That crazy man inside of me is dancing in African fashon while laughing manically.
Anyways,
The most daunting thing that has been looming over me all week has been schoolwork. Not just keeping up with the curricculum, but also maintaining the grades that I want. I have not been taking care of Keenan very well emotionally about this, and I apologize, buddy.
Today was Government crackdown day. The mental image of that sentence just sprung up after typing that... wayyyy too much Les Miserables....
Did a lot of catch up work in the class, and got it all caught up to date! I'm using a new note-taking strategy: Outlining! It's not useful only for essay writing; I realize that the Roman Numberal, Uppercase Letter, Number, Lowercase letter system is useful for just about anything that takes some preparation and organization. And so my Government notes needed to be. I found this technique to be very useful when I did my Biology crackdown yesterday. My past strategy was, I admit, no strategy at all. I am so grateful that God sends me new ways of organizing my terribly chaotic brain now and then.
Another study tip I've learned from experience: you MUST keep the curricculum interesting. Otherwise it's boring. I sometimes try self-psych on myself when I feel mentally distracted. "Come on, Keenan. This is FASCINATING!" And it works, if ya do it right.
I must say, using this new system made the learning experience more fun as well as making it more enriching. The thing that really stumped me after studying all day was that I got an 80% on the test I had been studying for. But instead of stressing out, I felt very calm and peaceful inside. The feeling inside of me, if put into words, would be "Keenan, that's just a grade, be still. You learned more today than you usually do; it's okay, really." It was a very comforting feeling.
I have come upon a scripture that has become a very useful weapon against my chronic inadequacy disorder: "Look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not."-D&C 6:36
It's a simple metaphysical sheild that can be used to defend against anything, really. Evil thoughts, physical pain, emotional pain, anger, despair, and honestly any other trial I can think of.
This is my most favorite scripture.
With those most important things down, I will proceed with the journal entries:
Monday (2/14)
Ah yes; Valentine's Day! I sure had a fun time today! We exchanged some cards and ate chocolate in our immediate famliy, but other than that it was a pretty normal day. With the exception of the serenading surprise, that is.
The day before this Monday, mom came up with a wonderful plan. You see, Fa and Carmen don't celebrate Valentine's day in the countries they are from, so she wanted me to do something special for them. She wanted me to call up some guy friends, drive to their house on Valentine's day (they are both residing at the Wright's house), and sing them some classic barbershop tunes!
With the help of Anthony, Jefferson, and Calvin (good ol' Jarvies: can always call on them for just about ANYTHING), we executed mother's plan today. Sister Wright answered the door, and then went to find Carmen and Fa. Once they appeared we initiated our strain of "Falling in Love With You", to which both of them hid behind the door in response. They listened to our song, once in awhile subtly peeking from behind the door. It was like Christmas caroling, only better! I think I may have to make this a tradition... only to do it on a number of girl's houses!
Tuesday (2/15)
More school, stress, and frantically trying to contact William and the rest of the guys concerning Wednesday's activity. Nothing extremely unusual to report other than that. Oh, I really liked Ms. Board's thought for the day today: "If you could carry on for a month without finding fault in others or saying anything negative, could you do it?" I think I'll take on her challenge this coming March; give me a bit of time to practice...
This evening I came to visit the Brinkerhoffs concerning the Music Merit Badge and the Personal Management Merit Badge. We had a great time seeing each other again; I miss seeing Sister Brinkerhoff for morning seminary. I guess I forgot how amazingly sparky-happy-crazy-grandma-y she is. Oh, and Sister Adams! SISTER ADAMS......................... Musically excellent, quiet, short, white haired, blue eyed, bundle of spiritual strength... sometimes wore pink...
Where was I?
Oh yeah, the merit badges. Well, Sister Brinkerhoff signed off the music one, and Brother Brinkerhoff signed off the PM one after I showed him a few things. He's a cool guy, and so is his family! I don't know the rest of his children that well, but I know of his youngest one: Kameron. He is the most intelligent child prodigy I have ever personally known. He's just in his first year of BYU before his mission; has a vision of being a chemical engineer. Kameron's a great role model to me.
They had a Leahona and a Sword of Laban in their living room, which I got to weild! Just a for-fun side note there.
Wednesday (2/16)
This day was filled with more frantic school-stuff and phone calling. Once again, Heavenly Father made everything work out for tonight!
We started our activity by meeting in the hall with the guys. We all brought a little bit of money, and then went to the store. At Albertsons we bought pasta, chicken, cream of chicken, milk, and cheddar. Then we drove to Brother Ledesma's house and turned what we had into a delicious Chicken Tetrazzini. I feel like expressing how yummy it was in Italian, but I don't know any Italian phrases longer than one word off of the top of my head... yet. It was a simple grey-yellow sauce that was served on sphagetti.
As we made and ate the Tetrazzini, I had a great time getting to know the guys in our new Varsity troop better. William, the Assistant Varsity Leader, was the main instructor tonight, and taught all the basics of cooking. With Anthony around, laughter was naturally a big part of the conversation. The most hilarious joke that was the ongoing story of what Jefferson puts in his daily protein shake. "Some milk, protein powder, a handful of nails, a couple of baby birds- I mean eggs!" It got so rediculously extreme that he advanced to say, "he doesn't just get the milk; he blends in the whole cow! Also, he'll throw in a couple of North Valley Knights, AND their horses. AND their armor." (North Valley High School is HV's rival, and where my dad used to work before he was moved to teach at the new alternative center!)
The thing about Anthony's jokes is that he simply DOESN'T STOP. Even as we were driving home he would continue the list of things that were found in Jefferson's protein drink. "A baby kangaroo..."
Good old Calvin; he's a great guy too. Plans on being a Judge someday, and has big dreams of eventually becoming a Professor of Law at BYU. I wish him well, and I'll keep his name in mind when I get into the politics scene...
Thursday
The HV district had a 6-day weekend; Henry and Gretel stayed home today. It snowed this morning, which was a very fun thing to wake up to indeed. I slept in WAY too much; my body clock has been a wreck for these past few days. It's terrible to see what no-seminary does to ya, eh?
I've started a new guitar song called Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton.
Loughlin Garner (1993-2008) is a cousin of mine who I'm certain is currently working in the spiritual world. This song was sung by my father at his funeral, with a few lyric modifications by Loughlin's mom. Though I only saw him at family reunions, I look back now and realize what an amazing young man he is. I hope that I will have his song mastered by this coming September: his 18th birthday.
Friday (2/18)
Today I slept in again, and was awoken by my mother at 9, asking if I would like to go to the YMCA with her. She left the room, and I prayed whether it would be better for me to sleep more or to go to the YMCA. I was answered with the latter, and so I went.
I have been showing no mercy to my knees at all. Hard jog, hard jog, HARD jog. Today, I used a bike machine instead so I could read 7 Habits while exercising. I haven't been continuing this book for a long time now because of its structure. The first three Habits focus on Personal Victory, or internal conflict resolve. You MUST have your true values defined, goals set, and priorities scheduled in order to achieve optimal success in relationships and teams. When I read these beginning chapters, I could see in myself a lot of room for improvement. And so I put the book down for awhile and tried to work on these core parts of my character. Months later, I now feel like I've come to a slightly higher level of personal development. And so I feel a bit safer about reading on. It was a great workout.
Also on that day I had the chance to job-shadow Uncle Mark partially for my Engineering MB and partially for self-enrichment. He got to give me the grand tour of the small radio company he works for. The main chunk of information I got from the visit is this: radio tech is VERY complicated. But it looked like the sort of thing you could have a ton of fun with if you knew what you were doing. My most favorite part was meeting their graphic designer Dave who made the radio-designs on his computer. The software he was using looked very complicated, while looking like a ton of fun at the same time.
I'm thinking of job shadowing a bureaucrat in our ward next. Might as well get a taste in everything, right?
Saturday (1/19)
Like I said before, today was a Government crackdown day. Oh hang on, let me explain something...
On Wednesday I brought all of my snow-camping gear to Brother Johnson for the routine inspection. Today was Klondike, you see, but I did not go. Why? Well, maybe I didn't pester Johnson enough. He said that the Varsity guys were not paid for to participate in it, and I left it at that. Next time I'll keep on buggin' him about it! Oh, I have a new list, the "Next Time I'll..." List. It's in front of everything else on the planner, and is basically a list of regrets (in positive form) that is supposed to help me remember to never to make those mistakes again. Self-psych! Gotta love it.
