August 30, 2014

     This past week at work has been more rough than any other. At least I didn't get angry. I think writing about the workplace is good for people to see what money is worth. Beginning collaboration with my cross country team, I designed a shirt for my cross country team last night, and Eve said that a blank shirt should cost about 10 dollars. I said that is too expensive; then, she said why do people think that ten dollars is worth so much. Children seem so materialistic. They lie so much too. At least Eve and Ezra do. I think that it has to do with how they are raised. Their home is very broken. Their lies manipulate, which takes many other forms.
     Work started out lame this week, and literally ended retarded. I was giving veneer to my coworker, palletizing, and he threw back the ones that were 2 inches thick, so I put it on the line to be fixed. It should be between 1.25 and 1.75 inches, but the next day the crew leader says that they should be thinner than 1.5 inches. The supervisor agreed with the first statement though. When the people, cutting it, received the 2 inch veneer; they threw it down to me telling me to break the edge with a hammer, but the crew leader tells me not to. Stone and commands contrary to each other were coming from all directions. That was ridiculous. I lined the conveyor belt with all the bad ones that I didn't have time to break, and I also was not supposed to. They had to have a place. If it is not the machine, dumpster, or the pallet. It was also a display that a lot of the stone coming out of the machine is too thick, but they didn't learn much. This carried out over two days with me as the center focus. My coworker said that the measuring tape is the official standard. Did I tell you that I think that there are too many leaders at my workplace? Why can't everyone just trust that they are doing their job? Everyone sees what is going on. Nothing is hidden. My coworker went through basically the same thing as me, but not as obvious to get everyone's attention. I try to be flexible because the supervisor is, but the crew leader isn't.
     My coworker that has been my partner this past week is kind of ridiculous in my eyes to. I felt retarded because he can do 5 jobs at once while I can barely do one. When he was off doing another job, I was placing the stone on the pallet to be palletized. When he came back. I was so behind that I couldn't catch up. Another coworker rolls his eyes often when he sees my partner jumping around to so many jobs. My crew supervisor thought that he needed to teach me to do it faster; although, I have been doing fine. What he was doing was contrary to what I was taught too, but I did what he did. Basically putting down without order. I was remorseful because I have learning disabilities, and I can't think as fast as my partner. I don't like how people think that everyone can do the same thing that they can do. He expects me to jump around to every job like it is nothing. As I pondered my retarded state, being too slow to do my job, my coworkers thought that I was tired. Life is not that simple. I thought that my patience would eventually let me catch up, but my patience is not my crew leader's patience, and I was sent to another spot. I felt more isolated and given more freedom because my abilities are unknown, and I looked a little depressed.
     Coming home, I meet my cousin Hutch and his family. His children looked at me like I was a very random person, visiting the house. When Eve and Ezra came, they wanted me to join them, but I wanted Eve and Ezra to play with their cousins without me, the stranger. They rarely get to play with them. The children were playing with the weakness of youth, and my presence would have been awkward.

 I don't need to explain it if I have a picture of it.

     I wanted to work on designing my shirt for my cross country team. The only thing that people don't understand is the runner's lingo. The lingo of sitting on someone in running means to run right behind a leader for pace and reduced wind resistance.
     Collaborating with my team, I have found that the girls are up to talk more. None of the guys that I invited has committed to be on my team. I am telling them that I plan to have a varsity and junior varsity team for the experienced and beginner runners. I am excited because I have chosen two team captains already. Their perspective on the sport fits the role well, and they are excited for it too. A lot of people want to make good friends, and I am thinking that making shirts together would be a lot of fun for our first weekend together.
     Eve convinced me to play with her rather than buy a couple Shakespeare play tickets for my date today. I write that she is materialistic because Eve did not want to play with her friend Lillian because I broke her trampoline. She couldn't think of anything to do to play. Her creativity is weak. We have had fun, playing with McGuire, and she thought that we should play with them. Lillian came, and Eve said that I wanted to play with McGuire. I said that we should play with her, telling her that I did not say that I wanted to play with McGuire. McGuire and McKay eventually came out with a crossbow and a bow & arrows. Do you see the materialism? We played a little with it, but Ezra really likes water. He saw a hose, and asked if the water can be turned on.  McKay told him put his end of the hose in his mouth, and he will turn it on; then, McKay took the hose from him and sprayed everyone, getting them soaking wet. They played like they were firefighters, and the house was on fire. Spraying the house with water was too boring for McKay, so he left.
     I was driving a coworker to another job, so he can freshen up. He invited me into his house, and I watched a little Doctor Oz. The show today was about reducing home stress by unifying the family. The children in the show were manipulating like Eve and Ezra. They always lie to avoid the trouble of the consequences of the situation or actions and to get what they want. For example, Eve said that she was not wet to grandma before she felt asleep on the couch, when she was wet. Grandma would not want her to sleep on the couch, if she did say that she was wet. When Eve asked me to play with her and her cousins, she stabbed me with a pen, since I refused to go with her. She said that she hopes that her, stabbing me, will teach me to play. The pain was not bad. As I said, I am patient. I think to myself, if my coworkers hit me with something out of frustration. I would do nothing.
     My REVIT update is weak. It's only been a couple days since I completed the skylight. I checked out the square footage of the property, and found that it ranged from more than 3 to 7 times the size that they wanted. I am working more closely with my cousin to make sure that I design according to her desires. I like that she has not been too shy.

Good Monday to you!!

guess what i did today!! BIKRAM YOGA! oh how i missed it! it was so challenging, and now i feel like passing out cause it excerted a lot of my strength . It was great! 

 

this is my companion Sister Vargas and i at the Zone Temple Trip!

 

we had  a wonderful week, we had five investigators at church which were the ones we took to the Visitors Center last week and the Familia Diaz, we were so happy because it took a lot of investigation as to why that brother who is searching for truth, and can't find it in his own church and yet he still goes, as an obligation to  his wife as he says that he does it ofr his wife, although she doesnt even like to go and gave him clear permission that he can search for the religoin he likes and not to worry about taking his kids to their church and just go find the one that makes him happy, she did this in front of us. So we have a hard time understanding this man. His wife is super nice to us she even feeds us dinner and getrs so happy when we are there but she also says that we should pertend she is not there and she sitts in on hte llessons but she makes it clear that she wants us to teach her husband. He is a man with many questions and wierd doubts. We have scripture packed lessons for him when we go and we have been able to resolve some of his doubts, thankfully. ONe such doubt he had was the importance of baptism and how it is not necessary for us because Christ came to cleanse us from sin. So we shared i think it is John3:5 about how we cannot enter into his kingdm exceot we are baptized abnd of coarse the comission of the resureccted Lord, to his apostles which states clearly that they must go forth and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. It really was  a miracle to get them to church. and the members that have invited them before were shocked to see them there. also the members that have came out to teach them were glad they were there. We belive that perhaps we wont get to harvest these fruits but we knowthat we are nourishing them.

