I know someone famous

So guess what....I know someone famous. My sister in-law, Kara, plays the french horn for the orchestra at temple square. They have like 9 horns and only need 3-4 every week so we aren't sure when she will play with them, but My sister in law is cooler then anyone else. Especially because the more I think about all of my friends are the oldest in their family or don't have sister in-laws.

Swine flu Paranoia

You can never be too careful

The Hobbit

So for my humanities class we need to read the hobbit by next Tuesday. I can officially say that I have done so. You guys aren't allowed to tell anyone but I stayed up all night last night reading it, it is a really great book.

I thought when Gandalf came and saved the day against the zombies was very predictable. And there happens to be a boat just sitting there waiting for them on the other side of the river in Mirkwood. But overall very good very entertaining book.

Eric is trying to convince me to read the trilogy but I'm not sure on that one, that is a lot reading and there is no way I could finish them all before my Mission. We'll see, I might attempt to start it but not guarantee finishing it. I also have begun to enjoy reading. I have been working pretty hard to develop that and up here is a really good environment for that, because there is nothing else to do besides read.

So I want to very clear on this I enjoyed the hobbit not my humanities class. That class is going to be the death of me. The subject is dumb, most of the discussions are dumb and how people get the meaning of life out of a movie that had not plot conflict or strong characters is beyond me. And now for a test that I am taking on Tuesday I got to write an essay on how that movie is "great art." They don't even give me a chance to disagree I have to agree with these people. That indoctrination, not education. AHHHH I hate that class.

I don't Like my roomate

Yah, I really don't like my room mate. All he ever does is look up BYU stats and you never want to plan something on the most sacred of days, Game Day. You try to talk to him while he is looking up his stats and he will bite your head off and get mad at you.

And the worst idea I ever had was looking up the cougar fight song because it was brought up in conversation. We found the MP3 of it and he started singing the song and after got this 3 year old smile on his face and started running around our tiny little dorm like a psychotic man. And then started pretending like BYU just scored and doing push ups like ROTC guys. He is so weird it is quite scary. And for our first date up here we are taking girls to the BYU game in the movie theater. My roomate Looses!!!!

From The Resident On Red Neck Drive

How Gubmint Works

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of
a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So
they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without
instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two
people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do
time studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the
tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and
hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So They
created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
Then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?"
So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an
Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal
Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one
Year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."

So they laid off the night watchman.

NOW slowly..

Let it sink in.

Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.

Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of
the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY .... During the Carter Administration?

Anybody?

Anything?

No?

Didn't think so!

Bottom line. We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of
an agency ... the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!

Ready??
It was very simple ... and at the time, everybody thought it very
appropriate.

The Department of Energy was instituted on 8-04-1977.
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.

Hey, pretty efficient, huh???

AND NOW, IT'S 2009 -- 32 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?"

Ah, yes -- good ole bureaucracy.

AND, NOW, WE ARE GOING TO TURN THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?

I Never Thought I Would Say It.

I Never thought I would say it but, Stadium Singing looses hard. Imagine with me for a minute fitting 2 thousand people under a bleacher smaller then Springville Highs, and has a back to it so you can't just spread out beyond it. You are so crammed that you can't even hold your hymn book out. And the people there are talking to their friends not singing and so you could sing a hymn in between hymns.

I miss the days when it was just 7-8 of us at most that would sing under the little white gazebo in mapeleton. You all better be keeping that up, and when and if I ever come down I want to do it because that was one of my favorite things to do. I think I might make good friend with some of the sisters in my ward and go to the gazebo here in the gardens. Anyways love you all miss you dearly.

EFY oops I mean Get Connected.

Hello all from the booming metropolis of Rexburg ID.

So college is alright I guess, but it seems vaguely familiar like something I did last summer.....Ahh EFY that's it. The last couple of days have been what they call "Get Connected." And we have had devotionals almost all day for the last two days, there is a dance tonight and we have EFY type counselors and a group of other young freshmen to get to know, and everything is focused on the gospel.

It's fun and enjoyable but, in its own right, slightly irritating. They have us going from 8am-11pm today and a similar schedule tomorrow. Now with that being said it is a lot of fun getting to know people and not remembering their names. And the spirit really is here. I was talking to my counselors and they were saying that most of our classes will began with a prayer and we had a devotional on how to study by faith and I am going to enjoy trying to put that into practice.

