Sam's Sports Reactions

I might have to start making this blog my sports blog because that's all I seem to talk about it anymore. Let's face it, sports are my life, and I can't wait to get paid to do this kind of stuff.
My favorite sport to watch and follow is college football. I don't like it because it supposedly has more emotion than professional football. I love it most because there are new teams every year and one team could be great one year and then suck the next year. Here is my top 10 and some of my observations compared to the BCS's top 10
BCS top 10:
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. LSU
9. Pittsburgh
10. Ohio State

My top 10 and observations
1. Texas: I put them #1 because to me they have never been in danger of an upset, and also performed great against quality opponents

2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. TCU: Okay Horned Forgs I put you ahead of my Boise State, but now there are so many TCU fans that think they are something special. Thinking they are the best team in the nation, and I'm not saying they can't beat a Florida, Alabama or Texas, but they need to get off their high horse. I truly believe and I said this even before last nights game that Utah is overrated. Utah had not beaten a quality opponent and already had some close calls. BYU is also overrated so TCU really only had one great win against Clemson in my opinion. Let's not forget they needed overtime to defeat Air Force. Every team has their weaknesses.

5. Boise State: I have them ranked ahead of Cincinnati, because they have been ahead of them most of the season but somehow was passed after Cincinnati barely avoided an upset to UConn. I'm not going to praise BSU cause they have their weaknesses like any other team, and I thought I would let you know what I think are some of their weaknesses.
1. Their inability to put opponents away in road games has worried me a little bit. They allowed Fresno State and Tulsa to come back into games that should have been not as close.
2. One way they let teams back into games is that "they allow a big play on defense" there have been many times that Boise State has allowed a big play while they were on defense. 3 60+ TD's against Fresno and 2 long passing plays that led to two touchdowns for Tulsa made games close.
3. Kyle Brotzman. I don't care how accurate you are... hit the freaking field goal from the left hash. This guy has a curse and I have not seen him make a field goal from the left hash yet, and sooner or later its going to cost Boise State a game like it did to TCU last year.

6. Cincinnati

7. Pittsburgh: I don't know why people don't have this team ranked higher. They've only lost one game and that was to NC State at the start of the season. Since then they have been dominate and will give Cincinnati a run for the Big East Title.

8. Georgia Tech: Clinched the ACC Coastal this week

9. LSU: Clearly the best two loss team in the nation. There only losses are to the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the nation

10. Ohio State

My dream college football system would be a 16 team playoff system with the conference winner getting an automatic bid and then taking 5 at-large bids. Re-rank each team and then have them play. I would explain when and where they would play if someone asked me, but if the college season ended today and we went by my system this is who I would have play in the opening round.

#1 Florida (SEC) vs. #16 Troy (Sun Belt)

#2 Alabama (At Large) vs. #15 Central Michigan (MAC)

#3 Texas (Big 12) vs. #14 Houston (CUSA)

#4 TCU (MWC) vs #13 Iowa (At Large)

#5 Cincinnati (Big East) vs. #12 Oklahoma State (At Large)

#6 Boise State (WAC) vs #11 Oregon (Pac-10)

#7 Georgia Tech (ACC) vs #10 Ohio State (Big Ten)

#8 LSU (At Large) vs #9 Pitt (At Large)

My Sports Weekend

Everyone knows that I love football, and football is what I spend the majority of my time watching over the weekends. After watching and reading articles about football from the three levels I have learned and like.

HIGH SCHOOL

I can't go into too much depth about high school football, because I only went to one game, but from the results of games I am excited to say that the Great Basin West conference has been an exciting year of football. The teams are not that good, heck, the #1 Twin Falls record is still only 4-4, but when I say it is exciting I mean that it is not written on paper.
First off Burley did what it had to do and they won the two most able to win games and luckily they got themselves into the playoffs. Jerome was second and beat every team except Twin Falls like you would expect. This is where it gets interesting. First Canyon Ridge beats Minico who just this last Friday beats the champion, Twin Falls, but then loses to Wood River. What does that say? Canyon Ridge, at the bottom of the conference beat a team that beat the champion, and if Twin Falls would have beaten Minico, and CRHS beat WRHS we would have had to have a three way playoff between Minico, Burley, and Canyon Ridge to see who gets the last two spots. Minico > Burley > CRHS > Minico. I love it! However, don't expect many teams to be represented in the state tournament. TFHS will beat Burley and will get one spot, but I'm thinking Jerome and Minico will not win their games this week.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

I learned many things.

1. The BCS is rigged: I don't agree with Iowa, who has had so many close calls and needed a last second touchdown to beat a 4-4 Michigan State team can jump over an undefeated Boise State and Cincinnati team that both beat their teams by 45 and 32 points respectively. How can LSU who's only loss is to the #1 ranked team in the nation be seeded lower than a USC team who's loss is to a 3-5 Washington team? If I got to vote in the top 10 it would be
#1 Texas
#2 Florida
#3 Alabama
#4 Boise State
#5 TCU
#6 Cincinnati
#7 Iowa
#8 LSU
#9 Oregon
#10 USC
Which brings me to my next point

2. Every team is vulnerable. After watching the Florida and Alabama games and seeing them struggle I can honestly think that Boise State or TCU could beat any team in the nation. I'm not saying they're the best in the nation. What I'm saying is that they deserve a shot at a national championship just as much as the next person.

3. BYU IS TERRIBLE. I used to be an avid BYU fan, but seeing them the past couple of years I have lost interest in them. They are one of the most overrated teams. For the past two years BYU has ridden on the coattails of one major vicotry (a 59-0 win over UCLA who finished the year with two wins in 2008 and a one point win over an Oklahoma team that isn't even in the top 25 anymore) After they won their second MWC title they thought they needed to focus more on national rankings than conference rankings, causing them to lose focus on TCU and Utah, getting blown out in the last three games. It sickens me to say that BYU is not good, but its true. They let SDSU score 28 or so points on them the week before, and besides that win at Oklahoma they really haven't accomplished much. So Cosmo, before you go ripping a paper that says TCU in front of national television, maybe you should go rip the depth chart of your defense, because it is terrible.

PROFESSIONAL

I don't follow pros nearly as much, but I just wanted to say that even though my 49ers lost today I wanna say that I'm proud of them. They showed me that they can come back from a deficit, and that they can score in bunches. After being down 21-0 to Houston they could have just thrown in the towel, but instead they brought the game back to 24-21 and actually had a chance to drive down the field and win the game, but just came up a little short. Alex Smith looked great today throwing three TD passes and only one INT which was on the second last play of the game.
I don't expect the niners to win the division, but I would love to see them go 9-7 and maybe even make the playoffs.

Well I know I probably bored all you non football fans to death, but I had to get my feelings out to someone. Hope you enjoy!

Boise State vs. BYU

You all know me and how I love to gab and gab about sports, well here I am again to plainly state my view on the two teams that have caused the most attention on my facebook. Being a fan of both teams I will make this sound as unbiased/most fair as I can make it.

