birthday ideas

My birthday is coming up in a month and a half. And I just hate it when I have a friend who has a birthday coming up, and I have no idea what to get him! So here's some helpful ideas:

I am a HUGE House fan. And Greg House is always tossing this around in his office when he's deep in thought. I think that every aspiring Seminary/Band teacher should have one, don't you think?




I consider myself a man of simple tastes, because it takes a man of simple tastes to love an '03 Ford Focus hatchback (aka "the silver bullet") the way I do. And after working at a detailing/lube bay all of last summer, I love keeping my baby clean!



Probably no explanation necessary for this one. I own this first two, must have the third.



I don't need the album, I've had it and loved it for four months. But he made a dvd documentary following his tour, Ellie and I found it at wal-mart and I made some not-so-subtle hints.



Okay this one is a little on the pricey side (around 90$ on Ebay). I've been hooked on Calvin and his stuffed tiger since I was five!




What can I say? A boy needs his toys!!!!!

Brad's Theories

I like this guy.

the final frontier

Yesterday my darling wife tackled our taxes while I cleaned the entire apartment. I honestly didn't know if the day would end without my sweet wife throwing our laptop against the wall with all her strength. But it's done! And our apartment's never been cleaner!

Following the financial fiasco, we met up with Madison and Trent (two friends from percussion) and their dates at Jimmy John's for dinner. And we were all in Star Trek uniforms!

Let me explain. Trent is a huge trekkie, and practically a bonified tailor. All of us went to D.I. and bought long sleeved shirts of different colors, gave them to him, and he sewed on Enterprise crew logos on the front of each shirt. We wore them to Jimmy John's, took pictures, went back to our apartment and watched old orignial series episodes. This was probably more exposure to Star Trek in one night than I've had in the last four years. My dad raised me on it, so I know all the lingo and character names. We had such a fun time. Pictures will follow shortly!

Madison Seminary

My blog entries are starting to look like my Journal entries on my mission. Weeks apart, small novel. A lot happened this week.

I don't think I ever mentioned this, but I'm taking a Fundamentals of Teaching Seminary class. Yes, Seminary. That class you loved to skip or sleep through in high school. That wasn't the case for me, however. I had Bro. Toth as a teacher who greatly influenced my spirituality through high school, second only to my parents. Bro. Toth is sincere, funny and presents scriptures to youth in such a way that makes them think, "Ya' know there just might be something to this reading-scriptures-every-day thing." At least that's the effect he had on me.
Weeks ago, my Fundamentals of Teaching Seminary Teacher, Bro. Taylor, asked if anyone wanted some hands-on experience teaching at Madison High School Seminary, I was all over it. As soon as I got the scripture block (Alma 18-20) I prepared like I have never prepared before. I'm serious. I spent a bit of time on my mission farewell talk, on my homecoming talk, a talk I had to give last year on Easter about the Atonement, a Gospel Doctrine lesson on marriage where I focused on the relationship of Joseph and Emma. I've done a bit of preparing in my time. But not like this. You can ask my wife, I agonized over this lesson. I told my family about and got their prayers, Ellie and I fasted on a school day, I prayed and I prayed and I prayed.

And it... was... awesome.

I visited the class I was to teach a few times before the day I taught. I sat in the back and watched Bro. Walker, his teaching style, his rhythm. He's an amazing teacher, by the way. And this good man was willing to hand his class over to me for an entire day. And for fifty minutes (they were on assmebly schedule) I talked with his class, we read scriptures, we applied, we laughed, I played the guitar sang them this dumb song I wrote about Nephi to the tune of "Hey there Delilah", I talked about my mission, I bore my testimony. AND I HAD A BLAST!
After the closing prayer the bell rang, and after I shook everyone's hand on their way out the door, I sat down next to Bro. Taylor (who is also a "pre-service trainer" for CES) and we had a sweet conversation. He let me know I did a good job, and told me the only thing he was frustrated about was the fact that I'm not graduating for another three and a half years.

I haven't pled with the Lord in a while. Sure I've been asking Him things, and for things. But it's been a loooong time since I've pled. And the payoff was an experience that I will never forget... aaaaand if things go right it'll be an experience I'll have every day. I'm not getting my hopes up but... aww heck who am I kidding! My hopes are way up! I'm goin for it!

"Give Me One Reason"

Incredible.

The Weaver

The Weaver

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,
I can not choose the colors He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
forget that He seeth the upper, and I the underside.

Not till the loam is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver's skillful hand,
as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

~Al Bryant

Becoming

“Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what eis your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14

I had an epiphony today! A lot of it has to do with this scripture. The first time I had heard this verse was in the MTC, it was the last thing Bro. Jones read to us before we left for two years, two years where I learned my true potential and what life is really about living for! For everything I am today I can thank my parents and my mission, and everything I learned from them. Anyways, before I get even further off topic, I need to get this down, “God doesn't care so much about what you do, but what you become.”
Now, granted, this is not an original idea. Far from it. But you could say, that today I appreciate this principle more than I have in my entire life.

David Bednar said, “The Lord's teachings and teachers were given so that we may all attain 'the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ.' It is not even enough to be convinced of the gospel, we must act in such a way that we must be converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world that challenge us to know something, the Gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.”

Stephen Covey said, “Are you ever too busy driving to take time to get gas? Too busy sawing to take time to sharpen the saw? We don't need more time. We have all the time there is. No one has more of it than each of us have.What we need is to put priorities on our goals and activities and to manage ourselves accordingly, instead of allowing conditions to manage us. We always have time and take time for things which are really important to us.”

Confession: Sometimes at night, I'm too tired to read the Book of Mormon with my wife.

I can't say that I'm too busy to get enough sleep every night.
I can't say that I'm too busy during the day to be able to get to bed earlier.
That day, spending a half-hour on facebook or playing Halo or watching House was more important to me than reading the word of God with my eternal companion.

There's nothing harsh about the truth, and I've decided to be honest with myself. We are always taught to be honest with our fellow men, but I think all of us could be benefit with a little more honesty with ourselves! We stress because we don't manage our time properly, we get angry because we haven't managed the time to become a true Disciple of Christ and have the Spirit, we feel empty because we don't fit into our day, the things that make life rich! (“I am come that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly”! John 10:10) God has given me spiritual gifts, He's given me talents, He's given me this life to become the best I can be. I squander too much of my precious time!
I think my epiphony came when I was driving home from my Percussion Master Class, and thinking about what I was going to do when I got home. And I couldn't decide whether to prepare for my Gospel Doctrine lesson or finish my tenor ensemble or memorizing scripture mastery. It hit me, these are things that I love to do, and these are the things that are going to help me become what God wants me to become! I'm going to work to fill my day with things that will better myself and not simply entertain!