"Things a product or app review needs" by Trevor Hicken

This is a basic guide or layout and suggestions to writing a great product or app review. It is not all encompassing to all types of hardware or apps. Feedback and correcting this is welcome as always. I have written with mobile devices and apps in mind, but can be used for any type of hardware, computer, or software.

First of all, a good product/app review should include an overview of what it is it you are going to review. The different aspects and parts of the product.

First impressions: The purpose of starting with the first impressions to give an idea of how it is to experience the device hands-on and your thoughts.  For a device or gadget, A great review includes the initial unboxing with the first impressions. Pictures and videos are worth a thousand word. (Tell that to your professor ) (The higher the quality the better.) First impressions means your initial reaction and response at first use and open.For example, for a phone you might want to tell about:

• the form factor (candybar, slider, flip, etc)
• how it fits in your hand. (Can you hold it firming?)
• the class of phone it is.(Does the material used feel like quality?)
• the weight felt in hand. (Not the exact weight but what it feels like)
• the texture (rough, glossy, matte, sharp)
• whether it has a keyboard (three, four row, or five row layout) and physical buttons. How are they? (Clicky or mushy)
• Stylus?

Tell us what you think! Tell us as if we are your friends, because we are!

The description of the hardware: Next up, A good review includes a extraordinary description down to the tiniest details. Personally I read reviews to know if the product is right for me. The smallest things make the biggest difference and is usually the deciding factor, the make-or-break in a device. Within the Description of the hardware or in the end of the review it’s a nice to know the technical specifications. These are the:

Weight and dimensions (164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29mm- height, width, depth)

Internal capacity ( 8GB, 32 GB, 64 GB etc.and if it;s expandable with external memories)

The components (the processor: quad-core 2.1 GHz snapdragon 800, ram, etc.)

Camera (Type, ex. 4MP UltraPixel, 8MP, 13MP...)

You get it.

We usually carry our devices in our pockets or bags. I want a comfortable phone.Tell us about the aesthetics of the device i.e.:

• The curves or edges
• thinness
• The material used
• Placement of the ports and keys ( power button, microUSB, volume buttons, headphone jack and anything else)
• Include any resistances it has also, waterproof, dustproof...

In a complete review of a device, the hardware can be further broken down into five categories:

Sound/Audio- Let us know what you thought. We want to know if our beats or shows will be heard the quality it is streamed or downloaded.

• Does it have stereo speakers?
• Are they front facing? How do they sound; clear, loud, muffled, quiet?
• Where are they located, can they be easily covered or obstructed?

We want to know if we will be able to hear our loved ones and if they will hear us.

• Is the microphone's sound perceptible? Is the phone ear piece loud enough?

Screen- A great review has a good look at the display. Readers want to know if it will be visible at night, in daylight, and if their friend can watch on the next music video in full HD. If the photo they took will appear accurately on screen.

• What type of display it is? (IPS, OLED, AMOLED)
• Resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels)
• How are its viewing angles?
• Are the blacks black or lit up?
• How are the colors? Vibrant, or do they look washed out?
• Does it turn bright
• Is the touch input precise? Capacitive, resistive?

Battery- We love to use our devices, some of us would us it all day if we could but energy depletes.

• Does the battery store enough to last all day with normal everyday use?
• Is it removable?

Tell us about your experience over a period of time. Maybe a week

Connectivity-  Transferring files over a cable is always a hassle so please provide details here.

• Does it have the latest Bluetooth technology?
• Is it 4G/LTE compatible?
• Does it have NFC or Qi wireless charging?

Camera- This might be one of the hottest topics in the phone industry and the most important to us the readers. I’m not too knowledgably about cameras, but I would like to know if any videos or pictures I take at a rock concert will come out clear. Show a few examples for us to see.

• Does it have real zoom? How far?
• How is the flash?
• Does it have Optical Image Stabilization?
• Is it sharp?
• Can it take good macro?

I know this can be an entirely separate post depending on the reviewer, but give us your best shot.