Which team is better? Or more importantly which team will bust the BCS? After week three of the college football season its plain to see who's definitely got a better chance. That would be Boise State who is currently 3-0, ranked #8 in the nation, and to me only has two tough games that are stopping them from an undefeated season. That would be @ Tulsa, and at home against Nevada. You can't count out Hawaii too, because it has always been hard for Boise State to garner a win in Honolulu, and Boise State has lost the last two trips to Honolulu. Both in 2007 against conference champion and BCS buster Hawaii, and then later that year to East Carolina in their bowl game. Boise State has already topped their two biggest challenges on their schedule. A 19-8 win over previously ranked Oregon and a 51-34 win over Fresno.

Boise State had a close call on Saturday, even though the score doesn't tell. Boise State's run defense struggled as Fresno had three touchdowns on runs of 60+ yards. I hope to me it was an off night, but if it wasn't then Boise could have some challenges against Nevada who has a great scrambling quarterback calling the shots. Boise State didn't show much offense except for some big plays that garnered them the most points. They failed to efficiently drive down the field. They definitely have some more room to improve.

My prediction BSU finishes undefeated and is ranked #4 at the end of the regular season behind Florida, Texas, and Penn State.

Brigham Young University started this year under the radar at #20, but a thriller over #3 Oklahoma immediately put them on the spotlight. They jumped the most spots after a preseason poll ranking to #9 in the nation, ahead of Boise State and in the driver's seat to bust the BCS. After a 54-3 drubbing of Tulane it seemed like BYU had everything figured out. The defense was making plays, and the offense was back to how it was at the beginning of the 2008-09 year.

Then came Florida State. Florida State was previously ranked before losing to Miami, and then needing some last minute heroics to beat a terrible Jacksonville State team. With the game being in Provo, and the look of the Cougars it looked like BYU would be able to comfortably handle Florida State. Boy were they in for a surprise. Christian Ponder and the Seminoles had a sound first half. Scoring touchdowns on every drive. But BYU wasn't a slouch either. If it wasn't for an opening drive fumble in the redzone and a fumble on the last kickoff return, we could have went into halftime with the score 27-21, but instead 30-14. BYU was in catchup mode the rest of the game, and a pick 6 from Max Hall on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter didn't help much. Max Hall played like he did against TCU/Utah/Arizona last year. The defense was nowhere to be found. The Cougars could not make a stop on third down to save their life and the Florida State Seminoles rolled to a 54-28 victory.

BYU will be fine. Florida State is a solid team, and I believe they will have a successful season. BYU will also be successful if they tune up their defense, because let's face it, BYU cannot win when they go down by more than one score. They panic. They get in too big of a hurry and make up costly mistakes that turn a leak into a flood. Almost how I play my NCAA Football games on my XBOX. I worry for this team, and I don't think they'll be able to make a BCS berth this year. They'll be lucky to win the conference with the sound TCU team looking good.

My prediciont: BYU 10-2. They will lose to TCU and be 2nd in the MWC.

What do these two teams have in common? Well they both proved that they have a long ways to go on both offense and defense. Boise State has an easier schedule and right now that seems to be the better strategy, because even if BYU wins the rest of their games I don't think they'll be able to catch back up. And it will definitely look bad for BYU if they lose to Utah, because we all know who Utah lost to this week... Oregon. So even though we don't know which team is better right now, we do know which team has a better shot at the better games, and that is the BCS.

Hola! Ultimo Semana en el MTC

Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009

How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is having just a marvelous day. And I hope everyone had a great fourth of July. Oh how the time is flying and now I only have 5 more days here in the MTC. I'm so excited. Today while I was getting my shot I ran into a guy from Santiago and he just told me how I'm going to love the people.

So on Thursday I got my flight plans for where I'm going. i'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't have to leave in the morning. My companions and I leave the SLC airport around 3:30, Land in Dallas around 6:30 and then leave Dallas around 9:30PM and land in Santiago around 8:30AM It's going to be a long day but I'm anticipating it.

Most of my 4th of July was pretty much the same. Just normal teaching like always, but at the end we had a little production about America and how God made it possible for us to establish the church here in this land. It was so cheesy. The special effect were not that special and I spent almost half the movie laughing. That's okay. It had a lot of good information though. Afterwards they let us go outside and watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks from the MTC. That was pretty fun.

So this week is called our teaching week where we only have two hours of class and the rest is spent teaching the gospel. Kinda getting us in the mood for how it's really going to be like in the field. I am humble though knowing that I'm going to know diddly squat once I get there...

This past week we've had fun scaring each other. Elder Wilson hid in Elder Ray's closet the other day and scared him. We took one of the poppers Dani gave me for the 4th and we popped it next to Elder Moore who freaked cause he didn't know what was going on. It's just been a fun week. I'm going to miss this district.

Some things I've learned this week as a missionary:

I dislike big people. Now I'm not singling out fat people... wait... I dislike clumsy people that's how I should say it. There are so many tall/fat/clumsy missionaries who just don't know how to walk and don't know how wide their shoulders are. I can't count the number of times I'll just be walking and a guy just runs into me. C'mon.

As far as doctrine goes... I have learned from one of the teachers that you don't have to teach all of the doctrine in order for an investigator to progress in the gospel. I used to get anxious when we didn't start talking about the gospel soon. He helped me realize to just be a pal to them. He said, "Do your investigators need to know what an apostasy is in order to get baptized" obviously no, and he said, "but they do need to be reading, praying, and going to church. So focus on that." Which is true

Well that's it for this week. Until Chile!

Oh yeah my Chile addresses:

For packages send them to the mission office:

Elder Samuel James Yoshida
Chile Rancagua Mission
German Riesco 230 Suite 730
Rancagua
Chile

For pouch (which is single sheeted letters, folded into three-panels, and taped at the top NO ENVELOPES)

Elder Samuel James Yoshida
Chile Rancagua Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150
USA

That is how DearElders will work. Write the DearElder and then they'll put it in the pouch and send it to me, which will take forever and cost money. So just e-mail me after July 13th... it will be much easier.

I love you guys
Vive la Chile
Elder Yoshida

An amazing week!

Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009

I got a bunch of things to tell you so look out, here we go.

Last week's P-Day was fun. After I e-mailed you folk I got to go to the Provo temple and clean. It was so fun. I never thought I would say this, but I actually enjoyed the service. I don't know why, because I got stuck cleaning the grease vents in the cafeteria. Oh man, good times. Brought me back to the good ole KFC days when I had to clean those stupid vents above the fryers as well. Zach you know what I'm talking about. But then I got to go clean the baptismal font. That was fun. I didn't know that vinegar is a main cleaning surprise. Let's just say I almost died from inhaling too much vinegar haha.

MICHAEL JACKSON IS DEAD? wow! What's up with that? I guess you can say that's the first major event that has happened while I've been gone. Interesting... I heard he was just barely becoming big in Europe. I almost feel for the guy. But what do I know. He's dead now.

So my mission president went to Japan on his mission and he comes storming in to the chapel before priesthood meeting and starts writing some symbols on the sign and looks straight at me. I'm say, "what is that?" and he says, "It's you. This is the Kanji for Yoshida" I was like whoa! that's intense. I ask, "What does it mean?" He gets a huge smile and says, "This symbol means the mouth of the samurai. And this symbol means a field. So you are going to the field to teach the mouth of the Samurai" How cool is that? It's like the perfect missionary last name and I didn't even know it. Maybe I'll have to draw it in my next letters so you can see what it looks like.

