Today I love Utah.

There was a lot of rain today. And also wind. These two things plus a temperature of about 69 degrees, and I was in heaven. I rode my bike for about 20 miles, just loving the weather. My behind is a little sore now...but I'm sure it won't last long. 

Buzz Lightyear: "Who's behind?"

Slinky: "Mine."

I took a nap just barely, which I probably shouldn't have done, because it means that I'll have trouble getting to sleep tonight. But, I woke up, and I think the fluids in my ears were messed up. I was standing straight up, and it felt like I was leaning to the left. Then I leaned to the left and I almost fell over. Not cool. I wanted to Puke... Well, kind of.

"Laura got all offended when I used the work puke, but to me that's what her soup tasted like."

My dad told me I was a failure today. We went to see Karate Kid (Which is great btw), and we were talking about Letters to Juliet, because it was one of the movie options, and he asked me if I had taken a girl to see it yet. I told him no, and he said "Fail!" I guess I fail. The only way to redeem myself from this would be to take a girl to see it. Good thing it's in the dollar theater.

Okay, I'm really not that cheap, I just...haven't enjoyed spending money since I saw the price to rent my apartment this fall...

""I can't stand cheap people. It makes me real mad when someone says something like, "Hey, when are you going to pay me that $100 you owe me?" or "Do you have that $50 you borrowed?" Man, quit being so cheap!"

Um, my brain is kind of in random quote mode. Sorry about that. :p

"She got a tan and I got a sunburn"

That's the song I'm listening to right now.

Now I'm gonna go.

Goodbye.

Have a nice day!

Go jump in some puddles or something, eh? :)

-Moscas

Not 17.

So, I don't usually like confronting police officers. Most of the time I'm happy not to have to talk to them at all. Tonight was different. Know why? 'Cause I'm 18!!!

I went to a party at the Lindon park with a bunch of awesome people from my singles ward. This party was just to hang out one last time before we all moved off to college. Some of us are moving out Thursday, some in a week, others a couple weeks. I think I took the cake at 2 weeks and 4 days. Go BYU-Idaho, eh? :)

Anyway, the party was fun. We played the hugging game, which I had never played before, but it was pretty fun. haha. It's like a more mellow version of spin the bottle. But...there's more running. And no kissing. Ew.

We played frisbee, ate dark chocolate peanut M&M's (which, I decided, were AMAZING!!!!!), and sat and talked, and laughed and had a good time. :)

The sprinklers came on at 11, but we were safely secluded in the shelter of the pavilion before we actually got wet, so that was...fortunate. I think it would have been an adventure if we hadn't known, and we all got soaked. Oh well. Maybe some other time...

At around 11:35 a police car drove up (actually it was a truck), and the guy came over and asked how old we all were.

'18!' We all said, with pride. Can't pull your curfew card on us, now can you, mister policeman?

'The park closes at 11, so you guys have to go.'

Darn.

But at least we didn't get written up or ticketed for being out past curfew. Yeah!

So we left, but I was happy. I had to be home soon anyway, so it was a good excuse to break away from all of my awesome single (18 year-old) friends.

Moral of the story? Be 18, and you're automatically awesome!

Have a nice day, eh?

(Also a moral...if you're not 18 yet, don't be out past 11, eh? At least not in Lindon...)

-Moscas

Can Aida?

I'm pretty sure Aida can. At least, that's what Josie told me once. We must've had a boring day in zoology. Or...we were just yapping or passing notes to each other like we always did. :p

Um, so yeah. Canada. Pretty much like the U.S. but there are more...hosers. Plus the occasional 'a-boot'. More often it was 'a-boat', which, by the way is probably the most attractive thing I've ever heard a girl say. I know, this is kind of third gradish of me, but when you're listening to a girl talk, and she's talking completely normal, and then out of nowhere says 'a-boat', it just...I don't know. Maybe I'm just a sucker for awesome accents, but it's different than listening to a British girl, or an Irish girl. Um...yeah. Sorry about that little...side note.

