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!

I love to clean the Temple

Well I had an interesting experience today. Dad signed me up to do cleaning at the Mt. Timponogos Temple. I really enjoyed doing it. I got there at 8:00 and left at Noon. Even though it was 4 hours, it actually passed by quickly.
I worked in the basement of the temple. I swept the floor in the Laundry room, I washed the stainless steel doors of the elevators, I dusted paintings, and other things. I dusted off every wooden door and trim in the whole lower level, and finally we went to the locker rooms(mens and womens), and I vacuumed out all the lockers, then we wiped the front of all the lockers down with disinfecting stuff. It was surprisingly tiring, and I am feeling worn out right now. But it was good, and I was glad to have that experience. It brought back memories of the MTC in Brazil where we had to do an hour of service each week, and like the Temple(but to a lesser degree) the MTC was not really dirty, so we cleaned things that really didnt need it, but that is what made the MTC look so nice all the time. They told us that they wanted a similar atmosphere to the temple inside the MTC. There, I washed walls in the hallways of where the rooms are. I picked up leaves outside too. But the funniest thing was one certain day of service. We got down there, and it seemed like they had nothing else left to do, and there was this HUGE stack of boxes(taller than me), and they opened them up and inside were loads and loads of papers. They were cafeteria orders and stuff like that. Well, we were instructed to open the boxes, take out the papers..... and rip them in half! So because of that we all left with blisters on our fingers, it was funny. We started getting into competitions as to who could rip the most at one time. I remember doing over 90 papers, but I dont remember what the record was. I still think that that was so funny... ripping papers. Oh well. It built character I guess

New Glasses

Well I finally broke down and bought me a new pair of glasses that I have been needing. I got a really good deal on both the frames and lenses. They were both 50% off. I ended up saving about $250.00 So that was good. I am pleased with them.
Tell me what you think.

Welcome to Buena Vista, Home of the World Series Champion Manager, Charlie Manuel

So after the Phillies won the World Series, Charlie Manuel came back to his hometown, and they built a really nice sign at the entrance of BV that welcomes you to his hometown. They had a little wooden one before, but now it is high tech with lights and everything. Pretty funny. He is the biggest star from this little podunk city, which is actually pretty good considering the size.
So I went back to Virginia to check out SVU again, and practice with the baseball team. It was a really good little trip. The flight to Virginia was really long actually. I stopped in Atlanta for a couple of hours then I went to Detriot, and jumped on a tiny plane to Roanoke, Virginia which is a really small airport too.
But I had a good time here. I was able to meet up with friend who took me around the city to see what was new, and then I had practice on friday, and we went to the Basketball game it was pretty fun. I only recognized a few faces there. Most everyone else has left. So that is a little weird, but I will be able to make new friendships.
Playing baseball was really fun. It was like riding a bike, but the bike was really really wobbly! I had a hard time adjusting to playing again. It seems I am a step slower in everything, but there were also som positive things that I saw in the experience too. Good to know what I need to work on. I like the guys on the team, they are pretty cool. Its a different feel than the last team, but thats because they are all different guys. We had 5 recruits come in too to, and they were all pretty interested, so hopefully they can make it too. A couple were really good.
The only boring thing was going through the open house the school did, because i already know everything about the school. But I had to do it in order to receive the reimbursement for the travel, we got $250 back, which was really good since we only had to pay $160 to process the sky miles.
I went to church at the new chapel they built, and it was really good. I was able to see a few people that I knew from before, so that was fun. I had forgotten how quiet a singles ward is compared to a regular one, especially during the sacrament.
Anyway, thats my recent news.
Over and out.

Vegas Trip

Well I we all thought that this video was so funny, we had just gone to Circus Circus to play the arcades and stuff, then we went to In-n-Out Burger, and this video was from the drive home after that. Rex was so tired from the day, and he was trying so hard to stay awake! Jay had just won that sword at the Circus Circus, and loves it!(especially its kachow noises. Lets just say that it isnt really cool at 7am though; or when it gets jabbed into your stomach huh chad) Anyway, Kyle and I went down to watch the Utah vs UNLV game. It was a really fun trip This is where we sat for the most of the game, right next to the Utah band. It was so loud! There were so many utah fans there. the whole east side(where the picture shows) were Utah fans! almost half of the fans at the stadium!! It was cool.