Grandma and Grandpa Foster came over all the way from Nyssa Oregon (8 hour drive) today! They're here visiting family in this area, and stopped by for the afternoon. Grandpa Fred is my step-grandpa, and a really great guy! He keeps well informed about current events, and even served in the Navy as an aircraft radio tech guy! He told me a bit about life in the military; been trying to get different people's opinions about it lately. Lots of decisions to make: need to get as much wisdom my inexperienced, young brain can hold from seasoned people.
Sabrina invited Haley (red-haired-crazy-girl) to come over today as well. My mother and father just used their savings to buy a new fancy-smanshy camera! Sabrina has been taking good care of it, and is therefore allowed to use it. She and Haley took some pictures with it outside, then played some board games (Blockus and Dominon), then watched a movie.
This next week is missionary week!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
If I were any better, I'd be twins!
Monday
I did not sleep the night before this night. I shamefully admit that I destroyed my sleep patterns by finding and experimentingng with new movie making/sound recording software, while organizing the files on my computer. At this current stage of maturity that I am in, the word CLEAN=destroy what's making the mess if you don't know/don't care where it goes. I dumped all of the old school files on my computer, only to find out later that I accidentally got rid of an important NHS document where all of my recorded service hours were! Heavenly Father had mercy on me, however: I had just sent the file to Brianna so she could tally the service time, so I was able to get it back from her. I could have easily learned this lesson the hard way; when am I ever going to GROW UP?
As soon as I can bear the growing pain, I assume.
Today I worked at Anna's house again. She's married now, and is therefore getting ready to move.
Tuesday
I took some good notes in seminary today. What I got from Superhero Beckstead's lesson today were fantastic bits of knowledge such as "Most trials are self inflicted." "But Christ can even strengthen you in those ones." "Just because something is simple doesn't mean it's easy." "American continent motto: Inasmuch as ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land." and "Hardships form togetherness."
Today was another good school day, with a lot of LLs. Thanks to Ceana, I remembered the Latin LL! I had a very fun time in all of the LLs that I went to today, especially Mrs. Naylor's English lesson. I feel safe saying that that was the most entertaining livelesson I have ever attended; lots of creative phrases were made.
Mwahaha, our group of 9 from the Semester party is planning another music party with more people at Miranda's house on the 4th of March... I'm so excited!
Wednesday
I worked for the last time at Anna's house today. I have many responsibilities, and the work I'm now doing over there can easily be done by a crew. I need to learn to just chill and leave some responsibilities to others.
Other than that, same old school.
This evening, our Varsity team organized a theme for these next three months: Cooking! We thought up a lot of different activity ideas, ranging from live chicken butchering to getting food-handling licences. We put our best ideas on the calendar; I'm so glad that everything worked out so well! We made salsa that night just for a warm up after planning.
Thursday
Where on earth does all of my time go? This week has been the craziest of my life so far. Today I had a dentist appointment, and was told that I'm not cleaning my teeth well enough when I brush. Haha, another weakness to strengthen!
Had a good piano practice as well; I'm simply loving my lessons with Hildegard of Grants Pass (likes to go by her "title" now and then for kicks!). As much as I feel I'm improving, I need to really step up on my piano practice. And guitar practice. And schoolwork. And scripture study. And family relations. And friend relations. And missionary work. And book reading. And scouting. And cleaning. And the rest of the list...
I love life! There is so much to do. How can one ever be bored?
Friday
Today was a blast! Got a bit of school in, then went to see Jeff Nelson (Grants Pass park coordinator) at 11. We set up the activity in our area for ORCA Cares Day: March 17th. We're going to replenish the wood chunks that make the paths throughout my most favorite park in our city: the Reinhart Volunteer Park. Again, Heavenly Father has given me such mercy for having everything work out just fine! I need to spend a ton of time on my knees thanking Him.
After chatting with Jeff (who's a really cool guy, by the way. He's a fan of Covey too!) I went back home, then was picked up by grandpa Seable to go to his house. And then it began...
Anthony Jarvis has become a digital songwriter. He now puts simple poems to simple music that he finds on this really cool music site! Anyways, he wrote an extra-cheesy song called "My Valentine" that he wanted to turn into a music video. Today I helped him do just that; you can find it in my videos on facebook. It was such a ridiculous song, but that was what made it so fun! Here's just a taste of his lyrics:
"For you I would do most anything,
I'd die or count all of the people in Beijing..."
We've decided to make a video this year for each holiday. We already have ideas for St. Patrick's Day...
Saturday
Today I got into movie-mode and decided to make a couple of guitar videos for a couple of birthday girls on facebook, as well as a cover of Longer by Dan Fogelburg. Then after doing a bit of schoolwork (cough, not enough) I went to go tract with the missionaries in our ward. We first met at the stake center with a few of the other Priesthood holders. Our goal was to go out and find a bunch of people whom we had not seen or heard from in the ward. And I think we did pretty successfully. In the individual groop I was in, we were only able to contact one guy, who was embarassed to come to church because of how rude some of the members were around his wife and daughter who are not members. But from what I hear from some of the other groops, we found some people who wanted home teachers to start coming back to them. Therefore, we were successful.
Once I was driven home from that, I made a few phone calls to some MB counselors and set some appointments. I've almost gotten everything done Merit Badge-wise; just wrapping up some different stuff this next coming week.
WHAT DID I DO WITH MY TIME TODAY? My word, why doesn't stuff on my task list get DONE? I need to work on prioritizing more; even Soke pointed out that weakness of mine when I practiced karate. I believe that this weakness can be made strong. I can do this, but not by my own power.
Schoolwork buildup...
This evening we went to grandma's house (the gathering place for all special occasions) to celebrate Aunt Kirsten's 40th birthday! I got to learn a lot more about her in the party games we played; I need to get to know this lady more! People shared fun family stories about her, such as the "intruder of the house" and "the amnesia incident". Kirsten's been in a ton of childhood accidents; it's amazing how she survived getting a hole gouged into her head by a falling statue, being bit by a savage (oh, HA. Savage) dog, accidentially stabbing herself to the bone with a spoon, and more! I love Kirsten; I'm going to have to get to know her more. By the way, she's 11 weeks pregnant!
Sunday
Today's sacrament meeting was fantastic! Katie Wooley had just returned from her mission, and gave a talk about her mission experience. President and Sister Woodley (yup, that's not a typo) also gave talks in sacrament meeting today about the temple. The strong testimonies from these two people who worked in the temple so much strengthened my own testimony greatly. I want to go to the temple! I'll have to make it a monthly committment when I am an adult.
After sacrament meeting we went to Sunday school, in which Brother Hancock taught us the lesson in which Jesus talkes to Nicodemus about being born again. I remember that Sister Baxter had taught me this lesson a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting the Baxters. It was much easier to be taught by the Spirit in Rory's classroom than Brother Hancock's, I feel. Maybe it was the throwing of chocolate, the disruptive talking of everyone else, and the objective-less teaching strategy of Brother Hancock that made it difficult to feel inspired in class today. I don't know. Maybe I should just change my attitude about it and see what I can do to make Sunday school more spiritual instead of blaming others.
In priesthood, Brother Evans taught us discipline in the way he does whenever our system for the sacrament bread messes up (the Sunday I was gone the system fell apart, oops!): he "forced" the members of our quorum to copy scripture for the whole lesson time. I suggested D&C 88, and so we spent that whole last 40 minutes copying the first verses of that section on scraps of paper.
After church, Sabrina came up with a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise: tomorrow afternoon, I and some of my guy friends are going to go and serenade Fa and Carmen at their house! I heard both of them say that they did not like Valentine's Day. We plan on turning that around, mwahahaha~!
Today was plan-out-the-week-day and prepare the house for missionaries to come; Elder Hill and his companion (dang it... forgot his name! Very new missionary.) came to dinner. We made some delicious Thai food for our Sunday meal: curry, pork, rice, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and brocoli. Delicious! Their message to us was delivered very well: if you want to be a good missionary, or student, or husband, or anything else, you need to be willing to do two things: to keep the right attitude, and work hard! I hope I can take their challenge to try harder to do that this week.