Friday's devotional was amazing. We were all anticipating to hear from the first presidency, but none of them showed up, but that's okay. Elders Perry, Oaks, Holland, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, and Anderson were all there. It was so sweet. Elder Holland spoke to us and we all know how his talks are. Especially on missionary work.

On Sunday we had sacrament meeting with a big group. After sacrament meeting we were making our way back to a classroom to have our district meeting. We spotted a few missionaries congregating around something so we walk over there and sure enough President Monson and President Eyring were just standing out there in the front just chilling. I was literally only 10 ft away from them as they spoke about their Spanish stories. It was so awesome. I was sad we couldn't shake their hands, but just seeing them was amazing. It turns out that Every member of the first presidency and quorum of the 12 except Packer were in a sacrament meeting. A guy in our zone actually got to pass it to Monson. Lucky kid!

So this shows you how immature I am as a missionary. Elder Wilson and I have found these cool looking bugs and everytime we see them we flip them over on their back and make fun of them. Well we were getting ready to take a picture with our camera when all the sudden it started flying at us. Me and Elder Wilson freaked and were screaming, "OH MAN WE'RE TOAST!" haha Everyone around us was looking at us like we were queers but that's okay. You gotta have some fun here.

Yesterday's devotional was fun. Gerald N Lund talked to us. If you don't know who he is he's the dude who wrote the Works and the Glory books. He was so awesome. He taught me an awesome lesson that may help the other missionaries out there. He said, "when an appointment falls through, immediately find someone to teach, because that might be the Lord putting someone else in your path at that exact time." He then talked about many miracles that happened of conversions that took place when other appointments fell through.

That's it for this week. People... 12 days left. So if you ever thought, "maybe I'll send Elder Yoshida something :)" you might want to get on it. Haven't heard anything from any of my friends in a week. Grr. That's okay though. The work is great and I'm sure you're all busy. I'm not sure how Dear Elders work. I think they print them out in Salt Lake and then they have to send them to Chile so It will still probably take just as long now. Anywho's I love you all. Sorry it's so long. Take care.

Hola

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009

I'm going to have to apologize before hand to everyone out there. Nothing exciting happened this week and I really don't have anything to write about. All the missionaries here are getting antsy for today and the rest of the weekend. As Braden discussed about getting a new president this week we get all of them! That's right, over 120 mission presidents are coming today to get the training they need. I don't know if Elder Hellewell knows him yet, but I've seen pictures of him. Although I can't remember the name. But anywho, because all these dudes are coming this weekend, we are going to have general authorities walking around left and right. Apostles, seventy, you name it. Instead of having our devotional on Tuesday we are having it on Friday, and we are expected to have one of the members of the first presidency speak. It is so awesome. I can't wait.

The language is coming great. Last week we taught the first lesson in Spanish for the first time. It was pretty hard. All we have left to learn is past subjunctive and then its just a matter of getting fluent at it.

The time is ticking down here in the MTC. We are now the oldest district in our zone. 19 more days til Chile.

Love you all
Elder Yoshida

Hey Everyone!

Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009

Another week gone by, and another week I'm getting closer to blowing this joint. Being a missionary is great, and this week flew. I don't have as many experiences to write, but I will try to entertain you.

I'll start with a Spanish lesson. NEVER DESCRIBE SOMEONE AS CALIENTE. Many high school teens will say "that girl es muy caliente" thinking they're saying she's very hot. No way. In Spanish, when you describe "someone" as being caliente. You're actually saying that they are very willing to... well the slang term is a 5 letter word that starts with an "h" hopefully you get my drift.

I'd like to give a shout out to my step sister Liz. Happy Birthday! and hope all is well.

Funny story: so last P-Day we were doing laundry, and I returned to my room. There's this awesome elder in my district, Elder Wilson, who I've become pretty close with. He dared me to jump a whole flight of stairs. I was like, "dude I got this" So I jumped, and cleared the stairs, however I did not give myself enough room to catch my self and bashed my head into the brick wall in front of me. I think I knocked myself out for about five seconds. It was funny, but very stupid as a missionary. I learned a valuable lesson there. :)

The TRC is a place in the MTC where you teach volunteers in real life situations. We go to the TRC once a week and boy does it get intense. The only thing I can compare it to is when I would get ready for a football game.

Sorry there's not more to write about. The week just flew by this time with not much going on. We're getting new zone leaders this week. It'll be interesting to see who it is. I love you all and thank you for your support.

Elder Yoshida

Almost Halfway!

Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009

So I got to thinking today that in 3 days I will be halfway through my stay at the MTC. That's so crazy to think about. And then I'm 6,000 miles away. Kinda crazy if you ask me.

Not too much has happened this week. There are still some people getting sick, but for the majority of it it has died down. Until yesterday. Now I'm starting to get neck aches and congested sinuses. It sucks! I'm still good to go when I take some medicine, but not being 100% is a bummer.

Elder Ray is feeling better. This kid had everything but the flu that was going on. He had the flu at first but got better, then coughed for a week straight, got an ear infection, and then got pink eye. He is our sick mascot, but I think he's finally back to normal.

Funny story that happened to Elder Williams a couple weeks ago. As he was getting out of the shower one day some zone leader on the other side of the hall thought it would be funny to fill his garbage can with water and splash it all over him. Elder Williams got soaked. We found out who it was, and made him apologize. He had to beg our zone leaders not to report him, because they don't tolerate pranks here, and there would have been a good chance that he could have been sent home. Our zone leaders confided and the kid is lucky, for now. If it was me I would have told, but hey that's why I'm not zone leader right?

Speaking of going home something sad happened this past week. One of our zone leaders, Elder Cheesman was sent home today, because he was so sick. It was sad to see him leave, but there is a chance he can come back. I sure hope he feels better.

One thing I've learned from a mission, and I feel every young man should know. SCRIPTURE INSERTS ARE USELESS. You know those things you get in seminary where you glue the paper and then glue it into your scriptures. My advice is to not do it. All they do is flip pages when you don't want them to, and they just get in the way. I tore all of mine out, because they bothered me so much. Save yourself the trouble.

It's funny how things can be called different names. Since we can't play basketball "games" we basically resort to playing Lightning. But not very many people call it lightning. I've heard it been called "knock-out" "twister" and "speed" crazy huh? Oh and another thing. I think its only an Idaho thing but people call spinning in your car donuts. I call them cookies, but donuts do make more sense. I still prefer saying cookies though.

Thank you Uncle Kendall and Aunt Anne for the package. I didn't think you would actually send Dew. I love the package, and my companions love it too :)

For the grand finale we had an awesome experience yesterday. For our devotional we had David A. Bednar come and speak to us. It was so amazing, and I hope Braden, Kyler, and Shayne, read this. Elder Bednar said, "the most common question asked to me by missionaries is, 'How do I know when it's me or the Holy Ghost prompting me' My answer is, 'Don't worry about it. Press forward with faith, be a good boy, keep your covenants, and keep the commandments, and your steps will be guided" Wow that's awesome. So don't just sit around waiting for the Holy Ghost to bash you over the head with revelation. He related three stories of where he did things without even thinking about it, and not realizing it was the Holy Ghost til after he did it. I loved it so much and I wish I could share more, but I'm afraid I would be repeating myself, but remember, (this even can apply to you at home) Don't be searching for the spirit to guide you. "Be a good boy, be a good girl, keep your covenants, and keep the commandments, and your steps will be guided."

