I'll never be a man

Last week my dad and I played racquetball. For a little background, my dad and I have played many rounds of racquetball but each time, the results are the same. I can't beat him! It absolutely boggles my mind how I cannot seem to win. We've been playing since I was 12! I really thought I had him on one of our 5 games last week. The score was 16-12 with me in the lead, but somehow he caught up, passed me, and then won! AHHHHH!

The Prayer to Pass

I was asked to share a spiritual experience I had from this past semester at school in Sacrament meeting, but Church was canceled due to snow. So I posted what I was going to say here on my Blog! It's not very long because it was only supposed to take up 2-3 minutes.

At school I learned a lot. I learned about the duality of matter, and quarks and totally bizarre theories about relativity. I learned how to analyze artwork and after this past semester I can say that I can dance a pretty mean polka. All of these things are great, but I also learned things on the spiritual level, but specifically prayer. Although prayer is a pretty simple concept, I learned there is much more to it than closing your eyes and bowing your head. Doctrine and Covenants 82:10 states "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” At school I learned how this scripture applied to my goals. If I studied hard, I could call upon the Lord for the help I needed. I took a math class this past semester and the entire semester I was flirting with the pass/fail line. It got to the point where one final test would determine whether or not I passed the class. I started studying a week in advance for this test and on the day of the test I studied for 4 hours before I took it. I got to the testing center, pretty confidently (I had spent countless hours going over the material), got my test, found a seat, took out a #2 pencil and finally looked at the test. I wanted to cry. I looked at it and literally thought I had gotten the wrong packet. This wasn’t math, this was Egyptian. At the top of the packet listed the course name and the professor so I was really out of luck. At this point, the only thing I could do was pray. So I prayed and prayed hard. I wasn’t asking for an A, just a passing grade. As I prayed the scripture from D&C came to mind. “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say.” The best part of my situation was that I had done what the lord had said, therefore, I qualified for his promise. I finished praying and started on the exam. There were 20 questions and I think I only had to guess on about 20 of them. I finished my educated guesses and walked downstairs to see my score and I stand before you today and testify of the power of prayer. Not only did I pass the test, but it saved my life, my mom would kill me if I failed a class. I know that my prayer to pass was answered because I had kept the Lord’s commandments. I testify to you that for any situation, if you keep the commandments to live worthily of God’s promise, then He will bless you when you call upon Him. Prayer is much more than asking to “nourish and strengthen us,” it is asking the Lord to fulfill his promise because we have lived worthily. Amen.

With Every End Comes a New Beginning

It has been incredibly hard getting myself ready to depart from my current residence at BYU. I have had such an uplifting experience here in Provo and it just kills me that I have to leave. I've learned so much, not only academics, but spiritual knowledge, as well as knowledge about myself. I've come to appreciate the ancient words of the prophets as well as the words of the prophet today. I feel so indebted to my Heavenly Father for my countless blessings. I have had so much fun, met amazing people, and learned so much. I'm getting ready to leave for a mission in February and I know this is a way I can express my gratitude toward God, by extending my service to my fellow children of God. My experience here as a Freshman in college has been such an enlightening one, I can only thank the Lord and my parents for it.

On the topic of gratitude, I feel it necessary that I need to be more grateful. I need to appreciate people for who they are and learn from what they have to offer. My roommates have taught me this lesson. By observing the other guys my age, but from different backgrounds, I have learned so much. From Curtis, I learned the value of listening. More often than not, it is easiest to avoid conflict by letting some one speak their mind without interruption. From Conner, I learned organization. Organization leads to less stress and anxiety. From Alec, I learned determination. Practice makes perfect, and when you struggle if you're just starting out, keep at it and eventually you might be decent at whatever it is you set out to do. From Jordan, I learned the value of an embrace. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of giving hugs, especially to other dudes, but Jordan taught me to be there for someone if needed.

I am at a loss of words to express how I feel at this present time. I am filled with more grief than I am worry. However, I am so grateful for the time i have been able to spend here in Provo and I can't wait to get back. But in the mean time, I know that I need to prove to my God that I am truly grateful and that I am his servant.

I want to optimistic about being away from school and not on a mission for the next two months, so I will do all that I can to better myself. I'm going to study my scriptures and improve my handwriting. I know that I need to keep myself busy or else I will just sit and stew. If anyone has any ideas as to how to make 2 months fly by. Let me know.

Again, I am filled with so much gratitude for the time I have been able to spend here at BYU.