 

then we have been teaching the martinez girls and we helped them make invites for their baptism with cute pictutres from old ensigns and that made them even more excited for the day of their baptism, they have theri interview scheduled for this wednesday. not to mention this is a great way to find people to teach.  We are soups happy that their GRandma decided to join them and take the lessons and get baptized as well. they all came to church too. She cant read so we committed her to listen to the scriputres onlds.org its awesome!! We have seen a huge tur around in this family, because now the mother is supportive and bringing them to church and she also is home when schedule appointments. We are teacing them how to have a family home evening tonight and we are super excited. WEll we had taught the grandma the restoration and when we went over there again ot follow up if she had prayed about it. she said that she forgot and that she likes this church a lot more than any other church but doesnt have a firm testimony that is the only true restored churhc of Jesus Chirst here on the earth. so we  had to teach her again to refresh her memory, but this time we had her tell us what she understood and explain it in her own words after each point. it required a lot more focuse on her part. hehe  we are evil.

 

 we have this 13 yr old we are teaching and she is so prepared and is so mature! she prayed to know if the chruch is true and she said she felt good as she prayed so we asked her to describe her feelings and she sai that she felt her heart kindof burn and it wasnt heart burn it was a  really good feeling she said. we were both taken back and we said to her that she had a lot of faith and thats why God was able to respond so clearly. exceptfoher parents wont let her come to church. WE are going to have a little talk with her mothere and find out what we can do.

 We have been working hard, we love eachother , and we are seeing the miracles that come from being the best we can be.!!

love you lots!! take care y'all

this is them reading The Book of Mormon stories arent they super cute!?? love them to death

August 19, 2014

     It has been years since my friends that I hang out with are the age of five years on average. I have not met anyone from my new ward because yesterday was a big day for my aunt with a baby blessing and a return missionary. Work has been intense, but it is chill. I rarely get angry. I can probably count the incidents on my hands, but today was one of them at work. I am now designing a skylight for the my cousin. She really liked the fireplace. She was so excited that she showed it to her mother.  

     I have been hanging out with Ezra and Eve a lot. Some odd situations came up, and some hard situations came up. It is not hard for me, but for the children. Mostly it has been good fun. I am beloved by everyone. I was even invited over for a sleep over. This was after the hard situation for Eve. McKay, the brother of a child about Ezra's age, didn't play fair. It came naturally though. We were playing catch with a big ball about 2.5 feet in diameter. Monkey in the Middle was okay until Eve showed that she did not have skill in catching the ball. She eventually felt left out, and got emotional. That was hard for her. McGuire is the child about Ezra's age, and he has a huge white fluffy dog. They don't even know what it is, but they know that it will grow bigger, and it's only one years old! The dog was so cool that it played a game with me. I pet it and stuff; then, it started to hit the sides of my legs with her front arms. Since I broke the first trampoline that we played on, I have been banned from jumping on any other one. You may expect me to write about the odd situation, but it is too odd.

     On Sunday, we drove about an hour and half to Brigham City then to Corinne. Andrea's new child Ephraim Brian Grove was blessed. This Sacrament meeting was fun because I have not seen my cousins in a very long time. The bishop of this ward was fun. He taught that faith in Christ is a choice. This is an obvious doctrine of Christ, but the simplicity of it is easy enlightening because I feel many people like to follow the natural man to be compelled and forced to do things, giving up their agency to another being to be acted upon and not act for themselves. I think that this is partially why Joseph Smith was chosen to be the Prophet of the restoration. He was not acted upon by the philosophies of man mingled with scripture. He sought after what is true. After that sacrament meeting, we drove to Corinne for the sacrament meeting of my aunt Glennalee's ward, since Curtis, her son, returned from his mission.

He mainly testified of the atonement, and the ward seemed to be so small that he was open about the fact that he had a very hard time understanding a point of the doctrine of the atonement of Christ. I don't understand what he had a problem with, but I think that it had to do with the fairness of Christ, taking everything on himself. Christ alone can save the world from the Satan's chain of death spiritually and physically. He is the only Begotten of the Father, having power over death. He could have lived forever on earth. Maybe he could be created a kingdom during his mortal life, where he would rule forever, but he submitted himself to the will of the Father. He could not make a kingdom because he needed to learn how to resurrect from death, and he could not succor our every need; unless, he overcame everything them himself in the garden of Gethsemane. How could Jesus Christ be a perfect judge, if he did not have knowledge of everything human?

     I let Eve play with my tablet, and she took pictures on the way home from visiting the Day family. I had a bunch of pictures on my tablet from her, but I deleted it because I decided the factory reset my phone and tablet because the Facebook apps were not working well. Usually Google uploads all my pictures up to the cloud, but it doesn’t work for the tablet for an unknown reason. I do have one remaining video that Eve took. I think that it was inspired by the first day that we played together. On that day I played fishing with Ezra in the bathtub. Eve asked us to knock on her door to play something, but Ezra ignored her. I did what he did, and Eve came to tell us to knock on her door at least ten times. She acted like she got mad, but you can tell that she can’t. This video is her mad.

     My work place is very similar to my former workplace, Santa Cruz Nutritionals. I still feel like I am in a foreign nation at work, since most everyone speaks Spanish, and they don't know English. On Monday we had a safety meeting. I didn't know about it, but I was invited to join them. I was surprised to find that there are two separate safety meetings: one for the Spanish speakers and one of English speakers. I thought that we have done away with segregation. Some people might justify it because the Spanish people can't understand English. I think that everyone should learn a declared language of the United States of America, so the opportunities can be fair. My opportunities in my workplace is not as good as a Spanish speaking coworker because the supervisor can't communicate with me. I wish that I could start a campaign for this, but I don't have the time. I have my own life to live. Politics is interesting on this point. We are encouraged to serve in politics, but it takes a lot of time.

     The language other than Spanish in the shop is very hard to understand to. My supervisor basically shouts only one word. Bo! Another machine operator whistles like an eagle. The sign language after they get your attention is bad too. I think that there is common Latin gestures that I don't understand as an Asian. I don't want to say that they are Mexican because I am not sure if it. I formally met one coworker yesterday who is from Puerto Rico.