I love you all!
Elder Yoshida

I Am Legend

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009

Day 21

Today has been the first time in four days that I've been out of the residence halls for longer than 3 hours. Things are getting pretty crazy here. The swine flu/regular flu has hit the MTC hard. I don't know how much longer I have until I'm the last one left. Around 60 elders have already had to be put into quarantine (solitary confinement with other sick elders). I don't know what is going on in there but I can only expect the worst. and I'm safe to say that at least 40% of the elders have been hit with some sort of sickness. It's only a matter of time before the MTC turns into a place full of Missionary Mutants and a movie called I am Legend 2 will be coming to a theatre near you.

There's my story for the week. It's all true too. Things are getting pretty crazy, and I've been blessed to not be getting this sickness that's going around. Missionaries are not allowed to leave the MTC until at least June 13th. New missionaries coming in only get to have their parents drop them off on the side of the sidewalk, and that's there goodbyes. Kind of sad, but that's how bad it's getting here. I think they have a thing on LDS.org about it all. No one be worried though. This will all blow over. I just wanted to make a joke of it all. I'm perfectly fine (knock on wood) I say I've been stuck in the residence halls because my companion has been sick and we've had to stay behind with hi. It's pretty cool.

Congratulations Elder Hellewell on a successful mission. I actually have two missionaries in my zone that were supposed to leave yesterday to the Mesa spanish speaking mission, but can't leave because of the sickness.

The gym is finally fixed and I've been loving it. It's fun to play basketball with the other elders, but two days ago they cancelled playing basketball because it's a "contact sport" and they don't want people getting sick. Yeah crazy I know.

Funny experience. I go to the temples on Wednesday after I e-mail. Last week I went to the temple and after I had received my name I was waiting for my companion. There was an old guy waiting at the bottom of the stairs making sure we all had names. He told me to go on upstairs to the chapel. I told him, "Oh, I have to wait for my companion." and he said, "go on upstairs." and I said "my companion's just back there" and then the dude yelled "GO UPSTAIRS" I couldn't help but laugh. An old guy in the temple yelled at me :( It's okay. he's old so I didn't frown on it too much. It was still pretty funny.

One of my favorite things about this place is how everything here is so cheap. In the bookstore everything in here is like 40% off for missionaries. I get bags of candy for like 40 cents, but hey still send me more cause I love candy. I could seriously get the quad scriptures for $30. Pretty nifty if you ask me.

Sorry this letter isn't very long, and I hope everyone is doing well. I'm loving the work and can't wait to get out in the field. It's crazy to think I'm already a third of the way through my stay at the MTC.

Yo Amo Ustedes.
Elder Yoshida

First Week in Pictures

Sam sent us these pictures from his first week in the MTC. Enjoy!

"This is the pic I took of Kate in the explorer."

"Mis companeros at the map."

"Our district minus two.
Top elders: Ray, Crabb, Beckstead, Williams, Moore, and Willie
Kneeling: me, Burton, and Mitchell"

"Elder Yoshida and Elder (Tyler) Owens"

"Williams B-day party.
Top: Mitchell, Burton, Willie
Middle: Beckstead, Crabb, Wendt, Wilson, Williams, Moore
Bottom: Ray"

"My companions at the MTC sign"

2 weeks down!

Date: Wed, 27 May 2009

Hello to all of my friends and family as i get ready to start another wonderful week in the life of Elder Yoshida. Let me just say that this last week went by about as fast the first two days. Things are a lot better now that we're kind of on a set schedule. However, I'm kind of depressed I have only received one DearElder and one email from my friends. I think they need to step it up a little bit. It would be best if you would DearElder me or write me a letter, cause like I said last week I only get 30 mins on the computer so it would be better use that time to write everyone than read a bunch of emails. Not that I don't love them of course. Well I got lots to touch on plus a lot of personal emails so let's get started.
The District is great and I love my companions. However, there is one missionary that I'm not sure everyone sees eye to eye with. I'm not going to say his name, but sometimes I want to punch him. He just acts like he knows everything, tries to teach our classes, and then tries to lecture us when we're not following the rules a hundred percent. I don't mind getting a simple reminder... wait I'll just tell the story. So I was being a gangster one night and I was in his room. My pants were sagging a little bit (my sweats i should say) and this is what he said, "pull your pants up, and get out of my room" i wanted to punch him so i quickly left before anything happened. Now five minutes later I was still gangstering it up when another person in my district saw me and said. "Elder, you might want to pull your pants up just a little bit. Just to respect the garment a little more." and I just thought... you're right and I'm glad you approached me and said that nicely. Maybe I would listen to this companion if he would actually obey some of the rules himself. But I'm supposed to be positive so that's enough on that. I'm having to ask the Lord with patience, and maybe this is good practice for when I'm out in the field and get stuck with someone like that forever.
D&C 31: Elder Halford gave me this scripture right before I left. It talks on how my families will be blessed because of my service. I think I can feel it happening, and I hope I am blessing your lives by my service. Not to mention it says my future families will be blessed so girls: keep that in mind :)
Every Tuesday we have a general authority come and speak to us. First week it was Elder Neuenschwander and this week it was Elder Callister, both of the Seventy. Elder Callister's talk was amazing. It was on Christ and how we always need to testify of Christ. It was so awesome. I'm so looking forward to the coming weeks, because every year they have the new mission presidents come in and there are apostles and the prophet roaming around the mtc. I'm looking forward to that.
My branch president Baird's daughter came home from Taiwan and she shared an amazing scripture. I think it's 2 Timithoy 2:4-5? It talks about being soldiers of God and it just makes me enjoy the work.
To all of you out there. Caffeine is allowed here :) They just don't sell it. They have caffeine free mountain dew but that's kind of like hamburger helper without the hamburger. So for any of you contemplating on sending me a package. I will love you that much more :)
I was given advice by my brother in-law Brandt and cousin Spencer about being yourself, and I have taken that to heart. Almost a little too far. I have become the District's singer and I sing so much to them. They all love it, but maybe I'm not being a good example :) I'll sing Disturbed and Linkin Park and whatever pops into my head and everyone loves it. I couldn't think of not being myself. That would make this experience so boring.
The MTC is still on alert for Swine Flu. How annoying is that? We can't handshake or do anything. If I miss out on shaking an apostle's hand I will be very angry.
> I'd like to give a shout out to Elder Halford. Happy Birthday. The BIG 21. Now you can drink :) I guess that will have to wait til you get home haha.
So I didn't even realize Monday was memorial day until Sunday night when a speaker had to remind us. That's how busy/locked up we are. But I actually like it. I think the more things I worry about outside the MTC the more homesick I get, however I would like to hear updates on the playoffs. The last I heard Cleveland is having a little trouble with Orlando and they're losing 2-1? And the Lakers are beating Denver 2-1? I have no idea.
On P-Days we go to the temple and it's just amazing. I learn something new every day. I look forward to going every week.
Last Thursday I accidentally got me and our companions locked out of our room. That was an adventure. We all had to sit around in our towels for over an hour while we had to wait for another companionship to get us a key. I felt dumb after that.
One funny thing. So most of you know how I was/is obsessed with Pokemon. haha. My companions were too. We had about an hour long discussion on which games were better than the other one. It was awesome.
And on a last note. I'm glad I know how to sing, because I think the rest of my district is a little tone deaf. We try singing hymns in Spanish and man they don't go so well.
I'll email personal emails later today but my companions want me to go considering they had a timer.... SUCKERS! anyways I love you guys and you are all in my prayers. Keep it real.
Love,
Elder Yoshida

