Interesting story

At the end of last term I had a dream. It was one of those dreams where you wake up and you know that you’re supposed to learn something from it. I kept thinking about it throughout the day, but I ended up forgetting what my dream was about except for a plague that I had hanging above my door.

The plague read, “I CAN DO HARD THINGS.” I first heard this phrase from Robert, Erica’s brother. He heard it on his mission and it became one of his mission motto's.

So I went home the next week and I decided to make this plague. With the help of LongBoardLarry and Ardith, I was able to make two. One for Robert and the other to put above my door just as it was in my dream.

I hung it in my room as soon as I got back to school. I would look at when I woke up and admire the workmanship of it, but I don’t think it’s message had as deep of an impact on me as I would of hoped.

The other day I was in my front room doing homework with Erica when my roommate comes out and asks me about my sign. He asks if he could purchase one from me. It obviously meant more to him than it did to me, so I just gave it to him.

He then tells me that something happened to his father and he is partially paralyzed. His motto for the past three years has been, “I CAN DO HARD THINGS.” My roommate described his father as the type of person who when he hears a joke, he’ll tell everyone the joke twice just to make sure everyone heard it and also because he was so excited about it. So for the past three years, my roommate would hear his dad tell him that he could do hard things frequently.

I’m not sure what exactly happened to his dad, I think it may have been a mini stroke, but it happened on April 17^th and it left him partially paralyzed. That was the Saturday before we came to school, that was also the day that I finished the last coat of clear on the plagues.

So we all sat around talking, and Erica and I think that I had my dream for my roommate's father. That I was supposed to make that plague for him. My roommate is home right now, but I’ll hear about his fathers reaction tomorrow night when he gets home.

So there's a cool story that happened to me recently. Love you all! :-)

Epidemics

An epidemic is defined as something affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent. (www.dictionary.com) Epidemics are usually associated with deadly diseases. The black plague was an epidemic, there have been many cases of influenza, and even HIV has been defined as a current epidemic.

I would like to add facebook to the list of current epidemics. It may not have killed people, but it has certainly caused a widespread numbness to reality. Rarely is someone on facebook real. We live in a society in which everyone is trying portray their perfect selves in an attempt to out do others. People have lost social skills: skills which will allow them to further themselves in their careers and also as their potential as a human being.

It is often said that whenever God creates something good, Satan then counters it with something bad. An example of this is the internet. God allows us to do research and to increase our knowledge through the numberless resources on the internet. Satan counters it with numberless sites of easily obtainable pornography. I personally feel that there is no good that comes from facebook. What good is there that comes solely from facebook that cannot be obtained in another way? What about evil? Erica was invited to become friends with someone she didn’t now. This person had an Islamic name with a profile picture of a gun. Has facebook helped in the exploitation of women and children? Just think about that. Has the drama of facebook ever caused friction in a marriage or relationship of someone that you know?

Check out this site of random facebook facts. It is unbiased but I think some of the facts on there will scare a lot of you.

BYU did a study and found a correlation between failing grades and addiction to electronic entertainment. Imagine how much more successful students would be if they weren’t constantly wondering who poked them or wrote on their wall. Imagine how much more efficient people would be in their jobs if they weren’t checking facebook on their cell phones.

This past week I gave facebook another chance. I found myself on it often. I enjoyed looking at people’s pictures, searching for past friends and seeing what is new in their lives, and feeling connected to my friends back in Salem. I also saw a decline in homework effort. I saw an increase in stress for upcoming quizes which I have yet to study for.

I have a vision of the man that I want to become. I feel that everyday I’m climbing up the mountain of success and of moral strength which will eventually help me be there. When I am on facebook; I not only to I take a step back, but I feel myself slipping and falling down that mountain. I become unmotivated. I start to worry about what everyone is thinking. I even become a jealous person.

I feel that people have lost the ability to communicate effectively in face to face scenarios. For over 2000 years we’ve lived without facebook, so why is there a need for it now? Some may argue that it keeps friends in contact. If someone is a real friend, wouldn’t they take the effort to pick up the phone and to call you?

So with all of that said, I am boycotting facebook.

Update on my life

So a lot has been going on lately.

There is no particular order to these events.

I made the golf team yesterday. There were tryouts. 7 people were cut. Then there was a draft. We all sat on one end of the room and as we'd get picked we'd move over to the other end of the room and sit with our team. I was the fourth to the last to get picked. It was a little awkward. I made it though! I am on Roberts' team. He's the coach. I'm going to get a cool shirt and get to play golf a couple times a week.

Go Titans! :-)

I decided that I'm going to stay in Rexburg year round. It has been a thought for sometime, but last week Erica and I fasted and prayed about it and I feel really good about staying. I'm a little nervous, I'm not sure what's going to happen. I've already started looking for work though and this would allow me to graduate faster.

I've already spoken with financial aid and my scholarship will apply to every term as long as I take 15 credits. It is also the first year that I wont be a dependent so I'm hoping I'll be elligable for some grants on top of my scholarship.

Yesterday I didn't eat very well. I didn't have the intention of eating a lot of sweets but it just happened that way.

Breakfast: i had 3 donuts and two cups of chocolate milk
Lunch: I had a slice of pizza
Dinner: I had taco bell.

Then our friend invited us over for cake and Erica and I couldn't say no. Then Jason was having a birthday party and he was having a waffle eating competition and a girl from monmouth said she could beat me. I was not going to let he beat me. We were making huge Belgium waffles. I ate three as fast as I could thinking that she wouldn't be able to compete. She ate slow, but steady. She ended up eating five. I lost the bet, and my body was not happy with me.

I'm thinking of giving up sugar for a little bit.

Luckily I have an amazing girlfriend. She is bringing me tums. She wasn't feeling all that great yesterday either. I called this morning and she's feeling a lot better though.

I want to go off on a tangent about Erica. She is super woman!


I made the picture above in photoshop. I am really proud of it.

Erica really is super woman though. She is tackling 14 credits of school. Four of which is Anatomy and Physiology. People change their majors so they don't have to take that class. Shes taking it head on and is doing great! She is always super busy with homework. She teaches three classes of yoga every week and every other week she teaches an additional class.

Despite all of her obligations she still finds time to spend with her sisters and with me. Only super woman would have the ability and capacity to take on the world and still find time to let her boyfriend and family knows how much she loves them.