The area is beautiful and so far it isn't as cold as they make sound, but its still September. I am loving life and you all should come to BYU-I.

Let me get this straight.

Obama's health care plan will be
written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it,
passed by a Congress that hasn't read it,
signed by a president who smokes,
funded by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes,
overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and
financed by a country that is nearly broke.


What possibly could go wrong?

P.S. I didn't come up with this its an email but, it does have a point

I'm Scared

Hey Guys,

I have to tell you guys that I am more afraid now then at any other point in my life. I believe that we are literally watching the death of our great country.

I have been listening to Glen Beck, and Sean Hannity lately and had a number of discussions with my family about this whole bailout package that was passed about socialized health care and every other stupid thing the government is doing at the moment, and I honestly think that in the next 10 years the capitalistic, free United States of America will cease to exist. I think before I comeback off my mission that the government will ripping my gun out of my hand (I would like to see them try, I am willing to use it before I give it to them). I was watching Sean Hannity the other day and they had political analyst on there and he was saying "If this socialized health care bill passes, it will domino down until, our children (meaning us) will be able to tell our children or grandchildren how we remember what it was like to live in America when men were free."

Ladies and gents these are last days of which the prophets of old have prophesied would come there are a lot of scary things happening in the world and whats makes me even more scared is this just the beginning, According to the prophesies this is good compared to what we are about to see.

Now that I have doomed and gloomed us all (sorry I am just very scared.) The prophet Thomas S. Monson, this last confrence, said:

It would be easy to become discouraged and cynical about the future—or even fearful of what might come—if we allowed ourselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in our lives. Today, however, I’d like us to turn our thoughts and our attitudes away from the troubles around us and to focus instead on our blessings as members of the Church. The Apostle Paul declared, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”.....My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.

This quote really helps me be happy, even though the world is going to pot very quickly. And I want to close by quoting D&C 123:17:

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

DC & Gettysburg

So DC is very cool. So far the highlight of it all has been the capitol tour we took yesterday. We called Mr. Chaffetez before hand and set up a tour with one of his interns. She was such an awesome tour guide. She was from Utah and was able to bring everything back to home to things we all knew about. And since everyone in our group was LDS she was able to relate some things back to the gospel which was kind of fun. And where she worked for a member of congress she was able to take us to a lot of cool places that most people don't get to see. She took us underneath the capital there is a place where Washington's casket was supposed to displayed, but since he was an extremely humble man he wouldn't let them do it. So it has been temporarily occupied by really important people, but it remains empty.

Then she took us up to the speakers balcony which is ms. palosies balcony on the capital that you can see the whole area and see all the major landmarks it was very cool.

And the last thing she showed us was the chapel in the capitol. It is just this small little secluded room where you can pray and worship it has to prayer alters in there and a stain glass window of Washington praying I was very pleased to see that and hope most of our politicians use it.

Today I went to Gettysburg, it was a bigger battle then I had ever before imagined 51,000 casualties it was really sad. But it really ticked me off, this is by far the darkest event in all of American history and people and there are thousand of gift stores selling Gettysburg memorabilia and capitalizing on this horrific event. I bought one of those fingernail clippers key chain, but when I thought of that i really want to return it. And there was something even more disturbing then that to me. They have these "ghost tours" and Gettysburg are supposedly haunted and people are trying to capitalize on that. First off I don't believe in the whole ghost crap, but if there is that's where my real problem begins: the spirits of these ghost are people who paid there last full measure of devotion to there country. And you are going to parade that around like its a freak show. How freaking disrespectful. If I were president I would call the whole town of Gettysburg a national monument and you can't sale anything in it out of respect for the dead.

And in closing, I miss my home. Back home there isn't as many people who smoke, drink and do other things. And I swear if I have to see another girl in a short skirt or a low cut shirt I am going to die. I would personally like thank all the girls back home who make a special effort to dress modestly your efforts are noticed an appericated.

See you in a few more days.

Niagara Falls Highly Recomended

Today I went to Niagara Falls it was pretty good. There really only three things worth mentioning. First is it is huge. Those falls are dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons per second. second its right on the boarder of Canada, so I have seen Canadian soil. I never got to be on Canadian soil though which is lame. And third they have what they call the cave of the winds, and you get go right up into the falls and get soaking wet, that was awesome. And an extra note I got to do the maid of the mist which was kind of fun but was not necessarily a highlight. Now I have traveled to Kirtland, Ohio and will write tomorrow.

