on Monday. Its the same process as donating plasma, but they extract the platelets too. Its only a small amount which is surprising.
I also had a little "surgery" since I last wrote on last Wednesday. I had a cyst removed from my face near my jawline. It was a cinch and took only a half hour to do. I got the stitches out on Monday before I donated the platelets.
It has been great having Whitney here home from school. I don't know how we were able to go weeks at a time without seeing each other. I'm glad thats over with. Things are just great.
Life is good.
I am a happy camper.
But a tired one.
The end.

This is from the MS walk that we did on Saturday. It was super fun!

A series of unfortunate events...actually just one.

Well, I'm sitting here in the Library at school just killing time until I really have to crack down and study for my Chemistry final tomorrow. I just got done turning in my business test. It was a take-home final and when we turned it in, he had us answer 10 questions in class to fulfill university requirements of being in class for the final. He let us work together, so I am feeling pretty confident about it. True/false tests have not grown on me thats for sure. I enjoy the fact that i get to work on the test using as many resources as possible, but I don't like how tricky the questions can be. Oh well. I'm done with that one. Two down, two to go. Then it's FREEDOM!!

I have a funny story about last night. After our softball game last night (which we won!) we went to eat at Rumbi by South Towne Mall. I was driving with my top down, and it was getting dark so I decided to put it back up. I did this and then went to turn off the car and I couldn't get it all the way shut off. I stopped the engine, but the ignition wouldn't rotate enough. It seemed like it was in the battery position. Oh, and I couldn't get it started again. This freaked me out because a very similar thing happened in Virginia. I was really nervous. I had to get back home to finish my test. I had to get to school before 9am for my final. I wouldn't have a way to get there. I didn't have money to tow it. I was nervous. Kyle finally came over and started fiddling with it. Then, after about five minutes of this drama, he reaches over and grabs my shifter and puts it in park. I had left the Emergency brake on from when I put the top up (while in drive appartently) and never took it off. Haha. It must be finals week or something...

Surprise...

This morning I had the joy of finding this cute little yellow paper attached to my windshield. I also found a little surprise on my wheel. Don't worry the guy was nice enough to take care of my problems for $50. What a nice guy. They are so lenient around here with parking. Especially when the person already has a parking permit, but forgets to put the top up on the convertable. Don't worry, they will still do this wonderful service even if you have a permit. They are also nice enough to say that there was nothing else they could do even though they knew that I was right. What a great company. I love Provo parking. I definitely will be sad to move out of here.....NOT!!!!

Studying Away!!

Well we are down to the "nitty gritty" as Nacho Libre would say. I have only done one semester, but I am so glad that its almost over!
This is my last week of classes, and I am pretty stressed at all I need to do before m the end of school, and finals. But thats college life. I am glad that I have already gone through this process before so that I kind of have a "heads-up" on what to expect.

I have been a bad poster as of late. Lots has happened.
We had a camping trip last weekend for my Elders Quorum, and it was really good despite all the stress that went into it. Lets just say that I am a Dutch Oven master!

This weekend I went up to Logan to visit Whitney, (and Logan too), and it was really good. I stayed Friday night with my him, and we went to a bonfire (a rather small and wimpy one I might add) We were there looking at the flames, when I looked over and saw my friend Aaron Taylor whom I hadn't seen since like middle school besides the occasional church ball game in high school. It was really fun to see him and catch up on what he has been up to. What are the odds.

I also signed my contract for my new apartment that I will be living in next semester, which is a big relief to get out of the way. I think that I will really like it there.

We also went to a stake conference there that was really good as well.

I am super happy about the Jazz game today. What a finish. My heart was pounding pretty hard.

I love that it was almost 80 degrees today.

We had our first softball game today, and it was really fun to just relax and play with no worries. I was rounding first base and I don't have cleats, so as soon as my foot touched the bag, it totally slipped out from under me and I fell on my face pretty much. It was funny.

Derek took this picture of me on Friday when I was waiting for a ride back to my apartment so I could start working. Luke is having me separate segments of a cedar wood slatted fence, so we can get them back to the farm to be used at his discretion. It was hard work, because it was a little tedious, and time consuming. It took me Thursday and Friday, but I still couldn't get it completely finished. I will have to go back this week.

Anyway, I am tired, and pretty much out of things to say. I am sorry for the lame recap of my life. Hopefully I can become more interesting.
Tchau

SVU is famous now!!

