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.

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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!!!



Would You Care For Some Tea?

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

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

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!) ;)

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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.

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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!

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!

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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!

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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!

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.

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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.

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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!!!

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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!

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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!