I'm Going There Someday

Things are beginning to move very quickly. Events in my life that were years ago feel as if they were just last week or something. Not too long ago I opened up my Mission Call and found out that I will be preaching the word of God to the wonderful people of Guatemala.  

I opened my mission call on a Friday night in front of some of my closest friends and family.  Though it was unfortunate everyone I loved couldn't come, I was grateful for the love and support I felt in the room that night.  (here's a link to see my call opening if you haven't!)

Anyways, I have been preparing these past few weeks since I've opened it even more intensely than I was previously.  Sure, I just opened my call and I'm pretty sure the excitement will wear off soon, but I'm going to take advantage of it and get in as much gospel as I can before it does!

As a part of that preparation, I have learned more about the temple than I ever have before in these past weeks.  Temple Prep classes, reading the booklet over and over, and just solemn prayer are doing all they can to prepare me for my first time going through this Thursday.  I'm very excited. I'm not really sure if it's supposed to be a secret or something, (sacred not secret, as the book says) but I'm just so excited!

Anyways, just thought I'd update my blog really quick. Here's the lyrics to a primary song that's been stuck in my head today! ;)

I love to see the temple.

I’m going there someday

To feel the Holy Spirit,

To listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God,

A place of love and beauty.

I’ll prepare myself while I am young;

This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple.

I’ll go inside someday.

I’ll cov’nant with my Father;

I’ll promise to obey.

For the temple is a holy place

Where we are sealed together.

As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:

A fam’ly is forever.

Ladies and Gentleman, There's More!!!

Hey everyone! I have recorded 3 songs recently. All of them have to do with the opposite sex unfortunately.

Looking Back (Your Smile)
This song was written a long time ago. By a long time ago I mean about a year and half.  I was into a new girl and had lyrics already written up, so I thought, what they hey, I'll write a guitar part, put it online, and see what happens. What do you know? We went out for 9 months! Unfortunately though, the song sucked. So I decided to redo it to how I would have liked it to be.  So here it is in it's full glory now! I readjusted the lyrics to be more fitting now I guess. Enjoy!
Click to listen to Looking Back (Your Smile)

Winter
This is a song that was written by my band, Humble Everest. It is about a guy and his girlfriend. The girl is going through some REALLY tough times. Interpret the lyrics as you will. I did this song mainly because I had to do something unique for a class, and decided to record a song. I wish we would have done it as a band before we sort of split up. Forgive my singing voice, it's no where near as good as Jake Buhler.
Click to listen to Winter

My Resolutions (Coming Clean)
I wrote this song with the thoughts that I'm going on a mission soon. I may rerecord it in the near future to capture the vocals better. The lyrics mainly are talking about how I'm going on a mission and I'm not going to be around to see everyone that I've held close to me in the past for a while.  Friends, my mom, my dad, and my brother and sisters.  It can be interpreted that I'm admitting I didn't express myself enough to an old flame, new flames, or even to my mother who I don't tell enough that I love her!
Click to listen to My Resolutions (Coming Clean)

I'm hoping to continue to release new songs frequently.  It will just keep me busy at BYU when I have down time.  Also, I love music and love to express myself. I like to show off too ;) Share my songs with your friends on Facebook if you like them!

I wasn't dreaming of a White Christmas.

This is my final year at home before I head out to serve a full time LDS Mission. I am currently wrapping up my papers and am more than likely going to be sending them in within the next two weeks. I'm not sure exactly when or where my call will be for, but I can tell you this right now, it's going to be exactly where I need to go. I have trust in the lord that everything will be just fine and I will be placed where I can make the biggest impact on peoples lives. That's my thought process anyways.
On a different note, Christmas was a blast. My family gave me exactly what I needed, and plenty of things I wanted. We started off in the morning like most families do, opening presents. It was fun to see the excited looks on both Tyson and Sarah's face as they opened up their toys, clothing, and other items.  I still get excited for my gifts too, but like I'm sure Danielle is, I was trying to keep it in for some reason, probably to look tough or something. It's funny though, as much fun as I had opening presents with my family, the highlight of my day was probably either our Christmas Lunch/Dinner (Ham, Funeral Potatoes, and miscellaneous vegetables) or when I got to go see two movies with my loved ones.
As many of you may or may not already know, I am a Media Arts major at Brigham Young University, which means one thing. I love movies.  My love for movies was probably inherited from my goofy father.  I had the opportunity to see Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, which was an awesome movie, with my father, and the Guilt Trip with my mom and sister, which aroused emotions of guilt within me, go figure eh?
The Christmas was a good one.  I apologize for this post because it was nothing more than really a journal entry. (I'm 100% still btw!) I hope that everyone's Christmas was as memorable and fantastic as mine was. I'm going to miss my family wherever the lord sends me next Christmas. The Church is true, don't forget your prayers, and have a Happy New Year!


