goodbye 37th ward

Today was my last day in this ward. I spent nearly a year here. It was very good to me. I was so blessed to be able to meet all of these people and to associate with this bishopric. I said my last goodbyes to the members of the ward that I wouldn’t see again. But there were two members of the bishopric I did not get a chance to say goodbye and thank you to.

Helping someone more stressed than I

I liked this assignment almost as much as the "buy a stranger a 'coke'" assignment. Sometimes it feels like i am the most stressed of all my acquaintances. But then I realize that I am not the only one with class and work and other stresses. My roommate was one such stressed individual.

Taylor is his name. He is taking accounting 310 and ISYS 201. And he is working on top of that. He is trying to get into the accounting program so his classes are extremely important to him. With finals coming up he is especially stressed.

Taylor is also a Sunday school teacher and he was asked to give a talk in church. He didn’t know how he was going to do all of his work and prepare a talk and prepare a lesson. So I offered to take care of his lesson for him.

I was very glad to be able to help. And I was spiritually filled by my preparation.

“I need to buy you a Coke” “Me?’ “Yes you.”

“Buy a stranger a ‘coke’.” I was very excited about this assignment actually. I saw a lot of opportunity here. Upon hearing the assignment I immediately began thinking of all the options. What type of person would I treat to a beverage? Homeless person? Teacher? Businessman? But then I thought with all the pretty girls that walk around campus, this is possibly the best excuse I have ever had to talk to them without any real reason. But I was so busy during the week that I had to put it off until Saturday.

Saturday morning. I was at the library and I spotted a nice looking girl a few tables away. She wasn’t alone though. But I had all day. No worries, I could wait until she was alone (if you think this is slightly creepy, you are not alone. Even writing this I feel pretty creepy). I began rehearsing what I would say in my mind. “Hello ladies, look at me, now look at your man, now BACK to ME.” A moment later I looked up and she was alone. It was game time. My heart was racing. I couldn’t believe I was going to do this. Then she got up, and just as I was about to pounce, she fled to the girl’s bathroom. That’s okay. I can wait. But then when she came out I totally froze and just sat there as she walked out of view. Darn.

Late posts: they hurt

Disclaimer: @Shayne Clarke--the time I had planned to post these last night (11pm) was taken up by the prince of egypt with my ward. I hope you understand. 

There are some things that compared to the action have a disproportional bad feeling at the result. Let me explain. Let’s say that one Friday night you had a craving for some ice cream at Macey’s. So you get on your scooter and drive the two minutes to Macey’s. At this point you can almost tasted that vanilla/chocolate swirl on your tongue. You get up to the check out counter and confidently say: “one large swirl please.” To which the clerk responds: “sorry, we are closed for the night.” Now here is the point. How do you feel? Crushed. It is a one dollar cone of ice cream and there are about a thousand ways you could get ice cream that evening, but you are still bummed. The action (no ice cream) is unequal to the reaction (feeling like you are watching the movie 2012 in real life).

So it is with not posting your blog by 11:57 on the night it is due. I feel as though I am going to fail the class for sure. That by posting on my blog a few hours late I might as well withdraw from the class, put a white cap on my head, and put my nose in the corner because I truly am a dunce. But, just as with the ice cream, I am sure that everything will be fine. Right Shayne?

Nature

I love nature. I went on a hike yesterday that was absolutely beautiful. A few friends and I went to stuart falls near sundance. It was a four mile hike round trip. About thirty steps into the hike we lost our path because there was four feet of snow on top of it. But after about 20 minutes of wandering we found it again. Then there was more snow periodically along the path. At one point we found out that we could slide down the snow very successfully. So we spent another half hour “sledding” down the hill.

After about an hour and a half we finally made it to the falls. There was a large, glacier-like sheet of snow that covered a few acres. After walking around for a few minutes we found a snow cave. This cave went about three hundred feet down into the snow and met up with the river at the bottom of the waterfall. It was one of the coolest, but scariest places I have ever been. Go to facebook to see more pictures!

Interview questions

We were talking the other day about interview questions, and good interview skills. We all were shouting out questions that we thought were tough in interviews. One person noted that they dislike the question: “tell me about yourself”. I agreed with him. But after talking a bit I think that I have a reasonable answer that will set me apart and show that I am comfortable in the interview. The key is in the details. Tell me what you think.

“I am from Denver, CO. I am an economics student at Brigham Young University. I will graduate in April 2013. I am an avid skier. I grew up skiing every weekend with my dad. So the mountains have a very strong sentimental value to me. In addition to skiing I love China and all things Chinese, but especially the language. I served a two-year mission for the LDS church wherein I spoke mandarin Chinese. The ability to speak Chinese is now a skill and a love for me…Do you want me to go on?”

I think it highlights both my skills and shows that I am an interesting person at the same time but I would be interested to get your feedback. 

Interview questions

We were talking the other day about interview questions, and good interview skills. We all were shouting out questions that we thought were tough in interviews. One person noted that they dislike the question: “tell me about yourself”. I agreed with him. But after talking a bit I think that I have a reasonable answer that will set me apart and show that I am comfortable in the interview. The key is in the details. Tell me what you think.

“I am from Denver, CO. I am an economics student at Brigham Young University. I will graduate in April 2013. I am an avid skier. I grew up skiing every weekend with my dad. So the mountains have a very strong sentimental value to me. In addition to skiing I love China and all things Chinese, but especially the language. I served a two-year mission for the LDS church wherein I spoke mandarin Chinese. The ability to speak Chinese is now a skill and a love for me…Do you want me to go on?”

I think it highlights both my skills and shows that I am an interesting person at the same time but I would be interested to get your feedback.