The first thing we saw coming over the border was a big field of elk. But...they were fenced in. I guess they grow them there. Raise them. Whatever. Not much in Canada was different than here. They still had Subway, Red Lobster, Motel 8's. You know, the works. Red Lobster is so good, by the way. We were trying to find someplace a little cheaper, but everything else was closed. After Red Lobster we went to my great-aunt Lynne's house. We met and talked with a bunch of family members that I've known my whole life, but had no idea they were Canadian...

So, about the reason we went to Canada: Jeff Jacob (my great-uncle) passed away on August the 6th, 2010, after a year-long battle against pancreatic cancer. My grandparents weren't able to attend the funeral because of the mission they're serving in Berlin, Germany, so we went instead (we being all of my grandparents' children, plus me). The only reason I was able to go was because I got work off to be dewisdomized (that is, be stripped of the four large objects taking up space in my mouth), but my mom had to reschedule for the funeral, so I had the perfect alibi to take off to another country for a day or two. Uncle Jeff was not one of my close relatives, but family is family, and I wanted to support. Yeah, I wanted to see Canada, but I was really glad to be able to go visit with family and attend the funeral.

One of the biggest downsides to this trip was the drive. We didn't have money to fly, so instead we left at 4 in the morning, and got to Calgary, Canada at around 8 pm. We stopped a few times for gas and food, but other than that, we went straight there. That was probably the...funnest...drive. Ever.

Have you ever said something sarcastic to someone, but they totally took it straight? That's never a very good thing. Either they're extremely offended, and you have to pull yourself out of the huge hole you just dug for yourself, or they just, believe whatever incredible story you just made up, and you have to tell them that, no, it wasn't actually true. Then they're offended anyway, or just embarrassed.

So...that was kind of a long...something, just to say that it wasn't really the funnest drive ever. Funnest isn't even a word.

I'm gonna shut up now.

So, there you go. Canada was great. I couldn't find a tuke to buy. I was disappointed. But...it was August, and the average temperature during the day was probably 85. It's so funny to me, all of the sweeping generalizations we make about Canadians. I do it too, don't worry. I'm probably worse than most. It's just funny. We really have no idea what Canadians are really like. They're probably just like us. But more humble. They don't think their country is the best in the world, and they don't really care. They just hate us for overshadowing them all the time. Also, they think we're dumb for thinking they're so dumb.

I was gonna shut up, wasn't I...

Canada is pretty sweetawesome. That's all I have to say.

Oh, Canada...

Have a nice day, eh?

-Moscas

Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.

So...Saturday was an interesting day for me. Not good, not bad...just, thought provoking. Oh, and scary. That too. I know, I know. Me, scared? Absolutely. I think you would have been too. But that's beside the point. What is the point? Um, I'm alive. That's the point. And more than that, I am grateful to be alive. Very grateful. I think it's all too often that we take life for granted. Well, this experience helped me see how fragile life really is (see title). So, if you gain anything from reading this post, I hope you learn that life is a gift, given to us by a loving Heavenly Father. So be grateful, eh?


So, here's what happened. This will only be like, the 27th time I will have told this story in the past two days. Oh well. Word gets around fast. My cousin from Idaho Falls emailed me just yesterday wondering if I was okay. And...I guess he's a little closer to me on the grapevine than it would seem. Idaho Falls is pretty close when you've got family there. Same with Germany. Or California. 


Um, I'm rambling now. I'm just gonna tell you the story now. Ready? 


