Steal of a Deal!!!

I know, I said I wouldn't post in this blog anymore... But this is such a steal of a deal that it's too good to not post! I posted it in my other blog here, but I thought I'd put it here in case some people didn't see my other blog. :)

So anyway, the Seven Peaks Pass of all Passes is the BEST! Not only do you get ONE YEAR of free entry to Seven Peaks, but you also get unlimited free entry to a ton of other places as well!!! How awesome is that? It's basically the best! So you should all buy it HERE!!!!!!!

So go buy it! It's just 23 dollars! (for your info, a one day pass for Seven Peaks is like 15 bucks or something... if you go twice, you've more than paid for it! And if you go 20 times, you've paid like 1 dollar per pass! How cool is that???) SO GO BUY IT!!! :D
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UPDATE: Deal is no longer available. (as of like more than a month ago) :)

The Last Post

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true. This is my last blog post in this blog... I'm done with it...

....


...........

But not like that. I've just moved my blog! :)  Here is the new address of my blog! http://johnbwoodruff.net/myblog/

So I've gotten myself a new domain name. It's pretty cool I think. The website looks nice, it's nice and professional blogging software, etc.

Now, the good news is that you can still "Follow" my blog! (so it appears in your blogger dashboard) Here is how you do it:

STEP 1: Go to Blogger.com and log in as your google account. That's a fairly easy thing to do. ;)

STEP 2: Click the "Add" button located on the left side of the screen. (see screenshot below)


You click that button!

STEP 3: A box will pop up on your screen. You need to copy my new blog link I provided above, and paste it into the "URL" box. Then press "Follow" down at the bottom of the box. (see screenshot below)

Paste that link! Hit that Follow Button!

And congratulations! You've finished!!! You will now see my blog posts in your blogger dashboard! Yay!!!

So anyway, the whole point of this is to say that I will no longer be posting on this blog, but will be posting on my new one. Please follow it! :) That would make me happy! And you would be awesome!

Then it was Friday

It is difficult for one to describe the amazing sense of joy one has when the week is officially over and all that's left is a most wonderful weekend ahead. (well, until the next Monday anyway, but let's not think about that) The point is, I'm suuuuuuper happy that the weekend is here!!! I'm about this happy:

Ok. Maybe not quite that hysterical. But the fact is, I was actually able to accomplish everything I was supposed to this week! It's always nice when one can do that. I also loved the devotional on Tuesday! Elder Ellis and his family lived in Recife Brazil while my family was there, so we are great friends with the kids. It was awesome to see them there! And we were lucky, we got to sit on the floor! That was a first for me. I always get there late so I never get a chance! :) So it was really fun!

Well, since it's a Friday, and I'm actually done with the week's things, I'm not going to sit here and waste time writing a blog post! No way! I'm gonna go do something! Not sure what yet... But I'm going to do something! :)

Tchauzinho!

Microsoft vs. Apple

This was part of my day.

This was the guy I was sitting next to.

Not too boring.

A little more boring.

He was the epitome of an Apple Fanboy.

This was me.

Pure Awesomeness!

Even More Pure Awesomeness!

The epitome of a Microsoft Fanboy.

I win.

Thoughts by John

It's been a bit since I've posted on this blog. I seem to be following the pattern of most other blogs. They start out almost every day, then go to several times a week, then decreasing and decreasing until it ends up being like once every other month or something like that. I don't think I'm going to get to that point. Especially because I now have a website! Yes indeed, I have an official website! How cool is that, eh? You all can check it out and tell me what you think! The link is http://johnbwoodruff.net/ which will take you to my homepage. (it's very pitiful at the moment, I know, it's in its beginning stages) You'll hopefully be able to navigate your way around, and if not, definitely let me know, because that would be a huge flaw. :) I've got my blog on there and an "About Me" page. It's all rather pitiful at the moment, kind of boring. I'm trying to figure out what I should do with it. So if anyone has any cool creative ideas on what I can add to my blog, definitely let me know!!! I want to make it awesome!

*****

So I'm on a different computer today. That means there's not Mission Picture and Story of the Day. Next time. So this time I'll tell about my week. Last week was disgustingly crazy. This week was also disgustingly crazy, despite my hope that it would be normal. I had a Lab due on Tuesday that I'd been working on for a week. I finally was mostly done, and was having troubles. So I got help from a TA. I most unfortunately got a certain TA who I've had trouble with in the past with him telling me to do the wrong thing. This time was no different. In fact, he told me I had to do it a certain way, which sounded extremely weird, and I was skeptical, so I asked him three times if he was sure I had to do it that way, and I explained to him exactly what he explained to me, and he told me yes, that was how I was supposed to do it. So I did it that way with much uneasiness (should have listened to that) and attempted to pass off. The TA who came (he was a different one, he's actually my favorite one, very good at what he does) looked at my code and immediately knew something was amis. He told me that I had done exactly the opposite of what I was supposed to do. Let's just say I was a little upset. So I explained to him about the other TA, and he said "Oh." Kind of like he knew about this TA. I suspect they had already had similar problems. Well, he unfortunately couldn't accept it, because it needed to be exactly the opposite, so I had to almost completely rewrite my code! It was disgusting. I was not a happy camper. Well, it ended up taking me two days to rewrite the code because of other assignments that I had to finish first. So I turned it in finally two days late. Luckily I've built up extra credit so it gives me back the points I lost. But I was not happy. However I'm very happy now that I'm done with that lab and the Assembly Language in general! So that was a positive aspect. :)

*****

I have been thinking as of late. (actually I think all the time. I'm a thinker) About a couple of things. First of all, of how I'm so busy I don't have time to read like I used to be able to. That's sad. I love reading. But luckily this busy schedule won't last forever, then I'll be able to catch up on the so many books I want to read!

Secondly, I've been thinking about my friend from my mission, Elder Johnson. He was hit by a car a couple of weeks ago and has been in the hospital in a coma. Also the girl he was sharing the gospel with got hit by the car and is also in the hospital in critical condition. Elder Johnson just barely improved enough to be transferred to ICU. That kind of shows you how critical of a condition he was in, such that ICU is an improvement. Luckily they are positive about the direction he's headed in. He seems to be showing signs of more life and strength and his brain swelling has gone down. Due in large measure, I believe, to the prayers and fasting of many many people who knew and loved him. This whole thing helps me learn two things. First of all, drivers, watch where you're going and be safe!!!!!!!! They were hit because the driver decided to try to run a red light. So don't be stupid while driving. Secondly, it has helped me realize just how fragile life really is. It is so easy to think at my age that I've got my entire life ahead of me and nothing can happen to me. False. That's why we need to make sure we're always living in a way that if our time comes suddenly, we'll be prepared to leave this life clean and full of service and help towards others. So really, it's been a blessing knowing Elder Johnson in far more ways than I've realized.