     I mainly lift stone packaged on pallets housed in wires. At first I was taught to break the stone in half, if it was longer than a foot. This is what I learned on one of the first days. A next day a largest rock that I picked up was two feet long; then, the next day I was lifting rocks about four feet long. These rocks can be as thick as 8 inches, and they are on average about 4 inches wide. I basically lift all day long at work. We make veneer. We load the stone into a machine that cuts it to be about an inch thick.

     

     I was admiring a stone this past week. It is called honey ledge. I would imagine that it came from the bottom of the ocean. It has a dark blueish color mixed with a silver mineral. I got some fragments, and it looks shiny. Not all of the stone looks like the shiny minerals. I was impressed that this veneer exists. It is  the most beautiful stone that I have seen. When I design buildings, I think that I should consider the materials that I am building with first because buildings will look odd, if an architect designs a building; then, tries to choose the material after because materials have a natural feeling, nature, history, and design to it. This is what I was thinking when I was impressed by the stone. I loved the stone so much that I took a video of it. My coworkers thought that I was odd. Here is a picture and a video of the stone.

   One thing that I did not like about the work place is that the wires, holding the stone on the pallets, would cut you, if you are not careful. I have scratches all over my arms, but cuts bleed. I got angry this past week after cutting myself for the fourth day in a row. It annoyed me because I learned to cut the wire and set it in a way that my natural motion would not collide with the wire, but the supervisor clipped the wire this morning. I was walking along, and it sliced my arm. I was pouting for more than two hours. I am tired of cutting myself, and my grandparents gave me long sleeve shirts. I wore a short sleeve shirt on Monday because I have a traditional Thai shirt that I wear most Mondays.

     Since I rarely get angry, I was able to see the fruit of anger. It sowed fear at every sight of me. When someone fears you, they are not as open with you. They let you be your untamed self. I feel isolated now. My supervisor quit training me, and started working more closely with another person, training him as a machine operator. I used to not be open with my mother because I fear her anger. I am still unsure how open that I am with her. I think that I learned to be more open with her because I waited until I went to traffic school to tell her about my ticket. Her reaction was calm. I think if I told her about the ticket the day of. She would hold it over me for months. I don't know, but things has been different at work. I am opening up more to people, so it is not as bad. People think that I am shy, but I don't want to sit with a bunch of Latin people, who can't talk to me during lunch. I like sitting on the stone in the middle of the Heber Valley surrounded by mountains.

     Another day at work, I shattered a rock, not breaking it well. I felt natural anger slightly, and I smashed the fragments into pieces. Right when I did that, the operation of the machine stopped. I didn't know why. I felt a deepening isolating because of my anger. Observing the situation, I realized that we just finished the requirements for the order of the product. I felt like that moment of alarm was God, giving me a time out and telling me that any sign of anger limits human trust.

I have another concept to teach about anger that I learned. It may seem odd, but I made sounds to myself like I was a wild beast, since the shop is so loud people can't hear me, lifting the heavy stones, and throwing the waste in the dumpster. I learned that you may become what you make yourself out to be. I became a wild beast that lifts and throws stones, and that beast became untamed when it got cut. You should be careful of the thoughts that you make yourself out to be.

My reputation may be tarnished because I talk of anger deeply. It makes sense because that is what anger does. I realized that it changes relationships. I have been told that I am one of the most patient people, an entity of peace. I was talking to my little cousins, and Eve noticed that I was talking louder than usual. I wasn't talking in anger. Consistency is important, so people can trust you.

     I was sorrowful for a few days, seeing the consequences of my anger. I saw people were trying to cheer me up by communicating approval of my work. The feedback is less because how the relationships has changed. I was thinking of apologizing to my supervisor who I worked closely with, but as the days when by it seemed so awkward. Explaining apologies are awkward, when you don't seize the opportunity, and you think that they won't understand. I don't even know how well he speaks English. 

     I have been working on the skylight, but I need to fix it. I thought that it was good at 5x3.09016994 feet. I like using the Golden ratio. It is about 5x3 or 1.61803398875. After the designed the skylight, I decided to put a trim around it and the entire room. That was a little tricky because the fireplace is curved and the ceiling has a pitch. It's not a straight line from corner to corner on the curved service. I was trying to click on a 3D edge line, so the sweep could follow it; however revit did not recognize where the ceiling and the wall crossed as a line. I realized how Calculus would be useful. It took me a while to figure this out. I realized that I need an edge for the sweep to follow, and it could not come from the wall. I tried shortening the wall to make an edge. I created the edge by editing the boundary of the ceiling. I was so excited when I figured that out. I was not done though because I needed the trim to go around on the other side. That took a while, but when I completed that, I realized that my skylight is too small, and the roof is too high above the ceiling, making the skylight look bad. I need to redesign that now before I publish this journal entry. The skylight ended up being 7 feet wide.

     Today after church I met the in-laws in my uncle Allen's family. The unity of his family is great. I was able to meet Jeffrey’s wife, Jess, and I meet Hali Hicken’s fiance Daeson. They have many inside jokes, and their relationships are mature.

Oh. I forgot to say that I ran into a cowboy and a couple cowgirls, leading a cow herd on a run. I was literally on a run, when I passed them. Here are the pictures.

Faith not Fear:)

Heya Love!

Last week was a little crazy at first but then it all worked out perfectly. Last Monday was Sister Rudd's Missionary Dinner with President and the plan was for me to be temporary companions with other Sister whose companions were going home as well. Well we got to President's house and the other Sisters weren't there yet. So President told us all to come in and while there the Missionaries who were going home all got together as they prepared for dinner. I felt so out of place. I stood next to President and talked with him for a while. ( that was a blessing in itself because we rarely get one on one time with President) He asked about how Mom was doing, I told him that I hadn't heard from her that Monday but I was sure she was ok. He then said that if I was worried he could call her to check up on her:) That was a blessing to know that. I didn't know we could do that. Then the other Sisters finally came and guess what their companions didn't come with them. So President thought for a while and then turned and told me. Sister Koroitamana I am assigning you to serve at the Visitor's Centre tonight until 8:30 would you do that? I was like! YES! He walked me there (it's right next to his house) and that was a blessing too! and he told me that it was rare that Sister get called to the Visitor's Centre especially if they're not originally assigned to serve there. He promised that someone was going to walk in there tonight that needed to hear my testimony or that needed me to speak Fijian. I was in awe and grateful for that opportunity. That night I served in the Visitor's Centre and it was such a great blessing. The Sisters there and I had  a lesson with an investigator named Sammy she is from Japan and hardly speaks English. I didn't get to speak Fijian to her but I did get to share my testimony and it was exactly what we needed. Since Sammy couldn't speak or understand English well we really had to teach simple and it was such a blessing to be a part of that.

