Overall Summary of the Blogs

Well the blog assignment is finished. I think it is funny how when we started this semester I did not really know what a blog was or how to create one. I know right, which planet have I been living on? But, now I do know both of the answers to those questions. To be honest I did not think that I would enjoy this assignment very much, but I have been pleasantly surprised throughout the semester. I have really liked taking a few minutes every so often to examine the things that are happening in my life and write down the things that I think the world be interested to know about me. In a talk by President Eyring a few years ago, he spoke on the importance of recording the things that are happening in our lives, especially those things that help us see the hand of God blessing us. I feel so blessed, and I have been able to see the hand of God in my life so many times throughout the semester. I especially felt His guiding help throughout the entire marriage process that I went through this semester. I am so grateful that I have all of these blogs that have recorded memories about my wife and I, and our wedding and honeymoon and the first months together as "newly weds." These are cherished memories that I will always hold sacred. My wife has started another blog for us both so it looks like we are going to be blogging for a long time. This really has been a wonderful learning experience. For those that have been reading, I hope you have enjoyed reading about my life.

Studying Without Knowing

All semester I have tried to work hard to do all of the assignments in each of my classes, but it seems like I never know where I stand in my classes until the very end of the semester. I have always thought this made school hard because it makes it harder for the students to stay motivated throughout the long semester. Before my mission this made it easy for my to procrastinate all semester and not realize how terrible my grades were until the very end. When my father returned from his mission he was on academic probation from his freshman year. He told me during my first semester back from the mission that when he came home from the mission he didn’t know how he was going to do in school. He felt like he was different but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know until the very end of the semester that he had aced every class. I think that return missionaries really improve their ability to be diligent and have hope that everything is going to work out. We are coming down to the very end of the semester and it is that time to find out how our grades are lining up. I hope that everything will turn out well.

Easter Morning

I am sitting in my wife's grandparents home right now. We just finished watching the morning session of conference. It was so great, I thought that Elder Richard G. Scott's talk was amazing. The final part of his testimony was amazing. He looked straight into the camera and bore an amazing testimony that as an Apostolic Witness, he knows that the Savior Lives!!!! My wife's family has all of her family up here visiting for spring break. It is so fun because there are about 12 little kids running around and then a bunch of college students and the parents. I am so happy that we get to spend this holy holiday with at least one of our families. One of the things that I love about our relationship is that we both love each others families. We are looking forward to the last session of conference. I love hearing the General Authorities speak, they always have such inspired things to say. All of the things that they have to say are so in tune with what is going on in the world. I am so grateful to have leaders that set such Christ-like examples for everyone. I love this Gospel so much. I am so grateful to know that the Savior was resurrected and because of HIm, families can live together forever. There are so many people that don't know these things. I feel so blessed to know.

General Conference

I am so excited for General Conference this next weekend!! I love hearing the Prophet, Apostles and other General Authorities speak to us. When I was in the mission I would get so excited for General Conference because I knew that I was going to hear the Brethren speak to me in my native language. There is such a power that comes from hearing them speak and not some translator. It used to give me so much happiness to invite investigators to General Conference and tell them that a living Prophet was going to speak to them, along with Christ's Apostles. I think most people thought I was crazy but Oh Well!! It really is amazing if we think about it. If other christian faiths found out that a person like Moses or Noah was going to speak to them, how excited would they be to hear them? They would be ecstatic, but just because they don't believe the "Mormons" they don't realize and understand that this is what is actually happening. I feel so grateful to know the truth and to know that no matter what happens, Christ's church will always be led in the correct direction. I really think that General Conference is a wonderful way for our Heavenly Father to answer some of the questions that we have had in our prayers. The leaders always seem to say those perfect things that touch our hearts in the the perfect way. I am so excited to listen to them this weekend!!

For a great part of my mission I spent a good portion of my days trying to memorize either scriptures, vocabulary words in english or in spanish. My father told me before I went on my mission that he developed a love for learning words on his mission and he urged me to do the same. I developed the same love for memorizing things on my mission. At the beginning of my mission I worked for the most part on spanish words so that I could increase my vocabulary of the spanish language. Once I improved that aspect i started to memorize the main points of scriptures. This greatly helped me become a better teacher to my investigators. At the end of my mission I started working on english vocabulary words to help me remember how to speak english. All of this practice on the mission has greatly helped me these last two semesters of school to learn things quicker. I am currently trying to learn new vocabulary words everyday so that I can augment the pool of vocabulary words that I draw from when I am writing. I still have a long ways to go but I think that if I can make it a daily habit of learning new words each day then I will be able to greatly increase the amount of words that I can learn. I think it is so amazing that people like President Monson have photographic memories, that would be so incredible to have. I am sure that he had to start learning things little by little, just like I am!
I have been working on memorizing "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe for the poem I have to memorize. It has been enjoyable to memorize a poem, I think that if I did this more often it would help me to become better at memorizing all kinds of things.