Last Saturday I went to work. Just like any other Saturday, it was pretty slow. I had been there for about an hour, give or take. Ryan was taking the trash out, and I was hungry, so I went to make myself a sandwich. I had just started when a man in a hoodie with a bandana over his mouth and nose came in and walked straight behind the counter toward me. He was holding a knife, and told me to give him all of our money. I instantly went to the register to open it, and I forgot to put in my number before I typed in my password, so it didn't work. He raised the knife, and said "open it!" I told him I was opening it, and I typed in my number and my password. It opened, and he began to take the money. Ryan came in right then from taking out the garbage, and the man told us to get in the back and lay down. We did so, and Ryan was confused as to what was going on. I told him "We're being robbed." He suggested that one of us sneak out the back and call 911 or our manager. That's when the door dinged letting us know the guy had left. We called 911 right then, and the nice lady asked me a bunch of questions. How tall was he? (about 5' 10") How long was the knife? (3-4 inches) What race was he? (white) What was he wearing? (a grey hoodie and a bandana over his mouth and nose. He might have been wearing jeans, and I don't know what kind of shoes he was wearing) Was there anyone with him? (no, he was alone) Which direction did he go when he left? (I don't know, I was laying down in the back)
 When she ran out of questions, she told me that she wanted to keep me on the phone until a police officer got there. That's when a manager from another subway called asking if we were having any trouble. I told him yes, and he said he'd call my manager for me, and come down to our store. I told him thanks. That's when the police got there, and the nice lady let me go.
 The police asked me all of the same questions and more. Each probably about 4 or 5 times. Then they had us write all of our personal information down on a police report with details about our experience and sign it. Our manager got there, and showed them the tapes, then our manager's manager's manager got there, and burned a disc of the tapes. They couldn't get any finger prints, because I guess he was wearing gloves. And come to find out, it was a blue hoodie, not a grey one. Uber manager told us we could make ourselves a free sandwich, and go home for the night (I get held up with a knife, and I get a free sandwich. Yay). Thankfully, someone from a Provo Subway came in to take over. I don't think I would have been able to close that night after what had happened. I was so shaken up. 
 On my way home, after dropping Ryan off at his apartment, I said a prayer of gratitude. For the fact that I was alive, that I hadn't been hurt, and that everything went so smoothly. I mean, we got robbed, so that's lamesauce, but as far as having a knife pulled on me, I came out fairly unscathed. I am grateful today to be alive. The title of this post was a quote that I saw at Wilson's house Friday night. This experience was a testament to its truthfulness. Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.


So, there's the story. I'm alive. Traumatized for life, maybe, but alive. 


I'm actually doing quite well. And honestly...I kind of want to just forget the whole thing. I had trouble getting to sleep Saturday night, because I would keep thinking about what happened, and then my heart would be going a million miles an hour again...which just isn't very helpful when you're trying to sleep. 


Anyway, I found a scripture that night that gave me comfort. It's D&C 122:9. It says, 

"Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."

So there you go. I guess I must have more things I need to do in this life, eh? 


Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.


Have a nice day! (hope it was better than mine...:p )


-Moscas

Cove

Walking all day
in the frigid cold
not stopping,
for fear of never starting again.
Mother sick,
but walking anyway.
Father barely hanging on
to life, or
what's left of it.
 
Sister crying,
wanting to stop
and build a fire
to warm her hands 
and feet.
Brother saying
how much he misses
our home back east.
There, we had so much
that we don't have
any more.
 
Pulling, and pulling,
never resting,
always pulling.
 
Thinking
about life
about family
Singing
under my breath
Searching
for the strength 
to continue on.
Pulling,
and pulling.
 
Talk of rescue.
Wonderful news that lights
a fire in my heart.
The warmth spreads, it seems,
to my fingers and toes.
A place of refuge
from the wind and snow.
There could be nothing better.
 
Tired and hungry,
we reach the cove.
Fires already burning,
Men take the cart
from my hands,
and help set up our tent.
Life has entered
back into the hearts
of the saints.
We have survived
another day.
We have the strength
and the will
to press on.
 
Whether or not
we reach the valley,
We will give our All
to this Cause
that we Know
to be True.
We will give our All
to the Lord.

Wyoming is great. It feeds us...pink lemonade?