This video was rated number one in the Sportscenter "not top ten" countdown. As in the ten worst plays of the week. It was number one!! haha It comes from none other than my alma mater (except I didn't graduate from there obviously...) AKA Southern Virginia University. At least they got some national TV time, right? haha Enjoy.

Its been a while.

Well folks, I have been a slacker. What else is new. Oh well, I will use the excuse that I have been really busy. Thats generally acceptable.
Life has been really good lately. Things in general are going really well, and I am pleased with that.
Easter/General Conference was amazing. How cool is it that they fell on the same day? I really enjoyed it. I think having them on the same day helped me do better at celebrating the real reason for Easter; the Savior.
General Conference is always so invigorating. The way that the Spirit teaches us the things we need to be taught is always amazing to me. That is one of the coolest things about a mission, and gospel relating things in general. There were so many great talks. I loved President Eyring's talks both in the general session and the Priesthood session. He always speaks with such emotion, and conviction. President Uchtdorf also had some really great talks. I always enjoy hearing Elder Holland, and Elder Scott. The talk about the way missionaries are called, by Elder Rasband. I had already heard that story, but it is still fascinating the process of calling missionaries works. Look for it in the Ensign those of you that missed it.
Saturday night after the Priesthood session, I grabbed Whit and headed up to Salt Lake for my mission reunion. It was really good, and I am really glad that I got to go so I could see my president, and his wife as well as some mission friends that I had not seen since being home. There were quite a few there that I didn't know, and quite a few missing that I had wanted to see, but oh well. We all have our own schedules. It was so good to see them though. The first thing that Sister Asconavieta said was "Butterfly!!" Just as I had predicted :) It was really fun to talk to them and see how their English has improved haha. Really good.
Sunday conference was just grand as well, and in the afternoon Whit took me to her big family Easter candy hunt/dinner. It was really fun, and crazy. Whit and I took home a good load of candy, and there is still plenty of it. It was really fun to meet more people from her extended family. They all joked around with me and whatnot, but it was fine. It was good, I am glad I went.
School this week has been rough, but pretty busy which is good. I don't have the hardest schedule imaginable, so it was good to stay busy. I got my Art History test back and I got 90%. Not too shabby. I knew that I wouldn't do as well as my other, but I was still pleased. My professor said that it was the hardest test of the class, so that is a good sign. I really like that class. It is so interesting, the professor makes it good, and its not too hard. Lots of writing. But not too hard. It's not chemistry, thats for sure. (I hate that class by the way.)
Oh, Sunday in between sessions, I dashed to Salt Lake and met up with a Brazilian missionary serving in the Ogden Utah mission. I served in his ward on my mission and knew him well. So it was really fun to see him. I also saw a different mission friend there, as well as my old Virginia roommate Adam. I have seen him now at two consecutive conferences, so we said "see ya in six months!" It was funny.
Well, I am tired from playing some ultimate frisbee, (and from being up late...) so I am going to bed.
Hope that this sufficed as an update of my life as of late.
If not, too bad.
Tchau

One year older and wiser too...

Wow. It's been so long since I last wrote, its embarrassing. Oh well, at least I'm writing, right?
I am not even going to try and recap all that has happened, because I can't remember it all. But it's been a really good month. (March always is.)
School.
Spring break.
School.
March madness.
Spring training.
Birthday.
Etc.

My birthday was really good; my first one back! My last one was funny because I didn't do anything special except buy my own birthday pizza.

This year I didn't have to buy my own pizza, don't worry.
Friday, Dad and Mom came down and took me to lunch at Tucano's and it was AMAZING!! I stuffed my face more than I have in such a long time. It was fun to have some good Brazilian food again. I loved it.
At night Whitney came down with her friend Parker, Logan came down from Logan (kind of funny to say it like that) and we went out to Red Robin with my roommates and a couple other friends. It was really fun too, except I couldn't eat hardly anything because of the massive lunch. But thats ok. It was a good birthday.
Sunday we celebrated it at home with the traditional "Sunday dinner." We had a good crowd there. I will post pictures later. Mom and I made Brazilian Flan for dessert and it turned out really well actually. Man, I love that stuff.
I got some great gifts. I got a pair of shorts, and temple clothes from Mom and Dad. Jeff gave me a CD by Vampire Weekend. (I like it!) Kyle and Cortney gave me 2 shirts from American Eagle (my very first cowboy style snap up shirt.) And Whit gave me a new CTR ring, which is awesome. Thanks y'all! :)
Now we are back to the nitty gritty. I have a chemistry test Friday that I am not ready for. It's going to be massive (like 95 questions!) Things are cracking down.
Today, I went to the dermatoligist and marked the day for my surgery! haha Don't worry. I am just getting a cist (spell?) removed from my face/neck that is really annoying. Its not until May. No big deal.
Thats it for the basic update. I already have written more than I originally had intended.
Anyway,
Tchau.