Tennis

My wife and I went to the mall today to look for tennis rackets. We have decided that we want to start playing tennis together. We are looking forward to playing every saturday morning. I think that it will be a great hobby that we can learn together. We both agreed on tennis because it is a sport that neither of us have played much, so neither of us will be able to laugh at the other one because of how bad we are (or maybe there will be a lot of laughing on both sides, ha). Since being married I have really enjoyed being able to spend time with my wife doing things like... Playing tennis, shopping, going to the temple, going to the grocery store, pretty much any activity that we can do together. We love spending time together because we both like the same things and we like to try new things together (not so much alone). I honestly just feel so lucky to be able to have a wife that is so supportive of all the things I need, try, and want to do. She is the BEST!!!! So if anyone wants to know how tennis goes tomorrow, just ask me in class on Thursday...

The Grapes of Wrath

I am reading the Grapes of Wrath for fun in my spare time (which isn't much) right now. I am about a third of the way through it and I have pleasantly enjoyed it so far. It was a little slow getting started but I it is starting to pick up. My father told me that I should read one of these book because it is one of his favorite books. Reading this book has caused me to think and ponder more about the depression and the difficult things that happened during that time. But it has also caused me to reflect on our country now and the economic recession we are passing through. These are scary times and I think we need to follow the counsel of the Prophets now more than ever. I am so grateful that we have a Prophet who prophesied over 5 years ago that we needed to be frugal and prudent with our money and live within our means. Those that took his counsel are very grateful now. Living within our means... It seems like such an easy concept but when pride gets ahold of our hearts it can be a difficult habit to let go of. I am grateful for the classics that we have that teach all of us but especially the rising generation about the past so that we don't commit the same mistakes as others. I think that it is important to know about the past so that we can better chart our future.

Vocabulary

I think that vocabulary is one the most important things an English major can learn. Throughout my childhood my father always told me that I should be memorizing vocabulary words. I didn't listen to him and for that reason I think that my writing skills have suffered over the years. But, since my mission I have started to develop an appreciation for learning vocabulary words. When my father was in college he got to the point where he was reading the dictionary because he loved learning new words so much!!! I am not to that point yet but I have started enjoying studying the meaning of words. It has helped being able to draw upon a greater bank of vocabulary when writing papers. I am no expert by any means, I think I am just playing catch up for all of my slothful teen years. I don't know why most teens don't think that knowledge is cool, but now I have this fire inside me that is driving me to learn as much as I possibly can. I hope that seeking more knowledge will always be a lifetime pursuit of mine.

Why do we watch TV?

Why do we watch so much TV? When I was on my mission, I remember thinking to myself repeatedly, “I love not wasting my time on TV!” But now I am back at school and I spend a portion of my week watching TV. I don’t watch even close to the amount of TV that I watched before my mission, but I still probably watch too much. Often after I watch a TV program I think myself, “what did I get out of watching that show?” And the answer usually is, “Nothing!” When I think about all of the wonderful men and women we learn about in school who did wonderful things, it is very clear to me that they didn’t waist their time watching TV reruns. No, they were studying and learning during their youth and that is what enabled them to do wonderful things throughout their lives. I think it is time for me to be more “anxiously engaged,” like the scripture says. I need to start doing my part and I am really going to try to stop watching meaningless TV that doesn’t contribute to my benefit. It is time for change.

Differences Between Men and Women

Now that I am married, it has been both fun and interesting to learn how to live with a woman. One of the fun things that we are doing right now is decorating our condo. While it has been fun, it has also been a bit of a challenge to find things that both my wife and I want to have in our home. There have been a lot of things that we have both agreed on very quickly, but other things have had to be a little bit more of a compromise. And when I say compromise, I mean me compromising to what my wife wants. It is funny because when I was single, I wanted all my things to be black, gray, or blue, but most of the things we have decorated our home with has colors like white, red, light blue, and cream. Oh how things have changed. Haha… My wife keeps telling me that it is the wife’s job to decorate the house and to be honest, she has done a wonderful job. It has just taken me a little while to change the way I think as far as the colors that I want to be in my home.