The description of the software/app: Thirdly readers want to know if the phone’s/device’s software is worth the buy. A tablet might have all the best specs, but stuck on a ancient version of Android or Windows Mobile. People want to know if the OS is powerful enough to run a intense videogame, yet simple enough to navigate to the picture you downloaded on the internet and set it as a wallpaper. Most devices being reviewed are running a version of Android so let us know what!

• What version of Android is preinstalled? Is it actively receiving updating? (Very you’re really geeky, can it be rooted and does it have good developer support from the MIUI community or XDA?)
• Does it include a lot of bloatware, ie. carrier specific apps,a custom UI.
  
  
  • If it does have a custom UI is it easier or prettier than stock UI or clunky and unnecessary.
  • Does it improve upon base stock UI or features (example: a la tinted statusbar, improved recent apps, better lock screen, feature rich core apps.
  • Is it gimmicky?

User Experience (UX)- So we’ve told about the hardware and software what more can be said? The most important is last. The user experience. You’ve bought the phone, gadget, tablet, device. We want to know how it’s working for you.

• Is it fun to use?
• Does it have many apps in its market?
• After weeks or months has your experience maintained to be fun, or has it deprecated?

If it lacks anything, what? If you could change anything about it what would you change?

App review- If it's an app its sightly different and shorter. It despends more on your taste. Some people favor the “holo” design”. Please tell us about it

• Does it use the "hamburger slide menu?
• Immersive mode? Transparency?
• What versions of Android can it be installed on?
• Are the menus logical?
• Are the buttons reachable (differs in hand size and device?} Is there a tablet UI?
• What do you use it for?

Include high quality 

screenshots and/or videos 

if possible.

Thanks and hopefully this helps people write great reviews and inspires readers to become reviewers and make MIUI better.

-chillpenguin 

Anything else? Let us know. We want to make this the go to site for your reviews. I'm learning everyday and I love criticism.