An update

I haven't written for a while, and there is a lot to update. I don't think that I will even remember much to tell since so much has happened.
I will try and remember, so this might just be a really random, rambling post. But thats ok.
School is going well. I am at the half-way point pretty much and I can't believe that it has gone by this fast. I am doing fairly well in most of my classes. My worst is my chemistry class. I think I have and overall 80% in the class so far, so I need to kick it in gear and do better on the upcoming tests and such.
My pride and joy is my Art History class, because I got a 98% on my test that I was so stressed about. I will have another test right after spring break, so we will see if I can keep up the with the same results.
Spring is in the air. I love springtime. I love how everything seems to be "waking up". You see more people out and about, you can wear less layers of clothing, I get to drive with the top down. There are many reasons why I like spring. Its a little strange to not be playing baseball though. But I am loving the fact that its baseball season.
Last weekend I went to the Jazz game with Derek and my friend Todd.


I guess the biggest news since I last wrote is that I have decided to transfer (yet again) to Utah State, and I have sent in my application. I just have to wait for my transcripts to get there, and I'll be "in like flint". I am really excited about it, and I feel good about the decision, so thats good too.

Logan... Part II

Ok Now that I am more coherent, I will update more about the Logan trip for those who don't know.
I got up there Friday night and Whitney and I went to the USU hockey game against Denver, and USU totally dominated, and it was fun to watch, despite the delay for an injury, but that wasn't too bad because we just talked, which is one of my new favorite things I have decided. I like to have a good involving conversation, which is funny because I usually don't like to talk that much. I am more of a listener. Even when it is around people I am comfortable around. If there is a group of people talking and telling stories, I like to just sit back and take it all in, and I am content at that. I know, I'm weird. But I think I'm getting better at that.
Anyhoo.
Back to Logan.
We also watched Star Trek which was sweet. I really liked that movie. You don't even have to be a "trekkie" to enjoy it. (Although I am a pretty big nerd myself.)
Saturday Whitney had a conference thingy for her ASL stuff all day long, so I slept in while Logan donated plasma(I should try this) and when he got back we went to lunch at a pizza place called the Firehouse, and I really enjoyed it. Except my stomach was not feeling so hot (probably the result of a late Taco Bell trip...) and we went back to his apartment so he could study, and I went to the Logan Temple. I really had a good time there. I liked that temple a lot. It is a little different. It makes me wish I could have seen it as it was before the remodeling. But it was really good. As I was walking back to my car I ran into Jerry and Judy Labrum and their son Trevor with either his wife or girlfriend or whatever, I have no idea. It was a really fun surprise and coincidence. They were looking for the Baptistry, but I had no idea where that was, so I was no help. But it was really fun to see them again.
The last event of the day was the basketball game against Wichita State. It was intense!! The students go crazy in the Spectrum. I loved it.
This was my favorite part of the game:

Sunday was funny because Logan's ward starts at 9:30 so I was awake for when he was getting ready but I fell asleep when he left, and didn't get up until 12:25. I had combined with Whitney to meet her at like 12:15 to go to her ward, so I hurried and ran in the shower and got ready ran to the church in less than 20 minutes from when I woke up (shower and all). The best part is that my phone battery was dead so there was no way of Whitney calling me or vice versa. But I made it.
We had a dinner thing after with her ward, and finished the night off with the annual Joseph Smith Restoration fireside with Elder Hales, which was really really good. I got a lot of good things from it.
I will close with a few of the things that he said that stuck out to me.

There are many times when we need to turn to God for help but Satan tries to do all he can to stop that from happening. We must remember just one thing: Light and darkness cannot occupy the same place at the same time.

The great work of God moves forward despite trials!

When a family member or someone else close to us is sick or struggling, or needs help, we must know that it is for our benefit and learning as well as theirs. (he then told a story about when his mother was really sick when he was the Presiding Bishop. She asked him why this was happening to her, and he replied that maybe it was to give her more patience. She said: "I already have mine. Do you?")