 

On Tuesday we had another companion join us. Her name is Sister Harrison and she is great. Wow! I feel really grateful and blessed to be with her. She will be my companion for when Sister Rudd leaves, Tonight is Sister Rudd's last night and tomorrow morning she'll be flying off to Idaho. It's been great to learn from her but I feel like since she knows she's about to go home there's not that much of a push in our companionship to be exactly obedient and become fully effective and I miss that and need that so much! So I am grateful that I can do that more fully now:) This last week we had a great lesson with 2 investigators named Tyron and Adriana. We accidentally texted Tyrone thinking he was another investigator and after we had set up a time to meet with him, we then realized that it wasn't who we thought we were texting. We had no idea who this guy was or how we even got his number. Well we explained who we were and what we do and asked if he still wanted to meet and Guess what?!? he said of course!!! we were all sooo Happy and really excited to meet this "tyrone" We finally met with him and guess what?!?! He brought his Girlfriend along!!! Aw that was such a blessing. We had an amazing lesson with them and learned that the both of them went to El Camino College right across church and Adriana for the longest time has been looking to come closer to God and feel of his love but just didn't know how. She had gone to Tyron's church but didn't really feel anything there and when we told her about the Book of Mormon she was really excited to read it. I feel that the Holy Ghost was definitely present in our lesson because that morning the things I had learnt and was practicing in my personal studies were brought back to my remembrance clearly and we were able to teach to their needs through the Spirit. It felt so good. Unfortunately Tyrone and Adriana don't live in our area so other Sisters will be teaching them.

 

I got to go on Exchanges with Sister Djanie this week (She is our Sister Trainer now and she was my Trainer) That was such a blessing. She has grown and changed for the better so much and being with her really motivated to continue to learn, apply and change:) I am grateful for that blessing:)

 

I am coming to love this "YSA" thing:) I feel a lot of the things I am having to learn and share come from most of the Experience I've had right before my Mission! Whew! I am so glad and grateful to have Great Friends that help me to choose the Right:)

 

I Love you Lots and Lots and Lots and Lots more!!!!

Sister Koroitamana 

My Full Interview for the LDS Single Friends

The Mormon YSA Blog Spot collaborates with The LDS Single Friends Facebook page, and Malcolm Hong wanted me to answer these questions in order for his audience to know where I came from.

1. What inspired you to come up with the Mormon Young Single Adult (YSA) Blog Spot?

    The Mormon Young Single Adult YSA Blog Spot was a vision that I acted upon after completing a journal. My original blog was too time consuming, so I decided to do this blog. My blog in the blog spot is and isn't an exemplary blog for the people that joined me. I publish my journal entries. Writing my journal digitally makes it very convenient. A lot of people keep journal writing private, but who are they writing for? They are writing for friends and family to get to know them. My personal blog is an example of an original cause. It is to advocate journal writing. My personal blog is not an example because it is not a model to follow. No writing style should be an template for people to follow. I want people to come up with a blog as original as mine, and publish with me. My blog is the first of the blog spot, and people felt deceived at first because my blog title was too broad. I needed to tell them that I am recruiting bloggers to join me. 

     A few life experiences inspired me to establish the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. I have been led to promote many people through social media, and these opportunities led me to organize it. The blog spot promotes blogs and individuals. My little brother's mission was my first opportunity, publicizing his letters, and I am currently running a blog of a dear sister missionary friend. I became used to copying and pasting their content into blogger; although, I don't copy and paste articles of blogs to the blog spot. When I began it, many bloggers, joining me, found it inconvenient to access the blogger website, so I let them send me their articles personally; then, I would publish their articles for them. Some people thought that a blog can only have one author, so people with easy access to the Internet sent me their compositions; however, I believe in self reliance, adding many people as authors to the blog spot. This let them to post whenever they wanted. 

A couple other websites inspired the Mormon YSA Blog Spot too. I have also written for a website where many bloggers use the same website. The Mormon mommy blog site was hosted on the Mormon Channel, and that inspired it too.

2. How have your personal experiences as a Mormon single adult prepared you to manage the blog spot? 

     First hand experiences, managing my brother's mission blog, promoting a friend in her life goals, and seeking to bring the blogging content to its audience are main experiences that led me to manage the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. I will write about these three experiences. 
     Running my little brother's mission blog, I ran quickly into criticism because I wrote my perspective on the content. This also reflected family relations, so I learned not to be a host, putting my spin on things. First hand experiences like this crafted my skills in social media. Once a blogger, you instantly become a public figure, so you need to understand that facing the world is more immediate. 
     I served my mission in Jamaica, and a random Jamaican Mormon girl added me on Facebook, looking for friends. Our friendship gave me one of my first experiences representing an identity successfully. This Jamaican girl is named Dadrie, and she wanted to be a music pop star. I knew that it doesn't take that much effort to be a musician in Jamaica, so we decided to work on this. I also knew that the fashion industry has close relations with the music industry. Dadrie's sister spontaneously recorded her singing because she was a little shy, but I shared this video with a friend of mine that trained models for a living. She contacted a producer, and he wanted to make a song with Dadrie. I was her manager for her music career. I was negotiating with the producer, and I practiced my passion for communication with him to have good relations and professional conversation. She could have produced a song with an award winning composer, but Dadrie let school and a mission get in the way. She was never able to produce the song. Communication is important especially in social media because it is so easy to be misunderstood when writing. This professionalism in communicating was a necessary skill in developing and talking to so many people about the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. 
     Lastly, the responsibility to run the blog for a sister from my home stake was given to me because the promoter of the blog was not reaching the audience of the letters home. The sister missionary is named Joanna. After about 6 months into her mission, I found out that the person, running her blog was merely tagging Joanna in her Facebook statuses, when her letters were published. The original person running the blog is named Krista. The audience was only Krista's friends, and Joanna and her mutual friends on Facebook. I was one of Joanna's closest friends, and I was not seeing her blog articles advertised. If I was not part of the audience, the audience of her blog was not being reached. I approached Krista, and I asked if I can work the social network to bring the articles to its audience. I set up a Facebook page for her blog, and I found out, if I tag Joanna as the page all of her friends will see the pictures that she sends home. I figured out a way to reach all of her friends, the stake, and our singles' branch. After a while, the person, running the website, could no longer do it, so I was given responsibility to format the blog posts and advertising. 
     The promotion of individuals; the development of skills, representing people; and understanding and reaching the audience has given and led me to opportunities. Some are self-made like the Mormon YSA Blog Spot.