I did not sleep the night before this night. I shamefully admit that I destroyed my sleep patterns by finding and experimentingng with new movie making/sound recording software, while organizing the files on my computer. At this current stage of maturity that I am in, the word CLEAN=destroy what's making the mess if you don't know/don't care where it goes. I dumped all of the old school files on my computer, only to find out later that I accidentally got rid of an important NHS document where all of my recorded service hours were! Heavenly Father had mercy on me, however: I had just sent the file to Brianna so she could tally the service time, so I was able to get it back from her. I could have easily learned this lesson the hard way; when am I ever going to GROW UP?
As soon as I can bear the growing pain, I assume.
Today I worked at Anna's house again. She's married now, and is therefore getting ready to move.
Tuesday
I took some good notes in seminary today. What I got from Superhero Beckstead's lesson today were fantastic bits of knowledge such as "Most trials are self inflicted." "But Christ can even strengthen you in those ones." "Just because something is simple doesn't mean it's easy." "American continent motto: Inasmuch as ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land." and "Hardships form togetherness."
Today was another good school day, with a lot of LLs. Thanks to Ceana, I remembered the Latin LL! I had a very fun time in all of the LLs that I went to today, especially Mrs. Naylor's English lesson. I feel safe saying that that was the most entertaining livelesson I have ever attended; lots of creative phrases were made.
Mwahaha, our group of 9 from the Semester party is planning another music party with more people at Miranda's house on the 4th of March... I'm so excited!
Wednesday
I worked for the last time at Anna's house today. I have many responsibilities, and the work I'm now doing over there can easily be done by a crew. I need to learn to just chill and leave some responsibilities to others.
Other than that, same old school.
This evening, our Varsity team organized a theme for these next three months: Cooking! We thought up a lot of different activity ideas, ranging from live chicken butchering to getting food-handling licences. We put our best ideas on the calendar; I'm so glad that everything worked out so well! We made salsa that night just for a warm up after planning.
Thursday
Where on earth does all of my time go? This week has been the craziest of my life so far. Today I had a dentist appointment, and was told that I'm not cleaning my teeth well enough when I brush. Haha, another weakness to strengthen!
Had a good piano practice as well; I'm simply loving my lessons with Hildegard of Grants Pass (likes to go by her "title" now and then for kicks!). As much as I feel I'm improving, I need to really step up on my piano practice. And guitar practice. And schoolwork. And scripture study. And family relations. And friend relations. And missionary work. And book reading. And scouting. And cleaning. And the rest of the list...
I love life! There is so much to do. How can one ever be bored?
Friday
Today was a blast! Got a bit of school in, then went to see Jeff Nelson (Grants Pass park coordinator) at 11. We set up the activity in our area for ORCA Cares Day: March 17th. We're going to replenish the wood chunks that make the paths throughout my most favorite park in our city: the Reinhart Volunteer Park. Again, Heavenly Father has given me such mercy for having everything work out just fine! I need to spend a ton of time on my knees thanking Him.
After chatting with Jeff (who's a really cool guy, by the way. He's a fan of Covey too!) I went back home, then was picked up by grandpa Seable to go to his house. And then it began...
Anthony Jarvis has become a digital songwriter. He now puts simple poems to simple music that he finds on this really cool music site! Anyways, he wrote an extra-cheesy song called "My Valentine" that he wanted to turn into a music video. Today I helped him do just that; you can find it in my videos on facebook. It was such a ridiculous song, but that was what made it so fun! Here's just a taste of his lyrics:
"For you I would do most anything,
I'd die or count all of the people in Beijing..."
We've decided to make a video this year for each holiday. We already have ideas for St. Patrick's Day...
Saturday
Today I got into movie-mode and decided to make a couple of guitar videos for a couple of birthday girls on facebook, as well as a cover of Longer by Dan Fogelburg. Then after doing a bit of schoolwork (cough, not enough) I went to go tract with the missionaries in our ward. We first met at the stake center with a few of the other Priesthood holders. Our goal was to go out and find a bunch of people whom we had not seen or heard from in the ward. And I think we did pretty successfully. In the individual groop I was in, we were only able to contact one guy, who was embarassed to come to church because of how rude some of the members were around his wife and daughter who are not members. But from what I hear from some of the other groops, we found some people who wanted home teachers to start coming back to them. Therefore, we were successful.
Once I was driven home from that, I made a few phone calls to some MB counselors and set some appointments. I've almost gotten everything done Merit Badge-wise; just wrapping up some different stuff this next coming week.
WHAT DID I DO WITH MY TIME TODAY? My word, why doesn't stuff on my task list get DONE? I need to work on prioritizing more; even Soke pointed out that weakness of mine when I practiced karate. I believe that this weakness can be made strong. I can do this, but not by my own power.
Schoolwork buildup...
This evening we went to grandma's house (the gathering place for all special occasions) to celebrate Aunt Kirsten's 40th birthday! I got to learn a lot more about her in the party games we played; I need to get to know this lady more! People shared fun family stories about her, such as the "intruder of the house" and "the amnesia incident". Kirsten's been in a ton of childhood accidents; it's amazing how she survived getting a hole gouged into her head by a falling statue, being bit by a savage (oh, HA. Savage) dog, accidentially stabbing herself to the bone with a spoon, and more! I love Kirsten; I'm going to have to get to know her more. By the way, she's 11 weeks pregnant!
Sunday
Today's sacrament meeting was fantastic! Katie Wooley had just returned from her mission, and gave a talk about her mission experience. President and Sister Woodley (yup, that's not a typo) also gave talks in sacrament meeting today about the temple. The strong testimonies from these two people who worked in the temple so much strengthened my own testimony greatly. I want to go to the temple! I'll have to make it a monthly committment when I am an adult.
After sacrament meeting we went to Sunday school, in which Brother Hancock taught us the lesson in which Jesus talkes to Nicodemus about being born again. I remember that Sister Baxter had taught me this lesson a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting the Baxters. It was much easier to be taught by the Spirit in Rory's classroom than Brother Hancock's, I feel. Maybe it was the throwing of chocolate, the disruptive talking of everyone else, and the objective-less teaching strategy of Brother Hancock that made it difficult to feel inspired in class today. I don't know. Maybe I should just change my attitude about it and see what I can do to make Sunday school more spiritual instead of blaming others.
In priesthood, Brother Evans taught us discipline in the way he does whenever our system for the sacrament bread messes up (the Sunday I was gone the system fell apart, oops!): he "forced" the members of our quorum to copy scripture for the whole lesson time. I suggested D&C 88, and so we spent that whole last 40 minutes copying the first verses of that section on scraps of paper.
After church, Sabrina came up with a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise: tomorrow afternoon, I and some of my guy friends are going to go and serenade Fa and Carmen at their house! I heard both of them say that they did not like Valentine's Day. We plan on turning that around, mwahahaha~!
Today was plan-out-the-week-day and prepare the house for missionaries to come; Elder Hill and his companion (dang it... forgot his name! Very new missionary.) came to dinner. We made some delicious Thai food for our Sunday meal: curry, pork, rice, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and brocoli. Delicious! Their message to us was delivered very well: if you want to be a good missionary, or student, or husband, or anything else, you need to be willing to do two things: to keep the right attitude, and work hard! I hope I can take their challenge to try harder to do that this week.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Two weeks' journal makeup
What an amazing two weeks I have just had. I have been feeling better than ever, and Heavenly Father has been blessing me with so much! I am humbled, and boast in my God for His awesome mercy!
Let's go back and see what I was doing the Monday before last Monday...
Wait a minute! I forgot to tell you about the fireside I went to last last Sunday! Oh, it was fantastic:
Sunday (1/23)
Ah yes, the fireside in Central Point; I'll just list off what I captured in my notes.
I saw a good friend of mine there; I'm so glad she's finally out of the hospital. I also saw her brother: a really amazing guy. This brother-sister duo is a great example to me; they are very inspiring. There's just a way about them that makes you realize how strong of a relationship that they have. I hope that I can someday soon develop that sort of relationship with Sabrina; I have a lot of praying, caring, and kindness to do.
