Mormon Notes: Be Grateful.

Fall + November = Thanksgiving in America. Thanksgiving is a holiday that stems back to the early days of the nation and really is a nice time to be around here. Many families have a number of tasty traditions and family activities. However, the most important would have to be in the "Thanks" part of the holiday's name.

I'm sure you've all heard of President Gordon B. Hinckley's "6 B's." During a fireside address given on 12 November 2000, he said,

"Walk with gratitude in your hearts, my dear friends. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings which are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Be thankful to your parents, who care so very much about you and who have worked so very hard to provide for you. Let them know that you are grateful. Say thank you to your mother and your father. Say thank you to your friends. Say thank you to your teachers. Express appreciation to everyone who does you a favor or assists you in any way."

 I love gratitude. This really is an important thing for us to do. President Hinckley's counselor, James E. Faust, also said, “A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness” (Ensign, May 1990, 86). I'm not sure that I can say much more about this--that hasn't already been said. Love ya.

The Halloween Costume Dilemma...

Here's the story--I don't have a Halloween Costume (Everyone in America is like, "What? How could you? Don't you know there are five million parties tomorrow and Saturday?" Everyone in New Zealand is saying, "What are you dressing up for anyway?" Trust me. Halloween is a huge deal here [in Provo at least]. There are about 8 or so Halloween party invitations on my FB).

However, having no costume is not from lack of trying. I looked around a few stores and I just wasnt willing to spend $60 on something I'll wear twice. Really? What's it made of? Real monster skin or something? I know, I sound like Sensitive Sally or Peter Party Pooper--trust me, I'm not doing it intentionally. I guess I posted this to solicit ideas. So, if you've got any (or some other witty comment), feel free to post it. I'm going to bed to see if I get any inspiration that way...oh, keep in mind that I'm over two hundred lbs of Polynesian. Ha ha. That seriously limits choices.

It's cold

So, Provo has started to get a little bit cold (about 2 degrees Celsius) and I've started to wear warmer clothes. Awesome.

Anyway, I have to laugh, because every now and again I'll wear Dad's old Police Jacket (Yes, Constable Ruri's old jacket). One day, I was walking down the stairs back to my flat (aka apartment) and this girl says, "Oh, that's a great Satin jacket." Ha ha. I had never thought that it looked like Satin until that moment. Truth is, the jacket is more like shiny nylon AND it's a great conversation starter!

I think it's illegal to wear back home, even though I have removed the police patches. However, I've recently been contemplating putting them back on. When I took it, Dad told me to remove them and I did. But, he never said I couldn't put them back on (I've lost one anyway--so, it'll just be one).

This means I don't have to explain to people...I can just point it out and it'll be self-explanatory. Ha ha. Here's an old pic of an old policeman wearing a similar jacket. I can tell this is old because New Zealand has upgraded their police cars since this was taken.

God Bless New Zealand! :)

I got up early.

For those of you who were really concerned, I actually got up early and registered for my classes. Looks like it'll be a good semester. I even signed up for a weight training class...because I need all the help I can get. Ha ha. And for Hayden, I signed up in Mission Prep. Yay.

Another question for you: Why are Monday's so busy? Yesterday was busy busy.

Class Registration.

I know that this isn't really exciting for many other people, however, tomorrow at midnight I am granted access to register for my last semester of undergraduate classes. I'm trying to decide if I want to stay up till 12am OR get up earlier than 6am. Do you really think classes will fill up before then? I don't think so. Well, I hope not--I don't think I'll be able to stay awake til 12. I am an old man now...

Mormon Notes: Need help lifting burdens?

I think it is easy to be weighed down by our burdens. There have been many times where this has been the case for me. Thinking about this, I really loved this most recent YouTube video from the Church.

BYU International Student Association

Today, a few of the international students decided to participate in the BYU Homecoming Parade (Here's a nice picture from the event). We seriously had heaps of fun--even though there was a little bit of skepticism in the beginning because, as you can see, our 'float' wasn't the most flashy one around. Good times.

Also, there were a lot of people who voiced their support for New Zealand while I was walking around--granted I was holding the flag--it was really cool. I'm amazed that a little country, barely the size of California, could garner so much love from people around here. I mean, people young and old were genuinely excited and even called out a little bit of Maori. Pretty sweet if you ask me.