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!