The chapel was so full while people were still coming in that one of the leaders announced that people could sit up on the choir-seats. Of course, I walked right up there, bringing my good friend Fa up there with me. Fa's real name is Nakoonkanya Charolinsilp, and it's rather hard to pronounce. She's an amazing foreign exchange student, and has learned a ton about the gospel while she's been living at the Wrights. I know that she has developed a testimony of her own, but I also know of the problems that she may face coming from her family if she decides to continue her faith. I hope that when she goes back to Taiwan she'll have the courage to continue going to church and to be baptized, even if her Buddhist parents dissaprove.
The whole fireside was done by Elder Clayton of the Seventy. A mike was passed around, and members of the audience would ask questions that the leaders would answer. I asked, "How are some good ways to destroy procrastination?" Elder Clayton answered, "Good question. I'll get back to you in a minute." It took me awhile to get the jest as the crowd laughed. After talking about goal setting, he recommended that I read Chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel. I intend to go and start reading that today, but we'll see what time I have left after blogging. He also talked about making R.M.s feeling welcome at home, being an example of the church, living each day like your last, enthusiasm, being content, overcoming addiction, obeying with exactness, and keeping good relationships with family and friends.
It was a very inspirational fireside, and it was pretty fun, as a couple of my other friends from the stake were also up in the choir-seats. Everyone I was sitting by sung loudly when we sung the opening and closing songs, which was WONDERFUL~! I don't care how well people can sing; if they sing with heart, I LOVE IT.
Monday (1/24)
The finals week! I feel like cackling really loudly right now about this, because I feel like I did better than I ever did this semester in my finals. I remember that on this day I was feeling pretty stressed about getting Geometry all finished up. Sometime during this week, not sure when, I fell upon this amazing Youtube channel. Oh, wait a minute, I found that last week! I was using Mr. Kahn's useful Geometry videos to help me review. Right there is one of the blessings that God has given me; that channel has been a grade-saver. If I ever met this Mr. Kahn in person, I think I'd have to run up and give him a hug and whisper that I loved him in his ear.
Tuesday (1/25)
Today I almost got to the Geometry Exam, but I decided to leave it for tomorrow after I had studied more. I worked on the Engineering Merit Badge today, which was awesome! I made a Rube Goldberg machine, which is a simple example of how motion works. here is a recording of the machine working successfully; it took 'till 11 at night to work on it:
After making the video, I put it online and on facebook. While on facebook, Fa started a conversation with me. As we chatted about the end of the semester, I decided to organize (with out the consent of my parents) an end of the semester party over at my house on Thursday night! I told her to tell all of our friends from the stake who went to GP the next day, which she faithfully did.
Wednesday (1/26)
On this day I finished off exams, to my joy! I also got to give phone calls to coordinators for the ORCA Cares Day on March 17th. While trying to set up a park/river cleanup, I was tossed from person to person on the phone. I didn't feel like I got anywhere, at least, until a few days later. Jeff Nelson contacted me, and now we have a meeting all set up this coming week.
Thursday (1/27)
Today was like Christmas eve; the anticipation for the morrow was like a bomb ignited, with a very, very long fuse. Today was a cleanup and pack-your-bags day. I had surprises to prepare for Ceana's 16th birthday this weekend...
I got to spend some time with mom for shopping today. We bought some silly string, a horn-like plastic instrument (it was too cool to pass up), and some snacks for the party.
Tonight's end of semester party was a success! Everybody on the list showed up: Haley, Jerod, Miranda, Carmen, Fa, Jayden, and Jessie! Jerod brought his guitar, Jessie tuned our violin, and we all had a great time playing music together and playing board games, while eating snacks, of course. Things got a bit crazy while we were there; Jerod challenged me to a water-chugging contest outside. We both got liter sized pitchers of water and drained them out on the porch. Eventually we were just flicking the leftover water in our pitchers at each other. The sad part of this was, that the girls inside had locked us out of the house! So I tried to go around and use the other door, but I was unsuccessful. Eventually they let us back in again. I swear, we were NOT under the influence at that party. We just depleted a lot of my little brother's root beer stash.
Friday (1/28)
This morning was morphine! I was so so excited; I woke Sabrina and mom up too early; just like Christmas. We met Cassidy and her mom Rhonda at Elmer's at 8:30. Then we met Ceana and her dad Preston at Roseburg at 10:30. We spent the rest of the drive to Independence watching a cheesy princess movie: Ella Enchanted. There's a lot to be said about the movie, but I'll just leave it unsaid. It's a fine movie, really!
The first place we drove to was to the hospital to pick up Rory from having her Iron infusion. I'm not sure, but I think this must've been her 4th one, with only two more to go. From what's been said in her blog, she seems to be feeling pretty stressed at this time in her life. I hope she understands how amazing she is, and that she is NOT a failure at all. She is a super-mega-ultra-lightning-amazing mom, regardless of what that voice inside of her head is telling her. Fear cometh not from the Lord...
After doing a bit of shopping afterwards, we went to the Baxter's home. There I presented surprise 1 and 2 to Ceana: that "I play horn", and tennis rackets and balls. Later that day, we were able to go and play tennis out in the rain! It was a new experience; the balls became less bouncy and like sponges! But I think we all had a good time anyway.
That evening we went to a game night at a lawyer named Todd's office. I had a great time, and fell in love with my #2 most favorite game: Kingsberg! More good times...
Saturday (1/29)
I was having too much fun today, so I didn't record anything. But I remember the day well enough by memory.
I woke up at 4:26, and woke Ceana up with "More Than A Feeling" with my guitar. She woke up, and then we made german pancakes for breakfast. Three hours later, everyone else woke up and ate. I got to have some fun trying to wake up Sabrina and Cassidy. After trying music, slithering under the hide-a-bed and pushing upwards, and threatening, I eventually got Cassidy out of bed using an old karate technique: "Where the head goes, the body follows". Sabrina got out quickly after watching me (painlessly) take Cassidy out by the shoulder and noggin.
At noon the party began. As I played the piano the guests began to arrive: John, Oliver, JaNay, Brionna, Ana, and Emma. I must say that this was a really fine group of people; I am honored to have met such a great group of friends. Ceana played a beautiful song for us on the piano from a red LDS songbook, we played an ice breaker get-to-know-you game, and then we played Minute to Win It. It was a lot of fun! It was a jumble of intricate games and tasks, each of which you had to complete in a minute. Some of the games included sorting M&Ms, picking up pasta with ap sphagetti string using only your mouth, and getting a cookie from your forehead to your mouth with no hands. It was a lot of fun indeed; we even sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" while we were waiting for one of the games to be setup.
After Ceana opened her gifts (and Cassidy opened hers), the girls escaped to the Baxter's master bedroom for a pamper party. Now it was time for surprise #4 (#3 was a song Kaeli sang that I told her to practice for us, which we did while at the piano). Using the service of Caiden, John, and Oliver, we attacked the room from the front and rear with our cans of silly string and monster masks. Sadly, four of the girls had their faces covered, but they did hear the screams, so it was all good. We really got Emma, who couldn't run anywhere while waiting for her nails to dry.
I assume that room still smells like silly string today; they'll be finding bits of silly string in there for the next month or so.
A Tri-Stake Dance was happened night. It would be the first "official" dance for both Cassidy and Ceana. As usual, I made a fool out of myself at the dance. Oh well. :) Something kind of nice about this dance was that there were swing dances as well as slow dances and the regular music. That is not something they do in the Grants Pass stake; I think I'll have to try and change that. Ceana says that there was one waltz in the program too, but I didn't recognize it as a waltz. After fooling around and embarassing everyone who knew me, I had a great time there! I got to meet two new friends: Spencer and Anna. Spencer is a great guy; I wish I could clone him and then put him in our ward too! We did some mirroring on a lot of the dances; he's a TON better then me at dance improv. Anna is mean in a cute way. She seems to be the kind of person that you simply MUST attempt to cheer up in some nerdy kind of way. I got to see her sing "Return to Virtue" in sacrament meeting the next day.
Sunday (1/30)
With the Baxters, Sabrina, Cassidy, and I went to church. We got there 30 minutes early; what a treat! We got to listen to Ceana play some pleasant prelude music as we waited.
The sacrament meeting talks were based on the 13th article of faith, but didn't seem as well planned as they could have been. I thought that they did fine, but I wonder what Cassidy, who is not a member of the church yet, thought of the speakers' presentations.
