One...two...skip a few

You know that phrase one...two...skip a few?  Well I guess that pretty much sums up the last several months.  Yes, it really has been over a year since I wrote in this blog, but in my defense I forgot my password for quite a while and then got very busy with school.  I am about a month away from graduating and My Fair Lady is about 3 months away from getting her Henry Higgins back.  That being said, there are so many things to do and so little time.  Having the person I love literally half way around the world has really been an eye opener.  I realize how much I need her and how insignificant I feel without her.  When all is said and done, she is all that really matters.  That being said, I take my leave for the day.

Variety

Well this week has seen some interesting happenings, none of which are really connected so I have no choice but to title this post variety.  Let me start with the exciting news I received on Monday.  After checking my e-mail I was surprised to see three e-mails from my girlfriend.  I was so surprised I almost deleted them thinking it might be spam or a hacker.  However I did read them and found that she had received permission from her mission president to write me and I can e-mail back.  This speeds up the communication process substantially.  Second on the list of things is that I put together a poster to present my research in Washington DC this following week.  Somehow the Print Shop managed to take my beautiful poster that I had printed and completely destroy it in the process of laminating it.  I am still in the process of getting other copies.  In addition I have re-discovered my talents in sports I have no played in a long time such as football and volleyball.  For football I discovered that I make quite the quarterback, able to throw 50 yard touchdowns with perfect precision.  My aim in throwing the ball surprised me a great deal, especially because I never played as quarterback before.  In volleyball I was surprised that I could play with those who take volleyball seriously.  Most of my volleyball experience comes from random get together groups who hardly know how to play the sport.  It was refreshing to see that being cooped up in the basement laboratory hasn't completely killed my athleticism completely.  Well, this will have to end my list for now due to an overwhelming desire to sleep.  Haha, maybe I am getting lazy after all.

Sentimental

The other day I wrote a heartfelt letter to my future children encouraging them to serve a mission.  Tonight I wanted to share a slightly edited excerpt from that letter.  I apologize to any I may offend by my comments, but they are according to my beliefs and I cannot deny the feelings I know to be true.  I think it safe to assume that the majority of my reader pool will share some beliefs in common with me or else interest would have waned early on. 

The most important teaching you learn from a mission is that none of us can make it back to Heavenly Father alone. Christ was the perfect example of this because He paid the ultimate sacrifice for each of us.  Jesus states in Matthew chapter 16 verses 24-25: “Then said Jesus, unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Clearly we cannot afford to be selfish our entire lives and I can testify to the happiness that accompanies a life of service to others.  A mission is the first real opportunity that one has to truely devote oneself to service.

When I began my mission I was 19, and when I finished I was 21. I’ve often thought about why we are asked to serve our mission at such a young age and at a time that seems so critical to our future. Serving a two year mission at the age of about 20 brought to mind tithing. It just so happened that I served what was then 10% of my life. For me it meant that I was putting aside the appropriate time for God in my life. Of course that age is critical to the future. Many of life’s most important decisions are made around that age. I chose a career, how and where to further my education, who I should marry, and how my money and time would be spent for the rest of my life. If you can afford to give 10% of your life to God at such a critical time in your life then you are on the right track to succeeding along God’s path of happiness. Just think about it, in a time when your priorities are being set God asks you to put Him first. I did; I put God before my career, before my education, before money and time, and even before a spouse. If you can make that choice and continue with that choice every day after that, then you will have set yourself up for a mortal life of happiness and eternal exaltation.  Nothing can compare or compensate for the things that are learned through missionary service and the blessings that inevitably follow.

Letter for the future

Have you ever written a letter for someone later in your life?  Perhaps your children or another loved one?  Well, that is precisely what I did today.  Now that "My Fair Lady" is safely in the Philippines serving away as missionaries do, I thought of how much I want my children to share the experience of what a mission is like.  One of the hardest problems with writing to such an invisible audience is finding a style that will convey your message.  After all, what are my children going to be like?  What age should I finally give them the letter?  With so many variables it makes you second guess nearly every sentence, kind of like writing on a blog.  Those who may read this are just as invisible to me as are my future children.  So invisibles.....what is it that would stir a desire in you to serve a mission?  What are your fears and concerns?  What can I possibly tell you that would make you feel like a warm blanket of comfort and concern has been lovingly placed around you, enveloping your entire being with the heated desire to do more and be more.  How would you know that I loved you and cared about what your decision might be?

Well, your silence is very reassuring.  Haha, ok so obviously you cannot answer me before I write that which is already written, but these thoughts all went into the making of a beautiful letter.  If nothing else I want to serve a mission again...and again and again.  Alas, for the time being tis' proposterous to dream of such things.  Someday I will return to the mission field and this time I will get to choose my companion.  Well actually I have already chosen, but I hope she chooses me too.  My sweetheart is so very far, as if distance weren't enough they put an international dateline between us also, putting me a whole day behind her.  I miss her a great deal.  To her aide I pledge my continual support, whatever the need. 

