Word of the day:

Service.

This word has been in my head for the past few days, actually. Not just today. I guess it's something that I'm going to be doing a lot of in the near future. Like, for two years. Honestly though, shouldn't it be something that I do a lot of anyway? Why should I have to fly to Colombia to start serving people?

I'm pretty sure it's not just me that's been thinking it. I've been seeing the word everywhere. For example, I went to delete my facebook account yesterday (which was a very interesting experience, by the way, you should try it out sometime. ;) ), anyway, I was deleting my facebook account, and one of the captcha words I had to type in order to delete my account was "serve." To me, that was kind of just another confirmation that what I was doing was right. I was pretty sure I was going to delete my account some time before I entered the MTC, and that that would be the right thing to do, but I wasn't for sure. Anyway, I was just having a Nike moment and I decided to "Just Do It." Aaaaand, now I kind of feel like I'm just rambling, so I'm going to stop.

Elder Oaks, would you take it away please...



"Perhaps when we face our Maker, we will not be asked, ‘How many positions did you hold?’ but rather, ‘How many people did you help?'"


I love that. This life isn't about bettering ourselves. It's about bettering others. Because as we better others, we will become exactly who our Savior wants us to be. Another time this week when I was thinking about service was at the Provo Temple. In this same talk by Elder Oaks he says, "Hundreds of thousands of faithful members participate in the unselfish service we call “temple work,” which has no motive other than love and service for our fellowmen, living and dead." Of all the blessings in my life, one of the things I am most grateful for is friends that are worthy and willing to attend the temple. I really owe my regular, habitual temple attendance to all of my wonderful friends (some more than others...you know who you are ;) ) who went weekly, or at least a couple times a month. It's something that I had always kind of wanted to start doing, but until my senior year, I had never taken the initiative to make temple attendance a habit. Now, thanks to you all, I don't think I've gone a month without going to the temple at least once since last fall. :)


There is only one thing that bugs me when I go to the temple. Every time I go to the temple, they're up to their ears in young women, but there is a consistent lack of young men. So you young men out there, GO TO THE TEMPLE!!! Get worthy, get a recommend, and GO! It's more than worth it, I promise. There are blessings that come from temple service that you really can't get anywhere else. And just as Elder Oaks said, quoting President Monson, "You can never love the Lord until you serve Him by serving His people." Now, if I remember right, loving the Lord is the first and great commandment, right? So according to President Monson, we can't keep the first and great commandment until we "serve Him by serving His people."


Well, it's past my bedtime, but I just want to say one last thing. Service is not something that we do. It's something that we are. That didn't sound right. In other words, service is not an act. It is an attitude.


I love you all. I hope that this post has helped you as much as it has helped me. I also hope that as you go about your lives, that you will look for people who could use a helping hand. Search for opportunities to serve, and I promise you that you will bring yourself, and hopefully others, closer to the Savior than you have ever been before.


Word of the day: Service


Have a nice day, eh? :)


-Joey

13 weeks from yesterday...

I'll be in the MTC!!! How crazy is that? Like, really crazy.

Aaaaanyway, I'm pretty much stoked. Still. My stokedness hasn't really changed. If anything, it has grown. I got a sweetawesome new mission camera! That was super-exciting. I still haven't decided what to name him though. I've never been amazing at naming things. Have I said this before? It took me practically until we sold it to name our old car...and then every time I referred to it as "The Ferrari" everyone was like, "You got to drive a ferrari? Since when?!" And then I would have to tell the whole story and how it wasn't really a ferrari, it was a 20 something year old Toyota Corrola.

Can you say, FAIL ?

My Caps Lock can.

Sometimes I tell funny jokes. The other 98% of the time, it's pretty much just more of that FAIL business...

Here's a picture for you:

There's a couple of good looking guys. Well...maybe one good looking guy. I never was much to look at. So...yep. My dad and I went skiing the other day. Skiing. That's the coolest word. It has two i's right in the middle. :) Skiing. Um. Anyway, we went skiing and had a blast! I had never been before, so my dad helped me get going, but I think I picked it up pretty quick. I'm not saying I'm pro or anything...because I'm really not. I didn't do anything harder than a fairly easy blue run, so...I'm not that amazing. I did enjoy it though, I will say that. I only crashed 3 or 4 times and only broke one ski pole, so all in all, I think it was a pretty successful trip. By the way, it was the stupid ski lift that ate my pole. Not really...we were just on our way up the mountain, and we were going to go past the first stop, where the lift seat gets really close to the ground so you can get off if you want, and I didn't even think to lift my poles out of the way. My pole got caught under the lift seat and bent pretty bad. It broke completely in half on the way down the mountain, so I stashed it at the bottom, and just got used to skiing without poles. It wasn't too bad once I got used to it. I just had to figure out how to balance using my arms, instead of the poles. The picture I posted was our "before" picture. We decided not to take an after picture. My dad said it would look just like the before picture only with hat hair, and more sweaty and tired-looking. We did get quite a few "during" pictures though, on my dad's cell phone. We got some videos too. On the way home, there was a really pretty sunset. I'm really grateful that I live in such a beautiful world. I'm also really grateful for an awesome dad that will take a day out of his week to take me skiing. I love my dad. :)

I started reading Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. I haven't read very much, but it's already such an interesting book. Not only is it a powerful testimony of the divinity of the Savior, it's a detailed history of the events of His life. His...premortal, mortal, and post-mortal life. :) It's an amazing book. If you have time, you should read at least a chapter or two. It's jam packed with little spiritual nuggets. 