Finally I've been thinking about school. Yes, this will be a much more secular thought as opposed to the more spiritual side in the previous paragraph. But this is also a very important thought. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I've come down to this one very vital conclusion... 41 DAYS UNTIL SCHOOL IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Silent Killer

A pretty cool occurrance occurred (is that redundant?) over the weekend. Basically we found a projector worth thousands of dollars on our hill. David tells the story much cooler than I do, so see his post here. It was pretty awesome though. All I can say is that it's a good thing someone who hates the U of U didn't find it before we did. I mean, I bleed blue, but that doesn't mean I'd destroy the U's projector. :) So anyway, go read the story, it's pretty darn cool!

Also, super exciting update! So I forgot my lunch today (this is a regular thing with me apparently...) and so I got me some Taco Bell. (disgustingly cheap, and not disgusting!) It was a miracle! I ate my beefy 5-layer burrito, and everything was perfect! Usually all the sour cream is on one extreme end of the burrito, so you're eating all your beefy deliciousness, then suddenly the rest of your burrito is merely tortilla and sour cream. The the cheese is all on the other side! So you're suddenly out of cheese! Well, today was a miracle! I ate the whole burrito, and was shocked to see that everything was perfectly spread out throughout the entire burrito!!! I was completely blown away! That burrito was delicious!!! And thus we see that there are tender mercies all around us! (don't think I'm crazy, that made me soooo happy to eat that thing! That was definitely a tender mercy!) Anyway, so that's my other cool story.

*****

So for my Mission Picture of the Day, I'll just have a cool picture, because I realized I never finished the final 911 story! So anyway, here's my cool picture!

Cool view from Apartment!

Look at that amazing view!!! Yeah, I know, I'm just so darn good looking! Ok, ha-ha, that was a really stupid joke and definitely false. I just thought I'd throw that one out there. :P

Anyway! To the story! This was the beginning of my third transfer in the mission. So this was three days after the big house fire! I had just gotten my first trainee, Elder Lima. It was our 2nd day together, and we were doing our morning study. Suddenly I hear this loud beeping. I'm confused, cause it's not a fire alarm beep, but I had heard it somewhere before. Well, I suddenly realized what it was, and ran to double check. Yup, it was the Carbon Monoxide alarm. So I got Elder Lima quick and we got out of there quick and got the family who lived upstairs out as well and called 911. (I'm sure they were like wait what? Didn't we just go over there a couple days ago?) :P 

So anyway, a fire truck came and they went in and inspected it, and I'm not sure what the problem was, but I guess they fixed it, opened all the windows and fanned the place out with a big fan, and said we could go back in! :) So that was our other adventure with 911! It was quite fun.

*****

I love Doctor Who!!! It's basically the best thing ever! I'm currently working on a pretty cool project idea. I'll reveal more as the details and progress come!

And I'm tired! And I have to work tomorrow morning! Not fun! But I'm happy that this week hopefully won't be NEARLY as bad as last week! :) Yay! All right, well, I'm off to go home! Tchau!

He's Got Attitude!

I love life. It's crazy, but I still love it. Sometimes you just have awesome days. Then some days are significantly less than awesome. I had one of those days yesterday. It was very far underneath awesome, actually. You know what though? It's those bad/ridiculous/terrible/absurd days that make the awesome amazing sweet days all the better!!! So I'm quite grateful for bad days. Now, that's not to say that I want to have more bad days... On the contrary, I could get along with fewer bad days. I just don't let them drag me down. Always have to stay positive about things! With a positive outlook, things just feel a whole lot better! Even if they're not! They become much more endurable! I tried to do that a lot while I was on my mission. There were lots and lots and lots of not so good days. Having a constantly positive attitude would make those days much less difficult! This whole idea of constantly having a positive attitude is something I gained on my mission, and I've loved it since I figured out that it actually works!!! So the purpose of this, I have no idea, but hey, that's what blogs are for! Talking about all kinds of stuff that usually makes no sense to others! Oh yeah!

*****

I haven't done one of these in a long time! So here we go!

Can you see how bored we are?

This was me and Elder Figueiredo. One day when it was snowing and we had nothing to do, the only thing left was to go try to talk to people and put up English class flyers. Well we got to our street (it's a crazy street by the way. Queen Street. If you're there after 9 pm, you're dead... Ok, not really. ;)  But it is quite dangerous after 9, so we never went in the evening.

We were walking down this street, and as it's snowing there's basically nobody outside. I don't blame them, frankly. It was freezing!!! So we were putting up our flyers, and got really bored, so we started taking weird pictures of ourselves walking down the street. (we're obviously extremely bored to be doing this for longer than a couple of minutes...) Yeah... This was definitely not one of the absolute best days I had on my mission. Going along with my earlier comments, however, I now look back on it, and have such fond memories of days like this. It's interesting, because it gives me perspective and helps me now realize that it wasn't as bad as I may have thought back then! As a matter of fact, it's nothing compared to what some people go through! So therefore, when life gets you down... Have fun with it!

Like this!

*****

I wasn't a fan of the whole Monday schedule on a Tuesday. Especially because I love my Tuesday classes. So I got shorted two of my fun classes, and got an extra dose of my three least favorite classes... Lovely...

I am going to watch another episode tonight of the coolest most amazing television show in existance... DOCTOR WHO!!!



La Traviata!

I went to the opera "La Traviata" last night, it was the first opera I've ever been to. It was actually really cool! Not to mention I could understand a lot of what was being said! (or sung) It's fun knowing Portuguese and Spanish.

The story was interesting. It was rather depressing, but quite good. The music was amazing, I loved it! I was talking to Sarah who I went with, and we were shocked at how ridiculously difficult it would be to be blasting opera-style singing for 3 hours! All I can say is, I can't sing like that! It was a very fun time though.

Now I'm going to go buy myself a Little Caesar's Pizza for my dinner! Delicious! A wonderful five dollar meal! Then I'm off to the BYU Philharmonic Concert! I'm really excited, I've been wanting to go to one of those concerts for a while now! Should be good fun!

Tchau tchau!

Would You Care For Some Tea?

This is one of my favorite lines from a Dalek!!!

Love it!!!! That was a great episode!!!

Johann Sebastian Bark

So you are a piano player and singer. Every time you sing and play piano, your dog is faithfully by your side. Your constant companion.

Then you leave for a few hours. What happens while you're gone?

Cuuuuute!!!!

Money Money, Where Have You Gone?

There's obviously a hole in my wallet... Or bank account...

I have never spent, nor do I think I will ever spend, as much money on school supplies somehow relating to my classes than I did this semester. I thought I was done when I bought my books. Nope. I still had to buy the Launchpad Development Tool. So surely I must be done. Nope. I just got done buying my Developer Board that accompanies it.

Cost? Eighty (80) very precious dollars. 80 dollars?? Let me make a comparison. I could buy a way more complex graphics card for 20 dollars. As a matter of fact I did that very thing in January. Just goes to show how absurdly overpriced school textbooks and other materials are.