That's right! I didn't skip my 1 year mark.

Caffeine Craze: Brigham Young University

I believe Caffeine should be sold on campus.  Whenever I would finish a long, hard day of work there was never anything I love my soda and it is wrong for BYU to be making a judgment call on a beverage that is not against their policies.

In recent news, Carri Jenkins, the assistant to the president for University Communications at Brigham Young University, released a statement in response to NBC’s Rock Center Special, which broadcast an episode spotlighting what it is like to live LDS in America. The Rock Center Special said that the Mormon Church condemned the use of Caffeine.  This segment got a lot of people thinking about the LDS Religion.  Jenkins’ statement said that Caffeine was in fact not against Mormon beliefs and that the confusion is due to Caffeinated beverages not being sold on BYU’s campus, which as we all know is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Included in the statement Jenkins said that the reason it is not sold on BYU campus was because there is not a demand for it, which is untrue, we need to show the BYU Administration that there is.

The demand for Caffeine on campus has always been there. Many students assume that Caffeine is wrong because of the beverages not being sold on campus. They have been tricked into believing something that is not true, caffeine is not against the Honor Code.  The BYU Honor Code condemns the use of hot drinks and strong drinks, which are interpreted to be coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages. The students of BYU have set up a Facebook page that is dedicated to the sales of caffeine on campus. The Facebook page, BYU for Caffeine, has this statement on their page:

BYU is using past interpreting the word of the wisdom and are blaming no demand. I just want them to stand for no caffeine and be honest about it or allow us to drink these sinless drinks while visiting campus or attending the next BYU home game.

This statement describes the pages stance on the issue.  The group at one point offered to give out 500 free cans of caffeinated soda on BYU grounds and was shut down within minutes of opening up business by the BYU Police. It turned out that the group did not have a proper permit to be staging a protest on campus, but it got a lot of people thinking.  Perhaps BYU isn’t selling them not because there is a lack of demand, but because of supposed health downfalls that come along with drinking caffeinated beverages. 

Of the positive effects of partaking in caffeine, it has been proven to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’. Maia, L. and De Mendonça, A. (2002) The caffeine decreases the loss of dopamine producing brain cells which ultimately, makes you less likely to develop these serious mental illnesses.

 Some people believe that caffeine should not be sold on campus because it only does negative things to your body when consumed.  If you do in fact drink too much there are definite health pitfalls to consuming caffeinated soda such as difficulty sleeping or irritability.  You will nearly always have negative side effects if you use too much of one thing at a time. The positive outcomes to drinking caffeinated beverages do in fact far outweigh the negative.

            Some people pose a very good question in regards to caffeine for sale on campus; why not go off campus to go buy the caffeine that you want so badly? First off, some people are on meal plans and are not able to purchase items at stores that are not on BYU campus. Secondly, BYU is making a judgment call for its students that it does not have to. Caffeine is perfectly acceptable for the LDS community to consume, therefore, it should be sold on campus.

            The demand for caffeine is and always will be here at BYU. If it were to be sold at the sporting events and other public gatherings, then sales would most likely increase.  CBS News in 2009 did a study and found that more than half of the American population consumes caffeine on a daily basis. With numbers like that, and our values where they are, how can BYU not be selling caffeinated beverages? Is it because they’re worried about the way people outside of the Mormon Church will view them?

            Many members of the LDS Church are criticized for their beliefs.  The Rock Center Special on Mormons did a fairly good job of explaining the basics of our religion, but did in fact have a few incorrect statements, among them caffeine not being allowed for members.  Do we as a church really want people believing lies about our religion? Because I sure don’t!

The Demand for Caffeinated Beverages is only going to continue to grow if this issue goes unsolved.  Caffeine should be sold on BYU campus and available to those who want it. 