After sacrament meeting I got to go to to one of the most well executed Sunday school lessons I can recall ever going to. Rory did a great job explaining the story of the woman at the well and how we can relate it to our own lives. I never would have thought about the even deeper symbolism that went into the story of the good Samaritan if she had not given a small geography lesson in her teaching. It was very well planned out, and I feel like I got something that I could take home from it: each person has a well with which you can quench the thirst of others. Is your well sweet or bitter? How do you keep your well full of sweet water?
After Sunday school I went to Priesthood with Spencer, Oliver, and Keegan. We were taught a great lesson from the leader about 10 attributes of God. I didn't record them, but I remember that he is Just, Patient, and Loving. Oh, that reminds me, I got to meet one of Ceana's most favorite people today: Sister Loving!
After church we went back home to eat more food and play my #1 most favorite game: Agricola. It is a convoluted game in which you raise a family, find employment, make improvements and grow food and livestock. It's very very fun once you learn how to play it. I remember that that game was a the top of the charts on boardgamegeek.com for a time. Sabrina and Cassidy took a nap all afternoon: they were planning on having a princess-movie fest that night, all night long.
That evening I was privileged to go to a Stake Choir practice with Ceana and Preston. I miss singing in a choir; it's so fun! There's a special kind of synergy that you get by singing with a bunch of other enthusiastic people. The choir director was crazy: I loved it! We were even practicing a Southern-tasting gospel tune, which surprised me. "You guys are singing this for sacrament meeting? You Monmouth people..." She said that they were doing it for something else. Got to see Emma, JaNay, and Anna again there.
Monday (1/31)
The morning breaks, and the dream becomes but a memory. It was time to leave the wonderland and come back to reality.
I awoke early again, and got to play Agricola with Ceana one last time before anyone else woke up. Without Rory's consent (I need to work on getting the approval of parents, don't I?) I told my newfound friends to come to the Baxter's house at 6 in the morning for breakfast (of really really good donuts, that is). And so they did; we got to say our goodbyes.
On our drive back to Roseburg, I had a good chat with Preston as the girls in the back read books. He needed to sign a paper at work before we got going, so I even got to see his office! He talked about his job, which I found fascinating. He is a civil engineer who designs bridges. He would point out bridges that he designed or that he knew of as we drove under and across them.
"There was a lot of political trouble with that one; glad I wasn't a part of it!"
"Here's one that I did."
"(my thoughts) this is a bridge? Whoa, it is!"
There are a lot of things that we take for granted; lots of work goes into making roads and bridges!
We also got to talk about scouting, and personal philosophy. I felt like Elder Calhoun from the Best Two Years as he spoke. "Should I write that down?" I love wisdom. Here's some I heard from him that day that I'm going to try to apply to my life better:
"Only God can figure out problems the right way."
"Computer skills can help you anywhere."
"It's amazing what you can do when you decide to learn something."
"Keep priorities in order, not only knowing them and their order, but doing them and keeping their order."
"The best way to learn is to look at other people's mistakes and never make them yourself."
"Helping people is nobility."
"Motivation is key."
After cramming all of the stuff I packed along (I've said it before and I'll say it again: I pack like a girl.) into mom's Metro, dropping off Cassidy, and driving home, there was stuff to clean and school to do. Back to reality.
Tuesday (2/1)
I started school again on a terrible leg today. My GPA has been terrible so far this week, thanks to my thoughtlessness. But I am not afraid; throught diligence and faith I know I can get my grades back up to where they belong.
I was given the position of Varsity Leader last Wednesday for the Tri-Troop created between three different wards, and so today was phone call-email-prepare presenatation day for Thursday. But it didn't all turn out as you will read.
Wednesday (2/2)
Wow, my task list for today was only three lines away from being completely filled! Today was insane; I was not careful in school today either. Oh man; I am crazy... Here is a principle of ORCA that everyone in it shouldrinciple of ORCA that everyone in it should have internalized, and I still haven't even gotten it after being in the system for over four years: It doesn't matter how fast you get your work done. What matters is how well you get your work done.
Tonight I did not go to mutual assuming that we had cancelled tonight's activities because we had planned one for Thursday instead to fit everyone's planner. I was wrong; there was an activity tonight in our ward, and I fell victim to lack of communication as well, as you will read.
Thursday (2/3)
Today I decided to abandon schoolwork; the house needed to be prepared for mom and dad leaving this weekend. This weekend they would be going to Eugene so mom could take a test to get her teaching liscense, while also getting to spend time with her husband for her birthday. Today's labors didn't feel very fulfilling; I feel condemned of procrastination. I must develop more focus and discipline!
Tonight I went to the stake center for the meeting, only to find our meeting place empty. I gave people calls on the phone there, and eventually found out that all three of the parties involved had cancelled it, and nobody informed me. In fact, they told me that the Tri-troop had once again dissolved. Bishops are making decisions without telling others, and things seem a bit messy. Oh, the lack of order!
Friday (2/4)
Today was more preparing for mom and dad to leave, as well as another little thing that I was looking forward to. A few weeks ago Brother Black (our young men's president) had announced that the scout office would be interviewing people who would be willing to come work as a staff member at camp Makualla this summer. The 5th of February would be the day, and so I wrote it down.
Once dad got back from work, they took away the internet router and suitcases and left. taking away internet availability threw an unexpected wrench in the works, but everything turned out okay. After a few frantic calls I was able to get some signatures, letters of recommendation, and a ride for getting me to the scout office in Central Point on Saturday.
It was fun playing parent while mom and dad were gone. Okay, I guess "fun" isn't the right word here. A good challenge is more like it. And I was only doing this for a couple of days, so I only got a taste of what mom's life must be like. Trying to get kids to clean up, feeding people, and solving family problems is exhausting, especially if you're used to someone else doing all the work. Well, everyone has to learn family managment sometime I suppose. Might as well try and do this kind of self-torture more often for practice! Family responsibilities... that was what Preston Baxter said I should put on the top of my list of priorities. I must get better at this!
Saturday (2/5)
Today I left early in the morning with Sister Black and her family to go to Central Point. She and her husband are one of the newer families in the ward, and they are both such fantastic people! Mike Black is one of our city planners; it's a job I admire. I plan on job shadowing him in the near future just to see what his in-the-community type job is like. Anyways, they have five children whose ages are between 10 and 2; great kids! Sister Black is such a sweet lady; it was so thoughtful of her to take me along. She was going to go shopping at Costco, while I had my interviews.
The scout office was not too crowded when I got there; it was a simple building that from the architecture I was guessing may have been made by volunteers. I guess I was feeling scout-y; thinking that way. I turned left from the main hallway and entered a room that must have served as some kind of dining room or a break room. There was a kitchen attached to the room, complete with free donuts! There were about 4 or 5 other scouts there around my age looking for employment at "mosquito land" there in the room. Instead of choosing to socialize, however, I decided to read the piece of paper they gave me after signing in that was about the interviews while sitting at the table inside of the quiet waiting room.
About 7 minutes after I came in, Thomas introduced himself as the camp director for camp McLoughlin (the other camp that you could interview for) and got started by taking the first guy on the list. I was last in line, and so I got to spend some time reading Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites and partake of the delicious free donut spoils found in the kitchen for half an hour.
When it was my turn, they first interviewed me for working at McLoughlin in a small office room on the other side of the building. I wanted to work at McLoughlin because its schedule worked so that I would be able to go to a family reunion the week before the month's work began. As it turned out, there was a staff-training week that would happen during the week, and so I will have to miss out on the family reunion one way or another, regardless of which camp I would work at. McLoughlin is a cub-scout camp, but it is closer to civilization. It would be easier to get to church on Sundays that way as well if I went to this camp to work. They asked me questions about my interests, hobbies, school, scouting experience, and religion. Thomas (never caught his last name) seemed like a great guy to work for. He was a younger man, I guessed that he was in either his late 20s or early 30s. He had a beard, and spoke with the touch of a good public speaker. After learning more about the camp, and about a special Venturing program that they also could provide for me, I felt even more excited to go work there. However, my opinion of a favoring camp to work at changed once I interviewed for camp Makualla.