So, until yesterday, I was entirely convinced that when I discovered mint oreo's (at 1 in the morning), they were the greatest thing on the planet, as far as being hyper and crazy with friends goes. Well, I do believe that I have found something that might have topped the 'oreo's from heaven'. I was on trek, and see...normally when you're camping, it's like...tinfoil dinners, or baked potatoes, or some kind of mush made out of who knows what, but this trek was different. We had the Nicolsons cooking our food. The Nicolsons are most likely the most talented, organized, amazing camp cooks you will ever, ever meet. Hands down. Wait...then I should probably take out the 'most likely'. The Nicolsons are the most talented, organized, amazing camp cooks you will ever, ever meet. There, that's better. Well, anyway, for one dinner, we had pink lemonade to drink with our

Wow, there was lightning outside just now, and it was SO COOL!!!

delicious potatoes and bacon and...veggies. Watermelon. There was watermelon, too. Anyway, none of that really mattered except the pink lemonade. I filled up my whole PHS Bulldogs water bottle with it, and refilled once, too. Um, and then I was really hyper. And so was Tyler, and Craig. It's one of those memories that's just kind of like...what on earth was I thinking? But...oh. I wrote this story while I was...under the influence? (btw, we decided that we would never, EVER use alcohol, because...why would you? Pink lemonade made us more happy than any amount of alcohol could do. Also, we had a testimony meeting right after, and believe me, it would have been a different story had we been using alcohol) (btw...also...I am not in any way saying that alcohol could make one happy, it's just something that some sadly misled people use to make themselves think they're happy? Something. I wouldn't really know. Point is, I'm being ADD. Real point is, I do not in any way condone the use of alcohol, for myself or anyone else.) So...lets see, that was a lot of parentheses. Oh! Story. Here you go:

"Once upon a time, there was a magical 

place where there was lots of pink lemonade. And 

I went swimming in it, and then drowned. And

then I drank some more. Then end."

So...good memory? Kind of. Scary memory? I'm leaning more toward a yes. Memory that shows how much a little pink lemonade could do? Definitely. (I heard someone say 'fer def' once. Kind of like 'fer rills', but 'fer def', like, definitely. I was gonna just say that, but I wasn't sure if you would understand. Okay, we're gonna get back to...me!) 

The rest of this story goes a little bit like this: *someone walks up and gives us a weird look* 'Um guys, we're going to have a testimony meeting.' *Then we pretty much just snapped out of our weird, hyper mood, and put on our 'testimony-type' attitude.* I was actually kind of surprised at how good we did at not being hyper anymore, and just 'sobering up' if you will (sorry...again with the alcohol allusions...it just fits? ...idk, moving on). 

Our testimony meeting was really quite amazing. I teared up during my testimony, which has only happened once or twice before. I guess I just have some of my dad in me (I love you dad). 

So, in case you were all wondering, (which of course you were) (why am I using parentheses so much? I don't know. But why not? Okay...I'll shut up now) um...oh yeah. I have officially decided that Wyoming sunsets are AMAZING!!! There. It's official. Also, I was considerate and brought a camera, so you could all join me in my amazement. Um...actually, I didn't bring a camera, but I was considerate enough to bring a sister that had a camera (and she was considerate enough to take sunset pictures). So...enough with the considerateness. Just know that this shows that I love you, okay? Okay.

So, there you go. Amazing, isn't it?

The rest of trek was fun. We were climbing around on Independence Rock, and then it started raining these big, fat drops, and then there were more of them, and I had a flour sack baby (Katherine Kevin Jackson) to protect. I ran really fast to the van, and then in a few minutes it stopped, and the sun came out, and guess what? There was a rainbow. Here's another picture for you (Compliments of Emilyn Cannon):

That one is cool because you can see all the drops on the van window. :)

It was an amazing trek. It really was. It was the third pioneer trek I had been on, and it was by far the best. :) It was a ward trek, which made a big difference, I think. It was so much more tight knit than the two stake treks I have been on. We were all friends, we all knew each other, and we were all there to help each other out. 

I think I would definitely call this the greatest week of my life. Fer def. (haha...I said that again.)

I think it's late. I kind of want to blog more about this amazing experience, but it's late, and I'm tired from the sixteen miles that I pulled the handcart. hehe... :p

Okay bye.

Have a nice day.

Night.

Whenever it is when you have the misfortune of reading this post...