People wonder why students never have money... I could give them an idea of why... This was a ridiculously expensive semester. I'll blame David. He signed me up for these classes... Just kidding David!

Ode to a Friend

So on Saturday I woke up super crazy early because I work on Saturdays at 5 am. Well, I get up, get all ready, eat the best breakfast one can have at 5 in the morning, and then drove to work. I got to work, and saw a new schedule posted on the board, so I was curious to see who was on my shift, because nobody had contacted me about switching shifts. I take a look, and find out that I'm actually not on the shift! Say-whaaaaat??? Are you telling me I got up crazy early, got ready, ate breakfast, and drove in a freezing car all the way to work (not that far actually) just to find out that I could be sleeping at that moment??? Yeah, I was discouraged, because I didn't even have the consolation of making money. So I dejectedly drove home, and then tried to get back into my bed. It was hard going back to sleep after having accomplished so much so early, but I managed!!! :) Then once I got back to sleep my alarm rang to wake me up, and I felt once again like I was getting up at 5 am. (even though it was more around 7:30) At least now I know my schedule, and it's really nice, because now since I don't work Saturday mornings, that means I get to do whatever I want on Friday nights and not worry about my sleep!!! :)

*****

Photo time! By the way, I'm going to have to start thinking of something else to do, otherwise I'll run out of mission photos! I'll have to do something cool... Very cool...

Zone 300!

DOGGY PILE!!!!

So today's photos focus on a most excellent Zone Activity we had on a Preperation Day. It was an improv skit type of activity! We split up into groups and were given 3 scripture stories, and we were supposed to come up with the best, funniest skit we could think of in about 20 minutes involving all three stories, and we had to use three props randomly assigned. So for example, my group was assigned the stories "Nephi breaks his bow," "Solomon cuts a baby in half" (except he didn't really) and "The Ten Plagues of Egypt." For our props, we had a nerf gun, a television, and a backpack. So it was really funny, meshing together everything with these props to make this absolutely ridiculously funny skit. We ended up filming them all and I edited them together onto DVD's that we gave out to the Zone. If anyone has a burning desire to watch them, just ask me, although most people may not find them as funny as I do, because I actually know the people and their personalities. It was a very fun activity though! After we took a picture with our awesome Zone t-shirts, the Elders decided to Doggy Pile Elder Rhodes, which was a common occurrance with poor Elder Rhodes. It was very fun! Except that I was on the bottom... Underneath some heavy Elders. Yeah, I thought I just might get crushed. Lovely activity! :)

*****

Today I spent from 12:45 till 6:30 at church. Yeah. It was a long day. I had to renew my Temple Recommend, which I was able to do with the Bishop's Counselor, then he set me apart as a counselor in the Sunday School Presidency, then I had to talk to a teacher and the Sunday School President, then finally was ready to get my Stake President interview for my Temple Recommend, and ended up waiting for an hour to get it. The happy news is, I'm still a current Temple Recommend Holder! (I didn't wait for my old one to expire) That's always a really good feeling, evaluating myself and being able to answer the questions as God wants them to be. It makes me very happy! :)

So I've decided I'm going to go be with one of my best friends... An absolutely incredible friend. So faithful. So friendly. Always there for you when you're feeling good, bad, sad, happy, whatever. Completely trustworthy. Perfect listener if you want to just talk and let off stress. Never recognized for the incredible help given. Never thanked, never praised, never applauded, rarely even mentioned. And yet, this friend is there. Always. Always waiting for you, never turning you away. My amazing friend... My Beloved Bed! My incredibly warm, comfy, cozy, friendly bed!!! :) Yeah. All that was to say I'm going to bed now. ;) Perhaps it was a little much. Although it was all true! I love my bed!

Sunday is over, and tomorrow is a new day, new week! Super awesome! Except for the fact that it's a Monday. I used to like Mondays you know... That was on my mission... Because my Preperation Day was on Monday. ;)  Tchau tchau!!!

Uma Festa Multicultural

Exciting deal!!! I found out today that I totally aced my math exam!!!! Super stoked about that!!! Didn't think it was going to happen, but sure enough it did!!! Happy day!

On the other hand, I don't think I did so well with my Biology exam. But they haven't even given me the scores yet, so for all I know I could have done really well on it, but I somehow doubt it. I'm positive I didn't fail it, I just don't think I did as well as I could have. Oh well. I suppose I could say that about all tests I take, I can always do better. (except those I get a lovely 100% on!) ;)

*****

Here's a quick Mission Picture and Story of the Day!

Some of the awesome Portuguese Members!!!

This picture was taken on the Multicultural Party that the Christie Ward had in September of 2010. (at least I'm pretty sure it was September....) Anyway, since there are people from so many different countries in that ward (Brazil, Portugal, Angola, and like 10 different Spanish speaking countries) they have this party once a year to get together and celebrate each others' countries and cultures. It's incredibly fun!!! There is food from tons of different countries, which of course is one of my favorite parts of this party, and most people dress up in the traditional clothing of their country (or in the case of the Brazilians, their soccer jersy) ;)  and have presentations of dance, singing, and other really fun things! It was a great party, and an excellent activity to bring investigators to! Very good for fellowshipping and just having a lot of fun! It was awesome!

In that photo there is André in the middle holding a massive pot of "feijoada" that Joel cooked (Joel is the other one on the left with the Brazilian Jersy on) which is beans in a delicious sauce with all kinds of meat mixed in (usually pork) and you put it over rice. It is SOOOO delicious!!!! That's just one of the many amazing foods that were there!!! It was an incredible party, for the 10th time.

*****

So I watched some most excellent episodes of Doctor Who last night with my brother David (widely known as "Davo") and I absolutely loved them!!! Actually, they were so good that somehow Davo  convinced me to watch another one... Then another one... All I can say is I've never watched that many episodes of Doctor Who in one day before! Once I watched three, but that was because it was a three-part episode, but this time it was 4 episodes... Well, the good thing is I wasn't doing it at the expense of homework or anything else of importance. If I didn't watch those, I probably would have watched something else. :) It was just one of those nights.

Well I'm going to go take my Book of Mormon midterm now. It should be pretty easy. My teacher said if you actually read what you're supposed to, it won't be a problem. So that's good. It should be nice and easy! :) Wish me luck! Tchau tchau!

The Lost and Forgotten Post

I just got done eating a delicious $5 footlong (although I had to critique it first, before I ate it, seeing as the person had a tag that said "Sandwich Artist" and this sandwich looked nothing like a piece of art) A true sandwich artist would make it so it looks incredible, doesn't make a massive mess, and doesn't fall apart. Unfortunately my sandwich was none of these. That's the only downside to not working at Subway anymore, the fact that I can't make my own sandwiches now... Other than that one tiny thing, I don't mind not working at Subway anymore. I quite enjoy it in fact. ;) Although I don't blame the person. They probably don't like working there and therefore don't give it their all. Ok, I have no idea if they like it or not, but I don't mind if they make a sloppy sandwich. I'm just making fun of Subway's title they give their employees of "Sandwich Artist" which I can do as I used to be one of those people.