March 8, 2014

This past week has been uneventful as it has been since the concerts. I have endured many mental exertions. I feel very mentally exhausted tonight. They come in two; of course. I got my first speeding ticket, and Facebook is trying to rip apart the Mormon YSA Blog Spot, which is a conspiracy theory.
I learned that being completely obedient to the will of God is important. You may ask what does speeding have to do with the will of God. It is to witness that you are a representative of Christ. I am one of those people that drives within the speed limit 95% of the time, but driving on Highway 17 people usually drive with various speeds, since the speed limit is usually 65 miles an hour, but the speed limit changes, ranging from 50 to 65 miles an hour. I usually don't worry about speed just as long as I don’t drive over 70 miles an hour; furthermore, I am one of those drivers that sticks to the speed limit at all times, driving to work in the morning, whenever one else is speeding. Highway 17 is just the one place that I justify speeding. I usually don't fear cops because I drive within the speed limit, so when the cop went to pull me over I took my time to get off the road. Highway 17 rarely has a shoulder, so there is no good places; plus, I can be a little slow mentally. The cop said that I could be put in jail for making him follow me for so long. I figured that it messed with many other people mentally too. The cop may have feared that anything could happen because he doesn't know me. All he knows is that I don't follow the law. He asked me where I was caming from, and I said from the Oakland temple. Now he may think that Mormons don't sustain and honor the law especially how I spoke to him as if I don't fear him. I felt like everything was telling me about ways that I am not completely obedient the next morning at work. I was working at the flowrapper. I have not worked at this production line until the past few weeks; although, I have worked at the factory for a couple years. I feel that this line has the most cool people work there, being exclusive. I figured that I could do just fine working within my responsibility by my past experience, declining the need to be trained. This line demands a high standard of obedience, and they were telling all of these particular expectations. I also figured that the person palletizing before me was doing it correctly. I learned that following after the example of the person ahead is not good because you are following the traditions of men, which is probably incorrect. The person palletizing before me was not following the guidelines of the institution, and I showed my colleagues that I was not teachable or obedient. Another thing that told me to be more observant is an email from my university. I used my personal email address, and they want me to email them with my BYUI email address in order to for them to verify me as their student. I figured that my independent ways are not always right; although, it is simpler for me. I should ponder why policies are established before I continue with my ways, when working with an institution. A last principle that I learned plague my mind for half of a work day much like the other precepts that I learned. I realized how fragile life is, when I am not completely obedient, for I should be receiving my ticket in a few weeks and the mail and I need to make a court date, accomplishing everything before I go back to school next month. What if I go to jail as the police officer said that is a possibility, since it took me so long to pull over? My whole life could be derailed because of this small traffic violation. I felt deeply depressed, and, praying for relief, I was blessed with a simple revelation, for I emailed, a dear friend, serving a mission, Hermana Joanna Salas in the knick of time when she was emailing family and friends. She asked to send me pictures of the branch, and as I was doing that. I realized that I should forget myself as he told President Hinkley, when he was struggling on his mission. I came in to work for my break with a completely different attitude from depressed to joyful. I am actually grateful for this ticket, for it is a rebuking from God telling me to return to him.
Additional revelations and repentance that I have done has to do with prayer. In BYUI, a general authority said that we should pray in the morning after we get dressed and are ready for the day rather than a routine thoughtless prayer right as we wake up. I applied this in my life, and I usually had my first prayer at my first meal; however, this did not work well for me because I justified not praying before my meals because I might be eating with someone, and I did not want to interrupt our social interaction. So prayer became rare for a while. I felt these two concepts were errors, but I never humbled myself until I committed myself to be completely and exactly obedient. When I prayed to start my next day properly, I felt so joyous. Another principle of prayer that I am practicing is one that I feel that I have been avoiding because it requires a change in habit in speak in prayer alone. When we pray to God, we should speak to him with respect using the words thee, thy, thou, thine, and so forth. I changed my language to avoid the synonymous words of you, your, and yours in the past. My prayer have become more sincere and mindful to come to God, having a real relationship with my Heavenly Father. I have been feeling that praying should be my new pass time, for there are so many things that pray about. I feel that prayer is a special principle set aside from the commandments. Prayer is our means to communicate with God. We should not lloo at it as a commandment, but a joy as every communication requires great effort.
My second mind exhausting situation is that my Mormon YSA Blog Spot blogging model transgressed Facebook's model of networking, which is to befriend the people that you know outside of the social network only. Most other social networks are set up to not take this so seriously, but Facebook is taking this seriously for some reason. I was chatting with many people, inviting them to blog with us, adding bloggers as friends on Facebook until Facebook told me that I have been reported to be sending friend requests to people that I don't know like a spammer. I did not do this, so I just complied with their accusation; although, I have been sending a bunch of friend requests to my bloggers. Isidro Zapata, a blogger, said that they received that same accusation. I feel sorry for him because it seems to be a side affect of my blogging effort, especially since he was blocked from the social network; therefore, I quit recruiting on Facebook. He was so loyal even sending posts from his brothers account. I am not sure if he was hacked. He may have send all the friends requests, for I asked him if he advertised his first article, since I saw that was a key to his success to his first article. At first he denied that he did, and after I explained he agreed that he did advertise it sharing it on his friend networks and so forth. I apologized to all of the people that I was not supposed to be in contact with unfriending them,  for I felt that I needed to in restitution to Facebook. This is the reason for why the blogging has slowed down a lot this past couple weeks, since the blog was mainly based on Facebook. My last blog was mainly based on Twitter, and I had no problems for years; however, Facebook threatened to block me from Facebook as they did Isidro Zapata. About ten days later, I received a second warning, despite my repentance. I didn't understand how this could be because I quit adding friends that I didn't know. Facebook never gave an option to say that I have been hacked in any of their accusations. In this second accusation they even gave me a list of all the people that I sent friend requests to. Most of them were old, and I did know them outside of Facebook. Some of the friend requests were to people that I believe that I didn't do. I felt that this was suspicious. This had me think that Isidro Zapata may have been hacked. If we were hacked, we should have been warned. This had me thinking that Facebook could have sent all those friend requests without hacking in to the account the normal known way with a password. I thought that Facebook may be targeting the Mormon activists to stop a movement within their social network because it is changing or not following their model of networking.
I call this a conspiracy theory, but my father agrees with me that Facebook targeted us. Another one of our bloggers commented on a blogger recruiting post of mine, saying that he is banned from chatting with people for 25 days. I feel that keeping Facebook local, yet seeking to grow it's network around the world is difficult for them. If I was completely dedicated to the Mormon YSA Blog Spot, I could have grown my audience so quickly. Facebook is very powerful, yet they don't want people to become activists. Adding people that you don't know outside of Facebook messes with their algorithms, which find potential friends that you might know too. Blocking people for this accusation can be easily justified too. I should repeat what I said previously to keep the point of this paragraph within it. This had me thinking that Facebook could have sent all those friend requests without hacking in to the account the normal known way with a password for Isidro Zapata and I. I think that Facebook may be targeting the Mormon activists to stop a movement within their social network because it is changing or not following their model of networking, which is to befriend only family or friends that you know outside of Facebook. My father thinks that Facebook is suppressing activism because it is too much for them to deal with.