3. As you’ve managed your blog spot, what blog posts have you found particularly insightful or inspiring?

     Blog posts, where I collaborate with the bloggers of the Mormon YSA Blog Spot, are insightful. We have writers from all over the world. These articles are usually inspired by conversations, discussing real life situations. "You know what great things i witnessed last sunday?" by Camille Ramos was a conversation that I had with her, and she told this story to me. Camille is from the Philippines. (http://mormonysa.blogspot.com/2014/02/you-know-what-great-things-i-witnessed.html) 
     One article that I published recently was with a sister named Lesego Mholo. We were talking, and she spoke of comforting and sustaining the young women in her calling responsibilities. She expressed so much love with deep description. I wanted to merely publish our conversation, but the writers of the Mormon YSA Blog Spot are so anxiously engaged in a good cause that she committed to compose an article with her extensive comprehension of love. She is from South Africa, and her first draft was incomprehensible. Serving my mission in Jamaica, I was surprised that the broken English of both countries are very similar. I don't really edit the articles of bloggers in the blog spot because that is their job, but I am not going to publish an article that cannot be understood. I had her do a second draft. Since Lesego never got back to me, I asked her one Sunday what she meant in the first draft, going through each sentence. After about an hour, we had a comprehensible article on love. This article is called "happy is he who can discover the causes of things in old latin." Here is the link. (http://mormonysa.blogspot.com/2014/05/happy-is-he-who-can-discover-causes-of.html)

4. Mormons are no strangers to blogging, but generally speaking, there are relatively few Mormon blogs written by Mormon single adults. Do you have an opinion on why there are relatively few Mormon single adult bloggers, and do you feel this is a missed opportunity?

     I would not say that there are relatively few single adult bloggers. This is why I organized the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. The Mormon mother blogs are very organized, but we are not. We are singles, a bunch of individuals with powerful testimonies. This is why I knew that my idea would succeed. I remember one person on Facebook, commenting that my idea would fail. I knew that it could not fail because many single adults are blogging. They are always looking to widen their audience, and I give them another tool for publicizing their articles. I want the blog spot to be a reflection of the single adults around the world, so I don't leave out the blogger's articles that someone might think is inappropriate. This also is important for the culture of the blog spot. If I share only preferred articles, I am showing judgment and intolerance. I can't do this with my bloggers especially, if I want to build a community and original content. Learning to tolerate people is important for community. If people don't feel like they can fit in, they look for fellowship and acceptance in other places. 
     A blog is the person's personal ministry and life. Their example should not be preachy. A Brigham Young University - Idaho graduation speech by Elder M. Russell Ballard called "Making Your Influence Felt" taught that we should let our-true-selves be expressed. (http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Graduation/2008_04_11_Ballard.htm) If you love dancing, do a dancing blog. If you are an avid movie guy, you can critic movies. BTW Those posts are popular. There is so much talent in the world, and it should not be hidden and lost. Our passions no matter what they are will be a great witness that the Gospel has been restored. Don't hid your testimony. I recently listened to a talk by Russell M. Nelson, and he encouraged us to let our faith show. Your example is not about the words that you say, but how you live the Gospel. You don't even need to be good at writing. People will see your effort and example, and they will bear with you.

5. In your opinion, how do Mormon single adult bloggers bring a unique perspective to the Mormon blogosphere and why is their contribution so valuable?

     Single adult bloggers bring an unique perspective to the Mormon blogosphere because we have an ability to pursue our passions more directly. Usually married people put their family first. The many different lifestyles makes the blogs very diverse. I never read a mommy blog, but I would imagine that they all have a similar theme.

6. You mentioned that you created the Mormon Young Single Adult (YSA) Blog Spot because united individual Mormon single adult bloggers can stand as a more powerful witness of the gospel. As Mormon single adults, how can we better support each other to create unity and build Zion in our local communities?  

     One thing that I realized in my social media experience is that content creates a community. Content in this circumstance is a consistent feed of links, pictures, or conversations in a network. I mentioned this revelation to a social media specialist. I don't know if I made a difference, but I saw that the stake and branch group pages started to thrive because I added Joanna's blog posts there, and other people added content. I made a group one time for my family, and there was no community because the content was not consistent. Communities can be made online, but how can we build Zion? Zion is not our social media pages. 
     Zion are our homes; although, we are single. Social media gives a means of communication. Communication is very important to Zion, coordinating with each other, listening to each other, serving each other, etc. I would encourage you to develop the character inside to be a witness of Christ through repentance, so you can be worthy of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, having a pure intent to serve, the tongue of angels, to mourn with the comfortless that need to be heard and strengthened , the pure love of Christ, and the character to be a trusted representative of Christ. Blogging and journal writing can be a tool of expression, developing integrity, and winning trust because people feel like they need to live up to their word. Being unknown to your peers, family, and friends can let mysterious hidden things happen, if we are not open enough to communicate. Closing off yourself destroys families, friendships, and communities. Let us work together in unity and humility to employ all effective means of communication to coordinating Zion, the pure in heart.

7. What is your vision for the Mormon Young Single Adult Blog Spot and how do you hope to make a positive impact in the Mormon YSA community?

     My vision is for as many single adult bloggers that would like to join us to add their content to the blog spot. I don't call MormonYSA.blogspot.com a blog, but I call it a blog spot for many people's blog. If you want to add your content to the blog spot, but you want maintain to promoting your personal blog, that is fine. I will promote your articles separately as part of the blog spot. I hope that the bloggers of the Mormon YSA Blog Spot will promote their articles in the blog spot as if it were their own personal blog. 
     I ran into many people that did not have good internet access, but they still wanted to blog. You can still join by sending your articles in a message to the Mormon YSA Blog Spot page, and I will publish it for you. I can also add you as an author, if you would like to write for the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. Don't worry about the Y, if you are too old. We have single adult bloggers, sharing their content with us. 
     Many of the bloggers of the Mormon YSA Blog Spot are inactive, so most of the articles shared on the page are not from MormonYSA.blogspot.com. Their inactivity is my fault, and that is a long story. I have 31 blogs that I follow, sharing their new articles. This is my back up plan for the blog spot at this time. I hope to rebuild the blog spot. This new partnership with LDS Single Friends is inspiring.

How do you hope to make a positive impact in the Mormon YSA community?

    There are many ways to use blogging to serve each other. I have never had the life experience of losing a loved one, but a few of my bloggers have. I have shared the articles on the subject of death to a friend, who lost a loved one, so they can be comforted more quickly. 
    Blogs are a part of communities. I can't explain all the positive impacts of blogs on the community. In general, it strengthens the faith of the readers.