So maybe a family tragedy or emergency, etc. could be more for our own benefit than theirs.

We need to record our testimonies and spiritual experiences in journals for our posterity to read.

"God hath made broad shoulders for the burden. We rejoice in our tribulations." -Joseph Smith

Logan... Part I

I'm too tired to talk about my weekend, so here are a few photos. I will explain more tomorrow. The end.

This is my aforementioned Temple attire reenacted. Yes, I am awesome.



Logan Temple

New shirt and stuff

Well I have been a real slacker at writing lately but thats ok. Things have been going pretty good since I last wrote. Valentines was really good. I Had a really good time with Whitney even though she was worn out from selling cookies all day. She gave me my favorite movie of all time, "The Sting". I always was trying to find it at home and the movie places and it never worked out, so we watched it, and it was awesome. I love it.
I went to the Jordan River temple on Saturday with Logan. He came down from Logan for the day, and we met up and went. We made it all the way there and we were changing in the parking lot, and I realized I brought my suit, but no white shirt! Logan was wearing a red flannel looking button up shirt, so I put that on under my suit and threw on my blue tie. It was hideous, and I was super embarrassed to even go into the temple like that. But it worked out. I had a really good experience there actually, and the thought came into my head that the Lord didn't care what shirt I was wearing, as long as I was there. That made me feel a lot better. I need to go to the temple more often. Its so amazing. I wish I had a picture of the outfit though. Logan told me that I looked like a cheap used car salesman. I thought it was really funny.
I took my huge Art History test yesterday (Tuesday) and it was INTENSE!! I spent the whole day studying, and luckily my teacher cancelled class because she was sick, so that gave me more time to study. I was studying from 7 am until I took the test (with a brief food break) at 6:00. I took a Chemistry quiz first, and then my test and I didnt leave there until 9:00. It was really hard, and a lot of writing, but I think that I did a pretty good job. I at least got all the identifications right ( name date title etc) but that was only a third of the test so we'll see how the essays went in two weeks. But I feel pretty good about it.
Today I went to the mall with Derek and Collin and I bought this sweet Jazz shirt. I have been wanting one for some time now, and I finally found the right size. I am really proud of it, so here is a picture of it.

"...and [Troy] hath chosen that good part..."

So I had a pretty cool experience today in between classes. My Business class got out early, and I went upstairs in the student center to study a bit. I got out my folder to start studying for my Art History test (I will take it Tuesday I think.) but I remembered that I hadn't read any of the talks in my institute class and I was pretty behind. So I grabbed my little booklet and started reading away. I read one talk, and moved onto the next one. That is the one that I really liked. It is called "The Spirit Giveth Life" by President Monson from 1997. I won't go into much detail about the talk, but I really really liked it. It was something that I have been needing to study. The best part about the whole experience was that the way that I was studying made me feel like the way I studied on my mission. I have read the Scriptures everyday since being home, but I guess the quality of my study lacks sometimes. So it felt really good to get a really good study session. I whipped out my scriptures and was really getting into it. I was there for over an hour, it was really good. I made a new goal to study the Scriptures for at least an hour while I am at school. I just felt so good doing it, and the quality of my study was so much better than if I had done it at night like I usually do, plus it made my day go really good, and especially the Institute class went really good too becuase I was already focused. (I played the piano again by the way)
So, thats my new plan. I need to do better. I need to be like Mary and not like Martha!

Luke 10:38-42:

38¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named aMartha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art acareful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Who spilled the milk?

So I gained a bad habit while in Brazil. I guess it started when I was living in an area that had just rented a new apartment, and there weren't any plates, or cups or utinsels, etc (I forgot the name for those... stoneware maybe?). As most of you know, we couldn't drink the water, so we would buy the big 20 gallon jugs and we filled up 2 liter bottles with the water and put them in the fridge to keep it cold. As a result of the no cup situation, I got into the habit of just drinking right out of the bottle without putting my mouth on it. It was actually better because it took less time and was more practical. Mom would get on me for drinking right out of the juice jug or milk or anything while I was at home.
The whole point of this long preface is to help you understand why I am so cool.
So, I was watching The Office with my roommates, and I felt the need to get a cold beverage. So I mosied on over to the fridge, and I grabbed the milk jug. Because of my new trick, I just grabbed the milk and went for a drink. Bad idea. I totally misjudged how much I was going to drink, and I don't know if I squeezed the jug too much, or what, but to get to the point, I got milk ALL OVER! This lead to laughter, which led to milk coming out of my nose, and all that jazz. It was so funny!
I'm sure you can imagine how cool it was.

