Building Others

So I think that I should start with some updates. I finished my internship in Utah. It was really cool. I loved being able to contribute to a community. Wendy and I moved back up to Idaho. While I was down in Utah I made a shirt for a good friend of mine. It was the first shirt design that I'd ever done on my own. The quote on it is an inside joke from a double date with him and his wife.

Since moving back to Idaho, Wendy has started back to school and I've started back to work. We've made lots of friends in our new ward and we're really liking it. Also I made Wendy a shirt design after we got back. I have to admit, I really like making the designing because it gives me a creative outlet. Now I'm thinking about making more shirt designs.

Wendy and I have arranged our apartment and made general preparations for when our baby girl comes in a few months. We've been blessed to have all of our parents helping us out in that regard. One of my new favorite things is to put a hand on Wendy's stomach and feel our little girl kicking or moving. Wendy and I have discovered that we like eating at Frontier Pies. We both really like their pies.

My spiritual thought comes from our Gospel Doctrine teacher at church. Every Sunday he gives his lesson and finds a way to emphasize helping others out. Each week he asks us if we have experiences from the previous week on how we've helped others. Recently I've realized that the whole goal of the Gospel of Christ is to help others. Christ's teachings uplift us and help us to understand how to teach everyone but I think the ultimate goal of His teachings and actions was to show us how to help others. This week it is my goal to be more like my Savior and try to help those around me. A friend of mine once told me that I was a "builder" or someone who tried to build others up. At the time I believe I did a better job at "building". I want to challenge y'all to try to help build those around you then let me know how you did. I hope y'all have a great week!

Update

For starters, I'm alive. It's been over two months since I posted. They have been crazy busy for the most part. I apologize for not writing sooner. Either I remembered and didn't have time or I forgot; the last few weeks have been a lot of the former. I'm very sorry guys.

Well, what to tell you.... I've been doing school stuff, work, wedding stuff and sometimes relaxing. Since last time, Wendy and I went to a Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert on campus. Wendy was super happy to go and we had really good seats. Wendy and I also went down to my parents house for General Conference and Thanksgiving. Both of those were really good and I was glad to spend time with my family and my darling Wendy. These last couple months have been full of ups and downs.

Today, going to church was a bittersweet experience. It was sweet because it was my last Sunday in a single's ward. While I have really enjoyed being in that ward, I won't miss the competition that seems to go on in a single's ward. At the same time, it was a bitter experience because it was my last time in the 67th ward. The ward that has become my home ward having been in it for two years. The experience was embittered more by the fact that the man who's been my Bishop for two years got released today. I won't deny it, that man has become my friend because he's helped me in some of my toughest moments. I will note that I was pleased to have him do an important interview for me today which was very touching because he's not just my Bishop, he's my friend.

Well, I should say that I'm really happy to be finishing up school this week and heading home for bit. Then from there I get to fly home with my darling Wendy to meet her family. And a few weeks after that I get to marry my best friend!

My spiritual thought this week comes from a reflection that I had during sacrament meeting. I realized one of the reasons that this ward has become my favorite and my home ward. It is because of all the friends that I've made here. Something I've really come to appreciate over the last few days are the friends that I have. They are really great people and I love them dearly. They have helped me and more often than they know they have changed my life for the better. As Sister Dalton once said in a devotional here on campus, everyone in your life is there for a purpose. I know that this is definitely true of my friends and I'm grateful to have them in my life. I hope y'all can recognize that your friends are gifts from God and I hope you let them know how much you love and appreciate them! Have a good week!

P.S. I've stop talking about what books I'm reading because I'm pretty sure no one really cares. Let me know if you wanted it included. If not I'll leave that part out.

My Wendy Darling

So these few week have been pretty crazy but pretty awesome. I've been keeping up with work, school, and of course, my darling Wendy. Some of you may notice a post before this. I needed to use my blog to sell a spare ring that I have. So you can ignore the last post.

So over the last several weeks, Wendy and I have gotten to know each other much better and become great friends. We've developed a deep level of friendship that neither one of knew existed. Wendy's been able to meet my crazy family and get to know them better. So now on to the story that most of my readers are waiting for.

A week before my last post, Wendy and I went for a walk as we often do. On the walk, Wendy got nervous and told me that she wanted to talk to me about something but she was nervous to bring it up. I told her not to be nervous and promised that I would not be judgmental of what she said. She told me that really liked our relationship and she'd like for it to become more permanent. I told her that I think that I would like that too but I wasn't sure about it. I explained that I had recently gotten out of a really rough relationship and that I was really hesitant about considering that option. She pleaded with me and told me that she had thought and prayed about it a lot and she felt like it was right. In the end, she convinced me to pray about it. The Lord told me that my relationship with her should continue forward. I was really surprised by that answer; I was totally not expecting it.