Well, I'm looking at my Blog Post Checklist and I'm pretty sure I've done everything on the list. You know, told at least 7 dumb jokes, posted a picture, rambled about something completely pointless...you get the idea. I'm pretty sure it's time for bed now.

Have a nice day, y'all. :)

-Joseph

P to the S: Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice.

Blessings in Disguise

This weekend has been absolutely insane. It was wonderful, and I really wouldn't have it any other way, it was just a little...crazy.


Friday, like I planned, I went to the Logan and the Vernal Temples. Ogden was closed until today, so I just went to those two. I got to the Logan Temple around 9:30, read my scriptures until a little after 10, and went up to the baptistry. As I was ringing the doorbell, a lady came by and told me the baptistry didn't open until 11. I had an entire hour and nothing to do. I figured I'd have an early lunch, so I found a Subway and had a delish sandwich. After lunch, I still had half an hour before I could go back. So I drove around, and saw a store that said "Movies, Books, Music, Coffee" Well, I wasn't too interested in movies or coffee, but I love bookstores, and music is just a given. So I went inside, and quickly found that it was more "Movies" than anything else. I browsed around in what few books and CD's they had, but got bored pretty quick. They had another section at the back of the store that was kind of just a bunch of random stuff. Shirts, posters, shot glasses, etc. I thought I'd check it out, but after taking one glance at one of the posters, I just left. It was about time to go back to the temple anyway. I got to the temple a little after 11, and kind of just felt...icky. I hadn't done anything bad. I had removed myself from a compromising situation when I felt I needed to, but even though I hadn't sinned necessarily, I still felt...defiled. Impure. I prayed that I would be able to feel the spirit as I went into the Temple, and I did feel a little comforted, so I thought I'd be okay. I walked again up to the baptistry door and rang the doorbell. No one answered, and an older man who was probably a temple worker came up to ring the doorbell as well. They answered that time, and the lady inside asked me what I needed. I told her I was just there to do baptisms, and she said that all of the workers were just getting there, and the baptistry wouldn't open until 12. So I walked back to my car, determined that this time I would spend the next hour preparing for the temple, rather than just kill time and perhaps distance myself from the spirit. I drove around trying to find a place that overlooked the temple, where I could sit and ponder and prepare, but if you've ever been to Logan, you'll probably know that the temple is pretty much the highest thing in the city. There are some mountains to the east, but I couldn't find a way up any of them. I did find a beautiful canyon and a nice park at the entrance though, so I stopped there for a while, and did everything I could to prepare myself to enter into the house of the Lord and to have the spirit with me. When I got back at 12, I felt much more prepared and worthy to enter the temple. 


Blessing: The baptistry didn't open until 2 hours after I wanted to go in. In those two hours I learned a lot about temple preparation. Just because I had a recommend, didn't mean that I was prepared to go to the temple. 


The Logan baptistry is actually quite small. Despite its size, it's a very beautiful place. The work is being done, and the spirit is there. After doing baptisms and confirmations, I started on the looooooong journey to Vernal, Utah. Google maps says that from Logan to Vernal is about 4 hours and 45 minutes. That meant I wouldn't get to Vernal until around 6. 'Nother thing. Google maps also says that the quickest way from Logan to Vernal is through Wyoming. So I began the long drive, starting by going up Logan Canyon. I passed Bear Lake, I went through Wyoming,  two or three national forests, I saw a bunch of deer, antelope, ravens, and 3 bald eagles. Took a few wrong turns, learned some lessons in patience, faith, and prayer, went through Flaming Gorge at sunset, aka the most AMAZING time to go through Flaming Gorge. The sunset would've been absolutely beautiful without being in Flaming Gorge, and Flaming Gorge would've been absolutely beautiful without the sunset. Together, they were just plain freaking awesome. I got to the Vernal Temple at about 5:56 pm. Not bad timing, considering all the...detours I took. The Vernal Temple is really a beautiful building. It's definitely the smallest temple I've ever been to, but it's still very beautiful. So I went up to the baptistry doors and rang the doorbell, not knowing if there was even anyone inside. A temple worker opened the door, and said something to the effect of, "Is this all of you?" or, "Are you the only one?" Well, come to find out, there was a ward scheduled to do baptisms at 6:00 that night. Otherwise, the baptistry wouldn't have been open. So I was able to join the ward and do baptisms and confirmations. 


