Fun With Macs

So I am just barely remembering how to put up photos on the blog,  and a little while back me and my family had a little fun with the camera function on our macs.   hope ya'll enjoy. 

God Be With You Till We Meet Again

So This week my Elders and Sisters left for their respective missions.....it's a bitter sweet departing.  This group went seemed to be more close knit than any other group and has definitely made an impression in my life. They all have amazing faith and I wish I could be there for every moment of their missions.    Here are some pics on the last day.

Let them struggle

So i was recently in a training at my job to help missionaries become better at what they do and my boss was using an analogy of riding a bike. He asked us to remember when we were learning how to ride a bike and he asked to think of what the most important part of riding a bike was. It was of course the part when the person helping you would let go. We  then discussed our various roles as a teachers and one thing that came up that stood out to me was he said we have to let them struggle which will help them surprise themselves at what they can do.

I was thinking about that and the recent events in my life and i felt like maybe that is what the lord is letting happen in my life.  He is letting me struggle so that when i rely on him i will be surprised at what i can do with his power.  I feel so inadequate at times but when I see the miracles after the struggling everything seems to make sense.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  

Love

So I was talking to one of my fellow MTC teachers yesterday and he had an epiphany that I think is revolutionary.  So he is engaged and was talking about how sometimes he asks himself if he is really in love with this girl.  Well he decided to compare to something that he could measure since love has so many skewed definitions.  He asked himself, How do i know I love God? this could be equated to having charity, the pure love of Christ which is the ultimate form of Love.

Each one of us can have different specific things that we do to demonstrate our love for God. are we doing the same things for the people we think we love?  

Amendment Two "the gift of a body"

first- thanks for the encouragement for those of you who have read my blog, I need to write more to express what it is that goes on inside my crazy head.

Today I want to talk a little bit about what a nice guy needs in order to be confident around women that the nice guy finds attractive. This is a positive self image. TV, Movies, the Internet, and even the people around us bombard us with so many false views of self image that it can completely destroy ones own view of self. Women are hit harder than men, however those of the male gender are not excluded from the degrading view that the world has of what a "real man" is. This view paints the picture of a chiseled, rich, Ferrari driving, beer drinking, womanizing, selfish, egotistical guy who is only allowed to cry in the shower or maybe if he is stuck in a rainstorm so no one can see his tears. He isn't allowed to say what he feels and is encouraged to just "hit it and quit it". Immorality is not only flaunted but encouraged if you are to live according to how the world views a real man. so many movies like American pie , super bad, and 40 year old virgin, consider a man who has not had sex with a girl as undesirable and in fact the whole goal of the protagonist is to loose that virginity so they can "come of age." We are encouraged to treat women as if they are objects of our desires and nothing more. All of this and more contribute to a false self image that makes the nice guy look as if HE is undesirable. This leads to a feeling that he is constantly being compared to others and he looks around for approval of those who really are " ...in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers..." As a result we lose many nice guys who are "ashamed" and decide to join those who are pointing and mocking. This cannot happen any longer. I see too many of these good guys my age who give in to this and in the end, make decisions that they later regret.

To start off in the process of building the correct self image, it is necessary to try and remove as much of these influences in our lives as possible. stop watching inappropriate television shows that are "hilarious but are kind of crude" do not allow yourself to give in to Rated- R movies and even a lot of PG-13 movies that portray this type of thinking. Stop Playing the video games with the scantily clad women. This may seem extreme but it is essential if you are to "let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly" as described in the first part of the Nice Guy Theory. I am telling you this takes away so many weapons that the adversary would use against us to try and destroy our happiness.

The next step is to realize what a gift it is to be able to have a body. this one sometimes is hard for me because mine has a tendency to break down on my quite frequently and it often requires more vigilance in my gratitude. The reason I say be grateful for your body is because God loved you enough to give you the one that you have right now, even with all of it's short comings. Think of the one third that were given the ultimate punishment by being banned from ever being able to have their spirits clothed in a tabernacle of clay. that means no "comfy clothes day", no exhilarating rush from riding that sweet roller coaster, and one of the biggest ones for me, no feelings of completeness as "soul meets soul on lovers lips" ( i got that off of my facebook fortune cookie). Having a body is such a wonderful gift and so we should first off be grateful for the fact that we have one.

