Germany Berlin Mission

Hey I got my call to serve!!
I'm going to the Germany Berlin Mission, I enter the Provo Missionary Training Center on June 12th! Super exciting! I took three years of German in high school and in December I even bought a German Book of Mormon. I then got my call to serve on February 16th 2013 to go to the place I wanted to go to! That never happens!! Okay, so I was a little bummed about not opening China, but you gotta take what you can get. Anyways, I love this gospel and I love the history of the old German Kings, also the people's strength in being able to break down the Berlin wall (also David Hasselhoff). I can't wait to get a pair of Lederhosen or Dirndl and maybe even learn to Schuhplattler  I'm so excited to eat Sauerkraut and Bratwurst, and learn all the hymns in German. I've been reading the book by President Thomas S. Monson when he went to visit the East German States called Faith Rewarded: A Personal Account of Prophetic Promises to the East German Saints. It is such a good book it makes me tear up every time I read it.

Below is a link to my Mission Blog, take a look!
Mission Blog: Travelouge

Mission Preparation

Yes I am going on a mission, and yes I am really excited. OH MY GOODNESS! Did you hear? I don't have to wait until I am 21 to go! I have always wanted to serve a mission my whole life and now I can, ahead of schedule!! I am so excited!
I only wish they had done this earlier! I am 20 and I can serve the Lord and His children! I love General Conference! I love hearing the word of the Lord and I love attending the Temple!
Many more hands will be anxiously engaged in this great cause! We must be worthy to serve our fellow brothers and sisters! I am so excited!
Doctrine and Covenants 4:1-7

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in storethat he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. 7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

Becoming Adults

In the evolution from childhood to adulthood, there are many different ways that society views the bridge from one stage of development to the next. For some, a sign of adulthood is a getting a tattoo, for others a bat mitzvah, and for others, receiving their driver’s license or going through puberty or loosing their virginity. However, even those things, when analyzed, can in actuality prove our immaturity just as much as it proves our maturity. Though “adult” is defined on Dictionary.com as “a person who is fully grown or developed or of age,” it is more than a physical change for one to truly claim the title of adult. As young souls in the world, we want to grow up so that we can achieve adulthood; but it is only when we have the ability to think critically that we can truly claim that title. Aldous Huxley (1958), Neil Postman (1984), Elouise Bell(1991), and Elder David A. Bednar (2008) will assist us as we explore the outcomes of thinking critically can have on us. Without the ability to think critically, we can, even unknowingly, allow ourselves to be pulled into potentially dangerous situations we would otherwise avoid.

Aldous Huxley (1958), who graduated from Oxford with a degree in English literature and is also the author of the controversial book Brave New World (1932), gave a speech entitled “Propaganda under a Dictatorship” wherein he mentions some of these dangers. Huxley summarizes the thoughts of that once greatly influential, but evil, man Hitler, who had the ability to move the masses, those of whom he viewed as “subhuman” or underdeveloped. Huxley writes:

Assembled in a crowd, people lose their powers of reasoning and their capacity for moral choice. Their suggestibility is increased to the point where they cease to have any judgment or will of their own. They become very excitable, they lose all sense of individual or collective responsibility, they are subject to sudden accesses of rage, enthusiasm and panic. In a word, a man in a crowd behaves as though he had swallowed a large dose of some powerful intoxicant. He is a victim of what I have called “herd-poisoning.” (p. 165)

 If we are unable to think for ourselves in a crowd, or otherwise, we become subject to the wills of others, regardless of right or wrong; while we, being undecided and unable to think for ourselves, have not yet determined what that is. As our minds mature with experience and knowledge we can decipher between those rights and wrongs. There are, however, more subtle and friendly ways of achieving mass obedience. This is mostly achieved through things that we enjoy, for example a favorite TV show, book, or artist.

Neil Postman (1994), chairman of the Department of Culture and Communication at NYU, wrote a speech entitled “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” wherein he recognizes those other dangers resulting from the absence of thinking critically. He explains:

In America, Orwell’s prophecies are of small relevance but Huxley’s are well underway toward being realized. I speak to you of America not only because I know its situation better than any other but also because America is engaged in the world’s most ambitious experiment to accommodate itself to the technological distractions made possible by the electric plug. This is an experiment that began slowly and modestly in the mid-nineteenth century with the invention of the telegraph, and has now, in the latter half of the twentieth, reached a perverse maturity in America’s consuming love affair with television. As nowhere else in the world, Americans have moved far and fast in bringing to a close the age of the slow-moving printed word, and have granted to television sovereignty over all of their institutions. By ushering in the age of television, America has given the world the clearest available glimpse of the Huxleyan future, 2000. (p. 382)

America is one of few the countries that subsist in danger of living out the horrors described in Huxley’s Brave New World. Most of the world lives in fear of dictators who will have their way regardless of the well-being of the people. America is one of the few that uses our so-called well-being as a tool to pacify us into submission. Regardless of what country we come from, we must be aware that conformity can come upon us without recognition. Unless we are prepared for it when it tries to sneak in, we could fall into the decisions others have made for us.

