Dilemma of Not Having a Car

Actually, the dilemma is worse when none of your roommates don't have a car.

I never realized how annoying of an issue it was until this past Friday night. We were pretty content about watching movies for the past couple weeks. It's not until mid-way through the semester some of us realized how pathetic it is to keep this up. My roommates and I were going crazy for like an hour not knowing what to do. If I had a car, I probably would have driven to another state just for fun this past weekend. Googled "what to do when you have nothing to do at home." We were desperate. We ended up writing a story/novel/movie/musical (don't know what it's going to be yet). We later watched How to Train Your Dragon at another apartment. We then talked until like 2 a.m. It ended up being a really fun night. But, it's still annoying the fact that none of us have a car.

Here's a list of things I have always wanted to do in Utah, but cannot do because I do not have a car:

• Go on a hike during the fall season
• Go running along the mountain range as the sun is setting (If I were to run to mountains, I wouldn't have the energy to run back)
• Hike up Arches
• Rock climb (never tried it, but Utah seems like a pretty fun place to try it out)
• Go snowboarding (I've only tried it once, but it's so fun)
• Go to concerts
• Eat at Cafe Rio/Cheesecake Factory/etc.
• Go grocery shopping more often
• Go to a session of General Conference

"Last Day Impressions"

So I was looking through my notes on my phone that I took while I was in Jerusalem. There's a note that I labeled "Last Day Impressions." I made this note while I was walking around the Old City for the last time. Looking over what I wrote, I don't think I would have ever remembered some of these specific impressions I felt that day.

• People are most important - they are a part of the experience
• Ask questions - be curious
• If you are unprepared, do not get upset about it
• Be constantly willing to give
• I am ready to preach the Gospel and answer people's questions (I got this impression because I was handed a pamphlet describing the Islam religion. There was a Q&A section that was included to bash on Christianity. The questions were about the Bible and Jesus. The answers were meant to show how out of touch Christians were. I remember feeling that I could answer every single one of these questions from the perspective of a Mormon. If I could, I would have preached what Mormons believe in right then and there at the Dome of the Rock. It was at this moment that I had a further witness that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the truth.)
• Don't judge others for worshiping a different way
• Be happy for what the Jews and Muslims have here, especially Jews
• Be happy always

Got My Mission Call...NOT!

So I just realized that I lied on an earlier post from November. It's way past mid-January and I still haven't even turned in my mission papers. So the original plan was to put my availability date at the end of April so I could turn it in exactly four months in advance. I changed my mind. My availability date is May 29 (my 21st birthday). So the plan was to turn in my papers at the end of January. The slacker that I am did not start the medical paper work until the end of January. I have been having a lot of random road blocks with my medical papers since then. I don't know if this is a sign from God or punishment for procrastinating my mission papers. I have had my mission papers for almost a full 4 months. I know some people who only took a week to get their mission papers in.

I'll probably be getting my mission call by mid-March. The main reason I was pushing for getting my mission call in mid-January was so I could figure out if I can stick with my major. I need a foreign language for my major. I know that if I go English speaking there is no way I can come back from my mission and jump into Chinese 301. If I were to go English speaking I would have changed my major to Economics this semester. If I were to go on a foreign speaking mission, at least I could stay in my major and use that foreign language to fulfill the requirement. If it were not Chinese Mandarin speaking, I would have dropped CHIN202 this semester. Well, I am still in my major and I am still taking Chinese and I have no regrets.

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.