Adiós

Christmas!

Like in so many other ways, my older sister Ashley inspired me. So I am going to make a Christmas List on my blog!

To get it out of the way,
WORLD PEACE


I love Star Wars and this is the newest and coolest Star Wars game! Gotta have it!


I would also like a pair of these bad boys

But if I don't get those I could settle for these

"Just Dance" is probably one of the funnest games out there, so Just Dance 2 should be even better!

We used to have one of these waffle irons when I was a kid, so I think it would be great to get a new one! I love mickey!

But I would REALLY like one of these for all my classes...

Well there you have it! Santa you better be watching! I've been real good this year!

Smile like you mean it

Its been a significant amount of time since I've last written in this here blog, so since I'm awake, I figured I would leave a quick note.

Life is good. Specifically, life is good when you have an optimistic perspective. Those who know me very well (my mom) would probably argue that I am never optimistic and I can find something to complain about in every situation! This may or may not be true, but in previous posts I've mentioned my ambitions to do small things in order to become "a better person."
I was getting really stressed after mid-terms because my tests exhibited scores I didn't think reflected the things I'd learned, or my intelligence. So I decided not to stress about it. I've seen people (my roommates and friends) and how they act when they're stressed and I thought to myself "Do I look that pathetic when I'm stressed about a test or a project?" My solution has been to do what I know to do (study for tests and do my homework and all) but to not beat myself up if I don't perform as well as I had hoped. In the words of Robert Frost, "In three words I can sum up everything I have learned in life: it goes on." I've been trying to have more perspective for life/school, although I am still working hard for good grades, what happens happens I guess. In my English class I have been so determined to get a perfect score on a paper, my last one was a 94%, but I again, as long as I'm doing what I should, what happens happens. In complete opposition, in Math 110, I'm just gunning to pass that darn class! I find it interesting how my goals for each of my classes differ, in English and Humanities I just want a 100% on a paper(in English my highest has been a 95% and in humanities my highest is a 98%, so close!)but for Math 110 and physical science, I don't think I've ever prayed so hard in my life!

So in summary, as long as you're optimistic, the troubles don't seem so bad and things turn out in the end (or so I hope, finals are in 4 weeks! AH!).

I can't believe the Fall semester is almost over. It just blows my mind! I've had so much fun at BYU and I just can't imagine leaving it for now! I am very excited to serve a mission but I don't think it will really hit me until perhaps the day I leave for Spain.

In conclusion, I'm having a great time out here in school and I'm doing well in all my classes (minus Math 110 and physical science where it's turning into a struggle to pass!) But the good outweigh the bad, or so I hope(GPA speaking)(doing good in 6 out of 8 classes is good right?!).

I'm still here!

I've grown a foot or two, so therefore, I am qualified to go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I got my mission call last week and I can't even begin to describe the emotional roller coaster involved with the mission paper work and the fact that I'm going on mission so soon. In mission prep at church, my roommate Curtis teaches it and told us "You'll discover emotions you never thought you had when you start the mission process." I testify (you see that, I'm preparing to talk like a missionary) that Curtis' statement is true. I believe that, perhaps, my best 'word putting' for my emotions would be: a feeling of excitement, calmness, utter terror, stress, relief, inadequacy, ulh(sound effect, not word)and a little bit of whew. So if you can possibly relate then you've also gone on mission or you've been keeping up with this season's BYU football team.
I've been called to the Málaga Spain Mission and geographically speaking, it's in Europe. I wanted to keep an open mind through the mission paperwork process so I told myself I would be happy with anywhere I was called. I may have been able to lie to myself but deep down I desperately wanted to go back to Europe, specifically Germany. If you can picture a map of Europe you'll notice Málaga and Germany are a little different. Although I didn't get Germany, I'm still extremely pleased with getting my call to Spain. I've done a little research on Málaga, Spain and I have a few fun facts for you. Antonio Banderas and Picasso are from Málaga and the weather is never above 85 degrees and never lower than 70 degrees. So in the words of Brother Frederico, (the first counselor in my ward) "BAY-CATION!" (he mixes his 'v' and 'b' sounds sometimes)
On a less positive note, there has been a lot of dramatics going on 'roud here' with my family home evening group. So in order to protect myself from any more drama, that's my only comment on the matter.
But to positive again, This upcoming week is the downhill point! It's been eight weeks since the semester started! I've survived one half and I think I can handle one more. It's gonna be a real struggle, but I think I'll be able to handle it. I'm not counting on it though, just hoping. I got my very first college English paper back and I was disappointed; I got a 95. You might initially believe a 95 qualifies as an excellent grade, but this paper was perfect! It has hilarious and structurally sound! Where did those negative 5 points come from?! At least now I have a little bit of cushion for my next paper!
Tomorrow I am having a reunion with some buddies from EFY from quite a few years ago. We somehow all kept in touch and one of the four of us is having his mission farewell address tomorrow afternoon. Another one of the four is here at BYU with me so the two of us are driving to Ogden to meet up with the other two. I'm very excited about it! I'll make sure we get a nice reunion picture.
My Birthday is this upcoming Friday and my 19th birthday marks the year I will have lived in the United states longer than I have outside of the United states. At eighteen years old, I'm at 9 years overseas and 9 years not. But on Friday I'll be 9 years overseas and 10 years not. However, I'll be going to Spain for two years so I'll still be up with years overseas! Not that it's really important, its just kind of a fun fact, just like how 'Jason' can be found in the first letters of July, August, September, October, November.