Rated "R" Movies

Well a couple of weeks ago we had a discussion in class about watching "R" rated movies and it was funny because I think it was the most class participation we have ever had. I made a lot of comments and I think that Sister Steadman believes that I am a adamant "R" rated movie watcher, but I actually don't watch "R" rated movies. We talked about a lot of different aspects that can play into it, but one of subjects that we talked about is how sex affects the way people think but how violence doesn't hardly affect people. I believe that this is true, when I was younger I used to watch quite a few "R" rated movies and I know that it had an affect on me and I am so grateful for the decision that I made on my mission to not watch "R" rated movies. However, I do feel that we as Latter-day Saints need to do a better job of not judging people of other faiths and of our own faith who do not live by this commandment. I think that people can be too judgmental at times and this makes the church look almost a little self-righteous. I believe one of the greatest things that the church is trying to do right now is find things in common with people of other faiths instead of pointing out the differences. I believe that this is a great missionary tool that has really helped the Work move forward. But I do think "R" rated movies do have a huge affect on people and that is why the Prophets have urged us not to watch them.

Honeymoon

Well I don't think I have talked about the Honeymoon yet. We went to Kuaui in Hawaii. It was so much fun!! My sister owns a condo on the beach so we got a great deal and had a wonderful time. Some of the things we did included: ziplining above the trees, taking a sunset sailboat cruise, off-roading through the jungle, off-roading on a private beach, and a luau. I know it sounds weird, but I think one of my favorite things to do was drive on the sand at this private beach. It was so much fun because we got to drive right up to the water and park. We could just lay out right by our jeep!! It was the Best!! I think the part that I enjoyed most of all about the Honeymoon was just being with my beautiful wife, and knowing that we are going to be together forever!! And the best part is, that feeling has only continued to grow and become more sweeter the longer we have been married. I feel so blessed!!

Giving a Talk

Giving a talk is a funny thing ain't it? My wife are new in our ward so sure enough, the second week there, the Bishopric hit us up for talks. My wife was pretty nervous about it, and to be honest, so was I. We had to give a talk about how to cleave unto your spouse, we have been married for a month!! What's up with that??? Do they suddenly think that we are experts??? Apparently so, haha.. Well my wife did a wonderful job on her talk. But it was funny because we got to church early and one of the members of the Bishopric handed us a sheet of paper with the guidelines for giving a talk in this ward. One of the guidelines was to not tell any jokes. Unfortunately for me, the beginning of my talk had a joke in it.. It wasn't inappropriate or anything but I wasn't sure if I should do it. So I had to sit there the entire sacrament meeting until my talk and try to decide whether or not I was going to use it. I decided to use it. And the Bishopric was laughing pretty hard so that made me feel pretty good. So everything turned out pretty good, but the best part about is that IT IS OVER!!

Night

Well I finished Night a while ago, but I have not had the opportunity to write about it yet. It was an interesting experience to read that book. I was filled with a lot of different emotions while I read it. It is a very remarkably sad story to take part in. If the Nobel Prize speech was not included at the end, I think I would have had a completely different perspective of how his life ended. I think reading his Nobel Speech prize gives the reader a lot more hope, knowing that he still believes in God. Reading about the Concentration Camps in Germany reminded me of how terrible that that whole thing was. Sometimes it seems like it was so long ago, but it really wasn't. When you read a book like Night, it helps to remind us that they were real people, with real emotions. When you get to know people and hear their life stories it makes them so much more real and important to you. I can't imagine how I would feel if something like that happened in the world right now. But the sad thing is, sad things are happening everyday in the world, and it seems like so much happens everyday that it almost desynthesizes us and makes us believe that anything can happen. I think that our generation is used to the impossible happening because amazing things are happening everyday.

Overwhelmed

Does anybody else feel overwhelmed at times? It seems like every semester about 2 months into it, life starts to get very overwhelming with all of the papers, test, quizes and projects that are due. It seems like everything is always due at the same time. But I do think that these overwhelming experiences are helping me and everyone else so that we will be more prepared for the future. I know that life isn't going to get any easier, but that it will continue to keep getting harder. I am so thankful that I know my Savior and I feel like I can turn to him to find peace through my trials. Life is hard and I don't think I could get through it without His help. So much of the world just gives up when life becomes too difficult. I think of the poem by Robert Frost which reads: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." I think that does make all the difference, the hard work that we are doing now, will make all the difference in the end for us as well. It is all worth it!

I'm Married

Well I wasn't there last week because 11 days ago I was married for time and all eternity in the San Diego Temple. It was the greatest day of my life, I don't think that anything could have been better about the day. We were sealed by my wife's grandpa who gave us some great advice about how to have a successful marriage, and taught us a lot of interesting things about the temple. I can't describe to you all how amazing it felt to be sealed to the love of my life and to know that there is nothing that can break that seal that has bound us together forever.
My whole life I have wondered who my wife would be, and I think using my best imagination, I could never have imagined a woman as perfect as my wife is for me. I am so grateful to have a supportive, beautiful, kind, spiritual, funny, intelligent and every other good adjective I could list about my perfect wife.
So... Hopefully all of you will excuse for not being in attendance last week...
The next blog will talk about the honeymoon..
To be Continued...