HELLO!

well i have had a great week. I am really looking forward to the marriage of Roxana to her husband Noel, and the baptism of the whole family!! We had family scripture with them one night and i almost cried as i heard Asuncion pray about happiness in her home and to help them prepare for for their sealing in the temple. And another moment we shared with them was when we went over to re-commit her to follow the word of wisdom with exactness, for she had decaff coffee and green tea in her home, but her husband was the one drinking the coffee and she said that green tea isn't bad. Although, it was hard i knew it had to say that those things were not permitted to drink those  things, i asked do you think you can let go of these things when you get baptized?

she said "sister, Ive let worse things go, i am willing to give this up."then she talked about an experience when she was sharing the gospel with one of her friends and she had asked her why she had to wait a year to prepare to enter the temple and get married there. she told her that to get Married unto God and make promises that we are going to treasure one another and others we need to show our commitment and seriousness and to make sure that we are going to keep all of Christ's teachings in our lives, like  love, respect, communication, unity, hard work, repentance and do fun wholesome things as a family. Then are we prepared for such a sacred opportunity to become an eternal family. This is all her telling her friends this, from what she told me, from what i am telling you. Isn't she amazing?! She is also  having a hard time with her son right now, he is having suicidal thoughts and gets really aggressive. I was able to relate to him, when i put myself in my old shoes and how dark i felt before with no hope, but how that has helped me put my trust and God and come to know that he is all loving, is merciful, and can wipe away our tears, heal our broken hearts and fill us with hope and love. I shared the story of Alma's conversion (alma36) and how God was able to forgive these horrible sinners, for a wise purpose. Later they ended up becoming the most consecrated missionaries ever. In Alma 29:9 Alma says  I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do ^anot ^bglory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy. I Testified that tests and trials will arise, but this will be for his good and so he can experience the love of God more fullly in his life, and one day be an instrument in the hands of God to bring many to the knowledge of the truth. She said that she feels so much more comforted every time she reads the Book of Mormon. I was so greatful that the young men's president came over to have a chit chat with him. That's being Christlike and magnifying your calling, If it wasn't for the loving service and sacrifices of others we wouldn't thrive. They fill we with so much joy:)

We met a man from the Dominican republic, well actually three different ones, they all painted the inside of the Gilbert temple. Well other than that awkward moment of getting proposed to during a lesson, as i explained how the gospel blesses families. it went really well he said that he doesn't believe in coincidences and he believes we are sent from God to help him go in the right path. I loved watching him read the book of Mormon out loud, he really did try to understand what he was reading. 

i had my first leadership training it was fun. Well i  have to go but i will send pictures of the wedding next week, stay tuned.