As a side note, and I'll probably have to make an entire other blog post for Mr.BYU, but it was last week and a totally blast. This is me with sasquatch and his wife.

And this is their first argument:


I'll have to explain some other time because tonight I am going to the ward talent show. Hopefully it will be good. Until next time 'Hasta luego' (I'm practicing my Spanish)

Be Better by Doing Better

I have recently contemplated what I have done to become a better person. It seems that I am never happy with what I do or who I am so I set goals to try to make myself better. I've tried huge leaps that never seem to work so I've made small efforts to slowly make myself a better person. The only way to become a better person, is to do better. So, the first act of improvement I made was organization. I make my bed every morning. This is something totally foreign to my life; I think these past two weeks (when I started) is the longest I've made my bed in consecutive days! So for 14 days so far I have made my bed every morning after hopping out. It really does make a difference, not only for the way the room looks, but it starts my day on an organized and positive note. My second goal for betterment is changing the way I pray. What started as a coincidence has turned into a goal that I have continually been able to fulfill. One night, I decided to pray and only be grateful for the things in my life, not requesting blessing or a good night's sleep, only the things I was thankful for. In my family I believe there is a curse. Once you go to college, you will develop sleeping issues that will keep you up late into the night and your mind will work non-stop. My dad has weird sleeping and so does my older sister. After I prayed, only expressing gratitude, all the worries seemed to go into the back of my mind. I could have been stressed about a paper, a test, or just general studying and it would keep me up late just because my mind couldn't settle. However, after expressing my gratitude for the lord, I don't think about the current issues and I can have a good night's sleep. I would recommend trying it out! Those are my efforts to become a better person. I like them because they aren't hard to do or anything out of my ordinary routine. I guess at this point I am just trying to refine what I already do before I can take on anything new.

School has been good. It's getting a little monotonous but that's school for ya! I like all my classes, for the most part, and I'm making lots of friends and bettering my relationships with my current friends. I recently put in my mission papers and I'm just trying to keep everything in perspective. Today in Church the Bishop called all the young men who received their calls and asked them to announce where they were called to. Two guys walked up and the first one said "Mexico", he walked back to the stairs and the second young man announced his location. He said "Italy" instantly, a huge gasp and "wows" could be heard along with quiet cheering. I thought that act of "wowing" was so rude! Nobody wowed for the Mexico call! It was embarrassing and just rude, the indecency just killed me. That Mexico call probably means the world to that guy! I think I'm being sensitive to the issue because I'll be getting my call soon and I don't want anyone to judge it for me! Each missionary candidate is chosen to a certain location by divine inspiration! I don't need some stupid Utah Mormons telling me a call to a state side mission or Mexico isn't adequate!

My Mom just sent me some pictures through facebook of me from I believe fifth grade! They are of me folk dancing! WHOA! I remember doing the folk dancing during recces but the pictures are from our performance. I totally forgot about the performance until I saw these pictures! I wish that my start with folk dancing in 5th grade would have made me better! I love doing it but I get pretty lost sometimes!
This one is my favorite...It shows I've got that double step down!


Now I get to just try to make it through the week! My roommate and friend Conner Blake got two tickets to the Sunday Morning First Session of General Conference so that will knock out one of my goals for being in Utah! I'm pretty excited! The only problem, is I don't know if I've ever made it through General Conference without falling asleep!