My first letter

Date: Wed, 20 May 2009

Hola Mi familia! It is great to be getting letters from you all. Oh How I love being a missionary. When we first got there everyone from our zone that had already been there for a couple weeks were telling us, "Just make it until Sunday, and you'll be fine" Boy were they right. I won't lie when I say the first two days sucked. I mean they were great spiritual wise, but it's just getting into the flow of everything kind of made it hard to adapt at first. And now that we're starting the new week we are on a set schedule so its a little less stressful.
So Wednesday is my P-Day and that's when you'll be receiving my e-mails. Since I don't have anyones home address I can't really write anyone letter until they send me a letter first. For all my friends my address is:
Elder Samuel James Yoshida
MTC Mailbox #177
CHI-RAN 0713
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604
Mom I hope you forward this to all my friends and Zach can help you with that. I appreciate the letters I got so far. I was a little worried you had forgotten about me, because I haven't received a letter until yesterday. Then I heard the story about Katelyn, and I must say that is a little funny. For all you friends who find it too hard to write me. DearElder.com works wonders. You send the mail and I'll get it in a letter form the same day. It's muy bueno.
When we got there they organized us into our district. There are 11 Elders in our district. I will send pictures soon! 8 of them are going to Honduras, and the trio (Me, Elder Williams and Elder Ray) are going to Chile. I love my companions. Elder Williams's birthday was yesterday, celebrating the big 21, so we had a big party for him. He is from Mapelton. Elder Ray is from Mesa. Elder Beckstead is in my group and we were talking. I guess he was a roommate of Braeden Clayson at Idaho State. He wasn't too fond of him I take it :) He's from Clifton, Idaho. I have seen many other Elders I know. Elder (Tyler) Owens is in my same schedule so we have gym at the same time. It's great stuff. I got a picture with him next to the big map and I'll send that as well. I've also run into Elder Moon, Elder (Tim) Johnson, and a couple other Elders who were in my singles ward. What a small world.
The food here is bueno. Some of it can get nasty, but for the most part it's all good. However it does give you some major gas. I've never has such bad gas in my life. I feel sorry for my companions. And for all you. I still can drink pop :) However, no caffeine. They do have caffeine free coke but its not the same. I would love it if someone sent me a package with Mt. Dew :)
The classes are great. My teacher is so awesome and he looks just like Jason Bourne. We always crack jokes on him killing us with pens. I'm progressing a lot in the language. On your mission you use the Usted form instead of the Tu form. For example a lot of people say Come Esta, and you say muy Bien, y tu. WRONG! I guess it's improper and you can say it to your friends. When you're talking to people you don't know you say "muy Bien, y usted." Zach can help explain that. Yeah Mrs. Early was a retard. I learned more in two days then I learned the whole year with her.
I hope all is well and everyone is doing well. Please write, because I love to hear from you all. The Lord has blessed me immensely with not feeling homesick. I do miss you, but a greater work is to be done. I love you all.
Yo se que la iglesia es verdadero. Yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvadaor y mi redentor. Yo se que Jose Smith es un profeta de Dios. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es la plabra de Dios.
Elder Yoshida.
P.S. Congrats Helen and Kyler and Happy Birthday to Kylee!

Farewell...

Hello to readers of Sammy's blog. This is his sister Danielle. While Sam's serving the Lord and unable to blog, I will be posting updates so friends and family can keep up with how the mission is going. I thought I would backtrack and post some pictures from the day of Sam's farewell and leading up to when he entered the MTC. Sam did a great job on his talk and I'm sure I can speak for Sam when I say he appreciated all of the friends and family that came to support him that day. After church, we went to Lorraine's Day Care for lunch and had a great time. That following Tuesday, Sam was set apart by the stake president as a missionary. As the stake president was giving him the blessing, Katelyn was being antsy so Linds stood up with her and walked over by the president's desk. Kate quickly spotted a bottle of hand sanitizer and, of course, she wanted some. To keep her quiet Linds grabbed the bottle and meant to squirt some in Kate's hand, but the bottle was clogged and instead it squirted straight up and hit Kate right between the eyes! Of course, Kate immediately preceeds to rub the alcohol-based gel into her eyes and starts screaming, so Lindsay has to weave around all of us to take her out of the room. It was hilarious; for the rest of the blessing I could not stop laughing; my family all thought I was sniffling from the sacredness of the occassion. Nope, I was laughing; it was really funny.

Anywho, after Sam was set apart we drove down to Utah and stayed with Parley and Marilynn for the night. The next afternoon, we took Elder Yoshida to the MTC. On the way we asked Sam if he wanted to stop and get anything to eat as his last meal. He said something fruity sounded good so we took him to Jamba Juice. It was his first Jamba ever (such a deprived soul), so we had to get a picture. I think he liked it :) We had to strap his luggage to the top of the explorer to make room in the car, so when we got to the MTC, Sam had to climb up the side to get them down. When he was standing by Kate's door she grabbed onto his belt and had this look on her face that said either "Don't go Uncle Sam" or "Take me with you!" It was cute so I got a picture of that as well. Then, we all went in, Sam got his nametags, and we met in this huge room with a gazillion other missionaries and their families for a little meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, they announced the opening hymn by saying "and now, we'll sing THAT hymn, and sister so-n-so will give an opening prayer." Then we all sang "Called to Serve" with gusto. It was intense. After a couple of speakers it was time to say goodbye. Tears were shed by some, but it was good; Sam looked excited and ready to go. So he went out the missionary doors and we went out the family doors. For any of you who haven't been to the MTC before, it is a neat experience. It's great to see so many young people so willing to give up their lives for the next 18 months to two years and serve the Lord. They are such great examples.

Elder Yoshida has been in the MTC for two weeks now and is doing a great job. He likes both of his companions and the other Elders in his district. The Lord is blessing him and helping him not to feel too homesick. Syd received some pictures in a letter from Sam a few days ago so hopefully we'll get those posted soon. My plan is to post the emails/pictures that Sam sends to the family each week on here. Feel free to leave comments about the posts if you feel you don't have time to write him a complete letter that week and at the end of the week I can print off all of the comments and mail them to Sam along with my letter. We'll see how this works out. Thanks again to all of Sam's family and friends for their support.

The Temple: Take 2

Today was a step up from what yesterday was. I got so bored yesterday I was about ready to shoot myself.

Today was our youth temple trip to the Twin Falls temple. Mother and I decided to go early and do a session before the youth got there. It was a great session and I learned more than last time. I can get use to this!

After the session we went down to meet with the youth and do baptisms. Bro. Bunn, Bro. Jeff Harris, and I were the baptisers. Bunn did the 1st half of girls, Harris did the last half and first half of the boys, and I did the last half. What a cruel joke. It was great and an awesome experience to baptize my brother, Zach, but the next three boys were the biggest ones in our youth. For those of you who don't know Aaron Tolman he is about 6 foot 4 and 250 pounds. The first time I put him under he almost took me with him. I got it down after the second or third try so It wasn't too chaotic.

