the past week?

yo.

so a little update of my life (little, because there isnt much to share!):

-memorial day weekend brought a great getaway to the cabin with friends and family! 

-school! its been fun so far! cant wait till the 10th of June, when ALL of my classes start... then i will be swamped with homework, and i wont be as excited for life as i am right now.

-friday was the X 96 Maverick Big --- Show (B.A.SH for short), and i had a GREAT time! talked to all kinds of cool strangers! we had a mechanical bull, and neon body paint (we had a body paint comp to win a free fender guitar signed by every band at the bash. word.), and sweet shirts and swag! alright!

while there, i met Chris (the former drummer for Good Charlotte), who is a way chill guy. i also met Joel Pack (front man for the band Broke City), who - oddly enough - is the brother of a member in winchester KY (my first area on my mission). crazy little connection there... fun times.

-other than all of that good stuff, i have been preparing like MAD for the Candlelight Vigil, which took place tonight (MAY 30, 2009). we had a good turnout, and things were really great. i am well pleased! pictures will hopefully be on my facebook account soon. just to let you know, we had over 1300 candles blanketing the steps of the capitol to represent the utahns that die every year from tobacco. 1100 adult smokers, 230 non smokers from second hand smoke.

representative ray came and spoke, which was great! sky thai as well. good job everyone that helped out! y'all rock!

thats it for now! i havent even been able to read any more of my book... i have been busy with the vigil prep... so now hopefully i will be able to write about my readings! until next time: PEACE.

1984/2009

to my friends and family: greetings.

i wish to share with you some thoughts about a book i am currently reading, entitled 1984.

PROLES: "working class"

the PARTY: "policy makers, the government, Big Brother."

"If there is hope, it lies in the proles."

"Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it. And yet--!"

"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."

i find it interesting how this book relates so much to the society that we live in (though in 1984, the society is highly exaggerated). we have a society where people are fed propaganda from every direction and eat it all up, all the while being taken advantage of. we are urged to put on those rose colored glasses, and close our ears and eyes to the screams and pains of others. after all, ignorance is bliss, right? if we could only see the potential that we had within us:

Romans 8:16-18

 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. For i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

being children of God, we have, fused into our every fiber, the power, potential, and the capacity to change this world for the better. to create a more peaceful surrounding for others. to serve and to take away the pains, inflictions, and sufferings of others. the Savior himself commanded that we "go and do" and to "minister and serve."

how often though, do we find ourselves casually going from day to day "minding our own business," while the world around us is slowly crumbling? like the proles in 1984, and like the children of God that we are, we have the ability to overthrow evil, and bring hope to the hopeless.

what are we doing with our potential? with our power?

what are we finding happiness in: being carnal and devilish, or humble and charitable?

i know i have work to do.

do you have work to do?

lets do it together.

...back to school... back to school... to prove to dad that im not a fool...

'ello!

so im here to report. 

pretty much the first day of school was yesterday. yeah, im a big kid now! im going to college! salt lake community college to be exact. and what an experience the first day of college was. check this out:

so i am en route to my classroom, when i turn a corner to see a small multitude of people kickin it in the hallway. i look a little closer, and they are around the classroom that i am supposed to be going to.

ok?

someone then explains to me that the key that our teacher has, doesnt open his door... so... we are all stuck on the wrong side of the door! by and by, we spent nearly half of the class time IN THE HALL doing absolutely nothing (well, except for checking our watches, and thinking wonderful thoughts about the great school year we are about to have). 

after that class was all said and done, i had a meeting with Crowell Advertising and the TRUTH in preparations for the Candlelight Vigil this month (may, 30. go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=97561964465 for more information).

later on that afternoon, i had class #2: bowling. schweet!

i arrive only to discover that our teacher decided to not show up. yeah... teacher=no show. so i played 3 games with some of my classmates and then left a little early!

then i went teaching with the missionaries! woot!

the end.

that was my first day of school. talk about a great first impression of college! i have great experiences with my "firsts" thats for sure.

so its been a while...

hey everyone! its been ages since i have been on this blog, hasnt it! well, i will try to recap as much as went on in the past 3-4 months...

-i started a group called project:1200.

  ~ it recently passed its 300 member mark with members from cali to florida, america to ukraine

  ~ it has had multiple events and activities (making it onto the news every time!)

  ~ it was featured in an article for youth activism and use of social networking sites at BYU

  ~ its efforts helped save Utah's Tobacco Prevention Program funding and helped pass an Internet Tobacco Sales Prohibition in Utah. Next step: Excise tax on tobacco!

  ~(to learn more, check out project:1200 on facebook!)

-i have two callings at church: 14 yr old sunday school teacher and elders quorum temporal welfare committee co-chair. LOVIN EVERY MINUTE!

-i start COLLEGE this monday, the 18th! super excited. these are my classes:

  ~Math

  ~English

  ~Physics

  ~Public Speaking

  ~Bowling

  ~Old Testament

-i started substitute teaching! my first day subbing, i violated the dress code x3, and set off the school alarm. yeah! a great first day! i just subbed for that same teacher again this week (he requested me even - so it wasnt that bad of an experience!)

-i got a car! its a 97 honda accord. its so great!

-i was abducted! april 25th marked the Rescue event, where nearly 100 thousand people in over 100 cities across the globe abducted themselves and held themselves hostage until a political leader or person of high influence came and rescued us. why? to raise the profile of the longest running war in africa, and stop a rebel army, the LRA, from abducting children and forcing them to fight in their army. its gone on for way too long, and its time to stop. (to learn more, check out invisiblechildren.com)

-i have given presentations to roughly 500 students in Utah on the harmful affects of tobacco and the lies, manipulation, and evil works of Big Tobacco. schools included Tooele High, West High, East High, Fremont High, and Union Middle.

-i met a Prophet of God: President Dieter F. Uchdorf

-i made my own watch band, multiple t shirts (including silkscreened stuff!), and various other assorted crafts. next on the list: homemade shoes!

-i have enjoyed quality time with family and friends, missionary companions and complete strangers.

-i have managed to remain unemployed...

-i have not cut my hair ONCE since returning home from my mission.

-i met famous people like: Senator Bob Bennett, Alex Boye, Rocky Anderson, Dieter F Uchdorf (like mentioned above), and Smoker Man

-i went to a mission reunion in april, and loved it! it was so great to see everyone! the next day, my mission president was called to be in the quorum of the seventy! what a surprise!

-i have not watched an entire movie the entire way through since i have been home (unless you count the planet earth documentary series. i have watched a couple of them)

hmmm... i think that nearly covers it all! if i missed anything, let me know! and thanks for sticking through all of that...