House

Several of you have been asking for pictures of my new house. I haven't taken pictures of everything, so there will be more pictures to come. I focused on my living room and kitchen today and will have more soon. It is a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with 2 car garage. Right now it is just me living there and I am enjoying the peace and quiet, but missing the fun and craziness. Luckily, Provo is just a few minutes away whenever I need it.

I plan on painting the master bedroom soon. Right now it has one wall that is maroon, and the other walls are a choral color. Yuck! Any suggestions from all of you seasoned home owners, or paint experts?

Conference!

Those of you that are friends with me on facebook or twitter have noticed that I have been rather busy during conference. Some of you may hate it, some of you may enjoy it, but the fact is that it will continue. I have felt excited about this conference more than I have in some time. Maybe I am growing up, maybe I just really need to hear some things right now. Either way it has been amazing so far! Since I didn't get to tweet about priesthood session here are a few of the things I learned:

Elder Oaks: I had made a comment during the afternoon session that I wanted an Elder Oaks talk and priesthood session brought it to me! It actually fit in nicely with the general theme of the day, comfort and healing.

He said that medical science is not at odds with our faith. We should apply every remedy available to us and then ask God. We use them simultaneously. We urged us as priesthood holders to always be prepared to use the healing power of the priesthood. He said that there are five steps in using the healing power: 1) The anointing. 2) Sealing. 3) Faith. 4) The words of the blessing. 5) The will of the Lord.

Elder Oaks said that we should never be worried about what to say in a blessing, God's will will be accomplished. Healing does not come from the words spoken, but by faith. Also there is no need to be blessed multiple times as this is a sign that you lack faith. It also shows that you are putting more trust in those that are giving the blessing and not taking responsibility for yourself. He mentioned that in the scriptures the Savior often said, "Thy faith hath made thee whole." It is your responsibility, not the elders. It is up to you to claim that blessing by your faith.

Two examples were given of times when it was not God's will for someone to be healed. Elder Oaks proclaimed that our faith is in Jesus Christ and is not dependent on outcomes. God's will shall be accomplished. We cannot change his will.

President Uchtdorf: Patience, he told of a study done with four year olds where they were given one marshmallow and told if they did not eat it and waited fifteen minutes they would give them a second one. Only 30% were able to wait. They followed these children for years and those who had patience were more successful in life.

Patience is a rare virtue, without patience we cannot please God or become perfect. If we want to reach our potential we must learn to wait. Patience is not passive resignation it is an active waiting and enduring. We must continually work and endure with faith.

He talked about when he moved to a new country and things were different. He got behind and had begun to wonder if he could succeed. He had a teacher who believed in him and taught him patience. That if he was steady and persistent he would be able to learn and succeed.

Never give up on anyone, and that includes never giving up on yourself. Be patient and endure to the end. The promises of the Lord are not always swift, but they are always certain.

President Eyring: Diligence, Learn what the Lord expects of you, then do it! Our priesthood responsibilities are more than just doing what He would do, but to become as He is. Let every man be diligent in learning their duty.

He mentioned a little bit about how the Duty to God program of the church will be changing and the blessings that these changes will bring to our youth.

Remember the Savior, He is our perfect example. Follow Him and bring others with you.

This will have to do for now, I need to get some sleep so I can be ready for another exciting day tomorrow! If you want to check out some of my quotes from the morning and afternoon sessions of Saturday conference check out my twitter account.

The Ghost of Vacation's Past

Summer vacation began like any other, with my family and I spending a week in Arizona. We played with our cousins, swam in our grandparent's pool and had a wonderful time. Sadly, it was time to make the long drive home.

Since my brother and I were both young we decided to make it a two day trip instead of driving it all in one day. As we were driving my dad saw a sign for a ghost town up ahead. "Do you want to check it out David?" he asked. "Only if we can see a ghost!" I replied.

Pulling up to the small deserted town my dad read a sign saying it did not open for a few hours. "As long as we are here we might as well have a look around," my dad announced.

Wandering around I felt like I had taken a step back a few hundred years. The dirt from the streets blew around like fog in a graveyard. Buildings looked like they could fall over with even the slightest noise. Luckily, the whole world was quiet, a little too quiet. I kept having a strange feeling that we were being watched. I looked around for any signs of life, there was none.