Anyway, the purpose of talking about Subway was because I just got done hanging out with Jared Rhodes, from the Greatest Mission in the World (my mission, the CTM), and his friend. It was extremely fun. Then rather strange was that afterwards my singing class teacher saw me and said "Hey John! How are you doing?" And I was like woah, that's weird, I've never had a teacher do that. I don't see why he shouldn't, but it was just weird as it has never happened before.

*****

Time for the Mission Picture and Story of the Day! Actually, these pictures should have gone in with the Epic of the Broken Ankle, but I forgot that I even have these pictures! So here you are! The belated Episode of the Broken Ankle Saga. The Lost and Forgotten Portion of the Story!!!

Balance on one foot...

Bongo Board!... Or Bongo Ball.

So there you go. These pictures of me during one of my torture sessions. Oh darn, did I just say that? I meant physical therapy sessions. :) It was a particularly busy day, so the therapist had me start on these exercises that help strengthen the muscles around the broken and torn areas before I went in and he proceeded to re-break my ankle for the 10th time. Ok, not re-break, but it hurt! Anyway, he was really busy and I was bored doing my exercises, so I took pictures! I took others, but these were the best. It was fun, this beginning part. Then he called me in to the room and I left the friendly squishy half-ball and walked into the dungeon of torture. Ok, this sounds way worse than it really is! :) I just like exaggerating for fun. Although the sessions were quite painful, they were nothing like I'm describing. Anyway, that's all for my pictures and story of the day!

*****

I'm tired... Very tired... I had to work early this morning... Now I'm about to go into my Book of Mormon class... I'm really hoping I don't fall asleep. If I can make it through this class, I'm good, because I can't fall asleep in my singing class, it's not possible. So here's hoping I make it!

P.S. I'm really really really tired...

I'm Done Singing

I used to think I could get pretty good at singing if I gave it enough time. That's until I found the Brazilian kid named "J. A." (pronounced "Jotta Ah") and heard him sing. There's no way I could get anywhere near this talent even if I practiced for 60 years. He's got the craziest range, not to mention volume!

Curious about this boy? See video below.

Yup. Now you know what I'm saying. Still not satisfied? Here's another one.

Not only is he amazing, he sings in English pretty well for that young! Did you hear his range??? Yeah. Absolutely mind boggling.

That's why I've quit singing. The End.

Ok, I haven't quit singing. I will just never be as good as Jotta A.

Another Day, Another Test

Once upon a time there was a boy. This boy doesn't like tests. So one day this boy had to take a test. The boy didn't like it. The End.
Except it's not the end. I still have to look like I'm trying to write a good post. So therefore, I'll post my picture I posted on Facebook. Most excellently thought out.

True Dat!

I thought it was rather funny. So there you have it, a very professional looking graph that shows why I'm single. Give me a break though, I've only been home 2 months, and I'm not one of those RMs that wants to get married 5 months after they get back. (I'm not bashing anyone or their decision! It's just not for me!) And here I am attempting to explain my way out of this mess I just put myself in, and all of this can be avoided if I just delete that picture and put something else... Am I going to?... Nah, I'm not that smart. ;)

I am, however, smart enough to know that it's time to go to bed! Because Johnny Boy's exhausted!!!

1000 Page Views!!!

It's a big day! I have passed the 1000 page view number! Ok, so it's not that big of a feat. Most people who have blogs are probably way past that, but hey, it's a big feat for me, who writes exceptionally boring posts! So I'm pretty excited about that!

I had a test Friday. That was after the most ridiculous lab for my computer science class. I completed it, but had troubles with my calculations, then I couldn't pass it off that day, then the next day the TA's kept saying I had to do it differently, and so I did it exactly how each told me, and the next one would tell me it was wrong how the last one told me, and it went on and on until I was extremely frustrated, to say the least. Well finally I got my favorite TA and he passed me off. Finally!!! But because of all that ridiculousness, I wasn't able to study for my Biology midterm which I had to run and take right then. So naturally I didn't do very well. Hopefully my essay questions were better. So I truly embodied my last post, being one of those depressed people going to the testing center. It was definitely depressing.

*****

Mission Picture of the Day! Here you go!

Supplies!

School Bus Full of Missionaries!

This was a fun day!!! In my 3rd transfer I was training Elder Lima from Brazil, and we decided as a Zone that we wanted to have a fun Preparation Day activity, and we decided we would have a Brazilian BBQ!!! Everyone thought that was an awesome idea, so Elder Lima and I took charge! I didn't know how to have a good meat BBQ, and Elder Lima didn't know how to make Brazilian Beans and Rice, so we pooled our efforts and put together a sweet BBQ! We had ribs that Elder Lima cooked up with some amazing BBQ sauce he made, while I cooked the beans and rice in massive amounts. (we had a big Zone) So everyone came (it was graciously hosted by a member of the ward Elder Lima and I were in) and we ate some deeeeeelicious food and played "futebol" (or soccer) and volleyball. It was incredibly fun! At the end of the activity we all piled in the school bus that the member drives kids to and from school in, and took a Zone picture. It was all incredibly fun! One of my more favorite Zone Activities!!! So we cleaned up, went home, changed, and hit the streets once again! :) Good times!

*****

So I'm tired. Have I ever mentioned that? I'm actually not tired... I'm exhausted. This whole working at 5 am thing definitely wears on you after a while. I have no idea how my Dad gets up at 4:30 every morning and has for the last 3 and a half years. But then again, he's a big morning person. I'm not. Not one bit. This morning I finally couldn't take it and after I got home from work I took a nap, except it was exceptionally short, due to the fact that I had a Sunday School Presidency meeting soon after I had gotten home. So when that was done, I tried taking a nap again, only to have to go back to church for the actual service. Plus I had to teach Temple Prep class. I hope I didn't make anyone bored because I didn't say a whole lot due to my tiredness. Oh well, if I make mistakes, judge ye, and most likely you will be correct. :) There's my scriptural quotation for the day.

Is it time for John to go to bed? See Alma 18:27.

Testing Week... Lovely...

Yes, it's that time of the semester... Have you seen the Heber J. Grant Building? Next to the Joseph Smith Building? It's the building where you see all the depressed students going. That, my friends, is the Beloved and Dreaded Testing Center. For the most part it's dreaded by most students. (except those who take sick pleasure in university exams) It can be beloved however! I myself have loved it on two occasions. Occasions where I absolutely slam dunk aced my exam I was taking!!! (that's not to say I do poorly. By slam dunk aced, that means 100% or more, whereas I usually do between the "well done" range and "ok" range... depends on the exam)

The fact is, it's exam time. I have two this week, both beastly ones, then one next week, plus a solo in my singing class I need to perform. (should be easy) The other classes haven't mentioned any exams yet, so I'm hoping I'll be able to escape those. That would be nice.

