Recent Thoughts on Missionaries

For the very recent returned missionaries
So I feel bad for all of the male returned missionaries. The dating pool at BYU will decrease dramatically by next year. The phrase "there's plenty of fish in the sea" won't apply for long (just realized I pulled a pun). These returned missionaries will be considered extremely blessed if they can pull off getting married in the next two years. Fortunately, this is not a permanent affect. Once all of these girls get back from their missions, BYU campus will go back to normal. These poor returned missionaries will be moping around for two years though. I guess there will be freshman girls they can marry, but I don't know how much men are willing to do such a thing.

The fact that all of these recently returned missionaries are the same age as me blows my mind.

For the single female returned missionaries
Lucky them. Get to have all of the men for themselves and don't even have to worry about serving a mission because they already have.

For the female non-returned missionaries
Even though there will still be quite a bit of girls not going on a mission, they'll be staying because they have a boyfriend.

I must say that I admire the guys who are dating girls that plan on going on a mission. I think it's cute to see a guy fight for the girl he wants. It shows how much he cares for that girl. Even though it sounds bad for a guy to prevent a girl from going on a mission, I feel like it's fine. Marriage is more important that a mission, for a female at least. Besides, there will be enough female missionaries to fill her spot.

"Please Speak Well of Me"

Theme song of my Winter '13: Please Speak Well of Me by the Weepies

I've been away a year and a day
You recognize love after the fact
You did what you did and that was that

Don't say words that you don't mean
When I'm gone, please speak well of me

Looking back now
I only wish I had been kinder
Did I ever know love, did I ever know love?
And could I have been blinder?

Don't hold back all your love for someday, for someday

I would say that I'm sorry if it would do any good
But to never regret means you have to forget
and I don't think that I could

"The First Great Commandment"

When I heard Elder Holland give this talk in the past General Conference, I was in shock. The talk that I gave in the Tiberias Branch was pretty much the same as Elder Holland's talk, except he was WAY MORE eloquent. I seriously felt like he was reading my mind instead of the teleprompter. The idea of never turning back to the old life after experiencing a conversion has been weighing on my mind since I got back from Jerusalem. I undoubtedly feel that I became a much better person while I was attending the BYU Jerusalem Center (It's not that I was a terrible person while I've been attending BYU Provo). Coming back to familiar territory (Provo) though has been difficult for me to keep up this new and improved self. After being back for only a couple months, I feel like I reverted back to my old self. These past two days, the Lord had a clever way of reminding me of who I should be through the means of a family home evening lesson, devotional, dreams (nightmares to be precise), and Elder Holland's talk. It's cool how the Lord is aware of us.

Herding in Neot Kedumim

Neot Kedumim is a "biblical reserve" in Israel where we learned about the Bible life, hands-on. This included learning how to heard goats and sheep.

We learned some pretty good leadership skills from this herding experience:
- Do not bother trying to push the goats/sheep to get them to move or stay with the pack. It won't work.
- Hitting them does not work either.
- Lead from the back.
- If you are scared or confused, the pack will do their own thing.
- Be firm and know what you are doing. They can sense it. They'll go where you lead them.

Memories of Getting My Wisdom Teeth Taken Out

The very few things I remember yesterday afternoon and night:

- Feeling really happy whenever the nurses tried waking me up.
- Thinking, "The doctor is sawing open my gums as we speak. This is trippy!"
- For a moment, I forgot why I was hearing buzzing noises and feeling vibrations in my mouth. I thought, "What are they doing to my mouth? Oh yeah, I am getting my wisdom teeth out. Time to go back to sleep."
- Woke myself up snoring at the end of the proceder.
- Nurse putting me in a wheelchair and me realizing that I forgot my glasses while we were almost to the parking lot.
- Nurse asking me as we're almost to the Kevin's car, "Is that your boyfriend?" Me replying, "That's my home teacher."
- Kevin having to help me go up the stairs to my apartment.
- Kevin telling Cassie everything that needs to be done to help me out. I was annoyed to why the doctor and nurses didn't just tell me after the proceder all of the instructions that I needed to follow. I now realize that I couldn't even carry
- Me being too lazy to text or call anyone: Having my roommate answer my phone calls and text people.
- My roommate telling me to put the cold packs on my face, but me saying that it's irrational to use them because they are not even "cold."
- Kurt coming over to drive us to pick up my medication at Walgreens. I remember distinctly that I was not supposed to use stairs, but I had to use stairs to get to his car.
- Walking through the Breezeway confused to why people were sitting in chairs in the hallway of the men's apartments. I thought they were playing games and I started to feel bitter because they did not invite me. It wasn't until we got back from Walgreens that I realized they were doing tithing settlements. I didn't feel so bad anymore.
- I needed some kind of insurance thing to get the medication. I think I gave my phone to my roommate to talk to my dad because I started loosing it and feeling incoherent. (I am pretty sure I was getting cranky all that night too.)
- Giving a thumbs up to Lucia when she asks me how I am.
- Sarah making a medication chart for me to keep track of when I have to take everything.
- Cassie giving me yogurt.
- Me whining because I let my last bite of Jell-O fall in the trash.
- Me sleeping at 10 p.m. because I want to sleep off the drugs they gave me.

I'm not even sure if half of these things really did happen. I felt like everything that happened from 1:40 p.m. and on was a dream. I'd like to think that this all happened.

I felt like I was myself when I took that drug, but more loose and not afraid of what people thought of me. It was a pretty cool feeling. I think I understand now why people take drugs and how they get hooked.

"I'm giving a talk...I know it!"

The week before we got to Galilee, I thought to myself, "I could be giving a talk in the Tiberias branch."

Brother Ludlow approached me at the start of the Galilee trip and asked me to give a talk that upcoming Sunday.

Last Sunday, the Bishopric announced that we are going to have combined Church with several wards this Sunday. I thought, "I'm pretty sure they are going to ask me to give a talk."

Brother Christensen called me last night at 7 p.m. wondering if I would be willing to give a talk. I didn't check my phone until an hour later, so I missed his call. I ended up not speaking at Church today. I almost had to though.

The Holy Ghost is good at giving me a heads up.

Gelato...mmm

If you are ever in Caesarea Maritima, get this gelato. It is muy bueno/好吃/ono/tasty! It was so filling, it was ridiculous!