The Blogger and the Ambulance P.1

"Now I lay here owing my life to a stranger and I realize that empty words are not enough."
-Thrice

Oh... my aching head... "Hey you're back!" Yea, I had to go to the doctors, I think I got jumped... "Yea, he just left, he was nice." You didn't think to stop him or maybe call the police? "Nah you were fine. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of him." Ugh... Whatever... Anyway, so a little more about me my dear reader, "You like to talk about yourself don't you?" More than you can imagine, but in my past 

To the right you'll see a hospital
(Not pictured) an Artist

lif- "Whoa whoa there bud, y'all believe in reincarnation? I don't think I can let that one fly!" Still didn't let me finish... I refer to my pre-mission life as my past life, if you want to know what happens after we kick the bucket, click here! But anyway, I used to listen to Rock/Alternative music, you just can't beat the sound of an Awesome! guitar solo and a rockin' drum solo."Oh yea, I can totally agree to that!" The lyrics above go to a song called 'Artist and the Ambulance' by a band called Thrice. It's an Awesome! song about a man who has a horrific car accident and after waking up and realizing he's alive, he realizes that he has been wasting his life and decides to do what is right.

So a while ago, I had to teach a class about Spiritual Gifts, and these gifts are blessings that the Lord gives us to bless and benefit others, it's a 'give what you have' sort of thing. We've been given much, so we too much give. "Quid pro quo?" Not very so. Now there's a ton of spiritual gifts which include The Gift of Wisdom, The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues and others. Now everyone is guaranteed to have one, but some may have more or different ones according to our desires as well as if we'll use it to help, but there is one I want to focus on and it is The Gift of Healing. "You mean like those preachers who bop someone on the head and they start dancing?" Well, not quite.

So what do doctors do? "Is that a serious question?" You're killing me smalls... Just answer it... "They doctor?" Exactly! When we get sick and chicken noodle soup just doesn't cut it, we go to the doctor and they give us gross tasting medicine to make us

No Babies were harmed in the
making of this post

better! In other words, they heal! Well, in the church, worthy men receive what's called the priesthood, which is the authority to act in God's name. Now one thing a man with the Priesthood can do is give a blessing of healing. So, they heal.

Now many think that the gift of healing is simply, touch someone and BAM! healed. But to me, I think it's not always that way. Here's an example, so back home, my stake president is a radiologist. "That's pretty sweet!" But that's not all! He is also a practicing surgeon. "Two for the price of one huh?" You know it. Now, if you've ever played Operation, you can probably testify it's not very easy huh? "I don't think it's the same thing..." EXACTLY! If you mess up, the person's nose doesn't glow red, nah, sometimes worse things happen... So it's not something ANYONE can do. It takes a steady hand, and one who knows what he's doing. "So where are you going with this?"

Well, what if I told you that maybe, just maybe, the Holy Ghost is guiding this surgeon's hand so he can do, well the things he do. "Things he do?" Just... So whenever I thought of someone who had the gift of healing, he's the one I thought of. Cause think about it, he HEALS people, and not just by like, giving two Tylenols and telling them to call him in the morning, no, this man sometimes takes out the sickness quite literally out of people, in operations that are for the most part, life threatening. But he does it, and he's a man of God and he uses the Priesthood, or the authority of God to not only give blessings of healing to the sick, but to also have his hand steady so he can save lives. Not like you know, I shoo'ed a lizard from the street so it wouldn't get squished, nah I mean, saved a human life. "You sure know how to talk up about someone." Ehh, it's gift. See? There's that word again. "What gift?" Yea. "So does that mean you're gonna do another who knows how many part series for spiritual gifts?" Nah cause there's a lot and I already have like two multiple part posts and I'll forget about the different parts. "Isn't that lazy?" I'm not sure... But I AM sure that our Heavenly Father loves us and gives us these talents or gifts, so we can help others. I read a quote that went something like this, "The meaning of life is to discover your special talent, the purpose of life is to give it away." Profound huh? "You're just something else." Yea, something Awesome!

So check back next time (It won't be next time...) for the stunning conclusion to The Blogger and the Ambulance! "Stunning?" Well, It'll be pretty cool, at least I think so.