            

B.A.S.H thoughts

This past weekend I attended the X 96 Big Ass Show.  The concert featured many of the bands I currently listen to, Awolnation, the Used, Neon Trees, and Imagine Dragons.  It was interesting watching the bands return to their hometowns and really playing off of the audiences vibe.  The lead singer from the Used constantly commented on how great it felt to be back where he originated from; as did Neon Trees and Imagine Dragons. I guess where I'm trying to lead this article into is this:  I miss performing live music.  I sure as heck know that I am never going to amount to as much as these super stars have, but I love having my music heard and there is nothing I want more (short of 1 billion dollars) than to get back on stage playing the music I love. 
After the concert I went back to my dorm and thought back to my days in the band Humble Everest.  I will admit, the music we played wasn't the kind I typically listened to.  Despite that fact, I still loved playing and being in front of a crowd.  The rush I get when I'm on stage strumming a chord that resonates with the audience is not comparable to anything else in life that I have previously experienced.
While I was reminiscing to my days in the band, I stumbled across the band's page and watched every last video we ever posted. I'm sad that we no longer make music but I'm grateful for the opportunity that those guys gave me for inviting me to play in their band.

Perhaps in the near future I will be on stage once again.  Whether it be by myself, or with a band, I'm going to make it goal to once again do what I love. Make Music.

364 Days

Today marks 365 days of writing continuously in my journal at the end of the day. I'm sure that there are many of you out there who have attempted the same feat and most likely failed, but I'm sure there are also the many of you who have done the same thing.
I always thought that I would feel extremely accomplished by achieving what many would find as a huge milestone, but I don't. Not right now anyways. I look at my journal right now and see the entire last year of my life summarized into a small book. (2 books actually, a mickey mouse journal, and a small leatherish book.)  I only wish I could have gone into more detail on certain events in my past year that occurred.  I have missed so much of what I experienced.
But for the moments I've missed, I have also recorded some pretty fantastic experiences also. I will never forget somethings, but for the ones I will, I have my journal. Hopefully it's enough.

I have in these past 2 weeks considered not writing in my journal today for various reasons.

1- Better people than I have tried and failed
2- To spite everyone who told me I should do it (I'm a jerk sometimes, I understand that.)
3- I don't want to make it look like I'm perfect (though I am :D  )
4- I... Don't know why else. I just didn't want to.

I'm not going to tell you whether I do write in my journal or not. Use your imagination. :)

Ten Minute Stream of Consciousness

Here I am sitting at my house after a short term at BYU. I made some great friends and I am very excited to see where the fall takes me. I have been very lucky to have met the people I did at the times I did. They came when I needed them most and got me through one of the hardest times of my life. Brandon Hveem, I don't know if you're ever going to read this, but you became one of my best friends very fast. I am forever grateful and always will be that you got me to realize certain things about myself that I wasn't even sure about. 

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sorry, but you're most likely not going to find out. Yes, that goes for you too mom and dad. I love you, but this is stuff that is between me and my friend. Isn't it funny how we have things like that? Things we'll tell our friends, but not our family? I don't know where I'm going with this post. I hope I don't make anyone mad by just writing. Anyways...

 I have decided that I am going to date a ton of people come the beginning of fall semester. I dated maybe one or two girls and I feel that I could have done TONS better. Unfortunately I'm kind of shy, so hopefully I run into girls who will take the initiative to ask me on a date. I'm a weird guy at times. I should probably put on the pants and just grab the girls and tell them they're going to date me. In the nicest way possible of course. 

Maybe at the end of all of this ranting and raving I'll put this all into paragraphs and somewhat organize it.. perhaps not. It's more entertaining to just have a mess.

I hope my workload isn't too bad. Six credits was a breeze and I'm praying that fall is just as easy and that I can stay committed right up to the very end and finish with fantastic grades. I'm also super excited to go on a mission. I actually wish I could go now.

 I just want to get on with the rest of my life right now. People of course will indeed tell me, don't grow up too fast, but I just want to move on and be ready for everything that is going to come. Actually, I hope people don't think that I only want to go so I can move on with everything, I legitimately do in fact want to spread the gospel and grow personally. It's not all selfish motivation for me. 

Well, my ten minutes is up. Perhaps I will have structure next time.