"I Used To Be A Legend"

"I used to be a legend,
a good o' legend too,
but now I'm finished legending,
I don't know what to do,
I'm growing old and feeble,
and I can legend no more,
so I will work my growth agreement if I can"

These are the words of the timberline song that we sing at the end of every mourning troop assembly at Gilwell. On Saturday, when we were singing this song for the last time, me and Eric looked at each other and both of could tell we were thinking of the exact same thing:

First thing was, I used to be a legend. I used to be so involved in the scouting program that everyone in section used to know who I was, everybody looked up to me, and came to me to make the decisions that need to be made. And now I give it until the end of the year and no one will even know who I am anymore. As much as I appreciate being able to go to an event and just party it up, not worrying about what needs to happen or putting on a good face, I sure will miss being in the spot light.

Then the next thing that both of us were thinking, "But now i am finished legending, I don't know what to do." What are we supposed to do? My life as a young man was made up of two things, High school and scouting,and now I am done with both. Life should be interesting the next few month.

And finally,"I'm growing old and feeble, and I can legend no more, so I'll work my growth agreement if I can." At least to me this is the coolest line of the entire song. I am growing old, and unfortunately scouting has rules about how old you can be, and I have reached that ripe old age, and can legend no more. So I will work my growth agreement if I can. That growth agreement simply means, I will become a legend in other ways. First one I am going to be come a legend up at BYU-I I'm not sure how yet, but I will be come a legend. Then I will become a legend out on my mission, I want to be the missionary, that every one looks to and wants to be like. Then I want to be a legend of a husband and father. I want my kids and wife to think that I am super-human and that I really am a legend.

So as much as I have enjoyed being a "Legend" in scouting, I look forward to being a Legend in other ways as well.

Revised: See ya losers

So, good news, tomorrow is Timberline!!!!!!!!! I get to go up in to the mountains for a solid week leaving the world, its ways, and opinions behind. And while doing that I get to spend all week working my tail off, chasing 50 little deacons around the steepest mountain that has ever had a scout camp on it, with only, at best 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Plus I am the number 2 man in charge which means I am Eric's whipping boy and get to fix all the problems and get none of the glory for it. I am telling you this week is going blast. I feel so bad for you all who have to sit in normal civilization, where you got to go to work, and continue you on with your same boring lives. (sorry if I offended anyone with that comment.)

Now to end on a happier less mean note, I would like to end with the words of one my favorite timberline song: O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid the farewell we're going to the mountains of Ephraim


p.s. Timberline is in the Mount Pleasant area and literally is in the mountains of Ephraim.

rotten vegetable soup

Working in produce in a grocery store has its definite advantages, those of you who have worked at Allens know a few of them. But it also has it's undeniable disadvantages.

I went in to work today, and Ron the produce manager, told me we were going to clean the wet case. Which dosen't sound too bad right. ohhh, let me describe to you what we are dealing with. The wet case is constantly sprayed with a misting system and with a hose, well, the water brings down the dirt grime and various little pieces of the product. Well from there it works its way down with all the junk and down to a tub. It sits in that tub because the junk will clog the drain and it rots for months at a time. So you have rotting produce in a very wet area, that is a perfect spot for mold, it also solidifies and makes this nasty jelly stuff that stinks terribly. It really looks likes this nasty rotten vegetable soup.

Well I got to spend the first two hours of my shift cleaning that out. So needless to say I really really love my job.

My Larger Plates

Hey Guys,

Welcome all. Many of you may remember the First Book of Jeremy, which was written completely in biblical verse. I thought about doing that for this one, but the reviews I got from the first first one was not high enough to give that a stab. (there will probably one or two that are, just for the heck of it.)

So the name of my blog is simple. My family began the Book of Mormon again last week, and in 1 Nephi 9 It reads: Upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reign of the kings, and the wars and contentions of my people.

So my first blog "And with his stripes we are Healed;" is what Nephi described as: Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.

So, I am rambling but, the point is this is the set of "plates" where I will record my adventures and frustrations with secular life.