I left the office and walked into the secretary-like spot near it to be interviewed for camp Makualla. Sue Fiske, a jolly, typical-mother-of-a-hardcore-scout lady, is the camp director for Makualla. She reminded me vaugely of one of the insane-WILL-make-you-laugh young women leaders that we have in our ward: Sister Butler! Anyways, they asked me generally the same questions as the last interview. During the interview Sue talked about the camp and how working there has really become a family like experience for many of the people who have been involved in it. Also, since Makualla is a Boy Scout camp, there would be more work to do, and more teenagers there. And best of all, she said that members of the LDS church who work there have done their OWN sacrament meeting out in the woods before! These factors have led me to favor Makualla over McLoughlin, even though the mosquitos were crazier there than anywhere else I have ever been to.
Sister Black drove up a few minutes after the interviews and took me home. I look back at the whole situation and realize that it was a true tender mercy from Heavenly Father that this whole thing (getting the paperwork, getting the interviews done, etc.) went so so smoothly. I am amazed that it worked out, and I am truly grateful for the Black family for informing me about this opportunity and for giving me the means to take advantage of it. Sue said that she would contact me in March once they were done interviewing in other towns; I feel confident that she will.
Thank you, Heavenly Father!
Sunday (2/7)
Ah, and today. Well, I called up Sister Wright and asked her if she could give me a ride to church. Sabrina volunteered to stay at home with the rest of the children. By the way, Sabrina has been very useful this whole time. She's been cooking meals and has been keeping us well fed! The rest of them have also been good helpers here and there in little tasks that I (attempted to) turn into games. OH, I totally forgot to tell you about what happened to Henry this Friday!
He's gone.
That's right; out of here! At least for the week. He and mom had a behavior goal, in which if he behaved at school for a certain number of days, he would be able to go to his cousin's house down in Martinez, CA for a week. He went down with his grandparents, as they are going to a funeral down there.
Haha, life Henry-free for a week! Don't get me wrong, I love the kid. It's just nice to get a rest once in awhile.
Okay, back to today. I went to church for testimony meeting. As coincidence had it, it was Scout Sunday, and I did not know. So I got to see a lot of awesome scout-y uniforms at church today, but did not wear one myself. Many of the testimonies testified today were about the scouting program and how it is ordained of God. This whole week has been scout-flavored!
Sunday school was well done; our substitute teacher Sister Schwarts was in charge. We talked about John the Baptist today and how he prepared the way for Jesus Christ. After Sunday school I talked to Fa, Carmen, and Jerod (as coincidence had it, I saw all of them in the hall at once! Jerod is in a different ward.) about doing another music-party. I think I'm going to make this an organized thing in the stake. I hope to setup a page on facebook about a monthly party on which people can post songs that they want people to practice in advance and whatnot. I think we could make this a big Stake thing! My dreams of being a part of a musical group are beginning to unfold!
Thank you, Heavenly Father!
In priesthood today we learned about the Fall and how it was a part of the Plan of Salvation. The thing I took home from Brother Stewart's lesson was that it is all about the attitude that somebody has that depends on whether they will do good or evil. It is all in the attitude, and how you look at the world. Change the way you see, and you change the world. A good quote I also felt prompted to write was: "All of my sins start with me feeling sorry for myself."
In preparation for ward conference, a Stake choir has been organized. Tonight I went to our first practice. We are singing two easy songs: The EFY Medley and a two-part version of If The Savior Stood Beside Me. A good group of people and many familiar faces were there. Of course, the Jarvis family was there. After the choir practice I talked with Anthony about something that he mentioned in seminary: our newest project idea. It turns out that he as well has joined me in the art of songwriting. Using a sound editing software and his poetic expertise, he has created a song that he wants to make into a music video for Valentine's Day. This Saturday we're going to get together on editing the sound and making the movie; I'll have to do some research on a new editing software independently, however. I haven't heard his song yet, but I hope it works out; this will be fun!
MY LIFE IS SO FUN!
Thank you, Heavenly Father!
Let's go back and see what I was doing the Monday before last Monday...
Wait a minute! I forgot to tell you about the fireside I went to last last Sunday! Oh, it was fantastic:
Sunday (1/23)
Ah yes, the fireside in Central Point; I'll just list off what I captured in my notes.
I saw a good friend of mine there; I'm so glad she's finally out of the hospital. I also saw her brother: a really amazing guy. This brother-sister duo is a great example to me; they are very inspiring. There's just a way about them that makes you realize how strong of a relationship that they have. I hope that I can someday soon develop that sort of relationship with Sabrina; I have a lot of praying, caring, and kindness to do.
The chapel was so full while people were still coming in that one of the leaders announced that people could sit up on the choir-seats. Of course, I walked right up there, bringing my good friend Fa up there with me. Fa's real name is Nakoonkanya Charolinsilp, and it's rather hard to pronounce. She's an amazing foreign exchange student, and has learned a ton about the gospel while she's been living at the Wrights. I know that she has developed a testimony of her own, but I also know of the problems that she may face coming from her family if she decides to continue her faith. I hope that when she goes back to Taiwan she'll have the courage to continue going to church and to be baptized, even if her Buddhist parents dissaprove.
The whole fireside was done by Elder Clayton of the Seventy. A mike was passed around, and members of the audience would ask questions that the leaders would answer. I asked, "How are some good ways to destroy procrastination?" Elder Clayton answered, "Good question. I'll get back to you in a minute." It took me awhile to get the jest as the crowd laughed. After talking about goal setting, he recommended that I read Chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel. I intend to go and start reading that today, but we'll see what time I have left after blogging. He also talked about making R.M.s feeling welcome at home, being an example of the church, living each day like your last, enthusiasm, being content, overcoming addiction, obeying with exactness, and keeping good relationships with family and friends.
It was a very inspirational fireside, and it was pretty fun, as a couple of my other friends from the stake were also up in the choir-seats. Everyone I was sitting by sung loudly when we sung the opening and closing songs, which was WONDERFUL~! I don't care how well people can sing; if they sing with heart, I LOVE IT.
Monday (1/24)
The finals week! I feel like cackling really loudly right now about this, because I feel like I did better than I ever did this semester in my finals. I remember that on this day I was feeling pretty stressed about getting Geometry all finished up. Sometime during this week, not sure when, I fell upon this amazing Youtube channel. Oh, wait a minute, I found that last week! I was using Mr. Kahn's useful Geometry videos to help me review. Right there is one of the blessings that God has given me; that channel has been a grade-saver. If I ever met this Mr. Kahn in person, I think I'd have to run up and give him a hug and whisper that I loved him in his ear.
Tuesday (1/25)
Today I almost got to the Geometry Exam, but I decided to leave it for tomorrow after I had studied more. I worked on the Engineering Merit Badge today, which was awesome! I made a Rube Goldberg machine, which is a simple example of how motion works. here is a recording of the machine working successfully; it took 'till 11 at night to work on it:
Wednesday (1/26)
On this day I finished off exams, to my joy! I also got to give phone calls to coordinators for the ORCA Cares Day on March 17th. While trying to set up a park/river cleanup, I was tossed from person to person on the phone. I didn't feel like I got anywhere, at least, until a few days later. Jeff Nelson contacted me, and now we have a meeting all set up this coming week.
Thursday (1/27)
Today was like Christmas eve; the anticipation for the morrow was like a bomb ignited, with a very, very long fuse. Today was a cleanup and pack-your-bags day. I had surprises to prepare for Ceana's 16th birthday this weekend...
I got to spend some time with mom for shopping today. We bought some silly string, a horn-like plastic instrument (it was too cool to pass up), and some snacks for the party.
Tonight's end of semester party was a success! Everybody on the list showed up: Haley, Jerod, Miranda, Carmen, Fa, Jayden, and Jessie! Jerod brought his guitar, Jessie tuned our violin, and we all had a great time playing music together and playing board games, while eating snacks, of course. Things got a bit crazy while we were there; Jerod challenged me to a water-chugging contest outside. We both got liter sized pitchers of water and drained them out on the porch. Eventually we were just flicking the leftover water in our pitchers at each other. The sad part of this was, that the girls inside had locked us out of the house! So I tried to go around and use the other door, but I was unsuccessful. Eventually they let us back in again. I swear, we were NOT under the influence at that party. We just depleted a lot of my little brother's root beer stash.