Posted

This blog post brought to you by none other than the talented Elder Nate Storey. "C'mon Elder Lopez, sycophancy is so beneath you..." You shut your mouth...

Hello readers I going to tell you about one of the greatest Disney movies of all time. "Cinderella?" No! "Sleeping beauty?" Not even close. It's Tangled. 

People will watch this but won't
even give MLP a chance...
-Elder Lopez

In the movie Tangled, Rapunzel lives in a tower hidden in the woods. (Why they make random towers in the woods, I'll never know...) She lives there with her mother who has told her never to leave the tower because it is "dangerous." (Which is technically true, but the REAL reason her mother doesn't want her to leave is because she is using Rapunzel's magic hair to keep herself young. It's magic. It's Disney) every year on her birthday Rapunzel sees floating lights rise up into the sky from her tower window. She wants more then anything to know what these are but she can't from her tower and her mother refuses to take her to see them or to let her leave the tower cause she's one of those evil stepmother type figures.

While the mother is out, a notorious thief by the name of Flynn Rider barely manages to escape capture after a great and relatively easy heist and seeks refuge in Rapunzel's tower which doesn't go as well as he would've hoped. One would think that a naive eighteen year old Disney character would be easy to manipulate, but then again I don't have my own Disney movie... Yet. After some negotiation Flynn agrees to take Rapunzel to the kingdom to see the floating lanterns in exchange for his bag which has the stolen crown in it.

The journey is not easy.

Now that I remember, this was a fantastic movie!
-Elder Lopez

They run into palace guards who want to arrest Flynn for his crimes, bandits who want revenge on Flynn, a near death experience, and horse named Maximus that is determined to bring Flynn to justice. As you probably could've deduced, Flynn isn't very well liked. It might be the nose though. But through all these trials they endure and keep going towards the kingdom.

The hardest of all these trials is and the one that cuts the deepest is when Rapunzel's mother finds her and tells her that she needs to come home with her. When Rapunzel refuses, her mother tells her that she is being foolish to trust in Flynn. She tells Rapunzel that Flynn doesn't care about her and he just wants his bag back. Her mother leaves telling that she will find out the hard way that what she says is true. (Which is actually a technique Satan is very infamous for, it's called a half-truth.)

But it's still no MLP...
-Elder Lopez

The next day Flynn takes her to the kingdom and Rapunzel has a great time at the celebration before the lanterns. She learns the lanterns are for the lost princess and the King and queen the release them in hopes she will come home. When Rapunzel sees the lanterns rise into the sky it is more amazing then she ever imagined. She comes to learn that she is the lost princess. Because of the journey to see the floating lights she finds her real parents a new home and a new friend in Flynn.

It is the same for us. Each of us has a Heavenly Father who so desperately wants us to come home much like the King and queen of the kingdom. He sends the spirit and the gospel to draw us back to him and we may want to know but we can't always understand what it is or how it will help us from where we are at. We have to investigate the gospel. There are some in or lives that will try to keep us from the light because they don't understand it and they don't think we need it just like the mother tried to keep

You want clever songs? MLP's got that.
You want animation, it's got that too.
-Elder Lopez

Rapunzel from leaving, they'll use clever words and half truths to keep us from discovering the truth for ourselves. But there are also Flynn Riders in our lives, people that help guide us through the journey to the gospel. It might be missionary or just a friend who is a member. Though the journey is not easy and there will be those who try to tell us our friends can't be trusted or we are being gullible or foolish, it'll be worth it because when we finally "see the light" and realize all the gospel is and all that God has in store for us it is more wonderful then we can imagine. We discover that we are a child of God. The trials of the journey aren't so hard because of the joy we find in the Gospel.

I'm just saying, give it a chance, you just never know where true happiness lies...
(It's in the Gospel but MLP definitely helps.)
-Elder Lopez

Good Morning

we had a huge miracle this week so we has an appointment fall through with a young women, we went over to visit but she fell asleep and so we asked her family to wake her up and she wouldnt so we left. As we were about to leave we saw her older brother pull in so i told my companion that we should go talk to him, so we walked up to him and said hi. I asked him if he had some time, he said yes but im starving, so i said its ok we will just talk to you while you eat, he said ok. so he warmed up his dinner and we were just asking him get to know you questions. so he is a 22 year old boy who hasnt gone to church in years and does things he shouldnt be doing. i admite that is was aqward talking to him at first, but then i asked him the sould searching question: "do you see yourself serving a mission?" he said honestly no i never even thought of it, i would be a good missionary becasue of some things that i struggle with, and so i asked him what is it that keeps you from going? he said he had anger issues and he also asked that if he can go even if he had a family and we said no.he said he wanted a kid and that he wants to settle down. My companion asked him if hes recieved his patriarcal blessing? he said no and we explained to him what it is , he seemed really intrested in getting one especially the part that it tells you about the potential that you have and the gifts heavenly will give you if you work for it. my companion explained that hers inspired her to go on a mission. he asked if he had to be active in the church for that and we said yes. Then we started talking about the mission and how much we have learned and how much it will bless us in our future families, and all the while i was picturing his future with his kids and wife having a picninc near the temple and they were super happy and he had already served a mission and he married a wonerfull women and then he asked what are you thinking about and i told about about your future. he said that we seemed more excited than he was. then he told us that that same exact day he was thinking that he was going to go visit his ex and ask her to live with him and have a baby with her. but that he thought it was crasy that just we crossed paths at that moment and now we are talking about  his future, he recognized that God had a hand in his life at that moment. We think he really started taking the mission seriously becasue he started asing lots of wuestionsand he was getting nervous/excited.  we left feeling so spiritually edified we were so happy and our testimonies about Heavenly father and his love for us grew inormously, we know that the spirit guided that lesson conversation and that we can always be an answer to someones prayer even if they dont have tons of faith God is simpy jsut always there.

well love you and don't forget to say your prayers!!

we took an investigating family to the Visitors center!! they loved it! this is the Dad he has a lot of random questions is very difficult to teach  but we love them and are going to teach them with more scriptures from the bible to help him understand the need for a restoration of the Church of Christ

"an awakening of how short the time that I have here is" by Sister Koroitamana

Hello Friends!

How've you been?

 

This week is Sister Rudd's last full week as a Missionary and Being with Sister Rudd has really given me somewhat of an awakening of how short the time that I have here is. The whole week just watching her trying to accept the fact that she'll be going home soon was really hard. It really made me want to give the Lord my best and really persevere and enjoy till the end.