Almost There

Well I am getting married in two days. I am so excited to get married. A lot of people talk about how they have cold feet or get really nervous before they get married, but I don't feel nervous at all. I am just really excited to be sealed to my sweetheart forever, I couldn't imagine having Heavenly Father bless me with a girl that could be more perfect for me. I have had to be away from her all week and it has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life because I haven't been able to be with her. The only good thing that has come from being away from her all week is that I realized that I am nothing without her and that my life would be incomplete without her in it. I really do love my fiancee so much and I just hope and pray that I will always be found worthy of being her husband. One of the things that I am so excited about is the fact that being engaged is almost over; it has been fun, but I am ready to be married. I am so excited to begin my life as a married man and to start my own family. I love the fact that we are getting married pretty young because although it may be hard at times, I also know that we will have wonderful times growing together to become an eternal companionship like our Heavenly Parents. Well the next time that I write on my blog I will be a married man. How exciting!

Nature Experience

Well after thinking about it for a while the most special nature experience that I could think of happens every year when my family goes on our annual houseboating trip to Lake Mead. My family loves to wakeboard and water ski so our favorite thing to do on these trips is get all of the the brothers onto the ski boat and go skiing for a few hours at a time. However, sometimes during the day the water can get pretty choppy due to all of the other boats passing by which can make it very hard to ski and wakeboard. One of the nice things about being out there on a houseboat is that when all of these other boats have to go into the harbor to take their boats out of the water, we get to stay out on the water until it is completely dark, which means that around 6 PM every night all of the brothers pile into the ski boat with my dad and we go out for what we call "the night ski." With all of the other boats gone the water suddenly turns into a sea of glass, completely flat without a ripple in it. It almost seems like a dream because the water gets so flat that it is like you are skiing on a cloud as you move across it. When I am out there with the hot desert air, wind in my hair, listening to music and talking with my family, it feels as though everything is right in the world. That "night ski" makes all of the trivial and frivolous problems that seemed to be so indispensable before drift away in the wind. This is my time to get away from everything and get a reality check on life. I am so thankful that nature is able to provide my family with this wonderful vacation from the world.

Didn't Get It

Well I just read our assigned poems and maybe I am just dense, and that is probably the case, but I didn't really find them that interesting. Maybe if I knew the background of the poems they would probably seem a little more important, but for me right now I wasn't that impressed. I will say that I liked Blake's poems better than Woodsworth's. I got the idea from reading Blake's poems that he was a very religious man who believes in God and I think that is why I was able to connect with his poems a little better. The poem that I found most intriguing was the Chimney Sweeper because I felt like it was a poem of hope. Here this boy was who had experienced a very sad life up to this point and now because of a dream that he had, he was filled with a new found hope that everything would turn out fairly in the end. That is one of the things that I love most about the plan of happiness; that everyone is going to get an opportunity in this life or the next to accept the Gospel and return to our Father's presence.

Busy

Well this past weekend I had to go home to California to plan some stuff for the wedding and my fiance had her bridal shower as well. I don't know if any of you have gotten married during the semester, but it can make the semester quite interesting with all the different things going on. Luckily my future wife has already graduated from college so as least she doesn't haven't to deal with classes etc. Some of you might ask why are you getting married in the middle of the semester? Well... My mission President told me as I left the mission that it didn't matter when I got married, but that once I found that special one that I knew I wanted to marry for time and all eternity I needed to get married as quickly as possible and not let anything else come in the way of that. That is one reason and another is that my fiancee's sister is getting married after this semester so we either have to do it in February or wait until June or August. We both feel that we know this right and what is the point in waiting if you already know that it is right? So we are so excited to be getting married in 19 days, but like I said it makes this semester very interesting with classes and the job and everything. But we are both ecstatic for everything that lies ahead of us.

Blogging

Well this whole blogging things is completely new to me. I don't know if it is because I have been out of the country for the past two years but since I have come back everyone has been talking about blogging and I had no idea what it even was. So when Sis. Steadman said we were going to begin a blog I thought uh oh I don't know how to do that. Then when we were in the computer lab I felt like I was 100 years old because everyone else seemed to know exactly what to do and I had no idea. I think I got a glimpse of what my dad feels like trying to keep up with all the new technology. So anyways, I finally figured it out and here I am making my first post. It is nice to be able to express your feelings and I have a feeling that as the semester goes on it will feel much more natural to express my feelings on here. Well these were and are my feelings about the exciting new world of blogging.