Fishing in liquid nitrogen

So the other day I happened to have one of the funniest moment in the lab I could possibly conceive.  A lot of our experiment recently have involved fluorescent dyes that require us to work in the dark.  We try to keep our samples as cold as possible and when we are done with them (ready to store them for an extended period of time) we flash freeze them in liquid nitrogen.  This is done by dipping a ladel in a large tank of liquid nitrogen and then dropping the small containers into the ladel.  Sounds easy enough right?  Well try doing it in the dark with containers that like to stick to your gloves!  Anyway, I dropped two of three containers into the large tank of liquid nitrogen which instantly disappeared out of site.  The third container was in the ladel but when I tried to pour out some of the liquid nitrogen the container flew out and landed in the tank as well.  For a few minutes I blindly tried to scoop up the samples.  Naturally to no avail.  I even got fancy and tried to create a vortex by moving the ladel around in a circle.  Still to no avail.  I gave up.....for the time.  As many of you know liquid nitrogen tends to evaporate quite quickly so I had to close the tank up as soon as possible.  A few hours later I came back with a co-worker.

Inside this tank of liquid nitrogen are 6 racks of square boxes, each containing several samples for various experiments.  We got the idea that if we removed all of them we could see more clearly.  We also turned on the lights.  As we removed all the racks a great deal of mist/fog formed at the opening.  From experience I learned that if you put one rack back in the fog goes away (not sure why).  Anyway, I put a rack back in and again began to create a vortex, this time using the rack.   It was much easier to create a vortex this way and soon I could a great deal of movement as well as feel the pull of a circular current.  My co-worker was handed the ladel.  As a sample floated into sight briefly he would attempt scoop it up with the ladel.  After a few minutes we were finally able to fish them all out.  Naturally we turned off the lights as soon as possible and covered them up so we could return the racks with the light on.  If nothing else it left us with huge grins and a funny story.  It became the day we went fishing in liquid nitrogen. 

Long Day

Today I knew would be a busy one, turns out I was right about something for once.  I went in early to the lab to get some experiments going.  I knew that an acquaintance from school was starting his internship at the lab today so I figured that if I got the boring stuff done early enough that he might be able to do some of the other things.  Even that way there was a lot of "down time" which I took advantage of to teach him as much as I could about what we are doing.  I showed him around and helped point out key locations he would use.  We also spent a great deal of time talking.  There was a pretty wide range of topics, but mostly we just talked about more important things like my fair lady, our missions (his and mine), school, etc.  It was a pretty productive first day for him and a very long day for me.  I'm surprised I still have a voice after talking all day.

After work I tried to get my car in shape by getting an oil change and attempting to get my blinker fixed.  It looks like I still have to wait for the light though.  Then I ran to Wal-mart in hopes of finding some microcassettes that I could record for my sweetheart.  I guess they don't sell them anymore....at least not at Wal-mart.  Someone suggested radio shack, but by then it was late enough that I was certain I would have to wait at least another day.  So I drove straight to FHE where we had a quick lesson and the proceeded to play Bunko.  Its usually a fun game, but I had such a bad luck streak that it wasn't really fun at all.  I lost 9 of 11 games.  Not a vegas night, that was for sure....well, unless I bet against myself.

The majority of the day my thoughts were on my girlfriend.  As such I felt like I multi-tasked the entire day because I wasn't always left with time to stop and think about her.  Naturally I brought her up in nearly every conversation, but  not everyone shares my interest in that area.  I miss her a great deal.  It was our year anniversary of when we started dating.  It has been an amazing and wonderful journey.  I often wondered if I could ever be so happy.  Now I know the answer is yes, and it only gets better.

Sound familiar?

Have you ever watched "The Best Two Years"?  If you haven't, please do.  It gives insight into the life of a missionary and many of the comical things that seem to happen to them.  Today I felt like I was acting out one of the scenes when I noticed there was mail in the mailbox.....on Sunday.  Obviously I hadn't checked yesterday.  Anyway, to my surprise I had a package from my fair lady.  As I opened it I was surprised to find a microcassette.  This is where the enactment of the movie kicked in.  I was suddenly in a craze to find something that would allow me to listen to this tape.  I zoomed around the house looking everywhere, but to no avail.  Just to be sure I asked my aunt who confirmed my suspicions, there was no tape player in the house.  I looked for the nearest shoes (in the movie I believe they were wooden shoes) and convinced myself that I would go over to neighbors and ask if I could borrow one, if they had it.  Luckily my aunt was being visited by our bishops wife at the time who mentioned her husband may have one.  In my wooden shoes (sandals) I drove over to his house and borrowed the prized possession.  Its so good to hear her voice again.  Oh, just so you know I didn't get dumped like in the movie.  Thank goodness there were some distinct differences.  Anyway, it made my day to hear from her and for once I mean that in a literal sense.  Emotions are so much easier to detect by voice than by letter, especially when the tape cuts out ever so often mid-sentence; poor girl probably almost drowned recording the tape.  I sure do love her though and I know she loves me too.  We miss each other.  It isn't easy.  She struggles on a daily basis to not think about me so she can focus on her work.  I struggle waiting for the next time I will be able to receive word of her.  Everytime I hear her name or hear news about her, whether it be from her or someone else, I consider to be a gift.  I treasure each of these gifts.  I'm certain that their value far surpasses any offer that could ever be made on them.  Those who can, treasure those who are close to you, while they are close to you.