Yes I am LDS

By Isidro Zapata

I got a new flavor and I hope
you truly savior
 this new flavor
That will set you free
And make you see
For first time in ages
 All you need to do is come
As you are no need to make any changes
Before you get a new restart
To the Creator
So after you take in
You will never wavier
with this truth,
Now you can be awaken
So you can be blessed by the truth
You can now
Break all the lies
That float around
And break their fake hope
For God spoke to man through
Prophets and he is the same yesterday
Today and forever so he does it today
Your old view now flies out the window
When you sit down and pray and ask if this is
True, then you will sing a new tune
For the Holy Sprit cannot ever lie
For the Holy Sprit holds the truth going around the world spreading
The word to set people free
So they can sing a new
Tune and say this book is true
So just pray and truly ask
if this is all true
then you will see
and no need to repeat and plea
for the answer will indeed
Set you free
And you will have no doubt
About the faith
So you will no longer
 talk smack and act all whack
No more time to smoke smack
For that is all whack
The truth
Will allow you to experience a renew
Of Gods eternal love forever for God is clever
to keep his promises
and recite his eternal love for you and me
So I have to say am bless to have my past
Erase and gone forever and in its place is God’s eternal
Favor for I can now see and be a member of this
Faith that, has withstood the test of time.
 you are welcome
To one day step into the temple and worship
And take part of God’s master plan
To go on a mission to spread the word
But do not be mistaken these two years are not the only time
To speak and teach the word to the nations
You need to be on a mission 24/7
With love and compassion for the lost
To turn them into jewels for the Lord
For you can now say you are proud to be a Mormon with
The full truth and faith to set people souls free for
A brand new start

Satan and his Tactics

In  The book " Living your Covenants Everyday"  by Jennifer  Brinkerhoff Platts.  The chapter i just read talked about Satan and his tactics. She talks about how making scriptures study a priority in our lives blesses us.  "Understanding the role of satan and how to shum him from our lives is a truth we learn by reading and studying the scriptures. 

In the beginning Satan lied.  He continues to lie to us everyday!!!The scritures teach us how to combat him .   Satan is sly in deceiving us. In 2 nephi 9: 27-39.   Nephi talks about how satan marginalizes the Atonment.   Everyday  Satan battles for our agency. Satan's attack on us are relentless and delibrerate.  He is impeccable in his timing, especially at our weakest and most valunerable moments,    Anger, apathy, and carnal security atr some of his favorite tools.   Satan is a Liar!!!!  Satan attacks our most important relationships.       The bible dictionary states,  "  Protection against the influence of the devil is found by obedience to the commandments and laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ"    Entering into Covenants places  a target on our backs. Satan wants to destroy those that living Fathers's plan.      It is worth our best efforts to heighten our awaeness of the ways that satan works in our lives.   That includes being realistic about the lies satan tells.    and By taking time ti evaluate our choices in given situations,  We are more inclined to undercover lies that we believe.

"Turn on my Light (+playlist)" by Lizzie Holmes

little pitchy sorry! But here is one of new songs I just wrote "Turn on my Light" Let me know how ya like it or things I could do better 

March 1, 2014

Things have been coming in twos lately. I have a second concert to write about, and we are probably done going to concerts for a while. Another thing that happened in twos this past week is two of my co-workers said that they are the parents of my classmates, who graduated with me in high school; thirdly, I had another Facebook networking transgression that I had to repent of.

The second concert that I went to with Trevor is Demi Lovato. I was more interested in the Leaves' Eyes concert, but we have been planning on this for months. When I heard Cher Lloyd is touring with Demi, I enjoyed learning of her. I would rather go to her concert. I come to respect Cher a lot because she is married. Cher is super fun, but we realized that she is just a voice. She doesn't compose her own songs like Selena Gomez. Trevor and I were thinking that the next American Idol or music contest should have the musicians come up with their own music. We have too many singers and few composing artists.