Blessing: The Logan Temple didn't open until 12, I got lost a number of times on my way to Vernal, and I stopped twice for gas and snacks. I got the the Vernal Temple at the only time that day that the baptistry was open. 


On my way home, I took another wrong turn, but figured out my mistake (before I got all the way to Moab) and got back on the right track. I learned something about myself that I never knew before. I really don't like passing cars in the oncoming lane of traffic. It scares me to death every time, especially in the dark. The drive home was only 3 hours, but after such a long day, I was tired. Luckily, I had my Fritos, honey-roasted peanuts, and a good friend to keep me awake. Well, the drive was pretty uneventful. I didn't fall asleep, I didn't hit any semis head on, I didn't even have to swerve to avoid any deer. As I was coming down Provo canyon however, on the last leg of my journey, a big chunk of ice appeared in my lane. It didn't really appear, it was just dark and I didn't see it until it was too late to miss it. I decided that instead of swerving to avoid it, I'd just place my tires evenly on either side of it and pass right over. Well, I either misjudged how much clearance my car had or how solid the piece of ice was, because I didn't just "pass right over." In fact, I don't think there was much left of that chunk of ice after I hit it. But, my car didn't start making any funny sounds, so I wasn't too worried. I got home around 11, said hi to my parents, and crashed. I really think I would've slept past 12, but I had work at 8, so I was up again at 7:30. I got in the car to head off to work, and it started right up, but when I pushed on the gas, nothing happened (yes, I was in drive, not neutral. :P ). I didn't have time to figure out what was wrong then, 'cause I'd be late for work. So I drove the van and my dad looked at it that day. Come to find out, my transmission started leaking fluid about 15 feet before I pulled up to my house and parked, and every drop had leaked out during the night. 


Blessing: A big chunk of ice ripped a hole in my transmission pan, but I got home safely, and didn't have any car problems. At least, not until after I was home. 


Sometimes things happen in life and we're not sure why. Sometimes we wonder why things don't go the way we want. But our Heavenly Father is there for us. He knows what's right for us, even if it doesn't seem right in the beginning. It may not even seem right in the end, but as long as we trust in His will, He will never lead us astray. There is a quote by President Ezra Taft Benson that says this:

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace." 

I believe this with all of my heart. He is there for us. We just need to make sure that we are there for Him. 


This wasn't all that happened this weekend, but it was a big chunk of it. There have been many other blessings and miracles to add to this list, but for now...have a nice day. :) 


-Joseph Morris Cannon 

A Goal:

I have this goal. It's a goal I've had for quite some time. I don't even remember when I first made it a goal. I think it might've been when the Provo temple was closed for 6 weeks for renovation. Or cleaning. Whatever it was. Anyway, I've had this goal for a while. 

Question: How many temples are there in Utah?

Answer: 13 (these are acting temples, not including those in the planning or construction stages).

Question: How many of those temples have I done baptisms in?

Answer: 8.

My goal? To do baptisms in every Utah temple before I enter the MTC. 8 temples down, 5 to go. Only thing is, the temples I have left are all at least and hour and a half away from home, most of them 3 or 4 hours away. But really, I shouldn't be complaining. I am so blessed to live so close to so many temples. The fact that I actually have a choice which temple to go to is amazing, not to mention the fact that 6, maybe 7 temples are an hour or less away from home.

Tomorrow (if all goes well), I'll have another 2 temples under my belt. I'm hoping to go to Logan and Ogden (or Vernal. Ogden might be closed for construction). Now, I hope you understand, I'm not doing this just to say "I've done baptisms in every temple in Utah!" I mean, it will be kinda cool. Not gonna lie. I just want you to know, these temple trips are more than just numbers to me. Each new temple I've been to has been a wonderful experience, and a great opportunity to learn about some of Utah's heritage and history. Am I even making sense? It's like in "The Best Two Years" where Elder Rogers tells Elder Calhoun that "Numbers don't mean a thing." It's not the numbers that matter. It's the amazing, spiritual experiences that I've had, and will have. That's why I'm doing this. Because I love going to the temple. I love being in the baptistries where I can ponder and pray and, more importantly, do sacred work for the dead. The three-fold mission of the church is to Perfect the Saints, Proclaim the Gospel, and Redeem the Dead. So, temple work is an entire third of everything we should be doing as members of the church, right? Anyway, now that I've explained that topic to death...let's move on to something else.

But first, another question: Who wrote the soundtrack for Tron: Legacy?

Answer: Daft Punk (or Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, if you want to get technical).


Yesterday, I bought the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. I've listened to it twice through already, and then some. It's like, 80's music (which I love), and traditional orchestra music (which I also love). So basically, I double love the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. Good stuff.


Well, I think it's about time for bed. I always know that when I'm bored of blogging, I'm pretty positive anyone who's reading it will be too.


So goodnight, all. Duerman bien.


-Joseph