Then after a few days and a bit of struggle within myself, I decided to start making things happen. The day before my last post, Wendy and I took her great great grandmother's fused wedding set to the jewler's to get downsized, separated, cleaned, and replated. We got them back within the week. The days prior to getting the ring back, I talked to my parents about our decision. Then I had to ask her parents.... My feelings while asking them for permission are best summarized by the last line of the announcer from the Legend of Korra. Wetting my pants

So.... yeah, it was intense. I now completely understand why my brother-in-law forgot his number. But I obviously got their approval. After getting her approval, my parents requested that we come down so that they could get to know my darling Wendy better. So last weekend, we went down to Utah and they got to know her better and they like her too.


On Tuesday, I finally got everything together to propose to my darling Wendy. I wrote her a poem called “The Greatest Miracle of My Life” and I tore off the last three lines that talked about me proposing to her. I put a little picture of a kiss over it (so that it'd be "sealed with a kiss") and taped it closed. I also printed off a picture of purple tulips because that her favorite type of flowers. I clipped both the poem and the picture to her front door and then knocked. I ran around the corner where they couldn’t see me (I found out later that Wendy answered the door) and made sure that they found it. Then I acted pretty normally all through out the morning and afternoon. On Tuesday's my university has religious fireside at two o'clock which Wendy and I usually attend. We did so on that Tuesday too. After devotional we went to Porter park (Wendy's favorite place and one of our most frequented places). We walked around half of the end of the park until Wendy suggested that we sit down under a pavilion nearby. We did and I pretended to find the piece of paper that had the last three lines on it; I glanced at it and told Wendy that it was for her. As she read it, I got down on one knee. When she had finished, I proposed to my darling. Her reaction was her expression below. And she said YES!!!!

I'm so excited to marry my best friend. As I told her once, I will never call her the girl of my dreams. The girl of my dreams was not nearly as awesome as she is. I hope y'all have a good week!

Happiness is Contagious and Is Spread With A Smile

So my last few weeks have been kinda crazy. But in a good way. I went home for a week and brought my girlfriend down to Utah. It was nice to be home around my crazy family and get to play with my little nephew, Nikolai, who is adorable.

I will say that I finished Mockinjay which was good. I'm presently following two TV series, Avatar: Legend of Korra, and Once Upon A Time. Both of them are a bit cheesy but still very well written.

Classes have started back up (for me) and I'm getting the hang of them. I think I'm going to like all of them. I just need to get a lot more sleep before my psychology class.

So I just wanted to take a minute and say that my girlfriend makes me happy. She's happy, positive, and just cute. I like how she too shares my joie de vivre. I watched the latest episode of Legend of Korra before I showed it to Wendy and I thought that it was aoky. Then I showed it to her and I liked it better because of her reactions to everything.

These last few weeks, I have felt immensely blessed because of my family, friends, girlfriend and ward. There are so many reasons that I have to be happy that it's really hard to count them. I wish I could express my feelings better but I'll just have to say that I'm very happy where I am right now. I hope that you my readers, find time to count blessings. I know that they're a lot more than you think that are. When you realize how blessed you are thank the Lord and then remember; be happy!

Laying the Foundation

So I've decided to start a blog. I do this not only because people in my family wanted to start one but also because I felt impressed by the Spirit to do so. I'm not entirely sure as to what exactly I will be posting on a weekly basis but I think much of it will by my thoughts or gospel insights for the week. I'd also like those who follow to please let me know that they are doing so. I also like feedback so that it may help me tailer my style.

So my thought this week is about friendships and love. This was mainly sparked because one of my roommates lost one of their grandparents. I've done my best to comfort this roommate because he is one of my good friends. It reminded me of how much our families mean to us. I love my family and I love my friends; I may have to write about my definition of friendship due to my unique use of the word. It reminded me of how love creates invisible lines between us like the one between Alvin and Stuart in the Tales of Alvin Maker (this is my favorite series of all time). I also thought about the word cher/chère in French. The word is often used as meaning dear but it can also mean expensive. Oddly enough, I feel that this dually is appropriate. I think this because the people that are considered dear are often described with such phrases as "invaluable" or "priceless". Thus they are in sense "very expensive."

This event with my roommate me also think about friendships. I like the explanation of Antoine de Saint-Expéry in "The Little Prince". He describes how friendships are created through a set of rituals and how it then makes people unique to one other. I have found this to be very true in my own life.

My last thought was this. I think that when we learn to love someone we may not necessarily creating something new but I think that we are simply remembering the person's real value.

So learn to "remember" the real value of those around. Try to treat those around as if they were "expensive" to you because you never know how long you have them for.