*****

Mission Picture and Story of the Day! Hurray!

MTC Zone at the Provo Temple

 This here picture is of my MTC Zone. (I'm up in the top left) This was my first Sunday in the MTC. I had just been called to be Zone Leader, and I was nervous, because I still had no idea what I was doing. So after many meetings and tons of other stuff, I was glad to be able to get away and walk around the temple and feel the Spirit there to clear my mind. It was a welcome distraction. I loved all of those "Temple Walks" as we called them.

My class in the MTC

Here's my class in the MTC. Myself and my companion, the three Sisters, one going to Temple Square, one to Germany, and one to the Philippines, and one of our teachers, Sister Barton. That was a fun class! We had a good time together! We were all fast-tracked in our languages, (Portuguese, Spanish, German, English, and Tagalog) so they stuck us all together, despite all going to different countries and languages. We loved it though, we had great teachers and had an excellent time during our learning.

I absolutely loved the MTC! Not only do you get all you can eat free food, (which I loved, despite what anyone else says about it) but you're seriously on this spiritual high all the time! It was incredible! Sure we had 10 hours of class a day, but we loved it! I wish I could go back and re-live it, at least one day! That would be sweet! But alas, it's over, and live moves on! :)

*****

So I think I did pretty incredibly on my Math homework. If that's any indication of how the test will be, I think I'll do pretty well on it! Also, I'm attempting to learn how to program in Assembly. All you need to know about it is that it's difficult. (at least while I'm learning it... hopefully it'll get easier with time) So as I have a lab due tomorrow, I should probably try to finish it. That might be good.

I've officially decided to be responsible for now! At least to finish this lab. Well... We'll see, maybe I'll need a brief distraction as time goes by. For now, however, I'm being responsible!

Getting Lazy!

Sorry it took me forever to write another post. I actually didn't exactly get lazy... I did have quite a few assignments to do, so it was fairly valid. I can now post again though!

So I had a SWEET AWESOME get together with people from my mission last Friday evening! It was WAY fun!!! There were a good 15+ people there, and I was so happy to see 6 of the Senior Missionaries!!! (3 couples) I've missed them! Also the normal missionaries. ;) But we particularly love the Senior Couples! It was great, as we were able to catch up with each other on what we're doing, how life has been since the mission, etc. Very fun! I loved it! It was incredible seeing them all again!

*****

Mission Picture and Story of the Day!!! Yay!

Afternoon on the Island!

So this here picture is from around my 18 month mark. We all decided to go to Toronto Island on our Preparation Day! So we got a few members and missionaries together and we went! It was very fun! We took a large Ferry from the Toronto Beach and went across to the Island. (that's the only way to get to the Island) Then after eating (Pizza!) we went exploring! It was sweet, a very beautiful place! We walked around, checked out the attractions, and just had a darn good time!

Bicycle Thing!

This here bad boy is some kind of a bycycle-car. You know how there's the old Mazda Protege, then these days you have the Mazda 6? The Mazda 6 is obviously more modern. The Mazda 6 is to the Mazda Protege as this Bycycle thing is to the car the Flintstones drive. This bad boy has pedels!!! I know... Absolutely groundbreaking amazing! Anyway, we all had fun taking turns riding this thing around. So of course we had to take a picture of all of us on it.

So that was the awesome fun-ness of the day we went to Toronto Island! Very recommended, especially for people who aren't missionaries, because then you can actually do all the attractions, which we couldn't, due to our rules. We could watch them all though! Very fun place!

*****

So I've re-started over Doctor Who, because some of my friends haven't seen it, so of course I have to introduce it to them! It's funny going back to the first season, because the overall quality is nowhere near the quality of Season 2 and onward! However, they are just so classic, the episodes of Season 1! Not to mention Christopher Eccleston is just so awesome! Not nearly as awesome as David Tennant of course, but very good nonetheless!

So we watched the first two episodes of Season 1. Very classic. It just reinforced my idea of how utterly awesome Doctor Who is! :) View in all of its glory!!!

Is it the Weekend Yet?

We're only to Wednesday, and already yesterday I wanted it to be the weekend. Yeah, it's that bad... I'm attempting to finish a ridiculous lab for my Programming Class (so as you can see, rather than do that, I"m writing in my blog! Lovely, eh?) Anyway, I can't finish it till I get some help, and that doesn't come for a bit, so I'll do something productive rather than stare at Facebook until then.

So I've been thinking a lot recently, and I have decided that I love being home! Not to mean that I like being home more than being on my mission, because I've decided they are two different things and I can't compare them! I discovered that there are so many possibilities being at home!!! Like watching AMAZING television shows such as Doctor Who!!! (see clip below...)

Yeah... It's that awesome!!!
I can also do other awesome stuff! Like do homework! (oh boy, I'm shivering with excitement at the thought... NOT) I can hang out with all my amazingly awesome friends!!! And not to mention be in this BEAUTIFUL valley of Utah! I absolutely LOVE having the huge majestic mountains surrounding my home. It's amazing!

So yes. I love being home! It's great! Do I miss my mission? Yes. However, I do have an AMAZING job that gives me many of the joys and experiences from a mission!!! So I've got the best of both worlds!!! Oh yeah!!!

All right, I'm starving so I'm going to go home, eat, then get help on my lab! Tchau!

I'm a Mormon!

Hey everyone! My Mormon.org profile has been posted! If you want to see it, feel free to check it out! You can find it by clicking here.

I encourage everyone who's a member to also make one! It's a great way to share your beliefs with others! Just go to Mormon.org and click "Create a Profile." You'll need an LDS Account to do this, but that's easy to set up if you haven't gotten one yet. Just ask your Bishop for your membership number and you can easily set up an account. So go make one! It's great!

New Blog Content!

Hi everyone! I've added some sweet new content to my blog! I've added a fourth tab to the top of my blog that directs you to a page about my beliefs. It not only has my basic beliefs, but it also has a list of links to posts about different Frequently Asked Questions about Mormons. (that list is rather limited right now, I'm attempting to add content as quickly as I can) These posts will be posted on a separate blog, which you can view here. That blog will be dedicated to my beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

So remember, it's in the works right now. I'm trying to add stuff as fast as I can, so bear with me for now! Thanks for being awesome, those of you who read my blog!

Typical...

The DAY that I post a post about how there is no snow, it snows... Typical... They've been predicting it and predicting it, and it never happened, then they don't predict it, I write a blog post about how it won't snow, and it snows. It's Mother Nature making fun of me. Again, I say... Typical...

Why couldn't this have happened on Christmas?

