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.

From the office of the First Presidency...

I had a once in a lifetime opportunity yesterday. All the youth in the ward got to go downtown, and tour the First Presidency's office in the Church Administration Building.
Our Bishop, Bishop Mortensen works as the Assistant secretary to the First Presidency, so he showed us around and answered a lot of questions. It was really neat. We got to see President Monson's office(but not enter), and we saw a couple of their meeting rooms(one is a board room where some committee meetings are held(general welfare, etc.) The other is another meeting room for the Apostles and First Presidency along with the Presidency of the Seventy.


That is where they meet most often, and if you look in the photo, in the left corner is the door that leads to the Prophet's office. Our Bishop has the responsability to open it for the Prophet. The wood in the room was imported from Russia, and the door is at least 3 inches thick, so it is heavy and President Monson always jokes with our Bishop because its hard. One day they were joking and The Bishop mentioned he was doing push-ups to get ready to open it and Pres. Monson said: "Oh really? Well lets see!" So Bishop Mortensen dropped down and gave the Prophet 10 push-ups and got up and Pres. Monson said: "I meant show me by opening the door!" Funny story.


This is the tree inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building



We went through the lights, but it was so cold(like 2 or 3 degrees F) that we hurried and left and went to Crown Burger. That is apparently a tradition they have, but this is the first time that we were able to see the offices.
SO overall it was a great, cold night!