Friday (1/28)
This morning was morphine! I was so so excited; I woke Sabrina and mom up too early; just like Christmas. We met Cassidy and her mom Rhonda at Elmer's at 8:30. Then we met Ceana and her dad Preston at Roseburg at 10:30. We spent the rest of the drive to Independence watching a cheesy princess movie: Ella Enchanted. There's a lot to be said about the movie, but I'll just leave it unsaid. It's a fine movie, really!
The first place we drove to was to the hospital to pick up Rory from having her Iron infusion. I'm not sure, but I think this must've been her 4th one, with only two more to go. From what's been said in her blog, she seems to be feeling pretty stressed at this time in her life. I hope she understands how amazing she is, and that she is NOT a failure at all. She is a super-mega-ultra-lightning-amazing mom, regardless of what that voice inside of her head is telling her. Fear cometh not from the Lord...
After doing a bit of shopping afterwards, we went to the Baxter's home. There I presented surprise 1 and 2 to Ceana: that "I play horn", and tennis rackets and balls. Later that day, we were able to go and play tennis out in the rain! It was a new experience; the balls became less bouncy and like sponges! But I think we all had a good time anyway.
That evening we went to a game night at a lawyer named Todd's office. I had a great time, and fell in love with my #2 most favorite game: Kingsberg! More good times...
Saturday (1/29)
I was having too much fun today, so I didn't record anything. But I remember the day well enough by memory.
I woke up at 4:26, and woke Ceana up with "More Than A Feeling" with my guitar. She woke up, and then we made german pancakes for breakfast. Three hours later, everyone else woke up and ate. I got to have some fun trying to wake up Sabrina and Cassidy. After trying music, slithering under the hide-a-bed and pushing upwards, and threatening, I eventually got Cassidy out of bed using an old karate technique: "Where the head goes, the body follows". Sabrina got out quickly after watching me (painlessly) take Cassidy out by the shoulder and noggin.
At noon the party began. As I played the piano the guests began to arrive: John, Oliver, JaNay, Brionna, Ana, and Emma. I must say that this was a really fine group of people; I am honored to have met such a great group of friends. Ceana played a beautiful song for us on the piano from a red LDS songbook, we played an ice breaker get-to-know-you game, and then we played Minute to Win It. It was a lot of fun! It was a jumble of intricate games and tasks, each of which you had to complete in a minute. Some of the games included sorting M&Ms, picking up pasta with ap sphagetti string using only your mouth, and getting a cookie from your forehead to your mouth with no hands. It was a lot of fun indeed; we even sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" while we were waiting for one of the games to be setup.
After Ceana opened her gifts (and Cassidy opened hers), the girls escaped to the Baxter's master bedroom for a pamper party. Now it was time for surprise #4 (#3 was a song Kaeli sang that I told her to practice for us, which we did while at the piano). Using the service of Caiden, John, and Oliver, we attacked the room from the front and rear with our cans of silly string and monster masks. Sadly, four of the girls had their faces covered, but they did hear the screams, so it was all good. We really got Emma, who couldn't run anywhere while waiting for her nails to dry.
I assume that room still smells like silly string today; they'll be finding bits of silly string in there for the next month or so.
A Tri-Stake Dance was happened night. It would be the first "official" dance for both Cassidy and Ceana. As usual, I made a fool out of myself at the dance. Oh well. :) Something kind of nice about this dance was that there were swing dances as well as slow dances and the regular music. That is not something they do in the Grants Pass stake; I think I'll have to try and change that. Ceana says that there was one waltz in the program too, but I didn't recognize it as a waltz. After fooling around and embarassing everyone who knew me, I had a great time there! I got to meet two new friends: Spencer and Anna. Spencer is a great guy; I wish I could clone him and then put him in our ward too! We did some mirroring on a lot of the dances; he's a TON better then me at dance improv. Anna is mean in a cute way. She seems to be the kind of person that you simply MUST attempt to cheer up in some nerdy kind of way. I got to see her sing "Return to Virtue" in sacrament meeting the next day.
Sunday (1/30)
With the Baxters, Sabrina, Cassidy, and I went to church. We got there 30 minutes early; what a treat! We got to listen to Ceana play some pleasant prelude music as we waited.
The sacrament meeting talks were based on the 13th article of faith, but didn't seem as well planned as they could have been. I thought that they did fine, but I wonder what Cassidy, who is not a member of the church yet, thought of the speakers' presentations.
After sacrament meeting I got to go to to one of the most well executed Sunday school lessons I can recall ever going to. Rory did a great job explaining the story of the woman at the well and how we can relate it to our own lives. I never would have thought about the even deeper symbolism that went into the story of the good Samaritan if she had not given a small geography lesson in her teaching. It was very well planned out, and I feel like I got something that I could take home from it: each person has a well with which you can quench the thirst of others. Is your well sweet or bitter? How do you keep your well full of sweet water?
After Sunday school I went to Priesthood with Spencer, Oliver, and Keegan. We were taught a great lesson from the leader about 10 attributes of God. I didn't record them, but I remember that he is Just, Patient, and Loving. Oh, that reminds me, I got to meet one of Ceana's most favorite people today: Sister Loving!
After church we went back home to eat more food and play my #1 most favorite game: Agricola. It is a convoluted game in which you raise a family, find employment, make improvements and grow food and livestock. It's very very fun once you learn how to play it. I remember that that game was a the top of the charts on boardgamegeek.com for a time. Sabrina and Cassidy took a nap all afternoon: they were planning on having a princess-movie fest that night, all night long.
That evening I was privileged to go to a Stake Choir practice with Ceana and Preston. I miss singing in a choir; it's so fun! There's a special kind of synergy that you get by singing with a bunch of other enthusiastic people. The choir director was crazy: I loved it! We were even practicing a Southern-tasting gospel tune, which surprised me. "You guys are singing this for sacrament meeting? You Monmouth people..." She said that they were doing it for something else. Got to see Emma, JaNay, and Anna again there.
Monday (1/31)
The morning breaks, and the dream becomes but a memory. It was time to leave the wonderland and come back to reality.
I awoke early again, and got to play Agricola with Ceana one last time before anyone else woke up. Without Rory's consent (I need to work on getting the approval of parents, don't I?) I told my newfound friends to come to the Baxter's house at 6 in the morning for breakfast (of really really good donuts, that is). And so they did; we got to say our goodbyes.
On our drive back to Roseburg, I had a good chat with Preston as the girls in the back read books. He needed to sign a paper at work before we got going, so I even got to see his office! He talked about his job, which I found fascinating. He is a civil engineer who designs bridges. He would point out bridges that he designed or that he knew of as we drove under and across them.
"There was a lot of political trouble with that one; glad I wasn't a part of it!"
"Here's one that I did."
"(my thoughts) this is a bridge? Whoa, it is!"
There are a lot of things that we take for granted; lots of work goes into making roads and bridges!
We also got to talk about scouting, and personal philosophy. I felt like Elder Calhoun from the Best Two Years as he spoke. "Should I write that down?" I love wisdom. Here's some I heard from him that day that I'm going to try to apply to my life better:
"Only God can figure out problems the right way."
"Computer skills can help you anywhere."
"It's amazing what you can do when you decide to learn something."
"Keep priorities in order, not only knowing them and their order, but doing them and keeping their order."
"The best way to learn is to look at other people's mistakes and never make them yourself."
"Helping people is nobility."
"Motivation is key."
After cramming all of the stuff I packed along (I've said it before and I'll say it again: I pack like a girl.) into mom's Metro, dropping off Cassidy, and driving home, there was stuff to clean and school to do. Back to reality.
Tuesday (2/1)
I started school again on a terrible leg today. My GPA has been terrible so far this week, thanks to my thoughtlessness. But I am not afraid; throught diligence and faith I know I can get my grades back up to where they belong.
I was given the position of Varsity Leader last Wednesday for the Tri-Troop created between three different wards, and so today was phone call-email-prepare presenatation day for Thursday. But it didn't all turn out as you will read.
Wednesday (2/2)
Wow, my task list for today was only three lines away from being completely filled! Today was insane; I was not careful in school today either. Oh man; I am crazy... Here is a principle of ORCA that everyone in it shouldrinciple of ORCA that everyone in it should have internalized, and I still haven't even gotten it after being in the system for over four years: It doesn't matter how fast you get your work done. What matters is how well you get your work done.