100% Chance of a Slight Possibility of Snow

So for the last one to two weeks we've been hearing over and over "Snow tonight, accumulation up to 4 inches" and "Winter Weather Advisory, big snowstorm going to hit, accumulation from 4 to 6 inches" and all manner of stuff, and it was always "This time, it's definitely going to happen!" Well... Let's just say we're still waiting for this extreme winter weather. I think it's rather funny, because so many people on Facebook from this area are saying "This warm weather is the build up to extreme winter weather tonight!!!" ...And it never comes.
So therefore I've decided that the world's climate has changed this year. We have summer on Christmas, and a wintry Fourth of July. The good news is that because of this, we'll be able to do fireworks at our house! The place will be covered in snow, so there is 0% chance of fires! That, of course, is contingent upon whether or not you can get the thing to go off in such a wet environment, but hey! No fires! :)

*****

Time for the mission picture and story of the day!

Our Beloved Home.

This amazing little house was where I lived in one of my favorite areas, Bowmanville Ontario. It's a cute little city (almost could be qualified as a town) located about an hour from Toronto, maybe a little more, depending on traffic. (which is always horrible on the highway known as the 401!) Anyway, my story for today is the time I called 911. :)

The first time I called 911 on my mission was one or two days before the transfer, which I would be training a new missionary. So my companion at the time, the one who was being transferred, pulled up to the house around 9:30 and we were filling out our kilometers for the day, when there was a knock at his window. An old man was standing there, and so we got out to talk to him, and he said "That house is on fire!!!" and pointed to the white-blue house you see to the left. So we looked up, and sure enough, there were flames coming off the top of the roof, and we could see the curtains glowing from the flame inside. Well, my companion ran to get the member who lived above us in the house, and I called 911 immediately. Being a small town, the fire department got there within minutes. During that time we pounded on the person's door to find out if anyone was in there. Because of our pounding and yelling, we managed to wake up the guy inside the house who was slightly drunk and had fallen asleep, and he grabbed his 2 year old son who was in there as well and staggered out. They were both black with the smoke and coughing pretty hard. We brought them away from their house, because the man wanted to try to go back in and put out the fire, but of course he was delirious, so we had to get him and his son away from the house. Three firetrucks pulled up and began hooking up to the fire hydrant. It was actually a little funny, because there were a bunch of people gathered who were watching across the street, and as the fireman hooked his hose up and turned on the fire hydrant to get water going, he accidentally turned on the wrong side and it shot out tons of water, completely soaking everyone who was watching. So that was slightly humorous. :) (you have to think of the positive side of things, right?)

So the fire department finally got their water going, and they entered the house to tackle that fire. (by this time, the flames were quite large above the house) They were able to eliminate the fire, though to do this they had to rip a hole in the roof to get to the fire in the attic and on the roof. They fought that fire bravely, and finally took it down. (I'm sure all the women there were swooning) We were finally able to go into our house though. They had told everyone in the houses next to that one to stay out, in case the embers got blown and caught on those houses. (my companion and I were joking, trying to decide what is of most worth in our apartment that we would get if it caught fire... Of course there was the typical missionary answer of the Area Book... Frankly, I think that was the thing of most worth... missionaries have lots of junk) Anyway, they put it out (they had sent the man and his boy to the hospital long before this) and we went inside and finally went to bed. Needless to say, it was a very exciting thing! It's just great though that we were able to pull up right at the time that we were able to help! Any sooner, and we wouldn't have noticed the flames and would have gone inside. So I'm glad we were able to help.

*****

I will say, I've got some pretty sweet stories. Missions are the ultimate jackpot of sweet awesome stories to tell for the rest of your life! I love it!

I am now going to go gorge myself on lunch. Or I would, if we had anything incredible for lunch. So I'll most likely scrounge up whatever I can find. There will be no gorging involved. Anyway, I accomplished that quite well last night at Brick Oven with three of my best friends! So I've done my gorging for the week. All right! See you all later!

The Post That Yesterday's Should Have Been

Ok, so now I've had a good full 9ish hours of sleep (although I'm not feeling it as much anymore, because I've had three classes and a session of homework) and feel much more bloggie. So here goes.

Today in Math we made boxes out of paper... Yup, just like I did in 2nd grade. We took a piece of paper, cut squares out of the corners, and folded up the sides. What do you think of that? Ok, so there was a little more to it, but for the first 20 minutes I was thinking to myself "Hey, this is cake!" Then we got into other stuff, which was still fairly understandable and easy, but not the delicious cake I thought it was... Anyway, I of course didn't have another one of those awesome smart person moments. Oh well. Maybe another time.

*****

Mission Picture and Story Time!!! Yay!!! I'm hoping you all aren't getting bored of these. If you are, leave a comment or a message telling me and I'll choose something else to do. Anyway, see picture below.

Petey the Pigeon

This monstrously ugly bird is known affectionately as Petey the Pigeon. He was our pet when I was serving with Elders Wray and Workman in the Weston South Area. One day we were studying and we heard this squealing noise on our deck outside, and we looked outside to see a big pigeon attacking this old hideous bird. I yelled "Oh my gosh!!! It's killing it!!!" I didn't know why, but that big bird was murdering that hideous old bird!!! Then suddenly the big one grabbed the little one by the beak and started doin' its thing into his beak, and it dawned on us. It's a baby pigeon and it's being fed! So I was much happier, because I didn't want a dead pigeon on our deck. That's nasty. Well, we found out that this baby had hatched either on our deck or the one next to ours, but either way, it seemed to take a special liking to our deck for some strange reason (probably not because we kept feeding it... nah, definitely not) and made its home there. Well, at first my companions wanted to kick it off. I didn't let them. Sure it was absurdly ugly, but still, it was just a baby and couldn't fly. So we spared its life, and after a little bit we gave it a name. Petey.

After a while we all got kind of attached to the ugly beast. So we fed it, played with it, and eventually he grew old enough to fly, and his parents had left him, so my companion nudged him off the deck to learn to fly. I was impressed, he flew! Not super well, but not bad! He managed to land on the deck below us, and later that night flew back up to ours! So he had finally learned how to fly! After a few days he finally disappeared. I'll admit, even though he was hideous, I was a little sad that he left. But it was time for Petey to move on to bigger things in life. (although frankly, I don't know if he'll be able to find a wife looking like that! Hopefully he gets a little more handsome than he was...) So anyway, that is the story of Petey the Pigeon.

*****

I'm going tonight to a sweet restaurant I haven't been to in years!!! Actually, the last time I went to this place, Brick Oven, was the day that I entered the MTC!!! I remember it veeeery well! It's a delicious place!!! Incredible pizza and pasta!!! I can't even decide yet what I'm going to get... But there will definitely be a frosty mug of root beer involved!!! Yum!!!

*Begin salivating here*

Anyway. Basically I'm dying to go and can't wait! I purposely didn't eat lunch today just so I could enjoy it in all its glory!!! So I'm super excited!!!

Dear Blog,

I am starving.

Love John

Eyes.

Dear Blog Readers. A picture is worth a thousand words.