The Demi Lovato concert had two other girl bands in it. They were Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. They were both your generic girl bands. I am into Asian pop music, and they have a lot of girl bands. I know girl bands. Fifth Harmony did not sing as well as Little Mix, and I think Little Mix's stage presence was more mature and crude.



Demi's skill surpasses all of the girl bands, and their performances may have been suppressed. I am not really into Demi, but Trevor thinks that she is amazing. Although she is and her performance showed the extent of her greatness, which is far, I would not listen to her by choice. Disney is an excellent media production agency, and I believe that she learned a lot from Disney, coming out of it better then most of the artists from there.



Trevor and I were in the balcony, so our view was not very good. One fun thing that Demi did was she had an app that flashed lights and different colors during the Neon Lights song. Another artist that Trevor and I has gotten into recently is Becky G because she composes her own stuff. Her music is fun too. She even inspired me to put together a dance playlist, putting together all the songs that make me feel like dancing. Demi Lovato does not have any songs that does that to me. I asked my friend once to rate his desire to go dancing 1 out of 10. I don't remember his answer, but mine is 1. Dancing is a nightmare for me. It doesn't come naturally to me. Last time I had an opportunity to go to a dance. I said that I would rather run a marathon than pretend to dance for hours. You can't expect that my dancing playlist had many songs. I only have about 20 songs in there. most of Demi Lovato's music is not a dance type, and there is no room to dance on the floor of the concert hall. I don't understand why the tour is called Neon Lights. I would rather have a different style of concert for her, if I was her producer. She claimed that the tour would be original and refreshing, but I don't believe that it was.



P.S. A Jonas Brother was there, performing, but I don't care for him either. I only went to have a good time with my brother.

P.P.S. I did enjoy the concert, but I am expressing my opinion of it.

Sunday

by Isidro Zapata

Wait its, Sunday
a new day
To praise thee
I thank God for it is
Sunday
Keep it holy
Best day of the week
Remember
Jesus died
for you and me
So you can be holy
Jesus Love cannot be denied
For he showed
Joseph Smith the whole truth
So it will never be misunderstood ever again
So
Keep Sunday holy
You need to live for him to understand
Sunday best day of the week
Jesus gave us everything
Joseph Smith was faithful to see the whole Truth
So you can feel Jesus love and glory
Jesus died for you and me
Joseph Smith
Was faithful to see the whole truth
Joseph Smith re store the faith
So keep Sunday holy
Jesus died and gave us a new life
So love one another and
Help those in need
Wait don’t forget to fast & pray
for those in need of a recovery
So keep Sunday holy
for it is
The best day of the week
Joseph Smith
Was faithful to see the whole truth
And was faithful to
restore the whole Faith
So you and me can feel Jesus love and glory
so keep Sunday holy
and do not forget to fast and pray for those
in need of a recovery

It's March!!!

Hi! Hi! Hi!

How was your week? Can you believe it's March allready?!? Oh My Goodness it's so Fast!!!

 

We had a wonderful unique experience last night. In a way it was a miracle! Last weekend my companion got a flat tire on her bike so we had to walk around everywhere yesterday it wasn't too bad. After our dinner appointment we weren't really sure who we should go see that was within walking distance so we prayed that we might know where to go and what to do. Right after we prayed we started walking and we started talking to a man who was just standing outside smoking, we got to know him and learnt that he was from Afghanistan and owns an ice cream business here. After a while he said he had his wife and kids at home so he needed to go and invited us to come home with him. Almost without even thinking we were like ok! and started following him. We got to his home and got to meet his whole Family. It was Incredible. They all just welcomed us in like we were their family and we sat down and they fed us and gave us drinks and just made us feel so comfortable. My companion and I just went along with it and it was great. They had almost their whole famly there. Later on more Aunts and Uncles came and we just sat and conversed with them. We quickly learnt that they were all muslim and very into it. As we sat there I thought and prayed alot in my heart to know how we can best help them and share the message of the Restoration with them. I finally remembered and was comforted knowing that we had prayed earlier that eveing for the Lord to guide us to know where to go so I knew that he led us to that Family for a reason. Before we were about to leave we thanked the Family for allowing us to share that time with them and for making us feel so welcomed then we asked if we could share a message with them. We shared our testimonies of the Restoration with them and our love for the Gospel and explained what we do and why we ( 2 young girls who were walking around that night and ended up in their home) we expressed Heavenly Father's love for them and I just felt like we had truly known each other for a long time. I knew that Heavenly Father loved that Family and although they weren't really keen on learning more right then I hope that at least one person in that Family felt something in their heart and somewhere in their lives they'll come to receive the Gospel. That experience was very unexpected and was such a great miracle to me President. I never thought I would somehow end up in a house full of Muslims teaching about the message of the Restored Gospel. I gotta admit I was a tiny bit scared at first because I didn't know how they would respond. But as I sincerely prayed in my heart I truly felt Heavenly Father's love for them and I knew that they were my brothers and Sisters:) Oh I love the companionship of the Holy Spirit. I feel that time and time again Heavenly Father has let me know in ways that I understand that truly he is there and this is his work and he truly does labor with us.