-Joey

Plan of Happiness. :D

So, today is Sunday, and I'm not usually on the computer on Sunday, but it was a special day, so I thought that I would post. Also, I'm going to be gone on trek until Thursday, so I wanted to get it up here before I forgot it.


Today is Fast Sunday. Not because it goes faster, because...it usually doesn't. Fast Sunday is a happy day. It's a day that we can use to strengthen our testimony in so many different ways. You can bear your testimony in sacrament meeting, you can fast and strengthen it that way, and you can give fast offerings and see the blessings that come from doing so. Fast and testimony meeting in my singles ward goes a little bit like this: Bishopric member: "We'll go until about 5 after the hour" (sits down, and 10 people go up to bear their testimonies). So...pretty much you have to get up there fast, and then we never stop at 5 after the hour. :p I think we ended at 15 after the hour once. Today it was about 20 after. Anyway, long story short, I didn't take the opportunity to bear my testimony in fast and testimony meeting. 


Afterward was Mission Prep. Well, it just so happened that we were talking about testimonies in Mission Prep, so I stood and bore my testimony there. Brother Vanchierrie (our teacher...probably misspelled...you say it Van-cherry.) Anyway, he came up and thanked me for my testimony, and told me that he knew, somehow, that I would get up and bear my testimony. Maybe he can read minds. Or maybe I was just sad that I didn't bear it in sacrament meeting, so I really wanted to when we started talking about the blessings that come from bearing testimony? I don't know. Maybe (most likely :D) he had the spirit, and just could feel that I needed/wanted to. :) I was glad for the second chance I had. Blessings really do come from bearing your testimony. Namely, a stronger testimony. In the Preach My Gospel manual, pg. 198 there is a quote by President Monson that says this: "Regarding one's testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he keeps, while that which he selfishly keeps he loses..." So, there you go. I would encourage you to bear your testimony as often as you can. It really does help to strengthen your testimony, as well as helping others strengthen theirs.


The title of this post is Plan of Happiness. It's not really an outline or a description of that plan in any way, it's just a manifestation that the name holds true. The Plan of Happiness brings happiness. I am happy today because of that plan. That's why it's the title. I'm happy. :)


I wrote a poem the other day, and I'm going to post it now. It applies, I'm pretty sure. This isn't completely an ADD tangent... :p Okay, here it is:




Home

Familiar, smiling faces
fill the space around me.
Giving peace and comfort
in a world of chaos.

          Holiness to the Lord

Redeeming the dead,
a third of our goal.
Dressed in spotless white,
Baptizing by water and fire.
hands laid on my head,
words spoken, lives changed.

A place of happiness.
A plan of happiness,
In this life and the next.
Standing back and
looking through heaven's eyes.
Seeing the world
the way my Father sees.
A beautiful view 
from the Mountain top.

To stand in holy places
Is to stay close
to the truth. To my family.
To Heavenly Father
and His Son.
To be safe
from the influences
of worldly snares.
Safe
In the arms of His love.

          The House of the Lord

Home.




So, there you go. Hope you liked it. If you didn't, just know that this is a plan of happiness, and that this poem was an attempt to illustrate the happiness, kind of like this post was supposed to do. Did it work? I hope so.


I love the Provo Temple. This last week was the first time in a long time that I had been to that temple. They were doing renovations or some such thing, so it was closed. Every time I go there, it just feels like I'm coming home. I guess that's what inspired my poem. I love the Provo Temple. <3 Like that, see?


This was a happy week.

Today was a happy day.


I hope that y'alls lives are happy, and that maybe I helped to make them more so. I love you all. I am so grateful to have such amazing friends and family. You have all helped me so much in my spiritual progression. This gospel is true. I felt its truthfulness today, as I have many times in the past. The power of the priesthood is real. I had the wonderful opportunity to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood today, and I'm so excited to start using that priesthood to serve and bless those around me. I know that my Savior lives. I am so grateful for his willingness to sacrifice his life for me, and I know that as we strive to keep his commandments and endure to the end, he will have a place for us when we pass from this life to the next. I love the Lord, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


I love you all. Thank you for all you do. :)


-Joseph Morris Cannon