Oops

Well this is whats new in my life.
I was working, no worries, stocking up the produce stand, getting everything ready, listening to music, etc. and I went to go grab some boxes of tomatoes to put on the shelf. Well as I bent over, I heard (and felt) a "rrrrriiiippp" noise and to my surprise I had a huge rip in my pants in the back pocket area. I would show a real photo rather than the spongebob, but that would be inappropriate for the children. Each time that I bent over in the next few hours, it got worse, to the point that Luke had to go find me a pair of pants in his house. Too bad though, it was nice to have a little bit of a breeze back there! haha just kidding.

General Conference part 2

Well, I ended up going to the sunday morning session of general conference with my old companion (elder) Derek Dutson.

It was actually my first time ever watching there in the conference center, so i was really excited and taking in the experience. It was quite impressive seeing the leaders of the church all in front of me, especially President Monson. So it was a good first experience. The Brazilians always assumed that i always went to conference, and were alwasys really surprized when i said that i had never been, Well Now I can say that I have gone!
We got there really early we walked around and then we sat down and waited. The fun part of going on sunday, was being able to watch "Music and the Spoken Word." It was interesting because the Apostles were there watching it too(except elder Christofferson and Elder Cook who were in the Tabernacle) But it was interesting that they watched it too. I had always heard and seen about how special it is when the prophet walks into the room, but being there in person really was an amazing experience.
I sat next to a girl from Costa Rica who was just visiting, and to her side was a lady from New Zealand. I never realized how many people come from far away to watch conference.
I especially enjoyed President Monson's talk in that session. Being in his presence, I was able to feel even more strongly that he is that Lord's true prophet.

General conference

Well I am sure I speak for all in saying how great conference was. I was only able to watch the priesthood session and the Sunday sessions because of work, but thanks to the DVR I recorded it and I will catch up on Saturdays sessions.
There were two highlights of the conference for me. First: President Monson announced a new temple in my mission, Fortaleza!! You can imagine how happy I am! The fun thing has been to hear from the members there and how happy and excited they are. I would like to say that I had a part in the preparation for this temple. The people of Fortaleza are such a special people, and the church is growing like crazy. To use the phrase my friend Alex Johnson(currently serving a mission in thailand) says:"the Lord is smiling upon Fortaleza." I don't doubt it.

To be continued....
It's late

Its about time now...

Well, after much procrastination, I have once again reacquainted myself with bloggerland, posting my first thing in 2 years. Its not really anything special, but you the stone just needs a little nudge to get rolling down the mountain. So i guess this is my nudge.
I have not really been up to much since returning from Brazil, other than work. In case you didnt know, i am a "farmer" meaning that i work on a farm and i have callused hands, but I am not a real farmer. i dont wear boots, keep a knife in my pocket and I dont wear a cowboy hat(yet- i have a sombrero from Brazil that I keep forgetting to wear to work still. Dont worry I will use it!) But I actually like it a lot. Its hard work, I really sympathize real farmers who do it for a living, because it is really demanding and time consuming. Luke(the cousin-boss) spends the whole day out there. I put on about 9 hours a day of work, but he goes from 6:30 to dark (maybe with some rests inside, but still). I am definately glad that i learned some work ethic skills from being a missionary.
Anywhoo, thats about what i have been up to. I dont do anything too fun usually because i work weekends, and I am usually too tired to do stuff when i get home, so i just end up chatting with friends on the internet, or watching Lost(except i finished the 5th season, so i am officially caught up now). But the produce season is winding down so pretty soon i will be out of work, and I will have more time to do "stuff".
So thats my current life situation in a nutshell.
More to come in the future... if i dont get lazy.
Tchau!