 

We have an investigator named Erika. She's amazing! She met Missionaries in Irvine College where she goes to school and she's home for the Summer and will be getting baptized on September 7th! I can't believe it'll be September soon. She is sooo excited! She loves the Book of Mormon. In one of our lessons with her we had asked her about what the Book of Mormon was to her and she said simply "it's the Book I love to read" :) Erika is a Blessing. We are also teaching another guy named Gary. He is Funny! We hadn't been able to meet with him much this week but although we couldn't get a hold of him he still came to church!!! He loved it and is doing great. We are hoping to set a Baptismal Date with him this week:)

 

This past weekend our YSA Branch hosted a dance for all the YSA's in the Area. We went over to help them set up and stuff. As we were preparing they turned off the lights and brought the bright lights on the dance floor and the DJ started playing music. Oh my Goodness I can't really describe how I felt when that happened. But I just felt so scared and knew that we couldn't be there. I told my companion that we needed to go and I was so glad that she felt the same. A member had told us in that in the past there were some Missionaries who had stayed for the dance and had joined them too. I was like oh No!  We came back home and I reflected on what had just happened and I was a little shocked at how I felt and it felt good to know that I've come to rely on the spirit so much that I'm so scared to lose his companionship in my life.

 

Also I am serving in my first stake again and it's really great to be back. We visited a family that I had visited almost a year ago now when I was serving in Manhattan Beach and it was so great to see them all!!! Their children who are not members were home and it was perfect because they were YSA age:) Their names are Avy, Robert and Aris. We have Bible studies every Thursdays and it was so great because they all came to that and had a great time:) Their Father (Brother Rainey) is super less active. He is such a good person. He served a Mission as well and I don't really know what happened. I'm praying that in teaching his children the Lord will touch his heart and help him come back to church.

 

We had Zone conference this week as well and it was so good! Oh I needed that:)

I love you!!!

Sister Koroitamana

August 9, 2014

     I seem to always be a week behind in my journal, but I am somewhat caught up. I am currently on a flight to Salt Lake City for an exciting job in Heber City. This opportunity has come very sudden, but it was slow in the making too, which probably means I did not expect to be given the opportunity. During this past week, I went back to my work at the Oakland Temple as an ordinance worker for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was planning on switching to the Tuesday day shift, but I was given this job opportunity. I think that I already began writing a journal entry for this week. Since it is not synced on to my laptop, I am going to have to write it all over again. The Oakland Temple went through a lot of renovations, but the topic that I would have taken a picture of in the renovation is not complete. I did design a fireplace for Shaundra's house. I have an image of that to share, but I don't know if I like it. The topic that I began writing about last time was hanging out with a group of my Young Single Adult Branch.

     When I returned to the branch, there were three new people, and I did not feel too much acceptance from them. Trevor, my little brother, insisted on hanging out with them while he does not feel the acceptance from them much either. I joined them anyways. After institute we went to the Boardwalk. It was nice to hang out at the Boardwalk. I enjoyed the rides that we went on, but I felt alienated from the other people that we hung out with because I was not chill with them. I would not say that it was worth my time and money. I would say that it was basically hanging out with Trevor. We went on two rides. The Big Dipper, which did not impress me much, was somewhat enjoyable. I enjoyed the second ride better. It was the double shot. We thought of some ideas to improve the thrill ride because it only shot you up about 100 feet, letting us fall after, and it did that twice. We thought that randomizing the pattern of the ride would make it more thrilling. The original idea that I thought of was after it shot up, if it had the thrill ride rod, or whatever you want to call the structure, reached into the earth; that would be a thrill, and the ride should say in the ground for a period of time, so the general public would not know how far that it goes in the earth. I wanted the ride to fall for more time. It only fell for about 5 seconds, if that. I am more excited about my opportunity that all the thrill of that night at the Boardwalk.

     A couple weeks before the Spring semester ended, Trevor told me about a family business that he toured while the family was on a family vacation. It is a granite query. The most impressive part of the tour was a saw that he described was granite, but it required water. I imagine it as a water blade. Trevor recommended that I take an internship with them, if I can do that it would be a second choice. I want to intern at an architectural firm; preferably a small one. I did want to work with Trevor's idea because the company is a supplier for the construction industry, and I am interested in learning their relationship with the industry. I was hoping on finding a job as in the construction industry over the summer, but I wanted to prepare my portfolio first. I am happy that I have a job before I completed my portfolio or applied anywhere else. I am really excited to work with the company because it is a family business. Another impressive thing that Trevor told me about his tour was that the company revealed that they are providing the stone for the second new Provo temple. I have no idea what I will be doing. I am use to working production. My mother and a friend of hers thinks that I am going to be working in an office. She kind of prepared me for anything too. The person that I was recommended to contact is Aaron Hicken, a manager at Delta. I don't know the official name of the company, but I know that Delta is part of the name. Aaron is pretty cool. My mother remembered that he drove me around on a four wheeler once during a family reunion, and she recovered the photo, giving it to me. I don't remember the experience well, but I remember the photo.

     Talking about photos and temples, I really look forward to seeing a photo of the re-installation of the Oakland Temple's waterfall. It was part of the temple's original design. I was hoping to get a picture of where it is going to be, but I forgot my phone. I could have gotten it with Trevor's phone was I was distracted with informing my new boss that I prepared to arrive in Utah tonight. After I was set apart as an ordinance working the temple president told me all he could recall about the renovations that took place. The Oakland temple had the oldest wiring of all the temples of the Church, but it was completely updated. That was impressive to me. That takes a lot of work. They completely remodeled the bathrooms on the baptistery and the sealing floors. It was so funny. The new bathroom in the men's locker-room is much larger than before. Trevor did not have the spatial capabilities to comprehend how they got more room for the bathroom, but I do know how they did it. They just removed a section of the ordinance room locker room.

I love serving as an ordinance worker in the temple, and I always seek to serve when I am home. The Oakland Temple President has always blessed me with the ability to recall the words of the ordinances. I was thrown in to serve in the initiatory and the name booth without question. When I first confirmed an anointing, I paused to say the right words, and I felt the spirit tell me the next words to say. Waiting for another witness, other ordinance words told me the words to say. After the first ordinance, I knew that the spirit was with me to lead my service, and I had no problems recalling the words of the ordinances. It is so wonderful and joyous to serve in the temple. I always encourage people when I write about my temple service. The Oakland temple is always in need of volunteers. Don't be afraid. Don't procrastinate opportunities to serve. A counselor in the temple presidency thanked me for my service; although, I was only able to serve one week. He pointed out that many people always procrastinate volunteering in the temple, and he likes that I do not procrastinate my service in the house of the Lord.