We need to carefully decide how we can avoid these atrocities. Elouise Bell (1994), a retired English professor who has taught at several different universities, including BYU, and authored several books, explains how in her essay “The Better for my Foes: The role of Opposition”. She quotes the clown from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night when he speaks to the Duke. ‘“Truly the better for my foes and the worse for my friends. . .”’ the clown further explains ‘“Marry, sir, they praise me and make an ass of me. Now my foes tell me plainly I am an ass, so that by my foes, sir, I may profit in the knowledge of myself, and by my friends I am abused. . .”’ (p. 37). This essay explains the value that our enemies can be to us. Friends, if only in the intent of being nice and behaving as they should, can truly do us a disservice. We are blinded by the compliments that we receive from them, and it inhibits our progress in finding truth. “Yet many of us today think of ourselves as enlightened because we are willing to ‘let others have their say’ without seriously considering their say” (Bell, 1994, p.39). Even this attitude inhibits us from truth; we must be willing to analyze ourselves, which builds confidence in our own understanding. Pride in a critical situation can only harm us.

 Furthermore, we can find what is true through the counsel of Elder David A. Bednar, who graduated from BYU with an MA in organizational communication with a PhD in organizational behavior from Purdue University. He is now one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In his talk entitled “Learning to Love Learning,” Elder Bednar reminds us that intelligence is the glory of God, and that “the overreaching purpose of Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness is to provide His spirit children with opportunities to learn” (p. 32). We must not forget that in the search for truth, Heavenly Father and His plan must always be a steadying force. When in doubt, ask Him in faith, for attaining Godhood is the ultimate level of knowledge. Elder Bednar further explains that “learning to love learning is vital to our ongoing spiritual and personal development” (p. 33). Development is the key word; becoming an adult requires learning that which is true and loving it; we can discover those truths through critical thinking as well as revelation. But even in the search for revelation, study is often a required step. There will always be those who don’t have that thirst for knowledge and truth, and how sad for them that they might never be enlightened. A thirst for knowledge comes with mental maturity.

Avoiding the dangers of conformity through critical thinking proves that we have matured beyond the point of herd-ship (without our consent). As adults, we must learn to see the world as it is, not how society tells us it is. We must learn to value our own opinions as well as appreciate others. When we forget our convictions to correct principles, we become subject to those who would herd us into conformity. As adults, it is our responsibility to be non-conformists; in other words, it is our duty to decide for ourselves, through careful study, what we are going to believe or not, and to not allow the emotional pressures of others to sway our opinions.

References

Bednar, D.A. (2010) Learning to love learning. In W. Brugger, D. Hammond, M. K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth, & R. Seamons (Eds.), The Way of Wisdom (2011). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://ilearn.byui.edu.

Bell, E. (1991). The better for my foes: the role of opposition. In W. Brugger, D. Hammond, M. K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth, & R. Seamons (Eds.), The Way of Wisdom (2011). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://ilearn.byui.edu.

Huxley A. (1958). Propaganda under a dictatorship, In W. Brugger, D. Hammond, M. K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth, & R. Seamons (Eds.), The Way of Wisdom (2011). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://ilearn.byui.edu

Postman, N. (1984). Amusing ourselves to death. In W. Brugger, D. Hammond, M.K. Hartvigsen, A. Papworth, & R. Seamons (Eds.), The Way of Wisdom (2011). Rexburg, ID: BYU-Idaho. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://ilearn.byui.edu.

~*~November Snow~*~

So it snowed* last night for reals this time! * Its kind of exciting but at the same time I wish snow * * wasn't so cold.. * How ever it is sticking and I * * need my gloves to come in the mail * or else I am going to freeze!
Isn't it cool how asterisks look like snowflakes? We went to KC's soccer game in the snow and we froze, and then he came back to our apartment and ate all of my homemade cookies. Better that he eats them than me :)

So I went to the temple today with Ashley and Chris, it was really good. I can't wait for Christmas!

I need a vacation to get my body clock back in time with where I am. I'm dying of lack of sleep and yet I can't seem to actually sleep. I went on another date different guy, mostly I've just been doing school and other things like it.

Tonight though we are going to see acrobats from China its going to be awesome!

October in Idaho

So I'm up here at BYU-Idaho about to go take a test in the testing center and what does it do? It starts to rain and then hail. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but I am ill equipped to be running through the rain. It doesn't help that I sprang my knee last weekend, and I have no umbrella and no water-proof coat. The thing is, today is the last day to take the test so I'm going to have to anyway. Anyhow I'm done complaining.

I am so excited this semester is going to be so great my family foundations class is the bomb!!! If you ever get the chance to take that class at a BYU, any of them, take it. There are so many amazing things taught in that class.