Barbers

Derek gave me a haircut last weekend, and it actually turned out really good. He has been wanting to get his hair cut for a while now, and there is a girl in the ward that cuts hair, but she was being lame and never would do it, plus she would have charged like ten bucks, so tonight he had me cut it, and I did a good job too! So we decided that we would go into beauty school and learn then start up our own business. What do you think??

Focus, Focus, Focus!

I have had the hardest time lately to stay focused on one thing for a long period of time (ie. homework). Its really starting to get me frustrated, because I know how much I need to do, but most of the time I just can't get myself motivated enough to do it. But the funny thing is that I have been able to get a good chunk of stuff done. I just feel like I am doing worse than I am I guess.
With that in mind, I started writing this post, and got distracted with my roommates as is the case every night (ours is the room that everyone stops in before heading to theirs,) and we looked at stuff online, had group prayer (Christian did it in Spanish and I could understand pretty much everything he said) and now I have found that I have lost the desire to write anything else here. So there you have it. I just proved what I was talking about earlier.
I really need to work on that.
And at getting to bed early.
The end.

6 Months!!!

Well today, February 4, 2010 officially marks six months that I have been home from my mission. Missionaries would burn a tie when they hit this landmark on the mission, so I'm wondering what I should burn for this stupendous day. Maybe my Chemistry book. That sounds like a good idea right about now.
A lot has happened in six months. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I have been able to do a lot of cool things. I have gone traveling, I have worked, I have sat at home with nothing to do, I have spoken a ton of times in church, I had a calling, I went back to school, I started the dating scene, and many other great things! :)
I am grateful to where I am at right now; six months after my mission. I have gone through a lot. Good things, hard things, big decisions, and a lot of stress. Its a lot different than being a missionary, where you don't think or worry about yourself for two years. All that matters is serving the Lord, and the people. Things are prepared for you, and you are taken care of. No worries other than obedience to the rules and thinking about how to help others. Life was easier then.... sort of haha it was actually the hardest time of my life, but by far the best time of my life until now. I usually don't speak too often about my mission because I am in a new phase of my life. The mission is over. I obviously never want to forget the experiences, and things that I learned while as a missionary, but they are things that will help me in my day to day life. But it sure is different when you have to worry about making decisions that will affect your own future. Like I have said, the decision to go to UVU rather than SVU was probably the hardest that I have ever made, and I was so so so stressed out about it! But after a month of school, I am pleased with how things have turned out, and I am pretty confident that I made the right choice. It definitely would have been pretty cool to go back to Virginia. Who knows. Maybe it would have been just fine either way. But I felt better about staying here, and it seems to have been the right choice for me, and I am ok with that.
It's hard to think about making those important decisions now. Like what to major in, where to work, who to marry, etc. Man those are tough. It was a lot easier when my biggest trouble was trying to find people, and help them prepare for baptism and confirmation (which, isn't exactly a walk in the park either, but the Lord prepares the way when we are faithful).
But thats part of the journey. Thats part of this great adventure that we are in together. We learn and grow each day. We make mistakes, and we try our best to correct them and learn from them. We get challenges, some that are really tough. But if we do things right, we will be able to rise up to the challenge, and be strengthened because of it. The Lord never will put something in our path that we won't be able to handle. He knows our weak and strong points, and knows what will help us and what will strengthen us (if we act according to His will). Thats the great miracle. Thats the real point of our existence. "Men are that they might have joy." We are here to gain experience, to learn, but most importantly to be happy. And if we learn how to be happy here on Earth (I mean truly happy) then we will prepare ourselves to be eternally happy after this life.

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

-Mosiah 2:41

This is one of my all time favorite scriptures.

I can say that I have been truly happy in my life, but not always. I have experienced both sides. I think we all have. But I do know that I am doing the very best that I can right now, to obey the Commandments of God, and when I am doing that I am truly happy; and what a good feeling that is!

This turned out to be a lot longer and random than I had imagined, so sorry. Bear with me.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like life! Que vida boa!!

