Worth repeating

I am so often amazed at how much some of the boys I work with change, and it's usually the ones I least expect it from.

One in particular has made a complete turn around. He went from always fighting, arguing, cussing, etc, to now being funny, respectful (most of the time), and a scholar of the Bible. Yeah, that's what I said. He always says to me: "Hey, Luke 2:11, do you know it?! I do!" "Matthew 6:14-16, that's my favorite!" He actually wants to study and then share what he learns. Know why? One night, after having a lot of problems with him I took a different approach with him, and he completely opened up to me, telling me everything he wanted to do in life (become a chef and open his own restaurant), and then he wanted me to answer his questions about God and religion. After that he got interested in what the Bible said, so I told him to read some parts. He did. He liked it. He felt like what I said was what he wanted to believe. So off he went. He said that night was the first time he had ever prayed, and that the very next day his pray was answered. Now tell me, how many of troubled teenagers do you think actually have the maturity to not only pray sincerely, but also recognize when they get an answer? I'm telling you, I'm proud of that kid, and it really makes my work worth it, and gives me what I need to do more.

Last night I got approved for my 9 month bonus. Good, good day. So very excited about that one.

I got tagged to do the 6 Quirks, so I will be thinking about those and posting it soon.

frozen toes...

The title on her car came in, so I could finally take the temporary car plate off and put the real ones on. We are pretty well settled in now. And feeling pretty comfortable too. It's a nice feeling to know you are doing everything on your own.

Work has been great lately. I'm enjoying it more everyday.

Finally, my postal exam scores came back. I passed. 84.70 rating. Sounds good huh? I dont know how high in comparison to everyone else I did. They put everyone on a list, starting with the best and going down to the worst, and when they have an opening they call up the first person on the list for an interveiw and everything. So now, I guess I just wait for the phone call. I'm happy waiting.

It's gotten cold. Not so cold you can see your breath every exhale, but cold enough you stand there huddled up wishing you were inside.

Where were you when it happened?

I was going through some cds I have with pictures and films from my mission when I came across this favorite. I had forgotten it even happened. Good times huh?





This weekend was fun. We finished our classes, then we headed up north to Draper and visited a little place called IKEA... way cool, and way fun. We got a lot of cool little things to put in the kids room. I'm sure my old lady will get that up and show everyone soon, if she hasn't already.

Work is going good. I'm doing good. Everything is good. And I'm going to beat the socks off of JM in chess tonight or thursday night.

So stressed out it's soothing

So we are heading out of town again for the weekend... again. This will be the last marathon of training before we are done with it and then all we'll need is a Home Study, and for our Background Checks to pass to be licensed Foster Parents. Cool huh?

Work has gone so great lately. There is the one kid who I've been having some problems getting along with. He has serious anger issuses. These last few nights I had his family, and somehow he got me on the topic of Christianity and what it is about, and then he was asking me all sorts of questions, he was saying that he didn't know what he believed in and wanted to understand a few things. He really enjoyed the conversation. The next morning he woke up and told me the night before he had prayed for the first time in his life, and that he liked it. Then last night he came back and said that his prayed had been answered that very same day and he wanted to talk with me again on the same things. Of course, being the 15 year old he is, he wanted to know this time about the end of the world and such... I just gave him a bible, pointed at Revelations, and said get what you can from it. Kept him entertained all night, and the best part is... he didn't try to fight with everyone in the room like he normally does. It's so cool, and such a great feeling when you start to make progress with these kids, start to see them act differently and realize what they have been doing wrong. It has happened to me a few times now, and it's probably the number one reason why I stay.

My best mission companion asked me to send him some pictures from when we were together, and it is taking soooooooo long for it to load. Annoying.

Recently Me

I hope this works as a good look at what my current apperance is.


I've let my facial hair grown out a bit more since then, so it looks a bit darker, but the truth is that it is not at all as thick as it shows on the comic me... just didn't have the option of thinning it out.

Here's the picture off the back of my Costco Card



This week is going great. I'm getting really antsy about getting my test results back.

I see no one has taken me up on that chess game yet. Are you scared or just dont have the time?

Timeless tales of the woes from someone who knows

I am getting a lot of good pratice in at work on my chess game. I recently talk my old lady into letting me buy a cheap board from wal-mart so I could take it to work everyday. I have ever since used it to distract students, and also beat up on them in the game. Both have worked out pretty good. So, do I have any challengers on the board? Let me know and I will take you to Yahoo and put the beat down on you. Or very humbly take it.

This keyboard is having trouble with the "v" key. I have to hit it twice every time to get it to work. Times like this I wish there was no letter "v".

Comic Me

This is what I figure I look like right now. What do you think?