Hard to say goodbye

There are many posts I've been wanting to write. One of them was a true thanksgiving post, as the one I had was... well, lacking. So, while much of this post will express gratitude, I'm writing now not as a Thanksgiving post, but as a goodbye post.

Provo, you are definitely the high point in my life so far. It is here that I became a new creature in Christ. It is here that I started college. It is here that I met the wonderful people who I have come to count as my guardian angels and guiding stars. It is here that I became a missionary.

This post is to thank all of you who have helped me in the past two and a half years, whether or not you remember or even knew you did. Thank you for the inspiring words at the right times, both in and out of church meetings. Thank you for the listening ears, sometimes as late as four in the morning. Thank you for the chance to enjoy being a Mormon nerd. Thank you for the high standards, especially in dating. Thank you for helping me see more clearly the worth of every single son and daughter of God.

It's hard to say all I'd like to, and I know it would just become boring and repetitive. So, I'm going to close with this. Thank you, so much, for the pure, Christ-like love that you have. Never have I felt as accepted and as loved as I have here. You've put up with all my crazy antics, and loved me just the same. For this, I cannot express even a hundredth part of the thanks I have.

I wish you all the greatest couple years, and I look forward to the time we can see each other again. Until then, parakeet.

Kenyon Appreciation Day

Many of my readers will not know Kenyon Waddoups. But she is one of the coolest Home Evening sisters I could ever have. As today is Kenyon appreciation day, I felt the day wouldn't be complete if I didn't dedicate a blog post to her. So, here it is.

First, let me introduce you to her blog, here. As you can easily see, she is an excellent photographer. Also, she strives to be a good, faithful member, looking to serve and uplift others. And, while there aren't many picture of her to see there, those you can find reveal a strikingly good-looking woman.

So, a little explanation on the day: Kenyon is fun-loving, and so has come up with some awesome ideas for having fun. One such idea is to grab people's planners when they aren't looking and write "Kenyon Appreciation Day" in them, to urge the owner to spread the word about how awesome Kenyon is. I personally don't believe it's out of pride or a need for attention. It's because she happens to be self-aware and knows that people will benefit from knowing her.

So, my day was great, as I spent most of the time getting people to write notes for her day. Most were written by people who didn't know her, and many (perhaps a majority) were written by people who didn't know me. I like how BYU is so willing to do that.

Well, that concludes my post about Kenyon Appreciation Day. If you missed it, don't worry, you can always join in next time. Or, if you're feeling particularly proactive, show Kenyon your appreciation for her on some day which isn't a Kenyon Appreciation Day.

Lovies! (I got that from Scott Hampshire today... It kinda rocks, so I'm stealing it.)

I want to be blogging again

So I'm gonna try now. Because my life rocks. Except I don't know how to really express that.

One thing I'm realizing is that routine can be awesome. Change can also be awesome. I have a lot of both in my life right now. The obvious one is the change, which I've talked about last time. But routine is also good.

I go into work. I go to classes. I do homework. I sometimes eat (need to work on setting up that routine). I read scriptures. I say prayers. I go to church. Really, week in and week out, it all looks quite the same except for a few things here and there. And I love it. I used to worry about married working life, but I'm doing so less now. I can do the same things (or, at least, very similar things) and still be happy doing them.

Speaking of routine, I need to sleep. Bye!

What are we fighting for?

So, I was thinking about this quote from the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers:

Sam: "It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. 'Cause sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How can the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing. A shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant somethin', even if you were to small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folks in those stories had lots of chances in turning back; only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding onto to something."
Frodo: "What are we holding onto, Sam?"
Sam: "That there's some good left in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."

Now, I don't claim to be at all wise or anything, but I felt like this was rather applicable, perhaps in all our lives. I know many of you hear how I talk about myself. But, as you're a reader of my blog, I'l let you in on a little secret: I don't really think I'm that great. Of course, I get to see all the little mistakes I make that no one else sees. In any case, I've liked this quote for a long time, but in church today a slight modification came to my mind (perhaps inspiration; I'll let you decide) that said, "There's come good left in you, ant that's worth fighting for."

I hope we can all remember that. When you're feeling down on yourself, and you don't know if there's even anything left to work towards, remember that there is still good inside you, and you personally. In my mission prep class, Brother Bott said that in the book of Abraham, when Abraham saw the vision of the noble and great ones, modern revelation tells us that each of us, here on the earth fighting for righteousness in the last days, were among those noble and great ones. 3:23 "And God saw these souls that they were good." He knows your potential and your faithfulness. So, who are you gonna believe: your imperfect, unknowning self, or the perfect God who created you and knows you better than anyone on earth can?

Know that you are good, and go forth with confidence.

Happiness is...

So, I had a pretty good day. It all started when I woke up, because that meant the assassins had failed yet again.

Devotional was great, TAing is great, I got to catch the last of the men's basketball game, and got a high-five from one of the women's soccer players without even asking or anything! But, most especially, I loved being with the BYU Men's Chorus at retreat. Honestly, it always seems to go by too quickly. We're there for four hours, but I never notice the time. And the way those men can sing really brings the spirit and a feeling of belonging and comfort.

So today, happiness is.