Tonight I did not go to mutual assuming that we had cancelled tonight's activities because we had planned one for Thursday instead to fit everyone's planner. I was wrong; there was an activity tonight in our ward, and I fell victim to lack of communication as well, as you will read.
Thursday (2/3)
Today I decided to abandon schoolwork; the house needed to be prepared for mom and dad leaving this weekend. This weekend they would be going to Eugene so mom could take a test to get her teaching liscense, while also getting to spend time with her husband for her birthday. Today's labors didn't feel very fulfilling; I feel condemned of procrastination. I must develop more focus and discipline!
Tonight I went to the stake center for the meeting, only to find our meeting place empty. I gave people calls on the phone there, and eventually found out that all three of the parties involved had cancelled it, and nobody informed me. In fact, they told me that the Tri-troop had once again dissolved. Bishops are making decisions without telling others, and things seem a bit messy. Oh, the lack of order!
Friday (2/4)
Today was more preparing for mom and dad to leave, as well as another little thing that I was looking forward to. A few weeks ago Brother Black (our young men's president) had announced that the scout office would be interviewing people who would be willing to come work as a staff member at camp Makualla this summer. The 5th of February would be the day, and so I wrote it down.
Once dad got back from work, they took away the internet router and suitcases and left. taking away internet availability threw an unexpected wrench in the works, but everything turned out okay. After a few frantic calls I was able to get some signatures, letters of recommendation, and a ride for getting me to the scout office in Central Point on Saturday.
It was fun playing parent while mom and dad were gone. Okay, I guess "fun" isn't the right word here. A good challenge is more like it. And I was only doing this for a couple of days, so I only got a taste of what mom's life must be like. Trying to get kids to clean up, feeding people, and solving family problems is exhausting, especially if you're used to someone else doing all the work. Well, everyone has to learn family managment sometime I suppose. Might as well try and do this kind of self-torture more often for practice! Family responsibilities... that was what Preston Baxter said I should put on the top of my list of priorities. I must get better at this!
Saturday (2/5)
Today I left early in the morning with Sister Black and her family to go to Central Point. She and her husband are one of the newer families in the ward, and they are both such fantastic people! Mike Black is one of our city planners; it's a job I admire. I plan on job shadowing him in the near future just to see what his in-the-community type job is like. Anyways, they have five children whose ages are between 10 and 2; great kids! Sister Black is such a sweet lady; it was so thoughtful of her to take me along. She was going to go shopping at Costco, while I had my interviews.
The scout office was not too crowded when I got there; it was a simple building that from the architecture I was guessing may have been made by volunteers. I guess I was feeling scout-y; thinking that way. I turned left from the main hallway and entered a room that must have served as some kind of dining room or a break room. There was a kitchen attached to the room, complete with free donuts! There were about 4 or 5 other scouts there around my age looking for employment at "mosquito land" there in the room. Instead of choosing to socialize, however, I decided to read the piece of paper they gave me after signing in that was about the interviews while sitting at the table inside of the quiet waiting room.
About 7 minutes after I came in, Thomas introduced himself as the camp director for camp McLoughlin (the other camp that you could interview for) and got started by taking the first guy on the list. I was last in line, and so I got to spend some time reading Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites and partake of the delicious free donut spoils found in the kitchen for half an hour.
When it was my turn, they first interviewed me for working at McLoughlin in a small office room on the other side of the building. I wanted to work at McLoughlin because its schedule worked so that I would be able to go to a family reunion the week before the month's work began. As it turned out, there was a staff-training week that would happen during the week, and so I will have to miss out on the family reunion one way or another, regardless of which camp I would work at. McLoughlin is a cub-scout camp, but it is closer to civilization. It would be easier to get to church on Sundays that way as well if I went to this camp to work. They asked me questions about my interests, hobbies, school, scouting experience, and religion. Thomas (never caught his last name) seemed like a great guy to work for. He was a younger man, I guessed that he was in either his late 20s or early 30s. He had a beard, and spoke with the touch of a good public speaker. After learning more about the camp, and about a special Venturing program that they also could provide for me, I felt even more excited to go work there. However, my opinion of a favoring camp to work at changed once I interviewed for camp Makualla.
I left the office and walked into the secretary-like spot near it to be interviewed for camp Makualla. Sue Fiske, a jolly, typical-mother-of-a-hardcore-scout lady, is the camp director for Makualla. She reminded me vaugely of one of the insane-WILL-make-you-laugh young women leaders that we have in our ward: Sister Butler! Anyways, they asked me generally the same questions as the last interview. During the interview Sue talked about the camp and how working there has really become a family like experience for many of the people who have been involved in it. Also, since Makualla is a Boy Scout camp, there would be more work to do, and more teenagers there. And best of all, she said that members of the LDS church who work there have done their OWN sacrament meeting out in the woods before! These factors have led me to favor Makualla over McLoughlin, even though the mosquitos were crazier there than anywhere else I have ever been to.
Sister Black drove up a few minutes after the interviews and took me home. I look back at the whole situation and realize that it was a true tender mercy from Heavenly Father that this whole thing (getting the paperwork, getting the interviews done, etc.) went so so smoothly. I am amazed that it worked out, and I am truly grateful for the Black family for informing me about this opportunity and for giving me the means to take advantage of it. Sue said that she would contact me in March once they were done interviewing in other towns; I feel confident that she will.
Thank you, Heavenly Father!
Sunday (2/7)
Ah, and today. Well, I called up Sister Wright and asked her if she could give me a ride to church. Sabrina volunteered to stay at home with the rest of the children. By the way, Sabrina has been very useful this whole time. She's been cooking meals and has been keeping us well fed! The rest of them have also been good helpers here and there in little tasks that I (attempted to) turn into games. OH, I totally forgot to tell you about what happened to Henry this Friday!
He's gone.
That's right; out of here! At least for the week. He and mom had a behavior goal, in which if he behaved at school for a certain number of days, he would be able to go to his cousin's house down in Martinez, CA for a week. He went down with his grandparents, as they are going to a funeral down there.
Haha, life Henry-free for a week! Don't get me wrong, I love the kid. It's just nice to get a rest once in awhile.
Okay, back to today. I went to church for testimony meeting. As coincidence had it, it was Scout Sunday, and I did not know. So I got to see a lot of awesome scout-y uniforms at church today, but did not wear one myself. Many of the testimonies testified today were about the scouting program and how it is ordained of God. This whole week has been scout-flavored!
Sunday school was well done; our substitute teacher Sister Schwarts was in charge. We talked about John the Baptist today and how he prepared the way for Jesus Christ. After Sunday school I talked to Fa, Carmen, and Jerod (as coincidence had it, I saw all of them in the hall at once! Jerod is in a different ward.) about doing another music-party. I think I'm going to make this an organized thing in the stake. I hope to setup a page on facebook about a monthly party on which people can post songs that they want people to practice in advance and whatnot. I think we could make this a big Stake thing! My dreams of being a part of a musical group are beginning to unfold!
Thank you, Heavenly Father!
In priesthood today we learned about the Fall and how it was a part of the Plan of Salvation. The thing I took home from Brother Stewart's lesson was that it is all about the attitude that somebody has that depends on whether they will do good or evil. It is all in the attitude, and how you look at the world. Change the way you see, and you change the world. A good quote I also felt prompted to write was: "All of my sins start with me feeling sorry for myself."
In preparation for ward conference, a Stake choir has been organized. Tonight I went to our first practice. We are singing two easy songs: The EFY Medley and a two-part version of If The Savior Stood Beside Me. A good group of people and many familiar faces were there. Of course, the Jarvis family was there. After the choir practice I talked with Anthony about something that he mentioned in seminary: our newest project idea. It turns out that he as well has joined me in the art of songwriting. Using a sound editing software and his poetic expertise, he has created a song that he wants to make into a music video for Valentine's Day. This Saturday we're going to get together on editing the sound and making the movie; I'll have to do some research on a new editing software independently, however. I haven't heard his song yet, but I hope it works out; this will be fun!
MY LIFE IS SO FUN!
Thank you, Heavenly Father!
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