The Reason for the Season

At this time of year, we hear the word "peace" all around us. We feel peace in our homes when our loved ones are near and the spirit of Christmas always brings a special sense of peace.
One of the easiest ways to feel peace is to live the gospel of Christ and I believe the best way to do this is by reading the Book of Mormon.
In the Book of Mormon there is a story that is one of my favorites, Lehi's Dream. in Lehi's dream, he sees a great and spacious building (not a large home) which represents the pride of the world. He sees a straight rod of iron with people of all ages clinging to it with both hands which represents the gospel. Lehi then sees something astonishing, a tree which is glowing and strong and bears the fruit of life. In all of our homes right now, we have something that is glowing. It is adorned with ornaments and it is also a tree.

We have often heard of "the first morning of the resurrection". Imagine waking up on a snowy, white morning. Your whole family is there and everyone is happy. Under your tree is a gift. A man dressed in red brought it to your family while you slept and it is the gift of eternal life. That is what Christ has done for us.
When you look at your beautiful trees in your homes, remember to keep Christ in Christmas. It is because of his atoning sacrifice that we live and that we will be able to continue to live. I hope that all of you have a merry Christmas and that you can feel peace in your homes and your hearts.

The quaint office of Sarah Palin

I found this in a Newsweek magazine and had to post it. If you look off to the right, you can see the Russian coastline.

D.A.R.E. to resist drugs and violent driving.

This one was just too good to not blog about. Tuesday night, I went to mutual, a more recently developed habit of mine. The nature of the activity (a service project at the church farm) didn't excite me in any way. Reluctantly, I drove to the church house where we all met and then caravanned out to the farm. My car was the first to arrive (no surprise there) and we got out just in time to see a fellow Priest spin a cookie in the parking/driveway area of the church farm. We all turned in shame and began walking to the offices. Behind the moron in the truck was a minivan which did not belong with our group. The driver (a profile-perfect scout leader) got out and approached the irresponsible nimrod. We turned to watch the action unfold. “Can I see your license?” asked the man as he revealed a gleaming badge. With terror in his eyes, the boy showed the man his license and registration. As the cop studied the documents, it clicked. The man was my DARE officer in sixth grade! We did the work assigned to us and then toured (or turd if you so prefer) the farm. As we were leaving, I followed the kid out of the parking lot. He idled all the way to the main road and not once approached the speed limit.

Homecoming 2008

To start, no, I have not died, I just experienced a lack of enthusiasim about blogging and have felt so busy lately. So, to my faithful readers, i appologize.

On that note, the most exciting thing that has happened to me since landing my new job was most definately the homecoming dance. It was by far one of the best experiences ever. I was very reluctant to go at first but with some gentle nudging of my friends (and their moms) I was pursuaded to attend.

The day was great. We started out by grabbing Sub Way on the way out of town and headed for the mountains. This was the first time in the day I made an idiot of myself when i forgot to bring any money and had to borrow from friends. Once in the mountains, we had our picnic, went "adventuing" and played some ultimate frisbee which was subsided via a terrencial downpour of rain.

When we arrived back in town, we dropped off our dates to get ready for a couple hours. Once everyone was looking their best in their formal wear, e set off for dinner at a friend’s house. After dinner, we went to the dance and walked in just in time to miss the Cha-cha Slide.J We then had our pictures done and from that moment on, “danced the night away”. The dance ended and we went to another friend’s for ice cream dessert.

The whole day was perfect and I want to thank all who made it possible. To Joy, Dylan, Kim, Cassidy, Conor, Mary, Jace, Ryan, Julie, Mrs. Ellsworth, and Mrs. Hilton: Thank you for making every aspect of the day wonderful.

Most importantly, thank you Brittney for being my date and so willing to spend the day with me. It was a blast!

In case Haven't said it enough, thank you everyone!!

Hollister Co.

Three weeks ago, I got a new job working as a "model" for Hollister, a Californian inspired, nation-wide retailer. I have loved the stoe ever since they opened up shop in our mall last December so I thought it appropriate that i go work for them since they consume most of my earnings anyway. Not tomention the 20% discount. While the job is fun and I enjoy my co-workers, standing on my feet for five or six hours get very old very fast. Time passes like tar dries in the middle of August. One day while I was working the cash register or "cash wrap" as they prefer to have you call it, i was visiting with another model while I rang up an obnoxious little 12-year-old girl. I said, to no one in particular, "If you are ever told by your doctor that you only have a matter of weeks to live, get a job at Hollister, because every day feels like an eternity."

In addition to the long hours of not being able to sit, my job is not to just fold the clothes, my job is to fold the clothes immaculately. to ensure that all stacks are the same height, the shirts are the same width. Jeans can be folded one of five different way and you must know how each style is to be done. Size stickers are to line up vertically, perfectly straight. Basicly, if the store is not a show piece at the end of the day, you can't go home. Not to mention that it is the darkest and most intense smelling store in the mall; possibly the world.

Getting out of the "Twilight" zone!!

I feel impressed to discuss the crisis that is facing our nation. You may have heard the occasional teen-aged girl, suburban mom, or confused teen boy talk about the "Twilight" series. While I have not read the books, I feel that, because of the hype, I may as well be a rogue scholar on the subject. I am so disgusted with the books and the problem they have created. For one, I trust the advice of many well read people I know that have comented on the writing as "less than mediocre", which leads me to believe that it is the sheer story that ditracts mothers from their laundry and girls from their schooling. However, it is with the story line that I have my next and largest issue. The idea that a semi-normal girl could fall head-over-heals for a vampire is comparable only to the idea of a 12-year-old girl birthing a centar in a world other than this one. Singlehandedly, Stephany Meyer is destroying the hopes and dreams of young women accross the nation. By reading of a great love between a girl and a vampire, they are being set up for failure. They will not settle for the "average" man because their standards will be on a supernatural level and will hold out for the vampire until they come to the realization that vampires do not exist and they will never get back the chances they passed up while waiting. My heart goes out to all the men seeking for true love but can't find it because they are being turned down for vampires. If you care about the future of this country, you will not read Twilight.

BMW? Porsche? Mercedes?

I have lived in my current ward for over a year now. At first, I was not open to the prospect of embracing the members of our ward, but over time, I have grow to truely love my ward family. About 8 months ago, the boundaries were changed to encompas what is, for all intensive purposes, my average house and the colossal homes accross the street. Let me restate that i truely do love my ward. That being said, pulling into my church parking lot is like driving through lines of a car show at a luxury auto dealership. Immagine your dream car and i will give you the name of someone in my ward with that car. Hummer, Porsche, Audi, Cadillac, and BMW are just a few of the words and emblems stamped on grills around the building. For now, all I can do is dream that one day, I will have the resources to own a few luxary cars of my oun and still be able to be a generous as the families that I attend church with. But until then, I will just have to drive my Honda Accord to church and park between the Jaguar and the Lexus and pray I don't get door-dinged.