I love the temple and I'm grateful to have one close now. The things you learn inside are so amazing. I love being a member of this church, and I cannot wait to serve my mission.

Great Experiences!

The past week has been such a crazy week for me, and now I'm finally getting the chance to blog about it.

Last Tues-Thur I got to spend time working with my cousin, Spencer and his wife Jessica. Spencer and I have gotten a lot closer since I've moved here. Even though we're about eight years apart, we have so much in common that we could almost be brothers. Even though working insallation was a drag, I was able to survive by sharing some good laughs with him.

Friday was the big day for me. I finally got to move back to Idaho for the last couple weeks before I head out on my mission. I had a great time this year hear in Utah. I had some great experiences. Below is a slide show of all my memories even though there aren't that many. I'm grateful for Parley and Marilynn who let me stay with them. I know that was probably a big burden on them at some points. I enjoyed hanging out with their family and watching their grandkids grow up.

Saturday was another awesome day for me. I got to go through the temple for the first time. It was such an awesome event, and the things I learned there are just greater testimony builders that our church is true. I went through the Twin Falls temple and my step-dad Bryan, and brother in-law Brandt were my escorts. (Head to Dani's blog for some pictures because I forgot my camera that day) Afterwards there was a lot of family there and we went to Chili's for dinner.

The last great experience I had was going to Pocatello yesterday on a road trip. I stopped by Danielle's house first and helped her with some errands. That was pretty fun stuff. Then I met Andrea at her apartment. We went over to Sportsman's, her work, and waited for Sam to get done working. They were both pretty depressed because it is so empty now. Today is their last day and then they're closing down. After Sam got off work we went to, you guessed it, Chili's for dinner. Man, I love that place. Afterwards we went over to a house who Sam's house-sitting for and watched, The Dark Knight. It was a really fun time, and all of us were dead after the movie. I had to make the trip back home around midnight so I was really tired.

So those are my experiences the past week. These next couple weeks are going to be intense. Lindsay's coming, Dani and Brandt's graduation, my farewell. Lot's of emotions are going to be zoomin soon.

My Taste in Music

I have been running out of ideas, but I see not many people have been reading my previous blogs. That's okay. I decided to write on my taste in music and why I like it. I love all kinds of music, except country, but there are three bands that stand above all of them and they are:

LINKIN PARK

My taste in Linkin Park started in the summer of my 9th to 10th grade year. I was sick of not having a certain band to like, and a style of music to turn to. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was in Logan visiting my family (Lester's family) I was so bored there and we decided to go to Best Buy. I saw Linkin Park's album, Meteora, and I decided to buy it. I knew a few songs off the CD already so I thought it was a pretty good investment. I have fell in love with the band and listen to them constantly. I own all of their CD's and in fact I bought their newest album so early that I didn't get the collector's edition, because they had not put them on the racks yet. My favorite song from this group is "From the Inside"

"I'll take everything from the Inside

and just throw it all away

cause I swear for the last time

I won't trust myself with you"

I love Linkin Park because their songs are not about how much their girlfriend is a slut or how its always the girls fault. They sing about how they feel and all the problems that they can go through. It was this time in my life I was having major girl drama and this music helped me see that it wasn't all me.

DISTURBED

This is my dark music. Even though it's not that dark haha. I love Disturbed just as much (if not more than) Linkin Park. My love for them started early in high school, probably my Junior year in weights when I heard their album, Ten Thousand Fists. They actually have some great songs. If you look up the lyrics (because you can't understand them half the time :) My favorite song, as of now, (it changes so often) The Curse

I've held on too long just to let it go now

will my inner strength get me through it some how

defying the curse that has taken hold

never surrender i'll never be overcome

Disturbed just makes me feel invincible when I hear their music which pumps me up. Which explains why my XBOX Live GamerTag is ND3STRUCT1BLE (pronounces Indestructible) after the song, Indestructible

I'm Indestructible determination that is incorruptible

From the other side a terror to behold

annhilation will be unavoidable

every broken enemy will know

that their opponent had to be invincible

take a last look around while you're alive
I'm an Indestructible master of war

THREE DAYS GRACE

This band is kind of out of the ordinary, but finishes out my top 3. This group is a little more relaxed, but sings about almost the same things. My favorite song is Over and Over

So many thoughts that I can't get out of my head

I try to live without you everytime I do I feel dead

I know what's best for me, but I want you instead

I'll keep on wasting all my time

There are some artists I hate, but the biggest one that stands out to me is TAYLOR SWIFT haha. Not just because she's a chick, and she sings country, but she's only what, 19? She sings songs as if she's a 9th grade drama girl. Every song is about how it's ALWAYS her boyfriend's fault and she's this perfect girl. She's always the victim of her relationship problems. It just drives me insane.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

I'm slowly gaining more love towards this band. This is my screamer band. When you look up the lyrics you'll find that their is some great stuff here.

NICKELBACK

Nickelback is a hit and miss with me. Some of their songs are just so awesome and I loved them before they came out on the radio. Namely: Far Away, If Everyone Cared, Saving Me, Someday, but then there are some songs that I just don't understand. They're kind of dirty for me and nah. Like Figure You Out and Something In Your Mouth.

A Proclamation to the Dating World

This was an essay/proclamation given by a kid in my English class on campus. It is so hilarious and I think it is all so true. He's from Boise and I think he's gotten a good perspective on the issure, by Nick Harley:

The whole problem started in the beginning, with our first parents, Adam and Eve. Eve wanted what she could not have: the forbidden fruit. I propose that girls are still being beguiled by that same serpent that was in the beginning. Bishop G. S. Nelson once said “Girls think that nice guys are boring and safe.” He acquired this insight during his numerous interviews with girls that attended the BYU ward in which he served as bishop.
The Nice Guy. The guy who is nice, genuine, sincere, and kind. Some girls ask if this guy exists. I am here to tell you that he does. He is that guy that you turned down last week when he asked you out. Yes, that is right. Last week’s rejection fits that description, but why did you reject him? Nice guys are no mystery. They go out of their way to do nice things, compliment girls, and are therefore boring. That’s why nice guys finish last.Girls. I would like you to stop and think for a second of a nice guy in your life that is always there for you but for some reason you cannot see him as a future companion. Then I want you to think of the way you talk to your friends about this person. Would you not say something to the effect of, “We are just friends; we could never be more than that”? The nice guy is the person you talk to when the mean guy rejects you. When you are not asked out on a date he is the person you call so that you are not alone. He is always there for you because he actually cares about you.
The “Friend Zone.” The nice guy enters into the “friend zone,” which is a zone that is impossibly hard to get out of. Once the nice guy tries to get out of the “friend zone” he becomes awkward and the relationship is never the same. But whose fault is it really? Some would say, “I do not find him attractive”, but I do not believe that to be true. It is not necessarily his appearance that makes him unattractive, it is the fact that he doesn’t play “the game”: there is no chase. Girls, it is just as shallow for you to go for the mysterious, funny, impossible guy, as it is for a guy to just go after looks. You are not unattracted to the nice guy, he just isn’t the mystery man you have imagined yourself dating. We all know the nice guy would treat you better than anyone else, but you still reject him.
The Next Best Thing. Girls fear that they can do better than what they already have, that they can get someone that is just a little better. They let this fear dictate what they do and who they date. Once girls have something, they need the next best thing. They are never satisfied. They think they need something new, something that is just out of reach. This fear that girls have causes them to go for the untouchable, the mean guy that does not want anything to do with them. When a girl pursues that kind of guy and gets rejected she says, “Why can’t I just date a nice guy?” She quickly forgets that just recently she rejected the nice guy who really did care about her. (Sam: This is my favorite line) I believe that girls have an inherent quality that makes them honestly believe that if they can already get the guy, then they can get a better one, and that they deserve more.
Victims. An argument that girls often use is that they are victims of guys that take advantage of their emotions, just as the nice guys feel they are victims. Girls need to take into account which kinds of guys are victimizing them. If they would just think about it, they would realize that they are chasing the mean guys. The nice ones do not ever want to upset them, but since they do not go after the nice guy, they are just asking for trouble. Girls, almost all of your problems and issues would be resolved if you would just stop rejecting nice guys, and give them a chance. Good Guys, This Is For You. You know you have been treated unfairly in the past, but please take the following information into account and use it the next time you think about asking a girl out. If the good guy finishes last, then that means only one thing: the mean guys finish first. This is because a girl likes a challenge, things that she cannot quite have. Girls know that nice guys are always available. When girls get lonely they know they can always rely on you being there for them. Nice guys, you appear desperate because you go out of your way to be a gentleman. Girls enjoy this game. The mean guy is mysterious… you never know what he will do next. He does not pay attention to the girls, and when he does, it is usually to make fun of them. For some reason girls love that. Everything he says is funny— not sincere or genuine, but funny. Someone has to change, and there are two options.
1. Girls: Give the nice guy a legitimate chance. Stop being beguiled and have an open mind.
2. Guys: Become the mysteriously impossible guy the girls are looking for. Play the game better than they do.

