Missionary mania

Today I got another letter from my fair lady.  I was so happy to hear that she is doing so well.  I couldn't help but laugh as she proceeded to tell me of the many things from my letters she had shared with her friends at the MTC.  Apparently we are quite the entertaining pair and so, as my girlfriend puts it, they live vicariously through our letters.  The funny thing to me is that I have so many people I know who are serving missions and I am writing to such a small percentage.  I'm certain that I could do better.  Anyway, I guess I should double check myself before sending anything out because I never know how it will be used.  My girlfriend thanked me for my support and asked some questions about things she read in the scriptures.  Her mission has opened up a whole new dimension to our relationship.  I am more than happy to help her in any way possible and we are able to study and search the scriptures together for a common purpose.  I think that before her mission we were more likely to read instead of study.  Hopefully this is something we can apply to our relationship to last an eternity.

Storm of blessings?

I woke up still feeling under the weather this morning.  I wasn't too surprised, but I wasn't about to complain.  The interesting thing is that I was woken up by the wind.  Yeah, thats right....I said wind.  The wind was so strong that I could here it, and there were no cracks or anything like that in the window.  I looked outside and wondered if I was about to be swallowed up by a tornado.  It actually got my heart racing which is a first even though I've driven through tornado warnings, and watched big dust devils from inches away.  All day it was windy and cloudy.  At times there were just huge gust of wind, other times it was hail and or rain by the bucket full.  In short, it was a very stormy and scary day to be outside.  I didn't go outside though, well except to get the mail of course.  Anyway, at the same time I had a fantastic day.  I don't even know why other than the fact that I found out I had been awarded a grant to continue my research.  The school is offering $500 to support me while continuing my research.  I was shocked for two reasons.  First, I thought the guy I had talked to had completely forgotten about me.  Second, I just deferred from the school for the semester.  In other words the school decided to award me a grant regardless of my current academic status.  The award is very flattering and humbling considering its irregular circumstances.  So, I've decided that today was a storm of blessings, I'm sure someone needed the wind and moisture too.

How to destroy your stomach

I usually pride myself on my cooking abilities and decisions, but recently I have been way to lazy and I'm suffering for it dearly.  The other day I figured I'd make a nice salad, but the lettuce had frozen and it had sat there a while.  Oh well, its just going to be a little soggy right?  Mistake number 1.  Then I was like I should have egg mcmuffins.  I don't have canadian bacon so I'll just use bacon.  Well, I have a whole bunch of bacon thats about to go bad so I decide to cook it all up at once.  Mistake number 2.  You should have seen the amount of grease left behind.  With this grease I decided to cook my eggs because I had no oil to keep the eggs from sticking to the fry pan.  Mistake number 3.  Too much grease and not cooked well enough on the inside.  As if that wasn't bad enough, I found out the lunch meat I had been eating all week had been expired for a while.  Mistake number 4.  Ok, he couldn't possibly have screwed up worse than that right?  Enter mistake number 5.  I bought some chinese a few days ago and instead of re-heating it I just ate the cold chicken the way it was dipped in cold sweet and sour sauce.  It didn't taste too bad, but the stomach immediately let me know that one was stupid.  To top it all off I haven't been getting enough water lately.  I'm not use to working in a laboratory where water bottles are forbidden.  In effect I have to plan and go out of my way to get enough water.  That really doesn't happen much for me.  End result?  Headache, fever, dizziness, diarrhea, etc.  Smooth....real smooth.  I suggest being a little wiser than me in your dietary choices.

How to confuse a bishop

Sometime last week I called the bishop requesting an interview.  Seeing as I have only been in the ward a few weeks (10 more or less) and I was gone on roadtrips for the majority he had very little clue who I was.  Anyway I left a message on his answering machine because he wasn't there.  When he returned the call I had to walk him through the process of introducing myself all over again.  Finally, he referred me to his secretary who would make an appointment for this Sunday.  Likewise the secretary was a little confused as to who I was.  After getting an appointment set up I felt relieved.  When I got to the bishops office today he sat me down.  Knowing I could only cause more confusion by not explaining the purpose for the interview I pulled out the papers I needed signed for my academic deferral from BYU-Idaho.  I indicated that the papers were for a deferral process so that I could continue my internship and that we only needed to review one of the two papers.  Of course he grabbed the wrong paper first.  Half way down he was like, what do you need me for?  I showed him the other paper.  He looked at it and said, this is different from the ones I normally sign.  Ugh.... "yes, this is not for admission to BYU-Idaho, it is an endorsement for my academic deferral," I responded.  "Oh, okay," was his reply.  He looks at the bold words, honor code and dress and grooming.  "Are you okay with these rules?" he asked.  "Yup".  He got up and said ok, well thanks.  Shortest interview ever.  To his favor though I was able to stop him long enough to ask for a calling.  Who knows, I just might become part of the ward yet.

Another day

By now it has become apparent what will be hardest for me the next several months.  Every night when I stop to write to my fair lady I feel as though I am able to talk to her and be with her.  In contrast, my days drag on knowing there is no chance that I will hear from her for some time.  The postal system feels more and more like snail mail.  It is difficult to never know when the next letter will arrive and it is even worse when I know there are letters, but they haven't arrived yet.  I feel tricked running to the mailbox, only to find another day has passed without a letter.  Two letters remain in Oregon from over a week ago.  I've tried to be patient but I want so badly to read the contents even if I did receive a letter this week.  Hearts are made only to take so much pressure.  The human heart has to worry about the distance the blood must go, the pressure necessary to transport it quick enough, and a rate which will not destroy the tissues itself.  Having a missionary in the field is symbolically likened unto a sprint which leaves the heart pounding fiercely.  Does it have the power to go the distance?  Can I survive the rate and pressure?  Well, I think that I can.  So I continue, day by day, looking for another day.

Not as it seems

It isn't always apparent what the next course of action should be in research.  Sometimes something that appears as simple as 30 minutes can dominate an entire work day.  I found that out the hard way.  It made me think of how many things we likely take for granted, and in the end we feel short changed or short handed at the results.  The lesson to be learned, start as early as possible...don't procrastinate.

MAR Day

Working for the government always brings with it more and more bizarre behavior.  Today was MAR day, what that stands for I doubt I will ever know.  However, most people would simply call it training day; a day in which you go around from table to table where some poor administrator has been roped into repeating some simple words of training over and over again.  If you are lucky, you get there some what early when there are fewer people and their voice hasn't completely glazed over into a monotonous blur.  I had to laugh at the attempt to make training day "fun".  In order to make it "fun" tax dollars were spent on a theme.  The theme was Avatar after the sensational movie released a short while ago.  Posters for the event were poorly made, mispelling practically everything that had to do with the movie.  Decorations and costumes were somewhat better, but again the thought of tax dollars went through my mind the entire time, spoiling all my fun.  In the end, it was a training day; filled with paperwork, signatures, and unwilling participants.  Naturally I don't blame any who worked so hard to make it a possibility, its just sad that in the end its all so dull anyway.  Maybe it is the fact that half the training still has to be done online that leaves a sour taste in the back of my throat.  Regardless, it gave me a full day.  In addition to the clamour of training day I was introduced to yet another colleague who will be joining the team in developing the project at hand.  I can't help but feel freshly inadequate seeing as the new colleague is yet another Ph. D with a difficult accent to understand.  I can't complain, in fact I am happy for the extra assistance that may make the project more fruitful.  By all means I would like to have my research published before returning back to school.  That is for time to tell.