 

I love you Loads!!!

Nadi

Gilbert Temple Dedication and Fun!

hello friends!

WE  got to go the Temple Dedication!! it was so special and i learne so much about the importance of temples and how it is a blessing for everyone both spiritually and socially. As we dedicate a temple we need to rededicate our lives to the service of God and all that we do needs to reflect the temple and what we learn there. As the people of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, when he was addressing his people, when they pitched their tents around the temple with every tent door facing the temple. Symbolically we can face the temple too. In the way we treat others, speak to others, love others, raise our families, the choices we make, should all be facing towards or reflecting what the temple means and what we learn there. I loved it, especialy Elder Callister's talk. 

 

We had a really nice expirience as we went to contact a refferral. We were looking for a man, he wasn't home but his wife was. She was sort of not very welcoming at first but then we started to get to know her and just being friendly, we talked outside her door for like 15 minutes and invited her to some church activities and she expressed a desire. She finally let us in and started to tell us that she had been baptised about a year ago and sister had taught her and were teaching her two sons also, and the reason she stopped coming to church was because of work, but she loves the chruch and she even wants us to teach her all the lessons to refresh her memory and we invited her to get ready to enter the temple and that we will be her guides in that process. She was so so happy and warm and friendly and made us feel like family. She is really excited and wants her sons to get baptized as well, but the best part is that her husband wants to baptize them. We are so happy that we found them.

about two weeks ago i saw a man all alone at church, so i went to introduce myself. he stood up and shook my hand and said i reminded him of his daughter that is serving a mission in texas. He was visiting our branch because his wife was in  hte hospital in phx . she got ran over when she was visiting the temple open house. She was placed in a comma.

We went to visit her this week and she was a lot better , she was asking us questions to get to know us and was so happy that we were there, we all shared spiritual thoughts of comfort like alma 36, ether 12. mosiah 24. She was so sweet so humble, she cried and it was so speciall for me to see how much faith she has and I know that the prayeer and faith of others was being well recieved, she was strong and had a sense of hope radiate from her, she knew that she was not alone, she had the love of her heavely father and his peace. Her  father took  a picture of us with her to send to his grandaughter i looked at her and she was smiling, i thought to myself i wish that i can smile even when i am going through difficult trials and afflictions and have trust that His plan for me is perfect, that although i will pass through very difficult times, God will be there to wipe away my tears and give me the strength i need.  teh nurse came with a roller bed to transfer her to another room, so her Husband came over and held her with so much care and gentleness. he was ever so careful placing her fragile body on hte bed holding her back and the back of her neck, as he was over her he stopped  and gazed into her eyes and kissed  her twice on the lips. It was the most beautiful scence to see and how this man had the pure love of Christ in him., it truly touched all our hearts.

 

we got to sing as a choir for a fireside and guess who spoke? Stephanie Myers, the author of the Twilight book. it was so fun.

 

Well i love you all and write me when you get a free minute :)

Hermana Salas