Utah Drivers

Another thing that has crossed my mind the past couple of weeks has been how stupid Utah drivers are. Note that it didn't take 10 months of me living here to figure it out, but I really got irritated the other day. They all drive as if they're in a huge hurry to get somewher. I have never seen cars switch lanes so often. There will be 6 cars waiting in one lane at a light and 4 cars in the next lane over. The last guy in the lane with 6 cars will cut you off just so he can be one car length closer to the light. I mean c'mon. Whoopde do you saved yourself 2 sec. It's always funny when the lane he just left ends up going faster and he get's left in the dust.

For being in such a hurry these idiots do not know what the purpose of a green arrow does. There has been numerous times where I will wait at a light for 15 seconds before the few cars in front of me decide they want to go at a green arrow. C'mon dude. If you're going to cut me off then at least go when you're supposed to. Here's another hint to. If you're trying to turn right and you're at a red light. and the intersection to the right of you has a green left arrow. You can turn right without worrying about oncoming traffic. Amazing huh.

Maybe I'm posting this because I'm coming an insane driver, or just maybe because I'm a smart driver and if you use your brains rather than your foot you can actually get places faster.

VIDEO GAMES: MY LIFE

I have to admit my life is video games. I don't know how I will live without them for 2 years. I have achieved a gamerscore of 8,750 so far. Which is pretty decent for the amount of games I own. Here are some games I find myself playing a lot...

MIRROR'S EDGE:

I let my friend, who I used to work at APX with, borrow my game, Mirror's Edge. This game is about a girl street runner, Faith, who's sister is framed for a murder. Faith must use her street running abilities to avoid cops and discover who actually murdered the victim and clear her sister's name. This game is so fun, because it allows you to do things you could never dream of doing in real life like jumping off buildings and running up walls. I give it a 4 out of 5!

MASS EFFECT:

Mass affect is a story that takes place in the 22nd Century (~2180) I love this game because you get to determine every outcome of the game. When you start the game you will choose your background and abilities you have. You choose the dialogue and how to react to certain situations. You can choose to be the guy who takes the high road, or you can be an officer who it's "my way or the highway" or maybe a little bit of both.

As far as the story goes... The galaxy is made of many different races. There are three main races: The Asari, Salarians, and Turians. Each race has a member who is considered part of the "Citadel Council" For many years the humans have tried to be admitted into the citadel council, and when a Turian Spectre (Spectres are like the secret agents) decides to go rogue, they allow you to become a Spectre to stop him. This turian, Saren, is trying to open the transporter to allow the Reapers, a robotic race, to come in and annhilate all of galaxy life as we know it. This annhilation has been a chain of events that has happened ever since time began.

This game is so fun, and actually makes you play the game at least three times in order to get all 1000 gamerpoints. However I messed some things up and I had to play it all the way through almost 6 times. A sequel is set to come out in the 1st quarter of 2010 and I will be asking Zach to buy that game for me so I can play it when I get home. The sequel has been said that what decisions you made in the first game will affect the storyline in the second. I'm way excited. I give it a definite 5 out of 5!

HALO 3

One of the best trilogies of all time has definately been at the top of what I play. I mostly play this game online against others and am exited to tell you all that I've finally reached a level 45/50 ranked skill level. I'm currently a Brigadier grade 2.

Just yesterday the new "Mythic Maps" were released into XBOX Live Marketplace and you know I was one of the first 1,000 to download it. The new maps include: Sandbox, Orbital, and Assembly. My favorite one is Sandbox. It's a forgers dream. Me and Zach will have lots of fun with that when I come back home.

THE GUITAR HERO SERIES

I have not played a whole lot of guitar hero lately, but how can I not put this game in. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I'm pretty dang good at this game. I've betten "Through The Fire and Flames" on Expert several times now, and am only two songs away from the "Enlightened Guitarist" achievement which is achieveing 100% on 20 songs.

Guitar Hero World Tour is a fun game as well. However the guitar is much easier, and I suck at the drums. Plus I'm usually too lazy to set them up to really play them a whole lot.

Breaking News: Guitar hero is coming out with a greatest album game in June. They will have their best songs from the 1st three guitar hero songs and will make it able to be played on drums and vocals. This means Through the Fire and Flames will be able to be played on drums soon.

The Start of my Numerous Blogs

So it's been over a week since I've written on this thing and there has a lot that has gone on in my life. Not really, but I feel like I should share to you how boring my life here is in Orem, Utah. I will post other blogs of random things that are going on, but this first one will just explain what I have been doing since my last blog (March 30) So here we go.

First off HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIELLE! For those of you, don't worry, I called her one her birthday. This isn't the first time I'm saying it.

This weekend I went to a surprise party for my friend Darby. The party was on Friday, but her birthday isn't actually until Apr. 6th. Sam Crane was the only other girl I knew there. It was still fun. Darby has some hilarious guys in her ward.

The weekend of Apr 3-5 was crazy. Of cousrse we all know it was general conference. I guess Parley and Marilynn have a tradition where their entire family goes up to the cabin and watches conference. Well there was too much snow on the mountain this year so they decided to have the entire family spend the weekend at THEIR HOUSE. It was crazy, but it was so fun. On Saturday we had a birthday party for Eli. He turned 4. All these birthday parties, and no one had realized my birthday was next Tuesday. That's okay.

Next Week:

Monday of course was the national championship. I was going for Michigan State, but they committed so many turnovers it was unreal. They did not deserve to win that game even if it was close. I also got a text from Katie and she's like, "Sammy wammy it's your birthday tomorrow. we're going to throw a party."