A Few Pics

FHE

We were in charge of FHE tonight at our apartment, so we had the idea to make Brazilian food for everyone. We were going to make beans and rice, so we went shopping at the Mexican market near us. We got a lot of cool stuff and by the time we got it all and made it back to the apartment it was already like 7:00 and it would have started at 7:00. So Derek and I left and bought some Guraraná and when we got back everyone from the group was there watching the Gordon B. Hinckley movie, and the Brazilian girl we home teach was there in the kitchen. My roommates didn't know how to do it so they called her over to help cool, but we didn't have a pressure pan thing, which would have saved a lot of time, but instead it would have taken a couple hours in a normal pan, so we did some improvising and we made a type of pasta out of the stuff we had in our apartment with the Brazilian twist. It was actually really really good! It was by far the best of the FHE's that we have been to if I do say so myself. Everyone was pretty inpressed. The best part was the Guaraná of course. We had some ice cream too for everyone so most everyone stayed over for a while just chatting, it was really funny. One girl in our group is taking ASL at UVU and she was teaching us some cool signs. The guys were joking around with her it was funny.

Utah State Hey! Aggies all the way! Go Aggies! Go Aggies! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Just in case you were wondering, I had a really good weekend! I will try to give y'all the rundown of what happened. (Which reminds me, we actually watched a movie called "The Rundown" last night.) Anyways.
I ate pretty good this weekend. The best in a while (because I am a poor college student.) Friday, Whitney and her friend Tori made us some shrimp alfredo pasta stuff that was delicious(I have turned into a huge shrimp fan... too bad I was too much of a picky eater before to try them) and on Saturday we went to a pizza place called Fredrico's I believe. And today for Sunday lunch we made chicken fajitas, that were really good too. I made some killer lime juice. (aka limeade) That was my contribution haha. Not too shabby.
We went to the USU basketball game on Saturday, it was really fun! The USU fans are intense! I really had fun at the good old Spectrum. It was Stew Merrill's 500th career win, so they did a little ceremony at the end. I really liked it. I need to go to a UVU game now to see how it compares haha. I'm sure less intense, but oh well.
Saturday night it snowed like a foot! It was crazy. I drove to my friend Logan's house where we were staying, and the roads hadn't been plowed yet, and the Black Widow really struggled. He lives on a pretty big hill, and I couldn't make it up, so I had to go over to another street that was less steep and I just about didn't make it up that one either, but I did. Pulling into Logan's parking garage, I started slipping like crazy, and I ended up getting stuck, but we had the help of 2 random sledders taking advantage of the newly fallen snow. Luckily they were there because I couldn't see myself getting out of that too easily. But I made it.
Logan was pretty cold. And foggy.
I miss the sunny days of Brazil. I am so ready for warm weather. I am a wimp. Oh well.
Anyway, thats the Reader's Digest version I guess of my trip to Logan. It was a good one. I didn't want to leave.
So... thats my story. Just in case you were wondering.

The Karate Kid

I really wish I had my camera today. The funniest thing happened at school. I never seem to have my camera when I need it.
Anyway, so I was walking down the hall of flags (self explanatory) and on the right side of the hall there is a courtyard. I could see a group of people looking at something, so I looked over too, and there was this random kid practicing his sweet karate skills by himself. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a while. The kid didn't hold anything back, and the thing is, he really had no karate skills whatsoever. But he was really serious about it. Soon a huge crowd began to gather and people were recording it on their phones and such. Finally one kid went out there and told him that everyone was watching, but he kept at it. Then a little later a different kid went out there and started doing some fake karate moves to be funny, it was awesome.
This all went on for about a half hour!
I wish I had had my camera!