When the temple president was telling me about all the upgrades in the temple, he revealed something that I always wondered about. I see all over the place in the temple a square or a tall rectangle without a bottom, and I had no clue why the architect persisted on that design. The temple president thinks that it represents mansions as written in the scripture. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” In the Celestial room, the wood finish is lined with these tall rectangles, and he imagines them as rows of mansions. He said this because many parts of the celestial room was fixed. There were many little things to do.

      Shaundra wants a fireplace in her master bedroom, and I did see one place that feels fitting for it. I work a lot of times on the building at the top view of the building, so I am not sure that I like it, seeing it from inside. I think that it looks too long, but the design is not bad. It has 14 square feet, which is pretty big. One thing that I liked is that I had the back wall of the fireplace as glass, so people on the deck can enjoy it. A deck for the master bedroom is not part of the original design, but I don’t need to follow the original design. I don't think that there much to explain. The fireplace curves from an angle parallel to the bed, bending towards another wall. The floor and the walls of the fireplace are brick. The interior wall is stone, and the barrier, preventing the ashes or whatever to get on the carpet is porcelain, but I hoped that I would be another stone.

     It is now August eleventh, and I finished my first day of work at Delta Stone Products less than 2 hours ago. I had to go through a drug test, which took a lot longer than expected, giving me about 3 hours of physical work. The work is production, so I am use to the work. The station that I was placed at was surprisingly similar to the work that I do at Santa Cruz Nutritionals. There are people that feed stone into saws, which cuts it about one inch thick, for we are producing 1 inch veneer. The cuts of stone are dropped on a conveyor belt, and I use my sorting eyes to see if the veneer is too thin or too thick; then I palatalize the veneer of a proper width. Most of my coworkers speak Spanish, so I did not escape that work environment. We have gigantic saws probably, having a diameter longer than ten feet, that cuts the stone. During the tour of the plant, I saw my coworkers, carving segments of the new Provo temple. The tour guide said that there are going to be parts of the temple that seems to be windows, but it is stone.

     Since I have come to Utah, Bruce, my uncle, picked me up, and I stayed the night with them until Sunday. I got to meet Avery, who is my Joanna's daughter. Joanna is Bruce's daughter. I am more comfortable with playing with Eve and Ezra. During the weeks they often time visit my grandparent's house, so I have enjoyed playing with them.

Avery loves her grandfather a lot. They dance and sing together. She loves to listen and sing along to a Messiah CD, the classics by Handel. I didn't feel comfortable enough around her to play. I stuck an end of a jump rope in the couch, so we might play, but she wasn't up for it. She stuck the jump rope in the couch, and played with my uncle though.

     This last paragraph of this journal entry is somewhat dedicated to Eve and Ezra for the chances that they read this when they can. I should give them a copy of this as a gift before I go. The great relationship that they give me gives me a hint of how fatherhood is. There is so much love in their eyes, and Eve's love is not containable. They are the children of Billy, the son of Carl. Carl is my uncle. They are a lot of fun. I was bummed that she did not remember me. It makes sense, since she is so young. I only met her once before at Thanksgiving a couple years ago. Ezra talks now. He is three years old now. I wish that there is somehow that our great relationship can be preserved in mortality. Both of them will probably forget me again, when I leave. I don't know how much that I remember from my childhood. She is 6 years old. On Sunday evening Eve showed me to all her best friends, and we stayed out until after 9. I met Danica and Katie, and we all rode bicycles around. I was surprised, adding a lot of fun to the evening, when Ezra was riding his tricycle I saw that there are foot placement things, so I can ride on the back. The joy from this activity endured so long that Eve jumped on the tricycle too, and all three of us enjoyed it. Eve introduced me to another best friend of hers, and we played on the trampoline. Danica and Katie did not enjoy the bigger kids, playing on it. The girl, who was the best friend of Eve, was about 8 years old. As I was jumping around avoiding being taken down because that was the game of the girl, who owned the trampoline, I accidentally broke the trampoline. I loved playing with the children because they enjoyed the little things of the experience. I don't need to do back flips or front flips. I was not raised with a trampoline, so I have none of those skills. We found this weird tree that grows wooden flowers, and we visit it most every day that we hang out. We also hang out at a stream/gutter. I was going to publish this article a couple days ago, but they love to play so much. I could not have them wait. Yesterday we went on a walk further than my grandpa would like. Since we were just around the corner of doing a few things that I wanted to do personally, I decided to do them. Eve wanted to come along, but they could not come. I saw in her eyes a disappointment and a deep longing to be with me. They always ask for me when they come home. I said that Eve's love in not containable because I have a couple cute experiences. On Monday evening, I was going to a hay party, and Eve & Ezra were going to a wedding reception. When we had to go our separate ways, Eve stood in front of me with a look that she wanted to express her love for me, and she jumped toward me, giving me a hug. The second experience was similar. We were talking on the porch, and she put her arm on my shoulder. As we were talking, she said one of the cutest things that I ever heard to the effect of. 'There are some people that I can't resist smiling when I am around them.'

     I might as well conclude with the rest of this week so far. I went to the hay party put on by John Robert Hicken. I believe that he is my grandpa's brother. There were a lot of little kids. I got a video, and you can see them all. We are riding the slip in the video. I must of looked like a very random guy; although, a few cousins were cool with me. Joel and Mack are my coworkers, and Joel recognized me because we worked together that day. I saw Mack at the factory, but I didn't meet them there. The third cousin that was chill with me is named John. The family had a four wheeler that had about 6 seats, hanging of the back. It kind of looked like a rollercoaster. I didn't feel like trying it because it didn't look comfortable, not having padding, and they looked small. After all the dinner and fun, we had family home evening. John Robert told the story how the farm land was acquired, saying that an ancestor was given the land by a prophet. I assume it was because they were living the Law of Consecration. He gave land to the people to create main street and the city of Heber, but the land was swampy, so another person gave better land for the same purpose. I don't remember anything else said by John Robert or Allison, his wife.

     Yesterday after work I took a picture of the new Zion's Bank, which is one of the latest completed projects of Delta Stone Products. At work I feel like I am working out all day long, unpacking and lifting the stones to be put through a machine that cuts the stone, making it about an inch thick veneer. I learned how to break rock up to 8 inches thick with a hammer on Tuesday, and I learned how to use a sledge hammer today, which is now Wednesday the 13th. I basically have done this one thing the past two days, unpacking and lifting the stone.

     I miss Eve and Ezra today.