Suddenly, I spotted a house that had light coming through the cracks of the door. I hadn't seen any signs of electricity anywhere, I wondered what could be making the strange light. Being curious I decided to investigate.

I crept toward the building, the closer I got the more confused I was. Music began to play, it sounded even older than what my dad listens to. It felt as if invisible strings were pulling me closer to the door. What was in this building? I couldn't stop now, I was almost there! Reaching my hand toward the door, my curiosity was about to be fulfilled. Except, something else got to the door before me!

The door swung open on it's own and I ran as fast as I could. "Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!" At a world record speed I ran for my life. In all the confusion I could swear I heard laughter. Continuing to run, I cautiously turned my head to see what was going on.

Then, I saw it! Well, him... and my family. They were laughing even harder than they do at my best jokes! The ghost ended up being the park ranger, boy was I embarrassed! Relieved to be alive I tried to act cool like nothing happened. Ghost ranger showed us around a little and sent us on our way.

Next year let's just drive home as fast as we can!

For the Love of... Writing

I have been thinking about why I write for two reasons. First of all, on Sunday we were trying to convince two of our friends to create blogs. (Our apartment had just started a joint blog at http://www.sabbathstew.blogspot.com) This led me to think about why I have enjoyed my blogging experience and how I could convince someone else to be willing to put their thoughts and writing out where other people can see it.

Second, I have been taking a class about how to teach writing. As I have learned things in this class, and others, it has changed the way I viewed writing for myself and how much more powerful it can be when done correctly.

Growing up I wrote because I had to. I knew that a teacher was going to be looking at my paper and was going to decide if it was written perfectly. I didn't care if I learned anything while writing it, I didn't question what I read or wrote. I only cared about putting on that paper what I thought the teacher wanted to hear. This generally got me good grades, but I did not enjoy it or gain much from the experience.

I have been reading a book called After The End by Barry Lane. In this book there was a quote that hit me as I read it. It says, "Unfortunately, I was never taught to ask questions in school and neither were most of the college freshmen who enter my classes. They were taught to write answers, to be experts, to lie. Questions were a threat to their knowledge. Questions were something that came numbered at the ends of chapters. Something that teachers asked. Something to ignore.

I feel that most of my writing growing up was in fact a lie. It had no depth, no personal connections, it left nobody wondering. I don't think that I, or anyone else, was better after reading my writing than they were before they read it. My writing did not help me understand my own feelings or those of others. Luckily, I have had a change of heart.

I can't say that my writing does any or all of the things listed above now, but I am willing to put my thoughts out there. Edward Albee says, "I write to find out what I'm thinking about." I have indeed learned more about myself since starting this blog and have been more willing and excited to write. If something happens to me I see myself thinking, I need to write about this!

Surprisingly, I run into old friends that say they have kept up with me by reading my blog. I am amazed that anyone finds what I say interesting! I especially appreciate when people leave comments. That what I wrote made them question, or sparked a thought inside of them and that they are willing to write and share that connection back with me.

So why do we write? Why do I write? Why should you write? Why are we not more willing to question life and to learn and grow from each other? As a child we question everything. I see so many children who have such a thirst for learning, their Gatorade is asking questions. Sadly, it seems that we beat this out of them sometime in their education. We teach them to follow blindly, to conform, not to stand out because you might get noticed. Nobody wants to be different. They don't need to understand why they do things, they just need to get them done!

We need to reverse this trend! Be willing to speak out, question, and take a stand. Is it sometimes scary to write something knowing that someone could see it? Yes! However, I know that getting the things that are stuck inside me and finding a way to let them escape is such a freeing experience. Many times once the thoughts, like water, begin to flow, soon a waterfall of ideas and thoughts come gushing out.

So why do I write? Why should you write? "We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in introspection." -Anais Nin. I don't think I have written anything in here that will be able to convince you or anyone else of the freeing power of writing, but I hope that sometime in your life you will come to that realization. It will change your life and the way you view it.

"I tell students that good writing is fueled by unanswerable questions. Once they discover the joy every three-year-old...knows, a world of knowledge is suddenly unlocked...The art of asking questions is intrinsically linked with the art of having something to say, of valuing your experience, and trusting enough to share even painful experiences, first with yourself and then with others." -Barry Lane

So why do you write? Or why don't you? I would love to know. The question is out there, will you respond?