Part of being grateful is taking care of the body that you have been given. That does this mean? Well it means we can't keep feeding it with all the junk that is so easily available. Don't worry I'm not asking you to give up fast food and pizza, but i am asking that you use them in moderation. An occasional pizza or burger isn't going to kill us and I don't want you to feel guilty for going and eating a piece of birthday cake. our bodies are built to handle them in moderation. This means we gotta actually eat healthy though for the other 18 meals of the week which may mean we might actually have to learn how to cook. ~gasp~ yes we are big boys and it wouldn't kill us to learn what to do with a potato or how to prepare spaghetti and meatballs, in fact a nice romantic dinner made completely by the guy is a great idea to add to your list of good date ideas. you don't have to get all crazy though when starting out, you can start by replacing french fries with an apple or an orange and your 64 oz of mt dew with a glass of milk.

another part of taking care of your body is making sure that you are comfortable with how you look. I know i myself have found myself in my former days flexing in front of the mirror wishing i had Brad Pitt's chiseled upper body. remember you are who you are and you don't have to be a muscle bound freak to be attractive to a girl. Girls are a lot less shallow than guys and they have a tendency to look more on who you are as a person anyway. exercise however isn't frowned upon and in fact can be a pleasant experience if we aren't worried about how we look. if we make it a relaxing experience, one where endorphins are released and one that simply leaves us feeling good about ourselves because we have accomplished something. Exercise actually helps with disciplining yourself and can help you as you master overcoming your natural tendencies. so give it a shot, but don't feel like you have to go all out on the first try.

in conclusion i am sick of other people telling me what i am supposed to think of myself. I want to simply be grateful for what i have. by doing this when i am on a date with a girl that i am interested in, i don't have to worry about how i look and will be able to focus my attentions on her for the evening. that's all for today.

Amendment 1 of the Nice Guy Theory

In the continuing effort to help out the nice guys everywhere I am adding my first ammendment to my theory of the Nice Guy. Not only is confidence needed but courage also.
to me courage is defined as thus

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again Tomorrow"

I reference this and place it as a requirement for the following reasons. I am going to go out on a very sturdy limb and say that about 99% of the nice guys out there has experienced heart ache or rejection by the girls that they have encountered in their lives. This is not because I think girls are heartless and cruel, but because that is the nature of the game of love.
Usually those who are working on gaining confidence get nervous I think not because girls make them nervous, but rather I think they subconsciously fear the pain that comes from rejection. The pain I believe comes from two places, their heart and their personality. The reason I say personality is because when you be yourself in a dating situation, you put yourself in a position who you are can be judged by the world. Often times when one is rejected, one mistakenly interprets it as a rejection of who they are. This causes them the mind to try and avoid that pain and as a result create the defense mechanism of nervousness.
The second form of pain comes from the Heart. This area of the human soul is very tender and when pain is felt, it is not the temporary pain that a flesh wound causes, but rather a very deep and lasting pain that resurfaces upon the memory of the very thing that caused the pain. A hot searing knife through the heart is an understatement when talking about this pain. This pain can be consuming and has the ability to affect every aspect of our lives. This pain allows feelings of hopelessness to enter and and feelings of depression. It allows the theft of many happy moments that would have been joyous indeed if it had not been for this profound hurt. This one is by far the most dangerous in the pursuit of love because it can last for years if allowed.
Having felt, very deeply, both of these wounds I understand completely if one would say " I never want to experience that again and therefore will put up as many defenses as possible so that I don't fall in love ever again." It takes so much courage for one who has experienced it and is still willing to open one's self up to a new opportunity to have it happen again. This is why i say courage is required. To be confident in ourself, to be the nice guy that women need us to be we have to be willing to take the pain.
Two things have helped me in overcoming the pain that I have experienced in my life, the first being the gospel. The Knowledge that God has a plan of salvation specifically for me which includes an eternal marriage so long as I keep the commandments, helps me to see it in a different perspective. Also the knowledge that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can overcome any hurt that was ever given brings comfort during the darkest of hours, when all hope really does seem lost. It also has the ability to overcome the loneliness that can also occur as a result of being rejected. If we truly believe and trust in Christ, we are never alone. God is always there to listen to our heart's lament and sends his Spirit to comfort.
The second thing that helps me to get through is my unfaltering faith that my (future) wife is worth the pain, and I would go through ten times as worth if it meant that I could experience the joy that I hope will accompany someone who is sealed for eternity.
Tomorrow is always a new day, new beginnings me that there is a chance for change. We must take courage when attempting to have a relationship. Be yourself without fear of rejection, expose that heart without fear of the excruciating pain that could accompany the decision. Put your trust in the Lord and his plan and know he is mindful of you and he will never leave you comfortless, but will come to you.

2,3, Cha cha cha!

Holy moly I just had one of the funnest nights of my life. Thanks to my good friend Jillian, who was there to dance the night away with me, I have Terminally contracted the Latin Fever. I have been twice before and have enjoyed it but this time I actually came away with a plan to Learn HOW to latin dance. I do need the practice though so if you see me and I just happen to grab your hand and say LETS DANCE! you now know why. My mom and sisters are especially in danger!