Peer Pressure

Ok. I'm going to try and do this story justice. Keep in mind that I am the worst story teller in the world, and also that its hard to describe things on paper rather in person. I have decided to give it a shot nonetheless. It's not a super amazing story, but it's kinda funny. Here goes.
So at Institute (yes, another institute story.) once again while shaking my hand expressed his positive feelings toward me.(I think his words were: "You're the man!") No big deal. I already know this. He had me choose the hymn, so I thought I would have to play the piano again(I did last week) but turns out that I just chose the hymn. No big deal. By this time, he already has my name memorized, which is interesting because he doesn't know the names of too many yet. Anyway, the lesson went on, and about half way through, he paused, and started scanning the class for a volunteer. Yep, you guessed it. He stopped his gaze right at me, and paused and said: "yep, it's you." He then proceeded to call me to the front of the class. He had me stand there in front of everyone, and he told me(at least this is what I understood, as well as a few of my friends in the class) to "find a handsome young lady." Now I understood this as: "pick out a girl and you have to take her on a date." I thought this because earlier he had mentioned how important it is for us to go on dates with girls, etc etc. So thats why I was expecting that from him. So, to follow along with him, I started sheepishly looking around the room.
Then somehow he changed it to asking me if I was a handsome young lady. I have no idea how it got to that, nor how I had understood it the other way. Since I was not the only one to understand it that way, however, I think that he was the one that messed up.
At this point, I was already awkwardly in front of the class, and I didn't know what to do. So, somehow I ended up agreeing with him that I was a handsome young lady. Mostly because I was put on the spot. And peer pressure. Then he took it to the class. He asked them if I was a girl or not, and only like 2 people raised their hands, but the one girl said it was because she thought that everyone would too. Peer pressure.
Then he asked them if I was a guy and they all raised their hands, myself included, and he started asking me why I changed my mind. At this point my mind was starting to seriously jumble. He turned me around and had me look at a slide of the 10 Virgins on the projector, and asked me to describe them. So I did, and came to the point that they represented us, as members of the church.
Hence, the reasoning for the "handsome young lady." Because I am one of the 10 Virgins (metaphorically). So apparently I was right at first when I said I really was a handsome young lady. I'll just pretend like I knew it all along. Right.
Does anyone else think that that was the weirdest way to convey the message he wanted to get across? I sure do. It was so awkward. I already hate being in front of people. But my roommates told me that I was actually pretty composed, and handled it pretty well, considering the circumstances.
But it was so awkward. But funny.
I guess he could tell that I am gullable, and kind of a push over. Who knows. But as soon as his piercing gaze settled on me, his eyes lit up like it was Christmas.
But, the good thing about all of this is that he likes me even more because of this whole experience! Haha.
Hopefully this made somewhat of sense. I am not a good story teller. Maybe this didnt even seem funny. I guess you had to be there.
I'm not as bad as Logan, but I gained some awkward points on this one.

Stretchy Pants

We were playing a game like "mafia" for our FHE and at the very end, Christian(the Mexican kid that is going on his mission) was asking about how to say sweat pants, and Dutsons told him they were stretchy pants, and he told him to say, it. So later tonight we all got together and convinced him to say the quote from Nacho Libre, and it was so so so funny. So, here it is so you can all remember how it goes. Its way funnier with Christian!

Finishers Wanted

So today right after the opening hymn in Institute, the teacher likes to shake everyone's hand before class starts and sometimes he has to do it during the hymn, but after the hymn was over he came over to me and shook my hand and said:"You are a great guy. I can tell, and I don't even know much about you." Then he went about the class as normal. It was a really good class. He is really good at opening the class to us to comment, or discuss anything. We read a talk from President Monson titled "Finishers Wanted". A very good one. We ended up talking about how its not an easy thing to be a finisher. Its not easy to do all the little things right, but as we do our best we will be blessed and great things will happen to us (Alma 37:6). Then we read 1 Nephi 8:21-22, and in verse 21 it talks about how those in the vision of the tree of life were "pressing forward" to get to the tree. Then it hit me that being a finisher doesn't mean that we have to be the best, all we have to do is press forward, doing our best and repenting of our sins on our way. The blessings don't come immediately. They come after a while. But as long as we press forward we will be blessed. I really liked that.
Here is a small poem that President Monson used in his talk:

Stick to your task 'till it sticks to you;

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

Stick to your task 'till it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life's victories after a while.

-Author Unknown

On my way out of the class, Brother Soderburg shook my hand at the door again, and said:"You are a great man, I know it!"

Needless to say I left the building in a great mood!

I love Institute.

Viva México!!

So the well anticipated day of the mission call came for our roommate Christian, from Mexico. He is here studying English at the BYU English Learning Center. He had been waiting for 5 weeks for the mission call. Wow, and I thought that 3 weeks was a long time for mine to arrive, and I was going crazy. So, Christian got his brothers there, and we all got together to watch him open it. He is going to.....(drumroll please) Mexico City West Mission! You could kind of tell that he was wanting something here in the states since he is already here, but he was excited. And even if he isn't too excited right now, he will be. He will LOVE it!
It brought back a lot of memories of when I received my mission call, and just of the mission in general. Good times. I didn't even know how to pronounce Fortaleza! haha
I am a very firm believer that you are called to the place where you are supposed to go. So I am happy for Christian and the new adventure that he will begin on March 17th(pretty soon).
As you can see, I changed the layout thingy on my blog to this super cool baseball one I thought that it was cool, and a little more reflective of my personality. I cant wait for baseball to start again. Although, it will be strange not actually playing it.
Well, I need to hit the sack.
Until the next time...