Halloween is coming up and Donny Osmond's son is coming to perform at our school! I have a date this Saturday with a guy from my American Foundations class. And the amazing thing is he asked me in advance and in person. That is a rarity my friend, even here at BYU-I. Some guys think they're too cool or they are too shy, or something. But there is like no better way to show that you are a "man" than by being prepared and asking the girl in person, or calling her on the phone, and in advance. I'm excited its a Jazz concert. :)

Dreams

So I must be really excited for the last Harry Potter movie to come out tomorrow or I'm really craving some Lord of the Rings action or something because last night I had the rockinest dream ever.

So what happened is, I'm in this log cabin and its a huge log cabin, and everyone around me including myself is practicing archery, and we're shooting at these targets that are about a football field away. Its dark outside and the cabin smelled of cedar and there was a soft lamplight glow. As I looked around I noticed that a lot of people were wearing hooded cloaks and some were still changing into their hooded cloaks. I looked down and I'm already wearing one, and when I looked back up, to my surprise, I saw my little brother there. He's with some of his friends. And they're joking around kind of laughing at everyone putting on the cloaks, when he saw me and he came walking over to me. Then all of a sudden the warm flicker of the fire lamps grew dim and the atmosphere grew tense I could feel it almost get colder.

I asked him "What the heck are you doing here?"

He said "I followed you out your window."

"You have to leave, now!" I told him sternly.

"It's too late now," he informed me calmly "Some guy is chopping down the bridge. . . Hey, can I get one of those cloaks?"

Panicked I threw him a cloak, he would need it now "And make sure your friends get into one too!" I yelled as I ran outside just in time to see the last swing of the ax chop down the rickety rope bridge I had apparently come across, because as I looked around I observed that we were on a cliff like pillar and all around us was a deep dark ring of nothingness and outside that ring was nothing but thick dark deciduous forest. It seemed to go on forever. Overwhelmed I took a few steps back toward the cabin. 'how did I get here?' I ran back inside. The lamps had all but gone out by now and everyone was dead silent, still, and all looking in the same direction. Fear took over my heart as I slowly I began to search the faces of the hooded figures around me trying to find my brother, when a hooded figure behind me told me "Stop, be still, They're coming." I thought two things in that moment, one 'I recognize that voice,' and two 'who are "they"?' but in the next moment my second thought was answered, because then all hell broke loose.

All at once arrows were lit with fire and shot off into the darkness I then heard several yelps like that of a hound being wounded. Then out of the darkness the other team came in droves gnashing their teeth and swinging their knives at us, arrows flew fast and true. and soon enough the the cabin caught flame. I was still scared for the safety of my little brother and stood on the platform and shouted "Stop!!! Why are we killing each other?!?! this is ridiculous!!"

The ones who had heard me shouted back "If you're not with us, you're against us." and they turned their arrows on me.

Then I woke up.

Intense right?

I have dreams like that a lot. like one time I was attacked by ninjas in a movie theater, and they were the ninjas from the power Rangers those little pawn guys that you can KO in one hit. Me and my friends teamed up on them and defeated them and took their sweet sports car. and it was cool cause my friend came back from his mission to help us.

Then I had one about Harry Potter meets Pirates of the Caribbean. That was pretty sweet. that same night I had another dream about my Physics Teacher trying to tell me something really important but I was deaf to only his voice.

There was another where my choir went to this rickety old house on a field trip. While we were there a banshee came to haunt it and I got killed because I was the only one who couldn't hear the screech but at the same time I was also the banshee. So that was a little weird. and that one didn't really scare me though, until the day after when I had mulled it over in my brain.

And I had one where the witch in Scooby-Doo's "Which Witch is Which" and her zombie partner tried to kill my little sister. We were in this abandoned warehouse and that one scared me to death I woke up screaming "NO!!!" in the middle of the night.

So yeah I don't know what it is but all of my dreams are really vivid and kind of awesome in their own way. So what are some of your craziest dreams?

College Life

So I'm having a blast here at BYU Idaho. I was really sad that I didn't make it into Provo but then I was like its probably all for the best. My roommates are da bomb! Hahaha!! we have a quote wall and decorations up that we got from the dollar store. b/c we ghetto like that. and I'm Majoring in horticulture with an emphasis on building and design now. The Temple is just up the street which is way cool so we can use it like all the time which is major exciting when that's the closest you've ever lived to a Temple. Its so pretty at night when its all lit up. So yeah! I've been going to all the cool events here and they're all really cheap which is good for college kids. I got to see ABBA Mania and Saxaphobia and Del Parkinson who played Chopin and tonight I'm going to see Masters of the fiddle. Which I'm sure will be amazing!
I just had my first college date on Thursday we went ballroom dancing and then we played piano. It was super fun.
so I'm happier than ever and life is still getting better.
:)