Tuesday was my birthday and it was just another day to me haha. The party that night was pretty fun. Clint & Amanda, Jenny & Judd, and some of Wendell and Ginger's kids came. 19th birthdays are just not as interesting when you've already had your call. Not to mention I didn't get any actual presents on my birthday.

One more class left of school on Monday. I'm so freaking excited. two more weeks and I can move back to Idaho.

Well that concludes on what's been going on. Stay tuned for other subjects that have crossed my mind.

A Very Stressful Week

Before I get started let me just answer Danielle's question. Sorry Dani I don't think I'll be able to make it up this weekend. I have work, and Lester got me and Kylee tickets to a general conference session. I haven't found out which session it is, but I'm way excited.

This week was no fun at all for me. I have three papers do this week so I was stressing about them all last week and how I was going to get them done. Parley and Marilynn's computer fried so I've been going into Parley's office every now and then when they're not home and doing the computer stuff. It feels awkward sometimes It's also been kind of a stress figuring out on when I'm going to the temple. I told my mom and I think we are getting set on April 26th in the Twin Falls temple. It should be intense.

My car got towed on Friday. I parked it on the side of an insurance building that sits in front of Parley's old PPM store in Provo. I have parked it there for the past two weeks when I go to work. I get done with my job, I'm already tired as it is, I have an 8 page paper I need to get to work on, and my car is not there when I go to get into it. I was so mad. There are no signs that say "No Parking" I called the police station because I thought it had been stolen. They told me that it had been called in to tow it by the insurance company. It's "Administrator Parking" I was like, bull crap it is. So I called the towing company and they said, "I'll meet you at the lot at 8:30" Parley and I went to the lot and he did not show up until 9:10. The dude then told me that they wouldn't have called it in, but it was because I parked in front of a trailor that they had to get out. I told him the trailor was a tiny one that they could move by hand and there were four other cars blocking it so I figured it wouldn't have been a big deal. He told me he was sorry, but that he still needed me to pay for it. As I went for my debit card Parley pulled out his and said I'll take care of it. I tried to fight to let me pay for it, but he wouldn't let me. It's amazing all the things they have done for me. Parley was pretty upset and said that's community parking and he should not have been towed. I'm going to have a talk with the manager of the insurance company and ask him what the deal is. I hope Parley gets his money back.

Saturday was brighter. I went to work and it was a pretty long day, but I got a call from my buddy who still works at APX and he told me he had courtside seats to the Utah Flash game. I was like I'm so not passing that up. We went to a Japanese restaurant first to eat. That was freaking intense. The food was very good. Even the raw fish! The game was awesome. The Flash pulled out the win 104-100. I almost got a picture with the flash girls but I chickened out in the end.

Well that's my week for you. Hope all is going well. I still don't have any ideas on what I need to write. I figured this week was long enough so I think I'll be okay. Until next week.... PEACE

Oh and Happy Birthday Danielle tomorrow. I'll be sure to call you :)

Some Thoughts

I'm starting to run out of some ideas to write on so someone should help me out here. So I'm just going to start rambling and see what I can come up with.
On Wednesday I went to Idaho hopefull for the second to last time before I move back home. (The last time being when I got to the temple, which is the biggest reason why I came home this time.) Parley and Marilynn got a new t.v. and thus needed a new entertainment center. They decided to give my mom their old one which no joke weighs about 250 lbs on 2 sections and then probably like 400 lbs on the main section. This sucker is a beast. We had to borrow a company truck and fit that bad boy in there. Now Parley and Marilynn went to Jamaica for the week so I had to figure all this stuff out by myself. Great fun. This truck wasn't very big. I think I topped it out at 70 mph on the freeway. Good stuff.
As I was driving I was thinking about my current girl situation. I'm not speaking of all girls mind you, but there are a select few that are kind of frustrating me. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to be just friends with them and they either a) think I'm trying to get a girlfriend before my miss, or b) I'm trying to get action before my miss. So they just ignore every text I send them, ignore every facebook message I send them, and you can't call them because then they think you're a stalker. Well girls, it's neither, and you're missing out on some fun experiences. I think I'm a pretty cool guy. haha oh well. you're loss.
This weekend was pretty fun. I hung out with Kyler and we kinda got ditched haha. I'll let him tell you the story.
The next day I went to my dad's and watched some basketball games. Yeah my bracket is doing alright I guess. There's definitely not as many upsets this year as last year. BYU choked like they always did, but I have to give Texas A&M credit. (The picture to the right is my reaction after Texas A&M made their first 10 shots) Ben came later that night for his spring break. It was great to see him.
Friday we had a party for Helen and Fran. It was basically just a family party which was fine with me.
The rest of the weekend was spent by me with interviews witht he bishop and stake president to get my temple recommend interview. I'm thinking maybe Easter weekend is when I'll go.
Well that's my week. I'm kind of sick of writing
so until then. PEACE!!!
P.S. Thanks Mom for the camera!!!

Double Duty

So I totally spaced last week's adventure so I'll have to do double duty this week. Nothing exciting happened last week except for the fact that my sister came from Chicago. Craig's sister was getting married so they came to Orem, to spend a day with us. On Friday we had a huge party with a ton of family over. We also celebrated Ryan's birthday. A lot of people tried the guitar hero world tour. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday I decided to enter in a Halo tournament with Zach. I thought I was pretty decent, but man those guys were freaking insane. We lost every game like 25 to 6. I finally quit after a couple hours and went home.

This week was just another lame one. Nothing too huge happened until the weekend. I finally got a new job working for Parley and Marilynn’s insulation stuff. I basically just stay in the back of the truck and feed the insulation in a machine that goes through a hose up to the attic. I get paid 2 cents a square foot which isn’t bad. I did about 6000 square feet in about 4 hours which totals out to be $30 an hour. Not bad eh?
I hung out with a couple girls this week. One was that Celes girl from Declo. She had to go to a pre-missionary fireside for her mission prep class, and so I went with her. It was a pretty good fireside. On Thursday I hung out with Brittney Galbraith. Haha no nothing’s going to happen from that. But I didn’t end up dropping her off til like 3 in the morning. Like we got done with the move at 1 and then I took her to her house and we ended up just sitting in my car talking till 3. She sure can talk that’s for sure.
The only other thing happening now is sports. I don’t know if I told you, but the Jazz were doing awesome. They were on a 12 game winning streak, and finally got up to 4th in the Western Conference, BUT they have now lost three straight and are back down to 7th in the conference. I’m telling ya. The Jazz cannot beat any good team on the road, and that’s why they will never win a championship.
BYU do what they do best in choking in the Mountain West tournament. San Diego State beat UNLV in the first round so you figure it will be a breeze now. Yeah right. BYU lost to SDSU the next game by two points. Utah then beat SDSU by 2. It was so frustrating, but it’s okay because BYU is still in the tournament. The brackets just came out today, and BYU will play Texas A&M AGAIN in another 8 and 9 game. Talk about Déjà vu. Utah got up to a number 5. The Mountain West got snubbed this year. They were thinking at least 3 maybe 5 teams would make it into the tournament, but the only other one was Utah at #5. I think that’s a little high for Utah, but I definitely think SDSU deserves a shot in. Just to let you know the #1 seeds are: Louisville, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina. It should be interesting