The best part of Provo

Macey's in Provo is my new favorite place to shop. Derek and I went to Fresh Market or whatever Albertsons changed to, but we were in the mood for some Guaraná, so we decided to go to Macey´s which is not too far away at all. Wow, they have so much good stuff! They have cases and cases of Guaraná and other sodas from other places, as well as the next best thing that I found is Água de Coco aka coconut milk in a can. (This is me drinking coconut milk in Brasil FYI)
I was so excited to find it. I love it with a passion. (I dont understand why it is called coconut milk by the way. it should be coconut water. Thats what it is in Portuguese. Anyway) Logan told me he had found it, but I always forgot to look for it, but since there are so many return missionaries in "P-town" you can find this kind of stuff really easily. Which is great.
We signed up for the Brazilian Club at school today. I have no idea what that means. But I guess they will have occasional parties and BBQs or something. But its fun to say that I belong to the Brazilian Club at UVU. It has a nice ring to it.
I am super tired right now. So I will end on that note, and get some shut-eye.
Until next time...

Pumping iron

Well today marks the first day of my workout routine, and I am pretty excited about it. I gained some definite "holiday weight" and I am not too happy about it, so Derek and I decided to get a pass to the gym by us, and today was our first day there. I am beat. It is a pretty good feeling. I definitely want to take advantage of the free time that I have while I am not working and work on my bod. haha
I definitely am a weakling though. Lindsay could definitely beat me in an arm wrestle again I think. Wait, didn't we do an arm wrestle after I got home? I cant remember, but it seems like we did and I won, but barely. But that is because she wasn't a super tough gymnast anymore. But still, I am weak.
Things are good on the school front. I am liking my classes so far, and I haven't really had too much homework which is nice. But then again, it is still the very beginning of the semester. I have already dropped some dough, and I need to get a job to improve the economic situation.
Things have been really good lately. I am in a good mood.
Today was my first day of institute class. We (Derek, Eric, Collin and I-my roommates) are taking Teachings of the Prophet Thomas S. Monson. I am really excited about it. There was a cool quote from Ezra Taft Benson that says: "The living Prophet is more vital to us than the standard works." I thought that was really interesting. Obviously the standard works are very important to us and we should study them often, but having a living prophet to receive revelation from God for us right now is so important. I love listening to the Prophet, because it is as if the Lord is personally speaking to us. SO... I am excited for the class. I think I will learn a lot.
So, Whitney and I have decided to "officially" go to the next level. I am really happy with how things have turned out. Its just a bummer that we are going to different schools. Oh well. I think just about all of you know about her already so I won't write too much. But things are just dandy! :)
Well, I can barely lift my arms to type anymore, so thats where I am going to end, so... TCHAU!

Back to school

Well the time finally has come for me to get back to school. A whole lot has happened since I last posted anything so I feel like a slacker but that's ok. I plan on doing a lot better now that I am hitting the books again. I am glad to be able to do something productive with my life, although I really did enjoy my time watching NCIS every day.
For those who didnt know, I am at UVU living in Provo rather than going back to Virginia to play baseball. This was basically the hardest decision that I have ever made. I was very very stressed out, because it was a win-win situation. But ultimately I decided to stay close to home. It just felt better. I think that either way would have been good, but this was what I felt best doing. So, we'll see how things go on that end.
I am really excited to get back to school. This was my first week of classes, and I am pleased with how things are going to end up. I have some good classes, and hopefully I wont struggle too badly. Its like riding a bike I guess.
Anyway. I moved in this week, and I have some really cool roommates. My roommate is Derek Dutson(who was my last companion of my mission) and there is one other guy from my mission named Eric, and his friend, and then there is Christian from Mexico and Taeku from Korea. They are both learning English at BYUs ESL program. I really like all the people I live with. We are having fun getting to know each other lately. Christian will move out as soon as his mission call comes in the mail, so we are excited for him.
Anyway, I dont know what else to write for now, but at least I am posting again right?
Até o próximo.