*Thousand Words Here*

Yes. This is not my eye. My eye looks far worse. This is the worst picture I could find. I tried taking a picture on my phone but I looked hideous.

I was considering writing an actual post like normal. But then I looked in the mirror. So therefore, dear readers, GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!

Free Brains

Today was actually quite good! I went to school early so I could be in an environment where I would actually be able to concentrate on my Math homework. That was actually a really smart idea! A place where I wouldn't be tempted to get on facebook or email or read the latest on Windows 8 or anything of the sort! So it was a good move, and because of it I was able to blow away my homework and I feel extremely good about it too! I'm pretty sure I aced it! Then not only that, but I was able to accomplish something I've always wanted to do my whole life! I was in Math class and right at the very end the teacher asked a huge question, and everyone was trying to answer it but none could answer it correctly, and I knew the answer!!! So I raised my hand and was able to say the answer. The teacher said "Woah! Say that again!!!" so I did, and he said "Class, that is the perfect answer to my question! You will not get a better answer than that! Make sure you remember that answer!!!" I will say it was absolutely amazing. I've always wanted to be one of those really smart people that the teacher asks a difficult question and I give an amazing answer that the teacher is impressed with and points it out to the other students. ;) So I was very happy that I finally got a moment to be smart.

Then I turned in my Programming lab a day early, which is lovely! I got bonus credit. Happy day. Since then I've been doing homework. Lovely. Hence why I'm doing a blog entry. :) Good distraction. All right. Moving on.

*****

Mission Picture and Story of the Day!

Best Poster Ever

On a Preparation Day a few weeks before I came home, my companions and I went to Downtown Toronto so I could buy a few things and take some pictures. One of my favorites from that day is the one shown above. There were new posters on the poles lining the streets of Chinatown advertising free brains! Definitely the best posters I've seen Downtown! I just had to show that one. It's a classic.

*****

Well, I'm going to watch the amazing two part season ending of Doctor Who!!!! So there's no end part here!!! Tchau!!!

Martin Luther King, The Doctor, and 911

I must say it's been lovely a lovely long weekend. I've done exactly what must be done during such a weekend... nothing!

Ok, that's false, I've done a few things. Actually, today I finally went shopping for new clothes! Yay! So I will hopefully no longer look like a hobo in his old mission clothes! :)  Anyway, so it was nice. I got a sweet dress shirt, an awesome hoodie, two excellent collar shirts, and 3 new white shirts. So I'll actually be able to dress well now! (I'm still working on the normal t-shirt business, so bear with me)

So for the highlight of my day (sorry, shopping for clothes just doesn't jump to the top of my list of fun things to do) I watch two most excellent episodes of the coolest TV show in the universe, Doctor Who. Ok, now disclaimer, for those who just clicked on that link to Doctor Who, I understand that to you it most likely looks very strange and incredibly weird. That's what I originally thought when I first heard of it. Well, I've now actually watched it, and I happily count myself among the group of awesome people who are huge fans of this show. (by the way, I don't mean that those who aren't fans aren't awesome) Also, another thing. If you want to become a fan of this show, whatever you do, do not start watching it from where it is now. You will be incredibly confused and most likely will not like it. Definitely start from the beginning!!! If you want to become a fan, get in touch with me and I'll hook you up. But anyway, all that aside, I watched two excellent episodes of Doctor Who! Now (as usual) I'm dying to see what happens next, but I have to have self control to not ruin my studies. :)  So I'll save the next two. (even though it's a two-part season finale!!!! Ah man!!!!!) Ok, moving on!!!

*****

Time for the Mission Picture and Story of the Day!!!

Look at the top number called...

Yes, that does read correctly. The most recently called number was 911. As a matter of fact, this was the third time I got to call 911 in my mission! I'll talk about the first and second times another time, they are both excellent stories! The first and second actually are technically part of the same story. Anyway, I digress...

So on March 5th of 2011 my companions and I were walking out of a less-active member's house, and we had just crossed the street. Well, behind us a lady in an electric wheelchair had also started crossing, and she had the right of way, but some crazy driver sped up and hit into the side of her wheelchair, also hitting her leg, and it made the wheelchair spin around and she was clutching her leg and was just crying very loudly and seemed to be in shock, because she wasn't getting out of the middle of the street. Well, the light was turning green, and while I grabbed the phone and called 911, my companion, Elder Lima, ran out into oncoming traffic to grab her wheelchair and maneuver it to the sidewalk. (in the past when we would tell this story it would be absurdly embellished with all manner of exaggerations... It made it exciting! I'll try to tell the events correctly this time though) So by this time a number of people had gathered, and while I spoke with the emergency people, Elder Lima talked to the woman to calm her, and my other companion, Elder Figueiredo, talked with the other people trying to see if anyone had gotten a license plate number. Well, funny enough, a car pulls up, and the guy inside gives us a paper and says "Here! I got the license plate of that guy!" (because it was a hit and run incident) So that worked out nicely. Well, the police and paramedics show up after a few minutes, and we were able to explain what we saw, give the license plate number, and then since we had done all we could do, we left to get home. (this all happened around 8:40 pm)

So it was an exciting adventure! Thankfully, we were able to see in talking to the police that the lady was not seriously injured, but was still in shock and in pain, and other than that, would be fine. So we were glad we were able to play a part in helping her! Also I hope some people there saw us missionaries doing all that and it touched their hearts, allowing them to be open to hearing the Gospel later. Always be an example and let your light shine!

*****

One of my best friends, Katy, got her mission call on Friday!!! It's so exciting!!! You can read her blog to see where she's going, so it can come from her first! But I'm so excited for her, particularly because I love love love that country and those people!!! And I'll be able to speak Portuguese with her when she comes back! (cause Portuguese is just so dang awesome!!!)  Anyway, that's way exciting!!! Plus, I totally guessed it!!! Although to be honest I didn't think I would be right, I just guessed it for the heck of it. ;) Oh well, I still guessed it!

Also of note, I went to the mission farewell of Ryan Crookston, an awesome friend of mine, as well as the brother of another awesome friend of mine! (so therefore the whole thing was doubly awesome!) He's going to California! He's going to have a great mission!!! (because missions are so cool, and he's just a ridiculously cool guy!)  So yeah, it's soooo exciting that so many of my friends are either on missions or going on missions!!!!! It's sad, because I'm here and done with mine, but soooooo exciting for them! So congratulations to you all!!!!!!

All right, that's just about all I had for today. It's funny, I always think these entries will be so short, because at the beginning I can't think of anything to say, but then things come! So hopefully you enjoy them! All right! Tchau tchau!

CN Tower!

Hello all! So since it's a little late, I'm just going to do the Mission Picture and Story of the Day. So here you go!

