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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!