Late and lost

Today at 1:00 my fiance and I were supposed to go her friend's farewell. We left our ward at around 1:00 and headed out to find her church. It should have only taken us about fifteen  minutes to find this place but we just could not find the right church. Over the next hour we entered into seven different church buildings only to find that her friend was not in the chapel speaking! We were even using her GPS app on her phone and we still could not find the right one. Then as we were about to give up and just got home we tried one last time. We decided to go up a little higher then we had previously gone and sure enough we found the church that we needed. So we rushed into the building and unfortunately she had already given her talk. We did get to talk to her though, so that made all of that searching worth it. Even though it wasn't the funnest thing we still laughed the whole time in the car and made a good experience out of it. It was fun to just spend time together and to problem solve and work as a team.

Playing out of your mind

There are a lot of books that I like, but there is one that really stands out to me. It is called, "Playing out of your Mind." The book explains how as a soccer player, one can learn to have the attitude of a champion. Now, I wouldn't say that I am a champion, but this book has helped me to improve significantly. The principle of the book is to teach you how to use your mind as a key factor on the soccer field. It does this by teaching about goal setting and positive self talk. Many people may not know this, but your mind really does affect how you play. In fact, it is your mind that controls your body, not the other way around. I still turn again and again to the techniques in this book to help me on the soccer field, and essentially in every aspect of my life.

The fall of death

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my a funeral with my now fiance. It was her great-grandmother's funeral and Nicole was playing the piano for the musical number. It was very spiritual and many people in the audience were crying. As they finished the song, the spirit was strong and the room was silent. You could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet. Then as Nicole was walking off the stage, she tripped and fell on the railing! Her sheet music slapped against the wood and made a clap like thunder throughout the whole chapel! She regrouped herself and with a bright red face from embarrassment, she raised her arms and stated to the whole audience in their silence, "Sorry! Sorry." It was absolutely hilarious. Her whole family was laughing. I remember feeling bad for her, but at the same time laughing so hard because of how funny her fall was. We all continued to laugh for several minutes and the subject has been mentioned more than several times since! I honestly have never laughed so hard in my life!

The Natural Man

In the scriptures we are taught to put off the natural man and woman "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord." How are we supposed to do this? How do we get rid of our own personal natural man and woman? We are to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. Line upon line and in the strength of the Lord we can put off the natural man (woman) and one day be perfect in Christ. But we must first come unto Him in order to allow his Atonement to change us beyond our own abilities. Faith in the Savior unlocks the door to becoming as He is and following in His ways.

Teamwork is how it's done!

On the fourth of July in 2010, I was playing with the BYU soccer team against the Ogden Outlaws. It was a pretty big game and the crowd was full of energy. As the game was coming to a close, it could have gone either way. We were winning 2-1, but Ogden was hot on our heels. The clock was ticking down the time and we were determined to win. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. I stole the ball at half field and started racing towards the goal. I could see the goal getting closer and the crowd was cheering louder. I could see my teammate Janzen off to my right, standing there wide open and ready to get the ball. I passed him the ball and watched him hit it right past the goalie and into the back of the net. We ended up winning the game 3-1! Afterwards, we celebrated by watching the firework show on the field. Victory is sweet in whatever shape or form. 

Please, Don't Judge

About three years ago I took my now fiance on a date to Yogurt Stop. The date was going great and everything was fine, until we left the safe doors of the building. As we were walking outside, I was feeling a little uncomfortable with my digestive system. Being the clever man that I am I thought it would be alright to "release" some of my discomfort before I entered the car. I helped her into the car and as I was walking around to my side of the vehicle, I was able to relieve some of the pressure that was mounting in my stomach. As I got into the car and sat down in my seat, I was thinking "mission accomplished". Yeah right. There was nothing I could do about the smell. It was too late and all hope was lost. It didn't matter that is was February, in a last chance effort to save my dignity, I rolled down the windows. At first my date started to protest at the thought of letting freezing cold air into the car, but once she realized what had been done, she could not contain herself. She burst into bundles of laughter! This was the last reaction I was expecting from her. Needless to say, she was very forgiving and understood that I had only tried to do what any good guy would do in the same situation.

Make Them Smile

Whether we like strangers or not, we all have the ability to make them smile. Just like a treasure hidden in the earth, you have the hidden talent to turn a stranger's frown upside down! Now whether you believe this or not, it is true. All you need is practice, hard work, a little bit of know how, and stupidity. First, you see them approaching you in an unfamiliar way because they are a stranger. The first thing you want to do is try smiling at them. If that doesn't generate a smile out of them, then you are going to have to step it up a notch. Try smiling even bigger, which will include needing to squint your eyes a little bit harder. Then put your hand up in a friendly manner and wave at them. If that doesn't work, than you have to whip out the big guns. Fall on your face. No one can hold back a smile and laughter when someone trips in public!