CN Tower

Yes indeed!!! This was during the time I worked in the Mission Office with Referrals and Tech Support, and me, my companion Elder Nash (from Ireland... Awesome guy!!!) the three Assistants, Elder Rhodes, Elder Pead and Elder Garcia, and Elder and Sister Carroll, one of the couples who worked in the Office, we all went to the CN Tower! For all of you wondering what the CN Tower is, it is the extremely tall Space Needle you can see in my last post, the really cool sunrise picture. It is off to the right. (obviously... It's the only space needle you can see) ;)  Anyway! Moving on!

So on our Preparation Day (a missionary's "day off" you could say) we all got together to go to the CN Tower. It was incredibly fun! We of course took many pictures. I'll include several of them here. (sometimes it's more fun to look at pictures than read my boring description of events) So of course at the base we had to take pictures. :)

Base of the CN Tower

Elder Rhodes taking pictures of the Carrolls.

 Yeah, that tower is tall! It's the tallest tower in the world. (tower, not building) It's crazy being right at the base of it and looking up at the top. It's so tall! So I of course loved the base, but I had been there several other times. The real excitement was inside!

MOOSE!!!!!!

Ok, so honestly this isn't the exciting part I was talking about... Although it was inside! I just thought it was sweet. Canada... Moose... Yeah... Ok, moving on!

Creepy....

Now this part was creepy!!! I know, you're all thinking what is he being a baby about? Well, the camera doesn't capture very well the experience! I am lying on a glass floor up top in the CN Tower. The first step you take is terrifying. Once you've taken that one step, then you realize just how solid it is (unless you're terrified of heights, in which case you are crazy for going up the CN Tower, and you wouldn't take that first step!) So of course, having taken my first step and being very confident, I had to test the next level... Lying down. Well, you assume it's not that bad... It's bad. There's something about lying down on a floor of glass that's unnerving, and the drop seems to come up much closer to you. It's an eerie experience!

Names (from left to right) Elders Nash, Pead, Woodruff, Garcia, Rhodes

So finally before we left we all had to take one last picture together. (except the Carrols weren't in the picture, I was sad about that...) You can't see it, but we were all standing on the glass floor. But anyway, it was a great Preparation Day!!! I loved it! Afterwards we went to the Korean Grill for lunch (I believe I had a picture of that in an earlier post...) which is all you can eat meat!!! They bring it to you uncooked and seasoned sooo well, and you cook it on a little round stove thing in front of you. It's delicious!!! I love that restaurant so much!!! Anyway, that's basically it. I also made a "Bobblegram" at the top of the CN Tower to send to my family! (I have no idea why they call it that... It's just a video postcard) The link to it is here. I wish I could download it, but I haven't figured that out yet. :)  Anyway, it was super fun!!!

Well, that's the end of that story! Hope you all enjoyed it!

Sleepy. Very Sleepy.

Yes indeed, I am exhausted. Ok, maybe not quite that dramatic. I'm just very very tired. Let me tell you why. Every other day of the week and on weekends, I work from 5:45 in the morning until 9. Yeah, I know there are many people out there, some probably reading this blog, who work way earlier than that. I understand that. But as this is all I've known, it makes me beastly tired. :)

Actually, it's not that bad. It's a tiresome business, especially in school. However, the real issue is that on a Friday and Saturday night, I'm just not willing to go to bed early! The night is young! It's the weekend! I'm in college! Come on! I'll have plenty of chances in my life to work super early, but I've only got this time to be a university student! So therefore, I must take advantage of it, even if it means losing a couple of hours of sleep. Anyway, I can make those up in afternoon naps! ;)

So the point of this portion was to say that... I'm really tired right now. :) MOVING ON!!!

*****

Well, it's kind of sad, there's no more parts to the Broken Ankle Epic, but that means we're back to the MISSION PICTURE AND STORY OF THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooooh yeah!!!

This first one here is just for fun. This was probably the coolest picture I took off of our balcony. Click on the picture to see it in all its glory. As you can see, the CN Tower is towering off to the right, and the dark yellow rays are bursting through the clouds shining down upon Downtown Toronto. Also I love the smoke-ish cloud things that are in front of the buildings. That's just cool. Yeah, this was one of my greatest mission photos of Downtown... Ok, real picture and story.

Christmas Party

This was taken on December 11th, 2010 when I was in the Portuguese Area. The person in the middle is a member named Sidy. She's super awesome! She also helps out the missionaries a TON. She was baptized a few years ago and is a really strong member. The girl to the left is a person who was learning about the church, her name is Deborah. At this time she was being fellowshipped by Sidy. So she came to our Ward Christmas Party! It was a SUPER fun party! Lots of excellent food, a great message, and the "Christie Quartet" did a couple of numbers! The Christie Quartet was a quartet made up of myself, my companion, and my two Zone Leaders. We called it the Christie Quartet, naturally, because we were in the Christie Ward. But we actually sounded really cool together! It was awesome! I love singing, especially in a quartet!

Anyway, it was a GREAT party! Deborah loved it, and it left everyone feeling the Christmas Spirit very strongly! A most excellent day!!!

*****

So tomorrow I'm going to a missionary farewell of a good friend of mine and then to my singles ward. It'll be a busy day, that's for sure! I'm REALLY looking forward to the fact that Monday is a HOLIDAY!!!!! NO SCHOOL!!!! :)  Yeah, there are few things that make me as happy as that.

So now I believe I'm coming down with a case of the munchies. (for those who don't know what that is, that means I'm not exactly hungry, but I want to eat something. Or more like snack. Yeah, I just want to snack. :)  One of my favorite things to do!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!! I know I will! Tchau tchau!

Homework... 'Nuff Said...

In my extreme boredom and unhappiness yesterday, January 11th, I wrote this portion of a blog entry, but never finished it. So here I'm going to finish it.
"So currently I'm blowing my brains out doing homework. Earlier this morning and last night I fried my brain doing Math homework, and even so there were a few problems I just couldn't do! It drove me nuts! So of course, here I am a few hours later after class, and I'm chuggin' away at it again! Attempting to smash my way through all this homework I suddenly have. I'm thankfully almost done with the actual homework to be graded. After that I just have to do my reading. Fun fun. But basically I got so fried here whilst converting decimal to binary and binary to decimal that I just had to finish up my blog post just to get away from 16 bit 1st and 2nd's Complements.

I think I'm getting it, which is really nice. I'm not worried about it. It's just long and taxing work. Very dry stuff, binary numbers, but necessary. :) I actually am having a good time learning it. It's quite fun."

Yeah, it was so bad that towards the end I was actually trying to tell myself that it was "quite fun..." I think someone spiked my water. Also I was really hungry. That makes for a messy situation...

P.S. I was about to get into the car today, and I twisted my bad ankle really badly again!!! Yeah, I have the worst of luck with that ankle. So I limped around for the rest of the night. Fun fun.

P.P.S. I'm thinking this post sounds extremely depressing. I assure you, I'm most certainly not this depressing of a person. I promise my next post will be more normal.

P.P.P.S. I love Caesar Salads. With Creamy Garlic Caesar dressing. Heavenly.